Yom Kippur

This evening at sundown begins the most solemn day in Judaism, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, ushered in a period of ten days called Yamin Noraim, the days of awe. This is a time of introspection and self-examination with special prayers in the synagogue climaxed by special services on Yom Kippur beseeching the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. The truly penitent are assured that a merciful God will indeed forgive and, in effect, wipe the slate clean for a new year.

This communal act of catharsis and reflection is doubtless a good thing and, for those who take their Judaism seriously, it must be a quite meaningful experience.

All of this prompts me to reflect on how this compares with and differs from Christianity. There can be no doubt that in several places the language of the New Testament echoes the ancient traditions of Yom Kippur. The most obvious example is the book of Hebrews. The centerpiece of this clearly Jewish Christian writing is the portrayal of Jesus as our great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek in chapters five through ten.

Just like the ritual of Yom Kippur, Christians are urged to "approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Heb 4:16). But there is a very significant difference: Jesus our high priest does something for us that is non-repeatable and non-replaceable. He has entered into the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, on our behalf and offered himself, not the blood of bulls and goats but his own blood (Heb 6:19-20; 7:18, 26-28; 10). How effective was the self-sacrifice on our behalf and in our place? The author of Hebrews says it cleanses our consciences so that we may serve the living God! (Heb 9:14). He says it cleanses us once for all and that we no longer have to feel guilty for our sins! (Heb 10:2). The redemption Jesus accomplishes is called eternal (Heb 9:12) and it saves us completely (Heb 7:25).

As the author of Hebrews makes abundantly clear, believers in Christ are under a new covenant arrangement mediated by the blood of Jesus. There is no need to repeat the Yom Kippur ritual of the old covenant because our sins have been dealt with once and for all by the sinless one.

On the other hand, is there still some relevance for Christians in the Yom Kippur traditions of Judaism? I think there is. Although the guilt and penalty of our sins have been atoned for by Christ's death on the cross on our behalf, we are not turned into sinless people when we accept Christ as Savior. We still possess a fallen nature and we still commit sins. These must be dealt with. The penalty has already been paid but sin disrupts fellowship with a holy God. This break must be repaired. Here is where the Yom Kippur ceremonies can be helpful. The New Testament epistle make clear that post-conversion sins must be confessed and turned away from. In the words of John the Apostle: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The difference from Judaism is that we shouldn't wait until once a year to confess our failings and faults: this should be on a daily or as needed basis. We need to keep short accounts with God. Don't let sins build up and choke our fellowship with God and neighbor. Let's clean house regularly. In the Christian tradition, the Lord's Supper serves as a wonderful opportunity to do precisely as the Apostle Paul requires: examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink the cup (1 Corinthians 11:28).

In short, Yom Kippur can serve to awaken our Christian consciences to the seriousness of sin and the urgent necessity to seek daily his forgiveness and cleansing. Through the work of our great High Priest this is not an impossible dream; it's a living reality.

Modern Judaism has a dilemma. They have no sacrificial ritual anymore. The hope of a rebuilt and restored Temple complete with a sacrificial ritual is a pipe dream for a minority of Jews. Judaism in both its Orthodox and Reformed expressions substitutes good deeds and good intentions for blood sacrifice. I do not discount these expressions of piety; they are praiseworthy. The problem is they are woefully insufficient to deal with the root problem. Here is where the glory of the Gospel shines forth. In Christ our most basic problem has been dealt with and we have divine resources to deal with our ongoing struggle with sin. In Paul's words, we are saved by grace and it is by that same grace that we work out our salvation. May Jesus Christ be praised!

Behold the man!

Well, we knew this would happen regularly during our stay in Israel and, sure enough, it already has. A new and in my opinion, convincing theory about the location of the infamous place "called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha" (John 19:13) has surfaced. Shimon Gibson, an archaeologist, believes this pavement is located just outside the Old City wall about midway between Jaffa Gate and the southern end of the west side of the Old City wall.

Scholars are pretty much agreed that the Via Dolorossa, traversed by literally millions of tourists and pilgrims since its inception in the 18th century, is not historically accurate. There is a consensus that Pilate would have taken up residence in Herod's Palace which was located south of David's citadel and covered much of what is called today the Armenian Quarter. This photograph is looking south along the line of the Turkish wall built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. By the way, the road in the right center of the picture leads to the campus of JUC. Notice the Armenian Quarter parking lot just inside the wall. Herod's courtyard would have covered that area (and more).

What Gibson has done, however, is posit a credible location for the actual Gabbatha or Pavement. Earlier in his excavations under Magen Broshi during the 1970's, Gibson had helped uncover a portion of the courtyard of Herod's Palace. Here is a photograph of a model of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus showing Herod's splendid palace and grounds. Note the two building complexes. The one on the left (or north) probably consisted of service buildings, and the one on the right (south) served as a barracks. This is where Pilate stayed when he was in Jerusalem.

So much has been generally agreed upon. What Gibson now maintains is that he has identified the steps leading up to a gate granting access to the courtyard area of Herod's palace, a gate Josephus (a first century Jewish historian) called "the Essene Gate." I'm not convinced about this being the Essene Gate, but what I do find compelling is his claim that the steps and gate area are where the "judgment seat" (John 19:13) was located and where Pilate uttered the famous words, 'Behold the man "(John 19:5) and where he finally handed Jesus over to the religious authorities to be crucified (John 19:16).

Seen here is a photograph of the Turkish wall viewed from the west. On the other side of the wall is the Armenian Quarter parking lot shown earlier. Notice that right at the base of the wall is an outcropping of stone and in the foreground one sees what appears to be steps leading up to that outcropping.

Shown here is a photograph I took this past week of Joyce standing on one of those steps on the outcropping. It would appear that they originally led up to a gate admitting one to Herod's courtyard. Notice how the Turkish wall rests on top of the earlier Herodian era stones, a not uncommon thing in this most uncommon city.

Seen below is Gibson's reconstruction of what the steps and gate area might have looked like with Jesus seen standing at the top and visible to the crowds below. The area would easily accommodate hundreds of spectators. If this reconstruction is correct, Joyce is standing very close to the place where Jesus stood condemned!

In the words of the old hymn: "Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned he stood; Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior!"

Shabbat in Jerusalem



Shabbat (Sabbath) means "to cease from one's labor." We have just experienced our first Shabbat since arriving in Jerusalem on Tuesday. In keeping with a very long Jewish tradition, which can already be seen in the days of Genesis One (where each day begins with evening), Shabbat begins at sundown Friday evening and concludes at sundown Saturday evening. It is now Saturday evening and the sun just sank below the western ridge opposite JUC as I write this line. The entire day has been notable in terms of quietness. Traffic was minimal and the hubbub of a modern city almost completely absent. Okay, just as I wrote this last line, I heard an automobile honking because Shabbat is now over and activity will soon pick up on what is called motzaei Shabbat ("the going out of Sabbath). Tomorrow (Sunday), once again, the din of city noises will be constant background noise.

There is something to be said for practicing Shabbat. Most evangelical Christians no longer observe Sabbath (on Sunday, of course!) like previous generations of evangelicals did. We have adapted to the neck break pace of modern American society and work hard and play hard. That leaves little room for contemplating God's being and his expressed will for us in Scripture. The Psalmist says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). We "do church" and assume we have fulfilled our obligation and honored God by doing so. But even doing church has to be programed into our crammed schedules.

Perhaps we can learn from the Jewish tradition of Sabbath keeping, not in a legalistic or mystical approach, but in a fresh realization that ceasing from our normal work schedule and setting aside time to listen to and contemplate the Master of the Universe is essential for our overall well-being . Transposed into a Christian context this means attuning ourselves to the Triune God. Such an exercise is a powerful means of becoming more like Christ. And when we become more like Christ, we relate to others in a more Christ-like manner and more effectively advance the kingdom of God, a rather counterintuitive idea by North American standards.

The prophet Amos had some trenchant remarks for his generation concerning their "religious performances." In a piece of biting sarcasm the prophet tells the people of Israel (the northern kingdom) that their sacrifices, tithes and offerings, which they "love to do," only multiplies their transgressions (Amos 4:4-5). In short, what God desires is not solemn assemblies, burnt offerings, the noise of songs and melody of harps (Amos 5:21-23), but living in obedience to his will.

Living in obedience to God's will is not something that happens simply because I schedule an appointment with God on my iPod Touch for one hour once a week. It will almost certainly require setting aside more time to listen to the Master of the Universe. In short, our evangelical ancestors would almost certainly chide us for our lax Sabbath observance. And , you know- "what ? They would have a good point. We should seriously reconsider our whole attitude towards the Christian Sabbath. I intend to do so.

May your Christian Sabbath be an enriching experience tomorrow!

National Self-interest and the Middle East

The new Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron, has recently been highly critical of the Israeli policy with regard to Gaza, especially its naval blockade. But it's refreshing to see someone from the UK chide Mr. Cameron for so obviously playing to the gallery (in this case the Turkish government and people) based on national self-interest and economic concerns. The person in question is Dr. Calvin L. Smith, Principal of King’s Evangelical Divinity School in Wolverhampton, UK and his comments may be read on his website at www.calvinlsmith.com. Dr. Smith goes even further and laments some of Great Britain's mistakes in its past Middle East foreign policy, mistakes that have played a leading role, unfortunately, in creating the current Middle East crisis. As an American I have to be very careful here because it's easy to be self-righteous and judgmental. I need to say upfront that the US has committed enough sins in foreign policy to go around for everyone.

His comments lead me to offer some further thoughts. It should not be forgotten that it was a distinguished British evangelical, Lord Arthur James Balfour, seen here in this photograph, who played a key role in the rebirth of the modern State of Israel. He was instrumental in drafting the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which states: “His majesty’s government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” This declaration was an incredible shot in the arm for the Zionist Movement which had been struggling for several decades to reestablish a Jewish state in the ancestral homeland.

Prior to the Balfour Declaration, Zionism’s most visible spokesperson had been the Austrian born Jew, Theodor Herzl, seen here in this photograph. Herzl, hat in hand, even made a junket to Istanbul requesting permission from the Turkish Sultan to purchase land for a Jewish state in Palestine. He was of course curtly denied and dismissed. Meanwhile, Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (a Frenchman of the Rothschild banking family) underwrote pioneering Jewish settlements in Palestine and bought up any available land from Arab landholders (many of them absentee), however desolate and unproductive, at greatly inflated prices. Herzl spoke widely at public rallies on behalf of Zionism and presided over the first World Jewish Congress in 1897 devoted to the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. These fledgling efforts, however, were more inspirational than substantive.

The Balfour Declaration, on the other hand, was a huge breakthrough. The World Zionist Organization–London Bureau sent out a manifesto addressed to the Jewish People. In this document the Zionist leadership declared that the Balfour Declaration “marks the end of an epoch, and it opens up the beginning of a new era. . . the period which now begins is fulfillment.”

But the buoyancy and optimism of 1917 was soon followed by anti-Jewish riots in May, 1921. Arabs, incited by the anti-Semitic rabble-rouser, Haj Amin el-Husseini, carried out deadly attacks on Jewish communities. Husseini, seen here with a Nazi soldier in Germany, was enthusiatic about the Nazi program to make Germany Judenrein and hoped to do the same in Palestine. In 1929 Arabs nearly wiped out the entire Jewish community of Hebron. The Jews formed self-defense units called the Haganah, trained in large part by the British officer, Major Charles Orde Wingate shown here. On the whole, however, the British Mandatory government in Palestine was not sympathetic to the Jewish cause and favored the Arabs. In fact, in May of 1939, the British Secretary of State presented a statement of policy on Palestine, a “white paper,” in which immigration and land purchases by Jews were curtailed. This of course came at the very time when Jews desperately needed a safe haven from the Nazis.

After WWII, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, world Jewry thought surely the British would reopen the gates to Palestine. Instead, the British restricted Jewish immigration even more. The British Foreign Office, with a view to strategic national interests (read here especially OIL), continued a determined policy of currying the favor of the emerging Arab states (hence Dr. Calvin Smith’s comparison to Mr. Cameron). Tragically, the US had also refused to open its doors to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany. The US Congress had already passed an immigration law in 1922 that had choked off the influx of Jews to a mere trickle and the national sentiment was overwhelmingly isolationist and strongly opposed to immigration (Hmm. Does this sound vaguely familiar?)

In short, the British government both radically reinterpreted and quietly ignored the Balfour Declaration. If one is guided only by national self-interest, this is perfectly understandable. After all, who would have predicted that a Jewish state could survive anyway in a sea of Islam? Many of the actions and policies of British officials and military leaders in Palestine during the troubled days following WWII clearly favored the Arab cause. This has been vividly depicted in the book O Jerusalem! by Dominque LaPierre and Larry Collins. I highly recommend this for all who want to understand some of the historical background to the present impasse.

During this period of the Mandate, the British government increasingly found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. Promises made earlier to both Jews and Arabs simply could not be kept which in turn led to bitter recrimination and even terrorism directed at British soldiers and officials in Palestine. In hindsight, the Balfour Declaration contains aspirations that now seem naive. How precisely can one have a Jewish home in Palestine without prejudicing the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine? It would appear that even Solomon in all his wisdom would be hard-pressed to pull this one off!

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. On May 14, 1948 Israel declared herself an independent nation and the very next day was invaded by the armies of six neighboring Arab states. Remarkably, some would even say, miraculously, Israel not only survived but increased its territory initially allotted by the UN Partition Plan. Now here we are, some 62 years and 5 wars later, and there is still no independent Palestinian state. The reasons for this are various and highly disputed. But that is the subject of a future blog.

I leave off with this sad observation: nationalistic self-interest and indifference, whether on the part of the UK or the US, has resulted in great human tragedy for both Arabs and Jews. I fervently hope that in the not too distant future a comprehensive settlement can be implemented with Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace. Surely all evangelicals of whatever nationality and political persuasion can join together and respond to the Psalmist's urgent request: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."(Ps 122:6). May it happen speedily and in our day!

Bishop Gobat School

Readers may wonder about the campus of Jerusalem University College as they see the photograph of it on the masthead of our website. Clearly, the buildings are not of recent construction.

Pictured here is a photograph taken around 1936 looking east toward the Dead Sea and ancient Moab. The main buildings in the center of the picture were formerly called the Bishop Gobat School for Boys. Gobat, an Anglican clergyman, built the school in 1853. His intention was to provide poor Arab boys with a rudimentary education and teach them a trade. Bishop Gobat was a very influential voice for the Anglican Church in Palestine in the mid-nineteenth century. In fact, he succeeded in gaining a place for Anglicans at the religious table in Jerusalem, alongside the long-established and powerful Latin and Greek Christian communities, as well as the less well-known communions like the Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, Jacobite Syrians, Marionite Catholic, and others.

At any rate, the school itself had a checkered history and there were those in the Anglican Church who were scandalized by alleged immorality among the Arab boys and were critical of the leadership of Gobat, claiming the boys were scarcely literate. But being a powerful and persuasive personality, Gobat weathered the storms and challenges and the school continued for many years.

In 1948, the Bishop Gobat School found itself smack dab in the middle of a desperate struggle by the Jewish community to maintain a foothold in the Old City. This was shortly after Israel proclaimed herself a sovereign state in May of 1948. In response, six surrounding Arab nations invaded and sought to obliterate the fledgling state before it could even spread its wings. The Jordanian Legion had cut off the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem from the new city, the predominantly Jewish sector. The situation for the small Jewish garrison in the Jewish Quarter was critical. Short of ammunition, bodies, food and medicine, they appealed for help to the Jewish Haganah (defense force).

The Haganah came up with a bold plan. Sitting on the bedrock scarp of Mt Zion, overlooking the Hinnom Valley and upon which the Second Temple wall once stood, the Bishop Gobat School afforded a place to transfer supplies across the deep Hinnom Valley, separating the Jewish Quarter from the Jewish sector of the new city. Inside one of the rooms of the school, the Haganah fastened a cable and strung the cable across the valley to the opposite side as seen in this photograph I took in 1968. Under cover of darkness, the Jews ferried munitions, food and medicine across the valley in baskets. There is a story that circulates about the famous one-eyed Israeli general, Moshe Dayan. They say he crossed over the Hinnom to the Jewish Quarter one dark night in a basket suspended by the cable. Perhaps it's an urban legend, but it's certainly in character for this dashing military hero. At any rate, although the resupply strategem succeeded in buying time for the beleagured Jewish defenders, in the end, they were unable to hold the Jewish Quarter. Under a truce, the defenders evacuated and the Jordanians occupied the quarter. The Jordanian Legion immediately destroyed all remnants of a Jewish presence, including the Hurva and Rambam Synagogues, dating to the medieval period. The synagogues were even used as latrines. The Jewish Quarter languished until the Six Day War, during which the Israelis seized control of the Old City and shortly afterward set about reconstructing the old Jewish Quarter. Today, you will be amazed at its remarkable transformation. The Israelis restored the destroyed synagogues with the exception of the Hurva. Until just recently,they left it pretty much as they found it, seen here with only one arch standing, in order to remind the viewers of its desecration. But today they have restored the synagogue to all its glory.

Dr. G. Douglas Young now enters the story. He was an Old Testament Professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. For several years he led student tours to Israel. In his visits, he often observed the choice location of the Bishop Gobat School. This was before the Six Day War. Since 1948 the building sat isolated and neglected in no man's land. Jordanian legionnaires, posted on the Old City walls, made sure there was no Jewish presence on the premises.

Then came the Six Day War. Dr. Young realized he had a golden opportunity and he seized the moment. He approached the Anglican leadership in Jerusalem about the building. He wanted to fix it up and use it as a school primarily for North American students. His initial aim was to establish a graduate level institution that would enable students to study the Bible in the land of the Bible. To make a long story short, he was able to negotiate a long-term lease on the building with the understanding that he would renovate and rehabilitate the structure. Today, some 43 years later, you may judge for yourself how successful he and his successors have been. Just go the the JUC website and click on the slide tours of the campus. Dr. Young's dream has been fulfilled many times over and several generations of students have reaped the benefits of studying at JUC.

Joyce and I were among the very first students to spend a full year at the campus on Mount Zion. When we first came in the summer of 1968, only a few of the many rooms had been cleared of debris and rehabed. We often wandered through the rubble-filled rooms and tried to imagine what it would look like when finished. This semester we get to go back and enjoy the fruits of many years hard labor and sacrificial giving that has made this place what it is today. Here is a picture of the building and our group of students enjoying a Shabbat barbecue at JUC. It's come a long way!

Reflections on the Recent Gaza Flotilla Episode

I have followed the Mideast Crisis regularly since 1968. I continue to be amazed by the conflicting versions of violent episodes that, tragically, regularly occur. One might think the Israelis and the Arabs (to simplify a rather complex situation) live in different universes.

The rhetoric employed and conclusions drawn often defy rational discourse. Why is it that the Arab press and diplomatic spokespersons typically resort to "over the top" language when reporting on or responding to these tragedies. Can one take seriously the Turkish prime ministers' accusations of "state terrorism" perpetrated by Israel? What is perplexing to me is that this pattern is endemic in the Arab world. I can list example after example of this kind of distortion. We all laughed at the nonsense of the Iraqi minister of information during the most recent Gulf War. He maintained with a straight face that U.S. troops were being beaten back from Baghdad when in fact they were virtually right outside his office. The psychology of this is mystifying.

On the other side, the Israeli military sometimes prevents the media from having immediate access to information or events. This creates in the minds of many the impression that they are not trustworthy and are hiding something. In some instances, they have indeed hid things.

Bystanders must make a choice: they can accept uncritically either the Arab version or the Israeli version; they can dismiss both as completely self-serving and disingenuous; or they can sift through the conflicting versions and assess which version corresponds more closely with what actually happened. In my opinion, the Israeli version has proven more reliable than its Arab counterpart over the years.

In the flotilla episode we now have competing videos of the affair! The evidence is quite clear that this was a premeditated, staged event for media consumption. Tragically, the consequences were worse than probably both sides anticipated. It will, however, serve as fodder for the Arab media's unrelenting attack against the "Zionist Nazis."

American sympathies tend to favor the underdog. Those without any biblical or theological commitment to a future for Israel in God's plan tend to identify with the plight of the Palestinians. I personally lament the deep suffering and oppression of the Palestinians. I have personally known Palestinian families and have grieved over the harassment and penalties they have had to endure. But I also resent the way their leadership and the Arab leaders of Israel's neighbors have so poorly served them. A peace agreement and a two-state solution could have been achieved years ago had moderate voices prevailed. Alas, such has not been the case.

Though it is politically incorrect to say it, Islamic ideology lies at the taproot of this ongoing crisis. Palestine lies within the Islamic domain. The notion of a Jewish state within their midst is abhorrent. This then colors everything and influences the rhetoric of this conflict.

At Taylor University, Daoud Kuttab (a Palestinian Christian) paid a visit and shared his apparent optimism for a Palestinian state in 2011. After listening to him, I must sadly declare that nothing he said leads me to share his optimism. As an example of what I view as totally unrealistic, he listed the several items that he felt must be realized for a Palestinian state. The very first condition he laid down was the following: Israel must take full and complete responsibility for the refugee problem. This is a deal-breaker! And it is so obviously unbalanced and distorted that I come back to my starting point. How can we account for such distorted explanations of the situation? Perhaps we fallen human beings simply cannot be objective when we find ourselves in such emotional distress. So now I conclude with a question: Can the Holy Spirit enable individuals deeply committed to a deeply held political cause to transcend biases and seek the truth and nothing but the truth? I want to believe he can.

Reflections on a Reunion

I finally made a high school class reunion. Glad I did and it's about time; I showed up for the 50th reunion of the Sherman County High School class of '60 (Oregon). The reunion was held at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, WA, a lovely place with a wonderful view of the Columbia River. We also lucked out and had a glorious Saturday with no rain--a rarity of late in Washington and Oregon! It turned out to be a very special time reconnecting with classmates, most of whom I had not seen since graduation.



First, a little trivia. Officially, there were 34 graduates of SCHS in 1960; unofficially, there were 35. The difference is, something most of us were unaware of at the time, one member of our class was told shortly before graduation she was short a few credits for her diploma. So, she appears in the class picture, but didn't walk the night of graduation. Also, there were only 33 graduates who actually received their diplomas on graduation night. One of them, John Capaci, was in the hospital having his appendix taken out!

I almost wasn't there either. I was the class Salutatorian and gave an address, but was in considerable pain. My back was killing me. I had been in the hospital before graduation for severe back pain but the doctor was unable to determine why. I had suffered an injury in a track meet a couple of weeks earlier and they were treating me for a muscle pull. Turns out I had something more substantial going on--a congenital defect on the right kidney. The ureter exited from the top of the kidney rather than the middle. When I was high jumping, the ureter got twisted and nearly closed off completely. As a consequence, my kidney did not adequately drain and blew up like a balloon. The pain was really intense. After graduation, I was readmitted to the hospital and the doctor finally took an X-ray. He then realized what the problem was and referred me to specialists in Portland, OR. Shortly thereafter I had plastic surgery and the kidney has functioned correctly ever since.

Sorry for the detour into my personal medical history;back to my classmates. Only one, my cousin, Betty Bothwell (maiden name), has passed away and that within the last year. She died of cancer. Since we are all between 67-69 years of age, I'd say that as a class we have a very low mortality rate.

What was fascinating about this experience was the odd sensation of reconnecting with people whom I knew as 17-18 year olds, 50 years ago. In most cases, it was as if we hadn't missed a beat. Even though we had changed considerably with regard to our physical appearance, there was something continuous and recognizable about each person; we just picked up where we left off. Talk about a time warp! I wonder if this an inkling of what the New Jerusalem will be like? Perhaps this is how it will be for those who die very young; they will appear in glory as mature adults. Hmm?

We had a fun time updating our classmates on our lives since graduation and we howled as the class prophecy and last will and testament was read. A few prophecies were indeed prescient! The experience was so rewarding, we decided it would be great to have another reunion in two years when we all turn 70. I look forward to it.

I am reminded of what the Psalmist says: "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away" (Ps 90:10). How true this is (though I expect several of our class will reach the century mark). For every one of us, mixed with the good times and joys of life, have been the inevitable troubles and sorrows. We live east of Eden and deep within our souls long to return to the Garden. Through Christ we have a robust hope of doing precisely that. Revelation 21-22 is a preview of good things to come for those who trust in Christ as Savior and Lord.

Finally, there was a consensus that going to high school in Sherman County was a very positive experience. Probably most people who travel through our small, depopulated county imagine that people who live there are socially and culturally deprived. They would be quite mistaken. Even though we may have lacked certain advantages of large urban schools, the values and virtues of growing up in a farming and ranching community more than compensated for any supposed shortcomings. One of the spouses of a classmate commented on how envious he was of our class. He was very impressed with the strong sense of community and solidarity. He was right and for that I thank the Lord.