Tenderness

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 84 of 145 · 20 per page

• From Vox (1992)

  “The things we do for love. I knew this person, a doctor, who once told me that he liked to hyperventilate when he was masturbating, like a puppy. He got very scientific about it. He said that hyperventilating decreases the ionized calcium in the blood, alters neural conductivity, does this, does that. I tried it once. He said when you’re almost there, after panting and panting, he-a-he-a-he-a, you’re supposed to do this thing called a Valsalva, which is where you take a breath and you clamp your throat shut and push hard , and if you do it right, you’re supposed to have a mind-blowing orgasm—tingling extremities, tingling roots of your hair, tingling teeth, I don’t know, the whole business. I didn’t have much success with the technique, but he was this huge man, huge coarse beard, huge arms, he loved large meatball subs, with that orange grease—and he was so big and so innocent and actually quite shy that the idea of him gasping—” “His eyes squinted shut.” “Right, hunched over his male organ, though I have to say I was never quite able to picture his male organ, but the idea of him intentionally, deliberately gasping and swallowing was enough to help me toward a moment or two of pleasure myself.” “Ooo. On that very bed?” “On this very bed.” “But without the chenille bedspread.” “Without the chenille bedspread, which I notice is leaving little white pieces of fluff on my pants, mm, mm, mm, get off, you. You see, a pretentiously sexy silk bedspread from Deliques would have been more practical after all.” “Well, right, no, I can see that the things in Deliques might be sexy,” he said. “Garters and all that. They don’t do much for me—in fact, the whole Victorian flavor of a certain kind of smirky kinkiness puts me off—but still, I have to admit that when the catalogs started coming, week after week, early fall, midfall, late fall, this persistent gush of half-dressed women flowing toward me in the mail, on such expensive paper, with the bee-stung lips and all that, it did start to interest me.” “Ah, now you’re admitting it,” she said. “The male models are quite good-looking, too.”

• From Vox (1992)

  A dry Vermouth on the rocks. And you accept.” “I do, you’re right,” he said, “and now I’m sitting on an armchair when you come toward me with the drinks, a low sort of armchair, and I have my legs sprawled open in a fairly innocent way, and I just dust off the area of the armchair that’s between my legs, indicating that if you want to, you could sit there with no problem and lean back against me, and you do turn and sit there, but you don’t lean back, you’re leaning forward, and so I have this warm back, covered in loose blue shirt material, in front of me, this miracle of a back, and I take a sip of the drink, and put it down on the table, on a napkin, so it won’t leave a ring, and I reach up and click off the table lamp so it’s a bit darker, and I close my eyes and find your shoulders with my hands and you ask where I found the Mmmm-Detector and I describe the table of junk I found it on in a flea market in Anaheim, a hundred and forty bucks, without any manual, and how I taught myself over several years what it was for and how to read it, and as I’m telling you this I’m moving my thumbs in two little arcs back and forth above your shoulder blades, which is as much of a back rub as I can handle, because the notion of something called a back rub tires my mind out instantly, and I can’t do anything that has to do with that, even though your back and my hands are interested in each other. What interests me is your bra, quite honestly, and so I relax my left hand and let it slide down the middle of your back, just let the fingers slide very lightly down over the material of your shirt, until I come to the place where your bra is fastened, and with my eyes closed, and with your ass warm between my legs, but still innocently there, I feel the three possible places for the hooks on the little fastener to hook, and that you’ve used the third setting, because of shrinkage probably, and I take my fingers and I follow the upward curving edge of the bra as it rises toward your shoulders, and I ride this curve up a little way over your shoulders and then back down your back and in to the middle again. It’s like driving over the Bay Bridge.

• From Vox (1992)

  He said, ‘Oh.’ And then he said, ‘Well, I think Hitchcock was a fairly sick individual anyway.’ I said, ‘You’re probably right.’ Then he dried his hands with a paper towel and turned toward me holding the glass bottle of olive oil and he said, ‘Now, where does this go?’ I said, ‘Well, where would you like it to go?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know.’ So I said, ‘Well sometimes, after I get my legs waxed, the day after, they’re still a little tender, and I’ve found that olive oil really helps them feel better.’ Which wasn’t true, they feel fine the day after, but anyway.” “Erotic license.” “Exactly. He said, ‘But that would be terribly messy!’ I said, ‘So I’ll stand in the bathtub.’ And he said, ‘But won’t it be cold and clammy?’ So I turned the bottle of oil on its side and put it in the microwave for twenty seconds. He felt it and he shook his head and said, ‘I think it needs a full minute.’ So we leaned on the counter, looking at the microwave, while it heated the oil. When the five beeps beeped, Lawrence took it out, and we went to the bathroom together. I stood in the bathtub and pulled my shorts up high on my legs, and very solemnly he poured a little pool of olive oil on his fingers and rubbed it just above my knee.” “He was kneeling himself?” “Yes. The bathtub wasn’t really wet anymore—I mean it was still humid from both the showers, but we didn’t have the water running or anything. He said, ‘You’re very smooth.’ I said, ‘Thank you.’ A rather powerful smell of olive oil surrounded us, and I began to feel quite Mediterranean and Bacchic, and honestly somewhat like a mushroom being lightly sautéed. He stared at his hand going over my skin, blinking at it. I pulled the sides of my shorts up higher so he could do more of my thighs, and I said, ‘Leona is very thorough. No follicle is left unmolested.’ Then, whoops, I wondered whether that was maybe too kinky for him and whether he might think that I was trying to give him the idea that Leona had gone over the edge and waxed off all my pubic hair, horrifying thought, so I said, ‘I mean, within limits.’ He just kept on dolloping oil on his fingers and rubbing it in. After a while I turned around and held on to the showerhead and he did the backs of my legs. He wasn’t artful at all, he didn’t know how to knead the deep muscles, but I could feel the intelligence and interest in his fingers when they came to each new dry curve. His hands went right up underneath the bagginess of my shorts. I liked that. He didn’t say anything. Once I think he cleared his throat. Finally he said, ‘Okay, I think that’s everything.’

• From The Glass Castle: A Memoir (2005)

  • • • About a month after I’d started school, I was walking up some steps to a park at the top of the hill when I heard a low, furious barking coming from the other side of the World War I memorial. I ran up the stairs and saw a big, lathered-up mongrel cornering a little black kid of about five or six against the monument. The kid kept giving kicks at the dog as it barked and lunged at him. The kid was looking over at the tree line on the far side of the park, and I could tell he was calculating the chances of making it over there. “Don’t run!” I shouted. The boy looked up at me. So did the dog, and in that instant, the kid took off in a hopeless dash for the trees. The dog bounded after him, barking, then caught up with him and snapped at his legs. Now, there are mad dogs and wild dogs and killer dogs, and any one of them would go for your throat and hold on until you or it was dead, but I could tell this dog was not truly bad. Instead of tearing into the kid, it was having fun terrifying him, growling and pulling on his pant leg but doing no real damage. It was just a mutt who had been kicked around too much and was happy to find a creature who was afraid of it. I picked up a stick and raced toward them. “Go on, now!” I shouted at the dog. When I raised the stick, it whimpered and slunk off. The dog’s teeth had not broken the boy’s skin, but his pant leg was torn, and he was trembling as if he had palsy. I offered to take him home, and I ended up carrying him piggyback. He was feather-light. I couldn’t get a word out of him except the most minimal directions—“up there,” “that way”—in a voice I could hardly hear. The houses in the neighborhood were old but freshly painted, some in bright colors like lavender or kelly green. “This here,” the boy whispered when we came to a house with blue shutters. It had a neat yard but was so small that dwarves could have lived there. When I put the kid down, he dashed up the steps and through the door. I turned to go. Dinitia Hewitt was standing on the porch across the street, looking at me curiously. • • • The next day when I went out to the playground after lunch, the gang of girls started toward me, but Dinitia hung back. Without their leader, the others lost their sense of purpose and stopped short of me. The following week, Dinitia asked me for help on an English assignment.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  The salon was literally stuffed with what Mademoiselle had described as her ‘treasures.’ On its tables were innumerable useless objects which appeared for the most part, to be me- mentoes. Coloured prints of Bouguereaus hung on the walls, while the chairs were upholstered in a species of velvet so hard as to be rather slippery to sit on, yet that when it was touched felt rough to the fingers. The woodwork of these inhospitable chairs had been coated with varnish until it looked sticky. Over the little inadequate fireplace smiled a portrait of Maman when she was quite young. Maman, dressed in tartan for some strange reason, but in tartan that had never hob-nobbed with the Highlands — a present this portrait had been from a cousin who had wished to become an artist. Julie extended a white, groping hand. She was like her sister only very much thinner, and her face had the closed rather blank expression that is sometimes associated with blindness. ‘Which is Stévenne? ’ she inquired in an anxious voice; ‘I have heard so much about Stévenne! ’ Stephen said: ‘ Here I am,’ and she grasped the hand, pitiful of this woman’s affliction. But Julie smiled broadly. ‘ Yes, I know it is you from the feel,’ — she had started to stroke Stephen’s coat-sleeve — “ my eyes have gone into my fingers these days. It is strange, but I seem to see through my fingers.’ Then she turned and found Puddle whom she also stroked. ‘ And now I know both of you,’ declared ulie. The tea when it came was that straw-coloured liquid which may even now be met with in Paris. ‘English tea bought especially for you, my Stévenne,’ re- marked Mademoiselle proudly. ‘We drink only coffee, but I said to my sister, Stévenne likes the good tea, and so, no doubt, does Mademoiselle Puddle. At four o’clock they will not want coffee — you observe how well I remember your England!’ 300 THE WELL OF LONELINESS However, the cakes proved worthy of France, and Made- moiselle ate them as though she enjoyed them. Julie ate very little and did not talk much. She just sat there and listened, quietly smiling; and while she listened she crocheted lace as though, as she said, she could see through her fingers. Then Mademoiselle Duphot explained how it was that those delicate hands had be- come so skilful, replacing the eyes which their ceaseless labour had robbed of the blesséd privilege of sight — explained so simply yet with such conviction, that Stephen must marvel to hear her.

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  For once the radio wasn’t on and no well-bred announcer was reading to us from Pound’s Cantos or playing us alternative interpretations of “Nessun dorma.” People stopped and looked at the books in the window but hurried on. Tex slammed the glass counter and moaned, “Honey-chile, your mother’s in a bad way.” For an instant I imagined my real mother had phoned in an emergency, but then I understood he meant himself. I was flattered that he was about to confide in me. My mother often told me her secrets, and I was an experienced listener. I could look sympathetic and I gave only welcome advice. “Your momma’s done hocked her jewels for her man and now I’s too hard up to buy needles and thread for my notions shop. Oh sweetheart, tell me, who will feed Baby?” Instantly I grasped that this funny, imaginative way of talking was a form of politeness, a way of conveying his distress in general terms without treating me to the unpleasant details. “Are you completely broke?” I asked, though I wanted to ask, “Who is this man?” “All my money is here,” he said, pointing to his glossy books and records. “If she can’t sling this hash, Mom will have to close the diner.” Every time Morris had started to substitute female for male pronouns, Tex had shut him up out of deference to my supposed innocence. Now Tex himself was inverting genders—was it a sign of embarrassment? “Who’s your man?” I asked. He slid off the stool behind the cash register and came over to me on the pink loveseat. His shoulders dropped. He was really very homely, with clammy skin, small boneless hands, a meager sparrow’s torso. When he took off his glasses, his eyes looked huge and wet. “You see, my lovers always turn out to be straight.” I must have looked confused, despite my efforts to appear all-comprehending, for he added, “Heterosexual, normal. My current beau is a cop, Bob, and I just paid three hundred bucks for his wife’s abortion.” “Does she know about you and Bob—what you are?” I asked, not quite sure what they were. How could a bona fide heterosexual like a queer? Tex lit a cigarette. He was strangely likable, despite his melancholy air—likable because he carried his whole story with him wherever he went, like the housekeeper who worked for my father and stepmother, scattering her ash in her tenth cup of coffee, chatting away about the men in her life, still wearing her bathrobe at three in the afternoon, her sympathy universal even when her understanding was partial. As for Tex, he was so intimate that he erased the distance between adolescent and adult. I had heard my mother and her friends discussing the “man problem”; now Tex was doing the same, and I was listening as a provisional equal. “I think she suspects her husband’s fooled around with me, but it suits her to look the other way.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Then, desirous of seeing Jeannette, he began beggarwise, to haunt the neighbourhood of her house, where one day Jamy Lamiens, (for so was Jeannette's husband called,) espying him and having compassion on him, for that he saw him old and poor, bade one of his servants bring him in and give him to eat for the love of God, which the man readily did. Now Jeannette had had several children by Jamy, whereof the eldest was no more than eight years old, and they were the handsomest and sprightliest children in the world. When they saw the count eat, they came one and all about him and began to caress him, as if, moved by some occult virtue, they divined him to be their grandfather. He, knowing them for his grandchildren, fell to fondling and making much of them, wherefore the children would not leave him, albeit he who had charge of their governance called them. Jeannette, hearing this, issued forth of a chamber therenigh and coming whereas the count was, chid them amain and threatened to beat them, an they did not what their governor willed. The children began to weep and say that they would fain abide with that honest man, who loved them better than their governor, whereat both the lady and the count laughed. Now the latter had risen, nowise as a father, but as a poor man, to do honour to his daughter, as to a mistress, and seeing her, felt a marvellous pleasure at his heart. But she nor then nor after knew him any whit, for that he was beyond measure changed from what he was used to be, being grown old and hoar and bearded and lean and swart, and appeared altogether another man than the count.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  42 So the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you leave [Jerusalem] and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word (ruling) I have heard is good.’ 43 “Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD , and the command which I gave you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “You are aware in your own heart of all the evil you did to my father David; so the LORD shall return your evil on your own head. 45 “But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.” 46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down Shimei, and he died. S o the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon. 1 Kings 3 Solomon’s Rule Consolidated 1 N ow Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt [and formed an alliance] by a taking Pharaoh’s daughter [in marriage]. He brought her to the b City of David [where she remained temporarily] until he had finished building his own house (palace) and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the c Name of the LORD . 3 Now Solomon loved the LORD , walking [at first] in the statutes of David his father, except [for the fact that] he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places [ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle]. [Lev 17:3 , 4 ] 4 The king went to Gibeon [near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood] to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask [Me] what I shall give you.” Solomon’s Prayer 6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 “So now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [d in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king].

• From Vox (1992)

  154 armchair that's between my legs, indicating that if you want to, you could sit there with no problem and lean back against me, and you do turn and sit there, but you don't lean back, you're leaning forward, and so I have this warm back, covered in loose blue shirt material, in front of me, this miracle of a back, and I take a sip of the drink, and put it down on the table, on a napkin, so it won't leave a ring, and I reach up and click off the table lamp so it's a bit darker, and I close my eyes and find your shoulders with my hands and you ask where I found the Mmmm-Detector and I describe the table of junk I found it on in a flea market in Anaheim, a hundred and forty bucks, without any manual, and how I taught myself over several years what it was for and how to read it, and as I'm telling you this I'm moving my thumbs in two little arcs back and forth above your shoulder blades, which is as much of a back rub as I can handle, because the notion of something called a back rub tires my mind out instantly, and I can't do anything that has to do with that, even though your back and my hands are interested in each other. What interests me is your bra, quite hon estly, and so I relax my left hand and let it slide down the middle of your back, just let the fingers slide very lightly down over the material of your shirt, until I come to the place where your bra is fastened, and with my eyes closed, and with your ass warm between my legs, but still innocently there, I feel the three possible places for the hooks on the little fastener to hook, and that you've used

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night. 11 David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the d concubine of Saul, had done. 12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines had killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged [with their arms and legs broken]. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they did all that the king commanded. After that, God was moved by prayer for the land. 15 Now the Philistines were at war again with Israel. David went down with his servants, and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels (six pounds) of bronze, was armed with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.” 18 After this, there was war again with the Philistines at Gob (Gezer). At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph (Sippai), who was among the descendants of the giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants. 21 And when he taunted and defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him. 22 These four [warriors] were descended from the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants. 2 Samuel 22 David’s Psalm of Rescue 1 D AVID SPOKE the words of this song to the LORD when the LORD rescued him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

• From Vox (1992)

  112 sound even though the sight of the cocksucking wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest if it were just me seeing it: I felt her tentativeness, and I wanted, sort of like a real estate agent who takes a special route to the house he's showing that goes through the nicer, fancier streets, I wanted her to be squired gently toward the graphic image of a come-shot, and to have a good experience here, not to leave disturbed by male tastes, the same feeling I have sometimes when I see foreign tourists in some city I know walking around bewildered in some downtown area, and I can tell that they're disappointed, and I want to go up to them and say, 'I know this is the standard guidebook thing you are doing, but forget it, this isn't our city really, go see this neighborhood and that neighborhood'—I wanted chivalrously to save that woman from the giant crude cock of the coming attraction, just the same way I used to think when I was little of swimming up toward the surface holding a woman in trouble and letting her use my scuba mouthpiece, and carrying her up on the boat and taking off her wet cold wetsuit and toweling her off as she got her breath and shook her head at her close call." " 'Oh, thank you, Popeye, for saving me from that large low-born cock!' " "Exactly. Anyway—do you still want to hear this?" "Yes." "Okay. Anyway, there was the preview, which was for some terrible-looking post-Caligula post-Devil in Miss

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  rhythmica, in imitation of the Psalms, are divided into one hundred and fifty parts, and are addressed to the Trinity, to Jesus and to Mary, the larger number of them to Mary.2083 Sequence, a word first applied to a melody, came also to be used for a sacred poem. Notker of St. Gall was the first to adapt such poems to sequences or melodies.2084 The tropes were verses interpolated into the offices of the liturgy, and were joined on to the Gloria, the Hosanna, and other parts. They started in France and were most popular there and in England.2085 The authorship of the Latin mediaeval poetry belongs chiefly to France and Germany. England produced only a limited number of religious poems, and no one of the first rank. The best is Archbishop Peckham’s (d. 1292) rhymed office to the Trinity, from which three hymns were taken.2086 One verse of the poem runs:— Adesto, sancta trinitas Par splendor, una deitas, Qui exstas rerum omnium Sine fine principium. Come near, O holy Trinity, In splender equal, in deity one Of all things that exist The beginning, and without end. The number of mediaeval hymns in German is also large. The custom of blending German and Latin lines in the same hymn was also very common, especially in the next period. The number of Saxon hymns, that is hymns produced in England, was very limited.2087 Although the liturgical service was chanted by the priests, singing was also in vogue among the people, especially in Northern Italy and in Germany. The Flagellants sang. Gerhoh of Reichersberg (d. 1169) said that all the people poured forth praises to the Saviour in hymns.2088 At the battle of Tusculum, 1168, the army sang, Christ der du geboren bist. St. Bernard, when he left Germany, spoke of missing the German songs of his companions. At popular religious services the people also to some extent joined in song. The songs were called Leisen and Berthold of Regensburg was accustomed, at the close of his sermons, to call upon the congregation to sing.2089 He complained of heretics drawing away children by their songs. Honorius of Autun gives directions for the people to join in the singing, such as the following: "Now lift high your voices," or "Lift up your song, Let us praise the Son of God." As compared with the hymns of the Ambrosian group and of Prudentius, the mediaeval sacred poems are lacking in their strong and triumphant tone. They are written in the minor key, and give expression to the softer feelings of the heart, and its fears and forebodings. They linger at the cross and over the mystery of the Lord’s Supper, passionately supplicate the intercession of Mary or dwell on her perfections, and also depict the awful solemnities of the judgment and the entrancing glories of paradise. Where we are unable to follow the poet in his theology, we cannot help but be moved by his soft cadences and the tenderness of his devotion.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  virgins, after having in vain besought God for mercy, turned to the Virgin with these words:— Since God our suit hath now denied We Mary pray, the gentle maid, The Mother of Compassion, To pity our great agony And for us, sinners poor, to pray Mercy from her beloved Son.2027 The Church never officially put its stamp of commendation upon the popular belief that the Son is austere. Nevertheless, even down to the very eve of the Reformation, the belief prevailed that Christ’s austerity had to be appeased by Mary’s compassion. The Virgin Birth of Christ.—The literary criticism of the Bible of recent years was as much undreamed of in this period of the Middle Ages as were steamboats or telephones. Schoolman and priest seem never to have doubted when they repeated the article of the Creed, "Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." Homily and theological treatise lingered over the words of Isa. vii:14: "Behold a virgin shall conceive," and over the words of the angelic annunciation: "Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women .... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." They discussed the conception and virginal birth in every possible aspect, as to the part the Holy Spirit had in the event and the part of Mary herself. Here are some of the questions propounded by Thomas Aquinas: Was there true matrimony between Joseph and Mary? Was it necessary that the angel should appear in bodily form? Was Christ’s flesh taken from Adam or from David? Was it formed from the purest bloods of Mary? Was the Holy Spirit the primary agent in the conception of Christ? Was Christ’s body animated with a soul at the instant of conception? None of the Schoolmen goes more thoroughly than Hugo of St. Victor into the question of the part played by the Holy Spirit in the conception of Jesus. He was at pains to show that, while the Spirit influenced the Virgin in conception, he was not the father of Jesus. The Spirit did not impart to Mary seed from his own substance, but by his power and love developed substance in her through the agency of her own flesh.2028 According to Anselm, God can make a human being in four ways, by the co-operation of a man and woman; without either as in the case of Adam; with the sole co-operation of the man as in the case of Eve; or from a woman without a man. Having produced men in the first three ways, it was most fitting God should resort to the fourth method in the case of Jesus. In another work he compares God’s creation of the first man from clay and the second man from a woman without the co-operation of a man.2029 Thomas Aquinas is very elaborate in his treatment of Mary’s virginity.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  4 When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly [to come], saying, “He is worthy for You to do this for him, 5 because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].” 6 And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof. 7 “Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed. 8 “For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].” 10 When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. 11 Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him. 12 Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her [in the funeral procession]. 13 When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!” 15 The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!” 17 This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside. [1 Kin 17:17–24 ; 2 Kin 4:32–37 ] A Delegation from John 18 John’s disciples brought word to him [in prison] of all these things.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37 They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!” Mark 8 Four Thousand Fed 1 I N THOSE days, when there was again a large crowd [gathered before Him] and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and told them, [Matt 15:32–39 ] 2 “I feel compassion for the crowd; they have been with Me now for three days and have nothing [left] to eat. 3 “If I send them away to their homes hungry, they will faint [from exhaustion] on the road; because some of them have come a long way.” 4 His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this isolated place to feed these people?” 5 He asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and [repeatedly] gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they served the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish; and when Jesus had blessed them [and given thanks], He ordered these [fish] to be set before them as well. 8 And the people ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand [men] were there [besides women and children]; and He sent them away. 10 Then immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of a Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came out and began to argue [contentiously and debate] with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him [because of their unbelief]. 12 He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, b no sign will be given to this generation!” 13 Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Jesus repeatedly ordered them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the c leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 They began discussing this with one another, saying, “It is because we have no bread [that He said this].” 17 Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [Is 6:9 , 10 ] 18 “T HOUGH YOU HAVE EYES , DO YOU NOT SEE ? A ND THOUGH YOU HAVE EARS , DO YOU NOT HEAR and LISTEN [to what I have said]?

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  Maria bought me a coffeepot and showed me how to use it. When the toilet got stopped up, she called the plumber. I was afraid to call and didn’t mind peeing in the sink or running across the street to the toilet in the Hip Bagel. I’d never had a checking account before; Maria explained how to open one. Once I’d mastered these new games, I was better at playing them than she. She was less afraid than I of credit, officialdom, or the law because she took them less seriously. I took them so seriously that once I overcame my intimidation I did everything correctly—my “Capricorn nature,” as one of my new, hip friends explained. Maria was so discreet that I dreaded she’d find out I was talking about us both to strangers, for she shared her feelings with no one but me, yet gave her ideas away to everyone. My case was the opposite: I showered my feelings on everyone, trying to defuse them by firing them again and again, whereas my thoughts—about literature, sex, society—I confided to Maria alone. Of course Maria’s feelings for me I never doubted. I knew she loved me. For me, her womanness was always a strangeness, the idea that she belonged to another sex, which for me constituted virtually another species; but we managed to communicate across this ocean of gender. When we set sail during our midnight conversations, our ages were quietly dropped overboard as useless ballast. In our domestic dealings, however, we played the difference up. This emphasis gave a humorous gloss to what Maria wanted to do in any event—tidy up the place. More subtly, it reduced our embarrassment about existing side by side in such close quarters: She became a comically vexed, secretly indulgent older sister and I the lovable but slovenly kid brother always daydreaming over a book. The instant we stepped out into the snow, she in her bright red loden coat, I in—what? I don’t remember and scarcely knew then—our ages shifted again. I became the serious young husband bespectacled and dignified, she the wife in need of protection, as though my edge of a few weeks in New York had somehow made me a native.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  11 “I will also put an end to all her rejoicing, Her feasts, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals. 12 “I will destroy her vines and her fig trees Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will make them a forest, And the animals of the open country will devour them. 13 “And I will punish her for the [feast] days of the Baals, When she used to offer sacrifices and burn incense to them And adorn herself with her earrings and nose rings and her jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” says the LORD . Restoration of Israel 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure Israel And bring her into the wilderness, And I will speak tenderly to her [to reconcile her to Me]. 15 “Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And make the Valley of Achor a door of hope and expectation [anticipating the time when I will restore My favor on her]. And she will sing there and respond as in the days of her youth As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. [Ex 15:2 ; Josh 7:24–26 ] 16 “It shall come about in that day,” says the LORD , “That you will call Me Ishi (my husband) And will no longer call Me Baali (my a Baal). 17 “For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned or remembered by their names. [Ex 23:13 ] 18 “And in that day I will make a covenant for Israel With the animals of the open country And with the birds of the heavens And with the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow and the sword and [banish] war from the land And will make them lie down in safety. 19 “And I will betroth you (Israel) to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and loyalty, and in compassion. 20 “I will betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness. Then you will know (recognize, appreciate) the LORD [and respond with loving faithfulness]. 21 “It will come about in that day that I will respond,” says the LORD . “I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they will respond to the earth [which begs for the rain], 22 And the earth shall respond to the grain and the new wine and the oil [which beg it to bring them forth], And they will respond to Jezreel [My Israel, who will now be restored]. 23 “I will sow her for Myself in the land.

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  Not that I was selfish. I never hoarded candy or dollars or ideas; in fact I anxiously gave them away to buy off hostility or to bribe affection. Far from being indifferent to suffering, I winced so much at the sight of pain that I couldn’t sit through a horror movie. The only condition for my sympathy was proximity. Unheard trees that fell made no sound to my ears, and hoards of the starving in India made no demand, at least not on me. Yet even those people near to me I cared for in some way that was more immediate than the sentiment politics required. If I’d been a king, I would have been more likely to have cared for the sick by touching them than by building a hospital. I was neither as warm as people thought nor as cold as I feared. After an exhausting day of smiling and asking interested questions of everyone, I’d be kept awake by feelings not of hate but of unreality. I discovered that every day I looked forward to seeing Maria. She was more curious about me than was Ivan or Paul. With them I was typecast as the precocious kid. I suppose they felt sorry for me too; people who knew me then tell me that I was terribly nervous, always fidgeting and biting my nails. I had a tic, a constant bobbing of my head, that was so bad I hated to have anyone sit behind me in a movie or, worse, a play. Although I thought of myself as a sinister young man, now I realize that most people back then felt sorry for me. Not Maria. She liked my mind. She was like one of those characters in a Chekhov story, a doctor or army officer, who fills a silence by asking, “What do you think people will be doing a hundred years from now?” Now, a hundred years later, I distrust ideas and have few enough. Almost any assertion suggests its opposite to me, and a wide if careless reading has taught me that every enthusiasm, if genuinely embraced, turns into folly or fanaticism. But back then, developing an idea was as neat as doing crosswords. And with Maria our intellectual conversations were as romantic as Puccini duets. One day, a Sunday after church, I went walking with Maria and Sam, her lover, a bearded Assyrian king of a man who, when he shaved later that spring, appeared weak-chinned and plump-cheeked. He raked his beard with his fingers as he walked along. His lips looked delicately pink inside the crisp curling beard. He seemed to find it amusing that he had a beard. He was very sure of himself, which I deduced from his smooth walk, his smile, and his mild spoofing.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  g 7:26 She came from an area north of Israel, between the Lebanon Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. h 7:27 Jews used kuon (dog) as a derogatory term referring to Gentiles. This dog (kuon ) was a despised, filthy, homeless street scavenger. When speaking with this woman, Jesus uses a word for “dog” (kunarion ) that refers to a household pet. The use of the word kunariois by both Jesus and the woman reflects the tenderness and spiritual depth of this exchange. More importantly, it foreshadows the fact that Gentile believers will not be spiritually homeless, but will also be welcomed into God’s household as His children. The gracious response of the woman recorded in v 28 confirms that on some level she understood this. i 7:34 A command directed to the whole person. Mark 8 a 8:10 This may have been another name for Magadan or Magdala. b 8:12 Lit if a sign will be given. The statement takes the form of an oath, which is an emphatic way of forbidding something. c 8:15 A substance such as yeast that consists mostly of fungi. This analogy relates the impurity of a leavening agent to the impurity of the man-made tradition and hypocrisy of the Pharisees that was preventing the nation of Israel from accepting the Messiah. d 8:27 Located in the area known today as the Golan Heights. e 8:34 See note Matt 10:38 . Mark 9 a 9:1 Probably a reference to Peter, John, and James who were to witness the transfiguration a few days later. b 9:7 See note Matt 3:17 . c 9:10 The doctrine of the resurrection was a well-known teaching of the Pharisees, so much so that Paul, an educated man, used it to turn the religious leaders against themselves (Acts 23:6–10 ). The three fishermen were, however, familiar with some of the prophetic Scriptures, but were confused by Jesus’ statements regarding His death and resurrection. d 9:13 This is a reference to Herod’s imprisoning and beheading John the Baptist (6:17–28 ). e 9:32 Cf v 10 . f 9:33 Probably Peter’s home. g 9:43 See note Matt 5:22 . h 9:44 Vv 44 and 46 are not found in early mss. i 9:46 Vv 44 and 46 are not found in early mss. Mark 10 a 10:5 God provided for divorce under certain circumstances, but the Pharisees expanded the reasons for divorce and abused God’s provision. b 10:16 The basic meaning of the Greek word found here for “blessed” is to speak kindly of someone. Jesus was probably giving the children encouragement as only He could, with His infallible knowledge of each child’s future. c 10:18 Jesus was affirming His deity by challenging the man to recognize Him as Messiah. d 10:20 After reaching the age of thirteen a Jewish boy was personally responsible for keeping the Law. e 10:24 What Jesus said ran contrary to the conventional wisdom among the Jews (and other ancient peoples).

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  13 “I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 “I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 “I will feed My flock and I will let them lie down [to rest],” says the Lord GOD . 16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment. [Luke 19:10 ] 17 “And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD , ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous]. 18 ‘Is it too little a thing for you that you [unrighteous ones who are well-fed] feed in the best pasture, yet you must trample down with your feet [of wickedness] the rest of your pastures? Or that you drink clear [still] water, yet you must muddy with your feet [of wickedness] the rest [of the water]? 19 ‘As for My flock (the righteous), they must feed on what you trample with your feet and drink what you muddy with your feet!’ ” 20 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them, “Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 “Because you push with side and shoulder, and gore with your horns all those that have become weak and sick until you have scattered them away, 22 therefore, I will rescue My flock, and they shall no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep [ungodly] and another [godly]. 23 “Then I will appoint over them one shepherd and he will feed them, [a ruler like] My servant a David; he will feed them and be their shepherd. [Ezek 37:24 ; John 10:14–18 ] 24 “And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken. 25 “I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods. [Ps 127:2 ; Is 11:6–9 ; John 14:27 ; 16:33 ] 26 “I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor).