copyright moomoonews all rights reserved 2019.
COWTALES
moomoonews
WELCOME TO moomoonews COWPEN PAGE
There is a cowtale which since the beginning and for a
long time was only shared by and only told amongst
the cows themselves. The cowtale speaks of the time
when God was still busy creating Heaven and all that is
under it.  Because God is God, God created a perfect
cow meadow.  After a while, God ended up regretting
to have overdone it.  To make amends,God created
moomoocow and stuck moomoocow in the cow
meadow.  moo moo moo.

WHAT DO THE HEBREW-CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES
REALLY SAY ABOUT CHILDREN AND ALIENS?
Many Christians whether children or adults are familiar with how Jesus showed great kindness to
children.   Mark reported that "people were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch
them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said
to them,
'Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the
kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a
little child will never enter it.'
 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed
them."  

Similarly, Matthew recalled that when Jesus was teaching, "then little children were being brought to
him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who
brought them; but Jesus said, '
Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to
such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.'
 And he laid his hands on them and went on his
way."

In those unsettled Tiberian days when Jesus was teaching the people, children generally occupied a
very low place in the community.  They probably fell below the social status of women, and may be
one rung ahead of the domestic animals.   As helpless persons, they may find company with widows,
slaves, and aliens.

Concerning aliens or strangers, Jesus in the parable of the Judgment of the Nations said, "Then the
king will say to those at his right hand, ‘
Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked
and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
’ "

But in all of these sayings, Jesus was not teaching anything new.

The question then is, what did the ancient law, - more than a thousand years before Jesus - the law
of Moses say?   Among the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah, one will find in Leviticus:  "The alien who
resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you
were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."   This injunction may be viewed as part
of the priestly code and tradition.  But this principle is restated, perhaps even  more affirmatively in
Deuteronomy: "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty
and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe,  who executes justice for the orphan and the
widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the
stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Being embedded in the 613 other statutes, the significance of equal treatment of aliens under the law
of Moses may be subject to competition and lose its way among the others duties to be observed.  
But wait, the law actually demands the highest deference when it comes to the alien.  Aliens are
actually protected by and under the Ten Commandments, the supreme law given by God to
Moses.  You may scratch your head and say that moomoocow must be jiving or on a flight of fancy.  
So read on, reflect, and work it out for yourself:

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.  Six days
you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God;
you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave,
or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the
resident alien in your towns, so
that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in
the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath
day.

This Commandment is a restatement of what has already been set in stone supremely in the
Decalogue of Exodus:

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.   Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  
But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you,
your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the
alien resident
in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and
consecrated it.

There we have it, the teaching of the Torah.   What is it saying to us today?  Amen.

moomoocow 08/14/2019.