Today’s Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster is hagiography.

It means (1) a biography of saints or venerated persons; (2) an idealizing or idolizing biography.

Their “Did You Know” section on the word caught my eye:

Like "biography" and "autograph," the word "hagiography" has to do with the written word.  The combining form "-graphy" comes from Greek "graphein," meaning "to write."  "Hagio-" comes from a Greek word that means "saintly" or "holy."  This origin is seen in "Hagiographa," the Greek designation of the Ketuvim, the third division of the Hebrew Bible.  Our English word "hagiography," though it can refer to biography of actual saints, is these days more often applied to biography that treats ordinary human subjects as if they were saints.

The Ketuvim is labeled Hagiographa in Greek but it also means a biography of saints (or holy ones).

Who knew?

When we consider the whole of Scripture as "The Word" and the Word is G-d (John 1:1) then Scripture is His story: the story of the Messiah, the Word made flesh, and His creation of and interaction with humanity.

All of Scripture is a "biography" of sorts of the truly Holy One.

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"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so!"

The famous childrens' song might have another verse: "Pork is yucky this I know, for the Bible tells me so!"

And modern studies are bearing out that fact.  A recent Consumer Reports study found "significant amounts of harmful and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, along with low levels of a growth hormone used to promote growth in pigs..."

FoxNews.com ran the story in detail.

Check it out.

As usual, the Bible said it first:

The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.  (Deuteronomy 14:8)

Jesus loves me this I know.  Pork's no good, He told me so!

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We give thanks to the Lord for the blessing of a dear friend, Becky Holland, who shared this grace after meals prayer for Thanksgiving Day.

http://www.jewishrenewalhasidus.org/wordpress/reb-zalmans-thanksgiving-prayer-5775/

May it be a blessing to you as well!

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Jeff let out a shrill whistle and Sarge charged the first obstacle, leaping over it.  He low-crawled under the next barricade and then sprinted on to the next challenge.  Running, jumping, crawling, and balancing his way through the course, the three year old German Shepherd constantly watched his trainer’s hand signals and listened to his voice.  The bond of love between master and dog was plain to see.

...

George knocked on his neighbor’s door then rang the bell after nobody answered.  Eventually, a disheveled, tired looking man opened the door and grumbled, “Whadda ya want?  I was watching the game.”  George handed the man a rope and replied, “I believe this belongs to you.”  At the end of the rope was a dirty, scruffy looking mutt.  “He got out again?”  “Yes, and this time he tore up two more pillows on our back porch chairs.”  The man jerked the rope, yanking the whimpering dog inside the house.  “This stupid pooch is more trouble than he’s worth.”

...

As part of my day job, I read articles about business, innovation, and technology. Recently I read this rather insightful article on TheAtlanticCities.com that contained this pithy observation:

If you ask most people, they’ll tell you facts are facts. But the reality of the matter, as Samuel Arbesman points out in his brilliant new book, The Half-Life of Facts, is "[f]acts change all the time." To cite just a few of Arbesman’s most compelling examples: We used to think that the earth was the center of the universe, that Pluto was a planet, and that brontosaurus was a real dinosaur.

I don't fault Mr. Arbesman for overlooking one caveat to his statement. I think most people would have done the same thing.

"Facts change all the time" is a true statement for facts that are uncovered and related by humanity. 

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

The truth revealed by our eternal, unchanging G-d is eternal and unchanging because the Word of G-d is G-d (John 1:1).

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