Out Jogging --- Exercises of Another Sort -1
Thoughts running through a mind jogged by the news
This posting (and others similarly titled) is not directly related to Madeira or our work here. It is rather an outlet for commentary on events and remarks in the news.
#1 - "A catastrophe of Biblical proportions"
This is a phrase heard many times in relation to the tsunami in Asia. I pondered on what is required for a disaster to acquire a "Biblical" rating. Film ratings are based on certain criteria, but who decides the criteria for a "Biblical" catastrophe? What are the other categories? Personal? Economic? Does God automatically get credited for calamities that affect a number of persons above a certain limit, or a geographic area greater than a certain size?
Those were the questions I dealt with in messages to the church earlier this month. More importantly, I dealt with one other issue raised in my mind by the statement. Why haven't we ever heard about "blessings of Biblical proportions"? I encouraged us all to seek God and pray for just that: blessings of Biblical proportions!
#2 - The importance of a name
From the NY Times Opinion Page, Jan. 14, 2005: IDENTITIES LOST AT SEA, by Op-Ed Contributor Amitav Ghosh
The scene described took place in a refugee camp in Port Blair on Jan. 1. The refugees were not natives of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, having come originally from other areas of India. The author noted that not only had these people lost all their possessions, they had lost every physical trace of their existence as persons. They were stranded on a desolate island, far from their original family ties, demanding answers from the only authority figure they could identify, who himself obviously was without answers to their questions.
A piece of paper. A pen. An urgent need to write something down. My name. I am. I exist. Various Bible passages come to mind: Jesus the Good Shepherd knows His sheep and calls them by name (John 10:3); the promised blessing of receiving a new name written on a white stone in the Kingdom (Rev. 2:17); the words of Jesus telling us not to rejoice in what we do for God, or what He does through us, but rather "rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) It is a great blessing to know God; but how important it is to be assured that He knows me, and He has recorded my name in His book.
This posting (and others similarly titled) is not directly related to Madeira or our work here. It is rather an outlet for commentary on events and remarks in the news.
#1 - "A catastrophe of Biblical proportions"
This is a phrase heard many times in relation to the tsunami in Asia. I pondered on what is required for a disaster to acquire a "Biblical" rating. Film ratings are based on certain criteria, but who decides the criteria for a "Biblical" catastrophe? What are the other categories? Personal? Economic? Does God automatically get credited for calamities that affect a number of persons above a certain limit, or a geographic area greater than a certain size?
Those were the questions I dealt with in messages to the church earlier this month. More importantly, I dealt with one other issue raised in my mind by the statement. Why haven't we ever heard about "blessings of Biblical proportions"? I encouraged us all to seek God and pray for just that: blessings of Biblical proportions!
#2 - The importance of a name
From the NY Times Opinion Page, Jan. 14, 2005: IDENTITIES LOST AT SEA, by Op-Ed Contributor Amitav Ghosh
Realizing eventually that Father Johnson knew no more than they did, the refugees reduced their demands to a single, modest query: could they have some paper and a few pens? No sooner had this request been met than another uproar broke out: those who'd been given pens and paper now became the center of the siege. People began to push and jostle, clamoring to have their names written down. It seemed to occur to them simultaneously that identity was now no more than a matter of assertion, and nothing seemed to matter more than to create a trail of paper. Somehow they had come to believe that on this, the random scribbling of a name on a sheet of paper in a refugee camp, depended the eventual reclamation of a life.
The scene described took place in a refugee camp in Port Blair on Jan. 1. The refugees were not natives of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, having come originally from other areas of India. The author noted that not only had these people lost all their possessions, they had lost every physical trace of their existence as persons. They were stranded on a desolate island, far from their original family ties, demanding answers from the only authority figure they could identify, who himself obviously was without answers to their questions.
A piece of paper. A pen. An urgent need to write something down. My name. I am. I exist. Various Bible passages come to mind: Jesus the Good Shepherd knows His sheep and calls them by name (John 10:3); the promised blessing of receiving a new name written on a white stone in the Kingdom (Rev. 2:17); the words of Jesus telling us not to rejoice in what we do for God, or what He does through us, but rather "rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) It is a great blessing to know God; but how important it is to be assured that He knows me, and He has recorded my name in His book.
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