i ruv rramas

get sick, get well, hang around an ink well

so there's this exhibit at the seattle science center that has a few samplings from the dead sea scrolls found in qumran back in the '40s....very incredible!

last night i went with some friends to visit the scrolls and left with a huge appreciation for these crazy people called the essenes who were probably the creators of the dead sea scrolls.

p.s. the scrolls contain info divided into three main categories -- Biblical writings (almost the entire old testament is represented, with several copies of most books), apocryphal writings and community rule stuff.

anyways, the community where the scrolls were discovered was stunningly centered on one simple theme -- purity. their lives were completely defined by the measure of purity the community deemed each individual worthy of.

and what did they do all day?

write scrolls.

i can hardly imagine. a life, dedicated to purity. and a mind, filled with the delicate brushstrokes of the hebrew language.

to me,
that is beautiful.


the psalms were a favorite...
Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.

How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.

(psalm 119:33, 40)