SCRIPTURE IN LIMERICKS

Matt 10:8  Freely you received, Freely give

Time with Jesus – Friday, 24 August 2012

These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes

INTRODUCTION

I wonder how many of us remember the great comedian and concert pianist, Victor Borge. Sometimes called the “Clown Prince of Denmark”, he had a way with the piano and words that appealed to many people. I first heard him while still at school. He was telling us all about inflation in English. How since the war “Tuesday”, should be “Threes-day” You haven’t “won” the race you have “twod” the race. “Unfortunately” became “Twofivethreeninely” As a pianist he was exceptional. While playing the Minute Waltz he would discuss the uses of the tune as an egg-timer. For me, the very best was his phonetic pronunciation. He would make strange sounds representing full-stops, commas, exclamation marks and inverted commas. I loved his zany comedy and listened carefully to how he would play the works of some of the great composers. Then in the middle, without skipping a beat he would include, in an identical style, the tune, “Happy Birthday to you”.

For me, punctuation has always been a problem. Where do you put what? As for colons, semi-colons and full stops, where should they be? So I have a tendency to leave them out while I’m writing. Then I have to go back and litter them liberally all over the page. I must confess that without Phyllida looking at what I’ve written, my spelling and grammar would border on the classic comedy of “The Great Dane”.

This difficulty with punctuation expresses itself best when I put together my truncated limericks. The 7, 2, 2, 3 style lends itself to not being sure what should go where as I’m sure most of you will have already noticed. I may have done well as a scribe when Greek words were all compressed together so that no one was quite sure where one word started or ended.  For example, “The cat sat on the mat” would be “thecatsatonthemat”. The clever bit was reading and understanding what was written. A case in point from the days when my mother did the crossword puzzle. I asked her on one occasion what was a “castironalibi”? It’s a “cast iron alibi” she commented. Something a little closer to the bone we have an interesting puzzle in the English translation of Jesus’ words to the dying thief on the cross. Jesus’ words to him were, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise." But if I adjust the punctuation I read:  "I tell you the truth today, you will be with Me in paradise." Luke 23:43 NIV 

Notice that the words are exactly the same. But by moving the comma one word to the right, the meaning changes. Jesus was not telling the thief they will both be in Paradise on the day of the crucifixion. He was saying to the thief today, they will be in Paradise together. This latter understanding seems to be better than our usual understanding. If I’m correct what this means is that sometime between the original, and what we have today, the comma was misplaced. Since they weren’t there anyway it would not be difficult. I do it regularly. So perhaps I’m not as bad a scribe as I thought? Hopefully, one day we will all be together in Paradise with Jesus and Victor Borge. We’ll ask Victor to please read the Scripture for us complete with the phonetic punctuation. That should finally settle it. The thief will probably have a good laugh and say how wonderful it is to be with Jesus in Paradise.

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

 

DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES

⁴ I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.

John 9:4 MKJV

⁴ People who refuse to work want things and get nothing. But the longings of people who work hard are completely satisfied.

Proverbs 13:4 NIrV

²⁵ The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25 NLT

³⁴ Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent Me, and from finishing His work. ³⁵ You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. ³⁶ The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!

John 4:34-36 NLT

¹ "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

Matthew 20:1-2 MSG

² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

2 Timothy 4:2 NLT

¹³ So he sent for ten of his servants. He gave them each about three months' pay. 'Put this money to work until I come back,' he said.

Luke 19:13 NIrV

¹⁰ But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favour on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10 NLT

SCRIPTURE IN LIMERICKS

 

Tried to go further with Blogger but it keeps stopping. Sorry
If you would like to see the poem, please contact me.