A wave offering
Counting the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot (starting with the second day of Passover) is essentially a Biblical command: “You shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day [of Passover], from the day you bring the Omer as a wave offering seven weeks; they shall be complete. You shall count until the day after the seventh week, [namely,] the fiftieth day”.
This is the first day of the counting of Omer.
It is another of those mysterious Jewish traditions where we begin count barley stalks for the days and sheaves for the weeks. The scriptures tell us to count the days, and to count the weeks. So today, across the world, some streams of Judaism will wave one barley stock and recite an ancient blessing.
There are seven daily blessings, and seven weekly blessings. At the end of all this counting is Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. And according to the holy writs, fifty days after leaving Egypt, the Israelites were given the Torah, or the Law as some are wont to call it.
It also points to another future event. Some feel that it will mark the beginning of the rebuilding of Temple, which brings a whole host of other problems, namely that the Muslims have built a gilded mosque on top of the ruins of the Temple.
There be wars and rumors of wars … a warning to Christians and Jews alike. For that matter, the atheists among us need to be a bit worried too.
Anyway … waiting for the flooring salesman this morning. We are putting new floors in the guest room bathroom and the studio bathroom, and installing handicapped toilets in the studio. Not that we are handicapped, but rather I like the idea of not having my chin on my knees when I use the potty. We have a “Jack and Jill” bathroom between my study and Snookums sewing room that we share during the day, so it has become a priority.
It is all good. I have time to journal and listen to talk radio this morning along with some coffee sippin’ while waiting. And this is the day Snookums volunteers at a local food bank for a few hours in the afternoon, leaving the house to me and the animals.
But along with my new studio, and improved view, I see all the undone yard work. Broken tree limbs need to be cut into firewood. An unassembled concrete birdbath awaits removing an older plastic one. The front lawn needs over seeding. The driveway needs weed killin’ … and life goes on.
Good morning!
Rusty's Armory 