Aussie Rambling Rose

“Ask the streets for the answer,” says Street Wisdom[i]. “Come with a question – not too big and not too small – and see what the streets have to say.” Street Wisdom leaders instruct participants to “Slow down. Walk VERY slowly. Notice patterns. Look for synchronicity.”

Street Wisdom is not a religious movement … not openly, at any rate. Street wisdom is basically an exercise in mindfulness. It’s becoming quite a phenomenon in our modern world, and is interesting to think about in light of what the Bible has to say about wisdom in the streets.

 

Biblical Wisdom

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks….”  (Proverbs 1:20-21 ESV)

“Does not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud….”  (Proverbs 8:1-3 ESV)

The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs are written from the perspective of the woman, Wisdom, who calls out to those who will listen. She is depicted as being in the streets, beside the way, at the crossroads and beside the gates in front of the town.

Centuries later, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, James, also wrote about wisdom.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5 ESV). James points us to the source of wisdom. He contrasts godly wisdom with jealousy and selfish ambition, which he calls ‘earthly, unspiritual and demonic’ (James 3:13-18).

 

A mini-retreat

It’s not ‘street wisdom’ … not the secular sort. But in my mostly-monthly mini-retreats, I purposefully slow down for half a day. Sometimes I stay home, and other times I go somewhere beautiful.  I usually use the Navigator’s pattern[ii] in which I break the time into three one-hour blocks. This last time, having just been exposed to ‘street wisdom’, I took parts two and three to the streets. Don’t think that I’m boasting about having ‘half-day retreats’. In my line of work, I ought to treat them as priority to keep me on track, and very much appreciate the flexibility to do so.

One key difference between standard ‘Street Wisdom’ and a God-centred retreat is, naturally, the focus. Nevertheless, I found myself journaling on the topic of ‘the question’ that I intended to seek God about later in yesterday’s mini-retreat, though came up with five possibilities rather than a single question. With my rambling thoughts now on paper, my mind was freed up to get on with the business of worship. Using a combination of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ and Psalm 27, along with pages of journaling, I spent a delightful hour. I sensed a call to repent… again … of perfectionism and procrastination. This pair of vices are a bit of a ‘besetting sin’ for me.

The official ‘Street Wisdom’ people encourage practitioners to look for synchronicity. I prefer to think of it as God’s hand. The second part of the retreat, when I moved to a ‘Sushi and Coffee’ shop, was full of divine touches. The second section of my mini-retreat is usually when I pray for others. As I passed my letterbox on the way out, I picked up a new book about a midwife in Africa which we’re reading in book club[iii] – I like it so much I had ordered a hard copy. It inspired me to pray for friends who work over there. The sushi shop is Chinese run, and I figure that the owners are Christians, based on the verses they display on their chalkboards. That inspired me to pray for the Chinese church.  I watched other customers as I sipped my coffee and savoured my sushi. Some of what I observed prompted prayer for others in my life too.  I noticed and appreciated people far more through this exercise than I usually would.

The final part of the retreat, the self-focused part, seemed almost like an addendum.  My ‘question’, which I had intended to choose from the five possibilities I had drafted just two hours earlier, and which had seemed all-consuming at the time, had now shrunk into its proper perspective. As it turned out, I had one single answer to all five of my ‘possible questions’. Here they are, with the single answer:

1. Where do I start with promised language mentoring?

(Repent of procrastination and perfectionism – I had my first session later that afternoon, and it went well.)

2. I have SO much translation work to do this month – what can I do?!        

(Repent of procrastination and perfectionism – do it one phrase at a time)

3. Should I book tickets for planned travel next month and specifically should I visit Shanxi where I lived for many years?

(Repent of procrastination and perfectionism – I went home and booked tickets!)

4. How can I increase my productivity, especially with writing?

         (Repent of procrastination and perfectionism – just do it, hence this blog post.)

 5. Health and fitness goals too often slide – what can I do?

        (Repent of procrastination and perfectionism – it’s a matter of one good choice at a time.)

 

Look to Wisdom for the Answers

The official ‘Street Wisdom’ movement encourages practitioners to ‘look to the streets for the answers’.  They are so near the truth … so very near … and my suggestion is that they are looking for God. Wisdom is calling aloud in the streets, beside the way, at the crossroads and at entrances to our towns.  No wonder our fellow human beings are looking there for answers to their questions. May they find God as they search.

 

Let me close with the words of a truly wise man, C.S. Lewis. The following quote ‘just happened’ to be at the top of the page for this week in my diary … a week in which I was exposed to ‘street wisdom’. There is another example of ‘synchronicity’ in the hands of a sovereign Lord. Lewis said,
“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito[iv].”

[i] You can read more about the movement here:  https://www.streetwisdom.org

[ii] https://www.navigators.org/resource/spend-extended-time-prayer/

[iii] https://velvetashes.com/category/book-club/

[iv] C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (San Diego: Harvest, 1964), 75.

Rainbows have been a symbol of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth by flood long before they became associated with the LGBT movement. Last weekend, here in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, we enjoyed spectacular rainbows on both Saturday and Sunday … along with enduring a lot of wet, rainy, miserable weather. It got me thinking about rainbows.

 

God’s covenant with the earth

The rainbow is a sign of the covenant God made with all living things on the earth. You can read about it in the first half of Genesis 9.  We call it ‘the Noahic covenant’ but it was really a promise of God to Noah and all living things on the earth – a promise that God would never again destroy the earth by flood.

Yet although the earth in Noah’s day had been cleansed of what sounds like chaos and wickedness involving not just humans but also the spirit world (read Genesis 6:1-8 if you’re game), it was still not purified. We can see that just by reading to the end of Genesis chapter 9. Right after the pronouncement of ‘the Noahic covenant’, we immediately spiral down to a written record of drunken behaviour, the dishonour of an elder, a curse, slavery and inequality in the world. Things are no better today, as a quick perusal of the daily news headlines attest. In 2 Peter 3:6-7, we read of another cleansing to come. Come soon, Lord Jesus, and set your world aright.

 

“Clothed in rainbows of living colour”

One of my favourite modern hymns, ‘Revelation Song’ (look it up and listen), contains the line ‘Clothed in rainbows of living colour’.  The author of the song, Jennie Lee, took these words from Biblical descriptions of ‘the Son of Man’ as recorded in both Ezekiel 1:28 and Revelation 4:3. In both cases, the rainbow wasn’t exactly a bow. It was complete, with no ends, encircling the one who sits on the throne in heaven.

Now that’s something to meditate on. You can’t meditate for long while looking at a rainbow on earth, because they’re pretty transient. But you can imagine. Sit still, turn off the radio, close your eyes and just picture Jesus’ radiance which is so bright that is like pure sunlight refracted into its various parts. I did just that … and slipped into a delightful sleep, losing two hours of the afternoon. Perhaps give it a go sitting upright and with a timer set. You won’t regret it.

 

Insights from Chinese characters

As you know, I enjoy looking at the various parts that make up Chinese characters and gleaning gems of enriched understanding of them. But when I first came to the Chinese character for ‘rainbow’ – 彩虹  (caihong) – I was stumped. The first character 彩means ‘colourful’ and really just describes the actual word for rainbow – 虹 – so we shall only focus on 虹, the second character. It is  made up of two pictographs – a worm or insect – 虫, and hard work – 工. Both parts sound somewhat like the Chinese word ‘hong’ for rainbow, though neither is quite the same. The character for ‘worm’ (虫) is pronounced ‘chong’ and that for ‘hard work’ (工)is pronounced is ‘gong’.

I wonder … I just wonder … whether the Chinese character for rainbow actually does contain a deep truth. God gave the rainbow as a sign of his covenant with the earth – with all living creatures on the earth. We read in Genesis 9:20 that Noah was ‘a man of the soil’ and that he ‘proceeded to plant a vineyard’. Could it just be that the Chinese character for rainbow – 虹 – actually reflects the role of those worms 虫and of man’s hard work 工 in managing the earth? God did, remember, make a covenant with all living things on earth, and he declared the rainbow a symbol of that. I don’t know that my explanation is right. If we could just go back to when Chinese characters were first written, over 5000 years ago, we could find out. If nothing else, I won’t forget how to write ‘rainbow’ in Chinese again.

 

Rainbows are a reminder of God’s covenant with the earth and provide us a fleeting glimpse of his glory. Yes, the rainbow symbol is used by some in our confused day and age to represent other matters too, but that’s only temporary. What is eternal is God’s sovereignty over this earth, his glory on the throne of heaven and his commitment to us. Wow.

Good grief.  How do we grieve well?

This post is not inspired by personal tragedy, but my heart does ache for friends in the midst of sadness right now. I have also just read an excellent little book which I can recommend without hesitation –‘Finding God in the Hard Times’ by Matt and Beth Redman, and it has got me thinking too.

Grief isn’t just about losing loved ones of course. It can be about losing a cherished role, dashed hopes or broken relationships. Sometimes we choose to embrace loss, not least when we decide to leave one community and move to another – something which cross-cultural workers know all too well.

 

Grief hurts.  Pain is not nice. I am the first to admit to being pain-averse, having just paid a lot of money for optional dental work to numb sensitive teeth. That’s a little wimpy, perhaps, but the pain of sensitive teeth is pointless. Other types of pain, however, are best recognized and permitted to throb. Trying to numb grief is not usually a good idea, though there are times when it is necessary to get on with tasks at hand for a while.

 

My culture – an Australian from a British background – doesn’t do grief well … in my humble opinion. We pride ourselves on having ‘a stiff upper lip’ and ‘being strong’. ‘Every cloud has a silver lining,’ we say. ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn,’ we may add.  ‘God works all things together for good,’ some Christians quote, usually taking this precious promise out of context. Some of us think it admirable to restrain emotions, even when our hearts are breaking. We don’t want to make those around us feel uncomfortable, nor do we want to be seen as ‘weak’.

 

In contrast, people of some other cultures are quick to display grief. Chinese people grieve the loss of loved ones in different ways according to local customs and the circumstances of the death. There is often a period of time during which family members wear black armbands or pins, avoid brightly coloured clothing and refrain from any festivities including weddings and Chinese New Year celebrations.  Traditional Tibetan ladies remove the coloured cords they usually braid into their hair, the colours which proudly identify the communities to which they belong. In Thailand, the whole country wore dull colours for a full year following the death of their beloved king a couple of years back.

 

Grief is a constant theme in Scripture too. The Bible is full of laments, not just about death but other dashed hopes and painful afflictions too.  There is even a whole book of such poetry called, unsurprisingly, ‘Lamentations’. God wants us to bring our sadness and struggles to him. Ancient Israelites, mind you, were roundly criticized and punished for allowing grief and confusion to turn into bitterness and complaining (1 Corinthians 10:9-11). They weren’t to ignore it though. They were encouraged to turn to God in their pain and re-state their trust in him, even in the midst of grief, as we can see in many communal Psalms that they used in that era. (Examples include Psalms 44, 60, 74, 79, 85 and 90.) In the same way, modern-day Christians are encouraged to humble ourselves and bring our anxieties to God (2 Peter 5:6-7). We are never told to stuff it down deep and ‘put smiles on our dials’. As a community of God’s people, Christians are told to ‘rejoice with those who rejoice’ and ‘mourn with those who mourn’ (Romans 12:15). In my community, I suspect we are better at the former than the latter.

 

What does this mean for us here and now? I don’t like pain, whether it be mine or a share of yours. However, I hope that as a maturing woman of God, I can overcome my cultural preferences and choose to be Biblical in the way I deal with grief and disappointments, be they mine or yours. May we manage our pain in a culturally appropriate way – according to the culture of God’s kingdom. Name it – share it – be real. No stiff upper lip is required or desired.

Flowers and photography, café culture and Korean cuisine – my recent trip to Asia was full of things that delight me. Just for the record, it wasn’t all fun and games. I put in a lot of hard work too, some of which was pleasurable, and much of which just had to be done.

 

‘Desires’ became the theme of the trip. A helpful discussion with a colleague about the truth that God knows how we are designed and chooses to use our desires in his work stemmed from a comment I made about expecting suffering. Yes, suffering is a reality too, but I emerged from that conversation with a focus on God’s kindness and individual attention to us. I shared this insight with a fellow traveller as we bounced along a mountain road. Later that day, she turned to the devotional book she was reading on her phone (see the screenshot) and found almost exactly the same sentiments there. We both took that as God’s encouragement to enjoy all that we were experiencing.

 

Godly desires please God. However, it would be remiss not to mention that the Bible also warns against satisfying the ‘desires of the flesh[1]’ and, shockingly, even refers to the desires of the devil as reflected in people[2]. These desires are obviously not helpful in participating in God’s work nor are they good for us personally. Perhaps ‘desires of the flesh’ include things which bring short-term gratification but long-term problems, such as overindulgence in activities or foods we enjoy. I wonder if the desires of the devil include unhealthy striving for prestige, power and prosperity.

 

Sometimes I feel guilty about my current lifestyle. I get to travel plenty – something which I don’t take for granted. I enjoy plenty of people-time, unlike my last role in an office which I found trying though willingly accepted for a season. I enjoy learning, and academia is a part of my current role, as is dabbling in language study. The café culture is something I enjoy, and I’m quick to support the blossoming café culture in Asia. A couple of significant conversations took place in cafes this last trip, one planned and the other (divinely) coincidental. The joy I get from amateur photography also fits well with regular trips as a tourist to an area which, in recent years, has been marketed as a ‘photography corridor’.

 

I wrote down these thoughts about desires on paper in a café in Asia. I am typing them up weeks later. At the time, and as true today as it was then,  I penned these words:

“As this trip draws to an end, I look back with gratitude and forward with hope. We serve a good God who loves to satisfy our desires.”

 

[1] Ephesians 2:3

[2] John 8:44

 

It felt like the last six years of my life had been pointing towards this moment. The sun’s warmth radiated our backs. In front of us were two classrooms, erected here on a field strewn with summer flowers. These rooms, adapted from shipping containers, are for outsiders like us to have a base for regular involvement in this community – the community to which I had sensed God’s call back in 2012. We were meeting the man who holds the keys to the community – the monk who is effectively, if not legally, the one in charge around here.

 

At which point a blasted bee buzzed relentlessly about my face.

 

According to the worldview of Tibetans, it was entirely possible and even likely that the spirit world should intersect with the physical world through a humble bee. Here we were, people of God, enthusiastic about making an impact on this community. Our enemy, the devil, would not be happy. Knowing my fear of bees, stemming from bad reactions to bee stings as a child, it was quite possible that the enemy would force me off the property with a bee.

 

According to the worldview of we scientific Westerners, I reasoned that something in my body must be appealing to bees … they always seem to buzz around me … and that this one was especially persistent and at a most inopportune moment. I prayed – as most Christians do when in the grip of a crisis – and asked that the bee be kept from stinging me. That would be exceptionally inconvenient.

 

Disregarding further thoughts of worldviews for the time-being, I threw my jacket over my head – not so helpful when in conversation with a monk – and, after a moment or two, left the property.

 

Was it a demonic bee that drove me off the land that day? I don’t know. But I do know that our enemy “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is no less active in agnostic Australia as he is in Tibetan communities in which there is a real respect for and fear of the spirit world.  In my country, the enemy wreaks havoc in less obvious ways, including (in my opinion) an unhealthy pallour about our culture due to an overemphasis on immediate gratification. That’s a topic for another blog post.

 

I may have left the field that day, but I’ll be back. I hope to return in autumn when the flowers have finished and the bees are quietly enjoying honey in their hives. May all of us who know God resist the enemy and stand firm, for we are not alone in our struggles, as the apostle Peter encourages readers in 1 Peter 5:9. Though it is extra challenging to stand firm when a bee bizarrely buzzes around your face!

Sudoku is a puzzle I rather enjoy. Sometimes, I get a bit stuck. Then I go away and leave it for a while. When I come back, suddenly, in a different light, everything makes sense. The numbers all fit in the right places.  ‘Aha’, I say.

 

Today’s conversation with a contact here left me feeling like a Sudoku puzzle that is finally coming together. And yet, unlike a Sudoku puzzle nearing completion, this game is far from over. Without going into details, since other people are involved, let me just say that I came out of a meeting today with a deeply contented ‘Aha’.

 

It seems like significant strands of life are all fitting into place – academic study – dreams of being a regular traveller to the mountains here – language learning – English teaching – even the management of annoying dietary issues. It’s early days yet, but I am hopeful that, 5 ½ years after prayerfully deciding to focus on a particular minority group here, I’m about to get some traction up. (I’ve blogged about that ‘call’ before.)

 

This week’s blog post is really just a note. There is lots I’d love to write about, but I have two assignments to finish for college over these next two weeks, as well as people to see and places to go.

 

I’d like to finish with a public note of thanks to the One who holds all the strands of our lives in his hands. Sometimes, life can be confusing and uncomfortable, like a Sudoku that seems simply unworkable. God’s sovereignty is just as real then as it is when everything is going well. I am quite sure that there will be difficulties ahead for me too, not least because we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Today, however, I am thoroughly enjoying the ‘Aha’ moment.  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

 

I find myself reluctant to start this blog post because the topic is too big. I am glimpsing a cosmic theme through Scripture. How does the gospel impact the spirit world, and where do we fit in? Put on your metaphorical seat belt … this could be quite a ride.

 

It’s not all about me

Bottom line:  The gospel isn’t primarily about restoring my individual relationship with God (though this is vital, especially from my point of view). It’s much bigger than that. We do have a central role, though, as the people of God made in and restored to God’s image. The apostle Paul put is like this:

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 – my emphasis.)

I’m a well-educated Western woman.  I understand a lot about the physical world, and what I don’t know, I can learn if I’m at all interested.  But my knowledge of the spirit world is much more limited. As a Christian, I welcome the Holy Spirit to indwell me, but beyond that, I imagine the spirit world to be distant from my sanitized first-world life.

 

Integration of the spiritual and physical worlds

That’s not how the God sees it. The Bible integrates the spiritual and physical all the way through. When I read the Bible with a worldview that encompasses the spiritual, I notice angelic visitors – dreams and interpretations thereof – a pillar of fire and cloud –  Shekinah glory – theophanies – prophecies – inspired music and dance – superhuman strength related to long hair – the battle between the archangel Michael and the ‘Prince of Persia’ – heavenly courtroom scenes – animals which recognize spirits and even talk on occasion – glimpses of glory – satanic interference through instigation of a census – idols which fall before the Ark of the Covenant – and the list could go on and on.  And that’s only the Old Testament. Things get even more wild in the New Testament, where God Himself breaks into history clothed in humanity, is crucified, buried, rises and ascends into heaven in human form, promises to return in glory and sends his spirit – himself – to indwell people like you and me.

 

“Jesus loves me….”

All this is too much for my little mind. I resort to singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”. It is true – Jesus does love us immensely. We are made in the image of God and we are very special to God (Genesis 1:26-27 and Psalm 8). God loved us so much that he became one of us and, in Jesus, went to the cross for us (Philippians 2:1-11).

As I get to the words, “Little ones to him belong; they are weak but he is strong,” I am reminded of the kingdom’s upside values in which strength is shown in weakness. I think of the church, for example – the messy, confused and often confusing community to which we belong.  God’s “… intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms….” (Ephesians 3:10, my emphasis.) We, with all our issues and idiosyncrasies, are the means by which God’s ‘manifold witness’ is made known to the spirit world?!

 

Rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms

Let me back up. Who are ‘the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms’ before whom God’s ‘manifold wisdom’ is being displayed through us?

I turn to Colossians. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) God (through Jesus) created the spirit world as well as the physical world that I enjoy so much, and he holds it together. There are spirits which worship their Creator. But we also read about rebellion in the spiritual world (Isaiah 14:12, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6 and much of Revelation). The sneaky serpent of Genesis 3 is a case in point of a spirit which has set itself up in opposition to God.

The passage in Colossians continues, taking us back to where this blog post started. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 – my emphasis.)

My mind reels. It shouldn’t come as such a surprise. This truth was prophesied very early on in what we sometimes call the ‘proto-evangel’, literally meaning ‘first gospel’. The first hint of God’s plan to save the cosmos was proclaimed to the serpent before the curses on man and woman had even been pronounced. (See Genesis 3:15 – it wasn’t good for the serpent.) How does the cursed serpent of Genesis 3 relate to ‘…your enemy, the devil … a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8)?  How does the reconciliation process of God with the spiritual world intersect with our tangible day-to-day life?

Implications

I don’t have fully developed answers to these questions. But I am already thinking about some implications of the cosmic truths I am glimpsing.

When I consider that our corporate existence as the church is a statement to the ‘rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms’, I am more intent than ever to do all I can to create a united, mutually loving community. We are the place where God himself lives. His Spirit is in us. The impact of the church goes beyond the communities in which our church buildings are situated.

A broader understanding of the gospel, incorporating the spirit world, also has significant implications in how we share the gospel with those who acknowledge the spirit world. I think of my language teacher, who has god shelves, prayer beads and prayer flags in and around his home. I think of the local Vietnamese restaurant staff members who put coffee, fruit and incense sticks in front of god shelves here in Melbourne. I think of millions of people around the world who are not blinded to the existence of the spirit world by too much education and who do their best to keep the spirits from creating trouble for them.

For every point that I have made in this blog post, there are ten more questions tangled in my mind. Perhaps … just maybe … if I ever make sense of it, I will write a book on this matter. (That is the third ‘book project’ to be put on the backburner. I’m running out of back burners.) First step, though – a blog post. Second step – an essay on this topic, due in much too soon.  And then I will move on to think more about practical applications of these truths. Any insights, comments or corrections you may like to share will be appreciated.

Do you ever feel stretched beyond coping, caring for the complicated people God has put in your life? Spare a thought for the 70 elders of Moses’ day. Between them, they were responsible for probably about 2.4 million people, including Israelites and God-fearers from Egypt. They were called to manage traumatized travellers and were exhausted themselves.

Then God gave them a glimpse of glory.

“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9-11 NIV)

This was no ordinary retreat. This was the day that God’s covenant with Abraham was confirmed with his descendants, now a nation. Just over three months before this day, the Israelites had left Egypt, stripping their neighbours of wealth and joined by others who also feared Israel’s God. In the three months since gaining freedom, they had endured a lifetime’s worth of highs and lows. Finally, at the foot of Mt Sinai, Moses called together the elders and explained to them the laws which God had given his people.

———

Imagine yourself in the sandals of one of those elders. You relay the words of Moses to the people for whom you are responsible. They enthusiastically agree to live God’s way. Like there is a choice? Almighty God had led them by fire and cloud out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, he had drowned their pursuers, and had provided victory in battle, as well as food and water as they needed it. Of course they would live God’s way. Of course they would be a distinctive people of God.

Moses explains to you and your elder-colleagues how the people should prepare for the ceremony in which they would renew their allegiance to God. You make sure that those under your watch comply. Everything had to be washed – bodies and clothes – with water from the mountain stream. No sex was allowed during this time of preparation. Men were sent to put up markers to show that the mountain was off limits.

On day three, dark clouds descend on the mountain. Lightning, thunder, smoke and trumpet blasts make your skin crawl.

Shaking together as one body now, the people of Israel promise to obey God’s Laws. Moses and Aaron kill the animals set aside for sacrifice and splash the blood of the sacrificial beasts over the 12 pillars they had set up. Then Moses sprinkles blood over you. Your freshly washed clothes, hair and body are now sticky with blood. Blood, blood and more blood is sprinkled over the crowds. Moses beckons. You are being summoned … to the off-limits mountain. Your heart plummets.

Step after step, you and your elder-colleagues follow Moses. The air is electric, quite literally, with all that lightning. With each burst of thunder, your body jerks involuntarily. Moses points to a big flat rock, rather like a large table. Together, without need for words or instructions, you look up.

The ground above is brilliant blue – bluer than any sky you’ve ever seen. Through it, you can make out the shape of a man’s feet. Only it isn’t a man. It is Almighty God. You breathe deeply, inhaling what you expect to be your last breath. For you have seen God.

Yet you breathe again. And again. Food appears on the table of rock. Is it meat from the sacrifices? Wine appears too. You eat and drink, wishing that you could stay here forever.

———-

The modern woman interrupts at this point. In contrast to fine details in surrounding texts about how exactly the Israelites were to live, Moses summarizes this incredible glimpse of God’s glory and the covenant meal in just three short sentences. As readers, we are left wondering, wishing for more.

Unlike the elders, we have other records of people who also glimpsed God’s glory – Ezekiel and John. And we have rich descriptions of the life of Jesus, God incarnate. All those early elders glimpsed were the translucent tiles under God’s feet.

Poor elders. With a word of warning from Moses about likely disputes amongst the people, they were sent back down to the rabble. Moses stayed up on the mountain with his aide, Joshua. By the time he returned, 40 long days later, the people were worshipping a golden calf. In response to Moses’ call for holiness, over three thousand Israelites were slaughtered by the Levites. Plague ripped through the community. The golden calf was ground into dust, which Moses sprinkled into the same stream that had been used to cleanse the people, and from which the people were forced to drink.

Sometimes I feel like one of those elders. Life seems to spin out of control, and glimpses of glory seem long past. Yet in other important ways, we are not like the sandal-clad elders in their blood-stained clothes. The covenant meal that they enjoyed on the mountain side that day marked the Old Covenant, outlining how the people should meet God’s holy standards. They had to descend the mountain, returning to the terrified masses below who were unable to live up to God’s standards. We, however, can look to Jesus. Through him, we can gaze on God’s majesty at any time – now just a glimpse but one day clearly – even and especially in the midst of the complicated communities in which we live.

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them…. You have come to God, the Judge of all … to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant…. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks…. … let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for “our God is a consuming fire.”
(Selected verses from Hebrews 12:18-29, NIV)

A healthy mix of common sense, wisdom from people around me and divine direction as I pray has been behind pretty much every major decision I have made. There are some instances where I look back in gratitude and say, ‘Wow – that had God’s hand print all over it’. I could write at length on that, and maybe will another time.

During this stage of life, I am Australia-based and Asia-focused.  I am especially interested in a particular people group in Asia and have been ever since 2012. But why is it so very difficult to get there? It’s only a matter of a plane trip, a bus trip and a car trip. Yet time after time, my plans to visit get stymied or at least cut short. Even when I lived in Asia, I rarely visited for one reason or another.

I am preparing for another trip next month and so this is on my mind. I am also currently reading about Paul’s journeys back in the first century and intrigued by how his plans unfolded.

Sent by the Holy Spirit and the people of God

Paul was sent on missionary adventures both by wise people and the Holy Spirit. Paul and his colleague Barnabas constituted half the multicultural leadership team of the church in Antioch at the time. During a session of worship and fasting, the leadership team sensed God’s call to set Paul and Barnabas apart for a special task. Without hesitation, they obeyed. (See Acts 13:1-4)

Both my current church in Melbourne and my previous church in the beautiful Blue Mountains have also sent me out, but that is because I asked them to. Significant prayer preceded the decision, though I’m not aware of much fasting. The Antioch model for sending out cross-cultural workers is something to consider in future. I wonder how my church would feel about corporate worship and fasting before we next send anybody out?

Conflict

After an eventful trip, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch. They undertook what today would be called a ‘home assignment’. That included taking part in a delegation from Antioch to the Council of Jerusalem. Then they got ready to go on a second trip. However, that is when problems arose. They disagreed strongly about who should be on their team. (See Acts 15:36-41.)

I imagine that the conflict was particularly tough for Barnabas. ‘Barnabas’, remember, was a nickname, meaning ‘Son of Encouragement’. ‘Joseph’ was Barnabas’ official name. (See Acts 4:36.) The two men finally agreed to differ. Each got on with the work of mission, effectively doubling their impact by forming two teams. Each leader took a second man along, and they went their separate ways.

Although I no longer fear conflict like I did when younger, I still don’t like it. On the Enneagram personality test, I come out as a peacemaker (personality type 9).  I can write from experience about how having to deal with conflict has shaped my decisions and direction on occasions.

Restrained by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus then given a dream

Paul and his travel companions intended to go to what was then known as Asia, but Luke’s record in Acts 16:6 states quite clearly that they were “kept by the Holy Spirit” from preaching there. Furthermore, when they were on the border of Asia, Luke states that “the Spirit of Jesus” would not allow them to enter (Acts 16:7).

How puzzling this must have seemed to Paul and his colleagues at the time. And then Paul had a dream, in which a man from Macedonia stood, begging for help (Acts 16:9). Paul got up, told his fellow travellers about it, and together they concluded that this was God’s direction for them (Acts 16:10).

Six years ago, I distinctly sensed God’s call to the Muya people. That came about through some serious prayer and a couple of days of fasting combined with ‘divine coincidences’. Yet one thing after another has prevented me enjoying extended time in the Muya region of Asia. In the meantime, I have served in other useful ways and don’t regret any of them. I wonder how much I can credit the Spirit of Jesus and the Holy Spirit with waylaying me?

Stopped by Satan

Paul and his band established vibrant churches in the province of Macedonia. The Christian communities flourished, but also went through terrible troubles. Things got so bad for the church in Thessalonica (the capital of Macedonia back then) that Paul feared for the church’s survival. He desperately wanted to visit the Christians there, to see first-hand how they were doing, and to encourage them (1 Thessalonians 3:1-5).

But he couldn’t. Paul explained to the Thessalonians in a letter that, despite making every effort to get back there, Satan stopped him (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18).

How did Paul know it was Satan’s interference that time? How do we know when Satan is behind obstacles we experience today? I have more than a sneaking suspicion that our enemy deserves the blame for at least some of my own frustrations too.

Praying for God and Jesus to clear the way

Paul had to make do with reports on how the Thessalonian Christians were faring from others. Those reports were encouraging. Yet he still kept trying to visit them – he tried again and again. In Paul’s own words … well, an English translation of them … he says, “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again…. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you” (1 Thessalonians 3:10a, 11).

I cannot claim such an intense longing to visit the Muya people.  I very much want to visit, but confess that I do not pray for them night and day. Mind you, I don’t yet have the deep relationships there that Paul did with the Thessalonians. Perhaps one day…….

Happily, Paul did make it back to Macedonia on his third missionary voyage. A couple of Thessalonians even joined his travelling band for a while. (See Acts 20:1-4.)

Conclusion

What can we conclude from this brief look at how Paul experienced ‘guidance’? He was initially set apart by the Holy Spirit and by God’s people for cross-cultural work during corporate worship and fasting. He made reasonable plans, but they didn’t always work out. He had his way blocked by the Holy Spirit and by the Spirit of Jesus at one point. He was then directed through a dream and a follow-up discussion with his travel companions. His intentions were blocked by Satan on occasions. And he prayed ardently for God and Jesus both to clear the way for him to follow his heart’s yearnings.

From my perspective, God’s guidance is sometimes clear. On other occasions, I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. Is that Satan? God? Is it just the way things are? The whole question of who influences what is exceptionally confusing. I am not as wise as Paul. And sometimes, it seems to me, the answer doesn’t really matter. It won’t change the outcome, right?

This concept I can grasp. My part in God’s mission – Missio Dei, as it is called – is known to God, valued by God and I am held within his sovereign hand.  I am just an ordinary Australian Christian woman in the 21^st century, but our Almighty God doesn’t change.

And so I am encouraged.

 

 

‘

‘Pride’ and ‘humility’ are concepts that are on my mind just now. That’s because I’m about to swallow my pride and send out a newsletter saying (in the words of Oliver Twist), “Please sir, I want some more.” More money, that is. Just a little more.

As part of an online book club for cross-cultural workers[1], I have also been reading the book ‘Humble Roots[2]’ recently. It is all about pride and humility. It seems that God has me undertaking a unit entitled ‘Pride and Humility’ in the divine syllabus of life.

As I read about ‘pride’ and ‘humility’, it occurs to me that the corresponding Chinese phrases depict these meanings visually and powerfully.

 

骄傲 (jiao’ao) – pride

The Chinese word for ‘pride’ is actually made up of two characters – 骄傲. Each word is made up of radicals, which are pictographs with their own meaning and sounds.

骄 – jiao – the first character in the Chinese word for ‘pride’ begins with the character for ‘horse’ – 马. In English, we may say to somebody who is full of their own importance, “Come down off your high horse”. It seems that this picture of pride has crossed cultural boundaries, being present in both English and Chinese. It is not insignificant that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey on what we now call ‘Palm Sunday’ rather than on a ‘high horse’.

‘Being tall’ – 乔-is the second part of the first character in the Chinese word for pride. In her book, Humble Roots, the author cites Milton’s depiction of the temptation as including Adam and Eve reaching high for the fruit[3]. She says that reaching high is a way of getting as far from our humble roots – dirt – as possible[4]. The Tower of Babel is another expression of that, as are most towers that have been constructed in the world ever since, ranging from Asia’s pagodas to Europe’s castles to Dubai’s enormous tower, which is currently the tallest in the world.

The second character in the Chinese word for pride, 傲 – ao – also means ‘proud’. It begins with a picture of a person – 人. The top of the middle pictograph shows plenty – 丰. Beneath that is a character meaning ‘ten thousand’ – 万. On the right is a radical which, though rarely appearing on its own, means to rap or tap – 攴.

When we put the various pieces together, we see a picture of a man mounted high on a horse, all alone up there, decorated in finery suggesting riches unlimited. I imagine ‘mere mortals’ running along below, banging drums and cymbals, making a lot of noise along the way, as if to say, “Look at this great man on his tall horse!”

谦卑 (qian bei) – Humility

In contrast to the picture of pride, the characters for ‘humility’ reveal connection, mutual support, and close contact with the soil from which we are made.

‘Speech’ is how the first character begins, represented by the side radical 讠. This suggests that we are not alone, but interact with others. The second part of the first character, 兼, shows lots of mutual co-operation and interaction. See how there are two of just about everything in the pictograph? On its own, this character means to ‘unite’ or ‘combine’ or ‘connect’. Neither side is dominant – they almost (not quite) mirror each other.  Together, 谦 forms a character which means ‘modest’.

The second character in the word for ‘humility’, 卑, means ‘inferior’ when it stands alone. That is interesting considering that it is composed of three radicals, two of which suggest excellence. I like to break the radical down beyond even what Chinese dictionaries do. Up the top is a movement radical 丿which some say portrays the ‘breath of life’[5].  Under that comes the character 甲 which has a variety of meanings, including ‘the first in a list of things’.  Within that is a picture of a plowed field – 田. Below that, we see the number 10  十 which symbolizes perfection.

I like to think that the the field 田 in the second part of the character for humility 卑 reflects our humble beginnings from dirt.  In fact, the terms ‘human’ and ‘humus’ (soil) are related in English, just as they are in ancient Hebrew, where man is ‘Adam’, and soil is ‘adamah’. (See footnote 4.) In Chinese, too, the character for a man 男 also contains a field 田 as well as strength 力.

When we put all these pieces together, we get ‘humility’ – 谦卑. We see people communicating with one another through speech 讠, pulling together in mutuality 兼, as the breath of God 丿is blown into the field 田, restoring creation to perfection 十.

Jesus epitomizes humility. Though he had incredible glory and was in a very high place, he came down to earth and humbled himself even to death on a cross[6]. In doing this, he redeemed us and all of creation, restoring it to its perfect state[7]. In a mysterious way, we experience this in part now and look forward to seeing it fully in the future[8].

 

Am I reading too much into these Chinese characters? Perhaps. Yet there is no question that the meaning of ‘pride’ is vividly depicted in the Chinese characters 骄傲, just as the earthy and mutually dependent aspect of ‘humility’ is clearly depicted in 谦卑。

 

Here ends the theoretical part of the language lesson. And now, for me, comes the application part of the lesson.  I am about to send out a letter to current and potential future supporters which says, “I need your help.” If you’ve read this far, could you say a little prayer for me regarding the whole support-raising venture? Thanks so much.

 

 

 

[1] https://velvetashes.com/category/book-club/

[2] ‘Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul’ by Hannah Anderson, Moody Publishers, 2016

[3] Anderson, ‘Humble Roots’, p.68 of 209 in the Kindle version of the book

[4] Anderson, ‘Humble Roots’, p.66 of 209 in the Kindle version of the book

[5] See, for example, http://www.icr.org/article/genesis-chinese-pictographs/ accessed 5 April 201

[6] Philippians 2:6-11

[7] Romans 8:19-22

[8] 1 Corinthians 13:12