Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear people.

Becki will be coming out soon to do our morning routine—a walk/jog around our place. Hondo, the black lab, is particularly mindful of the routine. He’s outside the door right now fussing and whining, as though that will influence me to commence the routine. Silly dog! Why can’t he adopt a more objective intelligence that recognizes that all that fussing does absolutely nothing to change anything? I suppose it’s because of just that—he’s a silly dog with very limited and non-objective intelligence.

I certainly became more involved in sign handling yesterday than I anticipated. A guy beginning a new business in the same complex saw me working and approached me, wanting to have a backlit cabinet he had on hand mounted on the building over his entrance. I actually engaged my boom truck and did that little job in the rain that same afternoon. Since it involved walking on a rain-wetted sloped roof of old cedar shingles, I decided to kick my boots off and walk up there in my stocking feet. I think that was a good move. Now for another round of unknown adventure—the blank sheet of today.

I hope your blank sheet gets filled in as it should. Blessings.

Love, Dad/Ray.

“OK, Hondo—let’s get on with it.”

My hunch is that both God and angels have a measure of delight when they have occasion to interrupt the normal affairs of their human subject with the supernatural and scare the starch out of their natural wits. Just like little kids who love to hide in some unsuspecting place and take you by surprise when they jump out in front of you and say, “Boo!” Even if the kid has a mask on to give the illusion of being a gorilla, or has a sheet over him in an attempt at appearing to be a ghost, our surprise will not normally last very long. Your heart may skip a few beats in the initial shock, but then quiets down quickly in view of the obvious. But when a truly supernatural being presents himself in a supernatural way, that’s another cup of tea. Very likely the universal effect on human senses will be something like “trembling and bewildered.” To carry my hunch a little further, I kind of think that the angel was kind of biting his lip. The first thing he said was, “Do not be alarmed,” even though he knew full well that it was virtually impossible for them to not be alarmed. I think he really wanted to say, “Boo!” I think it would have had about the same effect.

With or without the supernatural, I believe that occasions of trembling that leaves one feeling bewildered are unavoidable in the course of living. And with or without our meeting the supernatural, I believe that God, at least indirectly, ordains those emotional crises. Why? Because such experiences actually test the quality of our belief system and stimulate the exercise of trust. Those circumstances that create “trembling and bewildered” are essential to the growth of a strong and mature faith. So, “do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering (…that leaves you ‘trembling and bewildered’), as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice…” (1 Peter 4:12-13). “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). I’m convinced that real belief in simple and profound concepts like this will go a long way in helping us apply a vital antidote to the natural condition of “trembling and bewildered.”