This year we have had a most glorious Autumn with the usual tinted leaves more splendid that ever.

Apparently there is an explanation for the multi coloured display. Following a warm summer the leaves have had an abundance of sugar. Instead of this being absorbed by the tree there has been a surfeit which has been retained by the leaf giving it a translucent effect.

The Horse Chestnut trees were particularly spectacular. They dropped their leaves overnight giving a yellow carpet so bright that it almost pained the eye!

The maples, so magnificent in the USA adding that vivid red to the forest’s palette did us proud with a golden shroud which covered the surrounding earth. We may not have the red leaf variety but this year there was a red tinge to many of our native species adding to the exuberance of the display.

Winter has finally arrived and the breeze has removed all but the last of the leaves producing a rich carpet of colour across the grass. The bare branches take on the appearance of a footballer’s tattooed arms reaching up into the sky to catch the low rays of the sun. The cattle are almost all in their sheds while the sheep are enjoying the residue of a good grass yield which should see them content into next year.

We have much to give thanks for.

In the US they do “thanksgiving” better. Starting on the last Thursday of November the celebration continues over the weekend.

It was first proclaimed in 1789; “WHEREAS; it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits…. a DAY OF PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER”.

Our thanking God for the harvest is usually celebrated in a church service where, in rural areas, local produce is brought into the church. We praise God for the life force which makes the plants grow and the animals reproduce. These are but analogous to the new life Jesus brought to all who look away from themselves to him in faith.

Jesus called the Word the seed and where it takes root it produces new orientation in that life transforming it as the scripture says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 17).

Our thanksgiving may be muted due to the presence of sin but we can look through the prophet Habakkuk’s eyes and see a coming day when, “the nations exhaust themselves for nothing for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk Chapter 2 verse 14).

For the believer temporal thanksgiving is always gathered up in that greater thanksgiving for the New Jerusalem with the harvest complete, “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face”.

(Revelation 22 verses 2-4).

It has become something of a mantra to pose the question, “Where were you the day they shot John F Kennedy”? I expect that for many of you reading this blog the answer is – a bright idea in your parent’s minds!

The reason his memory endures so well here in Ireland lies in his being the first Irish/Catholic to hold the Presidency. He was “our man”!

His short term at the White House commenced with the disastrous “Bay of Pigs” raid intended to free Cuba from communism. It completely misfired and with Castro gung-ho his island became available for Khrushchev’s missiles. In what became the tensest period of the “cold war” Kennedy received his baptism of fire in international relationships.

However on a personal level the pedigree of the Kennedy family, his good looks and those of his wife, ensured his popularity. There was also his way with words; “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” being perhaps the most quoted and least obeyed of them!

His assassination, 50 years ago by a sniper’s bullets, in the words of the Dallas mayor dawned a new era where hope and hatred collided. Sadly the collision runs on.

But JFK shares the day with C S Lewis who also died 50 years ago.

It would not have bothered Lewis one whit that the JFK ceremonies all but eradicated reference to his passing.

He had himself stepped through the “wardrobe door” and into Aslan’s (the lion who was the Christ figure) kingdom during a drive to Whipsnade one sunny morning. “When we set out I did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.”

From his conversion he sustained a steady flow of Christian writings possibly unique in the richness of their figurative language and only ended, as he said some time before his death, “When the pictures stopped”.

Two great men who might well have reflected on the scripture, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

(1Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26-30).

Like saintly the Countess of Huntington who said she was always glad that the text read “not many” and not “not any”! And she, they along with all the other “greats”, and us need to rely on Jesus who is our wisdom, rectitude, purity and salvation.

The main news story this week has been the unfolding of the devastation created by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Coming only four weeks after a 7.2 earthquake hit the central region this typhoon has been described as one of the most powerful storms in history. It levelled the city of Tacloban and latest reports from the region reckon that 2 million are homeless.

The storm surge which accompanied the typhoon sent a wall of water 4 metres high across the islands. The power of this mini-tsunami was illustrated by pictures on our TV’s of a large ship thrown up onto the land.

There is a tendency to blame climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of these storms but conclusive evidence has eluded the scientists.

One thing is certain and that is the poor suffer disproportionally. Their infrastructure is flimsy and cannot withstand the onslaught of strong winds or earthquakes.

This is the anniversary of hurricane Sandy which made landfall in New Jersey last year causing considerable damage along the Eastern seaboard of the US. On its way there it trashed the island of Haiti causing much worse damage per capita and handicapped by poverty, it is still suffering the consequences.

No disaster would be complete without its conspiracy theory. In this case it’s the US space command “weaponising the weather”! Allegedly they send micro wave pulses over an area and stir up a storm! Why they should bother when nature is perfectly capable of doing it on her own is hard to imagine.

Winds, waves and storms feature in Scripture. They are part of a fallen world. On specific occasions the elements have been seen to respond to God’s bidding and Jesus, as the creator, demonstrated power over his creation (St Matthew chapter 8 verses 26/7).

Indeed Jesus plainly forecast an increase in physical phenomena in the end times and St Paul wrote about creation groaning in birth pains waiting for the completion of the work of redemption (Romans chapter 8 verses 19/25).

Food, medicine and burying the dead may be the most urgent requirements in the Philippines right now and we should assist financially as the Lord enables us, but there is pressing necessity for each of us to get right with God before our personal typhoon strikes the frail body we live in. For that we need to take up this offer, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (St John chapter 3 verses 16/7)

And that salvation is best accepted by trusting Him when the weather is fine before the storms of life strike.

We have become accustomed to seeing adverts warning us to look out for those who make bogus insurance claims. They usually favour the whiplash injury which cannot be easily detected medically and can easily arise from a car crash. Settlement by the Insurer consists of a substantial cash payment for the alleged pain and suffering which usually affects a complete cure!

Not so common is the event this week where the top three officials of our largest Insurance Company were suspended following an internal audit.

Apparently there was a large increase in “bodily injury motor claims” over the last two years. It seems that these claims were met in a most generous fashion resulting in the Company’s profits being reduced by €84,000,000.

Just who were the alleged victims of these “accidents” will make interesting reading. Even allowing for the enormous awards regularly handed down by our courts (our awards are on a similar scale to the US) it would take much longer than two years to add up to this amount!

Interestingly it was not the Company Regulator but an internal auditor who brought the matter to light. The margin of solvency (the margin claims reserves exceed claims estimates) must have been breached otherwise the parent Company in the UK would not have been so ready to hand over €100,000,000 enabling them to proclaim that the margin of solvency is now well exceeded.

It is unfortunate that this inquiry has arisen in the same week as Ireland announced its exit from the “bailout”, necessitated by the banking crisis. It has spoiled the Government’s attempts to persuade the financial markets that everything has returned to normal. The sceptic might say that this is exactly what has happened and in Ireland this is the norm!

What does the Bible have to say to such matters?

Where money is involved the Bible recognises our natural desire to acquire it for the power it vests in the one who has it. Since we love to exercise power over others it is not hard to make the connection.

Writing to Timothy, St Paul puts it in his first letter chapter 6 verse 10 “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils”.

Our challenge is to drive out the love of money with a greater love. This comes when on hearing the Good News, we acknowledge our sinful condition and are introduced to a greater love – the love of Jesus who died in our place and rose from the grave to oversee the fruition of his work in the changed lives of those who now put him before the love of money etc. It was put so clearly by St John in his first letter “We love because he first loved us” 1 John chapter 4 verse 19.

There has always been something risqué in overhearing a conversation which was not intended for our ears. It carries the potential of knowing another’s thoughts without, either you having to share yours with them or their knowing that you are aware of their thinking.

The possession of such information gives the recipient the edge in any negotiations that may follow. It is a bit like knowing what is in your opponent’s hand in a card game except it was a global tap on important peoples’ phones by the National Security Agency of the US that came to light over the past few days.

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor has fed the information appropriately to the magazine Der Spiegel as the material contained details of the German Chancellor’s phone tap! It may be that the German government will seek an agreement with some of the same elements of the arrangement that the US has with Britain and other English-speaking allies to share data and refrain from spying on each other.

Overall there has been such a muted response to the disclosure of widespread recording of private phone conversations by the US that it makes one wonder if the practice is not more widespread than other countries would care to admit.

Of course if everything that was said was true and the actions which followed correctly interpreted the words spoken there would be no embarrassment at the phone taps – and no need for them either!

The truth is that diplomatic language has its own way of saying things and is far from straightforward.

Can the Bible comment on the use of words?

These are the means which God has revealed Himself to us. First He spoke through the mouths of the Prophets then in these days by Jesus (Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 1/2).

In the parable of the tree being known by its fruit Jesus likens the fruit to our words. He points out that we don’t get trees with some fruit bad and some good. If that happened we would conclude there was something far wrong with it. It is the same with us as our words come from the heart – (by which the Bible means the control tower of the person and not the organ which pumps the blood) and reveal what we are like.

Jesus concluded, “Every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”(St Matthew Chapter 12 verses 36/7).

It makes about as much sense as Snowden thinking he would be welcome in Washington as it does for us to face the Judgement without our faith in Jesus. We need Him as our advocate. Put your trust in Him – 1 John chapter 2 verses 1/6.

Earlier this month the U.K. press hailed as a scientific discovery that if you feed a youngsters brain with porn they will develop a sensitive area which will “light up” to such stimuli. Dr Valerie Voon, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University and a global authority on addiction, expressed astonishment as the results were similar to those hooked on drugs or drink. This led to the conclusion, “If porn does have the insidious power to be addictive, then letting our children consume it freely via the internet is like leaving heroin lying around the house, or handing out vodka at the school gates.”

Because both the viewing of this stuff and the sensitising of the brain is unseen by parents and friends it is not easily detected.

There is also the fallacy that “it’s all part of growing up”. A girl added, ‘On Facebook, you just scroll down and it’s there. If any of your friends like it, it comes up on your home page.’ The same could be said of Utube.

Another fallacy is that these things happen to other people not me or mine!

We are all involved. The fear of being found out curtails speaking about it. The U.K Prime Minister recently said it was ‘corroding childhood’. I would add it is laying the foundation for a lifelong struggle with addiction which many find impossible to break.

A third fallacy is `you are not harming anyone but yourself`. Sexually explicit material colonises the mind, produces a secretive behaviour and distances the addict from normal relationships. Unless it is acknowledged like other addictions the person lives in denial and acquires a dysfunctional identity that blights family and other relationships.

In the battle for a clean mind we are all involved – the question is which side are you on? Watching salacious material or cutting it out?

Can the Bible help?

Jesus was for cutting it out – actually cutting it off, eye plucked out and hand cut off (St Matthew Chapter 18 verses 1/9). In other words, not mutilation, (you would continue to sin with the other eye) but a separation from the problem even if it is as painful as the loss of an eye.

In Romans Chapter 1 verses 21/32 St Paul spells out how God exercises judgement over evil today. It’s not the shaking of the earth variety but three times in the passage we read “God gave them over”. Judgement in this day and age is – you choose to disobey me by the way you live then I will give you more of the evil you have chosen.

Elsewhere, St Paul emphasises that he is writing with the authority of the Lord Jesus, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor” (1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 2/4).

St John in his first letter recognises the need to turn from the things we hide, to the light of Bible truth. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Faith in his atoning death makes us pure in God’s sight and restores fellowship with Him and with one another.

The US of A that bastion of democracy has been stumbling to an almost ungovernable state for the last couple of weeks. Fortunately after 16 days of shutdown and just before the money ran out, normal service was resumed – at least till next year when it could all happen again.

In good government the powers that be carry the can. In this case they simply kicked the can down the road! The Republican majority House of Representatives dislike of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare for short), although it is already passed into law, have attempted to prevent its expansion by refusing to release the cash necessary to run the country.

What have the two things to do with each other you may ask? Nothing! It is simply horse-trading in an effort to get their way.

The dislike for Obamacare, which provides a modicum of health care for the poor (there are 40 million uninsured in the US), has been expressed by the outspoken Republican from Texas as being a hammock for the poor rather than a safety net! Some hammock as the benefits are paltry! However the money has to come from somewhere and this might provide a clue to explain some of the Republicans resistance to this welfare scheme. By and large it is they who control the wealth.

On the lighter side I got this Royal comment from the US.

The vagaries of human nature have not escaped the Bible. Whether it be Judas’s double dealing or Peter’s denial the charge of being guilty of feathering our own nest can be laid at our door. Usually the weakest suffer and inevitably the poor get trampled the most in the wealth stakes.

We need to join the Republicans in repentance and turn to Jesus who alone has carried the can* at the cross for that forgiveness which can enable us to freely serve others as we ought.

* “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah Chapter 53 Verse 5)

The Testament of Mary Word on the Week 12^th October 2013.

With the Man Booker Prize for literature coming for grabs next week it is hard for fellow authors to resist the temptation to pick the winner. That the lot has, for at least one scribe, fallen on Colm Toíbín’s novella “The Testament of Mary” was to be expected. The Blessed Virgin is such a compelling subject that she attracts authors and playwrights like iron filings to a magnet.

Part of the attraction lies in the paucity of Scripture references enabling the imagination to engage in some creative constructions of her life and ministry. Colm Toíbín has sought to explore what was in Mary’s heart, as she is questioned by two evangelists, some 20 years after the resurrection. Her memories are at odds with their account and she wonders if multiple re-telling of the Gospel story may have resulted in some exaggerations.

Her tender anguish at the cross with her final surrender to its work plumbs the depth of her suffering which remains fresh in her mind throughout the years.

In an attempt at a corrective to the passive-submissive portrayal of Mary Toíbín has her flee from the cross. She does this because she feels unable to do anything and, rather improbably, because she wishes to save her own life.

In his attempt to rescue Mary from the image of the stone statue and give her a “real” life Toíbín takes her out of range of Biblical data by imagining the scene 20 years on. This interesting device would have worked better if he had built on the Biblical accounts rather than deconstruct them.

For example far from running away from the crucifixion Mary is to be found with her family and the disciples in prayer at Pentecost. St Luke records the scene in Acts Chapter 1 verse 13/4 “They went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers”.

It may well be that in order to combat the overwhelming sorrow produced by contemplating the wounds of Christ some have focussed on the sinbearing (and therefore unseen) work of Christ. The descriptive language used often lacks passion.

When a person sees their sins laid on Christ and trusts that they are forgiven the expression “personal relationship with Christ” is sometimes employed to describe their new standing. Although this captures the truth for the believer can seem a rather formal way to present the struggle and inner turmoil that is the battle of faith wrestling with disobedient flesh. Perhaps we need to share some of the intensity of feelings that were experienced by Mary as she felt the sword in her own soul (St Luke Chapter 2 verse 35). The truth should never be sanitised to suit society!

It was the only way the Government could “do” the Lotto – flog it! The windfall profits exceeded the anticipated price by one third producing a total of €405,000,000! The deal with the conglomerate Premier Lotteries Ireland permits ongoing State involvement via the Post Office which continues as one of the partners.

So the country has its cake and eats it – or at least part of it in the years to the expiry of the licence.

Resulting from the relaxing of the Gambling Laws, on-line betting will become more popular and with the involvement of the UK operator “Camelot” who gets 15% of its income from this quarter, we should anticipate a similar increase here. In fact it may be more as we are reputed to spend more that most of our European neighbours on the Lotto and should rise to this challenge.

Of course it is all for a good cause. Lottery funds have flowed into many parishes to assist in creating sports grounds etc and half the sale income will go towards the construction of the National Children’s Hospital.

In the 26 years of its existence it has become embedded in the national psyche. It forms the wistful thinking of the young and the dreams of the unemployed. It has been described by sceptics as stealing by mutual consent. Economists call it a tax on the poor as it is most popular with those who can least afford it.

It is quite remarkable how betting on a random sequence of numbers can produce such wealth. It would have been the envy of our forefathers in their backbreaking toil, to obtain income without work!

Of course it is all an illusion! The only real winners are the promoters who cannot lose. The few who get something back have to be balanced against the multitudes that have got nothing.

What about the gambling in the Bible?

The soldiers at the foot of the cross played dice for Jesus’ clothes (St Matthew Chapter 27 verse 35). This was predicted 1000 years earlier and it happened (Psalm 22 verse 18). But what about the roll of the dice – does not the Bible acknowledge pure chance there? Wrong – the Bible says that we may throw the dice but its every decision is from God (Proverbs Chapter 16 verse 33).

The Bible charts a new way of looking at things in relation to God. But first the blindfold has to be removed in order to see that it is God’s world, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians Chapter 4 verse 4).

The faith to see comes from God and leads the one who receives it to Christ. As the poet has said;

“Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die;

Another’s life, another’s death, I stake my whole eternity.”

And that’s the only stake you should ever make!

It’s the topic that crops up every time we meet, it is the weather. Whether it is at the Annual Ploughing Championships or waiting for the Luas it is the opening gambit to nearly every conversation. This week saw the publication of the latest reports compiled by a myriad of scientists confirming that global warming is real.

This summer we didn’t need their reports – we enjoyed it!

Don’t throw away the wellies however as our climate is likely to become more erratic with bigger storms than we have been used to. In fact if you are thinking of retiring near a beach or in a river valley – don’t! With rising sea levels and flash floods predicted you might regret it.

The sea is warming and the sile have noticed. In fact they have moved north and the kittiwake, whose sole food supply it was, have all but vanished from our coasts. However there have been new arrivals as varieties of jellyfish and plankton travel up from the Azores. These are followed by bigger fish such as the Baleen family of whales, monsters growing to 110 feet in length, who have no teeth, filtering their food from the water.

These changes in the movements of birds and fish are likely to be followed by migrations of those peoples most affected by climate change. There are many countries where crop failure causes local population movements but what if their land ceases to be productive altogether? Globally there are numerous places where human bones have indicated previous habitation but no longer due to the severity of the climate. Ireland, with its temperate climate, may be viewed as a relatively secure place to live and perhaps attractive to displaced populations. The Indian sub-continent is already struggling to cope with its population so it may be time for us to start learning to speak Bangladeshi Bengali!

What has the Bible to say to all this?

Quite a lot. It starts with the promise that there will always be enough food (sharing it is our problem) “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis chapter 8 verse 22)

The Lord anticipates our fears and addresses them in language we can understand. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

(These illustrations from nature show God’s power to protect His people)

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

(The Psalmist extends the illustration to include the nations raging around the people of God in Jerusalem)

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46)

It is not just for Jerusalem but there is a global aspect which will be eventually realised when He is exalted among the nations.