"Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens...lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.." Long before the judgement of dispersion fell upon them, men already had a premonition, dim fear that they might break apart and that their languages might be confused. They sensed the hidden presence of centrifugal, dispersive force.
"This arises from the fact that they have suffered something that might be called the 'loss of center' and that now they have banished God from their midst they no longer have anything that binds them to each other. Always the trend is the same: wherever God has been deposed, some substitute point has to be created to bind men together in some fashion or other...
"All of these are substitute ties, conclusive attempt to replace the lost center with a synthetic center. But this attempt --- is doomed to failure ...
"... In other words, if man is no longer subject to God, then he is under the domination of his instincts, his opportunism, his ambition, his will to power. The day may come when he will stick to nothing if it seems opportune to him. For every one of us has some kind of lord, we are driven to something - if not God, then an idol, if not from above, then from below. That's why I (Thielicke) am afraid of a man who has no ties and am on my guard against him.
"I believe that Hitler was just such an unbound, authority-less person and that we can apply to him (Hilter) Jacob Burckhardt once said of Napoleon, that he was the personification of absence of guaranty. For him (Napoleon) there were no binding ties, humanitarian, legal, or religious The very moment he signed a treaty he was prepared to break it, if this served his interest. For Napoleon thought only of interest and not of any tie of loyalty. of any obligation or authoritative court of appeal."
"All of these are substitute ties, conclusive attempts to replace the lost center with a synthetic center."
How much of our political energy, international relations, our political party pandering, egocentric maneuvering is due to the loss of our subjection to God and thereby placing us on the domination of our instincts etc.
Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin, you name them, even some of the current people who live out opportunism, will to power, ambition, instincts ---- no ties, no loyalty except to their political philosophies and party line!
.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Two Beautiful Ladies
In the past 2 weeks I've attended services for two beautiful Ladies - Josie Babcock and Kay Velker.
Josie the wife of Bryce and the mother of Matt and Mike - grandmother of 3 year old , one of the absolute joys of her life.
Mike and his wife are missionaries in Romania.
Matt and Sharon live in the Seattle area where Matt is now an artist working with iron - gave up that architeck stuff.
At the funeral service Mike, Matt and Sharon wonderfully spoke about Josie. Sharon, the daughter-in-law, opened the door into Josie's heart. Sharon found freedom in being with and around Josie. The freedom to really call her Mom - not out of duty, but for the joy of Mom!
Mike hugged his dad all through the service - only later did I realize the hugs were as much for his own sake as for his dad. The lose of Mom hits everyone so differently!
During the reception I saw a young lady standing off to the side so Wilma and I with Patty G. engaged her in conversation. This conversation also gave us a glimpse of Josie's heart. Having been diagnosed with cancer the young woman (I'll call her Ruth) contacted Josie and they developed a friendship out of their mutual struggle with cancer - they never had the chance to meet. This professor at the University of Michigan, born in Germany, lives just around the corner from Westminster Presbyterian Church so she came to the service in order to honor her friend whom she only knew via telephone or email..
Josie touched many lives at Westminster, and at the University Reformed Church, where we met Josie and Bryce probably 40 years ago. At the URC they influenced our kids and those of many other families.
Kay Velker - her memorial service was yesterday st the Church of The Living God in Traverse City, Michigan.
Kay was the daughter of Henry Velker a member of the Thursday morning group in Ann Arbor for at least 40 years starting in the early 1960s. On occasion Henry would bring Kay to sit in on.group, and then Henry brought his son Lou to the group and now Lou is the most faithful of all of us. Last Thursday Lou shared about Kay's death.
Henry and Anne - Glen, Kay, Marie and Lou - the Velker family an Ann Arbor legacy which is still growing. Let me share a little of what Kay's sister Marie ( Ree) wrote, "How do I begin to share a 68 year relaltionship with my sister, Kay? AMAZING! she was on the pedestal from the get go. We always called ourselves 'the meat', our two brothers were just the bread on the outside! We shared a bedroom when growing up and never argued, which was unusual in most normal families. When she was in college, I loved talking with her boyfriends on the phone (I was in H.S.).
"Our relationship got even better when she sent me the book The Cross and The Switchblade by David Wilkerson and shared her experience accepting Christ as her Savior. She wanted me to be a 'sister' in all ways and to do the same. If it was good enough for Kay, it was good enough for me! She loved me into eternity."
Hearing about and watching Kay over the year reminded me of another lady who never married, in the conventional sense, Mother Teresa. Both of these ladies were "married" to Jesus Christ and lived their devotion to him by serving others. Mother Teresa started in Calcutta and went around the world. Kay started in Cincinnati and served for the rest of life in Traverse City with trips to serve at several places around the world including two tours on Mercy Ships as a volunteer.
In a book titled -Mother Teresa - Her people and Her Work - Desmond Doig quoted Mother Teresa, "The vows we take make our religious life. Our vow of Chastity is nothing but our undivided love for Christ in chastity, then we proceed to the freedom of poverty - poverty is nothing but freedom. And that total surrender is obedience. If I belong to God, if I belong to Christ, then He must be able to use me. That is obedience. Then we give whole-hearted service to the poor. The is service. They complete each other. That is our life."
Two Beautiful Ladies both of whom, in their own unique ways, lived and walked as did Mother Teresa.
Mercy Ships
P.O. Box1930
Garden Valley, TX. 75771
This was Kay's request for any memorial contributions
Josie the wife of Bryce and the mother of Matt and Mike - grandmother of 3 year old , one of the absolute joys of her life.
Mike and his wife are missionaries in Romania.
Matt and Sharon live in the Seattle area where Matt is now an artist working with iron - gave up that architeck stuff.
At the funeral service Mike, Matt and Sharon wonderfully spoke about Josie. Sharon, the daughter-in-law, opened the door into Josie's heart. Sharon found freedom in being with and around Josie. The freedom to really call her Mom - not out of duty, but for the joy of Mom!
Mike hugged his dad all through the service - only later did I realize the hugs were as much for his own sake as for his dad. The lose of Mom hits everyone so differently!
During the reception I saw a young lady standing off to the side so Wilma and I with Patty G. engaged her in conversation. This conversation also gave us a glimpse of Josie's heart. Having been diagnosed with cancer the young woman (I'll call her Ruth) contacted Josie and they developed a friendship out of their mutual struggle with cancer - they never had the chance to meet. This professor at the University of Michigan, born in Germany, lives just around the corner from Westminster Presbyterian Church so she came to the service in order to honor her friend whom she only knew via telephone or email..
Josie touched many lives at Westminster, and at the University Reformed Church, where we met Josie and Bryce probably 40 years ago. At the URC they influenced our kids and those of many other families.
Kay Velker - her memorial service was yesterday st the Church of The Living God in Traverse City, Michigan.
Kay was the daughter of Henry Velker a member of the Thursday morning group in Ann Arbor for at least 40 years starting in the early 1960s. On occasion Henry would bring Kay to sit in on.group, and then Henry brought his son Lou to the group and now Lou is the most faithful of all of us. Last Thursday Lou shared about Kay's death.
Henry and Anne - Glen, Kay, Marie and Lou - the Velker family an Ann Arbor legacy which is still growing. Let me share a little of what Kay's sister Marie ( Ree) wrote, "How do I begin to share a 68 year relaltionship with my sister, Kay? AMAZING! she was on the pedestal from the get go. We always called ourselves 'the meat', our two brothers were just the bread on the outside! We shared a bedroom when growing up and never argued, which was unusual in most normal families. When she was in college, I loved talking with her boyfriends on the phone (I was in H.S.).
"Our relationship got even better when she sent me the book The Cross and The Switchblade by David Wilkerson and shared her experience accepting Christ as her Savior. She wanted me to be a 'sister' in all ways and to do the same. If it was good enough for Kay, it was good enough for me! She loved me into eternity."
Hearing about and watching Kay over the year reminded me of another lady who never married, in the conventional sense, Mother Teresa. Both of these ladies were "married" to Jesus Christ and lived their devotion to him by serving others. Mother Teresa started in Calcutta and went around the world. Kay started in Cincinnati and served for the rest of life in Traverse City with trips to serve at several places around the world including two tours on Mercy Ships as a volunteer.
In a book titled -Mother Teresa - Her people and Her Work - Desmond Doig quoted Mother Teresa, "The vows we take make our religious life. Our vow of Chastity is nothing but our undivided love for Christ in chastity, then we proceed to the freedom of poverty - poverty is nothing but freedom. And that total surrender is obedience. If I belong to God, if I belong to Christ, then He must be able to use me. That is obedience. Then we give whole-hearted service to the poor. The is service. They complete each other. That is our life."
Two Beautiful Ladies both of whom, in their own unique ways, lived and walked as did Mother Teresa.
Mercy Ships
P.O. Box1930
Garden Valley, TX. 75771
This was Kay's request for any memorial contributions
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Words of encouragement
Old African proverb: "Asking is not stealing!" from Marv Bowers - Colorado Springs. Missionary pilot in Africa for many years.
Old Chinese (?) proverb: "When the student is ready, a teacher will come!" from some friends in China
New Bullard proverb: "A word of encouragement may open a 'stuck' door!" from having a blogging door opened by a word and act of encouragement. Now to learn how to close a door and let some thoughts germinate before sending them into the world.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
First Chapters in the Bible
HOW THE WORLD BEGAN by Helmut Thielicke, (1908 - 1986). Pastor and teacher in Hamburg, Germany during World War II This book has brought me to a better understanding of myself, and everyone I know, and the and whole of the human race. Even the evening news is no longer a mystery! The book is subtitled "Man in the first chapters of the Bible".
My hope is that I will be able capture, in context, short passages of the book which might challenge and provide insights into why Jesus of Nazareth is still so very important in our personal lives and the affairs of the whole human race.
Chapter 3..."The Light of the World"
And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Genesis 1:3-
"Many of us, surely, remember the passage of Joseph Haydn's oratorio, 'The Creation,' where the words occur. 'And there was light.' The first three words are sung moderately, but at the word 'light' the orchestra and the choir burst forth in extreme fortissimo, in a wild transport of ecstasy. It is as if the suns and the lights of the cosmos blazed up at one stroke, like a fountain of light ascending to the heavens. 'The world is here, the world is here, for light has come.'
"So the first 'Let there be' rolled through the primeval darkness and out of the formless darkness there rose the contours of structured space. And the great light came from God.
"And God saw that he light was 'BEAUTIFUL' (for this is the literal translation). So the first response the young, dew-fresh creation evoked from the heart of God was joy in the "dew-fresh creation" in its beauty, the rapture of the creator.
"So the Bible begins with a word about beauty. And even before the heavens began to praise the Eternal Majesty, God's own heart was filled with joyful song that there should be something so beautiful arising here in the shimmer of the first light. Above the nascent world lay the serenity of God."
In the last two paragraphs of this first chapter of his book Thielicke wrote, "The great light is already here. The festival of light has already been inaugurated by God for you and for me. We need only to throw open the shutters of our dark house and let in the flooding fulness.
"Otherwise, if we always keep the shutters closed, how should we ever know what God wants to do for us? But the person who plants himself in this light, the person who dares to make the leap from his own dark life will begin to shine himself. He will experience a new form of joy, a joy that will fill his eyes with tears."
So for me the word "beautiful" open a new and marvelous understanding of these first chapters. God's heart being revealed in these words, not just the stagnant dialogues of, "seven 24 hour days" or the meaning of some other time frame. God's heart, for we his creation, has been missing - who ever talks about the heart of God anyway - out of Genesis?
My hope is that I will be able capture, in context, short passages of the book which might challenge and provide insights into why Jesus of Nazareth is still so very important in our personal lives and the affairs of the whole human race.
Chapter 3..."The Light of the World"
And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Genesis 1:3-
"Many of us, surely, remember the passage of Joseph Haydn's oratorio, 'The Creation,' where the words occur. 'And there was light.' The first three words are sung moderately, but at the word 'light' the orchestra and the choir burst forth in extreme fortissimo, in a wild transport of ecstasy. It is as if the suns and the lights of the cosmos blazed up at one stroke, like a fountain of light ascending to the heavens. 'The world is here, the world is here, for light has come.'
"So the first 'Let there be' rolled through the primeval darkness and out of the formless darkness there rose the contours of structured space. And the great light came from God.
"And God saw that he light was 'BEAUTIFUL' (for this is the literal translation). So the first response the young, dew-fresh creation evoked from the heart of God was joy in the "dew-fresh creation" in its beauty, the rapture of the creator.
"So the Bible begins with a word about beauty. And even before the heavens began to praise the Eternal Majesty, God's own heart was filled with joyful song that there should be something so beautiful arising here in the shimmer of the first light. Above the nascent world lay the serenity of God."
In the last two paragraphs of this first chapter of his book Thielicke wrote, "The great light is already here. The festival of light has already been inaugurated by God for you and for me. We need only to throw open the shutters of our dark house and let in the flooding fulness.
"Otherwise, if we always keep the shutters closed, how should we ever know what God wants to do for us? But the person who plants himself in this light, the person who dares to make the leap from his own dark life will begin to shine himself. He will experience a new form of joy, a joy that will fill his eyes with tears."
So for me the word "beautiful" open a new and marvelous understanding of these first chapters. God's heart being revealed in these words, not just the stagnant dialogues of, "seven 24 hour days" or the meaning of some other time frame. God's heart, for we his creation, has been missing - who ever talks about the heart of God anyway - out of Genesis?
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