5:56 am on 24 December 2017 – Kromme River – South Africa. Please turn up the volume. Best with headphones. Hear the excitement of the birds as they celebrate the Advent Season. Please use headphones.
Praise the Lord for a very special part of His creation.
The message of hope: The sun is setting on the ghastly Covid Pandemic.
The message of encouragement: Jet streams in the evening sky herald the opening up of international travel and the reuniting of families kept apart for too long.
Praise the Lord
“As an individual I cannot do anything to save our world’s climate. That fight is for the big nations. I personally cannot make a difference. So, I will do nothing”
Edmund Burke would strongly disagree with your attitude and admonish you thus!
“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” – Edmund Burke
And the tiny African Dung Beetle would just laugh at you!
So – Put that one starfish back in the sea.
The next time you read something, consider Edmund Burke’s observation:
‘To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.’
Jesus advised His team:”Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” KJV
Why is this very wise advice? Have a look at a good Bible Commentary on Matthew 10:16
Do not loose height when climbing. I knew someone spent a considerable amount of time in the mountains of Yugoslavia during WWII. Once during the 1950s he and I were walking up large granite hill in the Matopo Hills near Bulawayo in the then Southern Rhodesia. His advice: When you climb a hill, if possible, take a line that does not go down and then up. This way you will not lose the height you have gained and save energy
What have Jesus and a trapeze artist got in common? As it turns out – plenty!
The idea for writing this post came to me while reading a story about the late Henri Nouwen (1932-1996). Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian.
In the last year of his life, Nouwen took a sabbatical during which he got to know trapeze artists at a circus. As we know, in the trapeze world, the “flyer” flies through the air and is caught by the “catcher”. Nouwen learnt that the catcher is the most important member of the team.
When the flyer lets go the trapeze and flies triple somersaulting through the air high above the circus ring, only the catcher can save the flyer from a potentially fatal fall, even with a net. The flyer’s world is a blur as she spins towards the swinging catcher. And then with a puff of magnesium dry powder the catcher’s hands lock onto the wrists of the flyer. The audience gasps with relief. All is well. The flyer is safe. Immediately the applause of the audience thunders around the circus tent.
So, why is Jesus a trapeze artist? What role does He play? Consider this:
One day all of us will pass away. This is one of life’s absolute certainties. What will happen to us then? Will we just cease to exist? Will we perish? Will we spin away into the eternal void of nothingness. Questions. Questions. Questions.
Jesus has an answer for each one of us. Listen to what He has to say:
“One day you will be the flyer. You will fly out of existence as you now know it. But, you need not fly into oblivion. You need not perish, If you believe and trust in me I promise to be your catcher. I will catch you as you fly. You will not perish but have everlasting life. I promise to catch you. Nothing can snatch you out of my hands. You will be safe and dwell with me forever. This I promise.“
To God be the glory.
Refs: John 3:16; John 14:2; John 10:28: Psalm 23.
For the story of how Nouen met the trapeze artists see “Faith and Doubt” by John Ortberg – page 36 on Kindle (Zondervan)
Something to think about.
The busier we are in the affairs of the world, the more time we need to spend alone with God. If we don’t get this balance right we will burn out.
Note the stain on the rocks when the dam is full. We desperately need rain.
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