December 2, 2019

Monday sunrise, 7:15.

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1. The actual sunrise time was 7:11. I didn't pick that photograph because I was late for the sun, but because it struck me the hardest when I got home and uploaded my collection of snaps.

2. In fact, I was out there, halfway into my morning run, at 7:02, when it looked like this:

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3. I liked that, but I had thought, based on the configuration of clouds, that it would be one of the most spectacular sunrises in the series (which began on September 9th). I was surprised by the mild yellow orange. Where were the pinks and purples?

4. Does the sunrise know it will be a pleasant day and not one about which fishermen should "take warning"?

5. I say "fishermen," because that's what I heard growing up, perhaps from my Uncle Henry, who was a fisherman (in his leisure time). But I see the most common form of the rhyme is "Red sky at night, sailors' delight/Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." The couplet has its own Wikipedia page, and that includes numerous variations — "pink" for "red" and "shepherds" for "sailors" — but none of the variations has "fishermen."

6. Matthew 16:1-4: "The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired [Jesus] that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed."

7. That's the King James Version, which says "Jonas." Jonas is Jonah. Why Jonah? Back in Matthew 12, Jesus gave the same answer to the Pharisees when they asked for a sign — "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas" — but with more of an explanation: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."

8. "It's a Beautiful Morning" — a Young Rascals song that played in my earphones during today's run. "There will be children with robins and flowers/Sunshine caresses each new waking hour/Seems to me that the people keep seeing/More and more each day...."

9. See more today.

37 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...

Good morning. (Nice photos. And your Biblical commentary reminds me of when people, here, used to call me "John The Baptist". Oh, those were the days.) In France, they would regularly mock Americans for saying "Have a nice day" because - being a war-torn country - they don't believe such a things actually exist, the losers. They don't even try.

I just posted a new playlist of (free and downloadable) songs - all with lyrics for those who need them - to get your week started right. Or wrong, as the case may be.

I'll say wrong - for the French: Everything is all just wrong...




mockturtle said...
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gilbar said...

4. Does the sunrise know it will be a pleasant day and not one about which fishermen should "take warning"?

Randall Munroe (of XKCD fame), says that the "red Sky" comes when the sun (below the horizon) lights of THE BOTTOMS of the Clouds.
So,
if the clouds are in the east, and go past the horizon... No red sky
if the clouds haven't made it that far yet (and thus, the front is Over YOU) red sky

if the clouds are in the west, and go past the horizon... No red sky
if the clouds are in the west, but it's clear past the horizon... red sky

so,
No red sky means no change in weather; and what you have now will continue
red sky means that a change is coming, because it's clear past the horizon
AND this all assumes, that weather moves from West to East

etbass said...

Ninevah finally did repent and the Lord's hand was held.

God help us to repent.

Maillard Reactionary said...

I like the subtle pink clouds in the first one.

Speaking of Randall Munroe, for anyone here who has read it--do you think that his "What If?" book would be enjoyable for a bright 12-year old?

Michael K said...

Glad to be home. Up before the sunrise to catch a plane at Midway Airport.

At 5 AM the airport was crowded.

WhoKnew said...

Ahh! Love the Rascals. That's a great song by a great American pop band.

Howard said...

Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past?

The Crack Emcee said...

Here's a photo of my sister, Marva, when she was singing back-up for The Rascals. (She did a lot of work on a lot of the "Classic Rock" songs we hear today.) She went on to become a Northern Soul artist in her own right. She's a religious nut now.

Unlike some people....

mockturtle said...

Crack: She is very pretty. And by 'a religious nut' I assume you mean she has received Christ as her Savior. Go thou and do likewise. :-)

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Crack: She is very pretty. And by 'a religious nut' I assume you mean she has received Christ as her Savior. Go thou and do likewise. :-)"

Not a chance. And by "religious nut" I mean, until the day my mother died, she and Marva argued - viciously - about which day one should go to church on, Saturday or Sunday. I couldn't stop them, and eventually parted with both of them over that and their other individual (but mutual) "spiritual" obsessions.

That believers think anyone should have, or needs, such bullshit in their lives leaves atheists, like me, shaking our heads at how little they appreciate what's here, when they're always clamboring for something more, than this, in the ether.

Religious people honestly miss the whole point.

Rick.T. said...

Howard said...
Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past?


"...And with its crutch, its old age and its wisdom
It whispers "no, this will be the last"
And the wind cries Mary"

Charlie said...

Professor: I always enjoy your biblical citations and appreciate your knowledge of the Bible, which shows here in your explanation of the reference to the sign of Jonah. Well done. I do wonder why you usually quote from the 15th century King James? It also tends to be the version used whenever the Bible is quoted in the NY Times and other news outlets. More modern translations like the ESV or NIV attempt to convey Jesus' words in a natural English style reflecting the likely way Jesus and his contemporaries spoke as they addressed their audiences in the Aramaic or Hebrew or Greek of their day. I'm currently reading Eugene Vodolazkin's Laurus, not in the original Russian, but in an English translation by Lisa Hayden that attempts to mimic the unusual style of the original. You get the idea. Just curious about your preference for the KJV.

mockturtle said...

Crack asserts: Religious people honestly miss the whole point.

That would be hilarious, Crack, if it weren't so sad. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Ann Althouse said...

"Here's a photo of my sister, Marva, when she was singing back-up for The Rascals. (She did a lot of work on a lot of the "Classic Rock" songs we hear today.) ..."

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.

Ann Althouse said...

"I do wonder why you usually quote from the 15th century King James?"

The language feels uplifting — like Shakespeare.

mockturtle said...

The language feels uplifting — like Shakespeare.

I agree. It's the most beautifully written translation.

mockturtle said...
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mockturtle said...

And it's not '15th Century' but early 17th Century, which is why it reads like Shakespeare.

gilbar said...

argued - viciously - about which day one should go to church on, Saturday or Sunday
That's Simple! Just go on Saturday, Like GOD Told Us TO!!!!

gilbar said...

Phidippus said...
Speaking of Randall Munroe, for anyone here who has read it--do you think that his "What If?" book would be enjoyable for a bright 12-year old?


Wow! YES! a he's got Two other books out now (i own them all), and the How To (the latest) is the most fun (it appeals to the 12 year old in Everybody)

gilbar said...

But What If would be great for a 12 year old (they'd ALL be great for a (bright) 12 year old

Fernandinande said...

"Matthew 16:1-4: "

When you get caught bullshitting, talk about the weather.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Thanks for the info, folks! Several Munro books are going on my Christmas list for the grandson.

mockturtle said...

argued - viciously - about which day one should go to church on, Saturday or Sunday
That's Simple! Just go on Saturday, Like GOD Told Us TO!!!!


Gilbar, some of my Colonial American ancestors were 'Seventh Day Baptists'. I think it can be argued that Saturday is the Sabbath and not Sunday. But I'm not convinced God is concerned about it.

mockturtle said...

Fernandistein, you can always ignore subjects that make you uncomfortable. :-)

Charlie said...

"The language feels uplifting — like Shakespeare." I thought that would be your answer, given your love of language and the arts. I agree. It feels poetic and majestic, if sometimes difficult to understand.

And mockturtle, yes, I stand corrected. It was published in 1611 and I always make the mistake of subtracting instead of adding to get the century.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Crack asserts: Religious people honestly miss the whole point. That would be hilarious, Crack, if it weren't so sad. For many are called, but few are chosen."

I was neither called nor chosen - I'm a foster child. I was born into a position to observe see what Shakespear called "Gilding the lilly" - not appreciating what's here without having to put a paranormal or supernatural cloak over it - it's mental from what I can see, and I've seen more than most. Raised in the black church, but spent most of that time tripping on how weirdly passionate everyone acted, for an hour a week, before they went back to their regular diet of sex and murder. And even after I left home and returned, no one's improved by it, it didn't prevent them from acting out, and seems to given them a license to do anything they wanted because they have God and Jesus (or whoever) to co-sign on it. That's why we get predophile priests and con artist "psychics".

Religion and spirituality are cartoon versions of transcendence that have become popular when they should've died long ago - and THAT'S what's "sad" from my perspective.

I could've done without any of it. I might still be married without a wife enamoured with it. My mother and I might've got along. My sister and I (who otherwise get along great) be be speaking now. But, you know how stuck in their ways religious folk are - they can't give up the invisible god for their flesh and blood so WTF, right?

Riiiight.

mockturtle said...

Well, Crack, my mother was a diehard atheist and my father an agnostic. I didn't become a Christian until I was 37. Up until then I was also a skeptic. The deal is, God exists whether you believe in Him or not.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"The deal is, God exists whether you believe in Him or not."

No, that's science - God is the one that only exists if you believe.

Howard said...

Thanks Rick. Nothing like a little sermon from the church of Jimi

fleg9bo said...

The Rascals

Life will be ecstasy
You and me and Leslie

narciso said...

I think certain debates fall under this category:

https://www.epm.org/blog/2008/Jun/11/disputable-matters-in-romans-14-what-they-are-and-

it's not really germane, remember we started with the 10 commandment, but with Leviticus, there was an infinity of rules, that could not be completely obeyed to live up to the law,

But there is the essential truth of God's existence, which Romans 1 addresses early on,

narciso said...

Yesterday's sermon was on jesus incarnation which is included in genesis early on, but it fulfilled in revelation 12, which all the downfalls from the Fall to the exile under Antiochus and the roman captivity,

Kit Carson said...

that sorta burnt pink or burnt orange juxtaposed with the pastel blue is always special.

you can see green in the sky when the sky is mostly gray with a patch of orange and nearby is a break in the clouds that should show blue but the gray and orange trick the mind's eye and the patch shows as green, a light green trending to aqua, but green.

tim in vermont said...

In pictures from that sailboat of Greta Thunberg, the little girl looks so happy. Maybe she should just take up sailing with her new family.

BTW, it’s funny to me that Thunberg is already in spellcheck, but Kavanaugh isn’t. Are they bitter or what?

tim in vermont said...

I am streaming a movie from 1972, Avanti in my home on a huge screen with some kind of quantum mechanics enabled 4k TV. The picture is stunning, and Jack Lemmon lays out a copy of Future Shock