Priceless Gift

[1]

 2 Corinthians 9:15

Good News Translation

¹⁵ Let us thank God for His priceless gift!

 

When we lived in Tanzania, our boss’s boss made friends with those in high places in the national park administration. He let me know that we could go into the world-famous Serengeti National Park without paying. I had no paperwork proving this and never tried to use it when we entered the park at one of the standard entry points. But it was a priceless bit of knowledge.

There was no entry point near us, but the Ikizu villagers used to drive south across country and ford the Grumeti River and poach in the park. They were careful not to leave any tracks so that vengeful rangers could follow them and bring them to justice. The Grumeti sported hippos and crocodiles in many spots. It also had shallow spots where one could simply drive across in less than a hand’s breadth of water. These fords were not marked.

We had no car, but we could often talk some of our fellow missionaries into taking us on a spin out into the park on a Sabbath afternoon. I developed a sense of the veldt so that I could always guide us much the way I imagined the poachers used and find one of these fords easily. There were always many animals all over these vast Serengeti plains. We saw wildebeest, zebra, topi, and Thompson’s gazelle (tommy) every time we went. We often found ostrich and giraffe. Occasionally we would be favored with a small herd of elephant or one of the great African cats.

It was a cathartic to the stress that built up in our very confined missionary work. Some of our daughter’s first words were “g’af” and “tommy”. Once or twice, we encountered a ranger also out on the great plains. We would stop and exchange greetings. Since I had some knowledge of Swahili, I usually did most off the talking, and we always parted as friends.

On one occasion the ranger must have reported our presence in the park. One day two Land Rovers stopped in front of our house. I was out in the yard, and 8 or 10 uniformed men jumped out of the vehicles and surrounded me, their rifles pointing directly at my chest. I was totally astonished and wondered if this would be my last day on earth. The leading officer stepped up to me and demanded that I pay the entry fee for the previous time I had been in the park without paying.

The entry fee was only about ten shillings (about $1.50), and I was of a mind to pay up and call it quits. But I was very young and adventurous and started talking with the officer, using my best but somewhat broken Swahili. I mentioned my upper boss’s arrangement with national park’s headquarters in the capital, Dar es Salaam. I had no documentation, so my arguments were really worthless, and I was aware of that. We must have stood there in my front yard for well over a quarter of an hour; in those days in Africa people expected to talk about a proposal at length and to become friends in the process. The whole time we were talking those rifles were still aimed at my chest. Those holding them could follow the whole conversation because they all spoke Swahili much better than I.

In the end we came to a truce, and they all climbed back into their Land Rovers and left me. I was still in possession of my ten shillings, but much more importantly, I had the priceless right to go and come through the back entry of Serengeti with a free conscience.

In our part in the great controversy between Christ and Satan, the devil is always attempting to rob us of the priceless gift of God’s grace and eternal life. We have Christ’s eternal promise that no one can ever take it away from us by any force.

Thank You, Lord, for your priceless gift!

[1]  https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/soldiers-surrounded-soldier.html

Reap Without Burn Out

 

[1]

Galatians 6:9 

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

 

After five years teaching high school in Africa and giving higher mathematics no mind, I gained permission to work on a doctorate in mathematics—something I had made as a personal goal. I got told in no uncertain terms that I didn’t need a doctorate in mathematics to work as a missionary. The university accepted me and told me they would give me a financial assistantship if I passed two of the three required qualifying examinations in September. That was at the end of May after only one semester back in graduate school. Night and day, I set myself to master the material that I could expect on these comprehensive examinations. It seemed like an impossible task. Yet I took copies of the previous qualifying exams over the last 10 years and methodically started doing each one. I worked backward from the most recent.

Sylvia insisted we needed to spend several weeks with her parents in Michigan. Her dad provided me a room in one of his churches where I could study uninterrupted. I knew I was making progress, but I grew exceedingly weary from the intense effort. I did not let the weary feeling slow me down or turn me from my purpose. I passed the two qualifiers I attempted.

The relief was short lived as I started teaching half time, taking graduate classes full time, being a father of a three-year-old daughter, being husband of a wife who was expecting a second child in October, and preparing for the third qualifier, which was coming up the next May.

Sylvia gave birth to a bonnie lass after a really scary complication and the resulting Caesarian-section. I felt the least prepared for the third qualifier and consequently gave it even more preparation, which paid off by the active help of the Lord. We had a marvelous second summer as we all reaped the results of a successful year.

Thank you, Lord, for seeing to it that in due time we do reap what we have toiled so diligently for.

  

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[1] https://bitesizebio.com/3437/10-tips-for-mastering-your-qualifying-exam/

Unless the Lord Watches Over Us

[1]

Psalm 127:1 

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

¹ Unless … the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.

 

Sixty years ago, Solusi was in the veldt some six mile from the nearest neighbor. Wild animals used to wander onto campus frequently. Russell lived across the concourse from me. The soil was light and sandy and with a little irrigation grew magnificent vegetables. He had a wonderful garden, and the wild critters soon discovered it. So, he fenced it in. This kept the smaller animals out, but the kudus had no trouble jumping the fence and eating his cabbages and corn.

Not to be outdone, Russell put up a 14-foot-high fence with a high tensile steel wire at the top to discourage the kudu. When the produce had grown to a delicious size, Russell came out one morning to pick food for the table. Much of it was eaten, and the spoor was clearly that of kudu. The kudu is a magnificent antelope, one of the world’s greatest. The male sports beautiful spiral horns often six feet long. With all of its mass and horns, the kudu had easily jumped his high fence, feed unmolested, and jumped out again, all in the dark of night.

Russell now declared war. He got a good-sized gun, opened his window, and sat in the darkened room watching the garden. Well into the middle of the night he watched—in vain. Finally, he decided the kudus weren’t coming that night, so he packed up and went to bed. The next morning more crops were gone, and fresh kudu spoor told the tale.

 “So, they like to come in the early morning! I’ll get them tonight,” he decided. He went to bed early and got up around midnight. Lo and behold, the kudus had already come and gone before he got up. He never did outwit these massive raiders. Even so we wrestle daily against our enemy, who hates us.

Thank You, Lord, for being willing to watch over us and protect us—because no matter how vigilant we are, the enemy is far cleverer than we can ever be.

 

[1] https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOUXFrh_1zMzMMleXPbpwh2OKYXANtR8Ek1oa2Y

 

Older but not Discouraged

 

[i]

2 Corinthians 4:16 

Good News Translation (GNT)

¹⁶ For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day.

 

When I was in my thirties and forties, I would look in the mirror and say to myself, “You don’t look like you’ve aged at all.” Being a teacher, my students wouldn’t let me get away with that for even a second. One look at me told them I was way out of their league, and they had subtle and not so subtle ways of letting me know it, too. Now, at twice that age, I look in the mirror and wonder who that old guy with sparse white hair is who is looking back at me.

A couple years ago I bumped into a fellow math teacher from another university. I asked him how he was. He smiled and said, “Great! I’m retired and loving it.”

“Why did you retire?” I quizzed.

“When I saw that it was literally taking me twice as long to take care of the paperwork on my desk than it used to, I decided it was time to retire.” He said this in all seriousness.

“I understand all too well,” I empathized.

As I look back at my teaching methods early on, I sometimes shudder. I treated my students the same way my teachers had treated me. I’m aware that I sometimes was too harsh on them. I like to think that I became a more caring person as I matured. Indeed my spiritual being was being renewed on a gradual day after day basis.

Thank You, Almighty Father, that you haven’t given up on me, or anyone else, but still work with us daily.

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[i] https://www.aging.com/the-way-of-living-being-happy-and-healthy-at-an-old-age/

Attempt to Discouragement

 

[1]

Colossians 3:2-3

Revised English Bible

Think about the things that are above, not the things that are on the earth, for you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God,

 

In 2016 I survived West Nile Virus. It is generally fatal in people over 60, apparently more so than Coronavirus-19. It caused brain fever in me, and there are five weeks of which I remember nothing, except for a few very vivid hallucinations. I had friends whom it killed in fairly short order. There were many people around the world who were praying for my survival. To this day I don’t know why the Lord chose to let me live.

My urologist visited me twice while I was in hospital with WNV. I don’t remember the first visit. On the second visit I was very lucid. He told me, “When you are well, and up and about, you need to stop in and see me. We need to start treating you for recurrent prostate cancer.”

After he left me, I looked up and prayed, “Why Lord? Why didn’t you let me die while I was so sick with WNV? Why preserve me for chemo and other nasty treatments?” This is one prayer, “Why?” that the Lord has never stooped to answer, at least not for me! His answer to Paul, when he prayed for relief from his “thorn in the flesh,” was “My grace is sufficient for you.”[2] That has to suffice for me, too.

Sometimes I mention my experience to people who express interest. They almost invariably respond with something like, “Well, He must have something more He wants you to do!” Since He hasn’t spelled it out clearly enough for me to read it yet, it’s up to me to follow the preacher: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, or planning, or knowledge, or wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.”[3]

In October during a Deep Calling project at my church, I decided to return to this blog series and published my blog of October 26. In November I started really working on my memoirs of our time at Ikizu in Tanzania in the late 1960s and early 1970s. About the same time I came down with very painful eye problems so bad I couldn’t even read the big “E” on the eye chart. It just might be that the enemy of all mankind was trying to discourage me. My eye sight is returning to normal, so I’ll pursue both the memoirs and this blog until I learn differently.

Thank You, Lord, for sparing me, and thank You for encouraging me to continue with my might until You do lay me in Sheol.

 

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[1] https://earnestwords.com/2011/03/01/glasses/

[2] 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 REB

[3] Ecclesiastes 9:10 REB

Thunderstorm in Tornado Alley

 [1]

Job 37:6

Common English Bible

⁶ He says to the snow, “Fall to earth,”
    and to the downpour of rain, “Be a mighty shower.”

 

We often drive across the U.S. along small highways rather than on the Interstates. We can experience much more of the charm of the country that way. At night we often pull up in a Walmart parking lot or a park with a restroom and climb into the back, under the cap that houses our bed, and sleep till morning. Traveling west across eastern Nebraska one evening, we could see massive thunderstorms in various directions. We checked our smart phone and saw that if we carried on into the night, we couldn’t miss a storm. Of course, if we travel at night, we also miss the charm. So, we pulled into a handy Walmart parking lot, watched a beautiful sunset, and climbed into bed.

Shortly after dark it started raining. Lightning and thunder struck all around us. The rain became a mighty shower. The wind shook our Ford F-150 as if it were a toy. Peeking out of the window, I saw that the whole parking lot was under six inches of water as the rain came in sheets almost horizontally across us in the furious wind. I prayed for the all-powerful hand of God to shield us.

This part of the country is often referred to as Tornado Alley. I had visions of a tornado snatching us up and hurling us into the air and then smashing us back onto the earth when it was done. The cap over our heads is only held onto the back of the pickup by four three-sixteenth inch bolts. Although it is normally water tight, a spray was being forced in around the edges. Every few seconds the lightning illuminated the ankle-deep water all around us. Almost instantaneously a might clap of thunder would threaten to split our ear drums.

As suddenly as it hit us, the storm blew away. Through it all Sylvia slept like a baby. She missed the whole mighty display. When she woke up in the morning, she wondered why our blankets were soaked all around the edges. We got up and arranged our wet things so that they would dry, we hoped, as we continued on the highway.

For breakfast we stopped in a little café. The people all around us were talking about the tornado that had ripped through and totally destroyed a little town just 8 miles to our west. Now was our time to praise the Lord for keeping us safe.

Thank You, Lord, that we can rest in the knowledge that You always watch over us.

 

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[1] Our Ford F-150—This picture was not taken in Nebraska!

Africa by Starlight

 

[1]

John 1:5

Good News Translation

⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

 In 1967 in the heart of Africa, my bus pulled into the tiny hamlet of Nyamuswa. I grabbed my weighty suitcase and a heavy box of books and stepped off onto the dirt road. It was two o’clock a.m. The bus roared off into the night

I stood there. No one was awake at night, and no electricity existed within 25 miles at that hour. No vehicles of any kind were on the road. Nyamuswa was pitch black. There were no phones, not even at home. Cell phones had not been invented. No one knew when I was coming. There was no way I could lug my heavy luggage the three miles to my home at Ikizu on foot. I knew no one in the hamlet. There was no gas station, no café.

Puzzled, I stood there in the night. I hadn’t planned what I would do at this point. Stars were bright in the moonless sky. They made the white-washed walls of the buildings visible, ghostly visible. About four or five low thatched roof buildings down on the right was the maternity clinic that always had several women with complications awaiting their babies. There would be a caretaker there in case an emergency happened at night.

My mind clutched at a faint hope. Maybe I could awaken her and leave my bags there. Of course, men were not welcome there, day or night. Every idiot knew that! I was a foreigner, mzungu. Maybe, just maybe, I could persuade her to let me store my bags there.

I trudged up to the dark, heavy wooden door. “Hodi!” I called loudly. I knocked on the door—no one knocks on a door; they always call “Hodi!”

After repeated calling, a highly suspicious voice replied “Ni nani?” (“Who’s there?”)

“Ni Wilton Clarke kutoka Ikizu!” (“I’m Wilton Clarke from Ikizu.”) With that I had practically exhausted my Swahili. Fortunately, she spoke more English than I did Swahili. After some protracted talking, she understood that I just wanted to leave my bags in her clinic until the next morning. She showed me where to put them, and I left her with a heartfelt “Asante sana!” I would be lying if I said there was not a hint of a worry as to whether I would see them the next morning.

Elsewhere I tell about how the military had been called to Nyamuswa, and they had shot 9 elephants in the Nyamuswa gardens, so wild animals did come into this area every so often. I hadn’t heard any actual reports about animals recently, but I did know that leopards would roam where ever they pleased and that they often killed just for the thrill of killing. Of course, you’ve heard about poisonous snakes and other undesirables. All of these things were in my mind as I started to walk, by starlight, the three miles home.

It was bright enough so I could see where the road surface was. The stars were brilliant. Orion was high in the sky along with its accompanying constellations. The Milky Way was spectacular. So, I really did enjoy the walk. I let myself into the house shortly after three o’clock. Sylvia expressed surprise and joy at seeing me. Later that morning I went back and picked up my bags. They had been moved but were totally unmolested.

Thank You, Lord, for the beauty of a still, dark night with a bit of tension yet filled with Your care.

 

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[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/light-pollution-star-night-sky-england-rural-census-orion-campaign-a8873096.html

Give Without Compulsion

[i]

2 Corinthians 9:7 

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

  Ever since I was a young child, I was trained to return a tenth of everything I received to the Lord as tithe. It became part of what I had to do to be a Christian. God would not bless me if I didn’t do it. Then in my twenty-first year, I began to see God and His service in a new way. As salvation strictly by Grace began its gentle but persistent work in all parts of my life, I re-evaluated this aspect of my life, too.

 Pastors have told me that when a church moves from a religion of works to a religion of grace, its offerings go way down. Those who discover that “Nothing we do can cause God to love us more, and nothing we do can cause God to love us less,” means we don’t have to give offerings any more. Since I was in the habit of giving tithes and offerings, I didn’t stop. I continued that habit. Apparently, many don’t—many didn’t have that habit in the first place.

During the years we were “missionaries” in Africa, the mission board removed the tithe from our pay check before they sent me my check. It came out of my pay as a tax. I was “under compulsion.” I didn’t give a tithe during those years, and I personally experienced the loss in my very psyche. It’s difficult to explain, but it made me feel less involved in God’s great mission on earth—to give every soul a chance to be saved—even though I was a missionary and sacrificing in many other ways.

Why give then? After all, God has more than enough? When He set up the Hebrew nation, He designed that 11/12^ths of the nation supported the 1/12^th that were set aside to do the Lord’s work directly. Thus 1/10^th tithe would generously support the 1/12^th workers with extra left over. It is a real privilege to fit into a plan God chose to use. Furthermore, He has promised to bless those who do so far better than they would have been otherwise. Indeed, He has kept that promise in my life.

 I rejoice, Lord, for providing me a chance to participate in Your kingdom in a very real way.

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[i] https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2016/10/09/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe-the-moral-question/

 

Saved in Childbearing

 

1 Timothy 2:14-15

King James Version

¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing. . .

 

It was in November of 1968 when Sylvia suggested that she was getting old—26 years old—and it was time to have a child. The thought had never entered my head. After all my parents had been married for 10 years before I came along. At that point we had been missionaries at Ikizu in Tanzania, Africa for two years. I was teaching more than a full load and was responsible for maintaining all the machinery on campus: the tractor, a vintage lawnmower, the electricity generator, flour mill, and water pump. It was also my duty to provide the kitchen with wood to fire their stoves. When anything went wrong anywhere on campus, I was the first person they called. I was too busy to think about raising a family.

Sylvia was warming to her subject: “Even the Bible says a woman would be saved by having children.”

I laughed: “Oh?”

Then she read from first Timothy, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing” . . .

She stopped, and let the words sink in. Then she added, “You don’t want me to be lost, do you?” All the other missionaries, the Dunder, Martinsen, Johnson, and Dobias families had children. Only the Kings (who probably couldn’t have children) had none.

The discussion went on. I did want children, of course. Then why not start now? Two or three weeks later I left to go a three week long mathematics teachers’ conference at the University of Dar es Salaam. When I returned from the conference, Sylvia was glowing. I thought she was happy to see me home. “I’m pregnant!” she beamed.

“Well, whom do you want to tell?”

“Oh, let’s keep it secret until I really start to show.” Which we did.

 

What a joy it is to participate in Your creating, Lord! Thank You!

 

Love the Transgressor

 

[1]

Romans 5:8
Good News Translation
⁸ But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!

It was my second year in college. The college bulletin listed 10 actions that were grounds for expulsion. I had offended in 9 of them. I wished I could have claimed all 10. I had a rebellious attitude, and the disciplinary committee met and suspended me for 6 weeks. They were kind to me. I deserved outright expulsion.

When I got home my parents labored with me. They were very persuasive about how my actions would affect my life in the long run. They also emphasized how my current course of action was threatening my eternal salvation. They encouraged me to go back to the college town and see how much I could do to clear up my record. Their logic and reasoning made sense to me. First, I shelved the rebellious attitude; then I went back the 1,500 miles and cleared up as much as I could.

The president of the college found out that I was back in town and what I was doing. I told him I had had a change of attitude and what I was doing to try and rectify things. He complimented me. He then told me that I was not speak to any of the students. Furthermore, he was not willing to ask the faculty to reinstate me into the college He didn’t mention the six-week suspension: he regarded me as having been expelled. He knew he couldn’t stop me from speaking to the students because my brother was at the school. I had not mentioned the six-week limit, but he was letting me know I wasn’t welcome there.

God, on the other hand, bore all my punishments before I committed the sins that demanded punishment. He welcomed me into his kingdom before I was born.

That president may have been frustrated some years later when I returned to the college as a professor. By that time, he was no longer the president, and they had eagerly sought my services. When I was introduced to the students at a college assembly, I mentioned to the whole group that the last time I had been formally connected with the college I had been expelled from there. As far as I could tell, it only improved the way the students accepted me.

 Thank You, Lord, for loving me—and my readers while we were still sinners.

 

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[1] https://www.linkedin.com/company/helderberg-college/?originalSubdomain=zaa

Sing & Praise with Kids

 

[1]

Psalm 101:1

Common English Bible

 Oh, let me sing about faithful love and justice!
    I want to sing my praises to you, Lord!

 

As a family we often went on short trips like up onto Mt. Wachusett, and every once in a while, we would drive for hours to Grandma and Grampa’s home. We had our share of “Are we there yet?” or “When are we going to get there?” whines. Sometimes it was a scream or shout, “Mommy, Esther’s got my crayon!” or “Daddy, Ricky’s leaning on me!” or even worse, “Stop it! Mommy, Julia pinched me!”

Often someone would start singing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…” Then it progressed through “Won’t let Satan (whew) it out.” For twenty minutes or more we would sing all the songs we could remember. Many of these songs were ones of praise and love. Of course, we sang some foolish ones too like “I know an old woman who swallowed a fly”.

Peace would reign in the car. The miles seemed shortened, and we would arrive at our destination rested and full of life and vigor.

On longer trips Mom or I would read a book. As Esther got older, she introduced us to books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis. This led to discussions on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins and many other vital Christian topics.

We had no mechanical dishwasher in the house, so we organized the family into doing the dishes. Daddy was asked to read as we did them. Preschool Ricky insisted that we read the whole King James Bible, including all the “begats” and “the Lord spake unto Moses saying, ‘speak unto the children of Israel saying …’” Because we explained the old phrases and words, Shakespeare was no mystery to the kids later on. The kids attended parochial schools and often found they knew more about the Bible than their teachers! That legacy was important to their lives, and they are still influenced by it.

 

We praise You, Lord, for making home life just a little bit better!

 

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[1] https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/parents-read-book-children-sisters-listen-as-daddy-reads-fairy-tale_8282694.htm

Keep Still and Let God Handle It

 

[i]

Exodus 14:14 

Good News Translation (GNT)

¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.”

 By May 1967 we had been staying with my parents near Monze, Zambia, for 9 weeks awaiting our visas to get into Tanzania. Finally, they had arrived—in Livingston, 180 miles away. I took the train down there from Rusangu, and first thing in the morning I stepped into the immigration office. The office was huge with one small tidy desk. The officer behind it was brisk. He took my passports and said, “Come back at 4:00, and I’ll have them for you.” Four o’clock was closing time.

 At 3:30 I returned. The officer was still brisk. “Sorry, I couldn’t get your numbers today. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” I told him I didn’t have any more money to stay there and still catch the train back to Rusangu. He understood, but I’d have to come back tomorrow. Looking around, I saw one straight-backed chair over against the wall on one side of the office. I quietly went to it, sat down, and prayed—silently.

About five minutes before closing, a man walked in and asked for clearance for his truck load of building materials. The officer was brisk. He leafed through a neat pile of papers on one side of his desk, pulled one out, and looked at it briefly. “Sorry, it’s not ready. Come back tomorrow.”

 “But sir, I’ve been coming back for 13 days now.” The driver tried to explain.

 The officer was abrupt: “You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” He looked away; the interview was over. 

 I sat there quietly. It was obvious that the officer was awaiting a bribe. Even if I wanted to give him one, I certainly didn’t have the money to do so. For another 45 minutes I sat—and prayed. I had no idea what else I could do. Even though the office was closed, the officer sat there equally quiet, ignoring me. Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. “What’s the number on Clarke?” he asked. “Thank you!” He picked up my passports, opened and stamped them, writing in a number. Then he looked at me. “They are finished now! You can take them.” He held them out to me.

“Thank you very much!” I stood up briskly, took them, and walked out the door.

Thank You, Lord, for fulfilling Your promise to fight for me while I am forced to be still.

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[i] https://cpl.org/services/travel/passports/

Start at 85

 

[i]

Joshua 14:10-11 

Good News Translation (GNT)

Look at me! I am eighty-five years old and am just as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out. I am still strong enough for war or for anything else.

 Caleb came to Joshua and asked for the city of Hebron as a heritage. The Anakim lived in the city. Joshua asked for the city with full knowledge that he would have to drive out these giants in order to take possession. He was eager to get on with his task, wielding a mighty faith that God would do the dirty work for him.

 This text hit home when I read it. Here I am not yet 85. God has saved me from a killer disease and given me strength to keep the cancer at bay. He must have some Anakim for me to drive out.

 I thought of my blog site, Experiencing a Bible Verse, and realized that I have let it languish this year. I have only posted one item each in April, May, and June—and none in July, August, or September. Was it the Covid pandemic that depressed me? Has my faith languished, too? Has God deserted me? Is this one of the Anakim? Probably it is none of the above; I have simply allowed everyday things, even serious things, to dominate my time. My thoughts and energies have been captured by these simplistic things.

 Now doctor visits, Zoom meetings, swimming pool repainting, laundry, and cooking, rattlesnakes, memoir writing, and plumbing problems will all have to crowd together and make more room for meditating.

 Lord, help me prioritize what I do in my life.

 

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[i] https://claudetee.com/tee/85th-birthday-idea-for-vintage-85-years-old-dude-bday-shirt/

Our Soul Among the Living

Psalm 66:8-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
⁹ Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to ^[a]be moved.

On May 23, 2020, we were climbing in Joshua Tree National Park. Sylvia suddenly fell. Neither she nor anybody else knows what happened exactly. As she fell, I heard the sickening sound thud, …thud, ...thud, …thud of soft flesh striking rock at least four times. She fell somewhere between 20 and 30 feet (almost 10 m). In the picture, my brother, Elwood, indicates the position she was in when we found her deep in a rocky crevice. She appeared to be dead.

He and our daughter Julia were the first to reach her. They thought she had to be dead until they noticed a flicker of an eyelid. She then muttered, “Hurt!” Julia encouraged her to try and sit up if she could. She responded by sitting up--with their help. Julia yelled at me to go get help.

Cell phones have no coverage in that part of the park. I tried anyway and confirmed my suspicion. Three of us headed back to the Echo T parking lot. We found two women who had just passed their EMT training, and they went back to help. I remembered that there was a group of Search & Rescue people promoting their organization at the Hidden Valley parking lot. One of them grabbed a radio and immediately started calling for help. The she drove back with me to Echo T. As I pulled to a stop, a ranger, with emergency lights flashing, pulled in next to me.  Within a very short time an emergency helicopter from the Big Bear Fire Department was circling overhead, trying to find a spot clear enough to land. Finally, they landed back at the parking lot. It took the emergency crew three hours to get Sylvia out of the crevice and into the helicopter.

Sylvia was alive! They wouldn’t let Julia and me into the hospital, of course, because of COVID-19. Sylvia was talking to me when her doctor or radiologist came in. She laid the phone down, and we heard him tell her that she had fractured her scapula, a rib, and three processes on her lumbar region vertebrae. She reminded them of blood on her head, and he the saw the big gash there. They all missed a fracture on her fibula and several fractures on the glenoid fossa on her shoulder joint. These were all on the left side of her body.

She is alive and is getting around the house on a wheel chair until the fibula heals. Her spirit is amazing, and she counts herself as a miracle woman. Several have reminded her that God must still have plans for her.

Bless our God who has kept her soul among the living!

Wisdom to Discern Personal Intent

[i]

1 Kings 3:9

King James Version (KJV)

⁹ Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

In Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing about Grace? a story is told of a whore who sold her two-year-old child to be abused. She felt extreme remorse and came and saw the pastor. During the conversation he asked if she had come to church. With horror the woman said that at church they would just make her feel worse. This story was mentioned in our liturgy, and the cogent question asked what the implications are for our church.

Before the COVID-19 kept us locked up at home,a mentally disturbed woman showed up to church very early in the morning. Apparently she was argumentative and ready for a fight with anyone who approached her or wished to expel her. A pastor came and warned us about her. He specifically spoke to Sylvia because she takes a loving interest in the downtrodden of society. Someone had called the cops, and two cruisers were parked outside the church when we left.

Thinking back over stories of very troubled people in the Bible, I was drawn to the demon possessed man in the very first chapter of Mark. He came into the synagogue at Capernaum where Christ found him. Although the demoniac’s words were loud and offensive and indeed disturbed the worship service, Christ recognized that the man was actually seeking help. He commanded the demons to come out of him, and they did. ,[ii]

The way I saw it, and here is where I desperately need the understanding that Solomon prayed for, this poor woman may have been seeking help to rid her of her demons. If the woman was simply handed over to the cops, and I believe she was, we were simply returning her forcefully to the demons that possessed her. What, indeed, are the implications to our church in this situation? 

Lord, give me the understanding and wisdom to recognize evil and meet it in the power and love of Christ.

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[i] https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/nintchdbpict0002874504771.jpg?w=827&strip=all

[ii] Ellen White, DA 255f: The mind of this wretched sufferer had been darkened by Satan, but in the Saviour’s presence a ray of light had pierced the gloom. He was roused to long for freedom from Satan’s control; but the demon resisted the power of Christ. When the man tried to appeal to Jesus for help, the evil spirit put words into his mouth, and he cried out in an agony of fear. The demoniac partially comprehended that he was in the presence of One who could set him free; but when he tried to come within reach of that mighty hand, another’s will held him, another’s words found utterance through him. The conflict between the power of Satan and his own desire for freedom was terrible. {DA 255.4}

He who had conquered Satan in the wilderness of temptation was again brought face to face with His enemy. The demon exerted all his power to retain control of his victim. To lose ground here would be to give Jesus a victory. It seemed that the tortured man must lose his life in the struggle with the foe that had been the ruin of his manhood. But the Saviour spoke with authority, and set the captive free. The man who had been possessed stood before the wondering people happy in the freedom of self-possession. Even the demon had testified to the divine power of the Saviour.

Graffiti

Graffiti read’s “IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS” [i] 

Proverbs 3:6 

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

For centuries this giant, ancient rock has nestled here amongst the brittle bush or desert sunflowers. At times the drought has obliterated the bright yellow garden about it. At other times abundant rains have made it a place of beauty. Slowly, the rock has cracked and great pieces have rolled off making an even more varied rock garden.

The first week of, April 2020, in the midst of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions, shut-ins got restless. They now had lots of time on their hands. Some had a burning love for Jesus that demanded expression, and had to stay away from crowds, and couldn’t go shopping in the malls, the great temples of materialism. Unfortunately, these also owned a spray can of paint and even knew a few verses of the Bible. They paid no heed to the punch line of the proverb. In a brief moment of misdirected zeal, they forever desecrated the natural beauty from the Creator’s hand. They cheapened a rare desert sanctuary. Shame on them!

As Christ said of show-offs, “They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.” Matthew 6:5 CEV

Lord, teach us appropriate ways we can honor You.

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[i] Personal Photograph April 2, 2020

A Reign of Terror

 [i]

Daniel 12:1 

King James Version (KJV)

There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.

We have responded to a disease that is sweeping our country and the world with terrible swiftness. We perceive the number of people contracting this disease is increasing exponentially. It will indeed keep increasing until practically the whole population will have been caught in its deadly grip. In a kneejerk reaction of terror, we are destroying the very fabric of our society. No longer are people able to go to work or school. Rather they are forced to cower, each one in his or her home, until it passes.

We have two choices:

1)  We can continue to hide away in our own homes, cut off from our fellow Americans. As a result, within a very few weeks a majority of people will have no money and no means of earning any. Millions will start to run rampant across the country stealing what they can from anyone who appears to have anything. There will be no such thing as security. We will be plunged into an apocalyptic terror that very few will survive. The cure will indeed be far worse than the disease.

2)  Or we can face this new pandemic head on. We can go back to work, to our churches, to our schools, to our families and friends, to our sources of comfort and security that have stood us in good stead for centuries. Fully 3% of our population will perish. But 97% of us will survive. Most of us will still have our livelihood. We will grieve and mourn for those so cruelly snatched away from us. Yet we shall go on with the spirit that has made America great, and we will be greater because of overcoming this new disease. We overcame in the flu epidemic of 1918-1919 and we certainly can do it now.

Oh Lord, preserve us from political panic!

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[i] https://www.dw.com/en/french-government-admits-security-flaws-in-paris-riots/a-47957416