A Pustulence of Ignunce

Photo Credit: Fabio Rezende Fabinho, from Pixabay 

The funniest thing happened yesterday on the way to a funeral.  On such a sad occasion, you grab hold of all the humor you can find, I guess.  Maybe that's why people sometimes stand around funeral homes and share joyful stories of the "dearly departed".  That's not what this is about though.

I had volunteered to drive my mother (whose age shall not be mentioned) from her house to the funeral of one of her first cousins, in a town a good 90 miles away.  Then, our group got larger when my sister decided to tag along, and then my uncle (whose age shall not be mentioned either because some nosy souls would then closely peg my mother's age).  And, you know, I've got to stay in good standing with The Queen.

So, yesterday morning, my sister, who lives about 30 minutes from me, came over to the house, and away we went to pick up mother, followed by picking up my uncle, who lives "on the way".  

I have not traveled to the town in question before, I don't think.  If I have, there's no memory of it.  As we approached our destination, we blipped through this very small town called Oxford.  I had no idea there was a little town in my state called Oxford.  My mother says, "Oh, I remember _____ {the dearly departed} showing me around the college here, Emory at Oxford."  I nearly wrecked the car.  I legit thought I was being punked; but, I was cool.  I said, "There's a college here called Emory at Oxford?!"  "Oh yes, we may drive by it," she replied.  My uncle sagely agreed.

Now, "everybody knows" (natives of my state) that the esteemed Emory University of Atlanta GA, has satellite experiences in Oxford, England, at Oxford University.  If you get in to Emory University, well, that's like the Ivy League of the South.  And, if you can study at Oxford University in England, through Emory University, then, you have really done a prestigious thing.
The cognitive dissonance my mother innocently generated was real, Y'all.

In mere moments, here came this small college campus, appearing on our right.  "There it is!", exclaims mother.  I could not believe my eyes.  My uncle had been back-seat driving since we had picked him up; so, I was a little on-edge anyway.  I still "rode low on my shetland pony" and did not admit to my ignorance, since the proof was undeniable.  There in living glory was Oxford College, a two-year, private liberal arts college, named after the town in which it resides.  Oxford College is the birthplace, and one of the nine academic divisions, of Emory University.

When I got home, I scoped all this out.  (If Mrs. Catherine Bomar taught me this in 8th grade GA history, I must not have been paying attention!) Did I feel like an ignoramus?  Why yes!  Yes, I did!
By the same token, I learned something new and in the process thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Have you ever had an experience studying the Bible where, you think you know something?  And, THEN you read a previously undiscovered passage that makes you go...."Wait a minute!"  That has happened to me many times.  On the same day my "Oxford enlightenment" happened, I was reading in Leviticus before we left my house that morning. There's a lot I don't know about Leviticus.

For example, I did not know that the skin disease called leprosy was connected with mold and/or mildew.  Children raised in church have heard of "leprosy", a mysterious disease, for centuries incurable, that turned skin an unnatural scaly white and eventually "ate" entire digits, limbs, facial features, etc.  The disease was thought to be highly contagious and accordingly caused those who unfortunately contracted it to be exiled into "leper colonies", communes cut off from the rest of the community.  Greatly feared, leprosy was viewed as a curse on an individual.  Most Christians have heard of leprosy because Jesus healed some lepers in the New Testament.  Christians tend to not know what Leviticus says about leprosy because...Leviticus is a fearsome book, Y'all.

At any rate, reading in Leviticus 14 yesterday morning, I learned that sometimes mold and/or mildew (?) would appear on the interior walls of a house.  צָרַ֔עַת (ṣā·ra·‘aṯ)  is the Hebrew word translated variously as "contaminant", "mold", "mildew", "plague", "contagion", "plague of leprosy", "diseased infection".  Basically, it was believed this manifestation of cankerous crud inside a home rendered that house "unclean".  The ... stuff ... had to be abated, rooted out, gotten rid of - - or the occupants would not only be "unclean" themselves - - they would likely get leprosy.  Leviticus 14:33-53 gives instructions for how this situation was to be dealt with, so to keep the Israelites as healthy as possible.  (Southeastern Restoration was not around...)
I had no idea it was "a thing" to "make atonement for the house" in this manner.
SELAH!  (which means, "how about that!")

Isn't the Bible amazing!

P.S. - - Credit for the title of this post goes to my second cousin, David Nash, one of the funniest people I've ever known.  (And, no David, I did NOT make up the name of the photographer who took the picture at the top of this post!)
P.P.S.- -  Cousin Brent was pretty funny too.  One time I made a boo-boo and did a Facebook live make-up demo on my main page instead of my make-up business page, as planned.  He weighed in, toward the beginning, and said something like he wished he could "unsee" me without any make-up on.  HAHA!  He was a sweet, generous man, and we will miss him, until we see him again in Heaven.  So glad he was a follower of Jesus Christ!

Source:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Is+Emory+at+Oxford+in+England%3F&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS829US829&oq=Is+Emory+at+Oxford+in+England%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.18168j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8