pachrist

PSALM 140

1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 2 Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set traps for me. Selah

6 I said to the Lord: “You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. 7 O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have [a]covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah

9 “As for the head of those who surround me, Let the evil of their lips cover them; 10 Let burning coals fall upon them; Let them be cast into the fire, Into deep pits, that they rise not up again. 11 Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

12 I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor. 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence

Sounds like the opposite might be true, and it’s OK to pray for the death of evil men.

Co-opting alpine divorce, which regularly involves a murder attempt, feels weird? Just call it the sierra split.

I do wonder how much of this is a cheapening of the weekend getaway, where you’d go to a B&B upstate, find out your potential partner snores, drinks to much, is rude to service workers, or views a toothbrush as optional. You’d sigh and split. It’s just a bad weekend.

But with this, camping and hiking is a complication. You’re drinking warm filtered water from a Nalgene, eating granola because someone forgot to bring a lighter. Also, it’s raining and all your socks are wet. Did you bring anything to wash dishes? Ah, there are no dishes. You smell like smoke and are covered in sand.

Granted, you can do camping/hiking well, but I’d bet some of these cases are from people doing it poorly, trying to save a buck by avoiding more expensive weekend getaways.