Entry 15 - reading day 13

Genesis 31

Dear Reader,

I think this chapter may be pivotal in the bible because Jacob is returning to his biological family after 20 years of absence during which he was living in his father-in-law's house. I'm not even aware if his parents know he is still alive, although I'm hoping he managed to message them somehow so they wouldn't worry.

The reaction of Laban upon finding his daughter's grandchildren and Jacob gone without a word is much more typical of modern parent. He pursued them in order to ascertain what hap happened and why no one told him. This reaction seemed much more typical.

I do not like that Rachel, one of his daughters, stole things from Laban's house and then used the fact that she had her period to stop him from discovering the items. Nothing good can ever come from stealing anything, especially not from your parents. I don't care how mad you are or how much you think they have wronged you. And they may have indeed wronged you. It's still a bad thing to do. I found this out when I contemplated (although I never completed this action) stealing my mother's credit card and using it run away to California and pay for the summer I planned to spend there as part of my coming out process. If I had done this in modern times, I would have been arrested by the police. Goodness knows what would have happened in biblical times. Perhaps a beheading. Neither one of those is high on my life to-do lists.