Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | April 1, 2013
Our young sons ran, screaming. In our desert-like, Florida backyard, they spied a Coral snake, a death causing, venomous snake. Since they mimic the harmless King snake, someone poetically devised this mnemonic device: “Red on Black, Friend of Jack. Red on Yellow, Watch out, Fellow.” Brave Momma gets a hoe and cuts off the head […]
PHall | March 29, 2013
Atheists love this prayer: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will completely their destroy their cities” (Nm 21.2). Yahweh listens, the Canaanites are defeated and Israel frees those previously taken captive (21,3). On a human level, this appears more than a rescue mission, it reeks of revenge. Atheists love scriptures where […]
PHall | March 28, 2013
“I don’t know why I did that, that’s not who I am.” “I don’t know why I said that, that’s not like me.” Stress causes not only regret, but confusion, even questions about self-identity. The question is, “Who are we really? The person who behaves properly or when under duress acts aberrantly?” The answer is…. […]
PHall | March 26, 2013
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself” (Eleanor Roosevelt). “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results” (Albert Einstein). Apparently Einstein knew the Israelites, but the Israelites did not know Eleanor. There are Biblical stories hard to fathom; so sensational […]
PHall | March 21, 2013
I am tired of writing “Praying through the Bible.” This is #47, and I have mostly enjoyed the creative challenge of crafting them and the needed prayer challenges. But the truth is I am getting bored. I am out of ideas here with Israel. They are driving me nuts and drying up my imaginative, wacky, […]
PHall | March 19, 2013
Not everything is black and white, but in this chapter everything is, even the unexpected irony. “Black and white” means clear contrasts, as distinctive as black type on white paper; as differentiated as humility and jealousy; as obvious as, well, black and white. The first contrast is between siblings. “Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses” (Nm […]
PHall | March 19, 2013
“They (supply name) really push my buttons.” Whether it is intentionally, because of personality conflicts or personal experiences; some people easily annoy us. It’s like we have an “Annoy Me” button on our forehead with their name written on it. And just like a button on machine, we react. Sometimes the reaction is not immediate […]
PHall | March 14, 2013
Why should we expect God to treat us any better, any differently, if we always treat Him the same shabby way? That question should shock us or shame us into revaluating deeply. Since praying through the Bible, has the level of our prayer life been raised, become more focused, less selfish, with less complaints, and […]
PHall | March 12, 2013
The original GPS was actually a JPS, a Jewish Positioning System. Contrary to popular opinion, Israel did not wander around for 40 years because Moses refused to stop and ask for directions. Each move was directed by God using His GPS, a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. “The cloud covered […]
PHall | March 8, 2013
When’s the last time you blessed someone, or received a blessing? Most likely it was after a sneeze. “God bless you” has several uncertain origins: 1) a violent sneeze could thrust your soul from your body; 2) sneezing expelled an evil spirit, blessings protect from its reentering; 3) the heart stops and they pronounced a […]