Month: March 2024

the cry of the cross

Posted on by Grace Day

Today the cross is everywhere you look – not just on churches but in art, in jewelry – people have crosses hanging in their homes and crosses hanging around their necks. How did the cross, once a symbol of humiliated defeat, become a symbol of hope-filled victory? The cross’s transformation is itself a miracle. Once a symbol of death, the cross today is a symbol of life. And not just life, but eternal life! This transformation is the result of a miracle that took place upon a particular cross just over two thousand years ago.

The cross had always been an instrument of torture and death. It was the means used to carry out crucifixion, a cruel form of capital punishment, involving the nailing or tying of a person’s hands and feet to a wooden cross, where they would hang humiliated and tortured until they died. Crucifixion was used by the Persians, Carthaginians, Romans and others from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. It was reserved for the worst offenders, those whose crimes were deserving of death. Crucifixion was also very public. Meant to shame and humiliate those who were being punished, crucifixions often drew large crowds. People showed up wanting to witness the humiliation of those being publicly punished by death for their unforgivable offenses.

The crucifixion of Jesus was no exception. The crowd was large and loud in its derision and mockery of Jesus as He hung on a cross, placed between two convicted criminals who hung on the crosses next to Him. The taunting must have seemed endless. We read this account in the gospel of Luke –

“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar and said, ‘If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.’ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: ‘Aren’t You the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ ” (Luke 23:35-39)

Little did they know that they were right. Jesus is the Christ of God, the promised Messiah, the Word become flesh to dwell among us for a time. He could have saved Himself from the agony, the suffering and the humiliation of the cross. He had a choice. Jesus told His disciples as much when He said to them –

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . . The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.” (John 10:11, 17-18)

The jeering, mocking crowd was actually correct – Jesus could have come down from that cross. But then He would not have saved you and me from our death sentence. Jesus stayed on that cross while His blood and His physical life ebbed away, because He was paying my sin price and your sin price with His own blood and with His own perfect life, so that you and I could be reconciled to a holy God that cannot look upon sin, any sin, including my sin and your sin.

But if someone could cover our sin with his blood – that would make the impossible, possible. Which is exactly what Jesus’s death on the cross did – made the formerly impossible, now possible. Jesus made a way for us to be connected to our Creator, where previously there had been no way. That’s why I read in Revelation this about Jesus –

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9)

That’s why Jesus stayed on that cross – to pay the price of our sin and in so doing “purchase us for God.” It was necessary. There was no other way. In Hebrews I read this –

“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

I’m so grateful Jesus chose to stay on that cross in order to pay my sin price – a price that I could never pay no matter how long I was given or how hard I tried. What the despising crowd could not know as they watched the crucifixion of Jesus, was that three days later there would be an empty tomb and a risen Savior! These words would come true –

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

Because Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross brings each and every one of us the offer of forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, the cross is no longer a symbol of death. It is the place where we were given the possibility and the promise of eternal life. The cross is a symbol of hope, of redemption, restoration, reconciliation – all things made possible for us by Jesus’s sacrificial death on that cross in our place. God has taken something that was ugly and made it beautiful.

The cross is where God showed us plainly just how much He loves us, to what lengths He would go to redeem us, to rescue us from certain death and give us eternal life with Him. The cross leaves no doubt. Jesus could have come down from that cross at any time, but He didn’t. He chose to stay. And that has made all the difference. Because Jesus stayed on that cross, the cross is no longer a symbol of defeat but one of victory, not a symbol of despair but of hope, not of punishment but of forgiveness, not of bondage but of freedom, not of hate but of love, not of death but of life. Jesus transformed the cross even as He transforms you and I, by doing what we read in Hebrews –

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

I wonder if those who wear cross necklaces and other cross jewelry today fully realize the beauty of the cross. Although, they must have some idea, because otherwise they would be wearing a symbol associated only with death and destruction. But God has taken what was evil, crucifixion, and used it to accomplish what is good – His eternal purposes in this world. He used the cross of crucifixion to bring us eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

God transformed the cross from an instrument of death to an instrument of life – the very thing that makes possible the forgiveness of our sins and brings us eternal life. Today the cross is a symbol of hope, of love and of life. It is the promise that the impossible is possible with God. The cross is the symbol of God’s great, sacrificial love for me and for you, dear readers. The cross cries out and leaves no doubt!

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. . . . He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:5, 12)

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

sincerely, Grace Day

an empty tomb

Posted on by Grace Day

Feels like hope is in short supply these days. Or is it just me? I recently lost a friend to cancer, and other people I know are currently engaged in battle with this same life stealing enemy. It is easy for me to feel overwhelmed, helpless and sad. All this is happening just as we are getting ready to celebrate something very hopeful, entirely hopeful, actually – the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That’s why the empty tomb is such a symbol of hope. When Jesus body was laid to rest there, the story appeared to be at an end.

“Joseph took the body (of Jesus), wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.” (Matthew 27:59-60)

BUT the story was far from over. The story continues –

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ ‘ ” (Matthew 28:1-7)

What an unexpected plot twist! What was supposed to be the end of the story (Jesus’s death) turned out to be only the beginning of a brand new story, a story full of hope and of promise, a story leading from an empty tomb to life everlasting! And the tomb was indeed empty! In Mark we read this account –

“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ‘ ” (Mark 16:5-7)

My favorite “empty tomb encounter” is recorded in Luke with these words – it is my favorite because of the angel’s question to the women. It goes down like this –

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. . . . the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ‘ ” (Luke 24:1-7)

The tomb was empty. The tomb is empty. This is good news. It was good news then. It is good news now. It is desperately needed good news for today. Death is not the end of the story. It was not the end of the story for Jesus, and it is not the end of the story for me or for you, dear readers, when Jesus is our Redeemer, our Rescuer, our atoning sacrifice and our Savior. Today, the empty tomb is a symbol of hope precisely because it is empty. The tomb could not hold the Creator of life, the Giver and the Sustainer of all life, Jesus. He will not allow it to hold His precious children either!

The tomb is empty, therefore we have hope. Our Redeemer lives! The angel’s question – “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” reminds me today that I have a risen Savior – not a deceased hero, but a living Lord. Jesus’s tomb is empty. He is not there. Because of this, these words ring true –

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

hope for a dying world – found in an empty tomb!

“He is not here; He has risen!”

what wonderful words of hope!

sincerely, Grace Day

God’s good gifts

Posted on by Grace Day

I stared at the words for a moment, taken aback, then reread them again to be sure I had read them correctly the first time. Sure enough, I had not in my haste, misread these comments following an article written about the gift of repentance. I read again what the commenter had to say, letting it sink in –

“There is no such thing as the ‘gift of repentance.’ I’ve never heard of the ‘gift of repentance.’ It is not a gift.”

Well, this got me to thinking about the nature and definition of “gifts” and I began to wonder if perhaps this wasn’t simply a semantic distinction that was causing the commenter to question the author’s identification of “repentance” as a gift from God. Perhaps the commenter was limited by these words from 1 Corinthians 12:4-10 –

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. . . . to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”

Did the commenter rule out repentance as a gift because it wasn’t mentioned in this particular list of “gifts”? This is not an exhaustive list of all of God’s good gifts to us by any means. It is a tip of the iceberg listing, if anything. The actual “good gifts list” (if there is one) is pretty much infinite because our Heavenly Father is an infinite God. His mercies are new every morning and so are all His other never-ending good gifts to us as His children. What I do know about good gifts and who it is that gives them is this –

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

And God’s good gifts to me and to you, dear readers, are many – too many to count. He gave us the gift of His only Son, Jesus.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Giving us Jesus, giving us eternal life, – pretty good gifts if you ask me. But there’s more. Jesus told His disciples this before His return to heaven –

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

God not only gave us His Son, He has given us His Holy Spirit as well. And the list of “gifts” continues to grow with these words of Jesus –

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” (John 14:27)

No, the world’s gifts are temporary, unsatisfyingly poor substitutes for God’s “good and perfect gifts”. God’s gifts to you and to me are priceless and perfect. And the list continues to grow with these words from Ephesians –

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

God’s grace, my faith, your faith – all gifts from God. It’s ALL God from start to finish so that I can’t boast. (I don’t have anything to boast about since every good thing I have is a gift from God) He is the author and perfecter of my faith, the sanctifier of my soul, the restorer of my life, the payer of my price, the forgiver of my sin and the lifter of my head. Repentance must certainly be among God’s many “good and perfect gifts.” And sure enough, I read these words in Ezekiel –

“I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

God softening my heart, actually giving me a “heart of flesh” able to receive Him, and opening my ears so I can hear and respond to Him – these are His gifts to me, doing for me what I cannot do for myself. My salvation, restoration, transformation, the quickening/convicting of my spirit moving me to repentance – these are all good gifts to me from my Heavenly Father. None are deserved, but all are freely given. (“He does not treat us as our sins deserve.”)

Just as faith and forgiveness are surely gifts from God, so is the work He does in my heart, drawing me to Him, leading me to repentance. A part of His gift of repentance is His gift of discipline. That’s right – discipline is a gift from God!

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.” (Hebrews 12:5-6)

I am thankful that God gives me the gift of repentance, that He gives me a heart of flesh so that I can receive His gift of forgiveness, His gift of mercies which are new every morning. I am thankful for God fulfilling this promise as well, to give us this –

“I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (Hebrews 8:10)

Every moment of my life is a gift from God and everything contained in those moments are His “good and perfect gifts.” His presence brings all of His good gifts with Him – gifts of comfort, joy, peace, hope, provision and protection. Gifts too numerous to number, like the manna given freely each morning to the Israelites in the desert. In my desert wanderings I know this to be true –

“You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.” (Psalm 139:5)

I have the gift of Your promise – the promise of Your Presence –

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;” (Isaiah 43:1-3)

God’s everpresent Presence brings me peace, provision and protection –

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:4-6)

All are good gifts from God, along with repentance, redemption and reconciliation – God’s gifts are too numerous to name them all. I am forever thankful, a life of gratitude my only possible response.

sincerely, Grace Day

AI – the real thing?

Posted on by Grace Day

Is AI the real thing? I think not. Artificial intelligence – the name itself implies the answer. AI can’t be “the real thing” – it is not real if it is artificial. Both things can’t be true at the same time. AI is “the intelligence of machines or software, as opposed to the intelligence of living beings, primarily of humans” – that’s how Wikipedia explains AI.

We need to note that it is living beings (that’s us) who created the machines and the software in the first place. Are we now wondering if, like Frankenstein, we have created the proverbial monster? Will we control AI or will AI control us? AI is meant to be a tool we can use to help us accomplish our purposes. So it stands to reason that we would use and control AI solely for our benefit. After all, AI is supposed to serve us, not the other way around, right?

Today, AI seems to be everywhere. (do you have an Alexa in your home?) There are concerns about its becoming too pervasive and too powerful in our lives. Is Artificial Intelligence superior to our human intelligence already? Remember the plane that landed on the Hudson River in 2009? That was a big story and considered nothing less than a miracle. The plane’s engines had been disabled after running into a flock of Canadian geese shortly after takeoff. There were two airports close by, but Captain Sullenberger didn’t believe the plane could make it to either one. Instead, he landed the plane successfully on the Hudson River. Everyone survived.

A subsequent investigation of Sullenberger’s actions showed that he made the right decision. What was interesting to me was that a computer “simulation” of the event, with all the data plugged in, showed a possible safe landing at a nearby airport BUT it took the “sim” pilots seventeen tries (sixteen crashes) to achieve this outcome! Obviously, the two real life pilots in the plane’s cockpit that day didn’t have the luxury of seventeen practice runs. They had one chance to save their lives and the lives of everyone on that plane.

The whole incident took just under four minutes from bird strike to landing the plane on the water. These skilled pilots had only that short time to process all the information, make a decision and execute their plan. (the human brain is an unmatched computer) There was no time for AI to run multiple computer simulations and select the best outcome from among them. That would also assume that only accurate information and all available variables/information were put into the computer to start with, in order to receive the best possible response. I’m thinking I prefer human pilots to AI.

However, there are those who would put more faith in AI and in the transhuman ideology that has become so popular today. Transhumanism postulates that humans will evolve into an enhanced species that transcends humanity, thus ushering in a posthuman era. This evolution will be accomplished through technology – brain chips, AI, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, etc. to change humans into new and improved transhumans. We will increase our life span with immortality being the goal.

Sounds to me like transhumanism is about we humans remaking ourselves in our own image. It is about rebellion and our lack of understanding of who God is and of who we are as His created beings. We are like the clay saying to the Potter, “We don’t like what You made. We can do a better job.” Closely linked to transhumanism, is transgenderism. Here the clay says to the Potter, “You made a mistake. I know better than You do how I should be formed and who I am.”

So who are we? Psalm 100 provides an answer –

“Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

Genesis tells us exactly who we are –

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

Psalm 8 tells us more about ourselves and about our place in this world –

“what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” (Psalm 8:4-8)

We are God’s people, created in His image (identity) and given dominion over all of His creation on the earth (purpose). Our identity, our position (a little lower than the angels) and our purpose are revealed in these verses. All are given to us by our Creator, God. And there’s more.

“For we (you and I and all humankind) are God’s workmanship, (masterpieces) created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Another revelation of our identity, our value (we are masterpieces) and our purpose, bestowed on us by our Creator. We are endowed with these things at our creation – our identity – as God’s image bearers, our value – infinite to our Creator, and our purpose – to do the “good works” God has for us to do and in so doing to bring Him glory.

AI, transhumanism and transgenderism are becoming our modern day tower of Babel – our feeble human attempt to by-pass God in our quest for immortality, identity, self-worth, and meaning. The striving of transhumanism and transgenderism push us to remake/reinvent ourselves in order to conform to some man-made idea of what is ideal. But ironically, this only leads us to destroy ourselves, mind, body and spirit (literally) rather than rejoicing in how perfectly we are made in the first place. This pursuit of supposed perfection has become an endless quest from which we have no rest nor reprieve. If only we knew the truth.

“For You (God) created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

That’s the truth. We are already “fearfully and wonderfully made.” All God’s works are wonderful, the psalmist declares. We cannot improve upon God’s perfect design.

“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31 )

And we cannot, even through AI or other technologies, add to the length of our lives nor can we give ourselves immortality. That is God’s gift to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. That gift has already been given. We have only to receive it. We have been created with a free will. That choice is ours alone to make.

But in our arrogance and rebellion, we are presumptuous enough to believe that we can do better than God and so we pursue the ideologies of transhumanism and transgenderism in order to alter what God has so perfectly designed and created, us! I am reminded of these words from a favorite childhood poem, “Trees”, by Joyce Kilmer –

“Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree.”

So true! And only God can make a human being. We can attempt to alter what God has made but the results are disastrous. We destroy ourselves when we attempt to circumvent or to counterfeit how God has created us. Unlike AI, artificial intelligence, we humans are the “real thing” – made in God’s image, bearing His seal. We are God’s AI, “authentically imaged” – we are the “real thing” – each one of us is the Authentic Image of our Heavenly Father, who just happens to also be the Creator of the universe. That should be good enough for us, and it is!

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

sincerely, Grace Day

how did we do it?

Posted on by Grace Day

How did we bring a whole country into being without the aid of cell phones or the internet or of telephones of any kind at all? None of those things existed at the time our country came into being, because they hadn’t been invented yet. Yes, I’m still thinking about the recent cell phone outage and how it affected people I know. Mostly, this event got me to thinking more about life before cell phones, which got me to wondering how we ever accomplished anything, let alone all that we did, in a pre-cell phone era. And for that matter, how did we survive at all before the invention of the telephone? Yet we humans did survive, we thrived actually.

Sonnets were written and symphonies composed, cathedrals and castles were built, masterpieces were painted and great novels were penned, plays were performed and the stars were studied in hopes of persuading them to give up their long held secrets. Teaching was done in person. Aristotle had his pupils as did Plato and Socrates. This format of studying under a particular teacher in person for a significant length of time was a way for knowledge to be passed on and expanded. Jesus, Himself, used this method. He had twelve disciples plus a few others that followed Him as He traveled, and He taught them many things as they journeyed with Him.

Education was personal. Knowledge was passed on person to person. Today we “google” things that we want to know. We don’t have to have a conversation nor a debate about various theories or hypotheses or the important issues of the day when we “interact” with Google rather than engaging with a real in-person human being. Google doesn’t talk back. And if it did, we could just click to another screen or shut our device down. (is this akin to walking away/stomping off and slamming the door in real people interactions?) Could it be that’s why we prefer Google to human interaction? No drama. We control the “conversation?” – if you could consider “Googling” to be a conversation in the first place?

But I digress. I am lamenting the loss of certain things like land lines, love letters via snail mail and phone booths. I mean, where is Superman going to execute his quick-change magical transformation if no phone booths are available? Consider that somehow, with hard work, sacrifice, with the courage of exploration and of standing up to tyranny from overseas, with hand written documents (the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) and in person meetings – a new nation emerged without the aid of cell phones, or of any phones for that matter, or of the internet; none of which existed at the time.

Stores operated, businesses prospered, scholars were educated, crops were grown, goods were transported, things got done, productive lives were lived – all before the advent of the cell phone and the internet. How did we do it? Now I can’t imagine life without the convenience of instant connectivity to a world wider than the one in which I physically reside. But most of human history has been lived pre cell phone and pre internet. Most of my life has been lived pre these things as well. How did I do it?

How did I learn? How did I write a research paper? Does anyone remember card catalogs and libraries full of actual books you can hold in your hands? Remember having to look up by hand and consult multiple sources to support your hypothesis before you could write your paper? Remember typewriters and carbon copies? Remember waiting on your camera’s film to be developed? Newspapers, books, my school assignments – they could all be held in my hands. These are tangible things.

Now assignments are submitted electronically. I sure hope “the cloud” keeps everything I give it safe and secure. I can’t really visit “the cloud.” It’s an intangible being? idea? I liked being able to hold my finished paper in my hands, the weight of it assuring me of its worth. I would make back up copies – that was security. Now if the internet goes down, where is my access to all the information it keeps secure until such time as I might need such information? Do I trust the internet to tell me “the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”

How did we do it? How did we do life before the internet and cell phones? How did I find my way in this world? Remember maps and atlases and verbal directions? Somehow we all got to where we were going, including sporting events, concerts etc. without cell phones. How did we do it? How did we survive and thrive before modern technology?

Human history is a rich and riveting tale of successes and failures, of invention and innovation, of cowardice and of courage, of doubt and of faith, of deceit and of truth, of greed and of generosity, of hate and of love, of evil and of good – all waging war in every human heart and in every human society simultaneously. The battle continues to this day. Although things may seem drastically different in today’s cultures which have the advantage of cell phones and of internet access, much remains the same because human nature hasn’t changed. There truly is “nothing new under the sun” as King Solomon said so long ago.

How did we do it? How did people build the pyramids or the Colosseum or the Acropolis? How did Magellan sail around the world. He certainly had no modern technology to guide him. How did the pilgrims sail the ocean and settle an unknown land without the aid of any of our modern devices? The pioneers had no cars, only covered wagons to carry them and their possessions into new territories. Still, they undertook the journey from the comfort of the known to the uncertainty of the unknown and new communities were created as a country full of the promise of freedom continued its formation.

How did we do it? Like the seasons on our calendars, our individual lives have seasons, just as human history has seasons. Because human nature doesn’t change, we seem to repeat those seasons, repeating the mistakes of our predecessors rather than learning from them. Consequently, we see history repeating itself, proving Solomon right when he said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

How did we do it? How are we surviving as a human race today? Generations from now, they may be asking the same question about us – how did we do all that we are doing now, the good, the bad and the ugly, during this time in human history without whatever new inventions will be commonplace by then? How did we survive? Only by God’s great grace and infinite mercy alone, it seems to me. And that has been true for every generation since Adam and Eve first inhabited that oh so perfect garden.

God is sovereign over all things, including the affairs of men. That truth is very comforting in such an uncertain world. In Daniel we read this –

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” (Daniel 2:20-21)

As I look back over human history and wonder how people survived all that they did (the holocaust for example) or how they accomplished all that they did without the modern conveniences and technology of today, I am reminded of these words in Ecclesiastes –

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

that pretty much says it all – and we know that – “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

sincerely, Grace Day