Wear Red: The Color of Pentecost

A typical Western image of the Pentecost. Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308) Tempera on wood (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fifty days after Easter comes the feast of Pentecost. For the Hebrews, this is the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of the Harvest. Although Israelites planted both wheat and barley at the same time, barley matured more quickly, and the Israelites reaped during the this feast while the wheat ripened in the fields. This is the second harvest. The first comes during the Christian Easter, the last during the last holy days in September or October.

The details of this holy day are found in Leviticus 23: 15-22. In a nutshell, these Scriptures define the feast of Pentecost in this way:

1. Fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits (the Christian Easter)
2. Sacrifice two loaves of bread and seven lambs
3. One goat is sacrificed as a sin offering, two more lambs are offered as a fellowship offering.
4. No work is to be done
5. During this feast, leaven can be consumed. In the final feasts, observant Jews will once again abstain from leaven.

Christians celebrate Pentecost as well. We find the establishment in Acts 2:1-4. During this feast the church was born with the following signs:

1. A sound like the blowing of violent wind came from heaven
2. Tongues of fire appeared
3. People spoke in other tongues

It is no irony that the Christian Pentecost occurred on the second major feast for the Israelites. The parallels between the feasts become salient when you learn that ancient rabbis believed Pentecost to be the day Moses came down from the mountain with the law. They called it the birth of Judaism or the Feast of the Giving of the Law. Note the following comparisons:

Birth of the Law                            Birth of the Church

Ex. 19:16-Lev. 20:1                                        Acts 2

Supernatural manifestations,                           supernatural manifestation, noise like

trumpets, thundering, lightening,                    a might rushing wind

thick clouds

fire, voice of God, law on a                            tongues of fire, grace engraved on the tablet of

tablet of stone                                                 our hearts

End result: fear                                               End result: peace

3,000 died                                                       3,000 found salvation and lived

Cannot look at Moses’ face                            the veil removed

The traditional church gives Pentecost the ecclesiastical color of red. Celebrate your observance by wearing red this Sunday.

Good Grief

Good Grief (Photo credit: Camps)

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better (Eccl 7:2-3
KJV)

Good Grief. Sadly, despair hits us all, and when it does, we think, "What a stupid term good grief is. How can it be good?" Apparently, God believes this to be true.

Wait a minute, you state (Yes, I know I'm schizoid and you didn't say anything), God wants us blessed. And that is exactly why grief is good. How? Let's consider.

1. Death comes to all of us. When someone we love or know casually dies, we will grieve. Therefore, we learn to not put off until tomorrow the encouragement and love we need to share today.
2. Discouragement plagues us all. We work hard, only to fail. But what happens because of failure? If we do nothing, it defines us. If we work harder, we will produce the good product we desired. J.K. Rawlings is renowned for stunning success after repeated failure. Colonel Sanders had his chicken recipe rejected 1,009 times before someone saw its merit. (http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/)
3. It makes us humble. Think about the braggarts you know, famous or not. Does anyone like them? 
4. It heals us. My Ecclesiastes' scripture clearly states sorrow's healing qualities. What niggles our mind? Where have we failed? If we correct those, the weight the devil heaves at us dissipates and we become truly free in the Lord.

Beauty Like a Goose: Ps 139:14

I thank you, High God — you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation! (Ps 139:14, THE MESSAGE)

Geese. Flocks of them vee overhead and awe us with their magnitude. Here in Malone, they congregate at the local pond, sometimes making the water appear to be a solid gray mass.

Millions undifferentiated by millions more. I tried to capture that proliferation in my photographs, but instead caught one in flight. And the beauty of the individual captured my imagination more than the bounty of the flock.

The round body captured the dim afternoon light and displayed his plumpness. Each feather is delineated, the curve of the wing fans like a flamenco dancer.

An ordinary goose is intricate, beautiful, vibrant and alive. And if a goose has such beauty, what about us? Travel to any city and see our proliferation. Those mobs annoy us, bump us, delay us. But God looks through the masses and see the individual. Intricate. Beautiful. Flawed. And His love blazes for each being.

How awesome is that?

The Woes of Peter Pumpkin Eater's Wife

Image via Wikipedia

     I married Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Unbeknownst to me, my husband stuck me in a pumpkin shell. Now all my summer clothes stretch around a rotund tummy (barely), and I'm not sure if I should walk or roll down the road.
     As I waddle, my proboscis heralds my approach with the bright red wounds the dermatologist made. As my nose protrudes, it becomes a UV magnet, is frequently sunburned and thus the need to remove precancerous damage. Oh to only have the tiny nose of a starlet--or at least put some of its size on my lips.
     And the only time anyone ever asks to borrow my shoes is when he or she wants to water-ski. I'm not a pretty picture.
     However...
     This morning in worship we sang a line that told of us casting our crowns before the Lord. I closed my eyes and saw myself before the throne of God. Next to me stood Queen Elizabeth. To the other side Angelina Jolie. In back of me worshiped President Obama. Each of us was loved by the great God Almighty, the Maker of the universe. He didn't care that I wasn't pretty, that my poor blog can't get fifty followers, that my life was humble and lowly and ordinary. I was no different to Him than these luminaries, and no less precious. I could cast my crown and it would be as accepted as Queen Elizabeth's crown jewels. I opened my eyes to my own beauty and the grace of God.
   It's divine to be loved so indiscriminately.
   

Who's to Blame? You've Got to be Kidding!

The Bloviator Queen

 "I therefore...urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4:1-2, English Version).
   
     "Xavier" knows all one can know about anything and has no fear in spewing his knowledge to whomever he wills (whether or not the listener wills). I taught Sunday morning Bible studies during his tenure in Malone, and Xavier loved to argue points with me. Yikes. In public, during a Bible study.
     During this time period, my church assigned us to home groups where we met to study and build one another up in our Christianity. Guess who shared mine? I discovered during this time, it didn't matter who taught a lesson, Xavier fought its points. He loved to expostulate on everything he was an expert on. And I never found an area in which he wasn't an expert.
     I knew I had to live at peace with all men. I needed to love the brethren, so I needed help. I called my pastor (I'll call him Al). I told him, in confidence, my problems with Xavier, and that I needed to prayer to change so that I could maintain the unity of the spirit. On the phone he prayed with me. That night I headed off to home group, and for the first time in several years, Xavier did not annoy me.
    From that moment on, he never did. I quit arguing with him, quit asserting my point of view and all friction dissipated.
     During this time we would periodically share communion with each other. If we had an issue with an individual, we'd take our bread, approach the person and talk it through. Xavier approached me.
     "Carol," he said. "You used to be arrogant and overbearing, but you've changed. I've seen tremendous growth in you."
      Me? I was a bloviator? I nearly choked as I took the bread he offered. It's you, not me! Still I sputtered--but fortunately, only internally. Outwardly, I remained gracious and thanked him.
     I cannot change others, but I can change myself. It usually takes time and practice to change, but In that phone call to Al, God changed a key component of my personality instantly. I need not worry about another's character. I need to concern myself with me.
     Now I need the same miracle with "Cordelia."

Do You Think Squid from New Zealand Is Safe?

From the Brandeis.edu link below

     Think again. Although New Zealand's government resembles ours in its liberty, about 40% of the squid imported from there is the end product of slave labor.
     E. Benjamin Skinner recently appeared on PRI and spoke about an article of his that appeared in Bloomberg Business week. He discussed fishing ships "contract" with impoverished Indonesian men. Once at sea brutality, sexual exploitation and threats to harm the family at home makes these indentured servants virtual slaves. They work under dangerous conditions up to 53 hours a week and net less than a dollar a day. This amounted to $500-$1000 dollars for six months of dangerous work.

      Below are two links (which you will probably need to cut and paste) to the source and an eye-opening article. I encourage you to read these eye opening pieces.

http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/slavery/slavery-in-seafood.html

http://www.theworld.org/2012/02/slaves-at-sea-investigation-into-foreign-chartered-commercial-fishing-vessels-in-new-zealand-waters/