I guess we’ve all had them. You know the kind: You wake up full of energy, and then something happens to punch the wind right out of you, and the next thing you know, you are dragging yourself to get through until you can get to sleep and hope tomorrow will be better.

Today my roommate and I both had one of those days. So, if you are mathematically minded, that makes two of those days…

It started out with my seeing something on the Internet that someone had no idea would hurt me (and I won’t go into detail because that was never their intent). But it hurt, stirred up old memories, and had me grieving yet again for so many losses. For those of you who don’t know, I sometimes have problems with IBS, and that started acting up. By the time I got to work I was already feeling punched out. Then I started working on editing some abstracts. Only 120 to go through. They can’t ALL need rewriting, can they? O yes they can. And finally to add insult to injury, I’ve been trying for three weeks to see a specialist about my IBS and finally found the right contact person only to be told that the doctors have a meeting on Thursdays to decide who needs to be seen when, and that most new appointments will be only in December or January… and that does not help me now. We won’t mention my roommate’s day… let it suffice to say, we both feel like we had the wind knocked out of us.

Now, as I’m sitting here writing this, I think, why am I sharing this. And I think its all part and parcel of what I have set out to do here, to be just plain honest with what is going on in my life. I guess the test for us all is not whether these problems will be solved, but how we walk through them, whether or not they are solved.

I have a choice on days like these, to count my hurts, or count my blessings. I choose the latter.

Thank you Lord,

• that while I may be surprised by what is happening around me, you are not.
• that while I may not be in control of what is happening, you are in control.
• that while I may be feeling weak, tired, and hard pressed, your strength is given opportunity in my weakness.
• that no matter what, I still belong to you.
• that my hope is in You and not in the things of this world.

Yes, thank you Lord.

    [16] So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. [17] For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, [18] as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)

Tuesday evening I saw a new musical called Noah’s Ark. It was very well-done, with a powerful message.

Two things hit me as I watched: With the appearance of the animals at the ark I realized that God drew them there, Noah did not go looking. An I realized the reality of the flood. This is not a fairy tale or a nice story with a happy ending. It is the truth. The flood really happened. Jesus, when he taught, referred to the days of Noah as an actuality, and gave a solemn warning to us… but more on that in a moment.

The production inspired me to write the following poem:

Instinct

A whisper, a nudge, a thought, and a step
tremulous at first.
Not the way for these creatures of habit.
Yet…
Curiosity tugs,
and a leaf, a branch, an odd odor.
Strange camaraderie
as former enemies join
majestic procession.
Small and great,
some lend a back
others a proverbial paw
with trumpeting, roar and song
thrum and plodding steps.
answering a call and moving
forward as a rushing wind.

Others watch.
They did not hear
or were not called,
no sense of urgency
(how like me.)
How could they be so united
in such a purpose?
Too different, too…

All approach in pride of step
no humility in their response:
“I am called.”
No looking back,
no questioning as forward
two by two
elephant and lady bug,
bumble bee and wolf,
snake (!) and lamb
march onward, inward
safeward.

Hesitance fled along the way
at journey’s end, haste pushes forward
trembling hands guide
one pair here, another there.
A door slams shut
and all lay down to rest
safe from the storm.

And I?
Wish I had such ears to hear
like they.

By the end of the musical it was clear to me why so many try to negate the flood. There are too many voices insisting it didn’t, couldn’t have happened. I realized, if we do not believe the flood, then we will not believe the words of Jesus:

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man… Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:37-39, 42 ESV)

If I don’t believe the flood really happened, it is easy to take the last judgment as figurative language, and to deny the holiness of God. If I reject the flood because a loving God would not destroy all those people, then I have not come to terms with how repulsive my sin really is to God, how much I need saved, and what a great salvation is offered in Jesus.

The Days of Awe are the week or so between Rosh Hashanna (Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement). During this time many Jewish people begin to think about sin, forgiveness, and their relationship with God.

It is quite customary for people to apologize to one another, in particular for anything they might have done over the past year. When chatting, a common parting blessing is “G’mar chatima tova.” Literally, this means “final seal good,” but it when translated, the meaning is “May you be written in the Book of Life.”

Without even raising the subject, people are more sin conscious and more God conscious at this time of year. In the past I was often able to share with others by answering to this closing statement,” “thank you, I have one” (Todah, yesh li תודה רבה, יש לי—). But so far this year, I’ve not been able to.

The Day of Atonement can no longer be sacrificed as mandated Biblically. This leaves the Jewish people in a dilemma: is the Bible false? Are the rabbis correct and advising that prayer now replaces sacrifice? What if the Bible is true? How can I be forgiven?

Some religious Jewish people have a special ceremony sometime between Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur. A white chicken is waved over one’s head three times while reciting a prayer. The chicken is then slaughtered according to Jewish law. If performed by the sea, the chicken is thrown into the sea. In some cases its monetary value is also donated to the poor.  (For more information visit the Chabad website.)

But this does not replace the explicit demands of the law, does not give us a temple sacrifice, and even if it did, the sin is merely covered over for one year—not completely forgiven.

This year it seems like so much of my Bible reading has pierced my heart in new ways. An ongoing realization of the corruptness of sin and how it destroys us, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with God. I remain amazed at what God did for me through my savior and messiah Jesus. No amount of fasting or prayer can save me; no good deed or sacrifice on my part can save me.

It is only when we see our need that we realize how much we need a savior. In Jesus’ death and resurrection I have the perfect and final sacrifice. Truly salvation is free, but never cheap. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel paid for all our sins on the cross. When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple was torn in two—from top to bottom—signifying a new entrance into the Holy Place to meet with God. Being perfect, fully human and fully divine, He did not stay dead, He was raised up from the dead.

I don’t hope to have my name written in the Book of Life, it is written there. And maybe that is why I find it difficult to answer, “Todah, yesh li.” It falls arrogant on my ears, and I do not want anyone to think I am proud of who I am. Rather, I am eternally grateful to God who has saved me, and given me a blessed eternal hope. He has made me right with Him and written me in His book. I am not better than the one extending this blessing to me, rather, I happen to already be forgiven. And so, this year, I pray for my friends, colleagues, people, and nation, that the day will come soon when the veil is removed from their eyes, and we can rejoice together in our common salvation.

Last weekend we celebrated what is commonly called “Jewish New Year,” although in the Bible the holiday is called the Feast of Trumpets. It is interesting to note that this feast is the ONLY one in scripture that is not given an explanation.

We are told to celebrate, but we are not told why.

In Leviticus 23:23-25 it is written:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.

In Numbers 29:1-6 more information is given, but only about the sacrifices required. The end of verse 1 reads, “…It is a day for you to blow the trumpets…”

A day to blow the trumpets. And then there is the blast of the last trumpet. I suppose I could share a lot about this day, but I’d like to let a few other verses speak for themselves.

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:50-52 ESV)

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31 ESV)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.  (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV)

Many years ago, Professor Louis Goldberg helped me to better understand the holidays and their fulfillment in our wonderful Savior, Jesus. Surely the Feast of Trumpets, looks forward to the mystery Paul explains in I Corinthians, the taking up of the church to our Lord at the sound of the last trump. I hope you are yearning to hear that trumpet call as much as I am.

In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this album I posted on Facebook of a trip I took with friends during the feast, seeing Tel Dan and the Golan Heights.