Grains of Sand

I just returned from a trip to the Caribbean. One of our stops was on the island of Haiti. We took a tour by launch of some of the northern coastline. As our guide explained some of the history of the island, we could see a number of fishing vessels out on the water. Some of the boats, or lateens, were being driven by the wind. Their sails were curious combinations of bedsheets and other materials sewn together. The guide explained that these boats had no motors. If the wind was blowing in the right direction the fishermen could let the sails do all the work. Otherwise they had to row—sometimes from several miles out against the wind and the waves! As I read Psalm 53 this morning these fishing boats came to mind. The psalm begins with this declaration: " The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' " (53:1). The psalmist then goes on to describe the difficulty of denying God and ends with a note of triumph on behalf of those who believe and will ultimately see G...

1 Samuel 4-7 This is one of those curious stories. Eli is Israel's chief priest. But he's an old man and his sons have taken charge of the religious life of the nation. Well. "irreligious" might be a better word because they are not worthy priests. Israel is facing one of those persistent enemies that never seemed to go away throughout their history—the Philistines. They meet in battle at Ebenezar (the Stone that helps) and Israel is soundly defeated. Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, get the brilliant idea to take the ark of the covenant out of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and drag it into battle. Their theory? " Let us bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies " —1 Samuel 4:3. Bad move. Bad theology. The ark was sacred and not intended to be tossed around like so much used furniture. And it wasn't the ark that would save them, but the Lord himself. This part of th...