Spiritual Pretzel

Yesterday in the nearby city of Surrey, a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed to the ground, falling in a trailer park, killing two people, passengers in the balloon, and injuring eleven others. What a nightmare, one of those things you must fear when you go up in one.

And the twist is, that something similar happened in Manitoba earlier in the month. Freak hot-air balloon accidents.

This morning, the vicar referred to a woman whom Jesus healed in St. Luke's gospel, as a 'spiritual pretzel'. It captured my imagination, the idea of being bent and turned back in on yourself spiritually, caught in some kind of feedback loop. I'm still thinking about this one, but it kinda speaks to me.

My personal interest in Hippopotamia has prompted me to try to find out about the genesis of Arabs. Who are they? How are they different from non-Arabs. The first thing I found out that surprised me was that they are a 'Semitic race'. Surprised because I thought the term semitic referred to Jewish people.
When I looked the word up, it seems it is a family of languages that includes Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic.
However, genealogically, the word refers to the tribes of Arabia, and some of these tribes are descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Hmmm....curiouser and curiouser.

I could get wildly side-tracked, but then it's good to have an interest other than chocolate and Ikea.