Tag Archives: Japan

Chapter-a-Day Matthew 3

March 23, 2011 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.” Matthew 3:10 (MSG)

I’ve been fascinated by the reports of radioactivity coming out of Japan. Just the other day a plane load of passengers from Tokyo arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and set off the TSA‘s radiation detectors. How interesting radioactivity is. We can’t see it, feel it, hear it, smell it, or taste it. But, it’s there. I wasn’t even aware that airports had detectors for those things.

Imagine a hand-held device like a Geiger Counter. It also detects an energy that can’t be seen, felt, smelt, heard or tasted. It’s a Life Detector, and measures the amount of Life welling up inside our spirit and radiating out of our life. What would this Life Detector reveal about me? Would it show Life radiating from me in increasing measure and pegging out the needle? Would the needle barely register a blip on the screen as my soul slowly becomes dead wood?

The further I get in the journey the more I realize that the needle is moving each day for each one of us. Life is either growing more fully inside of us or it’s seeping slowly from our souls. It’s pretty simple. We’ve got to get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Jeremiah 52

March 17, 2011 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. Jeremiah 52:31 (MSG)

I’ve been amazed at some of the stories coming out of Japan after the terrible earthquake this past week. Amidst the horrific scale of the tragedy, the news is dotted with small stories of amazing courage and hope like the man who had been washed nine miles out to sea by the tsunami and survived by floating on what was left of the roof of his house. He was rescued by the Japanese navy days later.

The small ray of hope in the midst of overwhelming darkness is a universal theme. We need a silver lining around the storm cloud. We need a hope on which to cling in the midst of tragic circumstances.

It’s interesting that the editor of Jeremiah’s writings ended the volume with this footnote about King Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin was eighteen when he ascended to the throne. He was just a kid who found himself thrust onto the throne at a time of national crisis (anyone seen The King’s Speech?) as the Babylonian army was about to sweep into the city. He ruled three months and was then carried of into exile, where he rotted in a Babylonian prison for well over 30 years.

Reaching the end of Jeremiah, I feel the tragedy of the people’s rebellious spirit, the weight of Jeremiah’s woeful prophesies, and the stark reality of their fruition. Getting through Jeremiah feels like it’s been a long haul. Nevertheless, it ends with a small act of redemptive kindness for Jehoiachin, who was just a clueless kid tragically swept up in a historical drama that was so much bigger than him.

And with that, I walk away from my journey through Jeremiah reminded that even in darkness, light dawns.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Jeremiah 49

March 14, 2011 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,
   the bottom of the heap, kicked around.
You think you’re so great—
   strutting across the stage of history,
Living high in the impregnable rocks,
   acting like king of the mountain.
You think you’re above it all, don’t you,
   like an eagle in its aerie?
Well, you’re headed for a fall.
   I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree. Jeremiah 49:15-16 (MSG)

I, along with the rest of the world, watched with fascination over the weekend as Japan struggled with the aftermath of the strongest earthquake recorded in that country and the subsequent tsunami. I thought back to my post from Jeremiah 47. I guess I could add another bullet point to my list of doomsday predictions.

The events of the previous few days came to mind as I read this morning’s chapter. There’s a big difference between healthy skepticism when people are quick to proclaim “the end of the world” and blind arrogance about our own personal safety and well-being.

In Jeremiah’s day, the people of Edom lived in caves in tall cliffs. It was almost impossible for armies to successfully lay seige to the area. The people of Edom, therefore, felt a strong sense of security. “No one can touch us up here in our caves,” they said to themselves. Thus, Jeremiah’s prophesy reminded them that they should watch it with the big head. And, so should we. We may never live to the end of the world, but it quite possible that we’ll see the end of many things as we’ve known them.

I try not too worry too much about tomorrow. Today has plenty of worries of its own. Still, reading Jeremiah’s words and watching the news feed out of Japan remind me not to put too much security in the things of this world. A tsunami of events might just wash them all away on a moments notice.