Prickly Places

Lovely sunny Arizona is a prickly place.

Obviously, the cacti are prickly, but so are the bougainvilleas, and the orange trees. There’s not much grass cover, instead there are sharp gravel lawns. Don’t fall on a desert hike. You’ll cut yourself on a sharp rock, or you could bump into a cactus. Prickly places are part of the territory, but so is beauty.

The cacti are starting to bloom, a seeming miracle. The rocks are pinkish, terra-cotta and deep red, beautiful as they reflect the setting sun. There is also rest mixed with the prickles, as I noted one morning spying a bird sitting peacefully in her nest. She was secure among the thorns of the saguaro arms that protected her in her prickly place.

Life, like Arizona, is full of “prickly places”, isn’t it?

So I’m motivated to watch for the corresponding beauty. I see it in praying friends, cheerful grandkids, beautiful vistas, and fun despite the prickles, because really, they don’t define me. My Heavenly Father does. I can rest with Him, and like the bird perfectly at peace in the prickly arms of her cactus home, so am I in His arms. “Don’t be afraid,” He whispers in my ear. “Don’t worry, I see you. I’m here”. It’s good to be with Him, and in a way I’m safest in the prickly places, because there my eyes stay fixed on Him.

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.  Deuteronomy 33:27

Our Bodies

Its Good Friday afternoon as I write from the desk in our Arizona home, and it seems a fitting time to pen some thoughts about “bodies” that have been percolating in my mind for a while now.  These thoughts were brought to mind again by an encounter on my morning walk, and I’ll tell that story at the end.

My body is aging!  My hands are pocked with age spots.  My feet have bunions, and are lined with noticeable veins which move upwards on my legs creating a series of purple lined road maps going in every direction.  My eyes don’t see as well as they once did, and furthermore, there’s some loose skin underneath my eyebrows that never used to be there.  The little lines marching up and down from the edges of my lips are more deeply entrenched there all the time, and I haven’t even mentioned the crinkly skin...However, no matter what the condition of my body, there is something grand about it that will never change.  It was created to house God, and furthermore, it won’t explode in doing so.  Allan Hood, my on line teacher pointed that out recently, and it really impacted me.  Imagine, our bodies are created to house God, and that’s what’s happening when the Holy Spirit indwells us.  That’s an amazing and encouraging thought, and it doesn’t take long as we push forward on that thought to understand that bodies are important.  Jesus has a human body, like our bodies, and without that body He would not have been able to die for us.  Without our bodies, we in turn have no platform from which to worship Him, love Him, or walk with Him. Our imperfect bodies are growing older, but we can still use them to show kindness, even as they age and fade.

Here's a song by Steve Bell that I love.  It speaks well to the importance of our bodies.

KINDNESS

Christ has no body here but ours

No hands no feet here, on earth but ours.

Ours are the eyes through which He looks on this world, with kindness

Ours are the hands through which He works

Ours are the feet on which he moves

Ours the voices through which He speaks to this world, with kindness

Through our touch, our smile, our listening ear

Embodied in us, Jesus is living here.

 Let us go now, inspirited, into this world with kindness.

Art by Carla Dyck

Yes, arthritic hands can still give a loving touch.  Feeble arms can still hug.  Rheumy eyes can still gaze tenderly with the eyes of heaven, while listening ears strain to hear.

And so we come to the story of my morning walk.  I noticed a car pull up to the curb ahead of me, adjacent to the community mail boxes.  The car door opened, and after a while,  a gentleman, with a full head of white hair, climbed slowly out of the car, and he made his way hesitatingly, toward the curb.  He was just stepping onto it as I reached the mailbox at the same time as him.  I couldn’t help but notice that he was quite bent over, and the sole of one shoe was quite a bit thicker than the other.  He turned to look at me, and I expected that I might see pain etched on his face because of his mobility difficulties, but instead I saw the brightest smile one could wish to see.  He looked right at me, and said, “How are you?”  His eyes were shining with joy, and I felt as though he really cared about me, a stranger.  That encounter cheered me for the rest of my walk home, and brought home to me once again that our bodies are important, and life is a gift.

The Covenants

I mentioned in a previous blog that the Menorah reminds me of The Covenants, which during these long Covid months I have learned more about. Growing up going to church, I heard the word “covenants” a lot, and I thought I had a good understanding of them, but I was wrong. Although this blog is really just a quick summary of what I’ve learned, it helps cement these facts in my mind, so here goes.

For starters, there are actually four covenants.

1) The Abrahamic Covenant is a one way unconditional promise made by God to Abraham and his descendants that God will give them permanently the land of Israel, and that in so doing, the Gentiles will also be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:7-8)

2) The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional two way agreement made between God and the nation of Israel regarding occupancy of their land. It was an “if you do this, then I will do this...” type of arrangement.(Deuteronomy 4:1; 25-27; 30-31) They lost their land due to idolatry, and only got it back again in 1948, but still their land is under dispute.

3) The Davidic Covenant, like the Abrahamic, is one way and unconditional. It is a promise made by God to King David, that a descendant of his would sit on the throne of Israel forever. (2Sam 11b, 16)

4) The New Covenant is also one way and unconditional. It promises that one day God will put His law in the hearts and minds of His people - the house of Israel and the house of Judah - and they will all know Him. He will forgive their iniquity and not remember their sins. This new covenant was sealed with Jesus’ blood on the cross (Luke 22:20). The ramifications of this for me are found in Paul’s writings which I will summarize by saying that the Gentiles, who were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in this world, have been brought near through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22). Through the Gospel, I, a Gentile, am an heir of God together with Israel, and I share together in the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6).

It only takes a quick look to realize that these promises have yet to be fulfilled. Although Israel as a nation now has a country, it does not encompass all the territory that was promised. Israel presently does not nationally obey God as commanded in the Mosaic Covenant, and not all of Israel knows Him. There is not a King from the line of David ruling in Jerusalem. And so I wait. We wait. Those of us in the camp who believe that God is faithful to His word know that all of the covenants will be fulfilled. And we are waiting...

There are those outside of this camp, though, who believe these promises are not literally meant for Israel, and must somehow be interpreted allegorically to apply to the Gentile Christian church. These believers belong to the supersessionist camp. It surprised me to learn that as early 115 AD there were those who stated that you could not be a Jew and believe in Jesus as the Messiah at the same time. This is where the seeds of  antisemitism were sewn, taking root quickly, resulting in persecution of the Jews down through the centuries right up to the present day, where Jews are hated by many non-Christians and Christians alike. I do not understand why Christians who profess that they love and know Jesus, would even want to believe that God won’t keep His promises to them. How can He be trusted at all if He does not keep Covenant with Israel?

As we wait to see The Covenants fulfilled, the Bible has a lot to say about when this will actually happen, but that’s a study for another time. Is anyone interested in joining me?

God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it, or has he spoken, and will it not come to pass?
Numbers 23:19

The Lord is faithful to all his promises, and loving toward all he has made. Psalm 145:13b

Old Hands

Let’s go back two years, to sometime before Christmas 2018. Russ and RayRay were over for a sleepover. It was a wonderful time. We went from activity to activity with sometimes only a moment’s rest in between; no time to clean up before moving onto the next thing. (After the boys have been with us for a day the house is a MESS, but not a problem, I’m just saying.) Outside that day we were in the snow. Inside we were creating Duplo houses, baking cupcakes, and making music. I was always following little RayRay as he became more and more confident on his little feet. The camera was always at hand as Kevin captured precious memories for the slide show at the end of the day.

We were watching that slide show, and one joy filled scene caught my eye. I have to admit it wasn’t the joy, but my old hands that stood out as I looked at a picture of me and Ray at the piano. I commented, "my hands look like old lady hands". Little Russ agreed, saying so matter-of-factly, “that's because they are”!

Fast forward to this fall. Allison’s clan was visiting, and Russ and I were running laps around the dining room table, pretending to be in a relay, passing an ornamental gourd back and forth as we completed each round. Suddenly Nana had an idea! “Russ, how about we get Poppa to time us? I wonder if an old lady can run faster than you?” I wish I had a picture to capture the image of his face looking up at me. “That’s just not gonna happen, Nana”, was clearly written there. Imagine his surprise when Nana’s time was 5 seconds and his was 6. I’m enjoying my win, because one day he will fly by his “very old” Nana.

I’m reminded that in Psalm 92 we read, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree...they still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green.” I never thought being “sappy” was a good thing, but now I’m happy to still have enough sap to run around the dining room table with my grandson. “ Here’s my wish for him: “May our (grand)sons in their youth be like plants full grown.” Psalm 144:12

The Menorah

This menorah sits quietly on the mantle in my office. It used to grace a shelf in an antique shop before it came to me. I wonder who had it before, and why they parted with it? I have a small menorah in Arizona, purchased at my neighbor’s garage sale, and a large one that I brought home from Israel.

I love these pieces, and although they rest quietly on my shelves, they are not silent. They speak to my heart about a people who suffered to pass on a faith that I hold dear. I have been asked more than once why I have the menorahs, and that is the answer I give. That is the short answer.

There is a longer answer, though, and I will start to give it now. You see, Jesus is a Jew, and so were His beloved disciples. He gave His life to reconcile us to His Father, and the disciples gave theirs in spreading this news far and wide. Apart from these events which took place more than 2000 years ago, the faith I hold dear just wouldn’t be.

There are events, however, that happened even earlier - centuries before - that are of inestimable significance to my Christian faith. The menorah reminds me of these events, specifically the Covenants God made with Abraham, Moses and David. My interest and enthusiasm for this topic has been piqued during these Covid months where I’ve had more time to read, and I’ve learned a lot. Whenever this happens to me, I want to share what I have learned, so wait for a blog called “The Covenants”. I’m excited about how the Bible has opened up to me in a new way. Learning new things is “water to wine” for me.