Le psaume de dimanche

Sunday Psalm


Psalm 42

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
• • •

Sunday Psalm is hosted by Daily Athens and Katney's Kaboodle

Weekend Reflections

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See all the other contributors to James' Weekend Reflections

Le vendredi «Sky Watch»

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See the Sky Watch Friday entries from around the globe!

A license to map the states

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A creative use of old license plates at Stanford University Hospital and Clinics.
(Please excuse the poor image quality. «Louis» snapped this on the fly with his iPhone.)

Mercredi Sans Mots

Wordless Wednesday

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See all the other participants in Wordless Wednesday HERE.

Mardi Rouge

Ruby Tuesday
(a.k.a. Red Sports Car Day at Chez la Vache!)

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More proof of the LAW that ALL Italian sports cars MUST be RED, is this 1968 Maserati Mistral.



See more Ruby Tuesday entries HERE.

Portes de Lundi XXXII

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Doors to confessionals, Église St.-Eustache, Paris.
The funeral for Mozart's mother was held in this church. When Mozart was a child and taken by his parents on concert tours, he and his mother were in Paris on one such tour when she fell ill and died.
• • •
Not exactly Mozart, but while we are on the subject of confessionals...
Tom Lehrer: Doing the Vatican Rag
"Step into that small confessional..."

• • •

Série du Pont de Dimanche XCIII

Sunday BridgesChristmas blessings to each of you from «Louis»
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The Sundial Bridge
Redding, CA
Also see Martha Z's post about this bridge.



• • •
O Magnum Mysterium

Le psaume de dimanche

Sunday Psalm


Psalm 40

For the director of music. Of David.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.

4 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, LORD,
as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased to save me, LORD;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The LORD is great!”

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay.
• • •
Sunday Psalm is hosted by Daily Athens and Katney's Kaboodle

Weekend Reflections

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A headlight on a magnificent 1934 Packard Twelve Lebaron (one of only three built) is reflected in the fender.


See all the other contributors to James' Weekend Reflections

Le Vendredi «Sky Watch»

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A plane taking off from SFO is about to jet past the Zeppelin Eureka over San Francisco at dusk.

See the Sky Watch Friday entries from around the globe!

Point Bonita Lighthouse

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The Point Bonita Lighthouse on the Marin Headlands northwest of San Francisco, seen across the Golden Gate from China Beach in San Francisco. This lighthouse, now automated, was the last manned lighthouse on the west coast.

Mercredi Sans Mots

Wordless Wednesday

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See all the other participants in Wordless Wednesday HERE.

Mardi Rouge

Ruby Tuesday

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Continuing the theme that Not ALL red sports cars are Italian, today «Louis» presents this American made Kurtiss from the mid-1950s. Little known today, these cars were quite the contenders in dirt track racing in the 1950s. They were powered by a Cadillac V8. This Kurtiss competed in this year's California Mille.


See more Ruby Tuesday entries HERE.

Portes de Lundi XXXI

Monday Doorways

Steps leading to the doors of la Basilique du Sacre-Cœur, Montmartre, Paris, 18 ème. Something «Louis» finds amusing is the fact that only a few hundred feet away from this huge basilica is ANOTHER church, the much older église Saint Pierre du Montmartre. At one time, there were two other churches adjacent to Nôtre-dame de Paris, and Saint-Étienne du Mont is a stone's throw from le Pantheon, which was built to be a church.

• • •

Série du Pont de Dimanche XCI

Sunday Bridges

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Le psaume de dimanche

Sunday Psalm


Psalm 39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

1 I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
3 my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Show me, LORD, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.

6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.

12 “Hear my prayer, LORD,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
before I depart and am no more.”
• • •
Sunday Psalm is hosted by Daily Athens and Katney's Kaboodle

Weekend Reflections

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See all the other contributors to James' Weekend Reflections

Le Vendredi «Sky Watch»

Sky Watch Friday
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See the Sky Watch Friday entries from around the globe!

L'heure bleue

The Blue Hour
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L'heure bleue

... the blue hour, the magic hour, the hour between daylight and night when the sky's luminosity draws artists out of their studios to see light's last echoes at night or its first echoes at dawn.

"Because French often places its modifiers after its nouns, there is a kind of poetry that English cannot, because of how it works, achieve. So, for example, there is the French expression, l'heure bleue, which refers to that often shimmering time between the hours of daylight and darkness. We say “the magic hour” for that concept. It's sort of sad to write that next to l'heure bleue. French knows what to do here. French knows that the concept of “blue” is critical; that time of soft, subtle waning is about hue. French knows that emphasis should be on the idea of blue, but also that sufficient strength is given to the idea of the hour, to l'heure. L'heure bleue sounds like subtle magic.

From "The Soul of Creative Writing", by Richard Goodman.

Also see:

L'heure bleue IL'heure bleue II
L'heure bleue IIIL'heure bleue IV

Mercredi Sans Mots

Wordless Wednesday

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See all the other participants in Wordless Wednesday HERE.

Mardi Rouge

Ruby Tuesday

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Not ALL red sports cars are Italian, as witnessed by this fine Mercedes-Benz 300SL from the mid-1950s. These greatly desired cars bring top dollar in the rare occasions when they come up for sale.


See more Ruby Tuesday entries HERE.

Portes de Lundi XXX

Monday Doorways
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A church built in the 19th century at Point Arena, facing the Pacific on California's North Coast.
• • •

Série du Pont de Dimanche XCI

Sunday Bridges

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Dawn comes to the Golden Gate.

Le psaume de dimanche

Sunday Psalm


Psalm 38

Of David. A petition.

1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.

5 My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7 My back is filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
8 I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.

9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
even the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away.
12 Those who want to kill me set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they scheme and lie.

13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
like the mute, who cannot speak;
14 I have become like one who does not hear,
whose mouth can offer no reply.
15 LORD, I wait for you;
you will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat
or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many have become my enemies without cause;
those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 Those who repay my good with evil
lodge accusations against me,
though I seek only to do what is good.

21 LORD, do not forsake me;
do not be far from me, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my Savior.
• • •

Sunday Psalm is hosted by Daily Athens and Katney's Kaboodle

Weekend Reflections

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See all the other contributors to James' Weekend Reflections

Le vendredi «Sky Watch»

Sky Watch Friday
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See the Sky Watch Friday entries from around the globe!

La ville au crépuscule

The City at Dusk

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Day of Deceit - The Attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December, 1941

Lest we forget

U.S.S. Arizona, BB39, before, during and after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
7 December, 1941.


One thousand one hundred seventy seven men and officers lost their lives on Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Former Oakland Tribune reporter Robert Stinnett wrote a compelling account in his book Day of Deceit - The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor outlining how Roosevelt goaded the Japanese into the attack in order to draw the isolationist U.S. into the world-wide conflagration known as World War II. While there is no doubt that the U.S. needed to enter the hostilities, Stinnett's book shows Roosevelt's cynicism in all its ugliness, particularly the way Roosevelt threw the commanders at Pearl Harbor, General Short and Admiral Kimmel, under the bus in order to draw the Japanese into attacking the U.S. American casualties in the attack totaled 2896.

American code breakers, led by Joseph Rochefort, had broken the Japanese code. FDR knew exactly how, where and when the Japanese attack would come. The information about the attack was deliberately withheld from Admiral Kimmel and General Short. Thus the attack was truly a surprise to them. Immediately prior to the attack, FDR had Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King [whom the normally circumspect Admiral Nimitz (who ultimately replaced Admiral Kimmel) described as a "self-appointed son-of-a-bitch."] order Admiral Halsey and all of the newest ships at Pearl Harbor, including the only aircraft carrier the U.S. Navy had in the Pacific, to sea on a feint to Wake. FDR, calculating (correctly) that their return would come too late to assist in driving the Japanese from Pearl Harbor, cancelled the mission to Wake just short of their arrival there and ordered them back to Pearl Harbor. Thus the oldest, slowest ships were the ones attacked and the newest, fastest ships and the only carrier were spared.

Interestingly, both Admiral Nimitz and the Japanese were using the same play book in the Pacific. In the 1920s, British military journalist, Hector Bywater, posited the very plan the Japanese used to attack Pearl Harbor, which at the time was far from the large base it had become by the arrival of the Japanese on 7 December, 1941. Not only that, but Bywater explored various responses the U.S. might make, arguing that the best response would be the very island-hopping campaign Nimitz employed. Bywater's book had been in circulation in U.S. Navy circles and was required reading of the Japanese Imperial Navy staff. The curious thing is that while the Japanese followed Bywater's outline for attack on Pearl Harbor to the letter, they completely failed to anticipate Nimitz's island-hopping response, a classic case of tripping on one's own shoelaces. Bywater died in London on 17 August, 1940 after one of the heaviest days of the Luftwaffe blitz on London. The London coroner, overwhelmed by civilian casualties from the Luftwaffe bombing attack, did not perform an autopsy on Bywater. Bywater's maid described how Bywater did not awake at his usual time. She checked on him and found him asleep, but sweating profusely. A short time later, she checked on him again and found him dead. While it has never been proven, it is highly probable that Bywater was poisoned by Japanese agents. The same day Bywater died, one of his close associates in military journalism who had been assigned by the British to cover military matters in Tokyo was arrested by Japanese military police. He died by "leaping" from an upstairs window in the Tokyo building where he had been taken for "interrogation." This is documented in the book "Visions of Infamy - The Untold Story of How Journalist Hector C. Bywater Devised The Plans That Led To Pearl Harbor."