Proper 11A - Jacob's Ladder

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Jacob's life is full of struggle. he is born fighting, grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau, fighting and scheming with his mother against Esau for his father's blessing, then fighting "the man" (Genesis 32).

We say of flawed people "he is 'very human'". So we are given this very human patriarch - patriarchs shape self-understanding.

Jacob - with a stone for his pillow - dreams. He sees the angels of God going up and coming down the stairway. He hears the promise of the land on which he was lyig and the promise of descendants - and the promise that God will never leave him. Jacob used his pillow as a pillar and poured oil on it. he said; "Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.... How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

The Dream of Jacob by He Qi

jacob's Ladder by David Sharir

from the Ratner Museum

Jacob's ladder by Marc Chagall