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~ Stories of MacDonald Family Adventures

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Category Archives: Religion

Refugee or Pioneer

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by jrwmacdonald in family, People, Religion

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Today is Pioneer day and a holiday here in Utah. It marks the entry of the saints into the Salt Lake Valley and coincidentally the day I arrived home from my two year mission. It is an auspicious day, indeed. I’ve learned that some Utahns are near sick of the pioneer stories and one can hardly blame them. We tend to drag out the same stories year after year. It turns out there are many stories we’ve neglected as a result. If you are interested in Mormon history in the slightest I highly recommend the Pioneers in Every Land series on the Church history website.

That said, this is one of those traditional pioneer stories with wagons, persecutions, and walking… so much walking. I won’t apologize for it. This is a story of my direct ancestors. Separated as we may be by several generations their choices still reverberate through my life. Their stories are still very much mine.

Seviah Cunningham Egber

Five generations ago my parents were refugees. They’d been refugees before and they would be again. They were driven by mobs in Missouri twice. Homes were burned, crops destroyed or stolen, and they, their friends, and families harassed and forced at the point of bayonet into Illinois and onto the banks of the muddy Mississippi. It must have been a desperate sight, this beleaguered group of settlers spread out in hovels and makeshift tents, sick with cholera and malaria. One might be tempted to call them a broken people.

Their prophet leader was imprisoned on false charges in a jail poorly named, Liberty. In a cell too low to stand up straight, covered by thin blankets at night, and weighed down by the knowledge of his people being scattered and smitten by the hand of a wicked and unforgiving people he, Joseph, pled:

Oh God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? D&C 121:1-2.

God would buoy him up and he would emerge from that prayer and those six months imprisonment to lift his people from despair. The saints, as they were called, drained the mire and built a beautiful city, Nauvoo. My parents were there toiling to build Zion, a city of peace and prosperity where even the bells of the horses, they imagined, would ring with holiness to the Lord. In spite of the well known opposition many flocked to the city of the saints for a chance to live among them and worship the Lord.

In the midst of that town the saints would erect a temple. It was an ambitious enterprise for a people so poor. Yet, they were determined to build a House of the Lord. They were not content to wait till death to live with God, rather, they would invite Him into their city and into their lives. To the saints God was not an abstract idea or an impersonal being beyond the comprehension of humanity. Their God was a personal being, an approachable Father. Like Moses at mount Sinai or Peter on the water they felt called, and so they gathered. A swamp is no place for deity, only a temple would do.

Robert Cowden Egbert Sr.

This is where we meet my many-great grandfather, Robert Egbert, working on the construction of the temple. He was 24 years old. It is here, too, at the unfinished temple that he would meet 17 year old Seviah Cunningham. We know nothing of those meetings but we can imagine; Robert labouring under the humidity of the mighty Mississippi and Seviah in a full length dress and bonnet aghast at her perspiration. Did she carry water to the men building there? Or was it not such a Hollywood scene. Was her back bent with the swinging of a hammer, her hands blistered with the friction of a horse hair rope? Certainly, that relationship began with stolen glances and smiles. Perhaps they talked during breaks and meals about their ambitions and dreams. Undoubtedly, they spoke of this temple they built and of the lives they hoped to build with it. Good lives.

They were married in early April 1846. They’d finish that temple under guard and when it was done they’d walk away from it to become, once again, refugees.

You’ll need just a bit more context to really understand this story. The saints had been driven from one place to the next for over a decade and they had repeatedly sought redress and assistance from state and federal governments. Joseph Smith himself travelled to Washington to lay the problem before President Van Buren and Congress. It all proved futile. The federal government refused to intervene citing states’ rights and in this case the state was the abuser. There would be no assistance.

Joseph the prophet and his brother Hyrum the patriarch were soon gunned down by a wicked mob. So it was that the saints, broken and poor, streamed out of their beautiful city under the leadership of Brigham Young. They were heading west into Mexico and points yet to be determined. Such a venture would require money, of which, they had precious little. They were leaving behind farms and houses, shops and schools and a granite temple to be used to shelter farm animals. Though, the saints were not wholly friendless. Assistance came in a peculiar way.

The United States had declared war with Mexico and wars require soldiers. It just so happens that soldiers get paid. Thomas L. Kane, a Mormon sympathizer and by all reports an honourable and decent man, worked with John C. Little to convince President Polk that the Mormons would be better in the United States army than fighting against it. Polk would authorize the recruitment of a Mormon Battalion to fight in his Mexican American War. The proposal was made to Brigham Young and he, undoubtedly, saw the hand of God in the offer. About five hundred men were recruited and advances were made on their pay. Brigham promised the men that as long as they remained faithful none of them would be required to fight. They would, however, complete the longest overland march in US military history, from Iowa to San Diego, over 2000 miles.

Robert was among those five hundred recruits. He left his young bride at Council Bluffs in Iowa to await his return. It must have been a heart wrenching departure. So often in her short 17 years had Seviah seen her dreams snatched from her hands. At about five years old her mother died. A year later the family joined the Church in Oxford, Ontario Canada and soon emigrated to Missouri to join the gathering saints. By the time of Robert’s necessary enlistment she’d been a refugee three times and had suffered the loss, one way or another, of all her loved ones. Seviah’s father had tried to persuade her not to follow Brigham Young into the wilderness but her faith had outgrown her familial ties. She had left her family for Robert’s and like Ruth to Naomi had made covenants, “for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Ruth 1:16.

Yet here at the edge of the frontier Robert had to leave her with only the hope of a distant reunion. We consider the story of Job and marvel at the faith required in the words “the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21. Seviah, it would prove, had the strength and faith of Job. She would not wait for Robert’s return. She was going to Zion.

With the assistance of Robert’s brother, Joseph, she harnessed her oxen and prepared the wagon. She drove that team herself not as a refugee but a pioneer.

No one is all stoicism and strength. Those people don’t exist. So Seviah found herself somewhere on the prairies driving her oxen onward and losing a battle with a deep sadness. The tears that dropped from her chin and splattered on the reigns fell like silent prayers for relief. As she cried she noticed a man approaching the opposite direction and tried to hide her swollen face as he passed.

He hailed her and asked if she were not the wife of Robert Egbert. Surprised, she replied that she was. He handed her a letter from Robert which she gratefully accepted. She recognized Robert’s handwriting and cherished every word. The letter told her that he was well and would meet her at the Sweet Water River. She carefully placed the letter in her apron and drove on with renewed hope. Later that day Seviah went to read the letter again but it was nowhere to be found. It was a terrible loss but the letter was all she needed in a moment of painful weakness.

Robert and the rest of his Mormon Battalion remained faithful. by the time they reached the coast the war was over. True to Brigham’s prediction they never joined a battle. Their soldier’s pay sustained their families and supported the saint’s exodus. Released from their obligations they turned to Zion. Robert, I’m sure, was anxious to get back to his young wife and at last begin the life they had hoped for. He’d left her in Iowa, it would be a long walk. At some length he arrived at the Sweet Water River. A party of immigrants had also arrived and he thought to greet them before pressing on to Iowa where he was sure Seviah remained. Soon he saw an ox team that looked quite similar to his own. He tentatively approached the wagon and to his great joy found Seviah very pleased to see him.

Robert apologized for not having had an opportunity to write in the nearly two years they’d been apart. This naturally confused Seviah. She had received a letter and it had told her he would meet her here at this very river. Neither could explain it but they were both grateful for such a tender mercy.

Life would not be easy. Carving a livelihood out of a desert beyond all civilization must have been daunting. However, Seviah’s father soon joined them in their new Zion. Perhaps he had been inspired by his daughter’s faith. Their story doesn’t end here. Under the direction of Brigham Young they were sent on, some years later, to settle in California only to find themselves driven from that state too. Seviah and Robert would go on to have 8 children. The sixth of which would be my great-great grandmother Sarah Catherine Egbert.

We look back on these intrepid ancestors and think pioneer not refugee. We think builder not beaten and victorious not victim. Their lives were filled with hardship and deep sorrows but it seems they had higher joys. They drunk from bitter cups without in turn becoming bitter and their children’s children have reaped the benefits of their faith.

————————-

Bibliography

Egbert, Seviah Cunningham. (Circa 1913). Seviah Cunningham Egbert Biographical Sketch. Dictated to Carrie Despain before 1913. (Manuscript). Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

Metcalf, Brandon J. (2018). Four things to know about the journey of the Mormon Battalion: An expedition of faith and sacrifice. Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accessed May 23, 2018 from https://history.lds.org/article/historic-sites/journey-of-the-mormon-battalion?lang=eng

4-generations-mother

We trace our lineage to Robert and Seviah through my mother.

Here I am. Pick Me!

30 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Living, Religion, USA

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I suppose now that I am dragging my family off on another adventure I should begin again to keep a blog. Utah is not as exotic as the Middle East but it is proving to be something of a culture shock nonetheless. I’ve been down here since late March and without Lisa or the kids since April 2. Being a part so long is much harder than I even imagined. I hope to never repeat it.

So much has happened over this last month that I could share. I don’t have the energy or inclination to put it all here but I think the following experience is worth a mention.

I went to my new ward in South Jordan today. There were 450 people in attendance. The chapel and the entire gym were filled. They had two Sunday School classes. When I asked which one I should attend I was told just pick one and if it is full go to the other. I managed to get a seat just barely.

It was 5th Sunday so all the adults met together for the 3rd hour in the chapel. There were so many people we had to use the overflow. They announced that our stake was responsible next week for cleaning the temple (Oquirrh Mountain Temple). I thought I’d like to volunteer. They started passing around a clipboard to sign up. I was only a few rows away from it and I watched it slowly make its way back to me. It seemed there would be no way any volunteer spaces would be left. I was actually a bit anxious about it. The clipboard did make it to me and there was one space left for the week (9:45pm to midnight on Thursday). I breathed a sigh of relief and signed my name.

I could hardly believe that as I signed my name I had a little pang of guilt. There were several hundred more people that would not get this clipboard and the chance to serve… ridiculous, I know. Yet, it made me think of home and how needed we all are. Here in Utah there are so many saints that it seems I’ll need to elbow others out of the way for the opportunity to serve. Leaving Prince George I joked with others how I was looking forward to a low-key calling. Now that I am here it is a little sad to think how easy it would be to just drift into the background; to bury my light under a bushel, so to say.

I imagine they’ll soon split this ward into two and things won’t be quite so crowded. I realize this isn’t the experience everywhere in Utah. I miss my ward family in Prince George today. I’ve got a home under contract here and it has a spare room. I sure hope to see some of you in the future.

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Oquirrh Mountain Temple (South Jordan, Utah)

Ramadan

29 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Islam, UAE

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This will be our second Ramadan in the UAE. I quite enjoyed the relaxed pace of things last Ramadan and look forward to a general slow down in this holy month. On a practical level, for us, it means that my work day is reduced to 6 hours (without a lunch break).  Generally this means I’ll be in the office from 7am to 1pm.  Today, however, I am on the reference desk until 4pm so I won’t go in until 10am. I’m using some of that extra time to write this post. Ramadan also means changes in traffic.  The roads will generally be better except for right before Iftar when everyone is racing to get to the place they need to be to break their fast and late at night when folks are heading home after long meals and social events.

The word Ramadan, I understand, means “great heat.” I suppose that can have a symbolic as well as a practical meaning. Muslims fast from sun up to sun down over the entire month (I do not recommend that the Inuit convert anytime soon).  The devout find themselves in a period of deep reflection and prayer as well as study of their sacred text. It is believed that the Quran was revealed in the closing days of Ramadan.

The moon has been sighted and Ramadan begins in the UAE today. While the lunar calendar could be calculated mathematically they still declare the start of Ramadan based on actual sighting of the moon. I kind of like that. It inspires a sense of watchfulness and readiness for things to come.

I’ve been thinking for weeks about how I could participate more fully in Ramadan. I’ve mentioned to a few muslim friends that I was considering fasting.  They did not seem offended in any way that I would join in on the holy month. Islam is not my religion or my culture but I do have deep respect for the good it can do in the lives of the people who live it. I am fasting today – this first day of Ramadan – I won’t commit to any fasting beyond that. I will, however, spend more time with my sacred books and in prayer this month. It should be an interesting cultural experience.

Fasting is also a part of my religious heritage. We fast the first sabbath of every month. In most of the world that means from after the evening meal on Saturday to the evening meal on Sunday. The money we save during that voluntary fast is then given as an offering and used to relieve the suffering of the poor and otherwise afflicted. I am terrible at fasting.  When I remember to do it inevitably my Saturday evening meal ends somewhere around 9pm and the Sunday evening meal begins around 3pm. Fasting during Ramadan I suspect may take on a similar shape for me.

My real plan is to post daily during Ramadan much like I did over Christmas. I am looking forward to a month of reflection.

Ramadan Kareem

the way, the truth and the life

25 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

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Christmas day has come and gone.  Its nearly half past 10 at night and I am tired.  The day has been full of gifts and food and friends and family.  And now I sit here at the conclusion of the day struggling to find a fitting conclusion to these posts.

The gifts of Christ’s birth, life, teachings and atonement are worthy of celebration.  And all the more because these gifts can have a real tangible and eternal effect upon us.  You may ask how as the apostle Thomas did:

Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14: 5-6

Christ also said: “if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:17). And “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

The way, therefore, is to do as Christ would do so that we may know him and love him.  King Benjamin (A Book of Mormon prophet) taught:

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
Mosiah 5:13

This year may the thoughts and intents of our hearts be one with our master.

My advent posts:

  1. Loving yourself
  2. Happy wife, happy life
  3. Don’t look back
  4. Easy yokes and light burdens
  5. Exercising Devils
  6. A parable
  7. As a little child
  8. False prophets
  9. Love one another
  10. Let your light shine but not too brightly
  11. Lillies and sparrows
  12. Ask knock seek
  13. The prepared heart
  14. Peace on earth good will to men
  15. The love of riches
  16. Leaven of the pharisees
  17. Love your enemies
  18. On serving and being served
  19. Master or slave
  20. Another way
  21. Repent
  22. Fear
  23. Baptism
  24. Children of God

 

Baptism

23 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

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As promised, here is my post on baptism.  Christ makes it pretty clear that baptism is essential for salvation.  In the concluding verses of Matthew he directs his apostles to: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” (Matt 28:19).  In John chapter 3 Jesus has a thorough discussion with the pharisee Nicodemus about the necessity of baptism, the Lord says to him: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5).  The concluding words of Christ to his apostles in the the gospel of Mark include this warning: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

There are, of course, other scriptures that reinforce the necessity of this ordinance.  Unfortunately, the bible is scarce on the exact details of how a baptism is to be performed, who may perform it and when it should be done. As a result baptism is one of the most contested doctrines of Christ.  Entire denominations of Christianity developed around interpretations of how, when, to and by whom and why this ordinance should be performed.  Indeed it is probably quite safe to say that the majority of evangelical christianity would deny that baptism is an essential christian ordinance.  A simple Google search reveals the diversity of belief about baptism.

I do not wish this post to be a list of beliefs about baptism or even a list of what I believe about the mechanics of the ordinance.  Instead I’d like to focus on how I feel about the ordinance. I have had the privilege of baptising both my daughters and in a few days, when my son turns 8, it will be my privilege to baptise him.  I am deeply humbled to have the opportunity to share this experience with my children,  I suspect they will not remember the ordinance but in some ways their baptisms are as essential for me and our family as it is for them.  The baptism of an 8 year old child is different from that of an adult.  Children are alive in Christ and innocent.  For them the ordinance is a right of passage and the beginning of what they hope to become, like Christ.  It is the planting of the seed of faith in fresh unspoiled ground.  As my children grow I will water that seed and nourish it and give it as much sun as I can but in the end it is God that gives the increase.

While baptism is an essential saving ordinance it is not what does the saving.  I think the idea is illustrated well by the story of Naaman in the Old Testament. Naaman was a captain in the Syrian army who was also a leper.  His maid, an Israelite, convinced him to travel to Israel to meet with the prophet Elisha.  When he reaches the home of Elisha the prophet sends him a message through his servant that Naaman should go and bath in the Jordan river 7 times and he would be healed of his leprosy.  Naaman didn’t take it too well:

But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

Are not Ababa and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
1 Kings 5: 11-14.

Naaman is healed of his leprosy because of his faith, though grudging at first, in the prophet of God.  The waters of the Jordan did not have special healing powers.  There is not some special significance to the number 7 that cleansed the disease.  It simply and purely was his faith and the promise of God through his servant Elisha.  And so it is with baptism.  Jaron will be baptised in a rough made box full of water in front of a nondescript villa in an obscure city on the Arabian Peninsula (okay that part is kinda cool).  The ordinance will be done in moments.  There is nothing special about the water or the box.  Though we wear white and the ordinance is replete with symbolism none of these things are what save us.  It will be Jaron’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the promise of God  that make the difference.  The Lord said:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:13-14

So we will carry out his commandments and hope for a friend in Jesus.

 

fear

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

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I find myself drawing rapidly toward Christmas and the end of this task that I have set myself, to contemplate the teachings of Christ daily until we celebrate His birth.  Some of these posts have been difficult to write and others seem to pour out of me.  I thought I would write tonight about Christ’s teaching of baptism.  This is one of those posts that is difficult to write.  Yesterday’s post on repentance was also difficult.  The question for me is why do I find these topics difficult to write about.  After some reflection I believe I have the answer to that question.  These are not the inspirational topics about love, sacrifice, courage or service that are easily accepted by the casual reader.  Topics like repentance, baptism, prophets and priesthood can be divisive and possibly offensive to some.  And honestly I fear to offend my loved ones.

But wait does not John teach:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18.

And did not Paul advise Timothy:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…
2 Timothy 1:7-8

And of course Christ told his disciples:

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him… Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14: 21, 27.

So why should I fear to broach these more challenging subjects?  When I was 10 or 11 maybe I was walking across town with a friend of mine.  As we passed through a subdivision a dog came crashing through a wooded area to my left barking his ill intent toward us.  I was frightened and moved quickly to place my friend between me and the dog.  Of course, it turned out to be a little dog whose bark was louder than his bite but my fear had gotten the better of me.  I was deeply ashamed.  So much so that the experience has stayed with me all these years.

Not much later I was crossing town again with another group of friends.  In my home town there is a foot bridge that spans a rather large and dangerous river.  For kids 10-12 years old it is a formidable crossing.  Especially in those days when the railings were not as safe looking as they are today.  As we crossed the bridge a man approached from the other direction and he was clearly a little inebriated.  We edged as far away from him as we could while we made to cross paths.  He must have seen our fear and thought to play a little trick.  When he was about 10 feet away he turned and bellowed at us: “Arrrrrr!”  We all jumped I’m sure.  I imagine that the earlier experience with the dog seized me.  What ever the reason I stepped to the front of our little group and with all the power of my little frame and the most menacing look my coke bottle thick glasses, soft blond hair and freckles could produce I bellowed back at the man: “Arrrrrr!”  The man laughed and laughed as he walked on.

I’m sure today that we were never in any real danger from the man but at the time I saw the lives of my friends pass before my eyes.  I was terrified but I could not once again cower in fear.  I have had many moments in the years since then where the memory of the shame brought on by using my friend as a shield has helped me to step forward or stand my ground or speak up.  As I’ve learned to love, however, I find it is less and less the old shame that helps me but love. The saviour told his disciples:

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15: 12-14

So I hope that those who read these posts know that they are written and given in love.  Though it take all my courage to write (Really, maybe ten people will read this). I am grateful for Christ’s sacrifice. That it might not be in vain for my part I will endeavour to do whatsoever he commands.  Even if it is to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…”Matt 28: 19.

Some of you may have noticed that I finally got around to the topic of baptism.  I think I’ll leave it for tomorrow’s post though.  Funny how this post turned into one of those easy posts about love and courage and all that.  I can only hope that should I ever encounter anything truly menacing I’ll have learned to love with enough depth and maturity to face it without fear.

 

 

Repent

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

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I am reminded of Peter on the night of the Lord’s trial before his crucifixion.  He courageously declared that even if all were offended and abandoned the Lord he would not and that should it come to it he was prepared to die rather than deny the Christ. (Mark 14:29-31).  This is the same Peter which with the Lord walked on water, the same which declared to Jesus “thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The same Peter to whom the Lord promised the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.”  But still a man.  The Lord tells Peter “before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.”

When the mob came to take the Lord Peter would do what he must to prove his zeal.  In the defence of his master he drew his sword.  Peter must have known that it would be unlikely he could walk away from the encounter that would surely follow.  But the Lord intervenes he rebukes Peter and heals the man whom Peter injured.  In the next moment the mob was leading Jesus away and Peter with bloodied sword is left helpless and confused.

Peter follows the mob with another disciple to the palace of the High Priest.  Here he watches as the saviour is tried in a mockery of justice.  Over the course of the night Peter is accused several times of being a disciple of Christ and his response to each accusation has become for me some of the most difficult verses of scripture to read:

And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.

And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilæan, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Mark 14: 66-72.

I think many of us can place ourselves in Peter’s shoes.  Determined to do the right thing until we haven’t.  How bitter that must have been.  If heaven rejoices over even one repentant sinner this story illustrates why; truly heaven must have wept with Peter and must weep with us in our several defeats.

The Lord taught Peter a powerful lesson in humility but also in what is required of a follower of Christ, repentance and conversion.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luke:22: 31-32

Repentance and conversion is a change of heart of thought of feeling.  As we see from the experience of Peter it requires pain and sacrifice and humility.  There is beauty in the analogy to be “sifted as wheat.”  I understand that to sift wheat they would pour the wheat out and it would be tossed in the air.  The wind would carry away the lighter chaff and the heavier wheat would fall back to the earth.  In the end the wheat would be purified.  Satan would sift us as wheat but it is up to us to choose to let go of the chaff.

Another way

20 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

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…The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
John 8:2-11

Christ is essentially given two options by the Pharisees when they bring this woman before him: demonstrate mercy to the accused which would require breaking the law of Moses or execute judgement which would have him usurp the authority of the Romans, placing him in defiance of the ruling law.   Christ makes a third choice.

I’ve often wondered what was going through the mind of the Lord as he wrote upon the ground ignoring the mob all around him.  Formulating this third response, possibly?  I think it is more likely he was grappling with the sorrow that this scene must have caused him.  Here were His children using one person’s sin as a trap to bring him harm.  The Pharisees, the woman, the crowd and Christ were all set to lose something in this encounter.  Then Christ does something miraculous.  He takes a hopeless, miserable  situation and everyone walks away a winner.

This narrative teaches many things but in my mind none more powerful than the truth that there is always another way.  No matter how bleak the situation, how angry the jostling mob, how heavy the weight of your own guilt God can calm the storm or the mob or your troubled heart.  He can turn what seems to be the end of all things into a glorious new beginning.

Place yourself in the shoes of the woman in this story.  Either her or her consort or both have made sacred covenants of fidelity that they have chosen to break.  We don’t know the backstory of course but we can imagine all the little decisions all the big and small justifications all the unfortunate and selfish and sad circumstances that have led to this fateful day.  It may be that the very moment before the mob took her she felt safe for the first time or maybe she was relishing in some vengeance against her partner’s wife.  It could be that in the moments before she was taken she was simply enjoying the excitement of this stolen encounter.  There are a hundred possibilities but in the moment she was taken none of them mattered.

Then, abused at the hands of an angry mob she is placed before the feet of a strange man who is charged to decide her fate.  And it seems he must choose between her life and his or at least his reputation.  Words are exchanged and the crowd suddenly dissipates.  There in what is surely her bleakest hour she hears the Lord speak: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” Where moments before there was the final words of the executioner there is suddenly the breath of life.

I want to believe that when she left the Lord she did as He commanded.  Would I?

master or slave

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

≈ Leave a comment

Life offers us many masters: our appetites, fame, money, work and many more.  We are all bound to serve even if its our own egos.  We are also generally free, at the outset, to choose whom we will serve.  It is imperative that we choose wisely.  A good master will train his followers to become masters themselves while an evil master will soon make a slave of their disciples.

The Lord warns that:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matt 6:24.

This is good news.  It turns out we all struggle daily to decide who and what it is we’ll serve.  I tend to think of this verse in the negative.  If we consistently give in to those temptations that easily beset us then we’ll just get worse and worse.  Yet the opposite is true too.  Should we strive to serve the good master then eventually we will come to despise those temptations that currently rule over us.

In this light I think we can better understand these words of Christ:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8: 31-32.

So, here we are given a guide to know good from evil.  I imagine with just a little reflection you can pinpoint the things in your life that would seek to enslave rather than enlighten you?  I know I can.  If we wish to become masters and not slaves we must continue in the word of Christ until we have no more desire to do “evil” and then keep on.

on serving and being served

18 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Christ, Christmas

≈ 1 Comment

In Luke chapter 7 we read of an interesting encounter between the Lord, a Pharisee named Simon and a nameless woman.  Simon invites Jesus to dinner in his home and when they sit down to eat a woman enters weeping.  She washes the Lords feet with her tears and anoints them with oils.  Simon wonders at this man who would allow a sinner to wash his feet.  The Lord, perceiving Simon’s thoughts, offers a parable:

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luke 7: 41-47

I think there are several lessons to take from this encounter.  There is the example of this woman who served the Lord in humility.  We may not have the opportunity to serve him directly like this woman but He has said: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25: 40.  So each act of service we render is a tear and ointment for the feet of the Lord.

But this is not the lesson that strikes me most when I ponder this encounter.  There is a difference in attitude expressed by the Lord and Simon that is worth note.  Had this woman sought to perform a kindness for Simon he would have turned her away.  The saviour in contrast, the greatest man to ever live, submitted to her touch and her love.

I wonder, have there been moments in my life where someone has sought to do me a kindness and I acted more the part of Simon than Christ?  Have I said within myself “I can do this myself I don’t need help from him or her or you?”  Have I thought “oh no thats okay your help in this would be awkward, you’d just be in the way.” Has my pride turned away the “sinner” that sought to do me a kindness?

A few years ago after a particularly heavy snowfall a man came to my door.  He asked if he could shovel my driveway for a modest fee, of course.  I thought “umm no I don’t need help I can shovel my driveway perfectly fine myself; I’m not so sure about this fellow he probably won’t shovel it the way I like it.”  I sent him away.  I know that he was looking for a job and its not quite the same as these verses illustrate.  Yet, as soon as the man left I felt terrible.  I could have easily paid him for the service. It wasn’t the money it was my pride that turned that man away from my door.  I can still see him trudging off through the snow to the next home.  Its a simple thing, a chance encounter maybe, but I failed that day.

 

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