COURAGE

COURAGE
October 23, 2010





ROLLING OUT THE RAP


Brenda thinks that “Before Words” is confusing, so I’ll try the above. It comes from Colin Campbell (see below) who said, “Looking forward to the ongoing Rollout of Reynolds Rap.”



It is late in the month of October, and here in Vancouver, British Columbia, the days are short and the nights are dark. For those who are SAD, may the following lift your spirits and open your hearts to the joy of living.





COURAGE


One of the most amazing things about people is the way some have the capacity, even when life is hard, to rise above the hardship.



True, some people, like Lot's wife, tend to look back in bitterness. But there are those triumphant others who smile through their tears, who pick up the broken pieces of a shattered life and start to work with them again -- and often make of those broken pieces something beautiful and even joyful.



She lost her spouse after thirty years of reasonably happy marriage, and life became a nightmare. Life was empty, food tasteless, sleep difficult, and waking each morning something she'd rather not do. Even God seemed gone.

Yet she got up each morning, put on her best face, and stepped out to meet the world. It took courage, incredible courage. No one but her closest friends knew the grief that was in her heart, the tears she shed when no one was around.



He lost his job, after twenty-five years with the same company. Fifty years of age, too young to retire, he faced the prospect of finding other employment, the discouragement, day-after-day, being told, "Your qualifications don't fit our requirements."

But now, there he is -- in the park with his granddaughter, pushing the swing, sitting close on the teeter-totter to balance her lighter weight, making a little girl happy while her mother is at work.



Or there is the woman who has so desperately desired marriage and children, but now has had to realize, as the years slip by, that she may never have what she has so much desired -- no partner with whom to share life's pleasure or face life's storms; no children to bear and to hold, to love and care for. She could grow bitter, but she accepts the reality and plays the hand life has given her with grace and even joy!



It is amazing how such people continue to find joy in living -- in the beauty of their garden, in the laughter of their children or grandchildren, their nieces and nephews, in music, painting, friendship, volunteering, and often in religious faith.



Yes, faith. Brenda tells me that Elizabeth Kübler Ross, of Death and Dying fame, claimed that from her studies and observations, faith made no difference in those facing death. But, Brenda added, evidently hers was a very small sample and was considered unreliable. A number of studies since then have indicated that faith does make a difference, both in facing life and in facing death.



It can happen!





AFTER WORDS


The aforementioned Colin Campbell commented on the meditation on Job:



I found the message of the October 2 Rap (Job—“A Man In the Land ofUz”) unusually moving. This is likely in part because I have been reading Job and thinking a lot about the Leviathan-Behemoth passages for my political theory course. In particular, the account of suffering both personal and historical was a wonderful Christian apologetics (apologetics in the proper classical sense, of course, not in the derogatory modern one).



Colin has studied the work of René Gerard and commented on that column (last week, “The Devil,”October 16th):



With regard to Satan and Girard, it's interesting that for Girard the translation of the Hebrew word is "the accuser." This translation makes more and more sense to me. Satan is not in any particular person, or any particular accusation. He is instead the general structure of accusation. Christianity and Judaism, says Girard, are already light-years ahead of much secularism in their understanding that Satan is not human evil or even evil in general, but the accusation of evil that singles out a scapegoat.



Stew Clarke commented on the reference to the Apostles’ Creed, October 9th:



The best thing, in my mind, about the Aposstles’ Creed is that we don’t use the Nicene Creed, which would just tie me up in some kind of knots... My sense is, let’s knot go there.

It begins with the first word, “I,” which does not really apply for me, since the only time I might use it is in a group/public setting.

Then I have to consider/reconsider what is meant by “believe.” It is only half the verb, unless we include the word “in,” although I think that the usual understanding is “believe that,” which calls for a nod or shake of the head. “Believe in” is a life-shaping statement, and may not be appropriate in a group setting.

By the time I hit “Father Almighty,” I am already on hold, or exhausted.



Jim Taylor commented:



You come close to the scientific explanation of darkness as the absence of light. You can turn on a light, but you can't turn on a _dark_ -- all you can do is turn _off_ a light. And it's certainly true that those who most vigorously fight against the devil and his/her wiles tend to get sucked in by their obsession with evil.

While I, like you, don't believe in a personal incarnation of evil (with or without tights and horns), I find it hard to think of evil as merely the absence of good. Evil -- stupidity might be as valid a term -- seems to be so endemic, so pervasive, and, yes, so damned powerful sometimes that I almost attribute intention to it.

(Note Jim’s latest “Sharp Edges,” October 17th, for a taste of reality -- jimt@quixotic.ca.)





LAST GASP


Of interest, this from Jesse Oliver. It had a lot of beautiful photos, which you can look up at CENTER_OF_THE_BIBLE.pps. I’m not going to try to send them.

The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117.

The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 118.

The center of the Bible is Psalm 118.

There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and 594 chapters after Psalm 118,

totaling 1188 chapters.

The central verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8. (You can look it up.)

I haven’t checked any of these statements. I believe they are based on the King James translation of 1611. Is this just numerology or does it have significance?





Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.



It’s a Rap. Grace and peace. Alan