3/9/2025
Spring has sprung according to our clock! Early this morning our cell phones jumped forward an hour into Daylight Saving Time. Honestly, I never have understood the reasoning behind moving our clocks forward, then backwards in autumn. I enjoy gaining an hour, but losing one, not so much. To make matters confusing, other countries either do not have this exercise twice annually, or, like Israel, they do so at a different time. Why? I really don't know why. What I do know is that our morning call has been advanced an hour until their time changes in Israel at the end of the month. Then we'll be in sync with each other, and I can attend worship services locally without having to trade off half an hour of one for the other, both equally important.
This week begins the observance of Purim in Israel, which centers around the book of Esther when the Jewish population who had been exiled to Persia were being threatened with extermination. That word, "extermination," has such an unpleasant connotation. I won't elaborate on my thoughts, because someone may presume I speak negatively, when in truth I speak from my heart. Perhaps the word "annihilation" would have sounded better. Either way the point is well made. So, Purim begins with fasting, as Esther fasted, before she dared to go uninvited before the King, which was forbidden and thus a risk of losing her life. She did so on behalf of her people, knowing her fate was their fate, so she and her maidens fasted and prayed for three days prior, as did all the Jewish people. She was welcomed by the King, and the rest you can read. It's a wonderful story of the Jewish nation, and how God divinely intervened by placing people in the right place, at the right time. And so He does today. As God so clearly states, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He changes not. He just does things His way, and many times, not in a conventional way.
My daughter and I watched a movie this afternoon, "Twist of Faith," about a Jewish man whose wife and three children had been murdered by a mental ill young man while on a bus. The man, unable to deal with this tragic loss, decided to disappear, so he left all behind and got on a bus going anywhere. He remained speechless for some time, until he happened upon a friendly little boy who offered him food, because he saw another human being in need. Although his mother was cautious, the young boy reminded her of the words of Matthew 25:42-45 where Jesus reminds: "'For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Pretty good reminding by the young boy, wouldn't you say?
The movie ends well with the Jewish man finding his way back home in more ways than expected. I recommend it. I love movies with redemptive messages. It made me think of the present situation in Israel and in Syria and elsewhere, as I has discussed over and over again. I wish I had better news to share, but it seems as if the terror extends to other places, and decisions have to be made with no clear on in sight.
I wish I could gather a team of believers who would pray daily with me for others, and who would be interested in going out and serving others. I'm at a disadvantage here having been gone for so long, and the people are not the same. Many local churches are doing community outreach, but they do it singly, individual churches, rather than a joint effort. But then, what do I know? Still I pray to be more engaged, and then I wonder when I could do it. But I know that should it happen, God will adjust my present schedule. In fact, He has been helping me with that already. From time to time He rearranges my priorities. As it should be.
So, it's getting late, and I have miles to go before I rest. Tomorrow will be another adventure in learning. Until then, shalom, and keep your eyes on the Captain of the Armies of Heaven.
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