Wednesday, October 25
Point to Ponder & Discuss: Do atheists celebrate Hallowe'en?
They don't seem to enjoy the mysterious side of any religion, Christianity in particular. They have established a wide gap between religion and things like politics and education. Their argument is that religion, often perceived as just foolish superstition, needs to be kept out of the way of truly enlightened people.
What's more superstitious than Hallowe'en in many ways?
I have been reading that some schools are toning down the whole Hallowe'en celebration in their schools. This is not out of any concern of any religious, supernatural overtones but because they are concerned - rightly so in this day and age - that costumes may be culturally inappropriate, offensive or racially insensitive. I really hope that such sensitivity will be picked up although I can think of better ways to get the message of inclusiveness across, but it is a start. (It also bemuses me that no one might think that children dressing up as hideous monsters, ghastly ghouls, blood-dripping clowns, freaks of nature is not any less offensive or disturbing but what do I know?)
Hallowe'en is not one of my favourite nights of the week in the year, not necessarily because it has occultist connotations. As much as I believe in the mystery and sacredness of life and spirit, I have never believed in goblins, witches, zombies and the like. Maybe that makes me an atheist of sorts! But we will still give out candy to the princesses, the super heroes, and all the cute fuzzy animals who come to our door. Some of the older kids can't even be bothered to dress up any more.We don't get all that many and it leaves us with a nice stash of chocolate candy once the night is over.
Some conservative Christians refuse to celebrate Hallowe'en because of its perceived links to occultism, Satanism and the evil of supernatural forces. I doubt that they believe in ghosts or vampires any more than I do but they prefer not to mess with the unknown, no matter anyway. So be it!
I am not so much concerned over kids in Hallowe'en costumes as I am about the real presence of real Evil that is at work in our world today. A good example is the recent slaughter in Las Vegas, but it is only one of hundreds of stories of pain, suffering, horror, terror, and chilling abominations that are cursing our world. My "devil" doesn't carry a pitchfork and have a forked tail, but carries an automatic rifle and looks just like the guy down the street. Now that is truly scary!
Now, I am of the theology and belief that one of things that Jesus has done for us is to score a decisive win against Evil itself. This is not to say that Evil doesn't continue to fight back and has yet conceded defeat. Evil wants nothing more than to discourage us, overwhelm us, frighten us and disfigure the goodness and blessedness of life so that we will turn away from God's Love, Grace, Beauty, Goodness and Hope.
But we believe that in Jesus Christ we are equipped to handle anything and everything that Evil throws at us or throws in our way. "No, in all these things we are more than conqueror through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
It is good to be wary of Evil in any of its forms and disguises. But we are not alone, not left defenceless, not without power, not without the tools of "battle" against the Evil One.
"And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way.
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon.
In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. " (Ephesians 6 10 -17, The Message)
Dale
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
"Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." (Psalm 144:12)
Or grandsons or granddaughters.
I was partly joking with my comment above about faith and hope. But the more I think about it I realize it does take a lot of faith and hope to raise a child in today's world. Having faith in the child himself or herself. Having faith in one's parenting abilities and one's own character. Having faith in the family that the child is surrounded by. Having faith in the teachers and instructors to whom one entrusts the child down the road. Having faith in the friends they choose. Having faith when they head out the door on their own.
Then we hope. Hope for well-being and safety wherever they go. Hope for their happiness and fulfilment. Hope for their success and achievement. Hope they succeed at school. Hope they will be liked. Hope they will stay away from trouble, drugs and the wrong friends. Hope they get picked for the team. Hope they will hit the winning run in and feel triumphant. Hope there is never a war they will recruited to join.
That seems a lot to hope for in what seems to be a troubling world right now. But as our children enter into this world it is our loving responsibility as adults to have faith and to have hope. To allow them to know that they are secure, loved, celebrated, encouraged and comforted no matter the winds that may and will blow.
Finally, for me it also takes faith and hope that I look to God to sustain us, to enlighten us, to counsel us and to give us strength in our relationships with our children. One of the great images of Jesus was his ready willingness to gather children around him and bless them. I believe that children are extremely important to God and God grieves when children are abused, starving, unloved, and killed in wars. I believe that God expects us adults to do far better.
Now where did I put that bobsled?
Dale
We have learned, this week, that the child whom Nathaniel and Krista are expecting next March will be a boy - our fourth grandson. His Uncle Nick has commented that we now have a four man bobsled team.
Or more likely a four-boy gang of little, holy terrors. I am already imagining our family get-togethers once number four gets running around with the others. Oh, the mischief that will ensue; the schemes, the mayhem, the noise, the rough-housing, the high-jinks. All ye without faith, abandon hope here...
I wouldn't miss it for the world! Or want it any other way."Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." (Psalm 144:12)
Or grandsons or granddaughters.
I was partly joking with my comment above about faith and hope. But the more I think about it I realize it does take a lot of faith and hope to raise a child in today's world. Having faith in the child himself or herself. Having faith in one's parenting abilities and one's own character. Having faith in the family that the child is surrounded by. Having faith in the teachers and instructors to whom one entrusts the child down the road. Having faith in the friends they choose. Having faith when they head out the door on their own.
Then we hope. Hope for well-being and safety wherever they go. Hope for their happiness and fulfilment. Hope for their success and achievement. Hope they succeed at school. Hope they will be liked. Hope they will stay away from trouble, drugs and the wrong friends. Hope they get picked for the team. Hope they will hit the winning run in and feel triumphant. Hope there is never a war they will recruited to join.
That seems a lot to hope for in what seems to be a troubling world right now. But as our children enter into this world it is our loving responsibility as adults to have faith and to have hope. To allow them to know that they are secure, loved, celebrated, encouraged and comforted no matter the winds that may and will blow.
Finally, for me it also takes faith and hope that I look to God to sustain us, to enlighten us, to counsel us and to give us strength in our relationships with our children. One of the great images of Jesus was his ready willingness to gather children around him and bless them. I believe that children are extremely important to God and God grieves when children are abused, starving, unloved, and killed in wars. I believe that God expects us adults to do far better.
Now where did I put that bobsled?
Dale
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Wednesday, October 11, 2012
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite celebrations. Although it was unseasonably warm this year often it has been cool and comfortable, just right for autumn walks under the changing foliage. Then when you come back into the house you smell the cooking turkey or the aroma of pumpkin pies or other savory smells. Then the very best part is when the family gathers around the groaning board of a Thanksgiving Feast and the laughter, love and general mayhem begins.
Susan and I celebrated Thanksgiving in Mississauga with Nick and Erin hosting. Erin organized and prepared a fantastic meal. Our three grandchildren added to the merriment and joy of the occasion. Once again we gathered, broke bread and counted our many blessings. Susan and are richly and abundantly blessed by all four of our children, their partners and grandchildren.
"We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house..." This verse comes from a psalm of thanksgiving, Psalm 65.
I think we live in culture in which it has become very difficult to be simply satisfied with what we are given. Some folk are never satisfied about their lives, their loved ones, their jobs, their families, their physical looks, their salary, their church, their friends, their health, their well-being. Some argue that we live in an age of entitlement, and if that is true, I can just about guarantee that people who feel entitled will seldom, if ever, feel fully satisfied. I suppose it would be easy to think of all things that I don't have in my life, feel sorry for myself, complain and be bitter, blame God or somebody else for these deficiencies.
But that is when I stop and look around the table and experience the feeling of satisfaction of our house and am very grateful to God for the love that I am privileged to share right there and then. I wouldn't trade it for anything - not even for the Ottawa Senators winning the Stanley Cup.
To keep it short, sweet and simple:
"I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess - happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am," (Philippians 4: 10:13, The Message).
Belated Happy Thanksgiving! But actually, it is never too late to be thankful!
Dale
But that is when I stop and look around the table and experience the feeling of satisfaction of our house and am very grateful to God for the love that I am privileged to share right there and then. I wouldn't trade it for anything - not even for the Ottawa Senators winning the Stanley Cup.
To keep it short, sweet and simple:
"I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess - happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am," (Philippians 4: 10:13, The Message).
Belated Happy Thanksgiving! But actually, it is never too late to be thankful!
Dale
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
My regular computer is sick and is in the hospital for sick computers. It blew a port for some reason which crashed the whole system. This couldn't possibly have resulted from the fact that one of the dogs became tangled in some of the cords and toppled the tower down could it? Now I am using my lap top which I don't like for writing. For some reason I am so much slower as I make far more spelling mistakes and accidental formatting errors.
When the other computer went down, the error message was more than daunting. Error 1962. Operating system cannot be found; start-up sequence will repeat. I tried the Dale Soble method of computer repair - I unplugged it and then plugged back in. You might be surprised how often that actually works. But not this time. The same error message came right back up. Then I went to plan B - I phoned Susan who has often saved me from myself when it comes to computer problem solving. But not this time.
So off it has gone to the shop. Initial reports are that it is not as serious as I feared. They can fix it. I didn't lose anything. Whew! You know, one of these days I really should back everything up...
But in this painful process I have discovered a metaphor for faith.
Faith is our operating system. We run our life out of it. It helps us access those people, events, and texts which inform and shape our thoughts, morals, behaviour and relationships. Faith connects us to the sacred and divine in life. Everyone has a faith of some kind, even those who say they do not believe in God but they too still have standards, values and fundamentals that guide them through their lives. But we who have faith in Jesus Christ have an operating system which is based in him and shaped by him - by the things he said and did and who we interpret him to be as the Christ.
We can take our faith for granted. It runs along just fine and we don't really take much notice of it until something goes wrong. We get an error message that overtakes our faith and no matter what we do we can't get around or past the error message. It can be something big like the Las Vegas shooting that shakes our faith but more than likely it will be far more personal like losing a job, getting a cancer diagnosis or going through a marriage breakdown or suffering the loss of a loved one. Maybe it just a series of little things that pile up and overloads the operating system of faith over time. Maybe somebody has yanked or pulled you down. Try as we might the operating system cannot be found and hard as we try to reboot the system it won't.
There are no instant or magical solutions to this problem. I believe it takes some due diligence and patient intentionality to begin. It won't happen over night. But nothing happens until you try.
I believe that we are to begin with prayer, not because it is a panacea, but rather it is a channel for reconnection with the sacred love of God. "Pray without ceasing..." , (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It can't get any simpler than that. Technique, style, fancy words don't matter. In your meditations with God or Christ at its core, you may begin to unpack what has caused the error message and be led to rethink or redo or refresh or restart or be reborn.
We may choose to augment our hunger for faith with scripture, fellowship with other believers, or a quiet walk along a nature trail. We will need to stop our busy-ness, our fretting, our worrying and instead allow the Grace and Love of God to fill the voids and blank screens, and restore our souls beside still waters.
Dale
My regular computer is sick and is in the hospital for sick computers. It blew a port for some reason which crashed the whole system. This couldn't possibly have resulted from the fact that one of the dogs became tangled in some of the cords and toppled the tower down could it? Now I am using my lap top which I don't like for writing. For some reason I am so much slower as I make far more spelling mistakes and accidental formatting errors.
When the other computer went down, the error message was more than daunting. Error 1962. Operating system cannot be found; start-up sequence will repeat. I tried the Dale Soble method of computer repair - I unplugged it and then plugged back in. You might be surprised how often that actually works. But not this time. The same error message came right back up. Then I went to plan B - I phoned Susan who has often saved me from myself when it comes to computer problem solving. But not this time.
So off it has gone to the shop. Initial reports are that it is not as serious as I feared. They can fix it. I didn't lose anything. Whew! You know, one of these days I really should back everything up...
But in this painful process I have discovered a metaphor for faith.
Faith is our operating system. We run our life out of it. It helps us access those people, events, and texts which inform and shape our thoughts, morals, behaviour and relationships. Faith connects us to the sacred and divine in life. Everyone has a faith of some kind, even those who say they do not believe in God but they too still have standards, values and fundamentals that guide them through their lives. But we who have faith in Jesus Christ have an operating system which is based in him and shaped by him - by the things he said and did and who we interpret him to be as the Christ.
We can take our faith for granted. It runs along just fine and we don't really take much notice of it until something goes wrong. We get an error message that overtakes our faith and no matter what we do we can't get around or past the error message. It can be something big like the Las Vegas shooting that shakes our faith but more than likely it will be far more personal like losing a job, getting a cancer diagnosis or going through a marriage breakdown or suffering the loss of a loved one. Maybe it just a series of little things that pile up and overloads the operating system of faith over time. Maybe somebody has yanked or pulled you down. Try as we might the operating system cannot be found and hard as we try to reboot the system it won't.
There are no instant or magical solutions to this problem. I believe it takes some due diligence and patient intentionality to begin. It won't happen over night. But nothing happens until you try.
I believe that we are to begin with prayer, not because it is a panacea, but rather it is a channel for reconnection with the sacred love of God. "Pray without ceasing..." , (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It can't get any simpler than that. Technique, style, fancy words don't matter. In your meditations with God or Christ at its core, you may begin to unpack what has caused the error message and be led to rethink or redo or refresh or restart or be reborn.
We may choose to augment our hunger for faith with scripture, fellowship with other believers, or a quiet walk along a nature trail. We will need to stop our busy-ness, our fretting, our worrying and instead allow the Grace and Love of God to fill the voids and blank screens, and restore our souls beside still waters.
Dale
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