Sunday Reflections

This morning in church I reflected on how many women were missing who used to be part of our gathered group.  They've all transitioned to the afterlife.  Some of them were personal friends, and others were the mother of friends.  As I named them to myself and "seated" them on the rows in front of me, I realized several things:  those people would almost fill three benches, and many of them shared a given name with another church sister.  In our tradition, I'll pair many of them with their husband's name.

First I thought of the Marys:

Enos Mary, Noah Mary, Henry Mary, Freddie Mary, Ervin Mary, and David Mary.  Every one of those had Miller for a surname, except Freddie Mary and Noah Mary, who were Nislys.

Fannies:
Fannie Miller (widow from Kentucky who moved here with family), Mervin Fannie, Eli B. Fannie, and Fannie Viola Nisly

Ednas:
Menno Edna and Harvey Edna

Others:
Ed Lizzie, Ed Laura, Edwin Nellie, Emma Stutzman, Mandy Nisly, Marian Yoder, and Anja Miller

A few of these died several decades ago, but at least three have died in the past year.  Three others died the year before that.

I miss several of these people a great deal.  For every name on the list, however, someone else who misses them deeply faithfully keeps coming to church, no doubt carrying a bit or a lot of sorrow in their heart each time.  Yet there's room for joy in our gathered times too.

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The first "half" of Daniel 11 was our SS lesson for today.  Before it happened, Daniel knew about centuries' worth of events involving Persia, Greece, and the two kingdoms in Syria and Egypt, headed by two of the generals among whom Alexander the Great's kingdom was divided after his death.  (Whew.  Are you still with me?  Afraid not.)

The thing that did not occur to me as I read this prophecy and read about its fulfillment was where Israel was in all of these events.  Our teacher, Rose, pointed this out.  Geographically their land was situated between Egypt and Syria.  Those two kingdoms fought repeatedly, each time raking their armies across Israel, with the victor attempting to rake Israel into its political fold.

Understandably, the nation of Israel wearied of this turmoil.  Some wished, for the sake of peace, to simply acquiesce to whichever power was in charge at the time.  Others, however, held fast to worship of the true God, maintaining allegiance to that King above all others.  Much of the record of these events is found in the Apocrypha.

I was impressed with the parallels present for our time.  Political realities wash over us, and they often do not feel friendly.  Rather than being swept along with whatever tide is rising at the time, we do well to maintain allegiance to God above all.  Personally, I feel that is best done by not associating ourselves with any political party.

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The Supreme Court decision interpreting the Constitution to allow the term "marriage" to mean almost anything at all is a disappointment to all who love God's laws as revealed in Scripture.  I don't have much to say on this topic.  I do appreciate some of what others have said, and will link to some of what I consider good words on the topic.

This one is by John Piper.  His tone is somber, and his heart is pained for the reaping that must follow.

Several other writings speak of what I have often referred to--the incongruity of Christians assuming that the state can be made to honor Christian principles by the exerting of "force" from Christians.  Although neither of the following links expresses my thoughts exactly, they contain much truth, in my opinion.

Here is one written by someone from England, as he observes and evaluates America.  Here is another--this one with more advocacy for retreat and seclusion than I idealize.  The element I affirm in each of these writings is that church and state should not be wedded to each other, and Christians have often acted foolishly in trying to walk hand in hand with the state--when some of its elements have looked appealing.  The ruling by the Supreme Court is a forceful reminder that the two institutions are basically incompatible, and we do well to live as though we believed that.  We are perhaps entering an era when no other option will allow us to maintain our identity as Christians.