I've noticed a number of pictures appearing recently on social media that have been published back-to-front. I don't realise it at first, until there's a street that I recognise, or suddenly I see some writing on a badge or shop sign. I often use a familiar phrase from a long ago foreign language lesson to express surprise, especially when I'm alone, and I mutter to myself, 'Hoe kan het zijn?' (how can it be?) Suddenly I get it, the whole image is reversed, as if it's been taken using a mirror.
Perhaps a more important question is not how, but why should it be so? It's reminiscent of Oscar Wilde's words in The Importance of Being Earnest: "To lose one parent ... may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." For one picture, by some means, to have been inserted reversed could be an accident but when it occurs two or three times, from a number of sources, I begin to think something more coordinated is afoot.
I confess, I don't know the answer. But I know that a sign or badge is back to front because I know what the letters should look like; I recognise that a street is portrayed back to front because I've seen the actual street, and remember the sequence of its buildings. St James, in his letter, wrote about a man looking in a mirror and then going away and promptly forgetting what he looks like (James 1:22-25). James used this as an illustration for looking at the perfect law (i.e. reading God's Word) but not doing what it tells us to do.
The modern equivalent would be someone who considers it sufficient simply to hear a good sermon on a Sunday morning; by the time the roast dinner is before him, he has completely forgotten what had been said as if he'd never been there at all. It's so much easier, isn't it, to continue doing what we've always done? Either we don't realise what we need to change in our lives, or we postpone indefinitely any change in our habits that would put into effect what we've heard.
Someone I was chatting to in the last few days said, "I'm not ready to commit ... because there are things I'm doing - things I like doing - that I know I'd have to give up ... and I'm not ready to give them up." Knowing a time in my own life when I said more or less the same thing, I understood where my friend was coming from but, knowing also where that decision had led me, I couldn't be generous enough to tell him, "That's fine, take your time." Instead I prayed that he would be led to a point where the attraction of those things would pale, and that he would then find himself ready to commit to those things that are eternal.
James concludes this chapter by advocating that his readers should "keep [themselves] from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27). Sometimes I realise that something I've just done was 'unworthy' of my calling and, either in my mind or in reality, I consider how I must appear in that mirror. I then have no option but to regret what I've done and beg forgiveness. My prayer for my friend is that he may one day be able to do the same.
Monday 15 July 2019
Monday 1 July 2019
Turning the Pages
If you visit my home, the image most likely to leave with you is the books. My lounge is clad with eight units of three shelves and the bedroom two five-shelf units. That's a shelf-run of about 35 metres. While it doesn't scratch the surface of the National Archive's 200 kilometres, for a small flat some would say it's excessive.
The collection consists of fiction, history, biography, theology, travel, music and reference. To me, they are not just words on a page (or several thousand pages); some are old friends. Some have been in my possession since my teenage years; the majority date from the period since the millennium. With some a mere glance can bring forth a vivid memory of an event or an era of my life; others I've completely forgotten about.
It has been said that they are like furniture! Since I live in a rented property, my landlord's agent makes a quarterly visit to ensure on behalf of both parties that all is well; one day a different lady from the office came. As she entered the lounge she exclaimed, "Oh! You're the book man!" Word had obviously got around. Now, in my retirement, I'm filling one day a week trying to sell books on line on behalf of a local charity, which has opened up a completely new perspective on what I suppose has been a fairly low-level hobby for half a century.
The Bible, of course, is not just one book, but a whole library. In its pages we can find many parallels with my shelves. The Bible contains poetry, drama, romance, biography, history, prophecy and many pages of personal letters as well as the theology that we naturally associate with it. But apart from the words written on their pages, our books can remind us of much about God.
As one who has moved house since the majority of my collection has built up, I can vouch for the fact that books in any number at all are solid. They are heavyweight and dependable, whether you're looking to weigh down a curtain or break your back lifting them! A book is not easily lost, although it can be mislaid, or put in the wrong place which, as any librarian will vouchsafe, is as good as being lost! God is always there, too, and ever dependable (Hebrews 13:5).
Have you ever come across something in a book that you disagree with? You can curse and shout at it, but you can't change it ... what's printed there stays there. You can ignore it, scribble through it, tear the page out, even burn it! But all the other copies that have been printed will still contain what offended you. God is unchangeable, too (Hebrews 13:8).
A book can answer our questions. We have to pick the right book to match our question, of course; it's no use asking who was prime minister in 1842 and seeking the answer in a cookery book! We may have to open a number of books if our search is complex or obscure, may even have to buy a new one! And at the end of the chase, we may have found conflicting opinions about the answer. Prayer is so much easier, and, although the answers to prayer sometimes need discernment, we can be sure of the answer when we get it, because God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Very thin books can be 'stitched', i.e. held together with large metal staples; many cheap books are held together with glue inside a card cover (paperbacks). Hard-back or 'case-bound' books are stitched with string or cord and bound into board covers; there are many different ways this can be done and they are strong and long-lasting. However even these wear with constant use and handling, and need to be repaired by specialists.
God is boundless!
The collection consists of fiction, history, biography, theology, travel, music and reference. To me, they are not just words on a page (or several thousand pages); some are old friends. Some have been in my possession since my teenage years; the majority date from the period since the millennium. With some a mere glance can bring forth a vivid memory of an event or an era of my life; others I've completely forgotten about.
It has been said that they are like furniture! Since I live in a rented property, my landlord's agent makes a quarterly visit to ensure on behalf of both parties that all is well; one day a different lady from the office came. As she entered the lounge she exclaimed, "Oh! You're the book man!" Word had obviously got around. Now, in my retirement, I'm filling one day a week trying to sell books on line on behalf of a local charity, which has opened up a completely new perspective on what I suppose has been a fairly low-level hobby for half a century.
The Bible, of course, is not just one book, but a whole library. In its pages we can find many parallels with my shelves. The Bible contains poetry, drama, romance, biography, history, prophecy and many pages of personal letters as well as the theology that we naturally associate with it. But apart from the words written on their pages, our books can remind us of much about God.
As one who has moved house since the majority of my collection has built up, I can vouch for the fact that books in any number at all are solid. They are heavyweight and dependable, whether you're looking to weigh down a curtain or break your back lifting them! A book is not easily lost, although it can be mislaid, or put in the wrong place which, as any librarian will vouchsafe, is as good as being lost! God is always there, too, and ever dependable (Hebrews 13:5).
Have you ever come across something in a book that you disagree with? You can curse and shout at it, but you can't change it ... what's printed there stays there. You can ignore it, scribble through it, tear the page out, even burn it! But all the other copies that have been printed will still contain what offended you. God is unchangeable, too (Hebrews 13:8).
A book can answer our questions. We have to pick the right book to match our question, of course; it's no use asking who was prime minister in 1842 and seeking the answer in a cookery book! We may have to open a number of books if our search is complex or obscure, may even have to buy a new one! And at the end of the chase, we may have found conflicting opinions about the answer. Prayer is so much easier, and, although the answers to prayer sometimes need discernment, we can be sure of the answer when we get it, because God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Very thin books can be 'stitched', i.e. held together with large metal staples; many cheap books are held together with glue inside a card cover (paperbacks). Hard-back or 'case-bound' books are stitched with string or cord and bound into board covers; there are many different ways this can be done and they are strong and long-lasting. However even these wear with constant use and handling, and need to be repaired by specialists.
God is boundless!
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