Miscellaneous articles.
There are many interesting creatures that can be found in the jungle.
Did you know that a common mistake is to expect that you find Lions in the jungle? Why else is lying called the King of the jungle?
But actually, Lions are not commonly found in jungles as such. Thus, Lions aren’t included in this video.
But many interesting examples of God’s creation are. These are as follows gorilla, snake, monkey, tiger, parrot, anteater, and explorer!
One time when walking on the street a man stopped me and offered me a free personality test. Usually, I’m not keen on such things, but he insisted.
He took me off the street into a nearby building and gave me some sheets of paper with very many questions on them about how I behave in different circumstances (such as giving in when people strongly insist that I do things!). After I’d finished, I handed the papers in and waited for the result.
The man called me into his office and began; ‘You’re not good at communicate and that’s bad because communication is life. But don’t worry, I have some books for sale on communicating and organise a seminar on communication.’
Handy that he had some books for sale and a seminar on exactly what I needed, but nevertheless I practised my skills in refusing insistent people and left!
Communication is life may well be an overstatement but nevertheless it is clear that it is an important aspect of our daily lives. This explains the popularity of mobile applications such as Whatsapp, which has over 5 billion downloads.
In the Bible, we also see that communication is an important topic. In Genesis 1 we see that God even creates by speaking. For example, in Gen. 1:3 –
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Following on from this in chapters 2 and 3, we see that He is not a distant God who creates things and then steps back. Rather we see Him communicating with the people He has created. Even after humans disobey Him and are exiled from the Garden of Eden, the communication continues.
In Genesis 4:26, it says that
‘….Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.’
So, people still seek contact with God and in chapter 6, God is stilling communicating with humans as we see Him speaking to Noah. Indeed, in one sense we could describe the Bible as the story of how God seeks to re-establish His lost relationship with human beings. Throughout the Old Testament, God is repairing the damaged relationship as He chooses a people, makes covenants with them and even comes to be present with them, first in a tent, then in the temple.
A key moment in this process of relationship restoration can be seen in Mark 15:38-39. Here, we read that immediately after Jesus’ death on the cross the curtain in the temple is torn from top to bottom. This is significant because this curtain separated the centre of the temple from everything and everyone else. This central temple area was known as the Holy of Holies and it was were God was present. The curtain represented the barrier between Him and human beings. Only once a year could the high priest enter there to offer a sacrifice for the atonement of the people’s sins.
However, after Jesus dies, this barrier between man and God is torn in two. Significantly, the tear is from top to bottom, showing that it was God who initiated the removed up of this separation between us and Him. Importantly, the next verse tells us the reaction of the centurion, a pagan not from God’s people, when he witnesses Jesus’ death. He says:
‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’.
This confirms to us that now anyone can come to recognise Jesus for who He really is and thus enter into a relationship with God. In other words, the result of Jesus’ death was to restore the possibility of anybody to communicate with God. Previous to it, God communicated just with certain people in certain ways, but now whoever wants has the opportunity to enter into dialogue with Him! In modern day language, we call this prayer!
Although most people are aware of this possibility, not everybody uses it in the same way.
Simeon Stylites was born in what is now Turkey around 390 A.D. Like any young man he made plans for his life, although in his case his plans were a little different to most youngsters. At the age of 13 he decided to dedicate himself to Christianity, which he understood to mean spending his time in self-denial and prayer. For example, he is said to have spent at least a year and a half shut up in a small hut, much of this time spent standing in prayer. Eventually, he moved onto a new method which was to sit atop a column that he found amongst some ruins of an old building. It is said that he spent 37 years sitting atop such columns, spending his time in prayer.
Alternatively, a lady from Romania made the observation once, ‘In the hospitals in Romania everybody prays!’ This could be taken not just as a negative comment about the standard of health care in Romania but also as a remark that reflects the human tendency to turn to prayer when we have a serious problem. It’s interesting that whenever something bad happens, celebrities often put messages on the internet which include the icon of two hands clasped together in prayer.
For Christians, the person who is our example of how to live is Jesus Christ. Thus, if want to know how to pray, we need to learn from him. In the gospel of Mark 1:35-39, we see an example of when Jesus prayed.
The first thing we learn from here is that Jesus prayed! Even though he was a part of the trinity, he still needed to pray, and if He needed to pray to maintain His relationship with God the Father and Holy Spirit, how much more must we, imperfect human beings, need to pray to keep a good relationship with God.
Indeed, we know from our own human experience that by communicating with people we develop relationships and that we suffer when we don’t communicate with those we love.
Henry Martyn was a missionary to India just over two hundred years ago. In order to go out on the mission field, he left his girlfriend behind, hoping that at a later stage, once he had assessed the scene, she could join him to be his wife. Shortly after arriving in India, he wrote her a letter to propose marriage. He had to wait fifteen months for a response, and it was negative!
One can only imagine the suffering of waiting those long months for an answer. It’s natural that we want to communicate with those who we love. Thus, as Christians who love God, it’s normal that we should desire to spend time with Him in prayer and if we don’t desire this, we should start thinking about why.
The second thing that we can take from this example of Jesus is that even though He was very busy, He still made time for prayer. We see in verse 34 of this first chapter of Mark that many people were coming to Jesus for healing. Indeed, towards the end of the chapter we see that so many people were looking for Him that He couldn’t enter towns anymore. And in the beginning of chapter two there are so many in the house listening to Jesus that the men can’t get their paralysed friend through and have to take him up on the roof and lower him through the ceiling!
In the midst of all this busyness nevertheless we read in verse 35 that Jesus got up early, when it was still dark, to go to pray. This shows that it was a priority for Him. A great Christian leader of the past is quoted as having said, ‘I am so busy that I need to pray for three hours before I start the day.’ We tend to think differently, something like ‘I am so busy that I only have time to pray for three minutes.’ However, we usually find time for the things that are important to us.
Recently, at a Ski camp with Moldovan students, I decided spontaneously on the second day to go skiing (having rested on the first day). This meant I was slightly delayed as I got my equipment together. I felt that this wouldn’t be a problem as Moldovan students are not renowned for their punctuality. However, as I came out of the chalet to go to the bus, I saw it already pulling away and leaving for the mountain. In other words, usually tardy students, were right on time when it was about getting the bus for skiing!
Hence, if prayer is something important to us, we will make time for it.
Thirdly, we see that through prayer Jesus clarified God’s will for Him. Jesus is Himself also God, but He nevertheless submitted to the Father’s will (Mark 14:36). When Simon and His companions find Jesus, they are probably expecting and hoping that He will return with them to get on with work in Capernaum, but Jesus has other ideas. He informs them that His plan is now to move on to ministry in other places. This plan seems to have formed after His time in prayer. Thus, prayer is one way in which we conform our wills to God’s and discover His plans for us.
More so, it also shows our dependence on Him as instead of getting on with what we think is best, we stop and seek His guidance. Indeed, in the busyness of life, just as Jesus took time out here before making His next step, it seems like a good principle that sometimes we need to withdraw to deserted places to be free to reflect and search for the way forward.
George Mueller is a great example of someone who depended on God in prayer. He was from Germany but became a minister in Great Britain. He opened one and later other homes for Orphans. It is said that he never directly asked for money but trusted in God’s provision. One evening he confessed to a visitor to the orphanage that although 2000 orphans were staying there, they had no food for the next day’s breakfast. He began to pray. The next day they found that the necessary food was there! How? Overnight a Christian in the city hadn’t been able to sleep and had felt that God was prompting him to get food and bring it to the orphanage, something that he did. Indeed, it is said that he provided enough to last for a whole month!
Assuming we understand the necessity of prayer, another question would be what should our prayers contain? There are different ideas about this, but a basic model would have four points.
The first would be adoration. To adore someone means to be focused on their qualities and to give them glory for them. How often do people for example give praise to a footballer for scoring a great goal that helps his team win the cup. Being there in the mountains of Romania it is hard to not to be in awe of the God who created it all.
Next there is confession. This is where we recognise our weaknesses as human beings and openly say in our own words what we have done wrong. A well-known Biblical example is Psalm 51, where David confesses his sin after having committed adultery.
Thirdly, comes thankfulness. This is similar to adoration, but it focuses on what God has done for us, rather than on who He is. In Ephesians 5:20 Paul tells us to give thanks for all things.
Finally, there is supplication or requesting things. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says to ask and we will receive, although this needs to be understood in the light of what has been said above about seeking God’s will in prayer thus what we ask for might not be according to God’s plans so we might not receive it!
One time it occurred to me that my shower was getting a bit worn. You know what I mean, not just a few splashes and stains here and there, but rather full-blown mould starting to grow in some of the lower nooks and crannies. So, as any self-respecting shower owner would, I began cleaning.
Initially things went well, but I started to get frustrated at the fact that due to the hanging, sliding nature of the doors, I couldn’t get in everywhere I wanted to clean. Certain glass and joining surfaces were being obscured by said doors. Thus, I boldly took the decision to take the doors off! I’m not usually a D.I.Y. sort of person but this time I decided to give it ago. Besides, there wasn’t anyone I could conveniently call to come and help, and the thought came to mind, how hard could it be? If I can learn to speak other languages, surely, I can take a door off and put it back on! These two things however proved to be two very different kettles of fish.
I got my screwdriver out and did manage to get the doors off. It took some work and it was a bit dicey sometimes as to whether they were going to slip my grasp and fall and shatter on the floor, but fortunately there was no shattering!
Having taken the doors off and placed them safely to one side, I got to work on cleaning out those pesky nooks and crannies, not to mention wiping well clean all the glass surfaces, even those otherwise hard to reach ones. The icing on the cake was that I also scraped out the old silicone filling and filled the joins with new silicone filling. Finally, I completed my handy work by slotting the doors back in place and screwing them up tightly! A job well done, right?
Well, it would have been if you overlook the silicone that I had splayed all over the place due to the intricate difficulties in smoothly using it to fill up gaps. This was complemented, by the fact that the sliding doors no longer fitted well into their groove and so no longer slid back and forth in a graceful manner, more like with a stubborn clunk. One other nuisance was that the screws that held the doors in place started to gradually undo themselves and cause the doors to become loose. Apart from that though things were fine.
I comforted myself with the thought that the doors’ state was probably more to do with wear and tear than any thing else, nevertheless there was a nagging regret that I hadn’t got someone else to come to do a more professional job!
In life we can often be plagued by regrets. Certain things haven’t turned out the way we would have liked, and we wish we could do things again. Sometimes this is connected to trivial things that don’t matter too much. One can live with dodgy shower doors at the end of the day. But sometimes these regrets are to do with important aspects of our lives. Maybe our career isn’t going well, and we wish we had taken a different path. Maybe there are tensions in our family, and we wish we hadn’t made certain mistakes. Maybe we made a bad decision and are still suffering the consequences many years later. There could be countless reasons why we wish we could make a new start. Doing things differently; Living life afresh. And the good news is that the resurrection offers us the hope that we can.
The first hope that we see is in connection with the women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection. It is interesting that women are mentioned in this way as being the ones who discover the empty tomb as it gives an air of authenticity to the Gospel accounts. The testimony of women in ancient Israel was not highly valued in society and so if someone was inventing what is written in the Gospels, it is unlikely that they would have made up that the first people to be witnesses were women.
More so, these are simple women, not well known in society, so there would be no reason to write that they were the first to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning unless that’s the way it was. Indeed, we don’t know much about who these women were, except that they were with Jesus in Galilee and a few other details that we can piece together.
In Mark’s gospel, there are three women mentioned as going on Easter morning to Jesus’ tomb. One is Mary the mother of James the younger and Joseph, about whom we know just that; that she was the mother of two boys who were presumably well-known in the first church and the fact that her son is described as James the younger implies that his father was also James. Secondly, there is Salome. There is a theory that she was the mother of John and James, Jesus’ disciples, in which case she would have been the wife of Zebedee (James’ and John’s father). Finally, and best known, is Mary Magdalene. Her name suggests that she was from Magdala, a town on the shores of lake Galilee. An important detail that we know about her is that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2) thus she had been saved from a very difficult situation and given a new hope by Jesus.
These simple ladies didn’t renounce their hopes in Jesus even though he had been killed on a cross. Instead, on Easter day morning, after the sabbath which was their day of rest, they set out early for Jesus’ tomb with the intention of anointing his body. However, what they discover is not what they are expecting. The stone is rolled away from the entrance to the tomb and they see inside an angel who informs them that Jesus is alive! (Mark 16:4-6).
Thus, not only do they become the unlikely first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, but they also have their persistent trust in Jesus rewarded with an even greater hope, that of victory over death!
The second sign of hope is found in Mark 16:7:
‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’
This is the angel telling the women to go and let Jesus’ disciples know what has happened and give them instructions on what to do next. However, there is an interesting detail. Here it says that they should tell his disciples and Peter. But surely Peter was one of the disciples? Why was it necessary to emphasis that they should tell him as well?
The answer can be found back in Mark 14. At the end of this chapter, after Jesus’ arrest, we see that Peter followed at a distance to the place where Jesus was put on trial. While waiting outside in the courtyard people begin to recognise him and so he starts to deny ever knowing Jesus. He does this three times before the cock crows which reminds him of what Jesus’ had predicted would happen:
Immediately the cock crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: ‘Before the cock crows twice you will disown me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.
He is obviously very distressed that he has denied Jesus, especially as just a few verses earlier, he had ‘insisted emphatically, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’
Thus, the angel’s words in chapter 16 are particularly pertinent for Peter. They are emphasising the fact that Jesus’ resurrection is also for him, in spite of his failing in the moment of hard testing. Jesus’ death was a payment for sin and so now that the sin has been payed for, Peter can be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with Jesus. This is the hope that the resurrection brings to all of us. No matter who we are or what we have done, Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins and so if we entrust ourselves to Him, we can be forgiven and make a new start. This is truly a message of hope.
The third and greatest hope is found just before this in verse 6:
‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
The women have found an empty tomb with an angel sitting in it. He informs them that Jesus is alive and no longer there. This is not the first time in the Bible that someone is reported as returning from the dead, but there is something extra special about Jesus’ resurrection.
One of those raised from the dead in the Bible is Lazarus. We read about this in John 11. The significant thing about this is that, although Lazarus is brought back to life, he is brought back to the same quality of life as he had before on this earth. In other words, he is still prone to death. We see this ironically emphasised in John 12:10 where we read that the chief priests are planning to kill Lazarus because many are believing in Jesus due to the fact that he brought Lazarus back from the dead.
We see then that those raised to life before Jesus, were brought back to their earthly lives and eventually died again. Jesus however rose to a new quality of eternal life. His body was a resurrection body (as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:35-57). By His resurrection, he was demonstrating that He had defeated death, and, in that sense, He was the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep as the Apostle Paul puts it earlier in 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Thus, the one true all pervading hope of the resurrection is that whoever we are, no matter what we have done, those who fall asleep trusting in Jesus have the hope that one day they will also awake with Him to this new eternal life!
Ben looked down and baulked. From the ground it hadn’t seemed quite so high, but now that he was at the top, he felt the blood racing and his knees quivering. The professional mountain guy who was coordinating the activity beckoned to him. Ben hesitated.
‘Come on, it’s your turn. Just step over here and I’ll get you hooked in,’ said the man, smiling as if he was suggesting a stroll in the park. Ben totteringly peered over the edge of the cliff face. This didn’t look like a stroll in the park to him. There must have been at least 30 metres to the bottom and besides that, Ben preferred his strolls horizontally rather than vertically.
‘Hurry up. We’ll miss dinner at this rate,’ said the mountaineer, trying to motivate Ben. Ben however felt like this evening’s dinner was one that he could get by without.
‘Well, if you won’t get a move on, you’ll have to let the next person go.’
Ben was all too glad to allow the little girl that was waiting behind him go on before him. He watched carefully as the mountain guy attached her harness to the rope which was tied to hefty looking tree. The man gave her some final instructions and then she courageously leaned back over the cliff edge and began pacing backwards down the cliff face. Abseiling, who would have ever thought that it was so easy!
The girl, although uneasy at first, at least once almost losing her footing, nevertheless recovered well and was soon into her stride. Effortlessly she glided to the bottom of the rock face as the onlookers below encouraged. As she arrived at the bottom, another mountain guy approached to release her from the rope, while what were presumably her parents came forward to take a picture and offer many hugs. It seemed so simple when other people did it.
Ben gathered himself together, buoyed on by this sterling example of bravado. If she could do it, then sure he could too! Then the call came.
‘Right, now, it’s definitely your turn.’ Ben heard these words and they began to ring around his mind. He edged towards to the starting point. He felt like falling down onto his hands and knees, but he steeled himself and managed to remain upright. He focused his attention on the mountain guide, whose instruction was what he was now basing himself on for survival.
‘A little closer,’ encouraged the man. Ben felt like he was quite close enough to the edge, but the man couldn’t quite reach the crampon of his harness yet. Ben became very conscious of how small the people below appeared and how dangerous it would be if he slipped. He had though no intention of slipping. Finally, after what seemed like an age the man said, ‘Got it.’ He reached out, grabbing the crampon and then hooking it on to the rope and fastening it up. He gave it a shake to check that it was well connected. Ben would have preferred him not to.
‘Great, now turn around, lean back and start stepping backwards. That’s all there is to it. Easy as pie!’.
Ben wasn’t keen on pies. Nevertheless, mustering all that he had, he managed to turn himself around. He suddenly became aware that there was nothing behind except for a 30 metre drop to the ground. He didn’t need to do much speculating in his mind to reach the conclusion that it wouldn’t be good for him to fall from here. All that was preventing that unfortunate occurrence was the rope that he was attached to, which in turn was tied to just a tree, albeit a sturdy looking one. Ben began reflecting on how he got himself into such situations as this, but now was not the moment for introspection.
‘Go on, just step back!’ yelled the mountain man.
That’s easy for him to say, thought Ben, he’d probably grown up somewhere that Heidi would be proud of, but Ben was from the city and he didn’t remember seeing many cliff faces there!
‘It’s now or never!’
Ben was aware of that. He summoned up all that he had, leaned back and he was off. He took his first backward step, wondering if it had taken more or less to perform his first step as a toddler. As he placed his foot back down, he felt it losing its grip. All of a sudden, he lost control and collapsed into a heap on the edge of the cliff. Fortunately, the harness locked tight, as it was supposed to, and Ben remained there teetering on the edge.
‘Good, the harness worked well,’ called out the mountain man.
Ben didn’t want to think about what would have happened if the harness hadn’t work well.
‘It’s nothing. Get up and carry on!’ were the mountain guides instructions.
Easier said than done thought Ben, as he scrabbled to lift himself to his feet. With some considerable difficulty, he eventually managed to get himself into position again. By now, the fear he felt insidewas nauseous, but it was too late to turn back. He was at least a little reassured by the fact that the harness had held him.
Realising that there was no other way to go now, he simply let himself go. As he leaned back this time, he felt the rope becoming taught. This somehow reassured him even more. Encouraged by this he took another step. This time more confidently and managing to firmly set his foot down at the end. A third step followed. Then a fourth. He began to build up confidence as felt the rope holding and gradually got into his stride.
One step after another ensued as if he had been doing this all his life and he gracefully strolled to the bottom of the cliff face, even having time to stop to pose for a photo on the way.
Later, when reflecting on this experience, Ben realised that here he could learn something about the difference between belief and faith. When he was on the ground below watching others as they abseiled down the cliff face, he certainly believed that the rope would hold, and everything would be alright. But it was a different matter when it was his turn to get hooked up to the rope. At this moment, it was now practical rather than theoretical. Before, he intellectually thought that the rope was strong and that everything would work out ok, but now he was being practically challenged to test things out for himself. In other words, it was one thing to agree in his mind that something was true, but it was quite another to entrust his wellbeing to that something.
This could then be extrapolated to someone’s perspective on God. There are many people who believe in God that is to say intellectually accept that He exists, but there are less people who have faith in Him i.e. entrust their lives to Him. Another way of putting it, would be to say that faith is belief put into action. I might believe that a chair can support my weight, but faith is actually sitting down on the chair!
Ben concluded from here that belief in God was acknowledging that He was there, but faith meant asking God what he wanted Ben to do and then being willing to do whatever the answer seemed to be.
Aurelius awoke from his deep slumber. He threw back his mantellum, which in colder weather doubled up as his cloak, and sheepishly raised himself to life. After a few quick breathes to get the life blood flowing through him, he stretched and got up on his feet and soon found himself peering out of his fenestram on the scene outside.
It was a fine new spring day. The sun was already shinning down, and the world was blossoming into life. Well, the small cross section of it that was visible to Aurelius in the atrium of his domum. There were various flowers dotted around, gleaning some sunlight through an opening in the roof. Aurelius quickly put his toga and sandals on, as he was eager to get out of his cubiculum and to start enjoying the beauty of the new day. He was in such a hurry though that he stubbed his little toe (one of the hazards of so much sandal wearing!) on the postis of his doorway as he was exiting.
Aside from the brief spurt of pain, it caused him to look down. Part of the floor mosaic which ran throughout the domum came into sight. The mosaic depicted various scenes from the myths of the Roman Gods. The house was inherited and that was his ancestors’ sort of thing.
The mosaic in Aurelius’ cubiculum seemed to show a divine being making a chaotic mess into an orderly scene of sun, stars, moon and the terra on which all mankind is stationed. This was the Roman’s way of explaining where everything came from. Come to think of it, this was each cultures’, or at least the one’s Aurelius knew of, way of explaining things, except that different cultures had different takes on the God’s. Aurelius wondered if people from different places ever reflected on the contradictions that existed. Surely, not everyone could be right.
Take for example, the Greeks. In their version of creation, Gaia appears out of the chaos, produces Uranus and then has relations with him to produce other Gods and the like. In the Roman version, these Greek characters have been given different names, for example Gaia is now Terra Mater, but otherwise many of the details are the same (except for the details which don’t even agree amongst themselves – Terra Mater mated with Caelus or Jupiter or whom, by Jove!).
The Egyptians however viewed Ra, the sun God, to be the creator of all things, although Aurelius had heard from some that Ra was himself born out of an egg. That’s not to mention the various other versions that he had heard from different cultures near and far.
Aurelius’ thought processes had now been stimulated, so he found a comfy cathedra, reclined back and allowed himself the luxury of a few moments of reflection at the beginning of this beautiful day. The idea occurred to him that with regard to the creation of the world there could in essence be three perspectives.
Firstly, that everything was created by some sort of higher being. This was common with every culture having their own version. As he had already noted, there were conflicts between these versions, which means that they couldn’t all be right. Either they were all wrong or one was right and the others wrong. Some tried to reconcile things by saying that there were different Gods reigning in different places, but Aurelius was sceptical. If Egypt’s Ra had created things in one way, that didn’t explain how Rome’s God’s could have created in another. Either we were all Zeus’ offspring, or we weren’t!
Some more forward thinkers even tried to say that it didn’t matter what you believed as there were elements of the truth in every religion and they all went towards the same direction. Well, Aurelius didn’t quite see that
The second option was that things had always been the way they are. Aurelius usually liked the avoid the question approach to things, although this was one way of avoiding things that didn’t sit well with him. Just the very nature of things spoke to him of growth, change and progress. If a baby remained a baby it would be a tragedy contrary to the usual course of things. Humans were born to develop into adults, live out their lives and then pass out of this world. That was the way it was throughout nature. So, how could it be that the creation had simply always existed when its very nature was change? This wasn’t logical as his Greek friends would say!
Thirdly, there was the new-fangled idea of self-creation. Some modern thinkers had come up with the idea that the world had created itself! Talking about logic, this idea sounded very strange to Aurelius’ ears. When walking around you sometimes made unusual discoveries. One time, Aurelius had even found a broken-up sun dial on the floor in some long grass on the outskirts of town. His first thought was that the sun dial had been made by someone for the purpose of telling the time, but at some point, it had been disregarded by its own and was now lying about in disuse. The thought had never occurred to him that some how the forces of nature had combined to bring together in a random process the required materials and then form them into something that happened to be a sundial. He would be interested to know what his Greek friends thought of that!
No, it seemed to Aurelius that everything had a purpose and that purpose must have come from somewhere. There was a new religion about town, although maybe religion wasn’t the right word as it wasn’t so much about certain traditions and ways of thinking as about believing in a certain God, Credo was more the right way of looking at it. In any case, they took their perspective in creation from the Old Testament, the holy book of the Jewish people, and here the very first verse read:
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’
So, no philosophical arguments trying to justify how things came into being or to confirm the deity or deities responsible. Rather a simple affirmation that God (i.e. the God that would then be presented throughout the rest of the book) had created all things starting from the heavens and he earth. The heavens, not to mention Terra (as Aurelius liked to call it), had then been further developed as this God spoke different things into being: light, sea, land, vegetation, creatures, even humans!
There seemed to Aurelius no logical reason to reject this. It was like a summary of what the different religions believed anyway, although each religion gave things their own spin. He wasn’t sure what his forefathers would think about the absence of Jupiter in all this for example, but why go for a complicated explanation when he had something simple and straightforward written down? His friend Sandus was pretty convinced in any case and he felt inclined to feel the same.
Aurelius breathed in deeply and girded himself for one last push. He had been on the way to the local agora and was nearly there. The caseus that he had slavishly, but lovingly made were wearing him down. Caseus weren’t so light you know, especially when they were the well matured kind. In any case, he lifted his saccus full of caseus to his shoulder and he was off again, but not for long.
Just as he was getting going, who should appear across his path but Jason Africanus!
‘Ave! Quo vardis?’ called out Jason.
Aurelius sighed. This was the last thing he needed. Quo vardis he thought tutting to himself. Wasn’t it obvious? Were would someone usually go with a saccus laden down with well matured milk products! It is logicae!
‘I’ve got some business to attend to.’ Replied Aurelius, humouring him.
‘Well, I can see that. You must be off to sell some cheese. Why don’t you give me one? I’ll pay you later.’
Aurelius had heard that before. ‘Well, maybe on my way back, if I’ve got any left over,’ said Aurelius, hoping that he could get out of it.
‘Ok, great! We can meet at Maximus’ tavern when you’re done.’
Aurelius realised that he might be in an even more tricky situation than he had thought. This evidently wasn’t just about caseus. Maximus’s taberna was a place of temptation. Jason loved it, but Aurelius wasn’t so sure that it was a good idea. He did like a game of billiardus but the other things that went along with it weren’t really his cup of tea. Indeed, he would much prefer a cup of tea to the ale and raucous antics that could be served up at the taberna. Not to mention Jason’s dodgy dealings.
‘I’ll probably be quite tired when I’m done, so I might just head off to my domus,’ he squirmed.
‘What? You social reject!’ retorted Jason.
Aurelius remembered why he didn’t really enjoy bumping into Jason.
‘Look, we’ll see each other at the hora decima at maximus’. Don’t be late! It’ll be fun and I want to talk to you about something….’ enticed Jason.
Aurelius began reminiscing about some of the former days and speculating about what Jason wanted to talk about. It all sounded kind of interesting and anyway, we all need a good rest after a long day of work……
There are many things in life that tempt us and often they seem subtle. Little things that don’t appear to pose any real risk. Indeed, this is how temptation began.
In the beginning, we can see that all was good, but something went wrong. God gave humans all that they needed, but there was a condition (Genesis 2:16, 17)
In spite of this condition, we see in Genesis 3 that humans didn’t stay well away from this tree so as not to be tempted. Actually, the other way around. We find them right next to it. This trend exists even to our today, rather than shying away from temptation, humans often ask themselves how close I can get to the cliff without falling off the edge. Eve even enters into a dialogue with a strange serpent.
The serpent questions what God had actually said and causes Eve to doubt God’s words and even add to them ‘and not touch it’. He proceeds to suggest that by eating the forbidden fruit Eve will gain something good that God is withholding from her. The fruit becomes desirable in Eve’s eye, and so Eve takes it and eats it, thinking that no harm will come and that she has something to gain. She even passes it on to her husband who happens to be right beside her and who also partakes of the forbidden fruit without protest.
The consequences of eating this fruit are however catastrophic. We are still feeling them today. Disharmony and brokenness enters the world; the humans seek to blame someone else, their intimacy is disturbed as they make coverings for their nakedness, not to mention try to hide from God, and God gives out punishments, resulting in the humans being exiled from paradise.
This is a good summary for temptation. It is something that looks nice. That fruit certainly looked appetizing in Eve’s eyes. Furthermore, it promised much at low cost. Eve thought that she was going to get a tasty meal, gain wisdom and not have to face any consequences. However, the reality was very different. Fortunately, we also see in this passage God’s rescue plan. Nevertheless, for a time we all have to live now in a fallen world, where temptation is the norm. Thus, the Bible contains many warnings to resist these temptations.
It was indeed a hard day of selling caseus. Aurelius gathered together his things as he packed up his little spot, somewhere forlornly strewn between meat, fabric and spice sellers that tended to litter these sorts of places. It had been an average day’s takings, but the main thing he was glad about was that the load he had to take back home was half as heavy. As he prepared himself to leave, thoughts about Maximus’ taberna began to tantalise him. It wasn’t far from where he was and after all, what harm could a bit or relaxing do? Surely, he had earned it during such a long day selling caseus!
But no, he mentally remonstrated with himself, it would spell trouble if he went there! He knows what sort of things would entice him. He resolved to not go.
As he determinedly began heading away from the agora, which was in the centre of the municipium, he felt his gaze being drawn back. He turned his head and there, in the centre of his field of view, who should it be, but Jason Africanus, of course! Aurelius stopped in his tracks.
He felt unable to continue on his set path. Jason approached.
‘Ave! Where might you be heading, amicum! I thought we had a meeting arranged at Maximus’?’
‘Well, I think arranged is a bit much said. I thought it was more just proposed,’ replied Aurelius, seeking to getting himself out of trouble.
‘Non verum! When I say hora decima, I mean hora decima! By the sun dial just over by the agora, it’s nearly that time, so let’s go!’
Jason was so convincing. Aurelius couldn’t resist. Jason’s hand on his shoulder helped. It couldn’t do any harm though could it? It wasn’t like anyone was waiting for him at his domum was it?
So, off they went, something that Aurelius would regret.
Glossary
Caseus – cheese
Saccus – bag
Ave! Quo vardis? – Hi! Where are you going?
Logicae – logical (!)
Billiardus – pool (maybe!)
Amicum – friend
Non verum – don’t believe it
hora decima – tenth hour domum – house
Recently at a student event I saw an interesting scene. At the front of the meeting room, a musician was performing some songs. Throughout the room there were a number of tables laid out with students sitting around them, watching the performance.
At one of the tables, there was a group of guys. They sat, soaking up the atmosphere and gazing admiringly at what was going on. All of a sudden one of them looked down at a leaflet on the table containing the lyrics of the songs that were being sung. The other guys also looked down. This one guy then lifted up the leaflet. The others followed suit. He perused it. His colleagues began perusing too. Finally, he put it back on the table. The other guys also put it down.
Once the evening was done, this central guy got up, putting his jacket on and prepared to leave. Then, he headed out of the room. You can imagine what the other guys did!
One of the topics that is very popular in this day and age is leadership. Left, right and centre, there are courses, seminars, books and all sorts of nuggets of wisdom on this topic. All of us human beings are one way, or another, affected by others and in turn involved in have influencing on those around us, which explains the popularity and relevance of the topic.
We could define leadership as the ability to influence the actions of others. Above we see a good example, whereas when I organise children’s activities, a less than successful leadership attempt can be witnessed!
There are probably many different styles of leadership, some better than others, although much depends also on the abilities of the person leading as well as the circumstances in which leadership is being attempted.
Many leaders prefer an authoritative style. This has the advantage that it can motivate people to get things done, but the disadvantage that it depends a lot on the whiles and whims of the leader, who could easily abuse the situation for personal gain or mistakenly lead people in a wrong direction.
Thus, a second leadership style is group leadership. A good example (hopefully!) is democratic government. Here, although things are often led by one person, a prime minister or president, they are subjected to scrutiny by their own political party, which is then in turned scrutinised by opposing parties. In other words, not just one person is deciding what to do.
A third style is relaxed leadership, or ‘pandering to the people.’ This involved making decisions simply based on what others want. Otherwise said, letting the people being led dictate to the leader what to do, rather than the other way around. In a measured way, it is important to let the people being led have a say, which is at the basis of democratic government, but it’s probably still necessary to have someone making the decisions because it will be chaos in any organisation if everyone can have their say. As they say, where there are two Baptists gathered, there are three opinions!
There is a much-loved Bible verse in Genesis 2:18, which says that ‘it is not good for the man to be alone…’. Obviously from the context this is talking about marriage as God then proceeds to create Eve. Nevertheless, throughout the Bible we can see examples which show the same principle applied to Christian ministry.
One such occasion would be at the beginning of Exodus when God appears to Moses in the burning bush and tells him to go to Pharaoh and request that he let God’s people go. Moses is not too keen on such a daunting task, so we see in Exodus 4:14 God sending Aaron along as well. They form a team that undertakes the difficult work of freeing the Israelites from Pharaoh’s grasp.
In the New Testament, we find Jesus choosing a group of men to be His apostles, that were with Him and went out to preach (Mark 4:14). When He sends them out, He sends them out in pairs (Mark 6:7). Thus, even Jesus didn’t work alone.
There is much debate and different opinions to church leadership, but from what we have seen, it can nevertheless be said that some sort of team leadership is favourable. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul describes both church overseers and deacons thus suggesting more than one person in leadership. From both personal experience and scripture, it is clear that Christian leadership is a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:11), so it is logical that those in leadership need support and hence a team leadership model is a good idea.
As alluded to above, team leadership can eliminate some potential problems when one person becomes too dominate in leadership. It offers the chance for accountability, which can help things remain on track and prevent things becoming one person building their own empire, for their own ends. It also shares around the burden of a work or ministry and means that things don’t all depend on one person. This can be particularly important as things can often be great if there is a charismatic leader leading the way, but if that leader grows tired or goes off the rails, they can then fall apart.
Team leadership thus offers longevity to ministry as it enables leaders to keep going for longer and gives rise to the possibility of followers who will take things on at the right moment. A good leader will also want a group of people to share their vision for what is going on, as that way people will be more inclined to get involved, if the vision is group owned.
One other advantage of team leadership is that it guards against the extreme of a leader simply pandering to the people and not actually leading anywhere.
A good text to illustrate Christian leadership is Mark 10:42-45, which compares leadership in the world to leadership in the Kingdom of God. Here, we see that in the world people lead by dominating others for personal gain whereas this is contrasted with serving others. Indeed,
‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Mark 10:45
Thus, in the world as someone progresses in leadership their rights and privileges grow. On the other hand, in Christian leadership as someone progresses their rights and privileges decrease, and their responsibilities increase. This can be illustrated by an example that I heard of the General Secretary of IFES queuing in a long line for food at a large student conference, rather than skipping to the front of the queue!
In conclusion then, we can say that team worker is when a group of people make a coordinated effort to fulfil a task. Team leadership is when a group of people coordinate that effort. From a Christian point of view, the aim of team leadership is to build up and serve those around through the activities carried out, rather than profit from them.
Inspired from ‘CURS Baza biblică a conducerii şi lucrului în echipă
de Mihai Dumitraşcu, Cristi Petricioiu şi Mihai Ciucă’ BIG impact Romania
Meditations
One of the big questions in life is ‘Why do things happen the way they happen?’
There could be many and endless answers to this question, but for what its worth, here are my thoughts.
One way of looking at it could be to say that there is no God or higher beings that exist, so everything that happens depends on me and my circumstances. In other words, I have to take the cards that life deals me and try to make the best I can out of them. If I want to achieve something in this life, I need to get on and do it, hoping that sickness, crime, natural disasters or other forces out of my control don’t get in the way.
This approach can be modified using a phrase that a Greek man once described to me as apparently being a Greek saying (anyone?) ‘συν αθήνα και χείρα κίνει– the sum of Athena and my hands’. This I understood to mean that what I have in life depends on a combination of what the God’s (i.e. Athena) give me and what I manage to achieve with my own hands.
Both these points of views have something in common. They emphasise me and what I am able to make out of life. The first one however suggests that other factors that influence my life are merely dependant on the nature around me, whereas the second recognises that there could be divine beings but implies that their involvement in my life is limited.
Personally, I believe in the exists of just one God, the God of the Christian Bible. Much could be said about this, but I have explained my reasons simply elsewhere. This then gives rise to two other possible perspectives about why things are the way they are.
The Bible contains the concept of sin, which can be simply though of as humans not doing as they were created to do. Over the centuries many peoples and cultures have had an idea along these lines. Thus, we can consider the things that happen as a consequence of this sin. A simple example would be the Canaanite people who lived many centuries ago in what is today Israel. They believed that humans had to offer certain sacrifices to the God Baal. If he was pleased, he would then send rain so that crops would grow. In other words, in their thinking, the weather depended on the mood of Baal.
In a Christian sense, we can take things a little further and say that the world is the way it is due to the consequences of sin, which Christianly speaking is disobedience to God. The first humans didn’t obey God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the result was that suffering and death entered the world. Hence, in a general way, everything that happens is connected to that.
However, as human beings, we are more interested in the question of why certain things happen to me. ‘Why me?’ is an age-old refrain. Here, there would be three possibilities.
The first would be that things have gotten out of God’s control. Similar to the Athena example above, some people might say that although God set the world in motion, he is no longer influencing what is happening, whether intentionally or he is just not powerful enough.
Secondly, there is the idea of karma. The things that happen to me are proportional to the good or bad that I have done. This means that good things in my life are a reward from God, but bad things are a punishment for my sins.
In the Old Testament in the Bible, we do indeed find this sort of idea. An example is Deuteronomy chapter 28, where the blessings for obeying God and curses for disobeying Him are described.
However, there is a third idea, which springs from the fact that we have both the Old and New testament and so have to interpret them together. The point is how to do we define good and bad? In Romans 3 from verse 10 we see a number of quotes about how humans aren’t actually good. Maybe we are based on our own standards, but we fall short when compared to God’s standard. Interestingly, these quotes are all from the Old Testament and remind us that this isn’t a new concept. Just reading the Old Testament stories we can see how often Israel, God’s chosen people, failed to keep God’s laws.
In our own day and age, we just have to look at the world around us, or to think about our own personal experiences in life, to see that something’s not right. This is all to say that God doesn’t deal with us on a merit system because if this was the case, we would all merit punishment as we have all done at least something wrong in our lives.
This all sounds pretty gloomy, but it’s just leading up to the third perspective which is that God is in control and the things that happen are permitted by Him so that in His grace and love, His good and righteous plans can be fulfilled.
That’s all well and good when we are talking about positive things in our lives. We want good things to happen to us even though we don’t deserve them, but what about the bad things that happen? Here the question of our faith in God enters the equation. Do we trust Him that the bad things that happen are ultimately fulfilling a good purpose?
One example is John Newton (1725-1807). He was a slave trader, but after experiencing a storm at sea, he decided to seek God. Eventually, after ill health, he gave up slave trading, became a Christian minister and eventually was involved in working for the abolishment of the slave trade. He also wrote amongst others the famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace.’
So, we see that out of two bad things, near shipwreck in a storm and illness, good came. He gave up slave trading, served many as a minister, wrote hymns and helped to abolish the slave trade.
In conclusion then, there are in essence two responses to the things that happen to us. One is to focus on ourselves, seeking an introspective explanation and solutions based on our human abilities. The other is to focus on God and ask Him what He wants us to learn and do as a result of what has happened in our lives.
Ben was on a journey that he would never forget. He’d heard about the country of Romania for sure. Unfortunately, a lot of it was negative, connected to Communism and all of its consequences. And then, of course, there was football. Without football, Ben’s knowledge of the world would have been poorer. But as it was, he was well clued up on geography having watched matches from all sorts of places. Bucharest was one of them. He had vague recollections of Rapid Bucharest, whose players, fortunately, weren’t so rapid as to give West Ham the run-around.
And then, there was the World Cup. Ben was old enough to remember red-shirted players giving some Columbians a few problems. Lăcătuș was one of them if Ben wasn’t very much mistaken. A funny name if ever there was one, Ben had thought at the time. Ireland had put pay to their progress in the end, though.
Next, there was the World cup in the USA. This was a golden time for the Romanians’ golden generation. There had been a flaw though. They’d allowed some players into the team whose surname didn’t end in -escu, which had obviously disrupted team unity and led to their quarterfinal exit. I mean look at Bulgaria, hardly anyone whose name didn’t end in -ov ever got into the team and they made it to the semi-final and, by Ben’s reckoning, really deserved to be in the final, which they could have won. They even beat Germany on the way.
Such football reminiscences could have gone on for a long time, if it were not for a sudden jolt. This woke Ben out of his deep football-related meditation. It was probably a good job too, as he was getting close to ’98 and 2000 in his thoughts, not happy years for English football fans as far as Romania is concerned.
The jolt was from the train coming to a stop in the middle of nowhere. Well at least to Ben it seemed like nowhere. The train spent many a minute standing still for apparently no reason and with no announcement to illuminate the passengers as to what was going on. Gradually, Ben was to learn that this was not an uncommon occurrence, but no problem, Ben was from Britain after all. And maybe it was better to not know that you are waiting because there are the wrong type of leaves on the line.
While he was waiting, it gave Ben a chance to reflect on his surroundings. The train looked like it had seen better days. Ramshackle was a word that came to mind. Sadly, the same could be said of many of the passengers. Old people who looked like they’d had hard lives and young people who looked like they were having hard lives. The man sitting beside Ben was typically plump and middle-aged with not so designer stubble and an ominous-looking bottle by his side, the size of a large coke bottle, but brown and three-quarters empty.
There were also beggars. One little child had a sign with her, ‘Mor de Foame’. With the help of his bi-lingual dictionary, Ben had worked out that this meant starving. He’d compassionately given her his last cheese sandwich, although she obviously wasn’t quite that hungry and instead of scoffing it down, had put it in her pocket saying ‘mersi’. Well, Ben thought it was quite a merciful act, although he would have been happier if she’d eaten it ‘cos he had slaved ages to make those sandwiches and now he too was quite hungry.
As the train chugged along, Ben found it increasingly hard to stay in the little compartment that he was cooped up in. In this sense, the train seemed kind of old-style. Rather than a big, spacious salon type wagon full of seats, these Romanian trains were compartmentalised. Ben reckoned that eight people could fit in his compartment that of course depending on their personal dimensions as it were.
His compartment was only half full, but that still meant spending an uncomfortably long period of time, crammed together with complete strangers. Ben had thought that maybe he should initiate some meaningful conversation, but due to the fact that those with him were not fluent in the same languages as he, it had proved difficult. In order to get some respite from this incommodity, he had decided to leave the compartment and stand in the hallway that ran along the side of the compartments, starring out of the window. He was slightly concerned for the safety of his things that were stuffed into a modern style suitcase and a couple of industrial strength carrier bags, not to mention his go everywhere rucksack that contained his laptop, but there wasn’t a lot of value. Even the laptop was not by any means the most newest or best performing type around (you could easily get some odd jobs done, while windows was loading up), so probably nothing too much to worry about and in any case it was unlikely that anybody could slip anything out without others noticing, so unless the whole compartment were to hatch a plan, he thought it highly likely that everything would be just fine, in spite of the worry that was niggling him.
As he peered through the window, he was enthralled by the scenery that laid itself out before him as the train sped along; luscious meadows, sown with all sorts of intriguing crops; fields populated by cows, sheep and even goats; different villages, many of which reinforced the ramshackledness that he had meditated on earlier, but nevertheless gave an air of simple, communal living; and hills and other contours that built up to areas of extraordinary mountain beauty. Some of the mountains that they passed as the train rumbled on to its destination were simply breath taking. The windows of the train were large and closed except for a small panel running along the top that could be tilted open. This added an extra dimension to the viewing experience as cold air rushed in and swept over Ben with a refreshing blast.
At one point, while Ben was submerged in this viewing experience, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning to see what it was about, an older lady, face worn from the stresses of many years, but adorned with a headscarf which offered dignity a sense of humility, stood there.
,Să aveți grijă să nu te curentezi!’, she said.
Ben starred at her. His Romanian lesson hadn’t gone quite that far, and he had no idea what she was saying.
, Să aveți grijă să nu te curentezi!’, she repeated as if, maybe, Ben hadn’t quite caught what she was saying and needed to hear it once more. That however wasn’t the problem.
‘Eu nu…’, Ben spluttered then stopped. Now what was the rest of that phrase he had painstakingly learnt, he thought to himself. Actually, there were two good phrases for moments like these and it was time to pluck one of them out of the bag. How else would he learn Romanian?
He reflected for a moment as the old lady looked at him, thinking about repeating her words for a third time, but then realising something was up. Ben on the other hand, was reflecting on whether to say that he didn’t understand or that he didn’t speak Romanian. A third option would be to ask the lady if she spoke English, but he felt that that was unlikely. He decided to go for the one about not speaking Romanian.
”Eu nu vorbesc limba Romana’’, he said triumphantly, but with a stutter.
The lady looked a while at him and then replied with a smirk on her face, “Pai nici eu nu vorbesc limba Romana, puiule, eu vorbesc limba română!”.
The discussion was going beyond Ben’s head. Nevertheless, he could tell that he hadn’t quite said something right. He started racking his brains to try to think how to ask the lady to repeat what she had just uttered. ‘Repeate vouz’ came to mind, but that sounded like something an English tourist would say, so he thought on. Fortunately, he had studied diligently his book of ten basic Romanian lessons from his local library and after a while it came to him, ‘din nou’.
He broke the uncomfortable silence by saying to the lady, “din nou”.
She looked at him, seemingly smirking yet again, “Bine, puișor, limba română se spune, nu limba romana”.
Aha, this time it clicked. There were different types of vowel sounds in Romanian due to accents that you put on them. In particular, a can be soft or hard. He obviously hadn’t quite mastered that lesson yet. He felt like he could give it another go.
“Eu nu vorbesc limba Romănă’’
“Aproape, dulceața, dar o să te inveți!” were her final words before turning and leaving to return to her compartment, obviously feeling that that was enough language teaching for one day.
Ben also decided it was the moment to go back to his seat and have a sit down, language learning was tiring after all. Little did he know, that in more ways than one, this was going to be a theme over the foreseeable future.
