Easter Sunrise

I went to a sunrise Easter service out at a ranch that belongs to some members of our church. The house is situated near the edge of high ridge overlooking a valley or maybe it is a canyon. Down in the distance, you can see deer browsing in the grass or wild hogs rooting around. From the back yard where we sat, the sun was coming up directly before us. A large wooden cross was in the middle of the yard. The pastor stood near it.

The ranch owners’ grown daughter told us a story about how she had a plan when she was nine years old, to go to town. It was cold, and she was angry and barefooted, but she was determined to get to town to find her mother, who had left her with her older sister for a few minutes to run an errand. Her plan was thwarted, of course, before she got very far down the road; someone called police, and they came and got her before something awful could happen to her. God has a plan, she said. His plan is dependable, unlike hers, based on love.

We sang a few songs and we had communion. Birdsong filled the air. It was cold, but the March wind was fairly still. I was happy to be there with all those people I love, praising God for his amazing love and his plan, based on love.

His plan is surprising in its simplicity. I used to think I had to work my way to him, that I couldn’t deserve his love. But I was surprised to learn that his love is free; I don’t have to work for it or deserve it. It is a gift. This is the surprise of Easter. He is risen, and he lives, not as a worldly king, but as the son of God, the one who leads us freely to his father through love. I want to live my life in the surprise of Easter.

Easter Sunrise

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-sunrise.html

Israel: Crossroads of the World

This morning I am staggered by a realization. I browse absent-mindedly over a world map on the wall in my classroom just after all the students have left. My eyes come to rest on the location of Israel.

Look at this world map. Notice where Israel is, in the little tip of land right between the African continent and Europe/Asia.

This map shows it well. You will have to scroll up and down and to the right. You can see, looking back and forth at the maps, that this relatively tiny little finger of land is the only place where that entire half of the world connects. Those continents are not tied together by land anywhere else.

In effect, this 1581 German (?) map shows the true relationship between Israel and the rest of that half of the world, although it isn’t, of course, an accurate representation of the land masses.

The thing that boggles my mind is how perfect God’s planning was in sending the ancient Hebrews to their promised land. It was truly the crossroads of the world. Anyone traveling from Egypt, or anywhere else in Africa, to anywhere north had to go through Israel. That made it the perfect headquarters for the sending of his Word to the world.

I know and fully believe that God is all powerful. Then why does it amaze me so when I become aware of something he has done?

Israel: Crossroads of the World

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2006/09/israel-crossroads-of-world.html