Isaiah 40

Appreciation

A Bad Alternative to “the Great Controversy” 

  

Adventists are encouraged to eschew the evils of the city, except for the purpose of evangelizing them. If you seek refuge in Fletcher, beware! The city may come to you!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM EDMUND WILSON’S “TO THE FINLAND STATION,” THE ROOTS OF MARXIST THEORY, AND THE DISTANT RELATIONSHIP OF THIS TOPIC TO ELLEN G. WHITE

The image of Fletcher Park Inn shown above is an example of a “Utopian” community that works, and is similar to residential development for retirees and enthusiasts around Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN. The development in Fletcher is in the idyllic area I grew up in, and it enjoys the advantage of being situated next door to an Adventist hospital, Park Ridge Health. The hospital address is listed as being in Hendersonville NC, my hometown, but it is actually in tiny Fletcher. It is accessed directly from Interstate 26.. It represents the latest evolution of an Adventist institution originally known as “Mountain Sanitarium.” There once was a time when “sanitariums” littered the Western Carolina landscape. F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda died when she was locked inside one of them during a fire.

My family was not Adventist, but the family accountant, Robert Hansen, was. I think it was his good influence that sparked my mom’s involvement in the fundraising drive for the relatively new 98 bed Park Ridge Health facility shown below. She had some kind of grudge against the monopolization of Hendersonville hospital care by the Pardee gang, who appear to be associated with the University of North Carolina these days (Local health care in my new hometown, Atlanta, is currently dominated by groups associated with Emory University. The last Atlanta area Adventist hospital is no longer in business).

Pardee and it’s confederates are attempting to ride the coattails of the success of Park Ridge by teaming with the Asheville-based Mission system in creating a rival hospital very close to the Adventist endeavor. There is phenomenal growth in this area, as it is an island of flat land surrounded by a sea of hills, so the population, and it’s attendant health care needs, will provide plenty of patients to local providers. But Park Ridge is a little worried about the competition, as is evident in this LINK. However crowded the buildable land in this area may become, it is a comfort to know that escape is never more than ten miles away, there in the hard-to-develop mountains. But Fletcher itself is a little beehive of activity. If I were a retired  Adventist with money, I think I would prefer the more uncrowded environs of Collegedale to the growth-fueled cauldron that Fletcher stews in. The “whole world has gone after” this circumscribed district.

Park Ridge Health, an Adventist hospital in Western North Carolina with roots that go back a century.

My adventure in Adventism was foreshadowed, in an indirect way, while I was living close to the Park Ridge Health complex. When I would donate blood, the Red Cross would inform me that my pressure was high. This was a natural consequence of smoking, drinking, and job-related stress. I sought treatment from some Adventist cardiologists at Park Ridge, expecting that they would prescribe some pills. Instead, the doctor advised me to modify my lifestyle. At that time, nicotine and caffeine were the power source for my overwork, and alcohol the pressure release valve. I thank God for the recession, which freed me from an addiction to workaholism. I subsequently no longer needed the destructive support of harmful substances. “Lifestyle modification” was the happy aftermath of catastrophic events. I followed the doctor’s advice in a very roundabout manner.

THIS SABBATH SCHOOL INTRO GREW TOO BIG TO USE!

This week’s lesson from the quarterly study guide “Rebellion and Redemption” covers the Book of Judges and the beginning of First Samuel, and is entitled “Conflict and Crises: The Judges.” Author David Tasker’s primary intention is to try to relate the great controversy to this book. Conflict between the forces of good (God, His people, His anointed ones) and evil (Satan, his demons, his “legion” of human devotees) are easy to spot, lending credence to the main premise of “The Great Controversy,” by Ellen G. White. The link is to a Wikipedia article on the book. It informs us that the original edition was written in the “first person,” just like Revelation. The 1884 edition modified this intimate style, serving to present the material to the public in a more objective-sounding manner. The 1911 edition honed the scholarship, and toned down some strong anti-Catholic sentiment (based on their errant dogma; nothing personal). Here is a White Estate LINK, once again, to the book itself. The “controversy” is a theme that pervades history, and offers a good explanation for a lot of past and present chaos that may have formerly been attributed to either providence, or chance, or an esoteric “philosophy of history” like the one featured below: “Marxism.”

Lenin is toppled from his pedestal in Ukraine. Image is from Forbes, AKA “Capitalist Tool”

In yet another case of syncretism, I have just begun looking into a copy of “To the Finland Station,” by Edmund Wilson (trivia: he was attracted to female authors, and proposed to Anais Nin, but after two previous marriages, he finally got hitched to Mary McCarthy). The subtitle to this book is “A Study in the Writing and Acting of History.” History has been written since the dawn of, well, history. Early attempts to explain why events happen the way they do tended to either cite capricious gods or strong and willful men (the “Great Man” approach, as is evident in Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives‘). The Enlightenment, and the roughly contemporary start of the “scientific revolution,” saw the beginning of efforts to try to explain the forces that shape history with scholastic rigor. A cold  analysis of the past might yield insights that could improve the human condition. A thinker who could convince a whole lot of people that his insights were the correct ones would wield enormous influence. Karl Marx was one of these thinkers, and he, his influences, and the dastardly crew who made political hay out of Marxism, are the subject of “To the Finland Station.”

Edmund Wilson’s book looks upon the Russian Revolution with rose-tinted glasses. It was published in 1940, and served a good purpose by trying to humanize the Russians to an American reading public, and in that day before TV everybody was a reader. We were about to join with the Soviet Union to take down the poster-boy for Satanic possession, Adolph Hitler. In a 1971 preface to this book, author Wilson admits that he did not foresee the post-war degeneration of Stalin into a demonic state that nearly rivaled that of Hitler. Stalin’s short-lived non-aggression pact with Hitler, however,  presaged his subsequent infamy. This pact caused a lot of Jewish intellectuals to rethink their infatuation with communism. When heretofore “good” Napoleon anointed himself Emperor, the ranks of his fan club were similarly thinned out.

Robert Duvall portraying Stalin in a 1992 movie. He won a Golden Globe. Nobody was at the helm in Moscow, so parts were actually shot in the Kremlin.

Forgive this quote, but it is blocking forward progress, and must be cited: “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” It is attributed to  Edmund Burke, and a later variant of it to George Santayana. I greatly admire Santayana, and enjoyed reading his 1935 novel “The Last Puritan,” a warning about engaging in excessively Calvinistic asceticism. Santayana made money on this work during the Depression, and characteristically used some of it to help out struggling atheist (and master logician) Bertrand Russell, despite his strong distaste for Russell’s philosophy.

A knowledge of the secret machinery of history, and the ability to use this knowledge to shape the future, is the theme of Isaac Asimov‘s science-fiction series “Foundation.” I have only read the first three books of the “Foundation” series. It was conceived as a trilogy. The brainy keepers of powerful secret knowledge in the books are “good” guys. Asimov was a card-carrying Humanist (good intentioned people who just can’t seem to accept what Jesus is giving away), and the “Foundation” books display the utopian optimism (Futurian inflected) of a person who may have flirted with Marxism (this statement makes me sound like I am on a “witch-hunt,” but being associated with communism was socially acceptable in Depression-era NYC). It is admirable to wish that the world were better than it is. It is permissible to “think globally” about this issue. But results (at least in my case) come about when you “act locally.”

Ted N.C. Wilson and his wife Nancy addressing a crowd in Ghana, and appropriately attired for the occasion.

Ted N.C. Wilson is a good example of someone who is operating globally, but he would say that he is not trying to fix the world, as it is resistant to being fixed. He is mainly trying to fix you! I can now drag “The Great Controversy” back into this. There will indeed exists a perfect Utopia, and a description of may be read on page 674 of the following LINK to the final chapter, “The Controversy Ended.” It is a poetic gloss on conditions foretold in Revelation.

The Edmund Wilson book “To the Finland Station” includes information on several “philosophers of history,” commencing with eighteenth-century Italian Vico, and culminating with nineteenth-century Marx. The first featured historian is Frenchman Jules Michelet (1798-1874). The author relates Michelet’s joy upon discovering the works of Giambattista Vico (1688-1744: the first “philosopher of history”), a joy that motivated him to learn Italian just so he could read him. Disaffection with Jesuitical education techniques caused Vico to be “home-schooled.” Vico’s masterpiece, “The New Science,” describes the progress of history as an “organic” manifestation of diverse cultural influences, and is cyclical (a good time to mention Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, or the Great Folk-Rock Song based on it). The notion of “progress” did not enter into Vico’s thought, but was anticipated much earlier by one of Vico’s influences, Francis Bacon. (the empiricist, not the artist).

At left, part of a Francis Bacon (artist, not empiricist) painting “Crucifixion” (1933). At right, a “Crucifixion” by Alonso Cano (1601). Bacon’s is just like Rembrandt’s “Slaughtered Ox,” another “Crucifixion” scene.

The cycles of Vico’s history are:

• “Divine” (metaphor as a linguistic analog is preeminent).
• “Heroic” (akin to metonymy, and it’s relation to idealized feudal and monarchical institutions).
• “Human” (etymologically associated with irony, and institutionalized in popular democracy).

Wilson states that Vico had absorbed Francis Bacon, father of the empirical method (another Bacon, Roger, was an empiricist hundreds of years before Francis was one). Vico was also influenced by rhetorical studies, and wrote that each of his three distinct phases of history featured it’s own distinctive way of speaking. The linguistic focus evolves from (A) an individual one (Divine epochs), to (B) a corporate one (Heroic epochs), into (C), a final, all-encompassing focus (Human epoch). This complicated sounding technique allowed Vico to shed new light into some dark corners of the past. It was a cohesive and comprehensive approach, and proved to be very influential (on Marx, for example). It was indeed a “new” science. It dominated academia for quite a spell, but it is no longer alone in the universe of historical interpretation techniques.

Francis Bacon inaugurated the scientific revolution by advising people that they not lie to themselves. He was around town while the King James Bible was being translated, and was knighted by James I,

I know nothing about current academic trends in this discipline, but I do know that E.G. White’s universal key to history, the great controversy, works like a charm. I inhabit what Vico would describe as a “Divine” era, with a heavy emphasis on the individual (me, myself, and I). My worldview is rudimentary, and the only law I require can be found in scripture. I am as independent from terrestrial authority as some character in the era of the Book of Judges, but rather than  going about doing “that which is right in my own eyes,” I am attempting to do “that which is right in the Lord’s eyes.” This transports me from the realm of the “individual,” (with it’s emphasis on personal salvation, and a personal relationship with Jesus) into the realm of the “corporate,” Vico’s “Heroic” stage. This has been tied linguistically with “metonymy,” in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept (and my new vocabulary word of the day). I will employ a little “metonymy” by citing the locus of my corporate life: “the Church.”

“To the Finland Station” is tripartite, the first section being devoted primarily to historian Jules Michelet. His father was a member of the “Fourth Estate” (as was mine), but his newspaper was suppressed by Napoleon. Michelet wound up a tutor to King Louis Philippe‘s daughter, and was also appointed head of the French national archives, giving him free access to a vast expanse of primary source material. This fact reminded me of Malcolm X in prison, who had unlimited access to the most amazing prison library that ever existed. An uprising of workers in Paris in 1830, known as the July Revolution, enflamed the ardor of Michelet, and he quickly wrote “Introduction to Universal History” as a reaction, hopeful that the world would soon take a turn for the better. (Aside: the history of revolt in Paris, one often utilizing cobblestones as improvised weapons, motivated the city fathers to pave over the streets during the immense makeover supervised by Baron Haussmann, thus rendering this weapon unavailable. The new, wide boulevards, such as the “Champs-Elysees,” gave a clear field of fire for anti-riot artillery. And now you know……..the rest of the story!)

Haussmann’s Paris makeover was anticipated by Pope Sixtus V’s much earlier work in Rome. Haussmann enjoyed the same level of power and authority as New York’s Robert Moses did.

I have not forgotten the “great controversy.” Here is a longish quote from Michelet’s “Introduction to Universal History”

“With the world began a war which will end only with the world: the war of man against nature, of spirit against matter, of liberty against fatality. History is nothing other than the record of this interminable struggle.”

It is a great relief to know that the struggle is not “interminable.” It should be wrapping up any day now, thank God!

Michelet employed Vico’s insights into the “organic” nature of history in order to take an inclusive look at the past. He noted that particular instances of a past time (a statue, a picture, a law, or even one of the “Great Men) display attributes of the general spirit of the age. Michelet tried to absorb every detail about an era before making any generalizations. He felt that issues such as the technology of weaponry were more important than individuals, however “Great” they may be. A few months ago I read in an article in “Adventist World” wherein the author expressed the idea that we tended to pay way too much respect to “persons.” Celebrity-worship is the modern equivalent of Romantic-era “Hero-worship.” Michelet is no respecter of persons. Events are bigger than any particular individual who participants in them.

Author Edmund Wilson describes Michelet’s adventures in historical analysis, which culminate in the 1867 publication of “Histoire de France.” Michelet emerges as a defender of the revolutionary ideal against the forces of reaction. He delivers a series of lectures criticizing the Jesuits at the College de France. After having delved deeply into the Middle Ages for the purposes of writing his “Histoire,” Michelet is now forced to turn against them. This period was being adopted by the forced of reaction (like the Jesuits) as a model of perfection (in England John Ruskin was championing the Middle Ages as a model of design perfection).

Eugene Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People,” depicting events of the 1830 revolt that stimulated the fervor of Michelet.

The passions of Michelet paralleled Europe itself as events came to a head in the Revolutions of 1848. In the reactionary aftermath of these abortive episodes, Michelet lost his livelihood. This did not slow him down too badly. Wilson furnishes the following quote from Michelet: “He who knows how to be poor knows everything.” The “Histoire” continued to occupy the scholar’s attention. A typical, perceptive, and influential instance of his insight is this one: what holds true in every historical situation is “that the people were usually more important than the leaders.” Michelet managed to complete his “Histoire” up to the Battle of Waterloo (an event I can no longer read or hear about without thinking of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair) before he expired.

The second section of “To the Finland Station” deals with early socialists like Englishman Robert Owen, a pioneer in the art of good management-worker relations, and the instigator of utopian New Harmony, Indiana. This place is still influential. As an architectural digression, here is a LINK to a Wikipedia article on Richard Meier’s “Antheneum,” a visitor’s center for New Harmony. There was plenty of utopianism floating around in the last half of the nineteenth century. The novel Erehwon (“Nowhere”  spelled backwards, an English translation of “utopia,” or “not place”) describes a perfected society, and was a bestseller. The American countryside was littered with Victorian era “EPCOT’s” (Disney’s “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). In order to prove that I am still somewhat on topic, I will note that Battle Creek, Michigan displayed some utopian attributes, but based on Christian, as opposed to socialist values. The contemporary Mormons in Utah were pretty utopian, but were not socialists, and were not Christians either.

EPCOT as envisioned in a 1979 rendering. Just another “gated community” these days, though the gates are so subtle you can’t even see them.

Also in the second section of Wilson’s book are sketches of some homegrown American socialists like Horace Greeley, who is “immortal” as a result of just one saying: “Go West, young man, and grow with the country!” One armed explorer John Wesley Powell had been sent West by the government in 1869 to check out the scene. Powell reported that the West was a useless, waterless wasteland that would be best left alone. Absolutely no one listened to this really good advice. I have to drag in, out of a slightly  later era, committed American socialist Upton Sinclair, who was pegged as a muckraker for his novel “The Jungle” due to it’s graphic descriptions of the unsanitary conditions at meat-packing facilities. This was not Sinclair’s primary intention. He was focused, instead, on the plight of immigrant laborers. This is another case of a literary realist pointing out the some of the horrors of early twentieth-century life, at least in this country (Sabbath School lesson-book author David Tasker referred to this as an age of “optimism,” and I am still trying to get over my astonished reaction to his statement).

Sinclair sunk a fortune into his own version of a utopian community, one which failed. During and just after WWII, he wrote a series of 11 fictional works based on real people and events which is known as the “Lanny Budd” series. They were popular at the time, but the Wikipedia article notes that they are now out of print, and largely forgotten. I happened across one of them, Dragon’s Teeth, set in Europe during the war. The hero, Lanny Budd, affects to be an apolitical dandy, heir to an arms and aircraft manufacturer, and thus with personal access to all the Nazis up to and including Hitler. In truth, he is dedicated socialist and a  a secret agent working directly for Roosevelt (another socialist, and a real one; the initiator of “Social” Security. Even Republicans love Social Security). A contemporary “Time ” review describes this novel as “fun to read,” and I would agree. Some future time (maybe when we are in Heaven) will rediscover these entertaining books.

The King’s Social Security Card. When I was a kid I used to wonder of possessing one of these was the “Mark of the Beast.”

The last part of the second section of “To the Finland Station” covers the book’s third and last “deep thinker” about historical matters, Karl Marx, whose influence (for better or worse) is still with us. Vico was “thinker” one. Michelet, with access to the French archive, was the second. The third, Karl Marx, gleaned most of his raw data while parked in the British Museum Reading Room, information assimilated and processed while he was living in poverty in London. With the assistance of well-heeled Fredrich Engels, he produced “The Communist Manifesto,” in that ill-stared year of abortive proto-revolution, 1848. This was like the “Declaration of Independence” prelude to the more comprehensive “Das Kapital” (1867-1894), the “Constitution” of communism. The “Manifesto” is memorable for it’s opening and closing lines. Opener: “There is a specter haunting Europe; the specter of communism!” Closer: “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” Marx thought that the new order he envisioned would be birthed in his native Germany, and not in exotic Russia. If you seek further information about Marxism, it is easy to find, as there are 100,000+ academics still carrying around the Marxist torch.  If the world lasts much longer, perhaps their view will prevail in the political realm, as well as the academic. But it is based on theoretical whimsies, and not human nature. For the present, the rich keep getting richer. Bums still holler “Buddy! Have you got a dime?”

Marx’s version of history focuses upon the notion of “private property,” an institution he correctly discerns to have it’s roots in conquest, pillage, and plunder. The main emphasis of civil law is the protection of property. An enlightening verse from the Bible is Isaiah 5:8: “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!” This is as harsh an indictment of plutocrats as the fifth chapter of James, and a favorite of folk who want to put a leftist spin on scripture.

The Marx Brothers have cult followers, but I am not one of them. They are heavily indebted to Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Bible recognizes private property only insofar as we are responsible stewards for the true owner, God. First Chronicles 29:16 is just one citation of many: “O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.” I have yet to discover any moneyed people who are not fully convinced that they are the most virtuous of stewards. Ellen White writes that is reasonable for us to dwell in modest comfort, but that any surplus should be expended on good works. This advice usually falls on deaf ears. Consumption must be conspicuous, most believe. I have spent a large percentage of my life drawing the plans for houses that are three or four times larger than they need to be. It is mildly offensive, but not so offensive as to motivate me to advocate bloody insurrection in the way those excitable Russians did.

The key personalities of the Russian Revolution  are featured in the third, and final section of  “To the Finland Station,” namely Lenin and Trotsky. The revolution had been brewing for some time, with disaffection assuming several philosophical guises. Communism was the successful banner, but was unable to remain pure when subjected to the hard-to-kill Russian character and tradition. A pack of hopeful revolutionaries are the subject of Fyodor Dostoyevsky‘s novel “Demons ,” a title translated as “The Possessed” in the edition I read. Dostoyevsky found religion while incarcerated, just like Malcom X did. “Demons” is about Nihilism, and not Communism, but is a very great work of art, and illustrative of the Russian propensity to go overboard in everything they do.

Lenin was not an original thinker like the “philosophers of history,” but he was a man of action. Edmund Wilson’s reassessment of his book, indicated in the 1971 preface, reveals that even though Lenin had a hypnotic ability to bend men to his will, he was a most unpleasant person to be around. Everybody seems to love Leon Trotsky, however. He was a man who was just too good for this world, so Stalin’s goons tracked him down in Mexico, his place of exile, and assassinated him. This incident forms a big part of the plot of Saul Bellow’s early novel “The Adventures of Augie March.”

Not the original cover for “Animal Farm,” as it gives away the key to the allegory. An illustration by Daniel Mitchell.

The balance of “To the Finland Station ” is a about the consequences of attempting to build a world order on the back of a questionable philosophy (Marxism). The techniques introduced by Vico and Michelet are useful and predominately valid. Marx just took them down a road to nowhere. I will facetiously dispose of Lenin (the bad guy) and Trotsky (the good guy) with yet another literary reference, this time to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” The elementary school system I attended was very progressive, and they required us to read this allegory when we were just whippersnappers. I was not very bright, so the historical allusions were wasted on me. But the moral of the story was clear: the bad guys seem to have won the day! The truth of “the great controversy” approach supplies a much happier outcome. But to experience this happy outcome you need to “get with the program.”

I am not entirely apolitical, but the kingdom I seek is “not of this earth.” I am no great fan of many in temporal authority, even though Paul writes that these people are agents of God’s will, and will use their sword on me if I don’t do what they tell me to do. This is referred to as the “Divine Right of Kings.” First Samuel 12:12 states, in part, “…ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king.” There are not too many “good” kings in scripture. Jesus has instructed us to “render unto Caesar.” I can do that.  Here is all of Romans 13:7: “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” Honor is not every ruler’s natural due, as my extensive acquaintanceship with injustice has taught me. Regarding “fear,” I will cite Paul again (out of context, I am sure, as he is speaking of bondage to “sin,” and not “authority”) from Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Fear God, but tolerate mankind. We should love mean and pushy people. Some would prefer fear, but they by no means deserve the gratification of their preferences. Authority is not a “terror to good works,” but this because they don’t perceive  it as a threat to their power.

“The Temptation of Jesus” by Gustave Dore. My graphic commentary on the nature of temporal authority.

Ellen G. White expresses a much healthier and more balanced attitude than mine on the issue of “temporal authority.” We would do well to heed her advice, but if I lived in a part of the world where believers were persecuted by the state, I might find it necessary to adopt a less complaisant attitude. Paul seemed to be very well disposed toward the empire that executed him. The “Pax Romana” proved to be a nurturing environment (intermittently, at least) for the dissemination of the Christian faith. The United States of America is similarly “church friendly,” and is in the process of carrying an evangelical torch that Europe has now dropped (there being a few notable exceptions to this, however: a “remnant”).

In “Acts of the Apostles,” Ellen White writes this in Chapter 6, “At the Temple Gate ” (page 69): “We are not required to defy authorities. Our words, whether spoken or written, should be carefully considered, lest we place ourselves on record as uttering that which would make us appear antagonistic to law and order. We are not to say or do anything that would unnecessarily close up our way. We are to go forward in Christ’s name, advocating the truths committed to us. If we are forbidden by men to do this work, then we may say, as did the apostles, ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'”

“Daniel in the Lion’s Den,” by Peter Paul Rubens.

The last sentence in the above quote seems to leave the door ajar in the case of some irreconcilable conflict between spiritual and temporal obligations. If it ain’t broke, do not feel obliged to fix it. But when it does break (and it shall), I hope that I can summon the gumption to be like the enthusiasts mentioned in Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Despite it’s many virtues, I still feel as if I am living in Babylon. I am grateful to be out of the lion’s den, but Darius is not the one who preserved my life when I was down there. As I recall, he was the one who threw me in!

Adventist apologists laud the theological utility of “the great controversy” approach. The hand of God, and the opposing machinations of His adversary Satan are not only discernable in scripture, but in the entirety of human history after the Fall of man. There exists no steady improvement in the human condition, as Michelet (and Hegel , another influence on Marx) propose, but there exists a divinely appointed limit on the duration of our unpleasant current circumstances. Comfort comes from knowing that God is with us in the midst of trials and adversity. The lifestyle that  our Creator intended for us, lost in Eden, will be restored in Heaven. In the meantime, take heart from Christ’s promise that concludes Luke 21:28: “…look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” This is the invariable verse that Dr. David R. Reagan uses to sign off his informative TV program “Christ in Prophecy.” The enthusiastic presentation style of Dr. Reagan reminds me of the ebullient good nature of Adventist Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, as displayed in her series “Jesus 101.”

Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, effusive hostess of “Jesus 101.” Prior to the negative vote in San Antonio on women’s ordination, an article in “Adventist World” cited her as a good example of what a lady preacher can accomplish. My citation? Ellen G. White herself!

Acts Chapter Three

Second Corinthians 11 (Paul's Lament)

Judges

Routine Wednesday Post: 1/14/2016

Wednesday Food Pantry, Sermon, and a Song 

A bobble-head figurine of Atlanta Food Bank founder Bill Bolling that sits in the reception area. At the right, Customer Relations Representative David Brighton. Since 1979, half a billion pounds have been distributed

PRELIMINARIES:  A SUNDAY COMMUNITY SERVICE MEETING

A meeting of all Community Services volunteers from Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church was held last Sunday at the BMOC (Berean Outreach Ministry Center), located at 312 Hamilton E. Holmes Dr., Atlanta. The main church is across the street at 291. It was part of the required training mandated by the Atlanta Community Food Bank (and their overlords, the USDA) for people who will be distributing food to qualified recipients. It began with doughnuts, ran two hours, and was followed by lunch. It mainly consisted of common sense advice regarding nutrition, the safe handling of food, and proper techniques for dealing with the beneficiaries of the government administered, but locally delivered provisions. Volunteers who serve principally in the “Clothes Closet” also help with food distribution, so they were in attendance. Also present were the workers whose primary duty is to make sure that all of the paperwork is in order, both for the government and the Atlanta Food Bank.

The new Community Service Ministry Leader is Allyson Dozier. Heretofore I have misspelled her name, but I now have it right. She opened the meeting by telling the assembly that she has been involved in community service since she was 17, and acted as a public relations officer in NYC.  She noted that out of the 600 agencies that “partner” with the Atlanta Food Bank, Berean’s operation is the second largest. She said that she is still getting used to the process of buying food for 500 people a week on a shoestring budget. She told us that her predecessor, David Riley, had been trying to pass the reigns of his leadership on for the last two years, but the church was resistant to this transfer. The combination of new leadership, along with the re-colonization of the former and current distribution facility, has put everybody under a bit of pressure.

Your knowledgeable County Extension Agent, trapped in an uncomfortable predicament!

Several qualified instructors succeeded Sister Dozier with illustrated presentations. Patrice Parkinson, a student of “Food and Nutrition” (a common avocation for Adventist types) described some nutritional guidelines from the Fulton County Cooperative Extension. I am familiar with the country cousins of this agency. The Fulton County office inhabits a peculiar niche, as there are not many farms in this over-developed locale. If your boxwoods are blighted, I guess these are the people to consult. They are also helpful to home gardeners, and offer free nutritional guidance.

The graphic for the new set of USDA nutritional guidelines is no longer a pyramid. The pyramid form is fine for representing a hierarchy of food groups. The new graphic is simply a segmented plate, like the kind jails and schools utilize. The exclusion of “dairy” to a satellite location is a weak recognition that, used indiscriminately, this category can be a cesspool of cholesterol and fat. The tip of the old pyramid was inhabited by “fats, oils, and sweets.” The new program does not even recognize the existence of these malicious offenders. A nostalgic look at the old order can be found at this LINK, as well as a glimpse of a transitional pyramid that, graphically speaking, makes even less sense than the “MyPlate” image seen below. In attempting to describe the latest guidelines, a word is worth a thousand pictures.

This ubiquitous new graphic is a pretty pattern, but conveys very little information.

The “food safety” segment of the meeting was presented by Menia Chester, Director of Fulton County Cooperative Extension Service, and a member of Berean. She plays piano, flute, guitar, and also sings. Her first degree is in elementary education, so she displayed the enthusiasm and forbearance of a grade school teacher in her presentation. Her friendly admonitions? Wash your hands! Wear gloves! Jewelry was noted as a possible impediment to good sanitation, but this reference was slightly amusing to the listeners, as Adventists are supposed to eschew adornment. Laughter also accompanied director Dozier’s mention of “frozen ham” as a government approved commodity.

Former Community Services Ministry Leader Elder Irene Bowden delivered some friendly advice. She explained that the rules dictated that food distribution stick to a previously announced schedule, so the volunteers themselves needed to be punctual. She stressed the need for us to be identifiable to the public by wearing a uniform shirt (this is a stumbling block for me, as in my role my clothing gets filthy through the handling of dust-covered boxes and fresh produce with clods of dirt still clinging to it). She also emphasized the need for “good customer service,” as we are representing God. We needed to be able to graciously adapt ourselves to any situation. She quoted I Corinthians 9:22: “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

If we found ourselves confronted by someone in a bad humor (I testify that this happens too frequently), Elder Bowden implored us to heed the strategy found in Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” When I first started with the food pantry, I witnessed the arrival of a customer whose belligerence was uncontrolled. A huge amount of cajolery and diplomacy was expended on this individual, just to get him his food, and then get him out the door. The episode ended well enough, much to the relief of the staff. After he was gone, one of the male volunteers exclaimed, “I was afraid I was going to have to open up a can of Jesus on him!”

Nutritionists consider this pseudo-food to be a “meat,” but that is a lot like the time that McDonalds claimed ketchup was a vegetable.

 WEDNESDAY COMMUNITY SERVICES FOOD DISTRIBUTION

I received the unwelcome news today that there is a possibility that I may be required to work late at the Food Pantry, at least on alternating weeks, requiring me to miss Wednesday night Prayer Meeting. The 7 p.m. starting time has been my excuse, for the last year, to drop whatever I was doing and go to church. I would miss these services, as fellow attendees represent the 2% of the Berean membership that are inveterate church-goers, and that is a group I aspire to belong to. As I complained before, new responsibilities with the Food Pantry are so exhausting that I now have trouble focusing on Wednesday’s sermons, and this is obvious in the slipshod synopsis below.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank deals with 600 local agencies, but as proudly noted before, Berean Outreach Ministries is the second largest customer. A lot of institutions and homeless shelters do business with the Food Bank, and I suspect one of these is chief recipient. The Food Bank has a fleet of trucks, and will make deliveries to your agency, but Berean is blessed to have a truck dedicated to this service. It holds ten pallets of food, and makes two runs a week to the Food Bank. When David Riley headed the operation, the truck would sometimes be used to fetch leftover food from some of the huge, catered affairs that are held in Atlanta. I don’t know if any current volunteers would be willing to continue to visit these venues, as they often don’t wrap up until after midnight.

A view from the volunteer side of the Berean Food Pantry Wednesday distribution. It exhausts me just to look at it.

In addition to the food that has been ordered by the church (16 cents a pound), some free food is available from the Food Bank. Today, two bonus pallets were donated to the church. One had a thousand boxes of “Kraft Macaroni and Cheese,” and the other was divided between “Capri Sun” (OK, I guess), and cans of “Planter’s Nuts” (fantastic, in my opinion: residue of the holiday season). As an additional service, the Food Bank has a room of miscellaneous items that are free for the taking, but the customer is limited to two “wagonloads.” Last week potato gnocchi was available. This week, romaine lettuce and fresh mushrooms were offered. All of this stuff must be unloaded at the church, utilizing a hydraulic lift on the back of the truck. I have inherited the burden of this labor from the retired twins. It is physically demanding. I spend the majority of my week just trying to recuperate from it. Oh! Poor pitiful me!

Today’s volunteer experience had it’s ups and downs. An up: there was an awful lot of food available to the public, more than some could comfortably carry. A down: there was a serious shortage of bags to put it in. The unusual foodstuff of the day was a few hundred pounds of ground deer meat. There was confusion as to whether Adventists were allowed to consume deer, as it is seldom encountered. I mentioned something from Deuteronomy (12:5, it turns out) about “as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.”  I was not sure if a deer was in the same class as these. Nobody else was, either. I have some opinions about folk who kill more than they can personally consume, and then make themselves feel better about it by donating the surplus to charity. I ought not share these opinions, but it seems as if I just did.

23 & 3/7 pallets of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice at the Atlanta Food Bank. 154 cases per pallet. 12 bottles per case = 43,296 bottles of juice.

SERMON: "I'M GONNA GET IT ALL BACK!"

Tonight was day 7 of the “Ten Days of Prayer” at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta. Pastor Austin Humphreys tied his remarks into tonight’s theme, “family.” He bookended reflections on Genesis Chapter 22 (the interrupted sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham) with incidents from his own life. Note: Pastor Austin Humphreys is a “PK” (preacher’s kid).

When Pastor Humphreys was young, his father would go out of town to preach. Young Humphreys would implore him to “bring me a toy” when elder Humphreys returned home. The toy would be similar, or even identical to one given to the pastor’s little brother. The little brother would invariably covet Pastor Humphrey’s toy more than his own, and start whining about it. The pastor’s father would relieve the situation by telling him, “son, give the toy to your brother. You are going to get it back!” This reminiscence is akin to the kind of faith Abraham displayed when he was instructed to offer up Isaac. He was confident that his son would not be gone for good.

Pastor Humphreys emphasized how long Abraham and Sarah had waited for the “child of promise” (Paul’s term for Isaac in Galatians 4:28), and how his birth resulted in a “strong family in the Lord.” The pastor noted, however, that “oftentimes a blessing is accompanied by a hardship.” The pastor remarked upon the tendency of some to try to negotiate with God, placing some things that they are reluctant to lose as being “off limits” from the table of sacrifice. But this was not the attitude that Abraham displayed. Abraham had been promised by God that he would “father many nations,” so he had no qualms about possible consequences arising from honoring God’s unusual request concerning his son.

An old engraving of Abraham and Isaac, from a Christian image site. That is all I know. On Sabbath, I intend t use the depiction by Ghiberti on the Florence Baptistery doors.

When Abraham arrives at the place of sacrifice, he orders his attendants to “Abide ye here with the ass.” The pastor said that, in order for Abraham to follow God’s instructions, it was necessary for him to separate himself from those who may profess to have one’s best interests at heart, but are, in reality, thwarting the purposes of God. The pastor tied this comment into the theme of “family” by saying that when God moves in your family, it is often restricted to the immediate family circle. He admonished us not to put “temporary people” in “permanent places.” The attendants of Abraham would have, no doubt, tried to talk Abraham out of the proposed sacrifice.

Pastor Humphreys told us that some scholars feel that Abraham believed that, having killed his son, God would then proceed to raise him from the dead. Our Tuesday Sabbath School lesson this week deals with the very episode that Pastor Humphreys was relating. I had a hunch that Ellen G. White might be one of the scholars the pastor referred to. Sure enough, on page 151 of “Patriarchs and Prophets,” in the chapter 13, entitled “The Test of Faith,” E.G. White writes, “Isaac was the child of a miracle, and could not the power that gave him life restore it?” All of this foreshadows Jesus, but this is stating the obvious. (“Breath of Life” ex-spokesman, and ex-Berean Lead Pastor Walter Pearson used to often refer to “a writer I admire.” Even before I was an Adventist, I knew who he meant.)

Walter Pearson, former “Breath of Life” spokesman. This former Berean Lead Pastor has a vocabulary that just won’t quit.

The pastor, invoking “family” again, conjectured that the upbringing of Isaac instilled in him the kind of faith that allowed him to calmly acquiesce  to his father’s unusual instructions. Isaac was not a child at the time of this incident, but a young man who was capable of resisting if he so chose. Abraham himself was not hesitant about following divine instructions, and it took God’s quick intervention to stay his hand.

Pastor Humphreys informed us that when we are “obedient to God, the answers will arrive like the ram caught in a thicket.” The pastor stated that “you have to be willing to ask and expect the (ostensibly) impossible from God, and concluded his remarks with another anecdote about his own family. Pastor Humphreys was still a child when his father was called to be pastor at Oakwood (this was news to me, and a pretty big deal: the current pastor at Oakwood is former Berean Lead Pastor Carlton P. Byrd). Pastor Humphreys and his family were anxious about relocating, but he said that “when you allow God in your home, nothing should stand in your way!” And, even though his father died a scant two years later, the pastor would not be where he was today without this providential introduction into the spiritually supercharged ambience of Oakwood. The move was one that the widow and children of the late pastor would benefit from. I have to end this summary with Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Just filler material, the kind of thing I put on FaceBook when I have time: a homeless person snoozing in an entry to the exotic Fox Theater. The mission is two blocks away, the “Peachtree and Pine” shelter.

NEW SONG: “CAIN AND ABEL”

I was getting a jump on this week’s Sabbath School lessons last Saturday on the way to church. The Sunday lesson covers Cain and Abel, and how their well-known history reflects the great controversy. I penned a song about them that is without much artistic merit, but at least it includes all of the major episodes of the laconically documented history of the brothers.

Cain and Abel

Sabbath Sermon, Sabbath School, and a Song

Pastor Fredrick Russell, captured from this Sabbath’s  video, a rare moment when his hands were in repose.

The sermon this Sabbath at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, was delivered by lead Pastor Fredrick Russell. It represents the second installment in a series of talks based on the Book of Nehemiah, “Rebuilding the Ruins.” The title of today’s installment is “What God Thinks / What God Does.” As usual, here is a link to the ENTIRE SEVICE. Pastor Russell’s sermon begins at time marker 1:17:45. Two pre-sermon songs by the choir commence at time marker1:02:30. Luther Washington II relinquished his spot at the organ in order to direct the choir today. He is kind of a perfectionist. His classical predilection is evident in the first number. The second number is like a “torch song” interpretation of Psalm 23, and not nearly as “Washingtonian.”

A brief summary of the sermon may be found below some relatively lengthy marginalia concerning the Sabbath School lesson. The sermon served a threefold purpose:

1. Lessons in the importance and efficacy of prayer, using Nehemiah’s (and Daniel’s) prayer life as an example for us to emulate. As stated last week, this relates it to the church’s current emphasis on prayer.
2. General educational material about the rarely highlighted Book of Nehemiah. A parallel between the restoration of Jerusalem’s defenses, and our own defense against the snares of Satan was mentioned last week, and, tangentially, this week as well.
3. The lamentable state of Berean’s physical plant. If this is not applicable to your life, you may mentally substitute “state of my soul” for church repair references, a dual-purpose message akin to the “dual prophecy” discussed in the December 27 Sabbath School lesson, “The Fall in Heaven.”

SOME COGENT REMARKS BY A YOUNG SCHOLAR

As I was walking into the main sanctuary, a sincere young Adventist (name not known to me, and not on the video) was making a brief, but very topical speech to the early arrivals. He expressed his support for the “Spirit of Prophecy,” and then told us that his remarks were not intended to advocate any particular political position.

The speaker mentioned some recent, and controversial remarks by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Justice spoke a day or two ago at a Catholic High School, a speech that may be fully scrutinized at this LINK. It emphasizes the relationship between church and state in this country, a relationship that Ellen White expressed concern about. But the main Antonin Scalia reference the speaker brought to our attention were some insensitive, and inaccurate, opinions the Justice uttered early in December regarding the capabilities of minorities to function, scholastically, on a level playing field. This New York Times LINK should refresh your memory. I am not virulently anti-Catholic, but the remarks reminded me of dozens of similar displays of ignorant prejudice by the British author G.K. Chesterton, a convert to Catholicism, like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene (who were not, however, idiots like Chesterton).

The mother church of the Society of Jesuits, “Il Gesu” in Rome. The “consoles” at either side of the nave made their first appearance anywhere on this façade.

The Society of Jesus could be considered the elite of the Catholic hierarchy, and the current pope has a Jesuit background. The young speaker at Berean this morning alluded to Antonin Scalia’s Jesuit training. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was a good Jesuit. I consider John McLaughlin a bad Jesuit. There is such a thing as being too conservative (in the current, politically compromised meaning of the term), and social justice (and subsequently, African-American interest) is better served by the Democrats. But, alas, the Democrat tent is too big for comfort. In Europe one of the major parties is named the Christian Democrats, inaugurated as a Catholic endeavor, but grown up into something more ecumenical. They are “moderate conservatives” like myself, and not “rabid conservatives” like yet another Catholic I will link, Patrick Buchanan. The Wikipedia article calls him a “paleoconservative,” not a very objective sounding name, and akin to my rabies analogy.

This morning’s speaker referred to Scalia as America’s foremost “conservative intellectual.” I am just perverse enough to call this usage an “oxymoron.” Most progress in this country has been made by “limousine liberals.” The speaker noted that there were currently no Protestants on the Supreme Court. This statement would seem to contradict the speaker’s inferred preference for a Jeffersonian separation of church and state. Justice, like vengeance, is best served cold, without denominational taint, and the dispassionate execution of it is a worthy ideal. I am sure that the reality is quite the opposite of “ideal,” however.

The Adventist agenda regarding these matters is partially displayed in Chapter 21 of “The Great Controversy,” entitled A Warning Rejected (on the deterioration of denominations, not just Catholicism), and in Chapter 35, Liberty of Conscience Threatened (touching on the dangers of church-state fusion). I am getting on in years. Every time I hear of some new calamity, I find myself in reluctant agreement with Ecclesiastes 1:9″ “…there is no new thing under the sun.” What will be new is “a new heaven and a new earth.”

Here is one last Jesuit reference, one that is probably already known to everyone. It is a famous quote from Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus: “We should always be prepared so as never to err to believe that what I see as white is black, if the hierarchic Church defines it thus” (from Spiritual Exercises, 1548). This is the quintessential example of “blind loyalty.”

Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer, a draftsman without peer. From 1507. More labor intensive than the following version by Rembrandt.

SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON ON THE FALL OF ADAM

This week’s Sabbath School lesson, “Crises in Eden,” is introduced by some observations about the lamentable conditions of our present world. Author Dr. David Tasker, a New Zealander, mentions a period of optimism at the beginning of the twentieth century which is not matched by attitudes now, here at the commencement of the twenty-first century. I imagine early twentieth century optimism evaporated when the world went to war in 1914.

I just acquired a biography of H.L. Mencken, one I don’t really intend to read, as the influential Mr. Mencken does not care for Christians very much. He does not really care for anyone at all, for that matter, but he was an early champion of the realism that novelist and fellow-journalist Theodore Dreiser pioneered. Menken praised Dreiser as being “unafraid of facing the ugliness of modern life,” and approvingly spoke of his book “Sister Carrie” as a “harsh portrayal of lost souls caught in the web of life.” Times were pretty bad at the start of the twentieth century, but few were keeping a record of it. The Author of this quarter’s lesson plan, Dr. Tasker, is from a  universe that is far removed from the teeming slums of turn-of-the-last-century America. My sister spent some time in New Zealand, and described it as a kind of paradise, insulated from rest of the world. Note: they are not interested in you immigrating to their island nation! You are a serpent! Stay away from Eden!
Speaking of Eden. events that transpired there shortly after the creation form the substance of this week’s lessons. I had hoped that “The Great Controversy” would prove to be a perfect compliment to this quarter’s theme of “Rebellion and Redemption,” but the current lessons are best illuminated by reading chapter 3 of “Patriarchs and Prophets,” titled “The Temptation and Fall.” It would not be a digression to stop and scrutinize the chapter.

Another version of “Adam and Eve,” an etching by Rembrandt. He worked more than a century after Albrecht Durer did.

Ellen G. White says that Satan’s primary motive for wrecking the happiness of the “holy pair,” Adam and Eve, was envy. He had lost his bliss (subject of last week’s lessons), and now needed company in his misery. As an example of prophecy, we can look to Ellen White’s statement on page 53 to the effect that angelic associates of Adam and Eve had warned them to be wary of Satan’s devices. This scenario would infer that Eve sinned not through ignorance (entrapped by the Creator), but willfully, and heedlessly. This is a theologically gratifying insight. I believe it. Ellen White states that Satan’s field of operation was confined to the vicinity of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Eve, in this dangerous locale without Adam, was seduced by Satan’s provoking in her a “spirit of irreverent curiosity, a restless, inquisitive desire to penetrate the secrets of divine wisdom and power.” Here is a LINK that kills two birds with one stone. It addresses both the folly of Eve’s solo expedition to the tree, and the “desire to penetrate the secrets of divine wisdom and power.” It is an article on Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.”

The linked article above explains the “magic circle” Doctor Faustus is standing in as isolating him from rest of humanity as he summons Mephistopheles.

Ellen White tells us that Eve believed the lies that Satan told her, but this did not save her from the penalty of sin. By believing Satan, Eve disbelieved God. The subsequent sentences on page 55 make a highly “Adventist” point that is applicable to all times, and not just to the times the author wrote in. “In the judgement men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity to learn what is truth.” My book of the week is I John. It says at least a dozen times that we are to “keep the commandments.” Many have neglected to read it. Many who have choose to not believe it. Ellen White writes, “Whatever contradicts God’s Word, we may be sure proceeds from Satan.”

Ellen G. White writes that Adam was crestfallen when he found out what Eve had done, partaking of forbidden fruit. In a description reminiscent of the tragic end of “Romeo and Juliet,” Adam mistakenly felt that it would be better to join his mate in her fallen state than to go on living without her. His bite of fruit initially elated him, but quickly degenerated into a “state of terror.” The pair scrambled to cover their shame, provoking God’s memorable inquiry, “Who told thee that thou wast naked?” This LINK describes a giant flap that transpired here in Atlanta when the former Fire Chief, Kelvin Cohran, published a book by this title. He paid a hefty price for stating his heartfelt views. The linked LA Times article describes Atlanta as the “modern capital of the Bible Belt.” As a resident, I can only say that I wish this were the case.

Be careful where you point that thing!

Who was at fault for the big transgression? The parties involved got busy pointing the finger at others. Adam blamed “the woman,” and made this statement infinitely worse by adding : “…whom thou gavest to be with me,” in effect passing the buck to God Himself. Eve blamed “the serpent.” Ellen G. White remarks that “the spirit of self-justification originated in the father of lies.” This trait is manifested in all the sons and daughters of Adam, ultimately devolving upon God, making even “His blessings an occasion of murmuring against Him.”

God meted out some justice. The serpent would go from being the most beautiful and admired of creatures to being “the most groveling and detested of them all, feared and hated by both man and beast.” Three possible exceptions might be hogs, mongooses, and secretary-birds, which consider serpent flesh a delicacy. Ellen White makes an observation about Eve’s mandated future subservience to Adam that was ahead of it’s time: “In the creation God made her the equal of Adam.” Subservience may have been a consequence of the primacy of her sin. Still looking out for the fairer sex, Ellen White writes that, though growing out of the result of sin, the woman’s subjection would have proved a blessing to them, but man’s “abuse of the supremacy thus given him has too often rendered the lot of woman very bitter and left her life a burden.” In what may have been meant as a criticism of suffragettes, Ellen White laments women who, “In their desire for a higher sphere, may have sacrificed true womanly dignity and nobility of character. and have left undone the very work that Heaven appointed them” (page 59).

Consummate suffragette, but It may not be a Pankhurst ( Emmeline, Christabel and Sylvia ), English pioneers. A suffragette was so committed she threw herself under the King’s horse at Epsom Derby!

More consequences: “in the sweat of thy face shalt thy eat bread.” Nature was in subjection to Adam so long as he was in the will of God, but Ellen White notes (and I have read this elsewhere) that “when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule.” This rigorous new regimen of toil and care would be part of “God’s great plan for man’s recovery from the ruin and degradation of sin” (page 60). Ellen G. White counters critics who declare that God’s punishment of “original sin” went overboard. She, like Paul, deems it a light affliction. II Corinthians 4:17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Ellen White states that the “fall” even caused the weather to change, requiring the provision, by God, of coats of skin. The author does not mention it, but I have heard several preachers refer to these “coats of skin” as being a result of the first cases of “killing” in history. Trees lost their leaves for the first time, presenting an image redolent of death, says Ellen White. She concludes her chapter on a bright note, citing the soon descent of a “new heaven and a new earth,” promised in Revelation 21:1.

Fifteen minutes invested in reading chapter 3 of “Patriarchs and Prophets” managed to cover 95% of the ground that the weekly lesson covers.

This image says “death” to Ellen G. White. To me it says “yardwork.”

Sunday’s lesson, “Three Blessings,” cites God’s blessing of “sea creatures and birds,” “Adam and Eve,” and the provision of a blessing known as the “Sabbath.” Augustine’s “City of God, Book XI, Chapter 31: Of the Seventh Day, in Which Completeness and Repose are Celebrated,”  has this comment on the number seven: “that three is the first whole number that is odd, four the first that is even, and of these two, seven is composed.” This chapter, along with chapter 8 of the same book (also on the Sabbath), is not very focused. I had expected greater things.

Monday’s lesson, “The Test at the Tree,” is a set of variations on the theme of “separation.” Dr. Tasker is speaking conceptually, but the question at the foot of the page invokes a more literal usage of the word “separation,” as used in the books of the law: “What are some things in your life that you definitely need to separate yourself from?” The answer, from Leviticus and Numbers, is “uncleanness.”

Tuesday and Wednesday lessons focus on “The Fall.” I have already cited Ellen G, White on this occurrence. Dr. Tasker refers to Genesis 3:7, where Adam and Eve’s “eyes of them were both opened.” Ellen White describes this as a kind of elevated, but transient, state of consciousness. I was reminded of Jonathan, enjoying a “taste of honey,” and being enlightened. I bought a book of Medieval Miracle Plays this morning. One produced by the York, England guild of Coopers in 1415, entitled “The Fall of Man.” refers to the serpent as “The Worm.” God curses “The Worm” in the play as follows:

Ah, wicked worm, woe worth thee ay! For thou on this manner Hast made them such affray, My malison have thou here With all the might I may. And on thy womb then shalt thy glide, and be ay full of enmity To all mankind on ilka side; And earth it shall thy sustenance be To eat and drink.

The week’s lessons conclude with “The Consequence.” For this lesson no booklet is required. We need simply look around us if we wish to know of “The Consequences.” Dr. Tasker mentions Genesis 3:15 as a reference to a solution to “The Fall,” a seed of the woman who shall bruise the head of the serpent. Dr. Tasker cites 3:21 as indicative of an animal sacrifice, foreshadowing the Cross. As I noted, Ellen White did not refer to this foreshadowing in “Patriarchs and Prophets,” but did say that a degenerate climate necessitated protection from the elements. She does tie this wardrobe to Christ, however, in this White Estate LINK.

“Nehemiah Visits the Ruins of Jerusalem’s Walls” by Gustave Dore, a very Romantic scene.

A LUDICROUSLY SHORT SUMMARY OF TODAY”S SERMON

Pastor Fredrick Russell prefaced today’s sermon, “What God Thinks / What God Does” with some personal reflections on prayer technique. He said that while out west recently, up in the skies, over the mountains, he thought of the prayer life of Daniel. It was so disciplined, God Himself would drop by. He said that a lot of us are so self-centered these days, that God gets excluded from our affairs. God finally gets consulted when it is usually late in the game, sometimes too late. The pastor told of recent difficulties with a slow leak at his house. The wooden basement floor buckled severely due to the moisture. He got in a tizzy about the situation, seeking advice and estimates, but then eventually got God involved in the crises. The pastor reflected that, in retrospect, it would have been a good idea to get God in on the ground floor of the dilemma.

The text for the sermon, from Nehemiah, is from Chapter 2, verses 17,18, & 19. After his secret, moonlight reconnaissance of the broken walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah informs his hitherto rather complacent fellow Jerusalemites of his intention to rebuild. This is what the King of Babylon, current master of the Hebrews, had authorized Nehemiah to do. The locals agree that it would be a good idea. My soon-to-vanish song “Go To the Ant” has a line from Nehemiah 4:6: “…the people had a mind to work.” But opposition existed in the form of three powerful local adversaries. I understood the identity of “Geshem the Arab,” but was educated when Pastor Russell told us that the other two (Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite) were Jewish. My view is that the arrival of Nehemiah in their midst, out of the blue, and bearing authority delegated to him by Babylon, represented a threat to their cushy status quo.

Last week’s sermon highlighted the “travailing prayer” of Nehemiah when first informed of Jerusalem’s sorry plight. This week, the fact that the balance of the Book of Nehemiah documents a continuous prayerful connection of the author with God was noted. Nehemiah’s prayers were, according to the sermon and the handy notes provided us:

• Daring (I was reminded of three times at the end of the book, where Nehemiah cites his virtuous activity to God, asking that the Lord “remember it,” but this kind of presumption is not at all what Pastor Russell was referring to).
• Defiant (against enemies, spiritual and physical; the later would soon come in for scrutiny).
• Disciplined (in the manner of Daniel).

The pastor said that Nehemiah did not make a move without consulting God. In bold type the printed notes to the sermon stated: “What God Thinks and What God Does Matters More Than What Anyone Else In the World Thinks Or Does.” If this is true (and none disputed this), then God should be consulted at the beginning of any activity. You need to ask him to be the one to inaugurate an action. The whole church had, in connection with a fitness campaign, earlier sung the juvenile song that starts with “I May Never March In the Infantry.” Pastor Russell was, in effect, advocating that we let God lay down an “artillery” barrage, before we, ourselves get embroiled in a skirmish (my weak metaphor).

…Artillery hard at work. My favorite character in “War and Peace” was the affable and self-effacing artillery officer who lost an arm by the end of the book.

The pastor provided four points in the sermon outline which encapsulated the situation of the Jerusalemites. The keywords are (1) Trouble! (2) Ruins! (3) Burned! (4) Rebuild! A quote from the relevant verses of Nehemiah, spoken by the people: “let us start building” (NIV), or in superior King James parlance: “Let us rise up and build.” At this stage, the “Triple Trouble,” as the notes designate it, tried to block progress. The pastor was subtly introducing the secondary theme of the sermon at this time, the urgent need for some major repair on the church building. He quickly cited:

• Bad downstairs bathroom conditions.
• Pews coming apart at the seams.
• A kitchen that is “dark, gritty, and grimy.”
• Cracked asphalt in the parking lot.
• Puddles on the walk in front of the church (more precisely, one mega-puddle)

A figure of 1.5 million came and went so fast I barely had time to catch it. I stared at it there. sitting in my hand, and remarked to myself what a reasonable little figure it was. If there really are 4000 Bereans, that requires just $375 from each one of them to do the job. But the pastor warned against the inevitable “naysayers,” likening them to Nehemiah’s adversaries in Jerusalem.

An image that can be appropriately inserted just about anywhere. It represents “truth in advertising,” for the church in fact “Welcomes You.”

This painless digression into the temporal realm yielded, at the conclusion of the sermon, to a restatement of it’s primary emphasis on prayer. The pastor encouraged the congregation to make a commitment to pray “three times a day,” the frequency that Daniel employed for his prayers. Daniel also prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, but the pastor omitted this refinement. My unfinished song “What Prayer Can Do” mentions this direction, but it is most confusing if you are not familiar with the Book of Daniel. Muslims face Mecca, and offer “Salah” five times a day. Muslim “Zakat,” their version of tithing, is just 2.5%.

Prayer concluded the sermon. Pastor Russell spoke a collective desire to commit to praying “morning, noon, and night.” He enjoined us not only to learn how to pray to God, but how to “listen to God” as well.

LAST, AND DEFINATELY LEAST, THE NEW SONG “FIRST JOHN”

This “Christian Rock” song is really just fast “Gospel” with a standard Boogie-Woogie foundation. This description applies to a lot of primitive rock-n-roll. The important admonitions to us found in the First Epistle of John are distilled into two principle categories: Neighborly Love, and Obedience to God’s Commandments. These two points deserve a better presentation that I can provide. As I state elsewhere, neighborly love is a universal theme for Christian denominations. All may profess obedience to God’s commandments, but not that many follow through.

I am currently researching the beliefs of the Church of Christ, a committed group of believers if ever there was one, and who would consider it an insult if you called their confederacy a denomination. If it is not in the New Testament. they don’t want a thing to do with it. This turns out to be the reason they don’t approve of musical instruments in their worship services. A weak post on the topic is forthcoming. They are convinced that they are the true “church.” But they seem to be ignoring an awful lot of the Good Book.

Cat has been known to show up at the end of these posts in order to make some kind of inappropriate comment, but today she is too complacent to pass judgement on anything