Crowded New York City subway train, Author Daniel Schwen (GNU Free Documentation License)
“But Joseph said to them…’You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives‘ ” (Gen. 50: 19-20).
Dear Lord, most mornings many of us face a lengthy commute. Much of our day is occupied by coming and going, by waiting on the bus, waiting on the light, and standing still – anxious to rush forward, anxious to do more.
One moment after another, our lives tick by. That can seem such a futile effort. We know though that our footsteps are directed by You, that nothing is wasted and nothing lost for those who believe.
We are reminded of Joseph, his exile and his long years in prison. Despite and because of those, his character was formed. Joseph did not know that You would use him to save his family and his people. He did not know that he would be venerated as a patriarch, and his body carried into the Promised Land after 400 years in an Egyptian grave.
Lift our eyes to You, Lord. Lift our hearts that the rush and tumble of our days may not wear us down. We want so much for our lives to have purpose…as if they did not already. You can see that while we cannot.
In the midst of our harried commute, make Your face to shine upon us, and grant us peace.
Amen
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Palm Sunday celebrated by Iquitos, Peru (“Domingo de Ramos celebrado por Iquitos”), Photo by Percy Meza (CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
“ ‘…[I]f these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out’ ” (Luke 18: 40).
The Lord spoke these words as He wrote triumphantly into Jerusalem while the crowds shouted, “Hosanna,” waved palm branches, and threw down their cloaks before Him. The Pharisees were offended at this public recognition of Jesus’ kingship and the crowd’s worshipful praise.
The reference implicit in the statement is to Psalm 150 “Let All Things Praise the Lord”:
“Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament…
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp…
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Ps. 150: 1, 3, and 6).
Lord Jesus, as the disciples did on the day You rode into Jerusalem, we lift Your Name on high. For all the mighty works You have done, we praise You. For Your mercy, we cry out in gratitude. For Your Resurrection, we shout aloud with joy.
Fill our hearts to overflowing, Lord, that our tongues be not silent when You call on us to speak. May we bear witness for You to this generation.
Hosanna in the highest!
Amen
Have a blessed Easter!
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“Mocking of Christ” by Annibale Carracci (c. 1596), Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Source Gallery of Art http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/carracci/annibale/2/mocking.html (PD-Art, PD-Old-100)
Since the United States does not have a monarchy, we do not generally come into contact with the symbols of royalty.
Many cultures make use of the falcon and peacock to designate royalty. In ancient Egypt, a stylized cobra represented sovereignty and divinity. In Great Britain, the lion and unicorn are used for royalty.
In France, the fleur de lis (a stylized lily or iris) was used while there was still a monarchy in place. In China, the emperor was represented by the Buddhist symbols of an umbrella, vase, victory banner, and conch shell. In Japan, he is symbolized by a chrysanthemum.
The color purple was long confined to royalty. Ermine has, also, been worn by royalty. Then there are the throne and royal scepter (essentially a rod with ornamentation). The pharaohs carried a crook and flail.
Finally, there is the universally recognized symbol: the crown. Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, wore a crown of thorns.
“When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then they spat at Him…” (Matt. 27: 29-30).
Lord Jesus, You allowed Yourself to be reviled and spat upon for our sakes. The Prince of Peace, You were wounded for our transgressions, and hung upon a cross.
Forgive us, Lord, that we did this to You. That we do it still – all the while chasing worthless earthly crowns for ourselves.
We pledge our hearts and lives to You. All glory and honor are Yours, forever and ever.
Amen
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“The Good Thief on the Cross” by Jacopo Bassano (c. 1571), Louvre Museum, Source Web Gallery of Art http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/bassano/jacopo/2/z_thief.html (PS-Art, PD-Old-100)
We all know the story of the good thief, crucified with Jesus. Though nailed to a cross himself, the good thief did three remarkable things: he defended Christ against taunts by the other thief hanging there; he admitted his own guilt; and he recognized Christ’s deity.
One man reacted to suffering by cursing God, the other with prayer. One man had his eyes closed, the other his heart opened.
The good thief’s name is lost to us, but not his fate.
“Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’ ” (Luke 23: 42-43).
Lord Jesus, once again we seek Your forgiveness for ourselves and our nation.
You have so richly blessed us, Lord, and still we choose evil over good. We can offer no defense, but like the good thief on the cross throw ourselves on Your mercy.
Without You we stand condemned. Through You, we have life everlasting.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
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Flint drinking water pipes, showing different kinds of iron corrosion and rust, Source Flint Water Study http://flintwaterstudy.org/tag/drinking-water/, Authors Min Tang and Kelsey Pieper
“Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4: 9).
The children of Flint, MI have been systematically poisoned through government ineptitude and callous disregard.
Meanwhile, the children of Hollywood celebrities are being bathed in Diamond Water, a high priced brand of bottled water said by its promoters to have been “infused with diamonds” and “blessed” by priestess (and reality star) Asa Soltan Rahmati, founder of the company [1][2][3].
Lead leached into the drinking water of Flint from corroded pipes almost as soon as the Flint River was used to replace the previous water source, as a cost savings measure [4]. Read more…
“Christ Carrying the Cross” by Giovanni Tiepolo (c. 1737), Location Sant-Alvise Church, Venice, Italy, Source Web Gallery of Art http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/t/tiepolo/gianbatt/2_1730s/11alvise.html (PD-Art, PD-Age-100)
Ours is a culture geared toward self-actualization. Self-denial (except in the pursuit of physical perfection) is looked on as pathologic. We worship at the altar of the individual – a futile attempt to achieve inner peace by an emphasis on the carnal.
The Christian worldview is diametrically opposed to this. Christ invites us to suffer with Him. That is not an invitation to masochism. It is a profound response to the reality of suffering.
“ ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’ ” (Mark 8: 34).
Lord Jesus, we turn our eyes to You when the trials and frustrations of life wear away at our resolve.
Keep us from bitterness and resentment, Lord, for in You there is hope everlasting. Teach us how to deny ourselves, yet live with joy.
Each of us has a cross to bear and a road to travel. But You, Lord, are with us, sharing our load. Carry us forward, when that load seems unbearable. Catch us when we fall, Lord, and help us to rise again, so we may follow You faithfully.
Amen
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Sinner at the Bar of Justice, Illustration from Book III of “Emblems Divine and Moral” by Francis Quarles (published 1777) (PD)
“Justice: Lord, shall I strike the blow?
Jesus: Hold, Justice. Sinner, speak on. What hast thou more to say?
Sinner: Vile as I am, and of myself abhorred, I am thy handiwork, they creature, Lord, stamped with thy glorious image, and, at first, most like to thee, though now a poor accursed, convicted… and degenerate creature, here trembling at thy bar.
Justice: Thy faults the Lord knows well. Shall I strike the blow?
Jesus: Speak, sinner. Hast thou nothing else to say?
Sinner: Nothing but mercy, mercy, Lord. Judge not my faults, miserably poor and desperate as I am. I quite renounce myself, the world, and flee, Lord, to Jesus and from thyself to thee.
Justice: Cease thy vain hopes. My angry God has abused [exhausted] mercy [and] must have blood for blood. Shall I strike the blow?
Jesus: Stay, Justice, hold…my fainting blood grows cold to view the trembling wretch; methinks, I spy my Father’s image in the prisoner’s eye.
Justice: I cannot hold…
Jesus: Then turn thy thirsty [blade] into my sides, let there the wound be made. Cheer up, dear soul; redeem thy life with mine. My soul shall smart; my heart shall bleed for thine.
Sinner: O groundless [bottomless] deeps [mysteries]! O love beyond degree! Th’ offended dies to set th’ offender free.”
– Excerpt from Book III of “Emblems Divine and Moral” by Francis Quarles
We are once again in the Lenten season, that six week period during the liturgical year when Christians repent their sins and do penance, in preparation for the Easter celebration.
The Puritan minister, Jonathan Edwards, was famed for his fiery sermons on repentance, among them “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” At the time the sermon was given in 1741, worshipers were so terrified that some collapsed in the aisles. The sermon is now studied as literature in schools, and ridiculed for its “exaggerated” language and images.
These days, if we concede the existence of a god at all, we prefer to view him as an understanding and forgiving sort of guy — someone either too distant to be concerned about our few foibles or willing to give us the benefit of the doubt. Read more…
1920 map showing races of the world classified by skin color. White populations shown in red. Black populations shown in grey. Mixed black and white populations shown in purple. Native American populations shown in orange.
Though genetics, linguistics, anthropology, and archaeology do not always agree, it is possible with modern advances to trace human ancestry back thousands of years.
Adam and Eve…Sort of
The most recent common ancestor from whom all people living today are thought to have descended, along the paternal line, bears the formal moniker Y-MRCA but is known to friends as “Y-chromosomal Adam”. The comparable female ancestor mt-MRCA was traced through the mitochondrial DNA passed maternally. She is, therefore, called “Mitochondrial Eve”.
Scientists do not view Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve as the biblical couple. They may not even have been contemporaries. But they did pass down their genes to us.
Race
Thirteen markers on the Y-chromosome distinguish the various populations across the globe.
Mutation, migration, and sexual reproduction, itself, all contribute toward genetic variation. Add to the complexity epigenetics, which involves heritable changes in appearance and gene expression not resulting from changes in the DNA sequence.
Variation is actually a strength. It increases the chances that some in the population will be able to survive a new threat.
The statistical differences in susceptibility to some diseases, among the various populations on earth, illustrate this. Since genes can change over time, these differences are thought to have developed in response to local diseases. Sickle cell anemia may, for example, provide genetic resistance to malaria.
Blood Brothers
Whether any of such factors can be used to define race is disputed. There are no genes for race per se. But the frequency with which certain genes occur in a given population can be used to apply a label to that population.
This may have more sociological than genetic significance. For purposes of a blood transfusion, it is essential to identify blood type…not skin color or point of geographic origin. You might say that makes us blood brothers.
What Christians know – over and apart from all this – is that we were all fashioned by the same Creator, and all saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Happy Valentine’s Day
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Seabees Recruiting Poster c. 1942
“…Lord, stand beside the men who build
And give them courage, strength and skill
O grant them peace of heart and mind
And comfort loved ones left behind
Lord, hear our prayer for all Seabees
Where e’re they be on land or sea.”– Prayer on Memorial to the Navy Construction Battalion a/k/a Seabees, Arlington National Cemetery
Over 325,000 men during WW II served in the Seabees, as the Navy Construction Battalion (“CB”) was called. This prayer honors their memory at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Lord’s assurances of His continuing presence and protection can be found throughout Scripture. These require little comment, but provide great comfort in the difficult times in which we live.
Here are just a few:
“ ‘Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid…for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you’ ” (Deut. 31: 6).
“ ‘I will not leave you nor forsake you’ ” (Joshua 1: 5).
“ ‘…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matt. 28: 20).
“For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Heb. 13: 5-6).
Father, we thank You for Your continuing presence, in history and in our lives.
You are far greater than any man. Yet we find ourselves, at times, afraid of what the world can do to us. Despite our knowledge of Your power, we fear for our lives, for our children, and for our financial well-being.
You have not given us a spirit of fear, Father, but of power and love. Make us worthy of those gifts.
Extend Your hand of protection to us. Help us to experience Your presence afresh each morning. Help us to trust in You on our darkest nights, though we cannot feel You by our side.
We ask these things in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
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Heinrich Himmler, SS commander who established and controlled Nazi concentration camps, at direction of Adolf Hitler, Source German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R99621) (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria last year accused ISIS of crimes against humanity [1]. After conducting more than 300 refugee interviews, the commission concluded that ISIS rules by terror with mass killings, public beheadings, stonings, amputations, and sexual enslavement commonly used tactics.
The atrocities ISIS has adopted as its own bring back all too sharply memories of another self-styled empire and so called “master race”. Though the rhetoric by ISIS may differ from that by the Nazis (and the numbers of dead are not yet on a par), the two are alike under the skin:
- ISIS is motivated by hate, just as the Nazis were.
- ISIS claims moral superiority over all others, just as the Nazis did.
- ISIS perverts religion to achieve and retain power, just as the Nazis did.
- ISIS uses fear, violence, and religious persecution to further its ends, just as the Nazis did.
- ISIS is willing – even anxious – to commit genocide, just as the Nazis were.
There exists no religion more directly opposed to such tactics and beliefs than Christianity. As Christians, we know that we are sinners (Rom. 3: 23), morally superior to no one, and saved by grace alone (Eph. 2: 8). We are to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5: 43-44).
What then are we to do, in the face of crimes against humanity? What course are we to pursue, when the blood of our persecuted brothers and sisters cries out to us – not seeking vengeance, but pleading that we rescue those we yet can?
“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them – those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also” (Heb. 13: 3).
Lord Jesus, ours is a lost world. Those of us who know You are few; those who can worship and remain faithful to You without fear of reprisal, fewer still.
Remember our persecuted brothers and sisters, even when we do not. Help us to know what You would have us do for them, and for all those subjected to such horrors.
Protect them from harm, comfort them in grief, carry them home at the appointed hour in Your loving arms.
Amen
—
[1] Arabiya.net, “Isis Accused of Crimes Against Humanity”, 11/14/15, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/14/ISIS-commits-crimes-against-humanity-in-Syria.html.
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A Lawyer's Prayers 