Classic City Rev

As we look to the scriptures for comfort and hope in these difficult times, an important reference for us is the Old Testament story of the experience of the Jewish exiles in Babylon.   In 586 BCE the southern kingdom of the Jews were conquered by the Babylonians.   Many of the leading citizens were carried into exile in Babylon. Not only were these people cut off from home. they felt in many ways exiled from their faith.   For the Jewish people of that era it was exceptionally important to them to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Such passion for the Temple is noted in the sixty-ninth Psalm in which the Psalmist declares, “It is  zeal  for your house that has consumed me.”   The Ancient Jews believed that the presence of God was more strongly experienced in the sacred space of the Temple where they carried out their sacrificial rites and other rituals of faith. The COVID-19 virus has in a sense exiled us.   Though we remain in our homes, we f...

The last few weeks have not been easy for our world, nation and community. As we all know the COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc in our world. We are of course concerned for those who are suffering from this virus. At the same time the economic devastation brought on by this plague is equally tragic. Many, particularly the owners of small businesses are finding their livelihoods in jeopardy.   Some will no doubt find themselves un-employed.   There are those who are seeing their life savings evaporate as the stock market plunges. Life is, at least for the moment, changing.   Folks are sheltering in place, living under self-quarantine, or to put it more simply just staying home.   Government and health care officials are scrambling for ways to combat the virus and ease its economic impact. It is important at this time that we are unequivocally clear about something--this pandemic is not some divine judgment that God is delivering to our world.   W...

There are a lot of things in this world that most of us haven't seen. We tend to think that the world is a diverse place filled with people and things that are foreign to us and far away from us.  In some ways that is true.  Most of us have no concept of what life is like in India or Saudi Arabia, or Poland, or Kenya or China.   On the other hand the world is a much smaller place than it  once was.  Ironically disease has had a way of bringing this fact home to us. On the heals of World War I the world suffered from a flu pandemic that killed over 50 million people.  It is estimated that during this episode over a fourth of the world's population had a case of influenza. Quite simply,  the war caused interactions with millions of people who would otherwise not had interactions with each other.  Thus, a disease that could have been more localized in former days spread all over the world. This explains in part why the recent spread o...

Author's note-The thoughts below come from a column I wrote  that first appeared in The Toccoa Record on March 5, 2014.  My appreciation is extended to Tom Law editor and publisher for permission to use in this space. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent in the life of the church. In the church I serve we began Lent with an Ash Wednesday service in which ashes were placed on the foreheads of our congregants with the solemn words of “Repent and believe the Gospel.”   Lent is a season of forty days, excluding Sundays, leading up to Easter.   The number forty is significant in the Bible.   A period of forty days usually marks a time of testing and trial. In the story of Noah the scriptures say that it rained for forty days and forty nights causing the Great Flood that necessitated the building of the arc. The Hebrew people spent forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land.   The prophet Elijah had his own forty d...

"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it," is quote attributed by many to Mark Twain but some attribute the quote to a friend of Twain's named Charles Dudley Warner.  Regardless of who said it the fact is true. Everybody does talk about the weather and it does seem that no one does much about it. The recent rains have gotten me thinking a good bit about the weather.  There is a lot of water falling from across the Great State of Georgia these days.  From the Okefenokee Swamp to the shadow of Lookout Mountain folks are getting wet.  A couple of Saturdays ago I spent an enjoyable morning sitting in my breakfast nook drinking coffee and watching the snow cover my back yard.  By afternoon, all that was left of the morning's dusting was nothing at all.   All in all the weather has mostly been an inconvenience the past few weeks but nothing to cause any earth shattering changes to my life.  Others haven't been so...