Monday, September 30, 2024

Back Bone American Bluegrass Song, Kasey Chambers

Hello Grafted In Readers,


A few hours remain in Sept. 30, 2024 as we begin this visit in writing form. October is one of my brighter months of the year, historically speaking.

My first piano gig in college occurred in October;  my parents were married in October;

My first book was published in October 2012, no longer available.


This year, October 1st includes the beginning of Major League Baseball post season games. It will culminate by the end of the month with the Fall Classic World Series. Only one team in the major leagues is from another country other than the U.S., the Toronto Canada BlueJays.


This Wednesday, begins the Jewish New Year. Technically, this begins at sunset on Wednesday. Here is a little tribute, via history.com, behind the Jewish New Year.


Those observing Rosh Hashanah often greet one another with the Hebrew phrase, “shana tova” or “l'shana tova,” meaning “good year” or “for a good year.” According to History.com, this is a “shortened version of the Rosh Hashanah salutation 'L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem' ('May you be inscribed and sealed for a good  year...


I wish to recognize and thank you who drop by frequently to read one of my blog posts. I am honored that this small town guy gets your time!


Until next visit, may the presence of the Almighty be with us 24/7. We think of the misfortune occurring in the Middle East which will turn one-year-old on October 7. 

May the new year bring peace, health, happiness, prosperity and contentment to this war-ravaged region and others undergoing tumult.


Mellow Rock

David C. Russell, Author

 

Monday, September 23, 2024

Story Excerpt: Eyes Wide Opened (David C. Russell)

Hello Grafted In Readers,


Today is Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in my corner of blog-land.

I am happy to see a build-up in visitors to our blog, Grafted In And On The Journey. Thank you for stopping by and if this is your first time, indeed welcome!

I am avocationally a writer who enjoys creating short stories. It has been my pleasure to be featured in the periodical "New Authors Journal for the past few quarterly issues.

You may find this title at Amazon.com in print, for sale across North America.

Google, "New Authors Journal, Amazon, Fall 2024.".


This story excerpt is part one and is about a gentleman, middle-aged, dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer.

Part Two, to be featured in the Winter issue, is the way this man comes back to once again enjoying life as best he can.


I share the story excerpt with you:


 

Hank Winthrop had been a widow for almost one year. At the passing of his wife of nearly twenty-eight years, name Jocelyn, There were several “almost” in his current life. He was: almost ready to retire from the salt company in St. Clair, Michigan; almost ready to relocate; almost married twenty-eight years; almost certain his wife would beat her diagnosis of skin cancer; almost certain they would live to a ripe age and die of natural causes.

This Spring day, he found himself keeping watch in his wife’s hospital room. It had become second home to him and his wife whose skin cancer waged battle with fierce determination. The middle-aged Doctor, short in stature, from the Czech Republic by birth, looked at the couple as he delivered the unwanted pronouncement.

“Hank, we have done everything we can to treat your wife’s condition,” the doctor said in a neutral tone of voice.

“So then, if you have done everything – she’s going to be wholesome again?” Hank asked. The doctor rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth before giving an answer.

“Hank, the answer is not that simple. In fact, she will assuredly succumb to the cancer over the next several weeks.”

“You medical professionals are all alike. Perhaps you would have been better served to be a Uber driver, sports official, clerk, not a damned doctor.”


If you wish to sample more of my stories, visit:

https://www.spillwords.com/author/davidcrussell


Meantime, Happy Fall or Spring, depending on your place of residence in the world. Summer did hang on until the very end as our temperatures were close to 85 degrees F on Saturday here in my corner of blog-land. Today, they are considerably more mild, to my liking, low seventies.


Meantime, may the presence of Yahweh be with us evermore.


Mellow Rock

David C. Russell, Author 

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Someone To Watch Over Me (American Standard Song)

Hello Grafted In Reader,


How goes it today, September 19, 2024 in blog land or the world at large?

This post is going to be a bit lengthy, and feature an article about The Lord (Yaweh) being our Shepherd. This article is a Hebrew Word Study exploring the meanings of Shepherd: herdsman, friend, consuming passion, maternal figure.


I would like to share some exciting news on the writing front before posting the article by Heim Bentorah.

- I have a story that will be in two parts featured in the Autumn issue of "New Authors Journal", available in print from Amazon.com.

The story is about a fictional character whose wife succumbs to a diagnosis of cancer and the months of grief that ensue for him. The second part (featured in winter 2025 "New Authors Journal) will look at his turn-around in life a couple years later. He is consumed with passion to reach out to others in need at this point.


Secondly, I am working on producing a chapbook called "From The Red Chair". This is the chair from where this blog is created in my home. I have had this chair since 2012. It is constructed from recycled materials. This will come out in the middle of 2025. It will contain three short stories and sell for less than what is paid here for a gallon of gasoline in motor vehicles. I will sure keep you posted as our visits proceed.


Now, the article about God as our Shepherd. This will go along well for those of us with a faith practice.

If you choose otherwise, that's fine. You are not scorned. Thanks for our visit and be sure to come back soon.


David C. Russell, Author, wishes you well and the presence of Yahweh be with you!


Hebrew Word Study – My Shepherd – Ra’i  רֹ֝עִ֗י  Resh Ayin Yod

Psalms 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

This is Chapter 2 from my book on the 23rd Psalm 

With the word shepherd we start off with the shepherding motif.  Webster defines a motif as something such as an important idea or subject that is repeated throughout a story or poem. Here we learn that God is a shepherd.  Oh, we can talk for hours on that subject. There have been multitudes of sermons preached on the nature of a good shepherd. God is not a literal shepherd and we are not literal sheep. That whole picture is a metaphor and the caring nature of a good shepherd is used to give an earthly illustration of a Heavenly Guardian.

Indeed, that appears to be the motif of this poem but we will see in later chapters that the shepherding motif does break down and what appears is more of a picture of a king or an everyman who is on a journey through life and is looking to a Heavenly Protector and Guide. Notice, however, that the word for Shepherd in the Hebrew has multiple usages.  It is the word  ro’i from the root word ra’ah.  

Now, if you are really bent on learning something new you will go to your lexicons where you will find that the word ra’ah means a friend as well as a shepherd.  Repeat this in your mind; “The Lord is my friend.”  We hear the Lord being our shepherd so much, that we are unaffected by those words. But when we use an alternative word which is proper for the word ra’ah and say the Lord is our friend, that gives us a new appreciation.

 

However, as we search out this word ra’ah we find it is also used for evil.  The Lord is an evil friend?  Hardly.  As you search deeper you begin to realize there are many levels of evil and  ra’ah is a specific type of evil  It is an evil of consumption, a consuming passion. A consuming passion for drugs, alcohol or any addictive substance is evil.  A mother’s consuming passion for her baby? Maybe that is not so evil. So, the Lord, YHWH a feminine noun,  is not only a friend to David, a shepherd to David but is David’s consuming passion as a mother’s baby is her consuming passion.  Because God is the Psalmist’s all-consuming passion, he doesn’t want anything else but God in his life. 

Try this, “The Lord is my consuming passion, I have no wants.”  In other words, just simply being in love with God takes precedence over everything else in our lives. Our jobs, our finances, family, hopes and dreams fall second to our passion for God. A passion is a strong and barely controllable emotion.  It is a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or someone.  It is so strong you are willing to make a complete and utter fool of yourself over that passion. To have a consuming passion for God means you are not afraid of what people think about you even if stand on a street corner passing out tracts, witnessing to strangers, praying in public, carrying your Bible etc. It is the passion a believer has for God who lives in a country where their faith is illegal such that they are willing to give up their jobs, livelihoods, family, friends, perhaps suffer imprisonment for their love for God and maybe torture and death. That is a consuming passion for God that the Psalmist is expressing here in verse one.  

The Lord is not only our Shepherd but our consuming passion which may explain why, as discussed in the previous chapter this verse start off with the word YHWH the name of God in a feminine form. Perhaps Jesus explains that in Matthew 23:37: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”  

I often wondered why Jesus used the word hen and her chicks until I read a story about a group of firefighters who were working back through the devastation of a forest fire to make sure and the hot spots had been extinguished.  As they marched across the blackened landscape they found a large lump on the trail. When they took a closer look they noticed the charred remains of a large bird. Since birds can so easily fly away from the approaching fire the firefighters wondered what must have been wrong with the bird that it could not escaped.  Was it sick or injured?

When they kicked the remains off the trail they were startled by a flurry of activity at their feet Four little birds scurried off down the hillside. The mother’s body covered them from the searing heat of the flames while it had consumed her. Its babies found safety underneath her wings as she faced the rising flame. Despite the pain and subsequent death  she stayed with her young even though she might have saved herself if she chose.

The ancients observed nature very well and they found like farmers today who raise free range chickens that not all chicks run to their mothers in time of danger. Some of the may have wandered to far from their mother hen. They become paralyzed by fear or some just run away in a panic to find a way to save themselves.  The mother hen cannot run around gathering them individually, they have to come to her.  If two cats work together, they will try to cut off a chick from the brood if they wander away because cats will never mess with a mother hen. 

The Lord is indeed our shepherd but as YHWH he is also our mother hen who will protect us with His life (as He did on the cross) but we must come to Him, He cannot gather us to Himself. 

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hebrew-Teacher-Explores-Psalm-Discovering/dp/1960024299/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NMYRXDXTADN5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GHrxwdIzkSEGUvgojFP5cZQlOTvC6LUdvSg5hCcC4- 

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Behind Closed Doors (Country Standard, Charlie Rich

Hello Grafted In Readers,


Today is September 3 in my corner of blog-land.

Historically, September has had its challenges both good, and at other times rather trying. Yet, I like this month as it transitions us from one season to the next.

For those who observe spirituality from a Jewish point of view, at times this is the month of preparation called Elul. 

From Google: According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah, all of humanity is called to account, and a divine judgment is issued. This belief underscores the significance of Elul as a month of preparation, where individuals spiritually prepare themselves for this divine judgment.


One way to prepare is spend a few minutes reflectively reading Psalm 27 in The Holy Bible. This is the name of a book in the Bible containing 150 prayers if you will that run the gammet of the human experience. Highs, lows, ups, downs, thanksgiving, request for protection, get even with my foes, etc.


Whatever your viewpoint, make certain it includes a time to prepare for the continued journey which you and I share together. You and I are truly works in progress.


Personal: September includes my wedding anniversary, celebrating no. 28 this year. I am thankful for my choice of spouse whom I "intend" to share life with until one of us breathes our last.


Thank you for our visit today. I am always happy to know you dropped by.


May the presence of YHVH be fully realized in our life this day and every day.


Mellow Rock

David C. Russell, Author