Tag Archives: Enemies

Chapter-a-Day

Exile Required

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Exile Required (CaD Mi 5) – Wayfarer

The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man.
Micah 5:7 (NIV)

This week our son-in-law began a new job in which he helps refugee families from other countries settle in our state. Clayton has a Ph.D. and his doctoral studies focused on refugee camps and the issues of displaced peoples, particularly in Africa. Even in the first few days, the stories he’s told us about these displaced families moving a world away to escape the ravages of their homelands and start a new life have left an impression on me.

A few years ago, our local gathering of Jesus followers spent two entire years focused on the exile of the Hebrew people when the Assyrian empire invaded the northern kingdom of Israel starting in 732 B.C. and later the Babylonian empire invaded the southern kingdom of Judah in 588 B.C. In each case, a large number of people were forcibly taken back to Assyria and Babylon to live as displaced refugees in exile. Micah prophetically proclaims both of these exiles and they are a major theme in his prophecy.

During the two years of studying these historic exile events, I came to appreciate the fact that exile is a recurring theme throughout the Great Story. Some major examples:

Adam & Eve, and subsequently humanity, are barred from the Garden to live in exile in the fallen world. (Gen 3)

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up living in exile in Egypt.

After being delivered from slavery in Egypt and before reaching the Promised Land, the Hebrew people lived in a 40-year exile wandering through the wilderness.

Jesus left heaven to come to earth in an exilic human life and death (Philippians 2)

As a baby, Jesus was taken in exile to Egypt to escape the threat against Him.

In the first century, after Jesus’ resurrection, persecution against Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem sent believers scrambling to live in exile throughout the Roman Empire. This became a major cause of the spread of the Jesus movement.

Here’s the spiritual lesson I learned in my study of exile, and a spiritual truth I’ve come to embrace: exile is quite often a necessary part of the spiritual journey. For me, it presented itself in the form of moving to places I never wanted to live, finding myself in jobs I didn’t want, and being socially ostracized after getting divorced. I have come to learn that God sometimes leads me to exilic places in life because there are spiritual lessons that only get learned in exile.

One of the lessons that presents itself in the exilic experience is one of Jesus’ core teachings: love your enemies and bless those who persecute you. In today’s chapter, Micah’s prophecy describes that the people who will be taken into captivity to live among their enemies will be a blessing to their enemies like a spiritual rain shower that refreshes dry places and spurs new life and growth where it lands. How ironic that when I am displaced, confused, frustrated, alone, and in a strange place among strangers, that is the exact time and place that God wants me to bless, love, and share.

How did wise men from the East know about the star of Bethlehem and travel from a distant land to bless the infant Jesus with extravagant gifts? It’s because while the Hebrews like Daniel were living in exile they shared with their “captors” their story and their prophecies and a King who would one day be born. That story was received and remembered for hundreds of years. It was so honored among these foreign people that they considered it worthwhile to make a very long journey to seek out a baby who they’d prophetically been told would be born.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself recounting some of the more difficult periods of exile in my own life journey and expressing gratitude for the spiritual lessons I learned from them. I find myself praying for others, from displaced refugees moving to a foreign land called Iowa to people who simply find themselves in the midst of exile-like life circumstances. I pray for open hearts to learn the spiritual lessons that are only learned in exile.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Lost

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Lost (CaD Lk 15) – Wayfarer

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2 (NIV)

I woke up on Christmas morning before the rest of the household. Historically, this is a usual daily occurrence. As I mentioned in my last post, however, our kids and grandkids moved back from Scotland and in with us for the foreseeable future. They are still trying to adjust their biological clocks to Central Daylight Time. So, after a week of waking to grandkids fully awake and ready to party, a little quiet before the Christmas chaos was a welcome treat.

I unexpectedly found myself reading an article by a gentleman named Paul Kingsnorth published in The Free Press. An Irishman, Kingsnorth tells his story of growing up an avowed atheist and environmentalist whose path led him to Buddhism before becoming immersed in a Wiccan coven. Eventually, Kingsnorth found himself in the last place he ever thought he’d be: following Jesus in an Orthodox tradition. From the editor’s introduction:

“Here is how Paul describes himself: ‘I am an animist in an age of machines; a poet-of-sorts in a dictatorship of merchants; a believer in a culture of cynics. Either I’m mad, or the world is.’ He continues: ‘My most strongly-held belief is this: that our modern crisis is not economic, political, scientific or technological, and that no ‘answers’ to it will be found in those spheres. I believe that we are living through a deep spiritual crisis; perhaps even a spiritual war. My interest these days is what this means.’”

Kingsnorth’s story was an unexpected and meaningful start to my Christmas Day. This morning, I returned to the quiet (Keep sleeping, kiddos!) and today’s chapter. Dr. Luke begins by describing how Jesus made it a regular habit to hang out with “tax collectors and sinners.” He regularly accepted invitations to dine with wealthy tax collectors. I can’t help but think Matthew was well-networked in that particular community and helped make the introductions. This earned Jesus the judgemental critique of the good religious who self-righteously treated these “sinners” as social lepers who might sully their well-manicured and whitewashed religious facades.

Luke then records Jesus telling a trifecta of parables. The parables tell of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The common theme of these three parables reveals the heart of God contrasted against the attitudes of the institutions of religion represented by Jesus’ most vehement critics. Christianity is routinely criticized, satirized, and dismissed for its judgemental, often hypocritical, condemnation of both sin and sinners. In many cases, I find it well deserved.

All the way back at the beginning of the Great Story, God creates the universe and everything in it. He looks at His creation and calls it “good.” Then God caps creation off with his most beloved and intimately crafted work, Adam and Eve. He looks at His creation including humanity and calls it “very good.”

Both Jesus’ words and actions reveal the heart of the Creator. The tax collectors and sinners He dined with were the very work of His hands, beautifully and wonderfully crafted. Jesus looks at the sinners, prostitutes, and greedy tax collectors sitting around the table with Him and His heart finds that His most beloved and intimately crafted works are spiritually lost.

As Jesus tells his trinity of lost parables, He repeatedly says that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one “lost” person who is “found” than in a whole church full of faithful followers who are already in the fold.

In the quiet, my mind wanders back to Paul Kingsnorth’s story. I wander back to my own story. One of the things you’ll commonly hear in the stories of those who find Jesus is that we know it was Jesus who found us. It was Jesus who sought and doggedly pursued our lost souls.

As a disciple of Jesus, I find in His stories and actions the example He wants me to follow. It lies at the foundation of Jesus’ teaching about loving my enemies and blessing those who hate me. If they are simply condemned sinners going to hell then I will find in them what I believe to be an exemption to Jesus’ command. I will believe that I have found a loophole in Jesus’ law of love. If, however, I see those condemned sinners as Jesus sees them, as His own lost creations whom He lovingly and intimately crafted, then I will see them, think of them, speak to them, and treat them differently. I must see them as my Master sees them. I must see them as I see my former self…

“I once was lost, but now I’m found,
was blind, but now I see.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Directed to Me

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Directed to Me (CaD Lk 6) – Wayfarer

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.”
Luke 6:37-38a (NIV)

Jesus’ teaching was entirely personal. He didn’t talk about international policy. He didn’t talk about business. He barely touched on family. In today’s chapter, Luke records pieces of Jesus’ core teachings. Much of it is from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew’s account.

As I read through the words multiple times this morning, I recognized two key things, make that three. First, I realized that it is directed to every individual. Second, the teaching is entirely about how I, as an individual, should act with every other individual treating each person, without exception, with mercy, grace, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness. Third, the motivating factor is that God, our creator and ultimately our judge, has already treated me with mercy, grace, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness.

Jesus makes no exemptions.

Jesus offers no caveats.

Jesus provides no exceptions for ethnicity, nationality, political affiliation, worldview, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, criminal behavior, past offenses, morality, or personal suffering.

Jesus makes it clear that there is a divine reciprocity in the eternal scheme of things. My behavior toward others matters, and the further I progress as a disciple of Jesus the more inescapable I find this simple truth. In fact, I find it fascinating that the institutional churches I’ve attended throughout my lifetime have been quick to preach morality while largely ignoring the prevalence of meanness, lack of generosity, condemnation, holding of grudges, prejudice, or contempt of others.

But how easy it is to start talking about larger human systems when Jesus’ teaching was directed to me. The only person I ultimately control is myself. So, I enter another day of the journey mindful of how Jesus expects me to behave in relationship to every person with whom I interact without exemption, caveat, or exception:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

I’m listening, Lord. Help me to increasingly act like it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Bad Blood

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Bad Blood (CaD Jer 49) – Wayfarer

“But I will strip Esau bare;
    I will uncover his hiding places,
    so that he cannot conceal himself…”
Jeremiah 49:10a (NIV)

If you’ve followed my writing or my social media posts for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m my family’s resident historian. In fact, right next to my desk is a stack of letters, photographs, and ephemera that my dad gave me. They were keepsakes my mother had in her possession when she died a few months ago.

Family is an interesting thing, and what’s ironic in my self-appointed role of family historian is that neither my maternal nor paternal families are particularly close. I can at least say that my maternal family has had a number of reunions that I can remember over the years, though it’s been quite a while since the last one. My paternal family has never had a reunion. Were it not for Facebook, I’d probably not have any meaningful connection to them.

“Blood is thicker than water” is the idiom we use to express the importance of family over everything else in life. But I’ve equally observed that bad blood runs deep. Along my life journey, I have observed a number of families in which bad blood ran so deep that it divided siblings and cousins for generations until no one knew why their family was so distant and never spoke to one another.

Today’s chapter is the continuation of short, one-off prophetic messages that the prophet Jeremiah gave during his career. There are five short messages in today’s chapter aimed at small towns and people groups in the region. The one that resonated with me as I read it was God’s message to the Edomites, whom the prophet refers to as “Esau.”

The Edomites were descendants of Isaac’s son, Esau, who was also known as Edom.

The Israelites were descendants of Isaac’s son, Jacob, who became known as Israel.

Jacob and Esau were brothers. They were twin brothers. Their story is told all the way back in Genesis. Esau foolishly sold his birthright as the eldest male child to his younger twin brother for some soup. Jacob then deceived his own dying father to give him the blessing of the eldest child. Esau fled to the east of the Dead Sea and took up residence in a mountainous region known for it’s cliffs and caves.

Today’s chapter and Jeremiah’s message takes place about a thousand years later. The descendants of Esau and the descendants of Jacob have been feuding for a millenium.

Bad blood runs deep.

That simple fact is what I found myself mulling over in the quiet this morning. It’s tragic when family become sworn enemies. It’s even more tragic when later generations continue feuding after the original grievances are long-since forgotten.

When Jesus said that His followers were to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, there was no exemption made for feuding family members. Bad blood may very well make them the most difficult enemies to forgive, love, and bless.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Untold Stories

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The Untold Stories (CaD 2 Ki 21) – Wayfarer

Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
2 Kings 21:16 (NIV)

While on vacation this past week I finished watching The Hunters on Amazon Prime. It’s an interesting alternative history story about an eclectic troupe of vigilante Nazi hunters who discover that Hitler is still alive and living in Argentina. They are determined to bring him to justice. It was an interesting story (and it is definitely for mature audiences only).

I have a confession to make. Over my life journey, I have found myself really enjoying tales of vigilante justice like The Hunters. My favorite Marvel character has always been the Punisher, the series about a dark, broken man bent on delivering justice to those who killed his family.

I have given a lot of thought to why this genre resonates so deeply with me. It’s easy to think that it’s about a sense of justice. There is no doubt that it feels good to see the bad guys “die by the sword,” as Jesus put it. I think there’s more to it than that. I’ve come to realize that I feel deeply for the anti-hero and the pain that drives them. As an Enneagram Type Four, this makes perfect sense. We tend to love brooding, dramatic melancholy. At the same time, I’ve come to realize that while I find it easy to extend grace to the vigilante protagonist for the pain that drives them, I have zero grace for their victims. They are typically portrayed as pure evil deserving of the violent justice the protagonist vengefully delivers.

I found myself thinking about this in the quiet this morning after reading today’s chapter about King Manasseh. The description of him is that of pure evil. He did nothing right. He did everything wrong. He committed child sacrifice with his own child. He was idolatrous, ruled with violence, and led his people astray.

Someone call the Punisher! The world needs to be rid of evil, no-good, very bad Manasseh!!

I then went to 2 Chronicles 33 to read another account of Manasseh’s story. There were some important pieces of the story that the author of Kings conveniently ignored. Late in life, Manasseh was humiliated by the Assyrians. He was taken captive, placed in shackles, and a hook was placed in his nose. They drug him to Babylon. There, having hit rock bottom, Manasseh realized the error of his ways. He repented of his sin and turned his heart to God. Upon his return, he spent his remaining days trying to undo all the idolatrous evil that he had done.

And, as a disciple of Jesus, there is the rub. Manasseh’s “untold story” changes the way I think about him. The antagonists I so easily dismiss in vigilante stories as pure evil have their own stories. My “enemies” have their own untold stories. Jesus calls me to look at my enemy and consider the story that God desires to author in his or her life. That was the example Jesus set for me.

Jesus had grace and forgiveness for the “evil” Romans who mercilessly mocked Him, beat Him, and executed Him.

Jesus told the no-good, very bad criminal on the cross next to Him that He would take the man to heaven, even though the man said he deserved to die for all the things he’d done.

Jesus told Peter that he should forgive his enemy “seventy times seven” and then provided Peter an example by graciously forgiving Peter’s three denials.

I find it easy to have grace for the broken vigilantes dealing out justice. I know their backstories. Yet, in God’s economy, the vigilante’s victims also have their own backstories. What kind of pain and brokenness led them to their lives of evil? Like Manasseh in today’s chapter, those details are conveniently left out of the story by the authors. It makes me want to ignore the fact that those whom I hate have their own stories, too.

I thought about this as I watched The Hunters killing off all of the murderous, unrepentant Nazis. And then I thought of the true story of Corrie Ten Boom, who traveled the world telling her story of her family’s Christian faith that led them to hide Jews in their home. They were caught and sent to a Nazi concentration camp with the Jews. She alone survived. One day after telling her story to an audience, she was approached by one of the former concentration camp guards. He was humbled, repentant, and asked for her forgiveness.

God was at work in his story, too.

Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.
2 Peter 3:9 (MSG)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Difference a Dinner Makes

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So [the king of Israel] prepared a great feast for the [Aramean soldiers], and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
2 Kings 6:23 (NIV)

As Wendy and I sit each morning over breakfast and peruse the news of the day, we will often discuss different politicians or other individuals making headlines. Of course, there are always certain individuals for whom we have a certain affinity but we don’t always have the most glowing impressions of other individuals.

I’m not sure how and when this happened, but Wendy and I will commonly discuss the notion of having said individuals over for a meal. I think this idea began during a Presidential campaign years ago. A few months ahead of the Iowa Caucuses you can’t spit without hitting a visiting presidential candidate. One year when the number of candidates was off the charts, Wendy and I discussed the idea of how nice it would be to actually have each of the candidates (from any/all parties) over for dinner one at a time. It’s easier to really get to know a person over a good meal and good table conversation. Somehow, the idea stuck and now it comes up quite regularly in our conversations, what it would be like to have so-and-so over for dinner.

Today’s chapter is filled with extreme events from the miraculous to a horrific human tragedy. I have no recollection of this quiet little episode stuck in the middle. The kingdom of Aram shared a border with the kingdom of Israel, and bands of Aramean soldiers were constantly raiding the towns of Israel. Elisha miraculously blinds one of these raiding parties and leads them straight into Samaria, the capital city of Israel. When the king of Israel suggests killing them, Elisha instructs him to treat them to a feast instead.

So, the king of Israel treats the enemy soldiers as honored guests. They sat around the table and enjoyed a feast together. I imagine they swapped stories, laughed together, and got to know one another to a certain degree. The Arameans, knowing they could have been killed, were treated the way Jesus would later instruct His followers to treat our enemies, by blessing those who intend to persecute us. The result? The border raids stopped.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded of the conference Wendy and I attended this past week that addressed some of the most controversial and divisive topics of our day. One of the most powerful things that the conference accomplished was to share the complex and intimate stories of individuals struggling at the heart of the issue. When issues are translated into human stories, it changes both my perceptions and understanding of the issues themselves. It’s the same principle that the king of Israel and the Aramean soldiers discovered. They came to bust heads and instead broke bread. It changed their attitudes and behavior toward their enemies.

(BTW: Another Presidential election cycle begins later this year. For any candidate who happens to read this, there’s an open dinner invitation here at Vander Well manor! 😉)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Who’s the Villain?

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Who's the Villain (CaD 1 Sam 26) – Wayfarer

Now let my lord the king listen to his servant’s words. If the Lord has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord! They have driven me today from my share in the Lord’s inheritance and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
1 Samuel 26:19 (NIV)

This past week Wendy and I have been working remotely from the lake. We finished watching all of the Marvel movies in their chronological order within the Marvel Universe which was a lot of fun. I’d forgotten how good Avengers Endgame was as all the Avengers arrived to defeat the evil Thanos and his minions.

Great stories need great villains. Thanos hadn’t arrived on the scene when the American Film Institute celebrated its 100th anniversary by listing the 100 top movie heroes and villains. I wonder where they’d have put Thanos in the list. Here are their top five:

  1. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs
  2. Norman Bates, Psycho
  3. Darth Vader, Star Wars
  4. Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz
  5. Nurse Ratched, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

One of my favorite villains, whom I believe is one of the greatest villains of all time, comes from Shakespeare’s world. In Othello, the title character’s best friend is a man named Iago. What Othello doesn’t know is that Iago is not his friend, but his enemy (ever know anyone like that?). Slowly and methodically, with manipulative and conniving whispers, Iago drives Othello to madness. Iago convinces Othello that his beloved Desdemona is cheating on him, and eventually Othello murders his innocent girlfriend in a jealous rage.

I thought of Othello as I read today’s chapter. Once again, Saul and his army are hunting David in the wilderness, even after David had spared Saul’s life just two chapters ago. Saul had repented of his foolish, mad envy of David. Now Saul is doing it again, and I had to ask myself “Why?”

Saul’s madness is certainly evident throughout the David vs. Saul saga, but I pondered the idea that it might be more than that. Then I remembered a little tidbit the author of 1 Samuel shared back in chapter 22:

And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin…”

Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, and “all his officials” were from the tribe of Benjamin, as well. They are Saul’s officials from Saul’s tribe, and as the king’s officials, they enjoy feasting on the king’s gravy train. If David, from the tribe of Judah, becomes king. What do you think will happen to their privilege and power? What might David do to them if and when he becomes king, knowing they were Saul’s henchmen?

David has thought about this, too. What’s driving Saul’s repeated homicidal attempts on David’s life might not only be Saul but from his officials who have everything to lose should David come to power. Could it be Saul’s entourage who are whispering Iago-like in Saul’s ear?

In today’s chapter, David once more confronts Saul with the fact that he could have killed the king and didn’t. David doesn’t address Saul, however. He addresses Saul’s general, Abner. David calls into question the motives of Saul’s advisors and officials: “If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord!“

In the quiet this morning, I find myself pondering friendships. I have had an Iago or two in my life and wondered in hindsight how I could have been so foolish as to listen to their whispers and how I could have missed the signs of their true motives. I also find myself grateful for true friends who have walked the journey with me for years, who have been through the worst of life with me, and who have always had my back.

This is another thing David is forging in his wilderness experience. He is creating a brotherhood of men who have no other reason to be with David but loyalty. They are forging relationships through the worst of times which will translate into advisors who will be loyal to him when the best of times come and he ascends the throne.

It is a blessing to have friends and companions who are motivated only by the desire of wanting God’s best for you.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Connected

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Connected (CaD Gen 36) – Wayfarer

This is the account of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).
Genesis 36:1 (NIV)

A few years ago, Wendy and I participated in a cemetery walk for our local historical society. We have, for many years, portrayed our community’s founding couple (Hendrick Peter and Maria Scholte) at the town’s annual Tulip Festival, and so we were asked to participate in the cemetery walk. Basically, we stood by the gravestones of the couple we were portraying and when people walked by we would share a brief, scripted story about individuals we were portraying. There were other actors in different costumes stationed by gravestones around the cemetery.

While we were waiting between visitors, I began investigating the gravestones within the Scholte family plot. I was shocked to see a name I thought I recognized. When we got home that afternoon I looked it up. Sure enough, a woman buried in the Scholte family plot, Harriett Yeater Vander Linden (see featured photo on this post), was a relative of mine. Why she was buried with the Scholte family is a bit of a mystery. Especially since she wasn’t Dutch, but came from my mother’s side of the family whose ancestors all came from the British Isles. Never in a million years would I have thought I would end up living in this town portraying its founder. Never in a billion years would I have expected to find my own relative buried with his family.

It’s a small world.

Let’s face it, today’s chapter is one of those that is easily skipped over. It’s one of the genealogical records that everyone hates. All the descendants of Esau are seemingly irrelevant to my life. As an amateur historian and genealogist, however, I spent some time this morning thinking about the bigger picture of Esau’s descendants, who became a small nation called Edom.

It begins with twin brothers, Esau and Jacob. Despite Jacob’s deceit, Esau appears to have prospered on his own. In today’s chapter, they seem to have amicably separated. Esau went to an area east and south of the Dead Sea to settle. The descendants of each brother would grow to become their own tribes which, in turn, would eventually become their own nations, Edom and Israel. Later in the Great Story, the two nations will become enemies. They will war with one another. The prophet Obadiah, for example, wrote his prophetic poem specifically against Edom, predicting its destruction as he recalls that the two nations were rooted in a fraternal relationship.

As time went by and the descendants expanded, the connection was lost. Families became enemies.

One thing that has always appealed to me about history and genealogy is that it is about making connections. It’s kind of the opposite of the Israel/Edom effect I just described. As I make connections to people and the past, I learn things and grow in appreciation for others.

Genetic science has proven that we all descended from one woman referred to as “genetic Eve.” The truth is that we are all connected. Feuds, wars, prejudice, and hatred are the fruit of disconnection. When Jesus calls me to bless my enemies and to pray for those who persecute me, I believe He is calling me to make a reconnection. My enemy is my family. Jesus loves and died for my enemy just as He did for me. While the Kingdoms of this world continue to divide, disconnect, separate, and antagonize, Jesus calls me to be an Ambassador of God’s Kingdom where the goal is to be one Body, connected, unified, and loving.

I may not be able to make a difference on a national level, but I can make a difference in my circles of influence each day. The grave of my great-great-aunt Harriett Yeater Vander Linden reminds me: The connections are closer than I imagine.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Guernica

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Guernica (CaD Ps 35) – Wayfarer

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me!
Psalm 35:1 (NRSVCE)

In January of 1937, Pablo Picasso was commissioned to do a painting for his native Spain to be displayed in the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 World’s Fair. His initial sketches for the project show very little difference from the theme of his other works at that time.

On the 26th of April, Nazi German and Italian Fascist air forces bombed the town of Guernica, Spain at the request of Spanish Nationalists who desired to strike against their Spanish political rivals in the region. According to local accounts, it was market day and most of the villagers were gathered in the town center when the bombs began to fall. In his diary, the commander of the Nazi squadron recorded that the town was still burning the following day. It was utterly destroyed. There were no military targets in the area. Guernica was the most ancient town and the cultural center of the Basque region. It was a terror attack designed to wipe out political rivals.

Guernica in Ruins after 1937 bombing

On May 1, Picasso read eyewitness accounts of the attack. He immediately abandoned his original ideas for his commission and began to work. The 25.5 foot wide and 11.5 foot tall painting, entitled Guernica, was finished in 35 days. Containing images of the suffering of people and animals wrought by violence and chaos, the painting prominently displays a gored horse, a bull, screaming women, dismemberment, and flames. Picasso painted it in black and white using a specially requisitioned matte house paint that was void of any gloss to give it the feeling of a black and white photograph recording a moment in time. Guernica is considered among the most moving and powerful paintings of all time.

Photo courtesy of Museo Reina Sofia via Flickr

What do artists do in response to powerful forces beyond their control? They create. They channel and express their emotions, even their most raw, painful, and socially unacceptable emotions, into their creative work.

I find today’s chapter, Psalm 35, among the most unique songs David ever wrote. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, David’s life is quite a story. He had a lot of enemies throughout his life. There were military enemies from neighboring regions who wanted him dead. There were also internal enemies everywhere he turned. His own King wanted him dead, and therefore all of Saul’s political allies were against David. David’s own son rebelled against him, turned David’s political allies against him, and led an armed rebellion against him. David’s life journey was not an easy road.

Psalm 35 is David pouring out his emotions to God in song. You can almost feel the desperation as he begs God to take up his cause. Surrounded by those who want his life on every side, and betrayed by friends and family who he loved, David begs God to take up his cause. He pours out his soul in raw anger at his enemies, asking God to destroy them. It is not an easy read.

What do artists do in response to powerful forces beyond their control? They create. They channel and express their emotions, even their most raw, painful, and socially unacceptable emotions, into their creative work.

One of the things that I love about the Psalms is the diversity of them. David wrote liturgical, religious songs for corporate worship events. David wrote the blues when he was down. David wrote songs of intense joy when he was delivered. David wrote songs of intense contrition when faced with his tragic flaws. David wrote songs of intense anger when enemies outside his control were closing in all around him.

In the quiet this morning I find myself thinking about our emotions. Emotions can have significant negative consequences when they lie hidden, suppressed, and ignored within us. Finding healthy ways to get out my negative emotions has been one of the greatest lessons of my life journey. Many people think of God as a strict moral judge who will be shocked and punish us for expressing our “negative emotions.” I don’t find God to be that at all. Like David, I find God to be a loving creator who is not shocked, dismayed, or surprised by any of my emotions – even the negative ones. I can cry, scream, rail, and vent to God, who is Love incarnate, because love is patient, kind, and gracious.

I imagine God listening to David’s angry rant of a song, that we now call Psalm 35. I imagine David getting to the end and being almost out of breath from the pouring out of his emotions. I imagine God smiling and saying, “There. Nice. Feel better?”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Just Appeal

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Just Appeal (CaD Ps 17) – Wayfarer

From you let my vindication come….
Psalm 17:2a (NRSVCE)

Years ago, I found myself the object of unfair criticism by an individual who I thought was my friend. He was unhappy with me, though instead of confronting me and discussing his concerns, he decided to take his grievances to the court of public opinion. I confess that I was both sad and angered by his actions. My friend proved to be my enemy.

As luck would have it I found myself, sometime later, in possession of information regarding improprieties this person had committed. I had the opportunity to act with vengeance against the person who had injured me. I had a smoking gun that would pay back my enemy’s injuries with compounding interest. He would be out of a job and would be publicly humiliated.

I ignored the evidence. I let it go. I made a conscious choice to continue treating the person with kindness and deference whenever I run into him. Which, I still do on occasion.

Today’s chapter is yet another song penned by King David. The fascinating thing for me was not something I found in a particular line or verse, but the song itself as a whole. David structured this song like a legal appeal one would make to a King. As king, David would have heard a million legal appeals brought to him, and to King Saul while he served as a court musician, by people wanting their case decided. King David, however, is making his appeal to God, whom he places in authority above his own royal position.

It starts with a formal appeal to God to listen to his plea. He then establishes his position of innocence. He reiterates his request to be heard and praises God for his goodness and mercy. He then lays out his case against his enemies and asks God to vindicate him by judging and righteously punishing his enemies. He ends with a statement of confident trust that God will do right by him.

Sometimes in this life we find ourselves wronged with little or no position with which to get justice. Sometimes, we find that the only justice at our disposal is the justice we take into our own hands.

As a follower of Jesus, I am called to choose against my human desire for vengeance and vindication. Jesus tells me to consciously turn the other cheek, itself a conscious act of response that he exemplified time and time again as he suffered through the kangaroo court of the high priest, then the religious elders, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Pilate again, the crowds who days earlier had hailed Him as king but now shouted for His execution, and finally His enemies who stood at the foot of His cross and hurled insults at Him.

David’s psalm is a testament to Jesus’ teaching, and to David’s own example when he had multiple chances to take personal vengeance against his enemy, King Saul, while personally ensuring his ascension to the throne. With each opportunity David chose to ignore the opportunity, to let it go, and treat his enemy with deference.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about individuals who, along my life journey, I’ve considered enemies. There’s a whole bunch from childhood who I now consider friends. There are some that the road of life led in a completely different direction, and any hard feelings I may have once felt are as distant as they are. There are others, like the person I described at the top of this post, who remain in my circles of community. Their actions would indicate that they consider me some kind of enemy, but I’ve made a choice to keep treating them as friends.

Along my spiritual journey I’ve learned that pleading my case to the only Just Judge, and choosing to surrender my need for vengeance, frees my heart and mind from toxic emotions and actions which will only perpetuate and escalate circumstances. Turning the other cheek is not a passive response, it’s a conscious choice to make my appeal to God and leave it there.

I know. It sounds crazy. Following Jesus usually leads me to make choices that run opposite my natural inclinations. But, I can’t say I’ve ever regretted it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.