Unexpected (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Barely in time, the young man restrained himself from showing overtly how excited he was; as an up-and-coming person of importance in the area and with wealth to manage, he couldn't allow his feelings to get away from him, even if he could hardly wait to speak to that new rabbi who suddenly seemed to be the talk of everyone, everywhere.

When he finally sighted the rabbi, it was a bit of work to get close enough to him, surrounded as he was with his followers, the many townsfolk who wanted his time, the country people who'd come in just to see him; being a ruler in the area didn't seem to get him an advantage to getting closer, faster, and when he was at last there, his question fairly exploded from him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

He'd heard that this rabbi seldom responded exactly as you expected, as his teachings seemed to somehow embody something more than mere tradition, and the young man found out this was true when the response was, "Why are you calling me good when you know that only God is good -- if you want to enter life, keep the commandments, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal or bear false witness, honor your parents, love your neighbor as yourself."

The young man began to relax, this wasn't as hard as he thought, and he said, "All these things I've kept from the time I was a child!"

The rabbi looked at him with love, but he knew what was in the young man's heart, a desire stronger even than the desire for the eternal life he claimed he wanted, and the rabbi cut to the matter with the words, "One thing you lack, go, sell everything you own, and give it all to the poor, so you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me."

The rich young ruler, slack-jawed, thought this couldn't be happening, the rabbi couldn't be saying this, everyone knows that being rich proves God loves you and you love God, it's a blessing, how can he say this, and as the young man turned away in sorrow of heart he heard the rabbi say something even more stunning, "How difficult it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven, it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle."

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Eternal.      

(Based on the story usually called The Rich Young Ruler, as told in Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-27, and Luke 18:18-27.)

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

I thought Calvin exaggerated

when he and Hobbes would hide

from the snowy monsters,

but now i won't deride!

We need to build a snow fort,

and we need to do it quick,

those crazy things are coming,

and they're an army thick!

No wait, there's something better,

to defeat their whole empire,

let's get the big extension cord

and grab mom's big blow dryer!

(Yes, i know these are the tops of snow covered trees in Japan, but they reminded me so much of the snow goons in Calvin and Hobbes that i couldn't resist.)

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Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful the plans for next week are coming together.  It's going to be busy and the more i can plan ahead, the better.

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Today is:

Army Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

Catholic School Principal Appreciation Day -- originally designated by the National Catholic Education Association 

Coping With Uncertainty Day -- of uncertain origin, as it should be

Electronic Greeting Card Day -- internet generated, and of course probably started by the electronic greeting card websites

Fast for an Abundant World Harvest -- now unsponsored, but one way to help can be found here 

Great American Smokeout -- save money and your life, try not to smoke today; started by the American Cancer Society 

Homemade Bread Day -- use the bread machine, it's fun and easy, i promise!  sponsored by the Homemade Bread Day Committee of Ann Arbor, MI, US

International Students Day -- International (meant to celebrate all students around the world, not specifically students studying in countries other than their own; anniversary of the Nazi storming and closing of the University of Prague)

John Peter Zenger Day -- marking his arrest in 1734 for libel; he continued to edit his newspaper from jail and was acquitted, an early victory for freedom of the press

National Baklava Day

National Day -- Myanmar

National Farm Joke Day

National Unfriend Day -- all those people on Facebook you regret accepting as friends?  Jimmy Kimmel suggests you unfriend them today!

Polytechneio -- Greece (anniversary of the 1973 student protests against the junta)

Presidents' Day -- Marshall Islands

Public Restroom Hand Dryer Appreciation Day -- internet generated, and why?  they've been proven less sanitary, blowing germs everywhere; i will not appreciate this one

Shogi Day -- Japan (celebrating shogi, a chess-like game)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Day (Patron of bakers, beggars, brides, charitable societies, charitable workers, countesses, exiles, falsely accused people, hoboes, homeless people, hospitals, lace makers/lace workers, nursing homes, nursing services, people in exile, people ridiculed for their piety, tertiaries, tramps, widows; Sisters of Mercy; Teutonic Knights; Erfurt, Germany; Jaro, Philippines; against in-law problems, the death of children, toothache)

St. Hilda's Day (Patron of learning and culture)

St. Hugh of Lincoln's Day (Patron of sick children, sick people, swans)

Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia

Take A Hike Day -- internet generated, and some websites say it's actually "Tell Your Boss to Take a Hike Day", but i don't recommend that unless you've recently inherited a fortune or won the Lotto

Use Less Stuff Day -- a great idea!  not an officially sponsored day, but you can get information about using less stuff on this site

Winter Welcome Quadrilles and Dainty-Sixes -- Fairy Calendar

World Philosophy Day -- UNESCO 

World Prematurity Day -- International (raising awareness about premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death each year, and what can be done to prevent it)    

Birthdays Today:

Isaac Hanson, 1980

Laura Wilkinson, 1977

Matthew Settle, 1969

Daisy Fuentes, 1966

Sophie Marceau, 1966

Dylan Walsh, 1963

RuPaul, 1960

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, 1958

Danny DeVito, 1944

Lauren Hutton, 1944

Lorne Michaels, 1944

Tom Seaver, 1944

Lauren Hutton, 1943

Martin Scorsese, 1942

Gordon Lightfoot, 1938

Rock Hudson, 1925

Sichiro Honda, 1906

Lee Strassberg, 1901

Bernard Law Montgomery, 1887

August Mobius, 1790

John Peter Zenger, 1734

Atahualpa, last Emperor of the Inca, 1502

Flavius Claudius Julianus, Roman Emperor, 331

Vespian, Roman Emperor, 9

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sunset Boulevard"(Musical), 1994

"Rumors"(Simon play), 1988

"The Elephant Man"(Play), 1977

"The Sorcerer"(Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera), 1877

"Andromaque"(Racine tragedy), 1667

Today in History:

Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, 284

England and Spain sign an anti-French covenant/treaty, 1511

Elizabeth I ascends the English throne, 1558

France and Spain sign the Peace of the Pyrenees treaty, 1659

The Church of England organizes in New England, 1785

Congress holds its first session in the still incomplete Capitol Building of Washington, D.C., 1800

The Delta Phi fraternity, America's oldest continuous social fraternity, is founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York, 1827

Ecuador and Venezuela separate from Greater Colombia, 1831

Street signs are first authorized at San Francisco intersections, 1853

David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls, 1855

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March is given its première performance in Moscow, 1876

Japan and Korea sign The Eulsa Treaty, 1905

The first US dental hygienist course is formed, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1913

US declares the Panama Canal Zone to be neutral, 1914

Lenin defends the "temporary" removal of freedom of the press, 1917

American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th Century, 1947

Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse, 1970

In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution that would overthrow the communist government begins when student protests in Prague are quelled by riot police, 1989

Brian May of the rock band Queen was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, 2007

In Sweden, divers find the wreckage of the Svardet, a warship sunk in 1676 during the Battle of Oland, 2011

The Church of England adopts legislation enabling the appointment of female bishops, 2014

A smaller pyramid found within 2 known Kukulkan "nesting" pyramids dating from 550-580 AD is announced at Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico, 2016

British Columbia declares a state of emergency after an "atmospheric river" storm causes widespread rain and flooding, 2021