Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them.

• Deuteronomy 11:4

We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

• Joshua 2:10

“You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.

• Nehemiah 9:9

We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
When our ancestors were in Egypt,
    they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
    and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
    to make his mighty power known.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
    he led them through the depths as through a desert.
He saved them from the hand of the foe;
    from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
The waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them survived.
Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.

• Psalm 106:6-12

The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.

• Isaiah 11:15

I have had one of those days where I would be among the Israelites, needing to be constantly reminded of things.  I am very scattered as I write this.

• I said something that I should not have said yesterday at church.  My wife would have kicked me in the shin.  She was a great shin kicker.
• I need to apologize to the person that I said that thing that I said.
• I called my niece who lived much of her early working life as a teacher in Scotland.  I asked for her recipes for sweet treats.  I was going to host the prayer meeting’s social event in January, and I needed Scottish things, the meeting being after New Years (Auld Lang Syne) and before the Burns Dinner or as I like to call it, the Bonnie Bobbie Burns Birthday Bash.  She mentioned Clootie Pudding, which in some circles is a must for Burns Night.
• Thinking of Robert Burns and Clootie (a cloth bag, not an ingredient in the pudding – you just boil the pudding in the bag), Burns wrote a poem, Address to the Deil.  Stick a “V” in the middle of deil, and you get the idea of the poem which Burns starts out that it does not matter what his name is: Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie.  Ah, now back to getting a Clootie Pudding recipe.
• Wait!  Deil is about as bad as saying Hell to a good friend.  Apologize, you idiot!
• But then what’s for supper?  I have nothing thawed.
• Oh, I need a recipe for Sloppy Joe Casserole.  So, go to the basement and print something out.  I can eliminate wheat for a day, or two or three days depending on how much leftovers.
• Oh, I have not done my morning things yet.
• But no, go upstairs and get the laundry.  It can be washing while I get that recipe.
• Oh, the peaches are getting too ripe.  I guess I’ll have chopped peaches for lunch.  Chop, chop, chop!
• Oh, the recipe!
• Oh, I am going to make Auld Lang Syne napkin rings.  One verse on each napkin ring and see if anyone can put them in order.  But we might have more than just six at the meeting.  Half verses or …  How about another Burns poem!  Address to a Haggis is always part of Burns Dinner, but we will not have haggis, only sweet desserts.  Maybe Scots Wha Hae?
• Rats, I forgot the clothes.  Got to get them in the washer!
• Where’s my phone?!  I need to make that call to my friend.  If I don’t call, they might drop me as a friend.
• You know, you are overthinking this prayer social.  Just stick to the Selkirk Grace, something Burns never wrote in the first place.
• I could use that part of To a Louse that is in my Officer’s Guide.
• You know there are other poems that are in that Officer’s Guide.  But where is that book of mine?  Note: I have two of them, the other given to me by an officer from an older era.  And the book had changed, but the chapters on courtesy, demeanor, and customs not by a lot.
• Why did I come upstairs?  Oh, the clothes!

After two hours of climbing the stairs and descending the stairs, the clothing is in the drier.  The peaches are chopped.  The shredded cheese is ready and the ground beef is thawing.  The morning ritual on the computer is complete, all spreadsheets are updated, okay all the morning ritual except for my book reading, and, ummm, please wait, the drier just buzzed.

La dah dee, la dee dah. …

Okay, I can fold the rest, but my Sunday good shirt needed hanging before too many wrinkles set in.

I had copied several Robert Burns poems from websites that assured me that it was public domain, probably public domain for at least the last 200 years.  The decorations are starting to gel in my mind.

I still have not called my friend, but I found my phone.  I am looking at it.

Yes, I am like the Israelites.  Moses reminded them.  Joshua reminded them.  King David reminded them.  And Isaiah reminded them.  And then Nehemiah reminded them after returning from the exile.  Yep, dumb as a board!  And I am right there with them.

And why all those reminders?  If we keep our eyes on Jesus and not screw up, the next day does not start scattered and then gets more scattered as the day goes on.

I would belabor the topic, but I have to fold the clothes.

Oh, and I did make that call. They thought nothing of my slip of the tongue, but they appreciated my call.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.