Hard´-heart`ed (~härt`ĕd) a. 1. Unsympathetic; inexorable; cruel; pitiless. The wisdom of Solomon gave us this proverb: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23) Our lives are governed by our hearts. What we love determines who we are. Unsurprisingly philosophers might define a human being as […]
When I was 11 years old I invented a religion. Except that there was nothing new about it. I imagined a god who demanded moral goodness and punished shortfalls. And with a combination of carrots and sticks my god would prod me towards some kind of “better place.” I wasn’t the first to consider religion […]
When you think of rest, what springs to mind? If you’re like me you’ll be thinking about an absence of stresses and suffering. The name “Noah” means rest. But the one called Rest does not come in the context of peace and safety. It was in the midst of death and curse that the promised […]
If someone calls you ‘Methuselah’ it’s probably not a compliment. He was 969 years old when he died – the oldest man in the bible. In the midst of the avalanche of deaths in Genesis 5, Methuselah weathers the storm better than most. But actually someone else in the family tree does better than Methuselah […]
We all know the phrase. And we all want to be able to answer yes. Tony Blair first introduced “New Labour” to the party conference describing it as the kind of compassionate socialism that said “I am my brother’s keeper.” In 2008, Barack Obama’s Christmas Day message was this: “Now, more than ever, we must […]
“Have you seen the news? Flooding, fires, earthquakes, wars. If we don’t watch ourselves the world’s going to fall apart completely.” “I fear we’ll soon pass the point of no return!” “We must be very near the end!” These are statements I hear pretty regularly about “the state of the world today.” The trouble is […]
When the person we love is dying of cancer we pray for healing. We pray fervently. But even if God grants a miraculous healing, what then? Do we dare to ask for ten more years of health? Twenty? What about a hundred? How long do we want this kind of life prolonged? For how long […]
All but cursed, the men of dust, From garden’d bliss dejected thrust. Cast down to blood and tangling thorn, Flat-faced in mud, bereft, forlorn. Unmoved as ages droned along, Resigned to sighing pity’s song. To mouth their sadness with each breath, In love with self and sin and death. Then glancing back, a glimmering sight, […]
First Eve receives her life and then her name from Adam. But in between these two events the whole world falls apart. Between Eve’s creation and her naming, the couple rebel, death and curse are unleashed and the LORD pronounces fearful judgement. Yet the most hopeful verse comes next: “Adam called his wife’s name Eve; […]
Ok, the Authorized Version can’t take credit for this one. It translates Genesis 3:19 as “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” If they were even more literal they might have said “In the sweat of thy nostrils…”! But, unsurprisingly, it’s the more idiomatic translation “By the sweat of your brow” that […]
