Self Pity? No Way!

One of the benefits of working as a self-employed domestic window cleaner is that I can turn mere customers into good friends, as a result of a long-standing contract between a householder and myself, which involves turning up when I say I'll turn up, and doing a job to the level of their satisfaction. Such is the case of one ageing couple whose house I called at this week. This time round, one of their sons had returned from Australia to stay with his parents for three weeks, and it was their last full day in England before take-off the next day. With him was his wife and his two children. The customer also has a daughter living in San Francisco, and she too is raising her family there. Sometimes I wonder what is it about Britain that makes people want to live abroad.

 

Although I wished them farewell and to enjoy a pleasant flight home, I could not help but sigh within. Living in Australia, with its fine beaches, coral reefs, diversity of wildlife, a slower pace of living, and a pleasant climate to match, makes me wonder, if I were to compare myself with this young father, why I have missed out on some of the good things in life.

 

I knew the customer's offspring for many years, when the boy arrived home from school dolled up in his uniform -  including white shirt and tie. But unlike with me years earlier, he excelled, gained his A Levels and attended university and successfully graduated. With his degree, he settled down to a life as an accountant. With such credentials, Australia welcomed him with open arms, even though his visa took a long while to come through, as the USA also welcomed the equally well-educated sister. While I cleaned their windows, I was able to watch their often-mischievous children run around the house, engage in play and watch their favourite children's programmes on their grandparent's telly. 

 

All this reminded me that there were times I wished I was able to emigrate. Given the choice, Australia would have been first, followed possibly by southern California, particularly San Diego. Back in 1994, I was even considering a long-stay spell in Israel, as a result of working as a volunteer at a Christian Conference Centre near Haifa, owned and operated by the Church of England. That didn't work out either, as I had to return home to England just after three months - a direct result of being booted out by the rest of the team, a diversity of English, a Scot, and three New Zealanders, including a married couple. But not a Jew among them, despite being in their country. Then again, I guess there is something about the English character which never appealed - an island culture of rabid nationalism, love of Royalty and the pageantry pomp that goes with it, social class, contempt for foreigners, Empire-oriented, power elitism, and the self-conceived divine right to police the rest of the world. Little wonder how relieved I always felt when England was knocked out of the World Cup international football tournament. I would dread the national arrogance arising from such a victory.

 

I consider myself fortunate when, at 46 years of age, I met Alex in church in 1998 and married less than a year later. Before then, as a bachelor, after I was dumped in 1972, no female took any interest in me at all. In fact, I found this rather mystifying, as I'm sure I wasn't that ugly. Rather, I was subject to teasing by any group of girls into their late teens or early twenties, whenever our paths crossed. I became aware that there was something wrong with my accent when talking, this particular area in my life I wasn't allowed to forget, as I was often mimicked by older men during my early days at work in the late 1960s. I believe it was this accent defect that had put many potential girlfriends off, made worse by a lack of proper education and no professional status. I would go as far to say that having had a professional career might have been enough to absolve my odd accent.

 

The wonderful feeling of love and acceptance my wife has always shown has made a massive impact in my life. From this I have come to discover and learn how to love a person so devoted to me. As a Christian believer, the answer to that was not elusive. I wanted to love her in the same way that Jesus Christ loves his church, an agape love which covers any faults or shortcomings. Now my wife lies ill in hospital, and according to the medical team, the cause might be from a spinal infection, however, this is yet to be proved. At the time of typing and posting of this blog, she is waiting to be transferred to a neurological ward at one of the country's top hospitals for proper diagnosis and, I hope, further and perhaps rapid treatment.

 

On one early morning this week I recall having a little cry as I sat alone in an otherwise empty house. In a way that has done me some good, as emotions are concerned, if I hit bottom, the only way is up. But adding further insult to injury, I had to cancel our holiday (vacation) in Crete that was meant to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Believe me, I feel gutted. This was something I never ever done before, and claiming on the insurance will be something new to me as well. The only panacea to help alleviate the horrible feeling is to take the week off work anyway, and try to occupy my spare time on a leisure activity such as gym, sauna, even a day trip to London, blogging and Internet browsing - and then making my way to the hospital to spend the late afternoon and evening at my wife's bedside.

 

Strange it seems, but lately I have seen far more dating couples in the street or in the train, petting or exchanging words of endearment, than when Alex was up and about. Also there seems to be a lot more 'planes hovering up in the sky, waiting in a stack to land at nearby London Heathrow Airport. Then, as I sat in the train on my way to visit Alex, at one of the stations is a huge advert board of a British Airways aeroplane, waiting to be taxied on to the runway. It is as if providence was deliberately teasing me, like a mischievous child holding up something he snatched from my hand, and yelling Nah! Nah! Nah-nah! Nah! -as he held it up high in full view and runs away. Then not to mention my good church friend away in Africa, and customers heading to the airport, even broadcasting over the radio - and scores of healthy, middle class folk enjoying life to the full, especially taking early Autumn breaks after the kids return to school. 

 

 

In the morning, the Sunday we were meant to head for the airport, I shall be heading to my church to thank and to praise God for his goodness, love and mercy. If the prophet Habakkuk can do it so can I. He wrote this:

Thou the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour, The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19.

 

It is interesting to note that the prophet's willingness to praise and thank God during adverse times was of his own choice. "I will be joyful in God" - he says, because of his knowledge of God's salvation. There is something about knowing the Lord which is above comprehension. Sure, this week I had a little cry one morning, yet just two days later, also early morning, I felt my heart rise as I read the 4th chapter of Romans, and I couldn't help but look up to the sky with a smile. Here Paul was using Abraham as an example of imputed righteousness from heaven given to all those who believe in their hearts that God rose Jesus from the dead. But there is more to this, I think. Habakkuk's secret was that he knew that the righteousness he had was imputed, and as a result, led to his belief in Eternal Security. Coming to think of it - Eternal Security, or OSAS if you prefer to think of it as such, is perhaps a major bulwark against adversity, allowing the sufferer to thank and praise the Lord, knowing about the eternal promise reserved for him in Heaven.

 

 

 

Dear brother or sister in Christ, if you are taught by your church, your literature, or from any other source that you cannot accept Eternal Security of the Believer as Biblical truth, then let me encourage you to read John chapter 10, Romans chapter 4 and chapter 8, and allow such beautiful words to nourish your spirit. Don't allow mere men, no matter how academic or well educated they may be, to block your assurance in the Lord.

 

While in hospital, Alex assured me of her "gut belief" in God raising Jesus Christ from the dead. She then referred to him as Lord. What more do I need for assurance that Alex my dear wife is eternally saved and secure in the Lord, whether she will go with me to church or not. Imputed righteousness - now that's something no trip to Crete, or even to Australia, can match! 

 

 

 



Oh, To Fly Like A Bird...

A very close friend of mine recently flew to New York to visit for a week and to explore the city.   After he had returned, I called round to his home and asked him what was the U.S. border control like. He replied that this time he found it easier to get through than at previous times, but he still had to have his fingerprints scanned, along with his eyes scanned as well. He was then interrogated on what was his purpose for the visit and where he would be staying. Pretty intrusive stuff! If this was one of the easier occasions, I hate to think what he would have had to go through on a particular difficult one.

This is the Passport Security one now faces ever since 9/11. In my day, I did not have such a level of interrogation when I entered the USA. That was because I travelled during my bachelor days, before I married in 1999, two years before the World Trade Center was hit. But nevertheless, I have been randomly picked out by Border Control in 1997, when I arrived at Los Angeles Airport from Sydney. At Customs my rucksack was emptied out. When my Bible fell out with all the other items, the female officer became rather apologetic, and told me to re-pack and move on.

Perhaps a long haired, unshaven male in casual clothing, who had spent a sleepless night flying over the Pacific Ocean, would raise greater suspicion among immigration officers than a clean-shaven businessman in suit and tie. The same happened when I entered Australia at Cairns six weeks earlier. The only difference was that my baggage passed through a scanner, while everyone else on that flight from Singapore passed through Arrivals easily and I was alone at the small airport with two officers who, surprisingly enough, apologised for messing me about. I replied that if the Government paid me to do their job, I would have done the same.

Then there's that almost frightening moment when the Passport officer took my document, but instead of stamping the entry visa on a blank page, he starts to play around with it, flicking the pages back and forth and looking casually on. Then, as if on an afterthought, gives the passport to his companion who stamps the entry visa before handing the document back to me. Although I did not realise it then, it was a tactic to see how I would have reacted. If I had something to hide, they would suspect and escort me to the interrogation room. But a look of anxiety, wondering if I was about to be put on a flight home was enough for them to clear me through. They were highly trained for this sort of thing.

So goes the world of international travel, of which I'm still a fanatic. But as I ponder on these things, I find it rather ironic that we, the human species whom God created to be the pinnacle of all his creation, should suffer such intrusion from the authorities whenever we decide to step on to foreign soil. Then I think of the Artic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) - a rather small bird but with the amazing capacity to fly annually from Pole to Pole to stay with the ever-moving summer season.

The feet of the bird can land on any foreign soil as it pleases, and not a single human would approach to ask of proof of identity! No passports for them, no expensive air tickets, check-in queues, immune jabs, customs, currency exchange and all else which seem to be deviously designed to deter, demotivate or kill any desire for travel. Perhaps not for nothing had God made us without wings.

And our desire for travel isn't confined to the present generation. Some three thousand years ago, King David had just that desire. In Psalm 55 he wrote:

Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and to be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
Verses 6-8 KJV.

Although David was only expressing his desires, through him the Holy Spirit was making an accurate prophecy. We today do fly away to be at rest, far from home, away from the "windy storm and tempest" which comes with our daily responsibilities. Although we don't have wings of our own, we are willing to pay a large sum of money to "put on" so to speak, wings in the form of modern aviation. In this way, we are a far better off generation than those of our fathers.

Indeed we are! For me, nothing is so exhilarating than to sit by the window of an airline, soaring high above the clouds and looking down at the striking beauty of the landscape, the mountains, the contrast of coastline against the sea as the latter reflects the sunlight back to the sky, and the diverse forms of civilisation. By his loving grace, God has given me such opportunities, particularly in my bachelor days.

The Coastline of Kent, UK, after take off from London Gatwick Airport, 2011.

After the chat with my friend at his house, I got round to reading the 15th chapter of Paul's first letter to the Church in Corinth. Here Paul was settling the question the church as asking - will there be a resurrection of the body? There were some in the church who were following the teaching of the Sadducees, that there is no resurrection. In reply, Paul stressed that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus Christ wasn't resurrected either. If that had been the case, then they are still in their sins and their faith is futile. This has got me to ponder, what is the body resurrected like? And where is the connection between this and international travel?

The connection lies with the ability of our new bodies having the freedom to travel anywhere without any intrusion or restrictions imposed. In I John 3:2 we are told that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. If our future spiritual bodies will have all the properties of that of the risen Lord, then to get an idea of what we would be like, we only need to look at what Jesus was capable of doing after his resurrection.

One of his abilities was to pass through a closed door, John 20:19, 26. John made it clear that when the disciples had locked themselves in a room due to fear of the Jews, Jesus suddenly appeared to them twice, the second time to convince Thomas. In Luke's version, the disciples were first afraid of a ghost making an appearance, Luke 24:36-43. Not only did the Lord identify himself by the nail marks on his body, but he also demonstrated his ability to eat solid food. This is also backed up in John's version when the disciples had returned to their former occupations up north along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. After a big catch, all sat for breakfast on the beach with a campfire in their midst. No doubt, Jesus was eating his share as he reinstated Peter and instructed them to return to Jerusalem to await the power of the Holy Spirit (John 21).

Finally, the new body of Jesus was able to defy gravity. This is demonstrated in Acts 1, where Jesus was taken up to Heaven in full view of his disciples. No propulsion there, he just floated up until caught in a cloud. This is how we will be like, the ability to fly without gravity or aerodynamic resistance. As a fan of Superman, I always have been intrigued on how this comic character was able to take off and fly with absolutely no air or jet propulsion, in complete defiance of all known physics. But our spiritual bodies will be able to defy gravity, and this is endorsed in both 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Both sets of verses indicate a sudden transformation of the body - those who have already died in Christ to rise first, then those who are still alive will be instantly transformed to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be escorted to Heaven to face first, the Judgement seat, a rostrum for dishing out rewards for Christian living, followed by the Holy Communion in Heaven - a demonstration that it was the death of Christ crucified that had saved us all in the first place, and not any works we have done ourselves.

Our eternal home, I believe, will be the New Jerusalem, a city some 1,500 miles square, giving us an area 2,250,000 square miles (Revelation 21, 22:1-6.) In our new bodies, it looks apparent that we can get to one side of the city to the other instantly. There will be no gravity or aerodynamic resistance, neither the need for the sun or the moon to shine, as God Almighty will be its light. The city will sit upon a new Earth, to anywhere we can travel and arrive at our destination instantly. Within the city will flow a river, which on each side will be trees bearing fruit on a monthly basis. This looks like if we will be able to eat the fruit, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, but whether this is more for pleasure than nutritional subsistence - we can't be sure unless the spiritual body does need a level of nutritional intake. Was the resurrected Jesus really hungry when his disciples gave him a piece of cooked fish?

What a wonderful demonstration of the love and grace of God! We were born with a sinful nature within us, which separated us from God, who is pure and holy. God cannot abide with sin. But in his love he sent his Son to die to atone for our sins. All of us who truly believe will spend eternity in that fabulous city for ever.

No passports, no check-in queues, no heavy baggage, no security checks, no expensive air tickets, no threat of industrial action, no delays, no headaches. Just unlimited travel with the euphoric pleasure of praising God for all eternity.