Axe-man at the Siege

For me, life has been like siege warfare. I know it is my imagination, but in my imagination, I find myself looking at the ramparts of a stone castle. The castle has a name and it is Cancer.

In siege warfare, there just isn't a lot to write home about. If I wrote it would go, "Hi Mom, another day watching the wall. I touched up the edges on my arrows...again. I keep looking for the enemy commander to make a mistake and present himself for a shot. So far, no chance."

There is a boring but taxing weariness of this warfare. I try to keep alert. I must not get discouraged. But I don't do siege warfare well. My personality is better suited to battle line formations. Those that know me say they think I am an "axe-man". They may be right. I like it when the command is given. The lines close and a short violent battle ensues. Yep, that is my preference, but it doesn't matter. The Commander has decreed that I would participate in this siege, and that's that.

There is some progress, or so they say. The sappers are working numerous tunnels towards the stone walls. It is a slow work, digging digging digging. They say we are making 20 yards a day. Once they get under the wall, they will dig out a chamber, re-enforce it with timber. Then they will fill it with brush. At the right time, the brush will be lit a fire and the whole chamber consumed with flames. The supporting timbers will burn and weaken and the area above will collapse. The castle wall will fall, or so the plan goes. Until then, I try to stay healthy and keep my weapons clean and sharp.

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Jannie is about 1/3 of the way through her chemo treatments. She lost her hair with the first battery of chemo. I think it is beginning to grow back now. Her new chemo treatments leave her tired, but not much else for side effects.

We have to go to Kelowna, two hours away, every couple of weeks for treatments. In between, other treatments are done locally.

We are still engaged in our work, and see progress. We are grateful. May God be glorified through this trial He has been pleased to visit us with. We rest in Him.

Re-Learning History

I have been reading a book called, 1812, War With America, by Jon Latimer. It is a good scholarly investigation into a war that is conspicuously ignored in American history. To the victors of a war, go the rights to spin the history the way they want it. The American revolution against Britain certainly had it "righteous" spin by historians. But the war of 1812, that one is hard to justify. At its core were values of bitterness against Britain, an unvarnished lust for Canada, and pride.

America provoked the war as a land grab. In its pride, it thought it would be a "promenade to Montreal." The Good Book says that "pride goes before a fall," and it certainly proved true in this case. Instead of an easy walk to Montreal, the war provoked the Indian Wars in the then known Western territories. America had bitten off more than it could chew. For the first year of the war, it basically spelled the loss of a lot of land by America. Detroit and Michilimackinac were in Canadian control. The successful response to aggression by America even found the White House, the seat of American government, in flames.

Andrew Jackson survived the war and used it to successfully propel him into a successful political career. He claimed to have killed the mighty Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh. There never was any proof of the claim, but it made good fuel for his bid to the presidency. The First Nations peoples like the Shawnee and the Creeks were vanquished in the war. The land of Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri were open for expansion for the myth of Manifest Destiny.

The story has naval battles for control of the Great Lakes. The British doctrine for naval battle was volume of fire. They liked a lot of guns, (cannons), and were skilled in rapid firing. The Americans believed that only hits count. Like their love of the accurate flintlock rifle, so they employed naval guns that could out-reach the British guns. They didn't shoot as fast as the British, but they soon dominated the Great Lakes being able to blast anyone out of the way at distance.

Maybe I am beginning to understand how Canadians view their neighbors south of the long undefended border. It isn't exactly like the view from the American side.

"The only really decisive and lasting result of the War of 1812 was the complete British victory in Canada that secured Canadian independence. It would reverberate through history to 1914 and again to 1939, when, in Britain's darkest hours of need, Canada stood proudly by its side." (p.408)

Day by Day

Words to the hymn, Day by Day,

by Carolina Sandell Berg:

Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trial here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no reason for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best;

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,

He whose name is Counselor and Power.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"

This the pledge to me He has made.

Help me then in ev'ry tribulation,

So to trust Your promises, O Lord;

That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,

Offered me within Your holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E'er to take, as from a father's hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till I reach the promised land.

Welfare Mentality

Our society doesn't think highly of lazy moochers. Oh, people may not say it out loud, free speech being suppressed by "political correctness"; but they think it. I am not talking about people who can't work do to real physical or mental handicaps. I am thinking about the physically fit and mentally capable men and women who are just lazy. They are always on the take, and never give. They expect some one to provide for them as though it were a fundamental human right. On top of it, in keeping with the "right" to be egocentric, they don't say "thank you" either.

As offensive as those people are, I wonder how the rest of us would do if we were tested? I know people that work and pay their taxes, but are they any better than the lazy moochers? God says, in Romans 1:21, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him." When I think about it, it seems really quite incredible that we are given the gift of life. Our heart beats and we take our next breath because God gives it to us. It is God who gives us intellectual abilities, talents, our gender, and do we take it for granted? God gives us food. It might have been oatmeal, that's all we get, all day, every day. But no, God gives us a huge variety of foods with different colors, textures, and flavors. It isn't a "right" to receive the countless benefits we receive daily. If God were playing by the rules of "rightness", our personal rebellions against Him each day would demand judgement, and that wouldn't be fun.

Romans 1:21 point out that thankfulness ought to be the obvious mark of all mankind. Lazy people with a welfare mentality are offensive to those people that work and pay taxes; but God finds the socially acceptable people, those who work, offensive when they do not honor Him, the giver of all life and abilities. Imagine taking for granted your next breath, and not being thankful?!

Taking the idea one step further, imagine being a child of God, one who professes to love God, and then living without thankfulness? Philippians 4:4-7, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

"Oh Lord, help me to live in thankfulness, and please forgive me when I forget."

A Pleasant Read

We are out in a rural area, with mountains to the north, south, and west. The only way we could have TV signals is if we signed up with the local satellite TV service. We had that in the house in Salmon Arm. We were disgusted with the poor programming. Like, every month, they programmed a week of The Green Mile. It wasn't just one channel either, try six. So, when we moved to the new house, we both agreed that satellite TV wasn't going to get our support, and we do without it.

Instead of turning on the "tube" for a relaxing break, we pick up a book. We have a little library of perhaps 500 books. (I know, it is too small, but I am working at building it up.) About 350 books are related to knowing God and Christian living. The others are about architecture, art, gardening, history, hunting, archery, and First Nations studies.

I recently picked up a book on Ebay, about the life of a hero of mine from my childhood. It was about Daniel Boone. The books I read about him in the school libraries painted the romantic adventurer in the lush forests of Kentucky. This new book, 430 pages, was written by John M. Faragher. His historical work stripped away the romantic and revealed the rheumatism, lice, starvation, and gore which was common at the edge of the frontier.

I chose this book as a pleasant read, but it has turned out to vex my soul. I read about naked aggression from my hero, who pursued taking lands which were occupied by Shawnee People. It wasn't that the land was vacant and so Daniel and thousands of other white people simply occupied it. He was met and clearly informed by the Shawnee where their land was and to stay off of it. Heedless of the warning, the land grab was on, and blood flowed on both sides.

When I look at it from the Shawnee view point, I think their response with war against the invaders is reasonable. The Shawnee were a private "keep to themselves" people. They didn't meddle with the neighboring tribes, which in the end contributed to their defeat. If they had joined the Iroquois Confederacy and the British, they would have had enough power to not only save their homes and lands, but the history of the USA would have developed quite differently; but they didn't.

I try to understand the mindset of the white pioneers at the frontier. It was a very different time. A time when "them that had the weapons, made the rules." It was like, "might made right." I don't agree with the utter contempt that the pioneers had for the Indians. Maybe it was the idea of Manifest Destiny which excused the treaty breaking, murder, and conquering of the Shawnee lands.

I sit and read about a tragedy. A tragedy for the Shawnee People. It was a tragedy in Daniel Boone's life, too. His brother and two of his son's perished in the land grab wars. I thought it would be a pleasant read, but it isn't. What makes it worse is that it is a true story.

Rev.21

I was fixing breakfast, before going hunting. My back was sore, and I was moving slowly, warming up to the day. A day with daylight still two hours away.

While I was sipping my warmed over coffee from yesterday, I was thinking again about dikaiosune. I was wondering about God...just imagine a God who would be willing to impute His righteousness to us. We, slaves to sin, and loving it; trapped in our desire to do the opposite of good. Like a news report I read yesterday from the UK, on the BBC news service online; of two old guys that committed a theft. They admitted the crime to police when caught. When asked why they would do it, one said he got a thrill from breaking the law. Well, each of us has that nature at birth, the desire to find the limits, and then break them.

So, it is to us, rebels from birth that God extends His perfect love and goodness. The angels, just imagine the mind bending that the angels must experience as they watch in wonder as this drama of reconciliation goes on to completion. Which brings me to Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I am making all things new!" Do you think Jesus says those words in a conversational voice? Or, perhaps, with eyes flashing and a glimmer of a smile He bellows out so all of Creation can hear, "I am making all things new!"

The earth, so scarred by weather, earthquake, and war, will be made new. The old, with all the signs of sin and death will be no more. An earth, so beautiful, that I cannot imagine it, will be restored to its original design.

Well, time to warm up the truck. Even if I don't bag a moose, I have a feast I chew on for a while.

Dikaiosune (Greek)

I have been travelling lately. Meetings here and there. So, not much to report except that I've been thinking, thinking about Ephesians 4:24. "...and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The Greek word for righteousness in this text is dikaiosune. This is what the lexicon says about this word:

from dikaios, righteous, and dike, justice or righteousness. It is the essence of to dikaion, that which is just, or dikaios, of him who is just or righteous. Righteousness fulfills the claims of dike, which in the case of a Believer is a fulfillment of God's claims. Dikaiosune, righteousness is thus conformity with the claims of a higher authority and stands as the opposite anomia, lawlessness. In both the O.T. and N.T., righteousness is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgment. It is conformity to all that He commands or appoints. Since God Himself is the standard for the Believer, the righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God or God-like righteousness (Matt. 6:33, James 1:20). The righteousness of God is the right which God has upon man. In order for man to recognize and fully submit to the right of God up his life, he must receive God who offers Himself or His righteousness to man as a gift (Rom.5:17). The recognition and acceptance of the claims of the law upon his life. Man in his natural, fallen condition tends rather to accept his own set of standards, creating his own righteousness (Rom.10:3). Such behavior, however, is not really righteousness (Rom.10:5) and does not satisfy God. God's righteousness is imputed and imparted as a gift to man but can not be earned. It results in God's act of justification of man by his faith through Christ. Man only needs to accept the claims of God upon his life and repent of his sin, receiving Christ as his Savior by faith, thus becoming a child of God. The result is the realization of God's claims upon him by the miraculous regenerating action of the Holy Spirit, (Eph.4:24).

So, if are really a child of God, and His righteousness really is present in us, then it makes perfect sense what follows in the next verse, put away lying and speak truth to every man. Lying, stealing, anger, malice, greed, fear, cowardice, etc., are incompatible with dike and dikaiosune.

Well, that is what I have been dwelling on, whether driving between meetings, or working around the house and shop.