A New Toy For A Grown-Up...

What happens when a child, especially a boy, receives a new toy, whether it would be for Christmas, his birthday, or just because good old Mummy or Daddy just wanted to treat him? Yep, you guessed correctly - he would continue to play with it until the novelty begins to wear off. How long it would take for the novelty to wear off is entirely dependent on the boy and how he feels for the toy. It could be as quick as a few hours or as long as several months. However, there is always something exciting when something new comes into his possession.

Only there is no difference between a boy and a man, except that the man's toys are more expensive. Well, most of the time. Sometimes a freebie can work wonders. Like within the last couple of weeks I downloaded Google Earth Pro onto my laptop. For free. An excellent idea during this time of Coronavirus lockdown, when I can take virtual journeys whilst seated on our lounge sofa.

And as the whole of page 20 in today's Daily Mail newspaper is emblazoned with the HM Government words, STAY HOME SAVE LIVES screaming at me - as if I was such a blithering idiot if I even consider stepping outside the front door just for a moment - virtual travel is something I can amuse myself on.

But with a difference. This is a virtual trip down Memory Lane. And so as I zoomed in on 39th Pier, not far from Fisherman's Wharf, both on the northern coastline with its continuous row of harbour piers continuing on to the east coast of San Francisco, facing into the Bay. Then other names such as Union Square and Russian Hill, along with Coit Tower and Nob Hill, all come onto the screen as I reminisce on my last actual visit to the city in 1995. Then, as I zoomed in to a rather accurate detail of Vaillancourt Fountain - considered to be the city's ugliest monument and hated by many - such an image has conjured up my own fondness of it whilst stopping to admire and to take pictures.

Vaillancourt Fountain, San Francisco. Stock photo.

It was an Autumn Sunday morning, I recall. The weather was nice, clear sky, warm early morning sunshine. And quiet, empty streets. Therefore, having hired a bicycle from the reception desk of the backpacker's hostel where I had a small, two-bed dormitory to myself, I took great pleasure in riding through Market Street, as straight as it could be, from the hostel to Vaillancourt Fountain, then on to Pier 39 and beyond.

And not to forget Golden Gate Park, where I arrived late afternoon. Having parked the bike by leaning it on a tree without locking it up, I went to check out a waterfall, Huntington Falls, man-made indeed but looking as natural as any cliff-face interrupting a river course. When I returned to where the bike was, there was this chap gazing at it. I asked him what he was doing. When I confirmed that it was mine after asking, he called me a fool for not securing it, as he was just about to make off with it. Had he, less than a couple of seconds later, had I not showed up by then, there would have been repercussions at the hostel with the forfeiture of my passport unless I used my credit card to reimburse for the loss.

The guilt I felt for my negligence remained with me for many years afterwards, even causing sweat to break out. And the worst thing is, I was due to fly back home the very next day! If there was such a thing as divine intervention, this incident could qualify as one good example.

And so I relive the experience as I travel through on this virtual journey. And the new toy will continue to allow me to revive memories as I have also browsed through the Grand Canyon, hiked also in 1995, and around the Pacific coast of Australia, where I travelled along in 1997. And so I can go on.

And now, with this lockdown in place, I can be very grateful to God for allowing me to travel when times were good. But at the same time, I can also thank God that I have made no bookings for this year. Therefore I can't help but pity one of my Christian friends, Andrew Milnthorpe, who has made a booking to visit the Amalfi Coast in Italy with Oak Hall later in August. So he tells me, having set his heart on it. Someone may argue, why not simply postpone until next year? Ah! But that's much easier said than done. Because I know how I would feel if I were to be in his situation. Especially if there's no guarantee that it would be safe to travel even then. I would be very frustrated indeed, and perhaps angry too. I would look for someone to blame, as anger must have some outlet. 

And who would I blame? Most likely the posh boys, those public school and grammar school students who flew out to Northern Italy during the Spring half-term break, for a skiing holiday, and then return with one, maybe two, three or four, infected whilst boarding the aeroplane for the flight home. Then I can imagine the moist, virus-ridden rancid breath inhaled by fellow passengers sitting close by. Then the air current within the fuselage, circulated by the jet engines, would spread the virus out further among the other passengers mid-flight. How many were already infected by the time the plane lands is anyone's guess.

It would be easy, even safe, to say that the pandemic which has already taken more than 20,000 lives here in the UK and has placed the whole country under lockdown, is caused mainly by middle-class holidaymakers who can afford to travel other than, and in addition to, the normal Summer break. After all, that was the only way the virus could make it all the way to Britain from China. By air. Supposing I was still single and booked a Round-the-World backpacking trip, comparable with the 1997 trip and already paid for with hard-earned cash, and then this happens - yes, I'll be fuming!

Huntington Falls. I nearly had my bike stolen near here.

Hold on! Round-the-World backpacking trips? Aren't they done mostly by graduates on a gap-year? Does that make me middle class, too? Not at all. Because for the 1997 RTW trip, I worked hard with my hands, running a window-cleaning business, and saved up hard. Only then did I walk into the appropriate travel agency, Trailfinders in Kensington High Street, to lay the money down. No credit was taken, despite holding a credit card can be perceived by some as a sign of status. However, many graduates travel for much of the year, maybe even for a whole year, and may include some work. In 1997, I was out of the UK for just seventy days exactly.

Therefore let's assume that I have booked and paid for a very similar RTW backpacking trip for this year. I'm almost ready to take off. Then this happens, a national lockdown due to a viral pandemic, and the cancellation of all flights. Then a hard slog to get a refund, which is made much more difficult by an overlooked void within the small print. 

Oh, the fury! The rage within! The cursing and the swearing aimed towards those responsible in bringing the virus into the UK in the first place!

Or the forgiveness, which in a case such as this one, can only be supernatural.

Forgiving someone or even a group of people is vital not only for a healthy walk with God but also for physical health and wellbeing. Forgiving is important enough when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. (Matthew 6:12.)

This was recited from infancy at school without fully understanding it. Yet no one had said anything on what Jesus had said immediately afterwards, which was, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15.)

I once heard one of our Elders preach on Matthew 6:14-15, especially from verse 15 quite a few years ago, implying that if God is not going to forgive your grudge against others, then you will lose your salvation. But it says here that your Father will not forgive your trespasses. Which brings me to ask: How can God remain as my Father, if I'm destined for a lost eternity? The theory of eternal hell for those who refuse to forgive others is full of flaws. First of all, it violates our adoption into God's family through faith in Christ. Secondly, the imputed righteousness of Christ becomes invalid. Therefore, if God no longer sees me as equally righteous as his Son, then how could God remain as my heavenly Father and me as his adopted son? And thirdly, it is a denial of God's omniscience, that is, He does not know what's going to happen next and is also capable of making mistakes, that is, having chosen a "dud" gift for his Son, according to John 6:44 and 17:6.

Yet despite these flaws in the theory, there are many good and sincere Christians who accept Matthew 6:15 to mean a loss of salvation. It's one of those problems which arises whenever one reads hell into verses which aren't appropriate. This looks to be one of them.

Later, Jesus gives a parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. This servant has always been a bit of a mystery to me, not on his final destiny but on why he had such a cruel attitude on his fellow servant, who owed him the equivalent of a few pence. Earlier, his master reminded him that he was in massive debt, owing to his master a vast amount of money, and unable to pay back, he was threatened of being sold along with his family. So the servant begged for extra time, and his master released him from the debt. 

When he should have jumped with joy and gave his fellow servant a hug and to tell him to forget his small debt, instead he bullied his colleague to pay him what he owed. Soon afterwards, his master had him condemned to prison until his huge debt is fully paid.

I can deduce a couple of thoughts out of this:

First, the servant's release from his massive debt has left his attitude unchanged. Instead of jumping with joy with a fervent love for his master, he began to bully his colleague. This shows that forgiveness of past sins is not sufficient enough to redeem the soul. For this, imputation of the master's own character was needed for a full changing of the servant's heart, along with adoption as a son and heir to all what the master owns. All this comes with a full regeneration of the servant's heart to become a new creation, with which he would have gladly released his fellow servant.

The second idea is based on what Jesus had said immediately after his model prayer, recorded in Matthew 6:9-15. Here, Jesus refers to God as your Father not forgiving your trespasses if you don't forgive the trespasses of others. I don't believe that the master/servant relationship of Matthew 18 is the same as the Father/son relationship as recorded here. But the same principle can be applied in both cases if the forgiveness is applicable in this life without affecting our eternal destiny.

The unforgiving servant.

All forgiveness is done here and now, in this life. Actually, it has been proved throughout history that unforgiveness is detrimental to both health and wellbeing. Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and anger as well as a multiple of illness and early death. When I forgive Fred Bloggs, I don't forgive for Fred's sake but for my own sake. By forgiving Fred, I would free myself from such burdens and enjoy a much more of a fulfilled life which involves a better relationship with God. 

Then again, I do see a difference between someone who had his holiday plans ruined by a circumstance caused by the want of pleasure by another, whom he has never met, and a petulant servant who wants his money back from someone he had lent. I think it's much easier to release a debtor than it is to forgive a group of people for initially stealing away a holiday to fulfil their own desires. I wonder whether that was the reason why the unforgiving servant received a greater punishment, whether in this life or the next, simply because he willingly made the wrong choice. But with the heart regenerated by the Holy Spirit, to forgive is made possible for all circumstances.