The photo shows a group of trourists, I think, who have popped into a nearby shop and for some shekels have bought the opportunity to dress up in the garb of the ancient Israelites as they came into the Land (see story of Joshua and Caleb spying out the land etc Numbers 13, 14). Note the ridiculoulsy large grapes. Its stupid but they will each frame this photo and remember it and laugh.
I’m going through my photos and wondering what to keep, what to throw away. What photos will evoke which memories?
I was walking past this place a few days before this photo, talking to an american teenager whose church group I’d snuck into. She was on a disproportionate amount of coffee, struggling even after a week with the time difference which was about 10 hours. Its plus two for us so really not that big a deal. She asked me Why did God make mosquitos? What would you say to her?
This I think is a fair question as I realise that on my left arm alone I have five bites. I hope that a zoologist can give us a good reason but I was reminded of Athanasius. He was Bishop of Alexandria through most of the 300s AD and who had to work to persuade other bishops not to take the easy solution of putting Jesus on the created side of the line, but instead to put Jesus on the Creator side of the line. Through his singular persistence we have ended up with this understanding of Jesus that sees Him as fully human and fully divine, and effectively through his work we have ended up with a better Trinity, than the flat version we might have had if Arius had had his way. And so we have the Nicene Creed today. I suppose I was intending to encourage her with the thought that if you think you’re in the right then keep at it. But I’m not sure that she’s part of a church that does liturgy let alone the Creed.
I suggest to her that maybe God gave us the mosquito as a reminder that one little person can make a difference, can rouse you out of bed even when jet lagged in a (vain) attempt to silence it. Perhaps I should have referenced the parable of the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge (Luke 18). She would have understood that better but its hot and my brain doesn’t work so well in this heat.
I wonder what bible text the group will use for their dressing up photo. Of the 12 who went out, only Joshua and Caleb said ‘We can certainly do it’. The others quickly saw how big the job would be, how impossibly big the enemy would be, it can’t be done. Its not enough to have a vision, or even a plan, more importantly is a faith that drives forward a hope that will work to see the vision fulfilled. What bible quote would you suggest? If I could pick a verse for them I would suggest Deuteronomy 30v19: Choose life! So that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.