New Year: Consider Psalm 1
The opening page of a novel contains the entire novel they say.
The opening Mishnah of Pirkei Avot authenticates the entire Talmud.
The opening Psalm of the Book of Psalms summarizes the theme of Psalms.
First, consider the famous illustration opening the Book of Psalms and the entire Rothschild Miscellany:
Wizened King David, traditionally considered the author of the Book of Psalms, sits peacefully in God's serene Garden, duplicating Eden, strumming his lyre. The Talmud relates that David arose at midnight to pray and play his lyre. The opening word panel of Psalm 1, most often translated as "Happy," but according to scholar Ellen Davis meaning "privileged," overhangs an upward gazing David, as though God's idyllic kingdom is possible with God's wisdom lived in accordance with Psalm 1.
Read Psalm 1 here:
Psalm 1
1 "Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful."
Do not walk, stand or sit among the wicked, sinners or the scornful.
The psalm concludes with:
6 "For the LORD regardeth the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish."
Humans who live righteously can create the Garden of the Lord in which humanity can recreate Eden. Wisdom and righteousness will create for humanity God's original intention of Paradise, as depicted in the art illustrating Psalm 1 and the entire Book of Psalms.
