Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past

I guess there's something about holidays that tends to trigger memories.  Maybe its the observation of long-held traditions that remind us of past years.  Perhaps it's especially prevalent at Thanksgiving as we are asked to reflect on the past year and share what we're thankful for?

Whatever the reasons, I have found myself reflecting on the many differences between this Thanksgiving and last.

1. Last year I was in Israel, this year I'm in Montana.  (There's quite a bit more snow here.  More elk too.)

2. Last year at this time my house had been invaded by seven family members, including a niece...they just were my flatmate's family members, not my own.  

This year my house has been invaded by three of my own family members, including a nephew (with about ten other family members occasionally dropping by).  Both invasions were/are very welcome.  Family is a great blessing.  

3. Last year I celebrated Thanksgiving with my sister and several other JUC students, most of whom I'd only known a couple months.

 This year I celebrated with my mother, father, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, along with some cousins and family friends I've known most of my life.

4. Last year, just for the sake of tradition, my sister and I did a little calculus.

This year we managed to avoid that tradition, but we did experiment with building better windmill-like devices.  What can I say?  We're a bunch of geeks.  

Between now and then much has changed, and I do have much to be thankful for.  For example, I'm thankful for the time that I got to spend in Israel and I'm thankful that I graduated!  However, as I think of things I'm thankful for, I find many hints of the bitter-sweet.  

~ I'm thankful for the good friends that I made while in Israel, and I'm thankful for things like skype and facebook which allow us to keep in touch...as we are literally spread across the globe and I miss them.

~ I'm thankful that I was offered a volunteer position at JUC...though visa difficulties have made it impossible for that opportunity to come to fruition yet and have sort of thrown me into limbo.

~ I'm thankful for another fall in Montana - a beautiful one at that - and I'm thankful to see snow and cold here, though it is not where I would have chosen to be.

I am reminded a little of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I am not going to hypothesize about what Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was, nor am I going to claim a similar situation, but I think I am beginning to understand some of what he must have been feeling.  Things are not all bad, but for the first time I can remember, I've made plans and been unable to follow through.  Just a sudden brick wall.  I  can understand that such an experience is probably good for me in general, I just wish I understood a few more of the specifics.  However, I'm trying to cling to the grace of God, in spite of my confusion.  To summarize:

~ I'm thankful for a God who is still at work in my life, though, at the moment, I don't understand what He's doing.  

Small Mercies

The horse galloped down the field, joyfully ignoring the ever increasing pressure of the reins.  She had finally been allowed to run and she wasn't going to be convinced to slow down just because her rider wanted her too.  Oops, here was a corner, but she could make it.  Slowing only slightly, she charged between the two outbuildings, her rider managing to make the turn with her.  She made out the line of a fence not far in front of her and began to plan for another change of direction.  The rider held on, waiting for the next turn, planning to make her move to stop the horse then.  The horse, still running, began to turn.  But suddenly, the ground beneath her hoofs was no longer the soft turf of a mowed hayfield.  Too late, she realized that concrete does not offer the same traction for metal-shod hooves.  She slipped, falling, sending her rider skidding across the expanse of pavement.  


The rider gathered her scattered senses and sat up.  "Stupid horse!"  She put her head to her hand and then studied it, noting that not only was her face bleeding, but her pinky finger was in an unnatural shape.  Still, as none of her wounds appeared life-threatening, she got to her feet.

Yes, this was me, a week ago tomorrow.  My mom was riding with me and we weren't far from home, so my dad was able to quickly take me to the emergency room.  They discovered that my finger was indeed broken, but that the rest of my injuries mostly looked like scrapes and bruises - not serious.  They set the finger, gave me a tetanus shot, and then decided that the break should be treated like an open fracture as there was a cut on that finger...They took me into surgery, cleaned up the wound, put two pins in to help insure straight  healing, wrapped me up, and sent me home.

So the last week has seen me do not much.  Partly because it hurt to move and I didn't have full use of either hand.  It's been rather inconvenient.  Still, in spite of the pain and annoyance of limitations, I have been constantly reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.

1. That it wasn't worse.  The horse could have fallen on me.  I could have been wearing less protective clothing.  I could have landed differently.  All in all, a broken finger and some bruises are really not too bad.
2. Guidance.  Since finding out that I won't be able to return to Israel for quite a bit longer I've sort of been at a loss.  What to do in the mean time?  I have found a few things to do, but I was beginning to look into a few other options...which are now no longer options because of this broken finger.  At least for now.  This may be a strange thing to be thankful for, but I am.  I suppose it may be because I'm really bad at making decisions - and now here are a couple things that I no longer have to decide about.
3. A chance to learn empathy.  Some people have far worse injuries, far worse pain, some of it permanent.  Hopefully I can learn to treat them with more kindness and understanding.
4.  New piercings.  Well, I'd sort of been thinking about piercing SOMETHING.  I mean, ya know, it's the cool thing to do.  No need now.  TWO pins in my finger.  Yeah, and you thought a pierced nose was cool?  Well, I have a pierced finger.  Be jealous.

And now, just because I'm weird and think it's kind of cool...here is a slide show with a few rather blurry pictures of my injuries.  Feel free to skip it. :)

Pools in the Wilderness

Isaiah 41:18 (NKJV)
I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.

Words like "water" and "wilderness" (or in the Hebrew, "mayim" and "midbar") occur often throughout the Bible. When used in conjunction they would have been very evocative to the ancient mind.

What pictures come to your mind when you think of wilderness? Maybe something like this?

Mountains, as far as the eye can see, with no human habitation in sight? Where I grew up, that was the wilderness.

As for water in the wilderness, maybe one would think of something like this:

a small mountain lake, or this:

a rushing waterfall.

While not everyone is from the Rocky Mountain region, a good many people have been there or have at least seen pictures. While these pictures might not be the ideal image of "water in the wilderness" for everyone, I imagine that most of the English speaking world would agree that those words fit the pictures above.

It's a problem.

These don't come close to the image an ancient Israelite would have at the words "mayim ba'midbar." If we are to properly understand the intent of the Biblical authors (who wrote in a language very much tied to the land) we must understand the land where they lived and the imagery they wished to evoke by the words they used.

The Hebrew word translated as "wilderness" can also be translated as "pasture land." That evokes a bit of a different image in the mind of most Americans. Maybe something like this:

a field full of lush, green grass. Or maybe even something slightly less lush, realizing that things do dry out in the summer:

Are these the images David would have had as he wrote Psalm 23? Would he have pastured his flock in fields like these?

In the summer, the "midbar" that David would have known looks something like this:

and in the winter you might be lucky enough to see it looking like this:

Prime pasture for the flocks of sheep and goats that frequent this area.

What about the "still water?" The "pools of water in the wilderness?" Maybe this:

a clear, quietly flowing river? Maybe a small lake or pond?

Think again. When you think of green pastures and still waters, when you think of pools in the wilderness, think of this:

In America, we live in a land of plenty - plenty of water, plenty of grass, plenty of everything. Israel is, in many ways, a harsher land. Life can be hard. A little pool of water and a little bit of grass is a great gift from God. It is enough to say, "I shall not want."