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| The Onset of Autumn noon 9/5/2011 |
in the eyes of the remnant of this people,
shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also,
says the LORD of hosts?
We read the prophecies of Zechariah as hope for all who believe in the Lord. Their original intent was to comfort and reassure the people of Jerusalem. Days of prosperity and security will come; God has promised it.
Though their original intent may seem narrow and nationalistic, we do well to read them as hope for everyone who turns to God. We have seen Christianity spread to all parts of the Earth; we have seen people of every tribe, nation and language invested in the white robes of salvation. Through Baptism the Lord has claimed them for his own. Can there be any limit to the purposes, majesty and love of God?
No doubt there were skeptics even among the survivors who had returned to the hill of Zion to rebuild Jerusalem. In the ensuing years their struggle had devolved from the expectation of prosperity to bare survival.
And yet here was a prophet cheering his people on with the persistence of his faith:
"Sure it seems impossible to you. If you could manage it you wouldn't need God! All the more reason to expect great things because nothing is impossible for our God. He claims Jerusalem and its people for his own. Watch and wait! You will see great things!"No mortal can see the Big Picture of God's intent. We are like nothing more than small bugs on an enormous tapestry. It encompasses all nations of all time. You and I live for only a few years; but history may continue for thousands of years after us. Very soon our names will be written in bronze or stone on burial markers, and shortly after that those markers will be scoured into illegibility by the sands of time. No living soul will remember our names or our contributions. Should I suppose I have a right to understand and approve of God's methods and God's plans?
I will be satisfied to know God. That satisfaction runs deeper than any Divine Apologia I might suppose I am owed.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.