An Understanding of Shalom // in Soft Metallics

Hello!
I am so glad that this writing has not gotten pushed back more into the evening! Though our day has not been completely hectic, besides a fussy baby, piano lessons being postponed, and everything else tossed together, it is so nice to just sit and write a while!

Lately, I have been reading a book entitled 'Listening to the Language of the Bible Hearing It Through Jesus' Ears'.My Mom just happen to snatch it up one day last week as she made our usual book drop-off at the library.Being the one in our family who enjoys reading inspirational books the most, she made sure I knew she had found it as she continued to pass out the rest of that days finds to the rest of the crew.

It basically takes certain words that are used in our modern day Bible translations, that take on a higher meaning than what we have come to understand. It is so good! Each 'lesson' gets directly to the core issue without getting off tack or venturing too far in the wrong direction. It takes some Old Testament traditions and New Testament truths come together to make sense as a whole. And since each chapter is just a few paragraphs in length, I am going to be sharing with you today their thoughts on shalom, speaking the blessing and the vastness of peace.These thoughts are absolutely wonderful.

All statements in quotations have been taking from the Holy Scriptures and from Listening to the Language of the Bible written by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema.

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
    hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

"Like many Hebrew words, the word shalom which we commonly translate as 'peace,' has a wider meaning than the English word.We tend to understand it as the absence of war or as the calmness of spirit.But along with these ideas, the Hebrew word shalom also carries a greater connotation of well-being, health, safety, prosperity, wholeness, and completeness."

"In modern Hebrew, a common greeting equivalent to""How are you?"" is, ""Mah shalomkah?"" This literally means, ""How is your shalom? How is your well-being?"" In the Aaronic benediction (Numbers 6:24-26), when it is said, ""May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you His shalom,"" it is a much broader, wider blessing than we may think.It is asking God to supply our physical needs as well our as our emotional needs.""

""Knowing these broader meanings helps in our Bible study.For instance, God says to Abraham, ""You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age."" (Genesis 15:15) It doesn't just mean that Abraham will not be at war, or even that he will have a calm spirit, but also that his life will end in a well-being and completeness.""

""Peace, in its traditional meaning, is also of great importance in the Scriptures.Our individualistic culture can make us believe that if our relationship is right with God, our relationships with others are not particularly important.But God doesn't want our worship until we are at peace with others.Jesus said that "...if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."" (Matthew 5:23-24)

""In this saying, Jesus may have had a specific type of offering in mind, called the peace (shelem) or fellowship offering.Most sacrificial offerings were given entirely to God, but the peace offering was eaten in part by the worshipper and his family.It was as if God had invited them to dinner at His table, symbolic of true friendship in that culture.It was a celebration of the peace between all participants, between God and all of the family members.Could Jesus have been thinking of this?""

""Interestingly, the Lord's Supper has the form of a peace offering.Jesus held up the bread and wine and said that they represented His body and blood as the sacrifice; and then he invited His disciples (and us) to eat of it.By doing so, we are partaking in a meal of peace with God, and celebrating a new relationship with Him through Jesus' atonement.Through Christ, God offers all of us shalom, in all the many senses of that word.""

SO! A note about this outfit featured here today! I wore this for church services last Sunday morn. I wasn't really feeling much into troweling through this and that, holding this up to that, the usual dress-up rehearsal was unappealing.These are the winter weeks that seem to be the dreariest, especially while trying to find something that has not already been worn with a typical winter sweater. So happy was I that I had this new skirt to fall back on! After snatching Bek's shirt that happened to match perfectly, it was one of those outfits that you just grab anything you think may fit in well. The only thing that I didn't really end up liking was the choice of undershirt.

Finding these shoes was a small blessing! How often can you find a pair of mint-condition white flats (or any kind of white shoe for that matter) at a thrift store?! I was so happy! These will be so nice come summer! They will definitely be making the blog again!

Oh, and my hair was styled in a backwards french braid, starting from the front and ending at the other side then rumpled up into a side bun for a little dimension.

         Shoes- American Eagle brand thrifted $3 // Slip- made by me // Skirt- Goodwill $4 // Undershirt- thrifted $1 // Shirt- borrowed from Bek // Scarf- Goodwill $1

                                  I am so happy how our question and answer turned out! Thanks again to all of you!
                                                                                         
                                                                                        So I ask thee;
                                                                                How is your shalom?
                                          What have you been wearing these last months of winter?
                                                  Is there a particular piece of my outfit you admire?

                                                                                     Cassie
                                                                      the Elder Sister and Writer