BE FREE WITH THE DEVINE PRESENCE WITHIN YOU

 

Theologian Bernard Haring tells the moving story of his visit to a little Church in Bavaria where he had been invited to preach. He says that as he went into the Church for the first time, he felt something. 

That something is what happens in certain Churches; you can feel the Presence, the Grace.

And, as the particular congregation worshipped, this very feeling came over Haring again. Once more, it happened when the people began talking with one another as they left the Church sanctuary following the service, prompting Haring to search for the secret of this wonderful atmosphere. 

Perhaps, he thought, it was the pastor or his assistants? But the pastor said, "No. It isn't us. Come, I'll show you." 

The pastor promptly took Haring to the nearby home of an older woman who had been crippled by arthritis for 25 years. She had become so disabled that she was unable even to feed herself. But, as they walked into her room, Haring said he again felt this deep sense of Divine Presence. 

During their subsequent conversation, the woman said, "Praise God, that I can offer up this small suffering toward the Redemption of the world." As they were leaving the little house, the pastor turned to Haring and said, "That is the secret of the vital life of our parish. That is the secret."

What a beautiful thing it is! It is a practical, down-to-earth secret for a successful life! It opens so many beautiful vistas. It means that today, right now, we can begin a whole new attitude that can and will add richness to our lives and others. We can be alert to situations presented to us that have potential for fulfillment and the realization of purpose for us.

I need not elaborate...You know what I'm getting at. It is implicit. It's just like going to church and picking up on that feeling.

...and allowing the Devine Passion within us to shine through.

"What is success?" asked essayist/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Success," he said, "was to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded."

 

SUNDAYS THE WAY I WAS RAISED TO OBSERVE THEM

What kid wouldn't be seen dead
dressed like this today?

Me and dad in our Sunday best
 for Mother's Day

 

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written at 11:10 p.m., Sunday,

 April 25, 2021

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a brief history lesson before reading what follows: The Lord's Day Alliance of Canada (renamed People for Sunday Association of Canada in 1982) was a lay organization founded in 1888 under the aegis of the Presbyterian Church and supported by the other Protestant churches to combat increasing Sabbath secularization. The Alliance became one of the most effective lobbies of the early 20th century. It gained the crucial support of the French Canadian Catholic hierarchy and, with its promise of a legislated weekly rest day, of organized labour. It surrendered its charter in 1994.

For the past 10 or 15 minutes this evening I have been thinking about the events of my day which is about to turn into tomorrow:

-- Slept in 'til 10:30 (what else was there to do on this particular Sabbath with all of its COVID restrictions and imposed isolation).

-- Had a leisurely breakfast/lunch.

-- Laboriously practiced a few piano tunes.

-- Fired up my computer, caught up with overnight happenings on my news feed and spent the rest of the afternoon (no kidding) answering emails and surfing Facebook for contributions by my friends and opportunities to wax eloquent on their respective timelines by adding my traditional two cents.

-- Fell asleep still sitting at the computer (I blame it on anti-anxiety medication) and woke up with a stiff neck just in time to get a late supper which was damn good, if I do say so myself.

-- Cleaned up the kitchen and...you guessed it...back to the computer again for a protracted exchange on a historical group site that needed my informed input(?).

-- All of which brings me to the above-stated one hour before the stroke of midnight and mulling over the mundane things I'd done with the past 12 hours. In reality, nothing different from what transpired in my life the other six days of the week.

After all said and done and COVID 19 aside, I found myself contrasting this particular Sunday with one I would have experienced 70 or 75 years ago.

It is quite remarkable how times have changed and, sadly, not much for the better.

There is no similarity between Sunday life in small town Ontario back in my day and in the year 2021 with secular emphasis on entertainment and self-serving activities far removed from "a day of rest and worship."

Sunday today is one of the busiest days at shopping malls. Factories and companies run 24/7, and employees are scheduled accordingly, with very little resistance. Recreational activities galore are unquestionably the order of the day. For busy people, setting aside one day in seven for rest, relationships and worship seems too much of a sacrifice to make. 

When I was a young lad growing up in the Kent County town of Dresden, primarily in the 1940s, the comunnity and its rural surroundings exemplified the traditional day of rest on Sundays.  All stores were closed and a good 60 per cent of the citizenry attended the church of their choice, of which there were eight drawing regularly from a population of 2,200.

For 10 straight years I was required to attend 10 a.m. Sunday School classes and then join my parents for church services an hour later. I carried a Wolf Cub and Boy Scout card for the minister to sign, verifying my attendance as a step closer to religion badges and other Scouting recognition.

It was always straight home after church for a customary pot roast dinner that you could smell still siting in the church pews, but not before a complete change from Sunday-go-to meeting attire, we called it our "good" clothing. Back in our everyday play clothing we didn't play much, instead often taking afternoon car rides with our parents to the country or along the nearby St. Clair River and stopping in to visit relatives along the way. Sunday picnics in summer months were a big deal, as were Sunday evening band concert in the town square.

As a break from readin, rightin and rithmatic, I always looked forward to the Sunday edition of the Detroit News, complete with an eight-page comic section, or Funnies -- and getting to it after polishing off mom's pot roast and ideally before my dad finished his tea.

You have to remember that we are talking about a period before television and computers in every home. I always looked forward to Sunday evening visits with my Aunt Hattie and cousins Jim and Norma and huddling around our old Radiotrope listening to Amos and Andy, Jack Benny and Lux Radio Theatre programs. 

We played a lot of table and board games in our house on Sunday evenings (crokinol, parcheesi, monopoly, checkers, snakes and ladders)  but card games like poker, euchre and bridge were considered sinful and taboo. I never played baseball or hockey on Sundays either until I was about 14 years of age when town council passed a bylaw permitting team sports to be played on the Sabbath. It took a while for me to become comfortable playing baseball on Sundays in particular. My conscience always bothered me and I was convinced that I played my worst on Sundays for that very reason. 

Even to this day there are things that I still do not do on Sundays. Things like yard work and other "noisy" activities that may disturb my neighbors. I also come straight home from church and change my clothing, just like my mother told me to. Old habits tend to die hard I guess.

I suppose a young person reading this item today (fat chance), momentarily putting aside his or her $200 Iphone, would consider this all so terribly old fashioned and boring. But, you know what?

I am privileged to be able to talk about one of the most cherished, moralistic and happy eras in recent history and to do it from a first-person perspective.

Them's truly were the days!

POST NOTE: There goes another night's sleep!

SCHOOL LESSONS READ BY TEACHERS ON RADIO WAS PIONEERED IN CHICAGO DURING 1937 POLIO OUTBREAK

A UNICEF survey found that 94% of countries implemented some form of remote learning when COVID-19 closed schools last spring, including in the United States and Canada.

After coming to my attention the above priceless photo, obviously set up by a photographer of the day, I learned through some hasty research that this is not the first time education has been disrupted -- nor the first time that educators have harnessed remote learning. In 1937, the Chicago school system used radio to teach children during a polio outbreak, demonstrating how technology can be used in a time of crisis.

That particular year, a severe polio epidemic hit North America. At the time, this contagious virus had no cure, and it crippled or paralyzed many of those it infected. Across the country, playgrounds and pools closed, and children were banned from movie theaters and other public spaces. Chicago it seems had a record 109 cases in August, prompting the Board of Health in that city to postpone the start of school for three weeks.

This delay sparked the first large-scale “radio school” experiment through a highly innovative, though largely untested  program. Some 315,000 children in Grades 3 through 8 continued their education at home, receiving lessons over the radio.

By the late 1930s, radio had become a popular source of news and entertainment. More than 80% of  households owned at least one radio. *The radio shown in the accompanying photo is almost a replica of the one that sits in my office-study -- a family heirloom from the 1920s and '30s.

In the Chicago case, teachers collaborated with principals to create on-air lessons for each grade, with oversight from experts in each subject. Seven local radio stations donated air time. September 13 marked the first day of on-air school.

Local papers printed class schedules each morning. Social studies and science classes were slated for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were devoted to English and math. The on-air school day began with announcements and gym. Classes were short – just 15 minutes – providing simple, broad questions and assigning homework.

The objective was to be “entertaining yet informative.” Curriculum planners incorporated an engaging commercial broadcasting style into the lessons. Two principals monitored each broadcast, providing feedback to teachers on content, articulation, vocabulary and general performance. When schools reopened, students would submit their work and take tests to show mastery of the material.

Sixteen teachers answered phone calls from parents at the school district’s central office. After the phone bank logged more than 1,000 calls on the first day, they brought five more teachers on board.

News stories reporting on this novel radio school approach were mostly positive, but a few articles hinted at the challenges. Some youngsters were distracted or struggled to follow the lessons. There was no way to ask questions in the moment, and kids needed more parental involvement than usual.

Radio instruction officially ended at the end of September when schools reopened. Though the program ran for less than three weeks, it transformed the role of local radio for future generations of educators. 

Fast forward to 2020. When the current pandemic shut down schools last spring, nations around the world instituted remote learning. But many countries used multiple platforms: About three-quarters also offered classes on television and about half used radio learning – which was particularly important in developing nations.

    
Instruction through multiple technologies helps, but many kids simply have no access. Approximately one-third of students worldwide cannot participate in digital or on-air education because they don’t own a computer, TV or radio, lack reliable internet access or live in remote areas that lie beyond the range of broadcasts.

Certainly in Ontario the past year with its multiple school closures, teachers have worked feverishly and commendably in creating on line lessons for their students, virtually overnight and, heaven help us, this has been valuable ground work for the future.

Chicago’s handling of remote education during its 1937 polio epidemic offers lessons on ways to use technology to address the current educational disruptions. But even where most students have access to reliable internet service, the pandemic has highlighted the mass-scale burdens of the digital divide.

This certainly highlights the need for funding in nations worldwide, to address technological inequalities in schools and to teach educators, administrators, parents and students how to better use digital platforms.

The current pandemic could reshape education once school safely shifts back to the classroom. Innovative use of digital tools and platforms could enrich curriculum, provide online makeup material and create new ways to connect with students beyond the traditional modes of learning. It would also reduce the environmental impact from distributed papers and help teachers, students and parents to more easily connect outside of the classroom.

Pandemic teaching may not just be a temporary means to an end. It could ultimately improve education, much like the Chicago radio experiment in 1937.

A LOOK AT CONFUSION OVER THE SOURCE AND CURE OF SICKNESS IN OUR WORLD TODAY AND YESTERDAY

In this post I refer initially to the New American Standard Bible (NASB) which is relatively new to me, as it might be to most Wrights Lane readers. I also glean from the English Standard (ESV), New International (NIV) and King James (KJV) versions.

The New American Standard Bible is a literal translation from the original texts, well suited to study because of its accurate rendering of the source texts. It follows the style of the King James Version but uses modern English for words that have fallen out of use or changed their meanings. 

Fear over the current global pandemic has sent many to seek answers in Scripture. While consulting biblical verses is not a bad thing, sometimes these verses are misunderstood or manipulated to suit various presuppositions. More importantly, a contemporary reliance on translations and ignorance of ancient views on sickness can lead to serious confusion.

Ancient Israelites for instance, did not have the same type of faith in medicine as most modern people. In their worldview, the sickness was not something people could manipulate, control, cure, or even prevent. Thus, it is a mistake to read the Scriptures solely through a modern scientific lens. We must allow the original biblical language to impart meaning to us, not the other way around.

The NASB translation mentions the “infection of leprosy,” but ancient people did not have designated terms for infectious disease–nor did they know about bacteria or viruses. That, of course, does not mean that the terrible effects of lingering diseases (what we call “pandemics”) were absent in antiquity. But it will be hard to find the language of “infection” or “outbreak” in ancient writings.

The biblical term for “infection” or “ailment” is usually nega, which literally means a “strike” or “blow.” In the term’s verbal form, (naga), it means “to touch.” The mysterious affliction in Leviticus 13 that is most often rendered “leprosy” is, in fact, a “blow” in Hebrew and “infection” is a modernized English translation. Furthermore, translating the condition as “leprosy” makes it a common bacterial disease that can be treated with a course of antibiotics.

It's taken a while but I have concluded that such translation is misleading because we are not talking here about a pathogen with its own biological agenda, but rather a condition brought on by God and under divine control. In other words, God is the one who does the striking, not the disease.

Another English translation that may be misleading is that of “disease.” For instance, Genesis 12:17 reads, “But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai” (NIV). The “diseases” in the NIV translation is the plural form of a “blow.” The modern temptation is to associate “disease” with something contagious, like a virus, but the above verse begins, “The LORD struck”... A "blow" is not a naturally-occurring contagion, but a purposeful act of God.

The use of the term “plague” in English translations makes things even worse. In light of past outbreaks in human history (such as Bubonic plague), the word carries ominous associations for most people. The English insertion of “plague” appears in the ESV rendering of Exodus: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt’” (Exod 11:1 ESV). Here is the surprise, the same exact noun in this verse of ESV is translated as “plague” and not “disease or “infection”. Most modern people would associate a plague with some sort of pandemic, but that is not what the Bible communicates.

Now we have seen the same simple term translated quite differently into English from one verse to another. I deliberately used three different translations (no translation is perfect and we have at least 10 accepted versions to work from) and they can all be misleading. To ancient people, a “strike” or a “blow” from the LORD is not a disease, nor an infection, nor a pandemic. A biblical “strike” may make one sick, and there may be ways to alleviate the symptoms, but God is both the source and the cure in ancient Israelite thinking.

The Bible presents spiritual realities from a perspective that embraces the supernatural as a norm, so as long as we allow our scientific thinking to influence our interpretations, the actual meaning of biblical texts will continue to evade us.

Therein lies the conundrum of our age. It is all so difficult to sort out and to come to conclusive understanding. Yet the more inquisitive among us keep digging and looking for comprehensive answers to questions that continue to "plague" us.

In the end, we believe what we want to believe, rightly or wrongly; in some instances to our own peril.

SOMETHING ELSE I'VE JUST LEARNED

Bible study continued...As a youth Jesus was well doctrinated in The Old Testament

During the period of his public ministry, Jesus of Nazareth modeled himself on many of the heroes of Israel whom he had encountered in the pages of the Old Testament: Moses, Elijah, and David, to name just a few. But when he pronounced terrifying prophecies about the future, Jesus was emulating one particular prophet more than anyone else. Do you know who this man was?

When he entered the Temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, Jesus was following in the footsteps of one of the greatest prophets of ancient Israel. Six centuries earlier, this man had condemned the people for turning the House of God into a “den of thieves”. Jesus used precisely the same phrase when he saw the immoral business practices taking place in the same holy place. This man was the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah lived in the late 7th century BCE and much of his life was spent trying to stop the Jewish people from sinning. He warned them about the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. In the original Hebrew of the Bible, the name Jeremiah is Yirmiyahu יִרְמְיָהוּ meaning “the Lord (yahu) lifts up (yarim).” This seems like an overly cheerful name for a man known as the “weeping prophet.” But in fact, the name is perfectly apt.

In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet changes his tone from condemnation to consolation. He tells the people that despite their past sins, God has not rejected them. The Lord will restore Jerusalem and establish a “new covenant” with his people in the future. Six hundred years later, Jesus came to Jerusalem to inaugurate this covenant by being “lifted up” by the Lord.

Sometimes we fail to remember or acknowledge the remarkable time gaps reflected in the fulfilling of the scriptures. God does indeed take His own good time!

As a long-in-the-tooth student of the Bible, the first question that comes to mind is: How did Jesus know about the history of the Old Testament...Was he told about it, or did he read about it?

TWO DESTINCT NATURES, ONE PERSON

There has been something of a biblical-theological revolution over the past several decades. It is not a revolution in which new doctrines are being uncovered so much as it is one by which our understanding of a Christ-centered and redemptive-historical interpretation of Scripture is being refined. 

While much of what is being written today has already been articulated in former days, there is still more refinement and progress to be made within this particular realm of biblical interpretation. One such refinement comes as we attempt to answer the question, "How did Jesus read the Old Testament?" Surprisingly, this is one question that has seldom been asked and answered. It is my desire to help us briefly think through this question and the implications it has on our Christian lives.

One of the chief reasons why this question has not been asked more frequently is that Reformed, Calvinistic and Evangelical Christians sometimes err on the side of thinking of Jesus as merely being God, but downplay his human nature and Covenant membership as an Israelite born under the Law to redeem His people (Gal. 4:3-5). 

Certainly, believing that Jesus is the second Person of the Godhead is the most important tenet of the Christian faith--and something that can only be known and believed by the supernatural and gracious work of God; however, believing that He is also fully man, and the Covenant keeping representative Israelite, is equally fundamental to the Christian faith.

There is almost nothing so difficult as understanding the Person of Jesus--two distinct but inseparable natures in one eternal Person. Yet, the Scriptures teach this truth, historic Christianity affirms it and we will spend eternity worshiping the Christ who is fully God and fully man. Theologians have spent much time seeking to explain what has been called "the hypostatic union." The eternally pre-existent Son of God created a human nature for Himself in the womb of the virgin Mary, "and so became, and continues to be, both God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever."

In His human nature, Jesus had to "grow in wisdom and stature" (Luke 2:40; 52). He had to learn, just like any other man. Though in the Divine nature He was omniscient, in His human nature He was finite and subject to growth and development.

At each stage of human experience Jesus had to grow in His capacity to experience sinless human experience to the extent of His ability. He never ceased to be God, yet willingly laid aside access to what was His by Divine right in order to be our representative second Adam. We needed a Redeemer who was fully man. We need a Redeemer who entered into the same experiences, put Himself under the same Law and who was "tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin." One of the things that He had to experience as man--and that He had to do as human mediator and covenant keeper--was to study and understand the Scriptures.

There is deep mystery here. Jesus never studied in the Rabbinical schools like all the other religious leaders in Israel (John 7:15). We can safely assume that Mary and Joseph faithfully taught Him the Scriptures from His earliest days. We know that He would have been in the synagogues often as a boy; and Luke tells us that He went with Mary and Joseph to the Temple every year. We find Him there as a 12- year-old boy astonishing the teachers with His questions and answers about the Scriptures (Luke 2:41-52).

So, how did Jesus read the Old Testament? Did He read it as a book of morals or character development? Did He read it like the Pharisees and Scribes read it? Far from it! Jesus read the Old Testament as the Covenant revelation of God written to Him and about Him. We have frequently rushed to this latter part and rightly rejoiced in the fact that the Old Testament was written about Jesus, but have failed to see that, at the same time, it was written, first and foremost, to Jesus.

It is only as we see that the Bible is written to and about Jesus that we will experience Gospel transformation in our lives.

PIANO LESSONS TO THE RESCUE!

IT'S ALL ABOUT DISTRACTION: Yesterday I posted a rather pitiful video on Facebook of me playing the piano keyboard after a week of online lessons for dummies.

Well, don't cry for me Argentina --there is an underlying benefit for me in stretching my aging capabilities and it is not all about a heretofore unexpressed love of music.

My on line piano mentor Dr. Ryan Kelly points out that most of us don’t realize it, but distraction can be a silent killer. A killer of our time, a killer of our happiness, and even a killer of our brain cells.

He suggests that in an age of twitter, cat videos, google news alerts, and Facebook notifications most people find themselves constantly distracted.

The consequence of this distraction?

"We rarely get in a flow where we think and feel deeply. We don’t get lost in fulfilling work because we are constantly checking our email.

We don’t connect deeply with our those close to us because notifications are always distracting us, causing us to waste away our time together glancing at our cell phones.

The result of all this distraction?

We are less happy.

We are dumber."

And in more ways than one we don’t live up to our potential. (P.S. These thoughts were all prompted by some recent reading of “Deep Work,” by Cal Newport.)

So how do we retrain our brains and recover from this technological disease?

In truth, for me, the distraction-in reverse that I "needed" was to get away from far too much time spent on the computer every day with my writing, research, study -- and just plain social media nonsense.

Hence, piano playing lessons to the rescue!

Sitting down at the piano for an hour and memorizing your favorite song is actually a fantastic way to rebuild different concentration muscles.

The focus it takes to sit and play is enormously beneficial, both for your intelligence and your emotional state. Almost like a breath of fresh air.

I am convinced that you are never too old to learn something new, providing you can handle a little humiliation along the way...And I'm used to that!

OF ALL THE FRUIT EVE HAD TO PICK THIS ONE

WAS IT AN APPLE? That interesting question came up this week in my online study of biblical Hebrew.

In Genesis 2, the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil",וְעֵץ הַחַיִּים וְעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע. For many years, this fruit was portrayed and thought to be an apple. But in reality, the Bible does not say anything about an apple. So what did they eat in the Garden of Eden? What is the forbidden fruit? The description of the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil" leaves no trace as to the exact species of the tree. For many years, this fruit was thought to be an apple. In the original Hebrew, however, at no point is the apple (tapuach, תפוח) mentioned. The myth of the evil apple developed due to a mistake made by St. Jerome when he created the Latin version of the Bible, known as Vulgate in the year 382. So what fruit was it then? Jewish sources offer several answers -- nut (אגוז, egoz); citron (etrog, אתרוג); vine (gefen, גפן); wheat (חיטה, chitah); and fig (tenah, תאנה). The two most widespread interpretations are those of the vine and the fig, the prevailing one is of the fig as it is the first tree that appears in Genesis. Moreover, the text recounts that when the first couple realized that they were naked, they sewed a loincloth (to cover private parts) using a leaf of the fig tree. It would then be not be not too far-fetched to favor the fig as the forbidden fruit, since it was so handy. Anyway, this all reminds me of the question asked in jest: "If Eve wore a fig leaf, what did Adam wear? Sorry, that's a (w)hole other story!

PICKED UP IN PASSING: PEACE TO YOU MY FRIEND!

 

A London newspaper once reported the fascinating story of a middle-aged man who regained his sight after being blind since infancy. The man, of course, had not remembered the visual images he had seen as a baby. 

But, in his blindness, he had formed some fascinating perceptions about how things looked. For example, he thought that most people were tall and slender. He imagined that the few who were not were shaped like bottles. But the most striking notion he had formed over his years of sightlessness was, as he put it, "That all human faces looked peaceful."

Indeed, what that blind man felt in his innocence should have been so. Surely, it is reasonable to believe that human faces are meant by God the Creator to look peaceful.

You may not consider yourself a Scripture scholar, but you probably know the Old Testament word for "peace": the beautiful Hebrew word, "shalom." In the Bible, the word means so much in terms of human fulfillment that there is nothing better you could wish for another person. 

The New Testament word for peace? If you know anyone named "Irene," then you know the Greek word for "peace." It is spelled the same as Irene in English, although it is pronounced differently. Nevertheless, it carries into the New Testament all the fullness of the Old Testament meaning and more.

The word peace in the Bible -- Shalom/Irene -- whether the Hebrew or the Greek, carries not only our English connotation (the absence of warfare, the lack of discord and confusion) but also a very positive meaning. Usually, when we speak of peace on earth, we have in mind what one widow thought when she placed an inscription on her late husband's tombstone:

"May he rest in peace. Until we meet again."

Individually, these are good statements, but together they don't sound quite right. But wars come and go with such regularity that the two statements coming together may be an honest representation of what the word "peace" has come to mean. (The war is over. Until we meet again.) In any case, it means after a time of turmoil in one's life, having peace to the end -- or a wish for another person's everlasting peace.

PRAY FOR THIS WORLD AS A NEW ONE UNFOLDS IN THE WAKE OF A LIFE-ALTERING GLOBAL PANDEMIC

For some time I have been struggling with the impulse to write something of value as we all struggle with the impact of a global pandemic on our personal lives.

I have also read with reservation as people post desperate pleas and shared memes on social media asking for God's intervention and a return to "normal life" that we heretofore took for granted.

While prayer is essential, I am of the conviction that we have been going about it in the wrong way and I'll tell you why.

Unfortunately, it has to be emphasized that those who have favor with the Lord still suffer, and alternately those who have seemingly perfect lives do not always have God's favor. To gain God's favor does not mean that we are free from the hardships of this world. Multiple biblical examples show us that those whom the Lord favors are not free from the world's suffering. 

There are many individuals whom God favored in the Bible who still had difficulties. We find hope in the stories of Noah (Genesis 6:8), Moses (Exodus 32:7–14; 33:13), Daniel (Daniel 10:19), and Mary (Luke 1:28), because they were highly favored by God, yet overcame enormous obstacles and hardships. In fact, to call them merely hardships is to undermine how monumental their situations really were.

However, from their stories, we learn that God never leaves those He favors. His favor can be felt in the spirit. With the favor of the Lord, we have peace in our spirits that our sins are forgiven. We can also feel a confidence that no matter what happens to us in this world, that we are within the plan of God, and that He is with us always. As we continue to walk in favor with God, He equips us in our struggles. Our devotion and trust will be justly rewarded.

I like that Jesus assured us that God will only give us what is good and right. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The God who keeps track of every sparrow cares about the details of our lives, too.

Since God knows what is best for our lives, He will not say “yes” to a prayer that goes against what is best. We may not understand or agree with the why of that response, but we can trust what God does and that His actions will rebound to His glory and our ultimate good.  Through painful moments in life, we can learn Christlikeness and glorify the Lord with our words and actions even through our suffering.

Now, I'm getting to the point I really want to make.

It is easy to turn on the TV and spend an hour watching the news, and before you know it, you’re in one of two places. Panic is setting in or indifference is taking root. The reality, though, is people are hurting and there’s more to come. There’s reason to be concerned and there’s even more reason to pray.

Prayer and wise decision-making is what will carry us through the unfolding waves of COVID-19 as it and its variants spread across the world.

The goal here, as many of you have already learned, is to “flatten the curve” — to spread out the number of likely infections from this novel coronavirus so our hospitals and clinics won’t be overrun, forcing those in need of critical care (for COVID-19 or anything else) from receiving it. Doing that involves taking seriously the calls for social distancing, which is avoiding any unnecessary travel or gatherings, embracing frequent hand-washing, and, outside of seeking medical care, receiving vaccines when available and remaining quarantined if you begin to experience symptoms of any kind.

God expects us to do our part! But it’s important we continue to pray in the days and weeks to come, as we learn more about COVID-19 and its impacts on our society. Rather than praying for a miraculous end to this terrible imposition on our lives that after all may well have been of God's making and for reasons known only to Him, we would be well advised instead to:

-- Pray for those currently infected with COVID-19 and those in high-risk communities

-- Pray for medical personnel and caretakers

-- Pray for our leaders and health experts

-- Pray for the spread of the Gospel that needs to be heard now more than ever.

Those are the prayers that God truly hears...and answers.

He will end the pandemic when He feels the world has proven that it is ready and that we all have learned something from our experience.

In the end, the new normal will be what we make of it. We may even grow to like it, especially those of the upcoming generation who will have known no other way.

There's a whole new world in the offing...

Because God has willed it so!

PIANO PLAYING A KEY CHALLENGE

ONE MORE ITEM OFF MY BUCKET LIST...MAYBE: My writing has been uninspiring lately and I am in a rut creatively speaking. Besides that I am spending far too much wasted time on the computer and need a form of distraction (anything other than housework). Well, nothing for it but to go to the top item on my bucket list -- learning to play the piano. As some of my Facebook friends may have noticed, I love piano music and admire talented people who play it well. My fondest dream has been to be able to sit down at a keyboard and play some of my favorite tunes, just for my own enjoyment and relaxation. "Will I, or won't I," I have been thinking for some time..."Who ever heard of someone approaching their mid-80s entertaining such thoughts?" Finally it all came together the other day and in one swell swoop I purchased a very good used song bank keyboard and arranged for on-line lessons for dummies that suited me just fine. It is a whole new world that has opened up for me, and introductory lessons have been a challenge for my thick skull and aging fingers, but I'm determined to stick with it. I'm going at my own speed, practising finger placement, scales and chords and have started to learn my first song "Lean On Me." I hope to add several hymns and gospel songs to my repertoire before completely satisfying my fantasy. Wish me luck!...I'm going to need it.

3Grace McIntosh- Currie, David McVean and 1 other

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GOD'S "PLACE" TRANSCENDS SPACE

SOMETHING I KNEW BUT COULDN'T PUT INTO WORDS: An admitted superficial study of the original Hebrew bible has (is) given me new insight into the depths of Christian bible revelations and interpretations. What follows is a case in point.

One of the most famous stories in the Book of Genesis, is Jacob’s dream where angels ascend and descend a ladder or stairway to heaven. It begins with these words, “He came to a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set” (Gen. 28:11). In Hebrew, “place” is makom (מקום). 

Where is this place? It is strange that the Torah, which is usually full of geographical details, does not specify the location.

According to an ancient Jewish interpretation of this verse, the makom which Jacob encountered is not a physical location, but God’s presence itself. The rabbis of the Talmud famously explained, “God is the place of the world, and the world is not His place.” In other words, God cannot be limited to one individual spot. Rather, God transcends space, and he is accessible to all people in all places.

To this day, it is common to hear Jews refer to God as Ha-Makom (“the place”) in prayer. This name captures God’s eternal vastness, while emphasizing his intimate imminence.

But for heaven's sake, where is it?

Now, mind you, the Bible very definitely speaks of the existence of "heaven" and access to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ -- but again there are no verses that give us a geographical location. The short answer to this question is, “heaven is where God is.” The place referred to in this question is called the “third heaven” and “paradise”.

Stories indicating heaven to be “above the earth” are numerous. At the Tower of Babel, God says, “Come, let us go down” (Genesis 11:7) Heaven is described as “high above the earth” in Psalm 103:11, and the place from which the Lord “looks down” in Psalm 14:2. Jesus is described as having “ascended into heaven” and “descended from heaven” in John 3:13 (ESV).

In Acts 1:9–11 Jesus is described as being taken “up” into heaven, and when God takes John to heaven in Revelation 4:1, He says, “Come up here.” These passages have led to the conclusion that heaven is beyond the earth’s airspace and beyond the stars.

However, since God is spirit, “heaven” cannot signify a place remote from us which He inhabits. The Greek gods were thought of as spending most of their time far away from earth in sort of a celestial equivalent of the Bahamas, but the God of the Bible is not like this. He is always near us when we call on Him (James 4:8), and we are encouraged to “draw near” to Him (Hebrews 10:1, 22). 

Granted, the “heaven” where saints and angels dwell has to be thought of as a sort of locality, because saints and angels, as God’s creatures, exist in space and time. But when the Creator is said to be “in heaven,” the thought is that He exists on a different plane from us, rather than in a different place.

That God in heaven is always near to His children on earth is something the Bible expresses throughout. The New Testament mentions heaven with considerable frequency. Yet, even with this frequency, detailed description of its location is missing. Perhaps God has intentionally covered its location in mystery, for it is more important for us to focus on the God of heaven than the description or location of His dwelling. It is more important to know the “why” and the “who” than the “where.”

The New Testament focuses on the purpose of heaven and who is there instead of telling us exactly what it is like or where it is. Hell is a place of separation and punishment (Matthew 8:12; 22:13). Heaven, on the other hand, is a place of fellowship and eternal joy and, more importantly, worshiping around the throne of God...where ever that may be.

SIGNIFICANCE OF EASTER...

 ...And story behind the pagan rabbit

Taken together, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ form the central events of the Christian faith. It is not too far-fetched to say that without the resurrection there is no Christianity.

As with all things human, there were debates about the best way and the best time to celebrate Easter. Some wanted to continue to associate it with the Jewish Passover on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar. But that date could fall on any day of the week, whereas Jesus’ resurrection took place on Sunday. As such, Western Christians decided to make sure that the holiday occurred on a Sunday.

Christian church leaders came up with a specific formula: Easter was to be observed on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox—that is, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Consequently, Easter in the West can be as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

The significance of Easter in the Christian calendar grew with the addition of other days of great importance. Good Friday marks the day Jesus was crucified. Holy Week commemorates the events in Jesus’ life leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection. The season of Lent establishes a 40-day preparation period of prayer, fasting, and reflection prior to the Easter celebration. Because of Easter, Christians believe that death is not the final word. Ultimately, all who place their trust in Jesus will one day break the shackles of death and live again in glory.

So if Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and its significance, how did the Easter bunny become associated with it? The answer to that question is the reason for pursuing the subject on Wrights Lane.

In order to understand how and why the rabbit became associated with Easter we have to go back to ancient Mesopotamia and Syria. Three thousand years ago, the hare symbolized death and rebirth to these ancient people. Over time the associations made with hares shifted to rabbits because they have many of the same characteristics.

This association with death and rebirth may be why rabbits were depicted on gravestones in the Greco-Roman world. Early Christians appropriated the rabbit as a symbol on their gravestones as well. As you can see, there has been a longstanding connection of hares and rabbits with death and rebirth—or in the Christian sense, resurrection.

Moreover, in the Greco-Roman world, rabbits were also associated with lust and sexual excess. This idea has endured -- something we can see in Hugh Hefner calling his playmates “bunnies.” A connection between rabbits and sex was obvious, given how often rabbits were caught engaging in sexual activity and giving birth. Even today, we’ve likely all heard the phrase “breed like rabbits.”

In the ancient world, rabbits were said to serve various gods of love, life, death, and immortality. During the Renaissance (a period that harkened back to the classical world), art featuring frolicking rabbits suggested unfettered sexual pleasure. Given this association and the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere—which signaled the rebirth of the earth after winter—hares and rabbits became symbols of fertility in pre-Christian Europe.

Hence, the direct link between Easter and rabbits was forged sometime in sixteenth- or seventeenth-century Europe.

Some trace the word “Easter” to the German fertility goddess Eostra, who in some traditions was even associated with hares. However, more and more scholars think it may have come from a Norse word for “spring,” which in the Germanized form is ostern.

In all likelihood, the name of the goddess was also derived from the local word for spring, but it is impossible to say which came first. What is clear is that various symbols for fertility -- eggs, rabbits, and lilies -- that were already fixed in culture all became firmly attached to the Christian holiday known in Western Europe and North America as Easter.

In the last two hundred years, the Christian holy-day has become more and more of a secular folk holiday. By the 1890s, the pagan and folk aspects of Easter as a celebration of spring were fully established and commercially exploited in America.

New clothes, parades, candy, and egg hunts have become key cultural expressions, even though the number of people celebrating the religious significance of the holiday declined in the last half of the twentieth century.

In the end, the Easter bunny has nothing to do with Jesus directly. There is nothing in the Bible or Christian tradition that links the two together. Yet still, the “pagan” associations of the hare and rabbit with fertility, life, death, and rebirth remained near enough to the cultural surface to find expression alongside the powerful religious claim that Jesus had conquered death.

If art, legends, and myths from the past teach us anything, it is that human beings long to live, to love and be loved, to reproduce, and to live beyond death. The resurrection of Jesus, the central element of Easter, reflects those longings and affirms a dramatic claim: one day death will be swallowed up in victory.