Got some new snow-shoes from L.L. Bean. Exploring the woods out back. Looking for little critter tracks. Trying to push-over rotten trees.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Sunday, December 30, 2012
This Is Sparta! (Not)
If you think about it, to tell a child to take the path of
kindness and selflessness is asking a child to suffer humiliation, setbacks and
gauranteed frustration. To love thy neighbor as
thyself is a hard road to travel.
Sometimes I feel like teaching my kids to be polite, respectful and kind
is only going to hinder their success in life.
It would probably be better, at least in the short term, to teach them
to be wisely rude, opportunistically disrespectful and cunningly unkind
(meaning, only be nice when people are looking). It would probably be wiser to train my kids like the ancient
Spartans taught their children.
I can sympathize with the ancient Spartan approach to child
rearing. The Spartans, who taught their
kids from early on to be warriors, notoriously trained their young children to
fight. Considering the world we are living in, that sounds about right. Send them out to fight the snow wolf to
squash their fears and expose them to the cold elements to callous their tender
hearts. Teach them to be mean and biting because that is the wicked world they
will live in.
For this world, as Machiavelli taught (to be ruthless.
clever and cunning), and to be like Nietzsche’s
survival of the fittest, ends justify the means, superman, we should probably
teach our kids to raise the Spartan sword, grit their feral teeth, and take
what they want, for after all, it’s a dog eat dog world. The only response in my heart, against this
Spartan wisdom comes from someone who tells me to teach my kids to love their
neighbor as themselves.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
(Fiction) My Dad's In Space Patrol Chapter 2: We’re attacked!
Chapter 2: We’re attacked!
I was
hiding behind some supply boxes.
They were large styrosteel boxes of ready to eat meals. Other boxes were loaded with water bottles
and hydrosorbs or small devices that absorbed and purified moisture from the
air. I was clever and turned off the
sensor that would detect my presence in this spot where I was crouching, so Dad
had no idea.
Lift off
was normal. I had visited other planets
with the family before, but it was still rather exciting. I knew dad was at the controls so I snuck
over to the small port window on the back door. I could see New Umdin, an orange and green suface, rotating
slowly and then getting smaller as we headed to dad’s first patrol zone: the
mining colony.
I quickly
ran back to my secret spot behind the supply boxes as I knew, Will, my dad’s
partner, would probably be back here soon to check things. Will was kind of a greenhorn. He was young and a little nervous, but he
would never admit it. He meant well and
had a heart of gold.
Just as I heard Will come through the autodoors, “BOOM” I heard a terrible explosion and within a second our ship was shaken terrible. I screamed and so did Will. “What was that?” I said, forgetting that I was a stowaway. “I don’t know,” said Will, also forgetting. Then he realized and did a double take. He made a bug eyed look at me and said “What are you doing here, Tom?”
to be continued...
(Fiction) My Dad's In Space Patrol: Chapter One
(This is a piece of science fiction I am working on)
My Dad’s In Space
Patrol
Chapter 1: The History of the Colonies
I shouldn’t have done it: gotten
onto the patrol ship, slipped aboard when Dad wasn’t looking, but I did. I wanted to see what his day was like. My Dad was tall: six foot three inches. He wore a cool suit, with space worthy
protective material and even laser proof protection built in: at least
low-level laser blast protection.
He was a patrol officer in the
Colony Police Service. He would take a
daily trip across the solar system, The Dury Leev System, named for the star
that supported all eleven planets, Dury Leev, which was Umdin for “beautiful
guardian.” Dad, in his Patrol Vessel, would soon be stopping at mining
stations, patrolling moon bases and visiting inhabited planets looking for
trouble or just making a presence. He
was one of three officers assigned to the system. His patrol ship was equipped with all kinds of cool gadgets
including a zoom bike, and a terra-buggy for surface missions where he needed
to get closer to the situation.
Today he would patrol a third of
the system. The solar system of Leev
Tong Bova was broken into three parts: the mining area, the capital planet zone
and the outer reaches where some planets were still largely unexplored.
Our people had come from earth and
Umdin, an alien ally of ours in the United Planets Cooperative. The Umdins and humans, established a colony
on the capital planet, New Umdin, many years ago before my father was even
born.
New Umdin was a planet much like
earth. It had a moderate climate,
oceans, jungles and deserts, but New Umdin had one major difference from earth:
it was even more beautiful. The
landscape was fantastic with deep canyons, filled with a variety of colorful
life forms and high mountains loaded with brightly colored plants and animals
unlike anything on earth. But, the sky
on Umdin was blue and the grass and trees were in many ways the same. Although Scooter trees were known to get up
and walk; sometimes after rooting in one spot for many years.
The mining colonies, the space
stations and outer reach areas where rogues and misfits of the colonies went to
live were all under the dominion of the Constitutional Republic of New Umdin.
For the most part there were no
known sentient beings in the New Umdin system.
This was a good thing and one reason why the founders settled here. There was a tribe of Gumfish (not really
fish and not really gum) who lived on the planet, New Australia, but their
sentience was debated and besides all this, they were left alone by our people
and allowed to live in peace and they posed little threat to us as their
technology was far behind our own. The
Troggs (colonials called them Troggs, but they called themselves the beautiful
ones, or how they would pronounce it “Ung-shiv-warts-weenaws” were also a race
of humanoids who were not considered sentient, although this too was
debated.
The Troggs were a brutal race of
furry, stocky men. They looked like our
old earth cave men, but they had dog like, clawed hands, they were covered in
thick fur, they had tails and they had forked tongues. They were only five feet tall, but very
muscular and broad shouldered. Our best
estimate was that their IQ were about 60, but their perception of their
environment, their ability to hide and stalk prey, was far beyond our own. The
troggs lived only in the outer reaches and posed little threat to the inner
system colonies.
There were tales of other species,
of alien contact. There were even
myths, but none of it had been proven.
The Swamp dragons had all been extinct before I was even born. The moon-bats were all killed by early
colonial hunters. The giant beetles
were also killed by hunters. At some
point animal rights groups began preserving land for the many creatures, some
of whom were dangerous to colonists.
These preserves became tourist attractions, but the threats of old, the
dangers that the early settlers faced were mostly gone.
Today, my Dad was going to patrol
Precinct One. He would check out the
mining colony on asteroid Delphus. He
would scan the atmosphere of New Australia for residual traces of warp drive
fuel. He would orbit the moons of New
New Jersey and finally he would land on Ursala and patrol by terra-buggy and
even meet with the Gumfish to see how they were doing. My dad cared about the Gumfish, but other
patrol officers thought he was wasting his time. Space Patrol Theme Song!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas Time Was Here
"So this is Christmas...and what have you done?" sings John Lennon, over and over on the radio. In between the cool sacredness Bing Crosby's White Christmas and the smooth sincerity of Nat King Cole, John Lennon interrupts the joyous melancholy of Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown piano and makes us feel guilty. All of this sung from Lennon's white Steinway grand piano, at his ridiculously large mansion, no doubt. Christmas is over, so we won't be hearing that song again for another year. Goodbye to the smoky pipes of Burl Ives. Goodbye to the sultry voice of Mariah Carey singing All I Want For Christmas. It's all done now.
Dump Day, fortunately, came right after Christmas this year. I brought the torn wrapping paper, the Lego boxes, the random cellophane pieces and the empty bottles of wine to the dump. "Did you have a nice holiday?" I asked the lady who works there. "Well, it was fine. But, unlike you (who needs therapy when you have an ongoing conversation with your town dump attendant?), when you don't have kids, Christmas isn't the same. But for you, well, it's probably great." She's right. I told her, I don't even remember what we did before the kids, and I don't.
"Oh, you could work at a soup kitchen-that'll cheer you up!" I imagined saying to her. No, that would be no help. Christmas is mostly for kids. It's true. It's for kids and their parents and grandparents. It really is. Let's be honest, without one of those identities, you're at the soup kitchen.
It's good to get rid of all that trash. All those shameful clods of red wrapping paper: a testimony to what we have: money(some), jobs and most of all, a nice family.
Unlike Christmas and the holiday music on the radio, the laundry comes every week, all year long. Drove past the laundry mat on the way home from the dump. I could see a large man, blue winter hat, like a lumberjack, flannel shirt, folding his laundry. I'm so glad we don't have to go inside there: inside the town laundry mat with its hot soapy smells. But, it's nice to know it's there if we needed it. I'm grateful our machines still work. This reminds me of another blessing: friends. Friends who know how to fix laundry machines (thanks Jim). I imagine it ain't so bad in the laundry mat. It's probably heated. Does it have one of those old candy dispensers? The kind where you pull the handle to get your Milky Way Bar? To this day, I still think of a Milky Way candy bar and I can almost smell the milk chocolate when I smell the lilac, chemical experiment scent of 20th century style laundry soap. All of this is from a memory of childhood: when my mom had to use the town laundry mat. It wasn't all bad: she'd buy me a candy bar. Does a radio play inside the room? Steam and the sound of the machines are probably all that guy can hear.
The Lego boxes? Take them away. They are a reminder of the lavish money spent on our children. And such frivolity: tiny bricks of plastic to mess the time away. The cellophane only reminds us of the food we shared with loved ones. The bottles of wine remind us of the parents we cooked for and kissed. The Godiva booze, little liquor bottles inside ridiculously large socks, no normal person could possibly wear these socks, these remind us of our family too: my wife and I and the pleasure we'll enjoy together in each other's company (that's a bit exxagerated---forgive me). All these wrinkly paper reminders of our wealth. Quickly! Shove it into the compactor. Don't let anyone see our little piece of the pie. Maybe they'll be jealous or maybe they'll laugh. Yes, maybe they'll laugh at our little piece of the pie---get rid of it quickly before they either get jealous or laugh. Back to normal.
So this is Christmas and what have I done? Well, I had Christmas with my lovely wife, four beautiful kids and my two loving parents; that's what I've done. Now, I'm going bake cookies and play with my kids. I'm going to drink a Mike's Classic Margarita and eat Peppercorn Triscuits. And then I'm going to load up my stove with wood and the smoke will billow up the pipe into the snowy night of our first Nor' Easter and my sultry wife will sing me to sleep (something like that). And that's it for another year.
https://soundcloud.com/#nateherrick/christmas-time-sam-joe
Dump Day, fortunately, came right after Christmas this year. I brought the torn wrapping paper, the Lego boxes, the random cellophane pieces and the empty bottles of wine to the dump. "Did you have a nice holiday?" I asked the lady who works there. "Well, it was fine. But, unlike you (who needs therapy when you have an ongoing conversation with your town dump attendant?), when you don't have kids, Christmas isn't the same. But for you, well, it's probably great." She's right. I told her, I don't even remember what we did before the kids, and I don't.
"Oh, you could work at a soup kitchen-that'll cheer you up!" I imagined saying to her. No, that would be no help. Christmas is mostly for kids. It's true. It's for kids and their parents and grandparents. It really is. Let's be honest, without one of those identities, you're at the soup kitchen.
It's good to get rid of all that trash. All those shameful clods of red wrapping paper: a testimony to what we have: money(some), jobs and most of all, a nice family.
Unlike Christmas and the holiday music on the radio, the laundry comes every week, all year long. Drove past the laundry mat on the way home from the dump. I could see a large man, blue winter hat, like a lumberjack, flannel shirt, folding his laundry. I'm so glad we don't have to go inside there: inside the town laundry mat with its hot soapy smells. But, it's nice to know it's there if we needed it. I'm grateful our machines still work. This reminds me of another blessing: friends. Friends who know how to fix laundry machines (thanks Jim). I imagine it ain't so bad in the laundry mat. It's probably heated. Does it have one of those old candy dispensers? The kind where you pull the handle to get your Milky Way Bar? To this day, I still think of a Milky Way candy bar and I can almost smell the milk chocolate when I smell the lilac, chemical experiment scent of 20th century style laundry soap. All of this is from a memory of childhood: when my mom had to use the town laundry mat. It wasn't all bad: she'd buy me a candy bar. Does a radio play inside the room? Steam and the sound of the machines are probably all that guy can hear.
The Lego boxes? Take them away. They are a reminder of the lavish money spent on our children. And such frivolity: tiny bricks of plastic to mess the time away. The cellophane only reminds us of the food we shared with loved ones. The bottles of wine remind us of the parents we cooked for and kissed. The Godiva booze, little liquor bottles inside ridiculously large socks, no normal person could possibly wear these socks, these remind us of our family too: my wife and I and the pleasure we'll enjoy together in each other's company (that's a bit exxagerated---forgive me). All these wrinkly paper reminders of our wealth. Quickly! Shove it into the compactor. Don't let anyone see our little piece of the pie. Maybe they'll be jealous or maybe they'll laugh. Yes, maybe they'll laugh at our little piece of the pie---get rid of it quickly before they either get jealous or laugh. Back to normal.
https://soundcloud.com/#nateherrick/christmas-time-sam-joe
Friday, December 23, 2011
Reasons To Trust The Bible: Part Two
A friend of mine once said to me, "The Bible isn't relevant today. The problems we face today can't be found in there." Upon further discussion, my friend revealed he had never read it. Beyond seeing Hollywood films like The Ten Commandments and others, many folks have never read the book itself. I once thought similarly. I thought the Bible was antiquated and perhaps out of touch with our modern world, but after reading the words of Paul, advice on relationships and interpersonal communications, and the wisdom of Proverbs, timeless advice for children and fathers, my doubts of the Bible’s relevance were dispelled. The wisdom and human insight in the Bible are just as relevant today as they ever were. You will not find any other book more relevant.
Some might say the language of the Bible is out of date or that there are too many references to farming and old world agriculture. Today, efforts to grow natural food, home gardening and other old timey concepts are making a comeback. In today’s hip, modern plastic world, we're finding ourselves focused on old world agriculture once again. These old metaphors are still relevant. The modern, Jetson's style food in a pill Hollywood sold us forty years ago just isn't happening. The text of the Bible, rich with farming, rural, organic metaphor is still relevant today, but farming metaphors are not as exciting when translated to film.
Hollywood likes spectacles, explosions and partings of the Red Sea and maybe that's why the book of Proverbs has never been made into a movie. Imagine the Fast Food toy tie-ins? The "Jonathan Talks Softly To Turn Away Wrath" action figure just won't cut it. Scenes like the famous separating of the river blocking Israel's escape from Egypt make for good film and there are other exciting stories from the Bible that can inspire one's faith and also make for a great movie experience. Stories like Sampson defeating whole armies with only God's power as his weapon and Jonah and the Whale can also give us eye-popping spectacle. Even though they are all true, they could be described as fantastic and some might say, hard to believe.
Sometimes, when someone is arguing against Christianity, they may point to supposed discrepancies (which I haven't found) in some of the miracles and other seemingly "fantastic" stories. These stories may seem too unbelievable to some. The parting of the Red Sea, Jonah's story or Sampson's superhuman strength can seem too fantastic. Some might also compare the Bible to other religious works, fantastic creation stories and ancient myths and fables. But, the Bible is no fable, but what it offers goes beyond fantastic spectacle. For people who haven't read the Bible, these fantastic stories may seem like the only thing the book has to offer, but these fantastic, yet very real stories are only half the reason to trust the Bible. The wisdom and divine truth of what the Bible says beyond the amazing stories are what should convince you. Sampson defeating the Philistines with only a donkey's jawbone make for great movies and a arm-smash jawbone arm would make for a great fast food tie-in, but the lesson of trusting God, being cautious of tempting, deceiving lips is far less spectacular.
The wisdom of Proverbs, the narrative of the Old Testament leading up to a desperately needed savior and other examples are all part of the convincing truth of the Bible. The individual struggles and the truth that God gives us through these stories are what convinces us. Someone might say, "That Jonah story is impossible to believe." Maybe it is a little fantastic, but it's true. What's not hard to believe is the lesson of human selfishness, and the display of mercy for Nineveh that God showed through this story of a prophet being eaten by a big fish. We can still relate to mercy today, right? We can also relate to selfishness.
The Ten Commandments are another good example. These rules for human conduct offer an insight that transcends the fantastic. Any doubts of men living in giant fish stomachs or five thousand hungry people being fed by a small basket of food are quelled by the relevant rules of the Ten Commandments or the timeless wisdom of Proverbs. A soft answer can still turn away wrath. Through its thread of human history, if you read it, you're left with something very believable. The characters are real and the personalities, lessons and insight into what it means to be human offer a verisimilitude beyond much of what Hollywood offers. The issues depicted in the Bible are still with us today. We still struggle with mercy and forgiveness. The family, a focus of much of the Bible, is still at the root of our lives, struggles and political discourse. The people of the Bible: Israel, Babylon and beyond are all very real and still a relevant part of our world.
The Bible can be trusted, not just because there are amazing stories, miracles and other inspiring feats of God's intervention depicted in its pages, but because of the daily guidance and relevant wisdom it imparts to us today. The miracles, wonders and amazing stories of the Bible are great and for some, they may be all that is needed to come to faith in Jesus. But, it is the truth; the wisdom and human insight that the Bible gives that are the glue. Some people think they can shake the foundations of Christianity if they can criticize the miracles, but these are only part of what God gives us in the Bible to bring us to faith. The everyday, common sense, practical wisdom of the Bible is what sticks with us beyond what our eyes can see on a Hollywood screen.
Some might say the language of the Bible is out of date or that there are too many references to farming and old world agriculture. Today, efforts to grow natural food, home gardening and other old timey concepts are making a comeback. In today’s hip, modern plastic world, we're finding ourselves focused on old world agriculture once again. These old metaphors are still relevant. The modern, Jetson's style food in a pill Hollywood sold us forty years ago just isn't happening. The text of the Bible, rich with farming, rural, organic metaphor is still relevant today, but farming metaphors are not as exciting when translated to film.
Hollywood likes spectacles, explosions and partings of the Red Sea and maybe that's why the book of Proverbs has never been made into a movie. Imagine the Fast Food toy tie-ins? The "Jonathan Talks Softly To Turn Away Wrath" action figure just won't cut it. Scenes like the famous separating of the river blocking Israel's escape from Egypt make for good film and there are other exciting stories from the Bible that can inspire one's faith and also make for a great movie experience. Stories like Sampson defeating whole armies with only God's power as his weapon and Jonah and the Whale can also give us eye-popping spectacle. Even though they are all true, they could be described as fantastic and some might say, hard to believe.
Sometimes, when someone is arguing against Christianity, they may point to supposed discrepancies (which I haven't found) in some of the miracles and other seemingly "fantastic" stories. These stories may seem too unbelievable to some. The parting of the Red Sea, Jonah's story or Sampson's superhuman strength can seem too fantastic. Some might also compare the Bible to other religious works, fantastic creation stories and ancient myths and fables. But, the Bible is no fable, but what it offers goes beyond fantastic spectacle. For people who haven't read the Bible, these fantastic stories may seem like the only thing the book has to offer, but these fantastic, yet very real stories are only half the reason to trust the Bible. The wisdom and divine truth of what the Bible says beyond the amazing stories are what should convince you. Sampson defeating the Philistines with only a donkey's jawbone make for great movies and a arm-smash jawbone arm would make for a great fast food tie-in, but the lesson of trusting God, being cautious of tempting, deceiving lips is far less spectacular.
The wisdom of Proverbs, the narrative of the Old Testament leading up to a desperately needed savior and other examples are all part of the convincing truth of the Bible. The individual struggles and the truth that God gives us through these stories are what convinces us. Someone might say, "That Jonah story is impossible to believe." Maybe it is a little fantastic, but it's true. What's not hard to believe is the lesson of human selfishness, and the display of mercy for Nineveh that God showed through this story of a prophet being eaten by a big fish. We can still relate to mercy today, right? We can also relate to selfishness.
The Ten Commandments are another good example. These rules for human conduct offer an insight that transcends the fantastic. Any doubts of men living in giant fish stomachs or five thousand hungry people being fed by a small basket of food are quelled by the relevant rules of the Ten Commandments or the timeless wisdom of Proverbs. A soft answer can still turn away wrath. Through its thread of human history, if you read it, you're left with something very believable. The characters are real and the personalities, lessons and insight into what it means to be human offer a verisimilitude beyond much of what Hollywood offers. The issues depicted in the Bible are still with us today. We still struggle with mercy and forgiveness. The family, a focus of much of the Bible, is still at the root of our lives, struggles and political discourse. The people of the Bible: Israel, Babylon and beyond are all very real and still a relevant part of our world.
The Bible can be trusted, not just because there are amazing stories, miracles and other inspiring feats of God's intervention depicted in its pages, but because of the daily guidance and relevant wisdom it imparts to us today. The miracles, wonders and amazing stories of the Bible are great and for some, they may be all that is needed to come to faith in Jesus. But, it is the truth; the wisdom and human insight that the Bible gives that are the glue. Some people think they can shake the foundations of Christianity if they can criticize the miracles, but these are only part of what God gives us in the Bible to bring us to faith. The everyday, common sense, practical wisdom of the Bible is what sticks with us beyond what our eyes can see on a Hollywood screen.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Reasons To Trust The Bible; Part One
I believe the Bible is the word of God. It is God's instruction for mankind. It's many things, including an instruction manual, a poetry book, a history, an explanation, a great story book, a financial planner, a wedding planner and a nature guide. But most importantly, it is a book offering salvation to sinners, pointing to a savior in Jesus Christ. There are many reasons to trust the bible, but here is one that works well for me: Israel.
If I really wanted to disprove the Bible, it would be helpful if the Jewish people were no longer with us. I could say that perhaps they never existed or that they were no different than any other group long gone from history's pages. The Normans, the Saxons, the Celts, the Spartans, The Pyramid Building Egyptians or the column building Greeks are all gone and if the Jewish people were gone, it would be so helpful. Because if the Jewish people were gone, they would be like any other people or society long gone, assimilated into another group, forgotten or forever lost and then we could say that the promise was broken and the relationship given to them by God, according to the Bible, was just a story and not to be trusted. The only problem with that idea is that the Jewish people are still here.
Not only are they here, they have taken back the biblical promised land. No matter the politics, no matter our opinion of the conflict in the Middle East, it still makes us wonder. We know that Israel is a people of the Bible. We've watched Hollywood recreate the exodus and the parting of the Red Sea. We know the story of David and Goliath. We know that Jesus was a Jew and brought up keeping the law and attended synagogue. Most of us are familiar with the Jewish people of the Bible, and it's hard not to wonder, being amazed that a nation mentioned in an ancient text is still here. These "mythological" people are very real.
I don't like to think about prophecy, and sometimes I don't understand it, but I know this: God promised a special relationship with Abraham, and as far as I can tell, it still stands. I think Israel's existence is fulfilled prophecy in itself.
It would be so helpful to me, if I was trying to prove the Bible wasn't true, that Israel didn't exist. But Israel does exist, and after only six days (a war whose strange case for divine intervention is an example in itself of the relevance of the Bible) the Jewish people were able to take back a land from the pages of history. I've heard explanations for this, some conspiratorial, or racist, or both, but none of them take away from the fact that we are still talking about a very real people group, still in existence today, a people group at the center of the Bible's narrative.
One of the main characters in the Bible is Israel. It's amazing, but Israel is still here, more or less. They, after a couple thousand years, even have their country back, and for the most part they still have their faith. To me, this is one amazing piece of evidence in the case for the Bible's divinity.
If Israel was gone, or more specifically if the Jewish people were gone like the Philistines or the Babylonians or the Hittites or the other groups mentioned in the Old Testament, that would be one thing, but the Jewish people are still here. Some people will scoff and mock this; oh well. To me it's amazing that Israel is still here, a living testimony to the truth of the Bible. Some might argue that other groups are still here as well, the Egyptians for example, but most people agree that the Egyptians of today are not the same people who built the pyramids, and what's more, they no longer worship Anubis or Ra; they're not the same people. But Jewish people still worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Jupiter worshipping Romans are gone. The Greeks with all they gave to civilization are gone too, victims of countless conflicts, invasions and emigrations. But the Jewish people remain. On a simple level, they are a real people who are mentioned in the Bible, and that is enough evidence for me.
What about the messy situation in the Middle East? Oddly enough, to me, this situation is even more evidence of the Bible's credibility. When we read the Bible, we read about very real people who still exist today. The conflict in the Middle East is not between new groups who only came to be recently. The conflict in the Middle East is neither between Spartans and Goths, Samurai and Ninja, Greeks and Romans, Philistines, Vikings, Vandals or any other forgotten people of history--but it is between two sons of Abraham: Ishmael and Isaac. The conflict in the Middle East today is centered on the central nation of the Bible, Israel. The three great faiths of the world all come from Abraham, a character in the Bible.
Why does this conflict carry on after so many thousands of years? Where is the conflict between the Spartans and the Persians? Where is the conflict between the Vikings and Rome? How about the Saxons and Normans? All of these are relics of the past, left only to the pages of history.
The Jewish people themselves are evidence of the trustworthiness of the Bible. Their resilience in the face of persecution, their ability to overcome and their ability to restore the land promised to them in the Bible are all evidence to me of something divine. The fact that Israel, regardless of the politics, would end up back on that same soil is amazing to me. Anyone who has read the bible is familiar with the importance of Jerusalem and the promises God made to Abraham. Obviously, the Jewish people have taken the Bible quite seriously. If the bible is only a metaphor, a myth or a story then what a coincidence that Israel has taken back the very land promised to them by God, in a so called myth.
The Jewish people were given the Law, according to the Bible, and like all of us, they sometimes had trouble keeping that law. But nonetheless, they had it. They were given an instruction manual from God, and though history is marked with their troubles, they have thrived and succeeded. Perhaps it's their relationship with God and His intervening more than their keeping of the Law, I'm not sure, but God established a special relationship with the Jewish people many years ago, and it seems to me, God has kept His promise, regardless of how well they kept theirs.
There are those who create fantastic excuses for the resilience of the Jewish people and some might descend into lies or racism to explain the ongoing success of Israel and the Jewish people, but deep down we know it's all bunk. They are a resilient, successful, intelligent people that have maintained family bonds, all the while having the Word of God as a blueprint for success and remain today as evidence of that ancient book's credibility. I'm hardly saying they're a perfect people anymore than any other people, or more than anyone else of any faith, but if they had a divine blueprint to begin with and a divine relationship to begin with, a divine relationship with the Creator of the universe, it might help explain their success and survival, while other groups have long been forgotten.
No group in the Bible still exists today in the same way Israel does. To me, the Jewish people are a testimony to the Bible's credibility. There are many more pieces of evidence that tell me the Bible is something special, but Israel is one of the most important ones.
The Jewish people lived through centuries of turmoil to remain today, a resilient people and a relevant people, unfortunately at the center of one of the the gravest conflicts of our time. Regardless of your political opinions or even regardless of your opinion of the Jewish people themselves, their relevance today in world affairs proves they are no myth. The people themselves, as well as the nation of Israel, speak to the credibility of the Bible.
Here are just a few scriptures that point to the importance of Israel's relationship to God and their connection with the Bible:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 65:21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremiah 12:15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremiah 33:7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ezekiel 28:26 They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.'"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ezekiel 37:21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land
New International Version
If I really wanted to disprove the Bible, it would be helpful if the Jewish people were no longer with us. I could say that perhaps they never existed or that they were no different than any other group long gone from history's pages. The Normans, the Saxons, the Celts, the Spartans, The Pyramid Building Egyptians or the column building Greeks are all gone and if the Jewish people were gone, it would be so helpful. Because if the Jewish people were gone, they would be like any other people or society long gone, assimilated into another group, forgotten or forever lost and then we could say that the promise was broken and the relationship given to them by God, according to the Bible, was just a story and not to be trusted. The only problem with that idea is that the Jewish people are still here.
Not only are they here, they have taken back the biblical promised land. No matter the politics, no matter our opinion of the conflict in the Middle East, it still makes us wonder. We know that Israel is a people of the Bible. We've watched Hollywood recreate the exodus and the parting of the Red Sea. We know the story of David and Goliath. We know that Jesus was a Jew and brought up keeping the law and attended synagogue. Most of us are familiar with the Jewish people of the Bible, and it's hard not to wonder, being amazed that a nation mentioned in an ancient text is still here. These "mythological" people are very real.
I don't like to think about prophecy, and sometimes I don't understand it, but I know this: God promised a special relationship with Abraham, and as far as I can tell, it still stands. I think Israel's existence is fulfilled prophecy in itself.
It would be so helpful to me, if I was trying to prove the Bible wasn't true, that Israel didn't exist. But Israel does exist, and after only six days (a war whose strange case for divine intervention is an example in itself of the relevance of the Bible) the Jewish people were able to take back a land from the pages of history. I've heard explanations for this, some conspiratorial, or racist, or both, but none of them take away from the fact that we are still talking about a very real people group, still in existence today, a people group at the center of the Bible's narrative.
One of the main characters in the Bible is Israel. It's amazing, but Israel is still here, more or less. They, after a couple thousand years, even have their country back, and for the most part they still have their faith. To me, this is one amazing piece of evidence in the case for the Bible's divinity.
If Israel was gone, or more specifically if the Jewish people were gone like the Philistines or the Babylonians or the Hittites or the other groups mentioned in the Old Testament, that would be one thing, but the Jewish people are still here. Some people will scoff and mock this; oh well. To me it's amazing that Israel is still here, a living testimony to the truth of the Bible. Some might argue that other groups are still here as well, the Egyptians for example, but most people agree that the Egyptians of today are not the same people who built the pyramids, and what's more, they no longer worship Anubis or Ra; they're not the same people. But Jewish people still worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Jupiter worshipping Romans are gone. The Greeks with all they gave to civilization are gone too, victims of countless conflicts, invasions and emigrations. But the Jewish people remain. On a simple level, they are a real people who are mentioned in the Bible, and that is enough evidence for me.
What about the messy situation in the Middle East? Oddly enough, to me, this situation is even more evidence of the Bible's credibility. When we read the Bible, we read about very real people who still exist today. The conflict in the Middle East is not between new groups who only came to be recently. The conflict in the Middle East is neither between Spartans and Goths, Samurai and Ninja, Greeks and Romans, Philistines, Vikings, Vandals or any other forgotten people of history--but it is between two sons of Abraham: Ishmael and Isaac. The conflict in the Middle East today is centered on the central nation of the Bible, Israel. The three great faiths of the world all come from Abraham, a character in the Bible.
Why does this conflict carry on after so many thousands of years? Where is the conflict between the Spartans and the Persians? Where is the conflict between the Vikings and Rome? How about the Saxons and Normans? All of these are relics of the past, left only to the pages of history.
The Jewish people themselves are evidence of the trustworthiness of the Bible. Their resilience in the face of persecution, their ability to overcome and their ability to restore the land promised to them in the Bible are all evidence to me of something divine. The fact that Israel, regardless of the politics, would end up back on that same soil is amazing to me. Anyone who has read the bible is familiar with the importance of Jerusalem and the promises God made to Abraham. Obviously, the Jewish people have taken the Bible quite seriously. If the bible is only a metaphor, a myth or a story then what a coincidence that Israel has taken back the very land promised to them by God, in a so called myth.
The Jewish people were given the Law, according to the Bible, and like all of us, they sometimes had trouble keeping that law. But nonetheless, they had it. They were given an instruction manual from God, and though history is marked with their troubles, they have thrived and succeeded. Perhaps it's their relationship with God and His intervening more than their keeping of the Law, I'm not sure, but God established a special relationship with the Jewish people many years ago, and it seems to me, God has kept His promise, regardless of how well they kept theirs.
There are those who create fantastic excuses for the resilience of the Jewish people and some might descend into lies or racism to explain the ongoing success of Israel and the Jewish people, but deep down we know it's all bunk. They are a resilient, successful, intelligent people that have maintained family bonds, all the while having the Word of God as a blueprint for success and remain today as evidence of that ancient book's credibility. I'm hardly saying they're a perfect people anymore than any other people, or more than anyone else of any faith, but if they had a divine blueprint to begin with and a divine relationship to begin with, a divine relationship with the Creator of the universe, it might help explain their success and survival, while other groups have long been forgotten.
No group in the Bible still exists today in the same way Israel does. To me, the Jewish people are a testimony to the Bible's credibility. There are many more pieces of evidence that tell me the Bible is something special, but Israel is one of the most important ones.
The Jewish people lived through centuries of turmoil to remain today, a resilient people and a relevant people, unfortunately at the center of one of the the gravest conflicts of our time. Regardless of your political opinions or even regardless of your opinion of the Jewish people themselves, their relevance today in world affairs proves they are no myth. The people themselves, as well as the nation of Israel, speak to the credibility of the Bible.
Here are just a few scriptures that point to the importance of Israel's relationship to God and their connection with the Bible:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 65:21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremiah 12:15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeremiah 33:7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ezekiel 28:26 They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.'"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ezekiel 37:21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land
New International Version
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)