Before I Was Born

 

A wailing sound came from the middle seat of our minivan.  We were on our way to church, and someone was NOT in the Spirit.  Not at all.

That person was the youngest member of our family, Elise.

“Who’s bothering Elise?”  I asked in a somewhat grumpy voice.  Other people sing hymns all the way to church, but in the Waldron family, we simply survive, like people in a lifeboat dropped from the deck of the Titanic.  Sometimes we even listen to "Nearer My God to Thee" to lift our spirits.

“No one is bothering her,” Victoria put in.  “She just started crying.”

“Why are you upset, Elise?”  Elaine asked.

“I’m not upset,” Elise said, stopping crying for a moment.  “I’m just sad that you all went to Israel without me!”

“Oh,” I said, not sure what to say.  The trip in question happened in the summer of 2017 and Elise wasn’t born till September of 2019.  “We didn’t leave you behind,” I said.  “You just weren’t born yet.”

This inspired more crying.  “Why didn’t you wait?”  Elise asked.  This was the sort of question that had no answer, certainly not an answer that would satisfy a five-year old who feels anguish in response to all of the things her family did before she was born.

Of course, for most of us, there is a lot more history that precedes the date of our birth than has come since then.  I suppose it doesn’t really matter.  There are far more things that we haven’t done than that we have done and far more places we haven’t visited than those we have.

…And I’ve never been to Boston in the fall!

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  (Philippians 4:12,13)

Satisfaction grows out of contentment, not out of pursuing all of the things this world claims will satisfy.  Knowing Elise, even if she had visited Israel, she would have something else she was dissatisfied with – a Lego set she didn’t have or some other place where she wanted to vacation.

That’s normal for a five-year-old, but I do hope she grows – not in her desires, but in her ability to be content.  This is something that even people ten times her age can learn better.  The most joyful people also have the most contentment – not because they have the most, but simply because they have learned to be satisfied, even in periods of want.

Saving for a Snowstorm

 

“There’s ten inches of snow on the ground in New Orleans!”  My patient was clearly impressed by the amount of white goodness that had fallen in Southern Louisiana.

“I wish we got that much snow here,” I said.  “We got three inches a week ago and it seemed like it melted a couple of days later.”

“They have NO idea what to do with that much snow,” Robert continued.  “I heard they don’t have any snowplows and so they are sending in snowplows from places like Indiana to help out!”

“I guess it helps to be ready for something like that,” I said.  “Of course, it’s hard to think about buying snowplows when the last time they got this much snow in New Orleans was a hundred years ago.”

“You’ve just got to be ready for anything!”  My patient told me seriously.

“My experience tells me that the important thing when getting ready for a snowstorm is to buy a bunch of bread and milk,” I said.  “That’s more important than having a snowplow.”

Our conversation wandered off in other directions – more specifically having to do with his health, but I continued to think about it later.  There are many things in life that we need to be ready for.  Some of them are very uncommon (like snowstorms in New Orleans) and some are impossible to really be ready for.

When COVID moved across the globe in 2020, we discovered how poor preparations were for a pandemic.  I wonder how much better nations are prepared now.

In the book of Genesis, the story is told of Pharaoh.  Apparently, the king awakened one night having had a terrible dream in which seven skinny cows ate seven fat cows.  Uncertain of the meaning, he combed the kingdom for a dream interpreter until someone mentioned a Hebrew prisoner who seemed to have a gift in this direction.

So it was that Joseph came before the king and told the king that the next seven years would have amazing harvest with plenty.  Following that would come seven years of famine and want.

At this point, Joseph interjected a little wisdom of his own.  “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.  Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities.  That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.” (Genesis 41:33-36)

This advice amazes me when I read it because it is the opposite way that most governments function.  Few legislative bodies save for a rainy day.  Most spend the maximum amount that tax receipts allow and when that isn’t enough, they borrow from the future to fund present spending.

Many of us live similarly.  We live to the edge of our capabilities, but in terms of finances, but also time management and many other things.  Often it seems as though we are borrowing from Molly to afford the weapon which we use to rob Peter and finally pay Paul.

I wonder if we can hear the wisdom that Joseph had in our own lives.  There are some things we cannot really prepare for, but living our lives with a little margin can make a huge difference, even when it comes to dealing with a sudden southern snowstorm.

Blinded by the Light

 

 

“I live on the wrong side of the county,” I told the older man.

“How’s that?”  He asked.  “Don’t you like your neighbors?”

“Oh, our neighbors are fine,” I said.  “We might live in Hell Bend, but I think most of the moonshiners have taken up other employment.  It’s actually a quiet part of the county.”

“Then what’s the problem,” he asked me, curiously.

“Just that we live west of Brookneal,” I said, thinking that that explained everything.

“I still don’t understand,” he said.

“I work in Brookneal,” I said.

“Sure,” he agreed.  I wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know.

“Well, somehow Congress passed a new regulation and the sun rises in the east and sets in the west,” I said.  “The problem arises in that I am driving towards the sun in the morning when it goes up and then in the evening, when I go home, it seems to be setting right in the middle of my windshield.  Truly, I am blinded by the light…!”

The other man didn’t seem to have much to say in response to this.  Of course, barring another act of Congress deciding that the sun should rise in the west and set in the east, it seems likely that sunglasses lie in my foreseeable future.

Of course, I’m not actually driving towards the sun.  It is a long way away from Virginia – 93 million miles they say – and drive as fast as I could, I don’t think I could ever reach it.

The issue of course is driving with the sun in my eyes.  It can almost blind you as you come around a corner and discover its brilliant presence dazzling your retinas.

It strikes me that Christians should always drive towards the Son.  “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1)

It is challenging.  There are lots of distractions that we’d rather look at and beyond all that, Jesus’ example makes us realize how poor a job we truly do at following Him.  It’s easier to focus on other humans or even our smart phones.

We are still called to pursue Him and to focus our gaze on Him.  Even if doing so blinds us to many of the other things around, we will see far better than on anything else.  It is when the light is strongest that darkness is truly defeated.

Smelling Snow

 

Lo, one day, it so transpired that my family went to church, for, it was the first day of the week and on this day, we harnessed up Old Nellie, Hitched up the Buggy and wended our way to 5946 Brookneal Highway.  There we raised our voices in song and listened to a sermon and eventually departed for our Abode.

Upon arriving out our home, my eldest daughter sniffed the air and announced, “It smells like snow to me!”

This statement was greeted with much acclaim, for verily, we have had little Snow over the last two years and my children were Right Ready to see some of the crystalline water.

Elise also tested the aroma borne upon the chilly air and asked, “What does snow smell like?”

This was a difficult question to answer and after a feeble attempt, Anna saith that it was a difficult concept and well above the ability of a five-year old to understand.  And that, as the sages say, was that.

“The App that Predicteth weather on my phone does say we will get somewhere between 10 and 12 inches of snow,” I proclaimed, attempting to pour a layer of scientific knowledge over the situation.  This engendered even more excitement on the part of my children, as this seemed far more certain than my eldest daughter’s nose.

“I don’t know about that,” quoth my beautiful wife.  “The National Weather Service says one to two inches of a mixture of snow and sleet.  They are usually right.”

Upon entering our house, we proceeded to check upon the websites of AccuWeather, NOAA, and MSN Weather.  AccuWeather and NOAA gave the same dismal forecast of a bit of snow, followed close on by freezing rain.  On the other hand, MSN weather predicted heavy snow, 10 to 12 inches of shovel-ready white powder ready by morning!

I Knit my Brows so hard they almost turned into a pair of socks, wondering which of these, Very Different forecasts to believe.  I finally decided to do a little research.  It turned out that MSN Weather was using Artificial Intelligence combined with data to predict worldwide weather.  It had even won Awards for being accurate.  On the other hand, the National Weather Service simply used meteorologists, satellites, and radar to make their predictions.  Very Old School indeed.

The choice was Clear.  MSN Weather was Better.  Beyond that, I wanted at least 8 or 9 inches of snow and so I chose to believe that Bill Gates’ Brain Child was correct.

All through the afternoon I monitored the situation.  It began Promising Enough with large white flakes falling from the sky.  Soon the ground was covered with a thin layer of snow, but then, Alas, the falling snow changed to a cold rain that froze on the ground and the trees.

Checking MSN Weather, it continued to confidently say that at this given moment, Heavy Snow was falling on Gladys.  The only problem was that I had only to poke my head out the door to see that the site was Plum Wrong. 

So, it went.  The following morning, MSN Weather stated that the Gladys area had received a sum total of 8.79 inches of snow in the preceding twenty-four hours when we had gotten perhaps a half inch of snow and another half inch of freezing rain.

So much for Artificial Intelligence.

It is challenging these days to discern who to believe when the sources of knowledge share such disparate opinions.  Solomon said, “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) I wonder how he would have dealt with the internet and the Multitude of Experts who reside there.

I imagine that, as with the kings of old, most of us simply seek out counselors who confirm our opinions. 

Even pastors are not exempt, for, it is often easier to explain away the hard things of the Gospel – the need to give unstintingly to the needy, to love enemies, and live with moral purity – than to attempt to live them.  So it is, that people gravitate to teachers who tell them what they wish to hear – that God loves them and there is no need to change.

Mayhap most of us would do better simply reading the Scripture ourselves and trying to apply it to our lives.  For those who search for the forecast they want may find it, but like as not, they will still end up with a half inch of snow and a half inch of ice when all is said and done.

Thoughts on Missing a Gathering

 

“I’m sorry to tell you, Honey,” Elaine said.  “But Elise was up during the night and she’s running a fever now.”

I looked at her crestfallen.  Elaine had had Victoria at urgent care the previous day and Victoria had tested positive for influenza, but she had seemed better in the evening and I had hoped beyond hope that everyone in our family had gotten flu who was going to get it. 

So much for hope…

The Waldron family was gathering in northern Virginia and we had beaten back and forth the question of whether we were healthy enough to join the others.  Now, the answer was staring us in the face and we weren’t happy.

“I was praying that it would be clear to us whether or not we should go,” Elaine said.  “I guess my prayer was answered.”

“I was just praying that we would be able to go,” I said, hearing the sobs in the background of my daughters who were distressed at the idea of not seeing their cousins.  “I guess my prayer was answered too – just not the way I wanted.”

Many people see God’s hand moving in all of the little intricacies of their lives.  Perhaps the reason why our little tribe couldn’t join the larger clan was because God was trying to prevent us being shot by a sniper on the way to D.C. or hit by a small asteroid near Charlottesville.   Then again, maybe we just got a virus at the wrong time and were suffering the consequences.

It is hard for me to see the hand of God in these things.  It seems as though an omnipotent God could prevent some disaster befalling me without having my family get infected with the creeping crud.

We live in a fallen world.  It is a world in which there is cancer and pneumonia and COVID-19 and Influenza.  It is a world in which best laid plans go amiss, and parents disappoint their children.

God is still good.

David wrote, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalms 27:3) Some people act as though the main thing we hope for is for heaven, which of course, means that this life is full of hopelessness.  If God’s goodness is only reserved for those who have died and gone on to their reward, it would be a dark world indeed.

I suppose it has to do with my melancholic tendencies, but I often see the dark clouds and not the silver linings.  I see only the canceled trip and hear my girls’ sadness and can’t see any positives.

When I feel my heart fainting within me and discouragement rising like the flood waters to drown my spirit, I must have a solid place to stand.  Lewis B. Smedes says that “When God gets involved in our hoping, the odds get better, the stakes get higher, and the pain gets worse.”  He explains, “The pain gets worse because it hurts more to feel let down by God than it does to be fleeced by dumb fortune.”

This feels real to me.  I feel let down by my heavenly Father and wonder at His unwillingness to give me the things I hoped for.  It is like your millionaire dad saying that he is not going to buy you the Lego set you had been pining for the last three months.  “I got you these pencils and underwear instead,” he says and even as your character grows, your spirit shrinks, unwilling to hope and trust.

I have no deep insights, only that I will affirm that when all else fails, I will desperately cling to hope.  I will continue to trust my heavenly Father and His goodness.  When the floods rise and hurricane force winds blow, I feel on the edge of disaster and then, at my side, I hear His still, small voice and know that He is closer than the storm could ever be.