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The light of men

The other night I had to go to the bathroom. I normally walk around with the lights off, but I had something stuck in my throat, so I turned the light on to take a look. It took me a few seconds before my eyes adjusted to the light. I took a look, couldn’t see anything, had a drink of water and turned to go back to bed. I now staggered in what was complete darkness. By the time I got back to my bed my eyes were starting to adjust again and I could see a little.

As I crawled back into bed, I thought about Jesus calling himself the light. What does this mean? How often do we consider how we interact with light.

Sometimes light is unbearably bright. We all know not to look directly at the sun – it’s intensity will blind us. And when we move from a bright sunny day into a dark space we feel blinded by the darkness. Light isn’t always gentle or unobtrusive. Light can be shocking, both in its brightness and in its absence. It is a basic human need, but we still need to protect our eyes from it.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, He came in a form that we can see and understand. He came as a lantern that lights a path. But His true nature would shock us. We wouldn’t be able to gaze on him directly. His light is what defies the forces of darkness. His light is a weapon.

John 1: 4-5 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

A season of change

If you are paying attention to world events, it is easy to get discouraged. We have unparalleled division. We seem to have an inability to meet in the centre. We don’t even use the same tools and language to formulate our ideas. It can be overwhelming and even depressing.

But…

If you are also paying attention to the theological and philosophical discussions, it is incredibly encouraging. We are in a major shift. I may be wrong, but I don’t see it as similar to the shift of the prewar era of the 1930; as I’ve heard others surmise. I believe we are in a change like the Reformation. How people think is changing. How we process information is changing.

I have long thought that the internet is the impetus for this change. A new technology that is revolutionizing how we process information. But something else happened in the mid 20th century. Something easy to ignore. A discovery that seems of interest only to a few academics. The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

These texts are revolutionizing the way scholars are reading the Bible. There is a correction coming. It is slowly seeping out of the halls of academia and moving into the world at large. This is where the internet will play a part. This information will spread further and faster thanks to our current technologies.

It is an exciting time to be alive. If you aren’t already paying attention, start!

Isaiah 14: 27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Love the poor

We live in an affluent time. We have so much. And yet the poor are among us. This can be hard to reconcile. On top of that we, as humans, tend to equate ‘blessings’ with material possessions. The rise of the dreaded prosperity gospel is testament to this tendency within us.

The Bible is not vague about the poor. It is not vague about what our response as God’s people should be to the poor.

Last summer, when we were struggling financially and still recovering from Wes’ stroke, our neighbours looked after us. One needed help with a storm door, one needed a fence, one needed a deck – all by some coincidence when we needed it most. Do I think it was a coincidence? No, I don’t. They saw a need. They had a need and they saw a way of helping us. But not just giving us charity, but by providing the opportunity for Wes to work and maintain his dignity. Other have also done this, some old church friends as well. We have been extremely grateful for their kindness.

I found this video very interesting and thought you might too.

7 Provocative Old Testament Facts About the Poor – What the Bible Says About the Poor – YouTube

Who’s in charge

My kids are getting old enough to make plans. I’m no longer solely in charge of the family schedule and events. It is fun to watch them take ownership over their time and space. They are more involved in what they want to eat, how their room should look, who they play with, and other aspects of their lives. They are moving from childhood into adulthood. They are learning to control their own world.

In the past my children went where I planned, on my schedule. I, like most good parents, planned events that were age appropriate and that I thought they would enjoy. They had complete trust. They had little or no idea what each day would bring, but they trusted me to work it out. Most times they were happy with my choices.

Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he told us to be more like children. I need to wrestle with my own sense of control and give my life over to God. I need to let him schedule my life and chart my course. I should be like my own children used to be, a happy passenger. Humbly letting him lead.

It’s a struggle. But it is a worthy struggle.

Matthew 18: 2-4 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

Built for each other

I have been noticeably absent or so a close friend told me the other day. I am sorry for that. Life has intruded. Not in a terrifying way, but in an “it’s too busy to collect my thoughts” kind of way. I am doing well, as is my family.

Having others check-in on us is such a gift. We all have a few people in our lives who keep an eye open for how we are doing and send a note or call when they are concerned. This is God’s work.

Community is hard to build in our crazy technocentric world. But it is so important. We are humans and it has never been good for us to be alone. God looked at Adam and decided he needed companionship and community. This is our foundation. This is one of the most important elements of humanity.

As we start to move our way out of the past years crazy isolation and fear start with community. Make time for each other. It matters.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him.”

We learn from our mistakes

My kids all like to cook. When they were younger it was a highly supervised endevour. Now as they get older it requires that I am close at hand but NOT interfering. I listen and interject when I hear statements like, “it calls for a 1/4 cup of salt.” No. Never, in any recipe, except perhaps a brine do you eve use that much salt. Or my son will ask, “What colour is this?” when cooking ground beef (he’s colour-blind).

I told my husband the other day that most times it is still easier and faster to do things myself. But, then they wouldn’t learn. He laughed and said, “Yeah, like me I had to learn how to cook after I left home.” I explained to him that what he did was keep himself alive, it couldn’t be described as cooking. I’m not a very nice wife!

When faced with my daily struggles there are many times that I wish God would just reach down and do it for me. It would be easier for both of us. But then what would I learn?

Psalm 139: 23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

A different kind of courage

What do we think of when we think of courage and bravery? I think of taking a stand, going into battle or working hard to overcome an obstacle. I think of the passage in Ephesians chapter six exhorting the reader to ‘put on the armour of God.’

But sometimes we require a courage of a different kind. The bravery that comes with endurance and suffering. I know several people who are walking this path now. The lonely, ugly, thorny path where you are faced with horrible news. An illness in the family, a marriage dissolving, a tragic event; the kind of news that is beyond repair. These are situations where there is nothing to do but keep breathing and walking.

This is the hard part of life. The part where there are no answers. We sometimes struggle to see the point in the suffering.

Jesus offers something very special to this group of people. He doesn’t offer human solutions, or rites or activities to get you through. He offers so much more. He offers himself.

When we find ourselves mired down in the tragedies of life we can reach for Jesus, and he will carry our burden.

Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Draw on His strength

I love words. I like to discover the meaning or root of the word. This is something that has always interested me. Not spelling, I’m a dreadful speller, but words I love.

Lately I have described my feelings as discouraged. Meaning that I have been feeling defeated or down. I listened to a presenter discuss this word ‘discouraged.’ And I realized, for the first time (shocked at myself for not realizing this earlier) that discouraged is actually to lack courage. Wow! Mind blown. This isn’t how we use this word in our world.

I am not discouraged. I may be down, I may be out but I’m still fighting. Being frustrated and depressed is not the same as lacking courage.

Maybe you are facing troubles too. Maybe you are feeling isolated and alone. The good news is, our courage and our strength doesn’t come from within us. We don’t have to be discouraged as we can draw on the power of the Almighty! We can be like David when he faced Goliath. He wasn’t sure because of his own strength, he was sure because God was with him.

Psalm 42: 11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Be brave

As a young woman I was exposed to the flavour of my age, through education and popular culture. While the values espoused in my home were very different, I could not avoid these great cultural influences. Much of this was communicated through education, particularly in my University English Literature classes. The view pushed was to see the past through the lens of feminism. The Bible could not be avoided in these classes as it is a perennial and important source throughout Literature. But it was represented as patriarchal and repressive. Our duty, as modern students, was to shake the shackles off and evolve!

Even when I was young I saw this as a lack of knowledge. The people voicing these opinions likely had little knowledge of the text they were abusing. They were making assumptions without full understanding.

Look at Moses, one of the great patriarchs. Proof of the dominance of men in the Judeo-Christian viewpoint. This man sent by God to free the people of Israel from bondage. And yet he doesn’t exist without brave women. Midwives who refuse to kill the male babies born to Israelite women. A brave mother who risks her life and that of her family, by hiding her male infant. Even Pharaoh’s daughter, who recognized the baby she found as a Hebrew baby and who decided to keep it against her father’s orders.

All of these individual acts set up and enable one of the greatest triumphs in the Old Testament. None of these women could have imagined what their small contribution would allow.

So today, when we are called upon to do things, great or small, remember we have no idea what God has planned. Male or female he can use us for His good.

Bless you

We have lived through a difficult season of life. Still living through it, actually. We have nothing firm under our feet. Our world is one strong wind away from being blown off the map.

I realized that until recently, about a hundred years or less, this is how the vast majority of people lived. In the large frame of history we are not unique. This is a helpful perspective.

I am thankful for much in my life. I am thankful that my husband and I are still a team even after everything we have been through. I’m thankful for my respectful and thoughtful children. I’m thankful for parents and close friends who encourage me and build me up.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to write here on this little blog and have so many people checking in and commenting. You have no idea the encouragement you have all been to me.

So today I say to you –

Numbers 6: 24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”