Posted on 06/23/2021 5:49:58 AM PDT by Hebrews 11:6
People were much cleaner during Greco-Roman times than in the Dark Ages and the Medieval times and even the Renaissance that followed. It wasn’t until the ‘Enlightenment’ that people began personal hygiene regimens again..............
A tradition that continues to this day...................
Back in 2000, I was in Germany on a job for the German Air Force in Berlin. We had to stay in a small village inn near the AFB because there was some convention in town and all the big hotels and motels were booked solid.
The maid, who spoke intermittent English, and had never met many Americans said that “You Americans are very clean people!”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You take baths every night! My husband only takes a bath maybe once a week!”...............
In that case, Red, you pass the smell test.
I remember getting off the plane in Paris, DeGaulle Airport, after flying all night across the Atlantic and the first thing I noticed was the SMELL!
The airport was full of people from all over the world, it looked like a UN General Assembly. The smell was horrendous.................
As my mother used to say, “The smeller is the feller!”
I’ve enjoyed sitting at LAX near the international airlines’ counters and observing their customers, who all resemble their compatriots.
Like the Bar Scene in Star Wars....................
LOL
One of my favorite stories from scripture for it has one of Jesus’ funniest lines:
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?”
The woman had been on her knees, crying and anointing Jesus feet long enough for Simon to judge her in his heart and Jesus ask him to judge between two debtors. She’d made a scene in short, and everyone in the room (or outside on a terrace) was watching her and listening to Jesus and Simon.
Oh, the irony.
This is quite the set up and rebuke for Simon, for Jesus judges him out of Simon’s own mouth and behavior.
Just in case any of us is feeling superior to Simon, consider Jesus’ words about how He will judge us all: by every word we speak.
Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
I consider this verse the most frightening in the Bible.
As usual, I love Tissot. He accurately portrays the postures and eating style of the time—on low couches. No tables. He hides the woman’s face as she cries on Jesus’ feet, making her into everywoman and everyman who has ever sinned and failed miserably.
I wonder, as I have many times, which artists influence others? I see many with the same pose as Tissot’s.
I examined that painting minutely. The woman’s right hand is on top and clearly has 5 fingers. Her left hand is under Jesus’ foot. What look like fingers seem to be Jesus’ toes, but I only see 4. The fingers on the woman’s left hand aren’t clear at all.
I think it’s confusingly rendered.
God imagined and then invented humor, and He is its oldest practitioner. I'm glad you are one of the enlightened Christians who is not afraid to recognize His tremendous sense of humor when He manifests it. The Chosen had a(n invented) beaut last night when Jesus said sardonically, "Interesting point."
When the dust clears after I illustrate Revelation 22 (!), I might throw in some “Greatest Hits” threads, as I’ve done a couple of times—and I assure you, ol’ Jacques Joseph will lead that parade.
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