Friday, December 30, 2011

6 Geese a laying

 

I can just hear my English teacher in the back of my head saying "Humans lie, chickens lay" as she explained the difference between the verbs lay and lie.  On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six geese a laying.  In the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"  the six geese a laying represent the six days of creation.  Six days which serve as a testimony to the awesomeness of our God.  The first three words of both the book of Genesis and the Gospel of John are "In the beginning."  In the beginning God stepped out of nothing and called order out of chaos.  He created this world for us and it it our duty as his faithful stewards to preserve it. 

Psalm 8 is a powerful testament to the awesomeness of God's creation.

O Lord, our Lord,  how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings  hast thou
ordained strength because of thine enemies, thou 
mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the word of thy fingers, 
the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained;
What is man that thou art mindful of him?  And the son of
man, that thou visitest him?
For thous hast made him a little lower than the angels, and
hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy
hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and 
whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

I know that as the new year rolls around, people have resolved to live a healthier lifestyle and incorporating exercise into their routine.  In addition to this resolve, take time out to enjoy the beauty of God's creation.  On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a wonderful world full of geese, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and partridges along with beasts of the fields and creatures of the sea in the back drop of his majestic landscape.  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTF2TFnLCWw  

Christmastide Blessings and Peace,
Karsten


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Five Golden Books?

   

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas!  On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, F-I-V-E GOLDEN RINGS!  I love that part of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I must admit, translating the five golden rings into "Cinco anillos de oro" throws the rythm of the song off.  In the "Twelve Days of Christmas"  the five golden rings which every child young and old loves to belt out, represent the first five books of the Old Testament, commonly referred to as the Torah by followers of Judaism. 

 The books of the Torah are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  The Torah is believed to have been revealed to Moses by God at Mount Sinai.  Based on it position in holy scripture, the Torah takes us back to the beginning of all things, from creation, Adam and Eve's fall, Noah's Ark, Egyptian slavery, the call of Moses and the exodus of the Jews from the land of bondage.  The excitement pretty much ends in the book of Exodus.  The books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are a litany of laws including the Ten Commandments, which God gives to the Israelites.  These laws were given because the nation of Israel was God's holy and chosen nation.  These laws covered a myriad of things from corporate worship, what could and could not be consumed, the proper presentation of sacrifices to God and the list goes on and on.

Many times people argue that the Old Testament, or the old covenant is not as significant to the  post-modern church, after all Jesus came to fulfill the law, right?  My response is that Judaism and the laws of the Torah are equally important as the promises and prophecies of the New Testament.  It shows the relationship that God has with his people, and how the people responded and at times rebelled against God.  There are some parts of the Torah that are not so warm and fuzzy to read, but are gifts that God has given us to help us understand the God we serve of eternity past, eternity present, and the age to come.  On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, five golden books.  Embrace the jewish heritage and mystery of our christian faith.

Christmastide Blessings and Peace,
Karsten