Let’s just say that today I am not at my best. I have seriously contemplated a “I am too sick to create today” blog message. The truth is; even illness brings ideas from the Holy Spirit. I have thought a great deal today about a point in history mentioned in my last blog. In 1957 I was nine years old. That year has the distinction of being host to the second last serious influenza pandemic of the twentieth century. The most serious was at the conclusion of the First World War in 1918, which is coincidently the year of my father’s birth. More than fifty million people died due to lack of prevention and medical intervention capabilities. The last pandemic of the twentieth century occurred in 1968 and 1969 and was dubbed The Hong Kong Flu. In 1957 the advent of antibiotics developed during the Second World War minimized to some extent the effects of the epidemic that spread through Canada in the autumn of that year. Hopefully the threat of the current H1N1 pandemic can be even more efficiently handled in this the modern age of medical science.
I know it was in the fall months of 1957 because of the events that continue to loom large in my aging mind. I remember becoming so ill at school that I collapsed to the floor. In those days ambulances were not easily thought of or indeed called. Parents were called to remove children fallen from illness. My mother came to school and walked me home with some difficulty. I would not be back to school for at least a month. With the exception of surviving two successive major surgeries for cancer, I have never been more ill in my life. My sister’s infant daughter, who also lived with us, was the next to become ill. I still remember the painful coughing and resulting crying of my niece who is a mere eight years younger than me. The family doctor visited each morning to treat the two of us. I am not kidding! He showed up for a HOUSE CALL each and every morning for days. As I was beginning to improve just slightly, a wonderful thing happened. My father became ill with the same flu and actually could not go to work. It is the only time in my life that I can remember him not going to work daily at 7:20 A.M. Within a week he was a little better and magically the World Series of baseball began on television. As we slowly improved, we watched together, discussed, cheered and thoroughly enjoyed the 1957 World Series on television. We had never watched a television set in our home until the winter of 1956. There was even a family pool created involving very minor amounts of funds that I delighted in collecting triumphantly when I won. I had never watched the World Series before that date and I haven’t watched it since. I think the New York Yankees were in the series, but I really don’t remember. What was memorable about it was I watched it with my father. As our condition improved and the doctor stopped visiting, we had a fantastic time in the middle of crisis. I remember him so fondly from that few weeks!
Do we have a great and wonderful God or what? Some of my fondest memories of my father emerge from a very difficult time. The Lord used that time to allow a bonding between father and son. What mere mortal could think that scenario up! As expressed in Isaiah 55: 8-9, there can be absolutely no doubt:
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
He Heals All
I am ill this morning. I have picked up what I hope is a minor cold now that the other flu like symptoms, which do not merit further description, seem to have passed. On Sunday we attended chapel as well as a family dinner in the evening. My immune system continues to let me down. Moving in public circles often results in a disease of some description. I wonder what measures we will have to take should the H1N1 influenza pandemic gain strength this fall. I fall within the pre-existing medical conditions risk category, but on the good news side, I was born before the 1957 flu pandemic. Indeed I was sick for a month in 1957 and as a result may not be susceptible to this very similar strain that is also called the swine flu. This morning I have been meditating on the first five verses of Psalm 103.
1 ¶ A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
There indeed are some very real benefits in return for our faith. We are forgiven our sins. We are redeemed from an eternity shut out of heaven. We experience the Lord’s loving kindness and His mercies. He restores our youth spiritually as well as physically. Finally, He heals all of our diseases.
I used to puzzle over this line. We all know that no matter how many times the Lord heals our illnesses or injuries that there will indeed be a final illness that will cause our death. How then could the Bible tell us that all diseases are healed? I finally understand. Even the last and final disease is healed, and very quickly indeed, at the point of death. As we pass from this world to the next, the cure will be instant and miraculous! As a believer, I am absolutely assured an eternity in heaven with God and His Son. The Lord has already cured me of many diseases but that final cure will be the most instant, effective and merciful of all.
Indeed the Lord heals all of our diseases.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
1 ¶ A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
There indeed are some very real benefits in return for our faith. We are forgiven our sins. We are redeemed from an eternity shut out of heaven. We experience the Lord’s loving kindness and His mercies. He restores our youth spiritually as well as physically. Finally, He heals all of our diseases.
I used to puzzle over this line. We all know that no matter how many times the Lord heals our illnesses or injuries that there will indeed be a final illness that will cause our death. How then could the Bible tell us that all diseases are healed? I finally understand. Even the last and final disease is healed, and very quickly indeed, at the point of death. As we pass from this world to the next, the cure will be instant and miraculous! As a believer, I am absolutely assured an eternity in heaven with God and His Son. The Lord has already cured me of many diseases but that final cure will be the most instant, effective and merciful of all.
Indeed the Lord heals all of our diseases.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Lord Shall Preserve You
Our encounters with bears are apparently over for this year with the advent of hunting season. They have wisely decided that a lower profile might be the way to go and they have gone further into the wilds. We had a bear visitor two summers ago that showed very little of such wisdom or discretion.
We were awakened at dawn by a very loud noise from the vicinity of our garage. I threw on some clothes, but sadly neglected to bother putting on my glasses. Indeed the back door to the garage was damaged. The screen had been ripped off and the aluminium trim was bent. In those days I was silly enough to store garbage in the garage. I switched on the light and sure enough one of the four bags of garbage was gone. I concluded the obvious. A bear had entered and left with a bag of garbage. Thinking the incident to be over, I started back to the door on the lake side of the house. Just as I entered, I heard a second assault on the garage door. This time I decided that being without my glasses was not a good idea. Proper vision restored, I went out just in time to see a large black bear slamming his paw into the door latch until it miraculously opened. He then entered the garage and emerged, after reopening the door from the inside with a facility that shocked me, with the second bag of garbage. Not being in an argumentative mood, I backed up into the house. As I was backing up, I realized to my horror that the first bag of garbage was not twenty feet to my right in the bush. Without my glasses I had simply walked right by my visitor as I left the garage during my initial investigation!
I went to the family room window in order to observe my guest. He was back at the garage door. I opened the window and yelled at him to cease and desist. He did not even turn around to acknowledge me. It was then that I realized he was favouring his left paw because of a rather obvious gun shot wound. Hunger and desperation were making this bear much braver than nature would normally dictate. The third bag of garbage was taken in a different direction and deposited in the bush. Trying to avoid further damage to the back door of the garage, I pushed the inside button to open the large folding garage door so that he could enter and remove the fourth bag without difficulty. He did and proceeded to hang around our house for the day! He never approached us and lumbered away when we moved closer, but he had found a food source and was not about to give it up. Our neighbour is retired from the Ministry of Natural Resources and called the proper authorities who agreed that this dangerous situation merited a bear trap. Our large black friend took the bait and was in the mobile cage by 9:00 P.M. that night. He was hauled off to a new home, I assume, in the morning.
The thought of walking blindly within twenty feet of that bear has given me some pause from time to time. He must of really wondered how stupid is this guy? The other day, while browsing through the Psalms, I was taken with the comforting wording of Psalm 121 which really applies to this experience.
1 ¶ A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills––From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
The Lord did indeed preserve my going out and my coming in without my glasses. I must admit that my vision without my bifocals is rather poor. The bear was probably so taken with his bag of treasures that he simply was not interested in the silly old guy walking by so closely. The Lord does indeed look after us despite our sometimes very poor decisions. I have since realized that the Lord was also looking after the needs of the bear on that morning. We are both God’s creation and He made it all work for the better.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
We were awakened at dawn by a very loud noise from the vicinity of our garage. I threw on some clothes, but sadly neglected to bother putting on my glasses. Indeed the back door to the garage was damaged. The screen had been ripped off and the aluminium trim was bent. In those days I was silly enough to store garbage in the garage. I switched on the light and sure enough one of the four bags of garbage was gone. I concluded the obvious. A bear had entered and left with a bag of garbage. Thinking the incident to be over, I started back to the door on the lake side of the house. Just as I entered, I heard a second assault on the garage door. This time I decided that being without my glasses was not a good idea. Proper vision restored, I went out just in time to see a large black bear slamming his paw into the door latch until it miraculously opened. He then entered the garage and emerged, after reopening the door from the inside with a facility that shocked me, with the second bag of garbage. Not being in an argumentative mood, I backed up into the house. As I was backing up, I realized to my horror that the first bag of garbage was not twenty feet to my right in the bush. Without my glasses I had simply walked right by my visitor as I left the garage during my initial investigation!
I went to the family room window in order to observe my guest. He was back at the garage door. I opened the window and yelled at him to cease and desist. He did not even turn around to acknowledge me. It was then that I realized he was favouring his left paw because of a rather obvious gun shot wound. Hunger and desperation were making this bear much braver than nature would normally dictate. The third bag of garbage was taken in a different direction and deposited in the bush. Trying to avoid further damage to the back door of the garage, I pushed the inside button to open the large folding garage door so that he could enter and remove the fourth bag without difficulty. He did and proceeded to hang around our house for the day! He never approached us and lumbered away when we moved closer, but he had found a food source and was not about to give it up. Our neighbour is retired from the Ministry of Natural Resources and called the proper authorities who agreed that this dangerous situation merited a bear trap. Our large black friend took the bait and was in the mobile cage by 9:00 P.M. that night. He was hauled off to a new home, I assume, in the morning.
The thought of walking blindly within twenty feet of that bear has given me some pause from time to time. He must of really wondered how stupid is this guy? The other day, while browsing through the Psalms, I was taken with the comforting wording of Psalm 121 which really applies to this experience.
1 ¶ A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills––From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
The Lord did indeed preserve my going out and my coming in without my glasses. I must admit that my vision without my bifocals is rather poor. The bear was probably so taken with his bag of treasures that he simply was not interested in the silly old guy walking by so closely. The Lord does indeed look after us despite our sometimes very poor decisions. I have since realized that the Lord was also looking after the needs of the bear on that morning. We are both God’s creation and He made it all work for the better.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Monday, September 7, 2009
Love and Charity
We left Lozanne’s family home on April 15th. We departed after an early afternoon in the sun on the patio. It was more like a summer day than the spring day it actually was. It was a glorious warm sunny day. Lozanne and I were returning to teacher’s college with our new addition to the family, our infant daughter Tami who was a little over five weeks old. The year was 1969 and our mode of transportation was our 1962 Volkswagen. Of all the cars, luxury and otherwise, that I have owned since then, that little blue beetle is my favourite. I still dream about that car from time to time. I even wonder if it is still “alive” out there somewhere and available for sale. I also wonder if I could still fill the gas tank with leaded regular gas for $3.50.
We departed on what seemed to be a summer day. With each mile we travelled (the metric system had not yet been implemented) it became cloudier and cooler. Within three hours it began to snow lightly. Within three and on half hours it was snowing heavily. Volkswagens in that day had air cooled engines with basically no heater. The only defrosting or heating was from a slow moving current of warm air from the engine. There wasn’t even a fan in the system. The car became very cold. The windshield fogged. The snow became relentless. Night was falling. Without a baby in the car we could have persevered. It became evident; however, that we had to get off the road to a safe haven. The motel sign loomed out of the blowing snow. We pulled, with some trepidation, into the lot of the James Lake Motel.
In those days, younger reader, there were no debit cards and indeed no credit cards. The cash in your wallet was how much money you had to spend. Cheques were seldom welcomed by business owners, especially motel owners. I entered the motel office and asked with some anxiety the price of a motel room for the night. The middle aged male owner looked out into the snow filled gloom at our very humble car and Lozanne fussing over the baby, looked me in the eye and said, “How much have you got?” I honestly answered ten dollars. I had one ten dollar bill in my wallet…ample cash for a student family to travel home in good weather. “What a coincidence”, he said with a straight face, “the rate tonight is ten dollars”. I was overcome with gratitude at his obvious kindness. He then asked, “Do you need help in heating bottles for the baby”? I acknowledged that indeed one bottle would be required within minutes and another in about four hours. He then assured me that he and his wife would keep the office open until Tami had been put down with her last feeding of a bottle with pablum which occurred on that night at 10:30 P.M. A morning bottle was also heated in the office which was opened very early the next morning. I know, younger reader, that you are now wondering why a bottle was required at all. Believe it or not, breast feeding was vigorously discouraged by the medical profession for at least two generations ending thankfully with the generation of our grandchildren.
The generosity and kindness of that couple so long ago has remained a vivid positive memory to both of us. I have no idea if they acted because of deeply instilled Christian principles, but I like to believe now that they did. I am aware that there are just some very nice people in this world. I hope, however, that most of them are Christians. Paul sets out the requirements in 1Corinthians 13: 1-3. Most know 1Corinthians as the “love” chapter. It makes much more sense to me in the King James Version where love is described as charity.
1 ¶ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Forty years ago (please forgive me Tamara) a middle aged couple modelled in the middle of a snow storm the behaviour that all Christians should emulate. They acted out of love. I often think of their example. Are we doing it all with love as we should or are we just going through the motions?
Can you hear, like me from time to time, the sounding brass and the tinkling cymbal?
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
We departed on what seemed to be a summer day. With each mile we travelled (the metric system had not yet been implemented) it became cloudier and cooler. Within three hours it began to snow lightly. Within three and on half hours it was snowing heavily. Volkswagens in that day had air cooled engines with basically no heater. The only defrosting or heating was from a slow moving current of warm air from the engine. There wasn’t even a fan in the system. The car became very cold. The windshield fogged. The snow became relentless. Night was falling. Without a baby in the car we could have persevered. It became evident; however, that we had to get off the road to a safe haven. The motel sign loomed out of the blowing snow. We pulled, with some trepidation, into the lot of the James Lake Motel.
In those days, younger reader, there were no debit cards and indeed no credit cards. The cash in your wallet was how much money you had to spend. Cheques were seldom welcomed by business owners, especially motel owners. I entered the motel office and asked with some anxiety the price of a motel room for the night. The middle aged male owner looked out into the snow filled gloom at our very humble car and Lozanne fussing over the baby, looked me in the eye and said, “How much have you got?” I honestly answered ten dollars. I had one ten dollar bill in my wallet…ample cash for a student family to travel home in good weather. “What a coincidence”, he said with a straight face, “the rate tonight is ten dollars”. I was overcome with gratitude at his obvious kindness. He then asked, “Do you need help in heating bottles for the baby”? I acknowledged that indeed one bottle would be required within minutes and another in about four hours. He then assured me that he and his wife would keep the office open until Tami had been put down with her last feeding of a bottle with pablum which occurred on that night at 10:30 P.M. A morning bottle was also heated in the office which was opened very early the next morning. I know, younger reader, that you are now wondering why a bottle was required at all. Believe it or not, breast feeding was vigorously discouraged by the medical profession for at least two generations ending thankfully with the generation of our grandchildren.
The generosity and kindness of that couple so long ago has remained a vivid positive memory to both of us. I have no idea if they acted because of deeply instilled Christian principles, but I like to believe now that they did. I am aware that there are just some very nice people in this world. I hope, however, that most of them are Christians. Paul sets out the requirements in 1Corinthians 13: 1-3. Most know 1Corinthians as the “love” chapter. It makes much more sense to me in the King James Version where love is described as charity.
1 ¶ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Forty years ago (please forgive me Tamara) a middle aged couple modelled in the middle of a snow storm the behaviour that all Christians should emulate. They acted out of love. I often think of their example. Are we doing it all with love as we should or are we just going through the motions?
Can you hear, like me from time to time, the sounding brass and the tinkling cymbal?
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
As A Little Child
There can be no doubt that no generation that has lived on this earth has seen the extreme technological changes to this world that the last two generations have witnessed. As I sit outside with my laptop on this beautiful sunny morning connected to the whole world through a satellite driven wireless internet connection, my mind is taken back to a very vivid memory from my early childhood. I had just received a very bad haircut. I was not happy with the enthusiasm of the barber. After offering heartfelt positive assurances, my mother sent me outside to have the damage assessed by a very objective and unbiased friend of mine.
My good friend’s name was Pearl. I visited with her daily. She was the beautiful, gentle and very large horse that pulled the milk wagon down our street each and every morning. She would move automatically from house to house while the milkman delivered to each house. She simply understood that as he returned to the enclosed wagon that she was to move forward to the next driveway or walkway. There, right in front of her, I stood displaying my hated haircut. I even turned in a circle so that Pearl could see all of the damage. She calmly assessed my haircut and gave it a positive blink of her large brown eyes partially covered by the blinders used to keep her attention focused on her job and not the moving motorized traffic in the street. I felt in a very real sense her approval of the haircut and was immediately comforted.
I had displayed the unwavering faith of a very young child. I believed that Pearl understood why I was standing there. I believed that she cared that I was standing there. I believed that she was my good friend. I believed that indeed she understood my plight and was giving her approval to my haircut. As I look back, I am amused of course with the naiveté of that young child. In a few short years, maybe even months, such faith would be shattered by maturity and the world.
Yet it is that very kind of faith and belief that Jesus speaks about in Mark 10: 13-16.
13 ¶ Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."
16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
Are you close to accepting the Lord Jesus as your saviour? Are you filled with intellectual doubts? Are you filled with the doubts expressed by others in this world? Are you counting the costs? Although you want to accept Him, are you unable to make the leap of faith? The secret to the exercise is well known to us who have become Christians late in life. You can read the Bible, you can read commentaries and you can listen to convincing speakers in person or on television, but in the end, it all comes down to the childlike leap of faith. Once it is made, you can never go back and indeed you have no desire to do so. Once the Holy Spirit is within you, there is ample time and opportunity to research, to learn, to test the beliefs and indeed to intellectualize about your faith. All the intellectual pursuits will only lead you back to one reality…childlike faith is required for the first step. Jesus asks that you take it today.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
My good friend’s name was Pearl. I visited with her daily. She was the beautiful, gentle and very large horse that pulled the milk wagon down our street each and every morning. She would move automatically from house to house while the milkman delivered to each house. She simply understood that as he returned to the enclosed wagon that she was to move forward to the next driveway or walkway. There, right in front of her, I stood displaying my hated haircut. I even turned in a circle so that Pearl could see all of the damage. She calmly assessed my haircut and gave it a positive blink of her large brown eyes partially covered by the blinders used to keep her attention focused on her job and not the moving motorized traffic in the street. I felt in a very real sense her approval of the haircut and was immediately comforted.
I had displayed the unwavering faith of a very young child. I believed that Pearl understood why I was standing there. I believed that she cared that I was standing there. I believed that she was my good friend. I believed that indeed she understood my plight and was giving her approval to my haircut. As I look back, I am amused of course with the naiveté of that young child. In a few short years, maybe even months, such faith would be shattered by maturity and the world.
Yet it is that very kind of faith and belief that Jesus speaks about in Mark 10: 13-16.
13 ¶ Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."
16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
Are you close to accepting the Lord Jesus as your saviour? Are you filled with intellectual doubts? Are you filled with the doubts expressed by others in this world? Are you counting the costs? Although you want to accept Him, are you unable to make the leap of faith? The secret to the exercise is well known to us who have become Christians late in life. You can read the Bible, you can read commentaries and you can listen to convincing speakers in person or on television, but in the end, it all comes down to the childlike leap of faith. Once it is made, you can never go back and indeed you have no desire to do so. Once the Holy Spirit is within you, there is ample time and opportunity to research, to learn, to test the beliefs and indeed to intellectualize about your faith. All the intellectual pursuits will only lead you back to one reality…childlike faith is required for the first step. Jesus asks that you take it today.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Time For Every Purpose
As I was barbecuing dinner yesterday, I looked up at the inscription that is etched in the cement of the stone wall that is the exterior of our house. It is an inscription that I have noticed many times, but yesterday it had a profound effect on me. The inscription contains the two first names of the previous owners of our home and the date that the stone wall was completed. There is another similar inscription on the lake side of the house with a later date. Lately I have been thinking very much about the sovereignty of God and my last few blogs have reflected that preoccupation. Here in the cement is a moment caught in time twenty some years in the past. I pictured them both working hard together as a mature married couple to balance and construct a formidable stone wall of hand cut field stone. The stones are large, variable and native to the area.
My respect for the craft of stone masonry was cultivated as a child by watching my paternal grandfather carefully cut, split and chip off unforgiving stone pieces before balancing the stone in just the right position so that it would be set into the slow drying mortar. It is an art as much as it is a craft. The result is a very strong, weather proof and very enduring wall. The very material used with the mortar is as old as the earth itself. It must have been a very special and gratifying moment when they reached the top of those walls and inscribed their names and the date. It must have been a very memorable moment in their marriage as well. I do know that the husband passed away within three years of the last wall being completed.
What entered into my mind were the words of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8. It is one of the most quoted sections of the Bible even in the secular world. Normally I avoid long quotations within this blog. Today is an exception. All eight verses need to be read together to get the full importance of the 14 positives verses the 14 negatives found within this selection.
1 ¶ To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
The verse that has haunted me as I write this blog is verse 5. The literal meaning of course describes the act of removing the stones from the fields in order to begin cultivation and then a time to gather them up in order to build stone walls with them. The actions of the former owners of our house on that special day reflected those very descriptions. Some modern commentators and indeed the paraphrased The Message suggest that these actions are imagery for the ebb and flow of marital love including physical love. I suspect that the inscribed days were special ones for their long lasting marriage as well.
The first verse tells us that there is a time and a season for everything UNDER heaven. As we age, we realize that indeed we all get our seasons. I must admit that I enjoyed the earlier seasons more that some of the later seasons. Eventually there is a time to die. It is my fervent belief that IN heaven, the fourteen negative times found in these verses do not apply. The fourteen positive times may have many additions, but we can be assured that if we believe and if we accept Jesus as our saviour, we need not be concerned with the negatives that, in a way, cancel out the positives here on this earth.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
My respect for the craft of stone masonry was cultivated as a child by watching my paternal grandfather carefully cut, split and chip off unforgiving stone pieces before balancing the stone in just the right position so that it would be set into the slow drying mortar. It is an art as much as it is a craft. The result is a very strong, weather proof and very enduring wall. The very material used with the mortar is as old as the earth itself. It must have been a very special and gratifying moment when they reached the top of those walls and inscribed their names and the date. It must have been a very memorable moment in their marriage as well. I do know that the husband passed away within three years of the last wall being completed.
What entered into my mind were the words of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8. It is one of the most quoted sections of the Bible even in the secular world. Normally I avoid long quotations within this blog. Today is an exception. All eight verses need to be read together to get the full importance of the 14 positives verses the 14 negatives found within this selection.
1 ¶ To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
The verse that has haunted me as I write this blog is verse 5. The literal meaning of course describes the act of removing the stones from the fields in order to begin cultivation and then a time to gather them up in order to build stone walls with them. The actions of the former owners of our house on that special day reflected those very descriptions. Some modern commentators and indeed the paraphrased The Message suggest that these actions are imagery for the ebb and flow of marital love including physical love. I suspect that the inscribed days were special ones for their long lasting marriage as well.
The first verse tells us that there is a time and a season for everything UNDER heaven. As we age, we realize that indeed we all get our seasons. I must admit that I enjoyed the earlier seasons more that some of the later seasons. Eventually there is a time to die. It is my fervent belief that IN heaven, the fourteen negative times found in these verses do not apply. The fourteen positive times may have many additions, but we can be assured that if we believe and if we accept Jesus as our saviour, we need not be concerned with the negatives that, in a way, cancel out the positives here on this earth.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
It Is Already Written
Lozanne and I were married forty-one years ago this summer. When we sat down for our first dinner together all those years ago in our tiny one bedroom apartment there were just two of us. I was astounded recently, when planning to accommodate all of our children and their families that one table would not hold the eighteen chairs required. From two to eighteen is a fairly hefty percentage increase in family size! I recalled the line from Proverbs which reads, “Children‘s children are the crown of old men…( Pr 17:6). The Lord has deemed that we should be blessed in the increase of our family. I must admit it sure was quieter when there were two!
As the years are passing by during our child rearing years and especially when we are raising teenagers and educating young adults in middle age, we probably do not sense the hand of God upon us as we should. Everything moves so quickly and it is all we can do to keep up with His plan for us. As I become a senior citizen, and indeed I am just becoming and not quite there, we have the luxury of time and the peace of mind to look back at the miraculous interwoven blessings as mastered by God Himself. How He guides it all from beginning to end! The words in Psalm 139 have always been a revelation to me, but only now am I really beginning to understand their full import. Psalm 139:16 reads:
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Each and every day of our lives has been laid out even before our birth by a gracious and loving God. The beginning and of course the end is carefully planned. We will not live five minutes more or less than the Lord has allotted for our lives. The hand of the Lord is upon us according to the same schedule. If we become believers and our faith increases, He will make His presence in our lives ever more noticeable to us until we get to the point where we recognize not our own efforts but His and not our own wise use of resources but His. Every achievement and every blessing, material and spiritual, we owe to a loving and devoted God. We arrive in this world owning nothing and that is just how we will leave it. I will consider myself blessed to leave this world with the promise of heaven having been written in God’s book long before my birth. The last line of Psalm 139 asks the Lord to “lead me in the way everlasting” and indeed I know He will.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
As the years are passing by during our child rearing years and especially when we are raising teenagers and educating young adults in middle age, we probably do not sense the hand of God upon us as we should. Everything moves so quickly and it is all we can do to keep up with His plan for us. As I become a senior citizen, and indeed I am just becoming and not quite there, we have the luxury of time and the peace of mind to look back at the miraculous interwoven blessings as mastered by God Himself. How He guides it all from beginning to end! The words in Psalm 139 have always been a revelation to me, but only now am I really beginning to understand their full import. Psalm 139:16 reads:
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Each and every day of our lives has been laid out even before our birth by a gracious and loving God. The beginning and of course the end is carefully planned. We will not live five minutes more or less than the Lord has allotted for our lives. The hand of the Lord is upon us according to the same schedule. If we become believers and our faith increases, He will make His presence in our lives ever more noticeable to us until we get to the point where we recognize not our own efforts but His and not our own wise use of resources but His. Every achievement and every blessing, material and spiritual, we owe to a loving and devoted God. We arrive in this world owning nothing and that is just how we will leave it. I will consider myself blessed to leave this world with the promise of heaven having been written in God’s book long before my birth. The last line of Psalm 139 asks the Lord to “lead me in the way everlasting” and indeed I know He will.
(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account.)
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