Author: newkingjim

Glastonbury Abbey, now in ruins, was once a thriving community of monks, nuns, and friars. The grounds are open to visitors, and one can wander aimlessly over the stone walls and one’s own imagination.  And there is much to imagine. Ancient legends claim that Joseph of Arimethea left the holy land in the first century and came to England where he founded the abbey. Historical records cannot prove this. In fact, historical records cannot prove Joseph ever left the land of Israel. Yet the story persists and is thought to be true by many Christian believers. Perhaps this was an early version of what we today call ‘fake news.’ Maybe ‘legendary news’ is a better term. Whatever the truth may be, worship of God has continued in this location for 2000 years. Even today, masses and vigils are held amongst the falling walls and in small alcoves beneath the rock foundations. The legend may be fake, but the worship is real. God’s church is anywhere God’s people gather to worship Him.

In the course of the day, I’ve started seeing a variety of comments on the subject of ‘God is in control.’ Most of these comments involve one of two ideas. First, there is the usage of the term in a way that sort of ‘rubs salt’ into someone’s wound. You didn’t like how things turned out? Sorry, but God is in control. Second, some have started using it as a rallying cry to mobilize people for future political and cultural battle. A sort of ‘make lemons out of lemonade’ spiritual application. Now, there’s really nothing wrong with either recognizing God’s ultimate control of temporal things or gathering people together to fight for a cause. But it seems to me that when the theme ‘God is in control’ comes to the forefront of scripture, it is usually in a particular context: the context of faith and suffering.

The disobedient nation of Israel is sent into exile for 70 years and the people must recognize that God is in control of these events. Job loses everything and must learn to accept God’s purposes in his life. Israel endured 400 years of enslavement, crying for deliverance, and that is portrayed as God’s will. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be persecuted as he was persecuted and most of them were killed for their faith.

The book of Revelation has this theme of God’s control all through it. We have a picture of martyrs in heaven crying out to God, ‘how long until you stop the killing?’ and God tells them, ‘a little longer.’ God is in control when believers are being persecuted and killed. God is in control when he judges the living and the dead for their faith or lack of faith. God is in control no matter how much it seems he is out of control.

I don’t like seeing the phrase ‘God is in control’ used like a weapon to motivate or to say ‘I gotcha.’ It is a deep reality that challenges every believer to look at the worst in their lives and in their world and to recognize that things are amazingly complex and incomprehensible yet we can hold fast to our faith because God is in control of human history- past, present, and future.

This strange mosaic is known as the Lod mosaic. It was named such since it was discovered in the city of Lod in Israel. Serious creative thought was put into the naming process.

Although it looks small in this picture, the Lod mosaic is some 50 by 30 feet. It is actually the floor to a Roman house. It is also quite a mystery to scholars who have yet to determine whether this mosaic is Christian, Jewish, or Pagan.  After looking at various close ups of the images, I can see why. The mosaic has an odd mixture of animal pictures. There are angry, vicious looking beasts. But then there are animals with goofy smiles. There are a number of hunting images, with beasts killing other beasts. There are also a number of fish depictions. Fish eating fish. Fish around a sailing vessel. Fish in a basket. I was beginning to think this was the floor of a Roman fisherman and hunter, the mosaic being his version of a trophy case. Then I found the answer.

If you look very closely at the image between the two lions, just above the elephant’s head, you will see the key to solving the mosaic mystery.

Yes. That’s right. It’s Scooby Doo.

 

Participating in softball playoffs this week (in which our team was eventually crushed) has got me thinking about various venues of competition. The Coliseum is probably one of the most famous arenas of battle. I was fortunate enough to see it first hand. It’s big. It’s impressive. It has graffiti carved into its walls and columns.  Still, you can stand inside of it and imagine gladiators battling wild animals (or you could just watch the movie).

And if you think those ancient Romans were bloodthirsty barbarians, you can probably also summon modern pictures of bloody boxing fights, vicious ice hockey checking and slamming, and other such ‘civilized’ activities of the modern age. We are competitive creatures, although I think our ancestors would have a few choice words to say to us if they observed our modern practice of removing people from the battle if they are actively bleeding. They might also have something to say about our practice of awarding everyone a trophy.  Maybe performance motivation based on ‘you lose, you die’ is a bit extreme for our civilized world, but throw in some popcorn and hot dogs for the audience and I think they would be on their feet chanting ‘Death! Death! Death!’

Humans are fascinating beings, capable of amazing good and frightening violence.

During the second visit to the house we were eventually going to buy, I started wandering to the furthest ends of the jungle-like yard. Hearing the sound of water ahead of me, I pushed through some thick foliage and came upon something unexpected. Wooden stairs that descended toward the water. Stepping carefully on the wet, mossy steps, I made my way down to a landing overlooking a part of the creek.

And what did I see when I looked up and down the creek? A small waterfall! I had a nice place to put a bench where a person could sit down and just have some nice solitude.

I don’t have to go to the Everglades, or Costa Rica, or Zimbabe. I have a nice little jungle retreat right in my own backyard. And so does anyone else who comes to visit me! It’s surprising what you can find close by if you just venture out to the edges of your comfort zone.

The Oklahoma City memorial. These kinds of places are difficult to visit. For me, they are a reminder of things I prefer to ignore, a splash of reality in the face. Evil exists in the world. Innocent people suffer and die. The world is not what I want it to be (growing up, I always thought it would be). When shocked into awareness by reality, I’m grateful that there is a solution to man’s inhumanity to man, a solution to my own (and often frequent) unjust and sinful behavior. I don’t believe that human beings can fix themselves. Seems like 10,000 years (or 200,000, depending who you ask) of humanity’s bad behavior (to put it mildly) is evidence enough of our helplessness. Being remade from the inside, and regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit, seems to me a better option for the improvement of human beings.

When  I use the term ‘unexpected encounters,’ I’m not referring to close encounters with aliens (although such an encounter would be unexpected).  I’m referring to places or things you come upon when you are on the way to someplace or something else. In this case, while driving through Groom, Texas, we came upon this giant fifty foot cross just off the highway.

 

We weren’t sure what we were going to see when we pulled off the freeway and motored over to the cross (motoring: something the first century disciples were unable to do.)

This little stopover was quite interesting. There were metal sculptures of the stations of the cross. A full length reproduction of the Shroud of Turin. A life sized mount of crucifixion and tomb. It was a refreshing stop on a long drive through Texas and Oklahoma.

 

 

 

When we left the hotel that day, we were looking at a long drive with little to do but hopefully evade storms and tornadoes. When we left this roadside stopover, we were cheered and encouraged. We could have missed it by just pressing on along our itinerary, but instead we were blessed unexpectedly. I shall look more carefully for unexpected blessings along the way.

 

 

Imagine living someplace where you had to travel from room to room by ladder. If you can’t, then you are probably old and arthritic like me. Either that, or you’ve already tried it and not survived to share the experience.

 

This particular location is called Montezuma’s Castle, located just southeast of Sedona, Arizona. In it’s day (500 years ago or so) it was a thriving community of cliff dwelling Sinuagua Native Americans. In those days, there weren’t governmental agencies to outline building codes or enforce child endangerment laws. They seemed to do just fine.

 

 

 

 

What finally did in this society? Well, the best guess is rapid population growth followed by the gradual disappearance of the local water supply. They tried to blame it on global warming, of course.

Meteor Crater. A place I wanted to see 5 years ago when we drove past it. A place I didn’t have time to see then. But I have seen it now.

And here you can see that it’s a big hole in the ground. My first thought was that it took quite an impact to create such a crater. My next thought was that it must have been a very large dog or gopher. I mean, things were bigger in the olden days, weren’t they? In any case, I have now seen the crater, pondered over the power of a meteor hitting the earth 50,000 years ago, and considered the purpose of this big hole on the face of the earth. I would share that purpose with you, but you need to ponder it yourself for awhile first. Also, consider how fortunate we are that no one has ever been asked to fill that hole in to make room for a housing tract. Would anyone buy a house built on the site of a meteor strike? Is it true that a meteor never strikes twice in the same place? Much to ponder.

In the ancient Roman Empire, they had a system of roads that allowed for rapid travel by individuals, small merchant caravans, and large armies. Because these roads were all linked together with Rome as the home base, it was said that ‘all roads lead to Rome.’ Overall, this was a good thing. Maybe not so good when the barbarian hoards began invading and using those roads.

Today, we have more roads than the Romans could possibly have imagined. Roads, roads, everywhere. Many of us have likely driven at least a half million miles in our lifetime (personally, I think I’m closer to a million). Many of us haven’t been to Rome, though (yes, I have, but that isn’t my point). All roads no longer lead to Rome. In fact, there is no centralized location that the roads of the world center on. If you start driving in the United States, you could end up almost anywhere. Well, anywhere except Rome. Unless you have a submersible car, like the one in commercials that goes into and out of the ocean (all the while, a warning runs across that commercial: DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME). Sounds funny, but I’m sure someone has driven their car into the ocean and tried to sue the car makers for damages. All roads lead somewhere. That seems a nearly safe conclusion. But they don’t necessarily lead somewhere that you actually want to go.

Which leads to a final thought. It is often said that all roads lead to God. I don’t think so. While I’m willing to consider the possibility that there might be more than one road that leads to God, I’m pretty confident that a lot of roads don’t lead anywhere near him.