Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | September 11, 2013
“Hide and Seek” is a game I greatly enjoyed playing with my daughters. Rachel was an excellent hider, silent and still. She would lay flat on the dining room chair hidden by the table cloth. Ashley giggled so much and shook while giggling she was easy to find. But she made a great tattle-tale in […]
PHall | September 9, 2013
God’s people are like little children before Christmas, sneaking down to open their presents before Christmas morning; and breaking them way before they are even supposed to be opened. A toddler might get away with it because they are cute; but cuteness stops helping most of us way too soon. Scripture is filled with people […]
PHall | September 7, 2013
Hear the word “Ebenezer” and our minds drift back to Dickens’s classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Being a literary genius, no doubt the name Ebenezer Scrooge was chosen meaningfully. Scrooge is a variation of an obscure English verb: “to scrouge” meaning “to squeeze” or “to press.” Scrooge pinched his pennies tightly and pressed heavily the poor. […]
PHall | September 5, 2013
What do normal, non-religious people have in common with pagan polytheists of 3000 years ago? The following story is touched by God’s unique humor. Israel treats God’s Ark of the Covenant like a graven image, a common idol. After Yahweh refuses them victory, they scheme like pagans: “Let’s bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant […]
PHall | September 3, 2013
Listening is a lost art, a lost courtesy, a lost tool for self-improvement, and a lost Bible study method. If we do not listen, we will be lost eternally. Too often when others talk, we are thinking what to say, ready to protect ourselves or defeat them. Too many suffer numbness of the ears; […]
PHall | September 2, 2013
Prayer leads to prayer when prayer ends in fulfillment. That is, unless we forget to give thanksgiving, or forget what we had prayed. I wonder how many heavenly requests we actually remember. Of course, some are so “big” they could never be forgotten. And, some are so selfish we are embarrassed upon reflection. Hannah prayed […]
PHall | August 30, 2013
There is an emptiness that consumes. When this emptiness is God absent, we can hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled. When an unhealthy emptiness is like a black hole, it swallows everything around it into non-existence. Sometimes the pressure is self-inflicted, at times forced on us by family; even society can be guilty […]
PHall | December 30, 2012
Reading this complicated text, one easily sees the reasoning behind the example of the Priests having to “work” on the Sabbath. It is the example of David (1 Samuel 21) that makes us scratch our heads. So the question is why? 1. Personal – Apparently the Pharisees approved of the example of David and it […]
PHall | August 19, 2012
Tribe of Levi Wife Barren House of God – Tabernacle and Temple Prayer for a child Hints that son becomes “Nazarite” Birth “Promised” Son born Names of sons based upon God Praises Offered by Parent Praises Similar in Language and Themes (i.e., horn, enemies, etc) Narratives include report of child’s growth Both become prophets Both […]
PHall | October 9, 2011
“The Rise and Fall of” is a familiar way to document historical periods, whether of people, parties, religions or nations. The Roman Empire, Fascist Germany, are the two most infamous. Systems, whether political or financial, and individuals, whose lives are lived before the world, are chronicled with the epitaph and fatalistic phrase, “the rise and […]