Preparing for Advent: Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times ?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times , but seventy-seven times.

It has always intrigued me that schools put so much emphasis on games and sports. This is partly because kids need to work off energy, and exercise is necessary for healthy physical development. But it’s also because the playing field is a microcosm of the real world. Fair play, loyalty, endurance, and coping with victory and defeat are concepts encountered and appropriated in the heat of athletic competition.

But, as far as I’m concerned, there is one concept from the playing field that outshines all the rest; the venerable, time honoured, compassionate and merciful “Mulligan”. I know there are rules about even this great leniency (only one per game, in clearly defined circumstances), but it is still a chance to undo a mistake. It is a great mercy.

In life there are some things done, of course, that cannot be undone. But sometimes even we can let an offence go by, forgive a debt, or overlook bad judgment. And sometimes God forgives, restores, renews, and lets us just start over, because he is the Compassionate, the Merciful.

And so we come to him and one another, as children and as sister/brother, caught up in webs of error and deceit, to seek a “Mulligan”, forgiveness and a chance to start again. And we trust that he and we will grant it, just this once, as he and we have done so many times before, and undoubtedly will do again.

God is good to us, and so must we be good to one another.

Just Wondering

My cousin, Guy, sent me this interesting little download about the history of Arabic numerals. (Click here to view.) (This is not working for everyone, so I've added the two relevant slides as pictures) I was suspicious about it because the 7 and 9 seemed a bit contrived, so I did a little research. It appears that, just as I suspected, the line through 7 is a recent innovation, and the little curlicue on the bottom of the 9, though it does add angles, doesn't show up in any historical examples I've been able to find.

The download is interesting, however. The fact that someone would take the trouble to put this little theory together in a power point, and then send it out to everyone in general and no one in particular, says something about our need to make logical sense of the world, and then to communicate what we've discovered, even if it doesn't quite fit all the facts. And I have a modest example of my own.

I've always wondered how it happened that the names of the continents all begin with A: Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and the two Americas. – It’s true that Europe doesn't fit the pattern, but then it's really a political/cultural division of Asia rather than a true geographical continent. – Is this a fascinating mystery or just some meaningless

coincidence?

My research seems to indicate that it's a meaningless coincidence, and a lifetime of experience suggests that our lives are filled with meaningless coincidences. Which leads, of course, to the mother of all questions; CAN ALL THESE MEANINGLESS COINCIDENCES BE JUST A COINCIDENCE?

Still workin' on it.

MY ANNUAL TRIBUTE OF AMBIVALENCE

Tomorrow, November 11^th, we will all be remembering the soldiers of today and days gone by. Being a pacifist, this is an ambivalent exercise for me. Though I have no faith in the sword, and believe that the demands of war are utterly incompatible with the demands of Christ, I do have an appreciation for the brave men and women who risk so much to do what they believe is right. Tomorrow the horrors of war will be gilded with silver and bronze, the roar of bombs and mortar-fire muffled by solitary bugle calls, and the cries of shattered victims drown in one minute silences, time zone by time zone round the world.

But, if glitz and glitter and calls and silences conceal the horror, they also hide real gold. Every fallen soldier and civilian is somebody’s child, sibling, friend. Courage, strength, self-sacrifice are precious wherever they are found. And surely we remember it was Jesus who first used the military metaphor in reference to the church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 And Paul reminded us to put on the full armour of God. Ephesians 6:11-17

So whatever else might be said about the military endeavour, it is a shining illustration of devotion at the expense of comfort, safety, and even life itself. And if ordinary people are able to accept such sacrifice for king and country, surely we can do the same in the service of the Prince of Peace. ...whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:35

We are soldiers of the cross, lest we forget.

IT’S A FUNNY WAY TO HAVE FUN

In the Christian calendar November 1^st is All Saints or All Hallows Day, so the evening of October 31^st is All Hallows Eve or E’en. This is the origin of the word “Halloween”, and so we see that even this most nonsensical of modern celebrations makes a little bit of sense. But there’s more.

At about this time of year, as light gave way to darkness, our pagan ancestors, particularly the Celts, believed that the border between the living and the dead, became thin. They imagined that the spirits of the dead, both friendly and unfriendly, could pass into our world and visit acts of benevolence or mischief upon us. So it stands to reason that they left out goodies to honour and encourage the friendly spirits, and wore masks to fool the others. But what a hassle!

Of course we now know that it’s cultural imperialism, if not a crime against humanity, for Christian missionaries to mess with the way people “choose” to live their lives. – Today this work is reserved for multinational corporations, the UN, Green Peace, and countless other non-Christian missionary organizations. – But I suspect that our ancestors were, nonetheless, relieved when Saint Patrick and his friends showed up and taught them about a loving God who takes care of all that “spirit” stuff, so the dead can get on with being dead, and we with living.

Next Sunday, All Saints Day, Christians will gather with all the saints, both those on earth (the Church Militant), and those in heaven (the Church Triumphant), to worship the living God. And we will celebrate the peace that comes from knowing that we need not fear the living or the dead while we are his.

So, lets all go out next Saturday night and make ghouls of ourselves, remembering that Halloween is actually a gift from our pagan ancestors, and St Paddy and his friends. The former came up with this funny idea, but it was the latter who made it fun.