The Joy of Unanswered Prayer

Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to you in all that you have said to me, and have set a king over you. See, it is the king who leads you now; I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have led you from my

youth until this day. (1 Samuel 12:1-2)

The people clamoured to God for a king. Here is an example of people praying against their own interest. God finally relents and gives them a king. Sometimes God grants our prayers even when they are not in our best interest. Other times, God has mercy on us and denies our requests when they are against our best interest. It is only years later, sometimes many years later, that we may be able to see how God has blessed us by not answering our prayer. God is like a loving parent who knows us better than we know ourselves and seeks what is best for us even when that is not what we want.

This text also points to the historical phenomenon of the movement from leadership by priests to leadership by kings. I am reading a fascinating book that documents this movement along with many other historical developments in the history of magic and religion. The Illustrated Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Hardcover) by James George Frazer at amazon.com > http://tr.im/qsZR

"Born in Arizonya, move to Babylonya, King Tut."

Here is Steve Martin singing "King Tut."

Is the Seer Here? -Yes, he is here.

If you were a trillionaire, would you have a business plan? Would you have employees who would figure every single possible angle in order to maintain your wealth for the next 100 years? Of course you would or else you wouldn't be a trillionaire for long. If you were a trillionaire you would hire entire foundations to develop and implement a business plan that would benefit you and help bring to pass your vision for the future of humanity. Perhaps you would join with trillionaires and combine your resources for maximum benefit both of you.

What you would not do if you were a trillionaire is to sit around hoping things would work out well. You don't get to BE a billionaire doing that and you certainly don't get to be a trillionaire by being a "go with the flow" kind of person. No, trillionaires employ GET ER DONE people to take care of their business. They are very well paid and they don't make mistakes. They have hundred year business plans and they implement them with precision. The amazing thing is that these trillionaires foundations publish their business plans. Of course they are boring to read and who has time what with American Idol on TV tonight or the baseball game on ESPN?

As they went up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and said to them, "Is the seer here?" (1 Samuel 9:11)

Here is a modern day seer, the late Aldous Huxley, in an interview with Mike Wallace in 1958. Aldous Huxley wrote BRAVE NEW WORLD, which I highly recommend, as this is the future that some of the trillionaires have in mind for humanity. This is their business plan in print. Here is a video of the conversation with Aldous Huxley. He sounds as if he is talking today as what he says seems to apply to well to these very days.

The Waiter

Funny the way we size one another up visually upon first encounter: Clothes? check. Hygiene? check. Car? check. We subconciously look for clues and markers that make a real difference in whether and how we communicate with another person. The media (the middle agents between the govt and the people) specialize in scientifically altering the public and shaping us in the way the elite want us to go in accordance with their business plan for the world.

So women are shown on magazine covers by the check out counters in stores in bikinis before and after they have a child. The implication is that women are only worthy when they are thin and YOUNG and before they bear children. This works well when your goal is to take out half the population from the fight by making them super focused on the size of their belly and other body parts.

How odd it seems, in such a culture, to hear someone considered to be a great leader compare himself to a waiter at a restaurant. This strikes me especially as yesterday I had lunch at a more upscale chain restaurant in which the waitresses were made to stand in a circle and clap their hands and do a disco dance for no apparent reason. It is sad and absurd what we will do and what we are made to do for money. I tried being a waiter once while in college and I couldn't do it. My hat is off to the waiters and servants of the world.

Jesus once said:

"For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22:27)

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Larry Norman, "I Am Your Servant

Squirrel Huntin' Story

Daddy on Father's Day, 2009

On my way from the kitchen to my bedroom this morning I walked past my daddy in the den. Only, I didn't quite make it past him. He was sitting in a comfortable chair looking out through the French doors into the backyard like a sentinel. He said there was a squirrel out in the backyard and proceeded to describe in great detail his activities. I was standing there holding a glass of water trying to get back to my room to think great thoughts and ponder deep truths for this very note you are reading but I couldn't just walk away from my daddy in the middle of his story.

One story became three stories for he had seen three other squirrels in the backyard that morning. One he saw from his bedroom window playing on the powerline in the backyard. Another he saw drinking water from the fountain. And yet another walked right in front of the back doors by the patio - right in front of my ordinarily alert anti-squirrel dogs but the dogs were too sleepy eyed to notice them. He found this highly amusing.

When I was the age of my son, about 10 years old, we would go hunting in the big trees by the creek in my grandfather's pasture in Harrisville, Mississippi. There would be several of us tromping through the woods after a hearty Thanksgiving meal. When a squirrel was spotted - often by my daddy as I could rarely find them amongst the high branches - my uncles loved to let my dad make the seemingly impossible shot. He would pull up his ancient 22 rifle that shot one sing bullet. He would draw a bead on an object I could barely make out if it was there at all. He would pull the trigger and a sharp "pow" would crack the air. And then a squirrel would come floating down from heaven to the ground.

More often than not he hit the squirrel in the head so as not to damage any of the "meat." We would take the squirrels back to my grandmother and she would make a squirrel stew out of them. I rarely ate it because it seemed a bit too earthy for me. But this is the way my daddy grew up, shooting squirrels in the woods for meat. He didn't buy meat in the grocery store. He and his brothers got their meat from the bountiful forest. Yes, I do believe Daniel Boone is among my ancestors on my father's side. And I think he lives on in this man who observes more life in my backyard in one brief morning than I will likely see for the rest of the year.

The Psalmist sees this same attention to detail displayed in God the Father.

He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
Psalm 147:9

Eric Clapton wrote this song in memory of the death of his young son. "Tears in Heaven"

Lord, I Have Cried

Union soldier during Civil War -photo by Life magaine.

With my own eyes I have seen some bad things happen to good people and this is not just something I noticed once when I was 8 years old. I still see it on an ongoing, regular basis. So do you if you have enough awareness to look beyond your own experience of the world. Then again, perhaps YOU are a person who is even now experiencing the seemingly absurd, cruel side of life.

In such situations, words do not suffice and in fact may often get in the way. We may hide behind words such as "Everything will be alright." Or, "Don't you cry about it, now." Or other such unhelpful barriers we put up between those who are suffering and ourselves.Lord, in our suffering, save us from triviality and sound bites.

Even so, is there not some word of encouragement or hope we may offer? Here is how the Psalmist put it and this is good enough for me and I hope it is good enough for you.

Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5c

This is the "Lord I Have Cried" hymn, which is the beginning of Psalm 140 and sung during the Vespers service of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Dagon the Fish God: Then and Now

Dagon was a Philistine fish god pictured above and below.

Note the way Dagon is holding his right hand. Look at that interesting fish hat and cape he wears. Just in case you've wondered why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day - here is why ...

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod; then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. (1 Samuel 5:1-5)

Note the mouth-shaped hat that Dagon wears. Compare it to the two-horned mitre worn by some church officials today.

Viewed from above, the mouth-shaped hat looks like this.

It is interesting how the trail may lead from an obscure Old Testament lectionary reading to an ancient Palestinian fish god to the CBS logo in a matter of minutes. There are some strange and ongoing connections in this world that are out in the open for those "with eyes to see" as Jesus put it.

Here is more about Dagon the Fish God in Wikipedia.

Below is a video of a high tech Dagon in action. A robotic fish developed by scientists from Essex University is put through its paces in a special tank at the London Aquarium. It works via sensors and has autonomous navigational control. Interesting how Dagon continues to live over the centuries. Now we worship him in the form of hi-tech. And you thought the Old Testament was irrelevant? You thought no one in the scientific Western cultures worships idols? Think again.

Hit the Road, Jack!

This selection from Psalm 89:10-12 is not very nice. God is a crushing God who plows over Rahab (Egypt) like a car plows over a possum on a country road. As the possum becomes road kill, so did Egypt become road kill when God drowned the Pharaoh's mighty army in a suddenly flooded Red Sea. Perhaps you have heard of the story of how God sent Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. After God sent terrible plagues on the Egyptians the Pharaoh finally relented and let Moses take the Israelites away. This event is still commenmorated by Jews in the Passover celebration. When they got to the Red Sea (in a scene made famous by the late Charlton Heston) the Israelites were trapped between a body of water and the Pharaoh's mighty army. Moses asked God if He had any suggestions? God told Moses to raise his rod and God would part the waters so the Israelites could cross over the water. Moses did, God did, the Israelites did. Pharaoh's army tried to follow them through the parted waters but the waters swallowed up the Egyptian army. The Israelites were finally safe and they danced and sang to celebrate. When we get to those places in life when we are stuck between a raging sea and a deadly army who wants us dead, that is when we remember to call out to God. According to the Psalmist, God responds in our moments of greatest need.

You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it - you have founded them.
The north and the south - you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.

I wonder if this is the song Miriam and the Israelite women sang to the Pharaoh after the Red Sea incident?