I arrived in America in 1995. Because my wife is a native of Portland and the fact that her family lives in the area, we decided to make Portland our home.
After three days at my in-laws, I decided to take the bus to downtown Portland. When I told the blond lady bus-driver I had just been in America three days, she exclaimed, “Welcome to GOD’s country!” I got off at the last stop near the main train station, by the Rescue Mission. This was my first impression of a city in America. On my way back, the driver stopped the bus because of a young teenager toting a gun. Again I thought, “They do call it the Wild-West!” Maybe it was due to these first impressions that my wife and I started a ministry to the Portland area street-kids and youth-at-risk. This ministry lasted about 10 years. Many young people joined us to help and we got very close to some of them. In our hearts, we were doing something for God and so were they. During our summer ministry tour this year, trip we have had the opportunity to reconnect with some of these young people that worked with us. We were surprised to see that while some had kept their relationship with God some others didn’t, and even grew bitter against Him. Indeed many things can affect our attitude towards God. As I wrote in a previous article, we are often mad at God because He didn’t do such-and-such that we expected Him to do, when actually the “such-and-such” were not things God had promised to do. We often fail to read the ‘contract’ that we have with Him. While angry, people say that they reject God and don’t want to have anything to do with Him. This is not unbelief; this is anger. That is why it is important that our relationship with Him be not based on false premises or promises. Preachers who promise the ‘moon’ to potential believers actually do a disservice to the cause because God has never promised us the ‘moon’. But even more than that, what is ‘true faith’?True faith is like getting married. A wise husband-to-be will not promise the ‘moon’. He doesn’t know what the future holds. Like with any healthy marriage, our union with God can never be conditional to happiness, health, or wealth. The knowledge that we are united with our Creator should also have nothing to to do with format, practices, or doctrines; only as the Good Book tells us, “Faith working through love.” (Gal 5:6 ESV) The Good Book also tells us of those ancient patriarchs who died in faith seeming to never have received what God had promised to them. That’s true faith, faith that is not dependant on the answer, but on obedient love. I am reminded of the three Judean captives who were asked to bow down before an idol. As true followers of God, they couldn't do that and were to be thrown into a fiery furnace. so they said to their oppressor, “...Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, .... But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Dan 3:17-18 ESV)
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This is a story about Pig-Pen. Pig-Pen felt bad because of the flies that pestered him. He really didn’t like the flies. “What should I do?” he kept wondering. He didn’t realize that the flies were attracted to the cloud of dirt and filth that hovered around him in a cloud. And Pig-pen loved his cloud of filth. One day he was caught in a short but heavy downpour that showed him clean. This is when he exclaimed, "In one minute the rain has washed away what took me all day to accomplish.” He sometimes referred with pride to the cloud that surrounded him as the “dust of ancient civilizations.” He wanted to impress Violet of whom he was quite fond. He cleaned himself up for a little time but then was totally unrecognizable, so that didn’t help. Another time he tried to fool Peppermint Patty by keeping only one side of his body clean. It didn’t last long as soon enough the flies revealed the trick. He himself didn’t look at himself as dirty. In his eyes, his dirt represented a very valuable commodity. “Don't think of it as dust. Just think of it as the dirt and dust of far-off lands blowing over here and settling on me!. It staggers the imagination! I may be carrying the soil that was trod upon by Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar or Genghis Khan! One then may think, “Poor Pig-Pen; he is a relic of history, yet no-one appreciates him. He is harassed by these naughty flies and he can’t even get a girlfriend. That’s not fair.” Poor Pig-Pen indeed. Instead of realising that where there is no filth there are no flies, he had rationalised the dirty and lazy habits of his life into a lie that he himself believed. He had even convinced others that he was the victim and not the cause of his own predicament. Once, after bathing and dressing in clean clothes, Pig-Pen stepped outside his house, and instantaneously became dirty and disheveled, whereupon he declared "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!" On another occasion, Pig-Pen decided it was important to have clean hands, but after failing to wash them, he gave up realizing that he had "reached a point of no return." So he also had a problem with consistency and determination. Whereas Pig-Pen is a fictional character, we may need to realise that there is truth to learn through Pig-Pen’s predicament. If we live life with integrity and honesty, we do not have a problem with negative rumors against us. Or if we do, like flies who will not remain in a clean place, these rumors and gossip will go away through our own transparency because, “Where there is no dirt, flies don’t stay!” My wife and I have been out on a ministry tour for a month now. We have another two months to go. For the last two weekends we have been in the neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are now on our way to Iowa. We spent the 4th of July in the little town of Lyons, Nebraska, population: 814. Downtown feels like something out of a movie on the A&E channel. The 4th of July parade seemed to have been composed of half the city parading for the other half, their friends and relatives, in the audience. In the evening, the fire department hosted the town’s dinner. There were quite a few events on that 4th of July and my wife and I strolled the town looking at what was happening. One of the events particularly drew my attention. The flyer said, “Blind Tractor Race”. Were these local farmers really going to drive their tractors blind? It sounded quite reckless to me. I wanted to see this. As I arrived I was delighted to see what was really happening. The driver of the tractor was really going to be blindfolded, but standing beside him, sitting and holding the best he could to whatever he could find, was a seeing person who gave verbal instructions to the blindfolded driver. People sometime talk farmers down, but according to someone I know, these farmers were actually pretty smart: they had the seeing leading the blind! Many lessons can be drawn from this. First, it is a real exercise of trust and humility for the driver who is put in a position of vulnerability and dependence. It is also an exercise of integrity for the seeing person who has to make sure to give clear instructions and be patient. There was one team of a father and an young teenager who reminded me of what it feels like to raise teenagers in the world. Another team was a team of women who didn’t seem to have good communication so the tractor went all over the place. In the Bible, blindness is used as an imagery for ignorance. So I felt that this exercise presented a good illustration of what it to be a teacher. All in all, I felt that it was a good illustration of what it is to be It is a good illustration of what it is to be a teacher. SEE FOLLOWING VIDEOS https://youtu.be/pmDs5ShuhWc https://youtu.be/afV_wjX0nRI Calendar disputes have plagued history for centuries. Even in the days of Jesus. Pharisees, Sadducees, Samaritans, Essenes, all had their take on how the calendar should be followed. The Gregorian calendar the western world follows today has had several revisions but if we are to be able to operate together, we must agree to a consensus to follow the same calendar.
One very special day in the Jewish calendar is Yom Kippur in the fall. It is believed that that day is the last of ten when the heavens were opened to receive the people’s prayers of repentance. Until today, it is the most important day in the Jewish calendar. It a day of fasting and prayers; even non-religious Jews fast on that day. People neither travel, carry money, nor work. On that day, everything is closed in Israel. There is no traffic in the streets and people stroll on the highway with their children and families. There was a time when 2 Rabbis from a well known academy disagreed on the calendar and therefore on the day of Yom Kippur that year. That school was the most important academy in the Land after the Romans had shut down the country of Israel. This school was actually in charge of the program to preserve Judaism through the coming long years of exile. The younger of the two rabbis who ran the school, wanted to make his mark as a leader so he forced the older rabbi (who had been his teacher) to come to the school for a dinner on a certain day, day which the older rabbi felt was actually the day to fast. The old rabbi wrestled with his conscience but finally decided to go; why? He weighed the pros and the cons. He realised that if he allowed himself the luxury of following his own hunches regardless of how right they are, everyone would start doing the same and as a result, not only the country will be finished, but the Jewish people themselves. He felt then that in this situation, it was a better ‘obedience’ to the commandments to follow consensus than to follow his own convictions of what is right. A very famous Rabbi commented on that episode between the two religious leaders of that academy. He said,“Sometime you must break the Torah in order to obey the Torah.” What he meant was that the word of God requires us to learn to live together in love and unity, and sometimes to accomplish that, one may feel like he is breaking another demand of the Word, but consensus, love, and unity trumps individuality. I think that a great lesson can be learned from this for marriages, associations, organisations, religious groups, even for the members of our government. The ideas of consensus and unity for the love the greater good are more important than trivial details. As the old saying goes, “If we don’t hang together, we will surely hang separately!” There is an excellent story about choice of leadership in the Bible. It came at a time after Gideon had delivered Israel from his enemies. Like even the best of men, Gideon eventually died. He left 70 sons behind. One, Abimelech, who was actually the son of one of Gideon's concubine, was hungry for power. Thinking that his half-brothers had the same thirst for vain glory, Abimelech used his peculiar family status to propose to the nascent nation of Israel the argument of all arguments. Reminding the people that “Too many chiefs spoil the broth“ he asked” Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Gideon rule over you, or that one rule over you?” Opting for one tyrant instead of 70,Abimelech was elected. The Bible tells us that as a result, Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. (Judges 9:4-5)
Jotham eventually came back to haunt Abimelech. He challenged the people’s wisdom and choice with the following parable. The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and reign over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'You come and reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.' (Jdg 9:8-15 ESV) On this parable Bible expositor Matthew Henry comments, To rule, involves a man in a great deal both of toil and care. Those who are preferred to public trust and power, must forego all private interests and advantages, for the good of others. And those advanced to honour and dignity, are in great danger of losing their fruitfulness. For which reason, they that desire to do good, are afraid of being too great. Jotham compares Abimelech to the bramble or thistle, a worthless plant, whose end is to be burned. Indeed, the bramble didn’t mind ruling because he had no goodness to lose. To this idea proposed in this chapter of the Old Testament can be added Jesus’ statement that certainly, The tree is known by its fruit! (Mat 12:33) As is the case with many other people, I require the use of glasses. This is because while my left eye sees normally, my right eye is very weak. I do pretty well with most things, except for things like aiming when practicing shooting.
Isn’t it strange how we see defects in others that we do not see in ourselves? I read in an article one time that this is because unbeknownst to them, most people carry the same spiritual ocular handicap as I do. Yes indeed, we all see with two different eyes. A weak eye that seems to be almost blind to small details of imperfections, and that that is the one we use to look at ourselves. We also have a strong eye that is very kin at discerning even shades of imperfections, and that is the one the we use to look at others. As a result, while we are very careful not to be negatively affected by the imperfections of others, we excuse ours and allow them negatively affect the lives of others. I think that it would be more efficient to do it the other way around. We should use our very good eyes to look at our own imperfections and the weak eye to look at those of others. After all, we would not need to be so watchful about other’ imperfections since they would also use their good eye to introspect. It may also make for better relationships based on trust and empathy. A famous teacher roaming the earth 2,000 years ago made the same observations. He asked people who had the tendency to look at themselves with their weak eye and at others with their strong eye, Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? (Mat 7:3-4) Indeed, isn’t it strange how we can so easily discern the faults in others that we are blind to in ourselves? This teacher then answered his own question with, You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Mat 7:5) Anyone who has read the story of the Exodus in the Bible is awed by the person of Moses. Armed with his simple humility and pragmatic obedience to God, he brought a proud nation with an even prouder ruler to their knees. He also helped establish the constitution of the new nation of Israel.
Moses had a big sister, Miriam. Like all big sisters, she was always trying to boss her kid brother around. There was no exception for Moses and Miriam. One time she accused her kid brother of thinking too much of himself; of having an inflated ego; of not being a team-player. The Bible tells us that this action displeased God who afflicted Miriam with leprosy as a punishment . To me, bringing down plagues, bringing Pharaoh to his knees and dividing the Red Sea are not the only marks of Moses’ greatness. The reaction that he had toward his sister tells us of a kind of greatness that only comes from God. A greatness that is the proof of God’s presence in a man or a woman; a greatness that would immediately create Heaven on earth if it were owned by every person who claims to believe in the God of the Bible. The Bible tells us that after he saw what happened to his sister because of her criticism, Mose cried to the LORD, "O God, please heal her—please. (Num 12:13). Our natural response when people do us wrong is to return the attack in some form, even sometimes with extreme subtlety. We do not take it lying down. For example, if you were to maybe lose your job because of someone’s vicious verbal attacks against you, how would feel towards that person? Would you pray for their welfare and against God’s punishment for their evil deeds? This reminds me of a story I once heard. There was a private who constantly criticised his commanding officer, even sometimes publicly. One day that very same commanding officer was asked what he thought of that private’s soldiering. The officer gave the most glowing report. Another officer thought to inform the first and said, “Don’t you know that this is the private who openly criticises you?” to which the officer answered, “I was asked for my opinion of him, not for his opinion of me! I read about a strange ritual in the Bible today. Moses instructed the Children of Israel that if a woman is suspected of adultery, her husband is supposed to take her to the priest. Among other altar rituals, the priest then unties her hair and gives her to drink a solution made of water, dust from the floor of the Tabernacle, and the washed down ink from a specified curse containing the Sacred Name of God that has been written on papyrus. All the details can be found in the fifth chapter of the Book of Numbers.
To understand the depth of this ritual, it is important to know that until this day, the Children of Israel never write the name of God wherever it can be erased or defaced. In this case, we have the Ineffable Name being both erased and defaced. The idea understood by this ritual is this. Suspicion of adultery is fatally toxic for a marriage. But God is so intent on protecting the stability of our families that, though He is innocent of any wrongdoing in the matter, He is willing to let His own name be erased and defaced to salvage the situation. I believe that discipleship is the imitation of God. As a husband and believer, this ritual teaches me a great lesson. Many things can go wrong in a marriage. Some can be easily solved with a rose, a ring, a meal at a restaurant, extra duties, or a simple, “I’m sorry!” Other can be more serious and difficult. In my many years counseling couples I have discovered that the three main fatal issues in a marriage revolve around money, children, and religion (not necessarily on that order for everyone). When leading new couples into marriage, I usually try to hit on these three issues. I am an old-fashioned person. I believe that a man is the head of his family. I also believe that because of this title, the buck stops with him, and that even as God is willing to let His own Name be besmirched in order to preserve our unions, we should be willing, guilty or not, to take the brunt of the blame all for the sake of keeping it together. A clergyman I heard about understood this. A woman who used to attend his teachings came home late one day. Her husband was so mad that he told her, “If you go back there, don’t come home unless you spit in his face!” When the teacher heard that, he said, “Spit in my face seven times and tell your husband you did even more than he asked!” Like in the ritual of the woman suspected of adultery, this humble clergyman understood that it was better for him to be shamed by this action than to see this marriage in tatters. This week was the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem Day, the day people remember the restitution of Jerusalem to its rightful owners. I know this is a touchy subject as even to this day some people, even within our present administration, consider Jerusalem occupied territory. I certainly respect their views, but being a generous man, I also welcome everyone to my own opinion.
Whether one believes in God, the Bible, or in the rightful ownership of Jerusalem by the Israelis or not, it is undeniable that this event from the 6-day War in 1967 was one of the cataclysmic events of the 20th century. It is one of those events which changed the geographical, political, and religious landscape of the world. Never in the history of the world has an ethnic group returned to its own land, revived its own language, and re-established its own capital after 2,000 years of exile. This has been the major eschatological event of the age and many who believed that the Jewish nation was a thing of the past had to go back to the drawing board of Biblical understanding. CBN produced a docu-movie on the 6-Day War called, ‘In our Hands, the Battle for Jerusalem’. There were showings only on one day this week, the day before Jerusalem Day. The movie captured the events which led the Israeli soldiers to the Temple Mount and eventually to the Western Wall. Many of the people who participated in that battle are still alive today and gave testimony. In that war, as usual, Israel was defending itself against an attack by three surrounding major nations who had sworn to throw them back into the sea. No food could come to Jerusalem. The people were starving. The situation was hopeless so the army came to help. The capture of the Temple Mount was an afterthought. It was not in the original plans. It is as they arrived that it dawned on them of where they were. It is almost like they responded to a long forgotten homing-beacon that called them back to where they belonged. Pondering the situation during dinner with a local family, an old lady who had been living in Jerusalem realises what was happening. She gets up and gives an old Israeli flag to one of the officers charging him to hang it on the Temple Mount as they get there. From then on history and destiny took over. The Temple Mount,called in Hebrew ‘Har HaBayit’, or ‘The Mountain of the House of the Lord’, was captured alongside with the Wall. Yielding to political pressure, Israel had to renege authority over the Temple Mount but still kept the Wailing Wall. The full return is for another day. Presently, anyone is allowed to pray on the temple Mount, except Jews. The soldier who led the way to the Western Wall gave testimony. He said that everybody says how great it was to recapture the Temple Mount and Wall but he confessed that at that moment he was just following orders. He was told to fight that battle and to win it so as a good soldier he did. This shows that history and destiny are not static; a great force moves them with a purpose. It also shows that great things get done when we just follow orders and just faithfully do what we are supposed to do, just do our job. Somebody asked me a question during class the other day. He mentioned some of his friends who just can’t seem to catch a break in life. One has a son who got into drugs, and the other a 4-year-old daughter with Leukemia. He can understand the societal problems with today’s youth, but the 4-year-old girl …? The dilemma is that these are people who try to live decent lives and raise their children responsibly. My friend’s logic is that because they live their lives in the ways of God, they should become the recipients of His love in the form of at least basic protection and care.
The truth is that while the Bible contains many promises directed towards those who serve God, reality on the ground seems to speak to the contrary and be closer to King Solomon’s honest observation, There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. (Ecc 8:14 ESV) I returned the classic question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” to my friend. I told him that the question itself was based on the erroneous assumptions that those who follow God are entitled to a basic life insurance against the evils of this world. We try to hold God to something He never promised us and then hate Him for not fulfilling it. The problem is with the question, not with God. While many appropriate the promises in the Bible to themselves for their own situations in their own time many, if not most of them were given to certain people, for a certain situations, at certain times. There are also some general promises that do not pertain to our time but to a future messianic reality. I do not like to think of God as a promoter, a businessman, or a politician who tries to engage members to join His club, buy his product, or join his party by piling on the incentives. I tend to think of Him as a visionary who tells his people, “Look; together we can usher in an awesome world of abundance, peace, and beauty--something beyond your imagination, but it's going to cost you everything and more to bring it in. There are no promises, no benefits, only sacrifices, but it will be worth it all! . Are you in?” Jesus reaffirmed to his disciples before his death and resurrection, “In the world you will have tribulation." (Joh 16:33) As a reminder of what God has or has not promised, my wife and I often sing a song on the words of this famous poem. WHAT GOD HATH PROMISED God hath not promised skies always blue Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through God hath not promised sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, peace without pain. God hath not promised we shall not know Toil and temptation, trouble and woe; He hath not told us we shall not bear many a burden, many a care. God hath not promised smooth roads and wide, Swift, easy travel, needing no guide; Never a mountain rocky and steep, Never a river turbid and deep But God hath promised strength for the day, Rest for the labor, light for the way, Grace for the trials, help from above, Unfailing sympathy, undying love Author: Annie Johnson Flint There was an article last night the local news about Chris Register. Chris, a cyclist, who has been touring the States on his bike calls himself a ‘recovering lawyer.’ His primary goal is to rediscover himself, his country, and who we are as Americans. He says that he never spends a day without having entered a deep conversation with someone and that has changed his perspective about life and about people in general. He said, “Once you know someone as a human being first, when you find out their political views are different, it’s OK!”
My wife and I were listening when she said, ‘This is a simple but heavy statement!’, and it is. Both the religious and the political conversation seem hostile these days. Could it be that we don’t know each other as ‘human beings’ first? Every week I have a conversation with a Pastor in a nearby town. He is a Quaker pastoring a Baptist Church. He and I could be considered on opposite spectrums as far as theology is concerned, but here we are every week having deep conversations on some of the most taboo subjects in the religious world. It’s not easy for people on opposite sides of an issue to be able to meet in the middle and talk about it. The danger comes as soon as we polarize. I heard it said one time that the true test of objectivity and unbiasedness was the ability to positively and effectively argue an opponent’s side. It seems that we can only do that when we have learned to know and respect each other as people first, because before we are pegged or pigeon-holed into any political or religious entity, we all are independant people looking for the same things; people looking for truth, people looking for happiness, people looking for peace. http://katu.com/news/local/cyclist-travels-through-portland-on-journey-to-meet-americans-from-all-walks-of-life We did a little exercise at the police and fire chaplain academy. We were asked to write the 5 following words, 'spouse’, ‘ministry’, ‘children’, ‘God’, and ‘career’, and put them in order of priority. The order may differ with each person but in a room full of chaplains, many of whom were also clergy, the answer for number 1 was obvious: ‘God.’ I had to think about that answer though.
God is invisible, intangible, and inaudible, and as a result, many feel free to interpret the commands God gives for the ordering of our lives in the way they want to. This creates for us a god in our own image; a God who is a far cry from that respect demanding Divine Authority who from His own vantage point teaches us what is right, demands that we shun what is wrong, and holds us accountable for our actions. It is very easy to loudly proclaim such a self-made God as having ultimate priority in our lives. Doing so, we become the master, the foreman, and the servant of our lives. Whether you are a single person, married, divorced, working, retired, handicapped, poor, rich, what would you put as first in your life? Each of us can only answer for themselves but I will share my thoughts and my reasoning with you. As a result of placing God in preferential list, I have seen people excusing themselves from their domestic responsibilities because of their spiritual responsibilities. I personally consider that God is not an outside element of our lives separate from our everyday reality. I do not consider that His service comes in conflict with our domestic responsibilities. God is the element of our lives and attention to His service should not be solely understood within the realm of spiritual activities. Rather, service for God should primarily be acted through our faithfulness to our daily domestic activities, such as caring for our families. As such, I put my wife in first place. If she is well cared-for and happy, the children are also well-taken care of and happy, which in turn gives me more time for ministry. Whereas my ministry/career is important to me, it does not trump my first responsibility to my family which is my God service. So in my book, God comes first, but not in preferential order. I tend to His service through the care of all the others, including that of my community. WHAT IS THE ORDER OF YOUR LIFE? I have spent the last week at the Police and Fire Academy in Spokane. It is humbling to be in the company of all these dedicated chaplains, many of whom come from fire, police, or military backgrounds.
On Tuesday night we visited a crematorium. As he explained the various facets of his work, the funeral director explained to us what he does in order to make a body presentable to a family, especially in the a case of an open casket funeral service. I told him how his job was an important calling, as not only did he help facilitate an honorable goodbye for the families of the deceased, but he helped someone to say goodbye in an honorable way. I was a little moved by the statistics of remains that were voluntarily unclaimed. It felt to me like a cowardly act of revenge. The thing that a death proves is that a life preceded it. A life full of all the beauty and/or all the ugliness that a life can contain. Some lives may contain more of one than the other, but for the most part, all of our lives contain a bit of both and therefore, that honorable part, however small it may be, needs to be honored. Honoring the dead is the most unselfish thing one can do. Whatever we do for them, they cannot smile to give us that feeling of satisfaction nor can they say “Thank you!” And if that can give any comfort, that gives a positive way to have the proverbial ‘last word!’ We talked about something else that day. Whether for the Fire department, the Police force, or the military, there is an organization that helps to honor the life of those who served the public. The pageantry of the Honor Guard not only helps give credit where credit is due in honoring those who sacrificed their lives in the service of others, but it also serves in lifting the heart of those they leave behind. May we never forget to honor these honorable souls, not only as they depart from us, but also in their lives with us. A rich Englishman living in hilly area of the country needed to hire a new driver so he set up a driving skills test. He asked each candidate to drive in the safest possible way as close to the cliff on the right side of the road (Brits drive on the left side). Each candidate tried to drive as close as possible to the deadly ravine to their right until one finally drove as far as possible away from it, actually hugging the hill on his left. "That is the safest way to drive close to the cliff!" he said. “As far away from it as possible.” He was hired.
This wise driver presents with a very wise philosophy of life. Very often we find ourselves at bottom of a ravine dealing with an interminable slew of problems. These problems can be medical, financial, domestic, or professional. They can also be ethical, spiritual, or emotional. At that time, we can ask ourselves, “Did I think I was impervious to falling? Did I think I was such a great driver that I threw caution out to the wind? Was I driving too close to the cliff? “ We might need to ask ourselves what it looks like in our lives to drive ‘too close to the cliff.’ Is it being careless about our food diet or a lack of moderation in how much we drink? Could it be entertaining dangerous relationships or indulging in bad habits? Or maybe filling our minds and hearts with unhealthy media? In life and at work, everything we do comes along with safety warnings. Problems are sure to happen in our lives, but let's make sure that we are not the ones provoking them by thinking we are too smart to heed them and thus, 'driving too close to the cliff.’ The ostrich, the opossum, and the surfer.
There is no denying it,--whether they be financial, professional, domestic, or medical,-- life presents us with many challenges. The quicker we realise that there is no way out of it, the better off we are. The only way to survive it is to learn how to handle each and every challenge we are presented with in the best possible way . The animal world provides us with some examples. A myth developed about the ostrich who is often seen with its head in the sand. It even became a proverb about people who just try to pretend their problems just don’t exist and go on living as if nothing happened. While the ostrich is actually simply stirring its eggs in a hole it dug as a nest, many people do turn their back to their problems either by running from them or ignoring them rather than facing them head on. The opossum gives us another example. When presented with confrontation, he falls into an epileptic-mouth-frothing trauma. This characterises those of us who just faint at the notion of difficulty. I was telling a friend this week that problems are like the waves of an ocean; we can’t stop them from coming. We can attempt to stop them with a plank of wood but that would be quite unsuccessful. Instead, we can take that same plank of wood and surf the waves as they come hurling at us. As we do, the waves of problems we dread so much will propel us further and take us higher. Here is a poem written by the very prolific writer: Unknown The Oyster & the Pearl There once was an oyster Whose story I tell, Who found that some sand Had got into his shell. It was only a grain, But it gave him great pain. For oysters have feelings Although they’re so plain. Now, did he berate The harsh working of fate That had brought him To such a deplorable state? Did he curse at the government, Cry for election, And claim that the sea should Have given him protection? No – he said to himself As he lay on a shell, Since I cannot remove it, I shall try to improve it. Now the years have rolled around, As the years always do, And he came to his ultimate Destiny – stew. And the small grain of sand That had bothered him so Was a beautiful pearl All richly aglow. Now the tale has a moral; For isn’t it grand What an oyster can do With a morsel of sand? What couldn’t we do If we’d only begin With some of the things That get under our skin. This year I am teaching a class on biblical astronomy at school I use a computer program called Stellarium. This week, as I was showing my class a section of the sky in the daytime on my computer screen, I wanted to show them the constellations that we couldn't see because of the sunlight. I used the option allowing to take out the atmosphere, and pronto-presto, we could the constellation of Pisces with all its friends in the sky. I then asked the students,
“If I turn on a lamp in the room, the closer I come to its light the better I see. If I light a fire, the closer I come to the flames the hotter I get. Why is it then that the higher I would go in space, the darker and colder it gets even though I am closer to the sun? I will not tell their biology teacher but these teenagers were all dumbfounded at the obvious observation. I then explained to them that light itself is invisible, and that it needs something to reflect on in order for us to benefit from its effects; in this case, the atmosphere. I pointed out to them that it is the same thing with the heat of the sun; that it needs some sort of surface to heat up for us to feel its warmth, in this case also the atmosphere. As we go up in space, both the warmable surfaces as well as the atmosphere lessen so it gets colder. When we get out of the atmosphere, it is unbearably cold. Then I told them, “It is the same with God. He is invisible and and people cannot feel Him except through the things that reflect His light and warmth: you and me! And how do we reflect his light and warmth so people can see him? Through acts of love, care, kindness, and mostly living the way he wants to. Here is the story of a man who came to a watchmaker with the hands of a clock and told him,
“Please, fix these hands for me; they haven’t shown the right time for more than six months now!” "Where is the clock?" answered the watchmaker. "It’s at home, over there on the hill." "But I must have the clock." "I just told you; there is nothing wrong with the clock. The problem is with the hands. You just want me to bring you the clock so you can tinker with it and charge me a big price. Give me back those hands!” he said, and so doing, went off in a huff and a puff to find a reasonable watchmaker. Foolish as he was, his caution is very like those of us who would regulate the motions of our lives without being made right on the inside. We think we can regulate our words and our actions with sheer will and discipline. We may even try to regulate our thoughts, as if it were possible. It may work for a while but one can only live so long under the pressure of such discipline. It eventually builds pressure and like the proverbial pressure cooker, if not given an outlet, it will explode. Very often, those of us who have tried it fall under the delusion that we succeed while forgetting that, like with the pressure-cooker, we have allowed ourselves a secret outlet of ‘misbehavior’ that keeps us from exploding. At the end of the day, the only way to regulate the ‘hands’, it to fix the ‘clock’, which is the inclination of our heart. And why don’t we want to fix our heart? Just like the foolish man with the watchmaker, it is because it may cost too much. We may have to let go of some habit, grudge, opinion, attitude or behavior. "I only wish to avoid this or that habit or behavior," we say. But the Master Workman says, "I cannot fix the hands unless you give me the heart!” From the first steps we take to our first job, first credit card, getting married, giving birth, fathering a child, another child, and maybe another one, retiring, to the day we prepare to leave this world, life is full of frightening firsts.
When we take our first steps we look intently into the eyes of our mother or father. We are full of faith and we know that they will catch us if we should fall. But as life goes on, we do not have our parents to catch us and we need to face many ‘firsts’ alone. Most of the lessons we learn come from the tumbles we take in these first ‘firsts’. It is natural to be fearful of new realities in our life. To not be would almost be a form of denial or insouciance. That is why man is to live in a society where the elders can help the younger; where the veteran can help the novice. We often see teenagers who, so sure of themselves, arrogantly ignore their parents, sheepishly return home for some help and good advice as they start facing the difficult realities of paying their own bills, independent living and raising a family. Sad to say, these situations which should resolve in people helping each other often end in bitter ‘I told you so’ conflicts. Here is an anecdote i found to illustrate the point. “An English naval officer," writes C.G. Trumbull, "has told a grateful story of the way he was helped and saved from dishonor in his first experience in battle. He was a midshipman, fourteen years old. The volleys of the enemy's musketry so terrified him that he almost fainted. The officer over him saw his state, and came close beside him, keeping his own face toward the enemy, and held the midshipman's hand, saying in a calm, quiet, affectionate way, "Courage, my boy. You will recover in a minute or two. I was just like that when I went into my first battle." The young man said afterward that it was as if an angel had come to him and put new strength into him. The whole burden of his agony was gone, and from that moment he was as brave as the oldest of the men. If the officer had dealt sternly with him, he might have driven him to cowardly failure. His kindly sympathy with him dispelled all fear, put courage into his heart and made him brave for battle. A true leader is one who has the ability to give courage and make others also feel great. The school where I work has me teaching a class on Biblical astronomy this semester. It really is an ‘out of this world’ class. With a simple program we can reconstruct what the magis saw in the sky 2,000 years ago.
As we look at the different celestial objects we have to make the difference between stars and planets. Even though they seem to be travelling the sky, stars are stationary. We are the ones on planet earth who move. Planets on the contrary travel the sky. That’s where the word ‘planet’ comes from: ‘The wandering ones.’ This week I was studying the phenomena of ‘retrograde motion’, (click on the link for youtube explanation). Retrograde motion is when a planet in the sky seems to move backward and then resume its forward course. Planets travel in a circular orbit in one direction. They do not change the direction of their course at will. Why then does it dsometime seem that they change direction? That’s actually it. They ‘SEEM’ to change direction, but do they really? This seeming change of direction is an optical illusion created by the fact that we reference the movement of that planet from the perspective of other far away stationery stars. The travelling speed of the earth, accompanied with that of the planet in question, against the backdrop of these stationary stars give us the illusion that the planet is changing the direction of its course. It is in fact the backdrop of these stars which give us the illusion of progress or regress of the planet in question. Studying this phenomenon made me wonder. How can we claim to rightfully judge and assess static situations and intelligent people, when we can be so easily fooled by inanimate object? We usually judge people and situations against the standard of the backdrop of others. We establish judgement according to certain self-imposed baselines. Our conclusions therefore are mostly dependant of the backdrop we use, and as in the case of the retrograde motion, we can be fooled by our own chosen standard unit of measurement. As we are unable to see the depth of the cosmos with the naked eye, we are also unable see the fulness of the depth of the human soul. It is a part of life that we have to judge and assess situations and people. As we do, we may ask ourselves how we would fare were we to be judged against the backdrops and standard we use to judge others. Do we also use the same hard backdrop when we judge ourselves? Maybe this is why we have been rightfully advised, ‘"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Whenever we are here in mid-summer, my wife and I love to go browse the booths and listen to the music at the Estacada Summer Celebration. On one such year, we were strolling down Broadway (it sounds fancy to say it like that even though it’s just Estacada) and as she often does, my wife stopped to talk with a lady she knew. I walked away a little browsing the items in the booth and my eyes fell on a famous quotation in a nice wooden frame. The frame was nice but I was more interested in the quotation. I read it and wrote it on a note app on my phone hoping that the booth owner wouldn’t mind..
This quotation really got me thinking. I always wanted to to write something about it but had forgotten it until today when I found it again as I was checking all the little notes in my phone app. This quotation made me think of free choice. Of all that fills God’s good earth, we are the only creature endowed with what has been coined ‘The Majesty of Choice.’ Many creatures indulge in behavior that we consider outright wrong to say the least such as gerbils who eat their young when their living space becomes too small. In the case of gerbils, not only they do not have the choice, but neither have they been taught a moral compass. They just instinctively do what comes naturally to them. What about us then? We have this awesome thing called ‘choice’ which enables us to do good, to act right, and to even do random acts of kindness, and sometimes we do. I can bear witness that the world has given birth to great heroes who are not afraid to lay down their lives for others; people who, unlike gerbils, share their space at their own cost; but do they comprise the vast majority of all humanity? If not, why not? And mostly: what creates the difference between those who do and those who don’t? Does it have to do with choice? Do we have this awesome majesty of ‘choice’ but we don’t use it to choose the good, the right, and the moral but instead, like the gerbil, are lead by our ‘natural’ instinct? And if we don’t choose the good, the right, and the moral, why not? Is it because we do not love the good, the right, and the moral? We always choose the things we love. By the way, before I forget, you may be curious as to the quote that inspired me this muse. It is from the most prolific author history has ever known. His name is Unknown and he is credited with many more sayings like this one: ’WE ARE SHAPED AND FASHIONED BY THE THINGS WE LOVE.’ Maybe it’s another way of saying,’We grow like the people (or concepts) we live with’! For the last few weeks I have been reading about the experiences of the Children of Israel in the Sinai Desert. The story seems to be a mix of experiences where one can find ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’. Which one is it really about though? I guess it depends what kind of lens we use to look at it.
Even the prophets of Israel seemed to have different opinions. One talks about it as a series of failures, while the other describes it as a honeymoon with God. Later the Apostle Paul also makes mention of it. He brings it up as experiences written for the benefit of future generations. The way I see it, it is like life in general. Whether our marriage, raising our children, our professional or religious accomplishments, they all seem to be a mix where we can find ‘failure’ and ‘honeymoon’ ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’. It seems to be a prevalent truth in everything else for that matter; that whatever we find in any given situation depends on what we look for. I personally find it to be one of the great duties of life to strive to find the good and the positive in everything and everyone. There was a old lady one time who also found it a great virtue to look on the positive side of things. A friend who could not understand how this poor was able to find the ‘honeymoon’ in everything asked,”My; I don’t understand you; I bet you could even find something positive to say about the devil!” she replied, “Well, you must admit; he is pretty persistent!” I heard a little song one day. It goes like this: All through life my brother If you’d be a happy soul Keep your eyes upon the doughnut And not upon the hole! As I was driving, managing traffic and weather from Hillsboro to Vancouver from one interpretation job to another, I was reminded of story today.
It is the story of Pedro, a Mexican farmer, and of his son, Luis, going to market to buy a donkey. They had worked and saved long and hard to buy the donkey that will make their farm life much easier. The donkey will pull a cart and even carry things from one place to the other. Luis was glad to go to the city. He doesn’t often get the chance to leave the busy farm, but Pedro was apprehensive. City folks made him uncomfortable. They left the farm one sunny morning. Pedro walked quietly along while Luis skipped everywhere looking at everything on the way. They arrived at the market; found and bought the perfect donkey; ate something at the local cantina; and wanting to get back before dark, started their way home. Very soon a group of city people passing by were mocking them. “Look at these silly country folks. They have a donkey, and they are both walking. How silly!”. Pedro then decided that both he and Luis should ride the donkey. Very soon, another group passed by and looked at them in horror. “Look at these cruel country folks both riding on this poor donkey!” Pedro decided that Luis should ride the donkey while he walked until another group on the other side of the road yelled in disgust . “Look at this ungrateful son letting his father walk while he rides on the donkey!”. Pedro was starting to wonder if you ever please people. He got on the donkey and told Luis to walk until a person accused him of being a cruel father letting his son walk while he rode on the donkey. It is then that Pedro had the perfect idea. He and Luis got a big pole to which they attached the donkey upside down by its hooves, and carried the donkey to the utter confusion of the city people. Whether a King, President, Senator, Director, Manager, Officer, or team leader, one thing is certain, ‘We may please some of the people all the time. We may please all of the people some of the time. But we will never please all the people all the time. It seems that even God has that problem. We just have to make the decisions that we feel are the best at the moment and live with the results. The other week on the news they were talking how the great Barnum and Bailey Circus will not perform anymore. The animal activists having won their case, the circus had to get rid of its elephants which, among other things, eventually led it to bankruptcy. The news were also mentioned Sea World and its killer-whales in Florida.
I don’t know if there was abuse. I have in my mind the romantic idea of the tamer and his close relationship with his animals. Animals are like people, they don’t perform under pressure, stress or abuse, or if they do, they do not do it well or with their heart. It seems that the circus as we knew it has lost its relevance in today’s society. I remember with nostalgia taking my young children to the small circus that used to come to our little town of Estacada. . The Bible also talks about the proper and humane care of animals. But while it says that a righteous person is one who cares for his animals, it does not have circus animals nor house pets in mind. When it encourages the humane care of animals, it is referring to farm animals. Being knowledgeable of mankind’s potential for selfishness and greed, God in His great wisdom teaches people to not overwork their animals. The Old Testament even says that an ox should be able to eat of the grain while he turns the grinding mill, have a day of rest every week, and a year of rest every seven. But was God only concerned about oxen and donkeys when he made these rules? The Bible is a book of overarching principles. When it speaks about the ox and donkey of the farm, it tells us how we should care for the lowest employee of the enterprise; the one at the bottom of the totem pole. The principle behind it is that, ‘If we have to care so much for the animal of the farm, how much better care should we give to human help, indentured workers, and even more to our paid employees.’ While the Bible does mention ‘slaves’, which were actually indentured workers, it tells us that they should not sleep on a bed less comfortable than that of their master, neither eat inferior food than that of their employers. Because of the selfishness of man, people nowadays have created unions to make sure that workers are cared for and not taken advantage of. But an employer who believes in God should not need the check and balance of the unions. He should remember the God who serves him well, and serve others in the same way just for gratitude sake. The children of Israel were to always remember their slavery in Egypt in order to be kind to the stranger and the worker when they arrived in their Promised Land. They were supposed to remember where they came from. Should we? When I heard this phrase on drill night I thought it was too good to pass up. My temptation toward philosophical analogies got the better of me. I had to unwrap this fire fighting strategy in order to take it to a different place, nonetheless as applicable. When I first heard it I asked Ted, who made the presentation, “Can you give me an example of a scenario when you have jump out the window?”
Ted was very wise. While not giving me a 100% strategic dogma, he expounded on the scenario of someone checking the grounds of a fire with much difficulty because of the smoke and flames, which also continued their rapid devouring holocaust. He also made a point that sometimes you do have to do it in order to check for life. The latter exception aside, the original scenario is a very good idea not only for fire fighting but also for community issues. A few months ago I attended a lecture by Tiger Shmitterndoorf’. But he was talking about the need to extinguish the “fires” in the fire house. At the time I wrote an article connecting that principle with what happened to Nicole Mittendorff, a 31-year-old Fairfax County firefighter. Virginia State Police officers discovered her body in Shenandoah National Park along with a suicide note. Somehow something happened at the station and the fire, while maybe addressed, was not put out first which caused Nicole to ‘jump out’. We fight many problems/fires in our lives. In fact, fighting problems/fires is something everybody does, from the people in government to our own family at dinner table. We often try to find the cause of the problem/fire, or even pin the blame on someone, while everything is smokey, hot and confused. While we do that, the problem/fire continues raging in our homes and lives. Maybe this is after all also a good life strategy. If we put out the fire right in the first place, not only we will be able to clearly fix the problem, find the responsible elements, and no-one will have to ‘jump out the window’. I wonder what it looks like to ‘put out the fire right in the first place, so someone doesn’t have to jump out the window’. It probably looks different every time, but it is a very good advice. Fear is a strange thing. Like our modern paper currency, it has no power of its own, except that to which we attribute it. Also like our modern currency, it self inflates as it loses value, thus preserving an allure of power. It is like a hot air balloon, very big, but since there is no gold behind it, it is only full of the ‘hot air’ of lies blown into it by its ‘fans’ who believe in it. Like our modern paper currency, fear is mostly blown by the hot air of lies and pretences, but when faced with the truth, like the Wizard of Oz coming from behind the mask of his lying schemes, he is revealed for the powerless little creature that he is. President FDR (who took the American Dollar off the gold standard) is known to have said at his First Inaugural Address: “The only thing to fear, is fear itself.”
When I was a teenager I emigrated to Israel. My parents were not favorable to the idea, but I was able to muster enough teenage cantankerousness to make them realize that their lives would be better off and things would be quieter if I were to go. They were fearful of me going to live in country that was so prone to war and terrorist attacks. For my part, I was like every teenager, ‘Invincible!’ I was watching this week about the people who live in the new settlements East of Jerusalem. They have whole families living there, very close to danger. A recent Israeli poll showed that the people living in these dangerous areas of Jerusalem are less fearful of terrorists than those who live in the more settled areas of Tel-aviv or Haifa. Why? Those who live in these settlement say that they do so out of a sense of cosmic destiny. They know that they are part of a vision that is greater than themselves, and this shines in front of them as a light that dissipates all fears,real or made up. This is something we could all learn from in these times of uncertainty. We could ask ourselves, “What are we a part of?” Why do we do what we do?” Are we living and dying for a virtuous ideal or are we just existing?” Only the realisation that we are actually part of a grand plan can give us the courage to face the daily battles that life puts in front of us. And whether we know it or not, we are each one of us part of grand plan. Not only we do not know what lies ahead for ourselves, but we do not know what lies ahead for our children, or for the people we help and save every day. The people of East Jerusalem know it, and if they can keep this plan alive for 4,000 years, we can also certainly do so. |
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