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A certain week in February 2021 was full of happenings around the world showing us news of well-known identities such as the death of Rush Limbaugh, American conservative talk radio host and political commentator who died from stage 4 lung cancer on February 17 aged 70 years. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address in 2020. Apparently he enjoyed cigars and paid the ultimate price for his addiction. Perhaps he would have lived longer without smoking?
My physical father smoked cigarettes all his life, boasting that he started before the age of 10 years, and that smoking would never kill him. Fancy teaching that to your children! Clear memories come flooding back from a wide eyed impressionable young girl who really didn't know what to think about it all except that it seemed more complicated than that to me so I remained quiet. Even when I was always so dreadfully car sick from his smoking in the car -- just the smell when I got in the car caused my stomach to heave and lurch -- awful memories. Dad did finally succumb to cardiovascular disease as per the autopsy performed, as he died alone at home from a massive heart attack at age 66 years. Way too young, but just like Mr. Limbaugh, that was their choice according to their free will given to them by God to use wisely or foolishly. What are we doing with our free will is currently the topic for self examination in order for us to carefully examine and determine whether this is lining up with God's will for us.
Our Holy Bible reminds us in Psalm 90:10 that "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away". A good reminder for everybody and importantly for those of us approaching our septuagenarian year to make each day count in our life while going about our Father's business. Recently, and during this week, within our spiritual family there were more deaths of longstanding members who remained faithful to the end. We certainly look forward to the time when we will be reunited with them again, except this time we will all be changed and made immortal as we can read in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality".
How wonderfully encouraging is this news for us as God wants us to be encouraged, inspired, and to have great hope for the future when relationships will be restored. When I see my Dad again I think he will laugh if I bring up the subject of his smoking and finally he will come to agree that smoking does kill people. It is amazing to me now when we watch movies labeled as "yesteryear" or classics of black and white origin, mostly from the 1940s and 1950s, just how many people are smoking in these movies. It was incredibly popular back then. The times most noticeable when I smell burning tobacco is when our neighbours light up outside (anytime from early morning to late at night) with the fumes blowing into our yard as I try to appreciate the fresh air God provides for us. Apart from this bad habit, loud talking and arguing outside with blue language, they really are very nice neighbours.
Dominating our news throughout the week was how the people in Texas were struggling while experiencing arctic-like freezing conditions with piles of snow up to 11 inches in some places. Quite concerning as we have family living in Texas who shared with us pictures of copious amounts of snow blanketing the ground and vegetation as well as almost burying vehicles which needed digging out. Many were "snowed in" for days and then there was the matter of no power to keep warm which led to fires being lit inside homes, inattention, homes burning down, and people dying. Pipes frozen preventing water flow thereby cutting off water supply in addition to power outages makes for serious hardship. Tragic conditions involving desperate behaviours in desperate times in order to live.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum back home, we experienced a heatwave where we reside and required our air-conditioning on for over 3 days. All that time we prayed that our power would not be cut off by a blackout and for the Texans to have their power restored. Our issues seemed so unimportant and trivial by comparison and in the scheme of things as we could always take a cold bath or shower, go swimming at the beach or pool, sit or lay down with frozen cold packs from the freezer, put on the fan if we didn't have air conditioning, or even go to the local library or sit in the mall at the shops -- plenty of methods to keep cool.
Humans cannot control how long they live nor can we control the weather. Only God gives the blessing of life and good weather with rain in due season. Perhaps many need these timely reminders as we go about our daily lives thinking we are in control of situations or taking our blessings for granted? The highlight of the past week for me was a lovely long walk for an hour on the beach down at Semaphore. It was hot and I did get a bit sunburnt but it was wonderful. A few shells were picked up as treasures to take home which were a marvellous gift from our Creator. Oh how beautiful these are to look at, the colours, different shapes and textures, all bring pleasure to the senses. After the beach we went to our local library where we can select books and DVDs to read and watch, and so we did. It was exciting to find that the 2021 Seniors Booklet publication had finally arrived despite being printed and supplied quite late for this year. The phrase "better late than never" comes to mind. These are free booklets for seniors 60+ outlining discounts and services ranging from carpet cleaning to zoo ticket admission discounts and anything in between. Quite a handy little book to consult, use and enjoy and so I also got one for my sister who is eager to have a look for the first time in her life now that she has reached the ranks of us in our sexagenarian years.
As we returned to our vehicle in the Library car park I put my iPad on the roof of our Mazda while I took a picture of the Senior's booklet to instantly send to my sister. Having done that I then completely forgot to get my device from the roof so there it stayed as we drove off to the local shops. I was so excited about the Seniors booklet I completely lost my focus and concentration to the detriment of the loss of my iPad. We drove off slowly a short distance through the car park, then onto the street, and shortly thereafter we noticed a strange sound -- that was when the iPad could have fallen onto the road, upon valuable hindsight. What an unfortunate "senior's moment" to have. This happened over a week ago now and nobody has turned it in so far. We backtracked carefully after only driving 5 minutes down the road but our search was fruitless. There was only one response via social media a few days later to say a person had noticed what looked like an iPad mangled and smashed in the intersection by the Library -- perhaps it was removed off the road and thrown into a bin as it was not there when we searched -- but we will most likely never know now. A timely reminder for me not to get too attached to things?
On a more positive note and to my delight a new word popped up into my vocabulary during the week that I had no idea about. Quonset -- or some spell it as quanset -- in reference to quonset huts. The meaning provided from Wikipedia is as follows: "A Quonset hut /ˈkwɒnsɪt/ is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hundreds of thousands were produced during World War II and military surplus was sold to the public. The name comes from the site of their first manufacture at Quonset Point at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island". The following link provides a snapshot image of life in Australia post WWII at one of Adelaide's migrant camps with Quonset and Nissen huts in the background: https://images.app.goo.gl/DPhP47uG62hf2ai57 I remember very well seeing these huts from the arterial road connecting Glenelg alongside the airport through to the western suburbs such as Seaton. The huts were nestled near the banks of the Torrens River just east of the highway, and as a child I used to gaze out my car window wondering who lived in these tin huts and now I know they were for the British peoples, and mostly for eastern Europeans from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Summer is almost over now and the season of autumn will begin shortly on the first day of the month of March here in Australia. We are just beginning to see the evidence of leaves gently falling here and there while driving about on windy days along with much milder weather which is most welcome and great for gardening outdoors while getting things tidied up and prepared before the temperatures become significantly cooler and the rainy season begins. The days and weeks seem to be going by so quickly as we prepare for the 2021 season of Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. We also look forward very much to The Night To Be Remembered or Much Observed. Presently, we are sifting through our freezers, cupboards and pantry to determine all the products containing yeast and other leavening agents, in order to use these up and not waste anything.
God's people are incredibly blessed with the wealth of spiritual meat to absorb and consume from the various COG websites whether from sermonettes or sermons to listen to for this year's first season of God's holy day festivals or feast days. As the saying goes "time waits for no-one" so we best be kept busy and putting into practice a favourite Proverb from the Bible found in Proverbs 12:27 which says "The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man’s precious possession". We are truly blessed if we have due diligence. The prime example set for us to show diligence is of course that of Jesus Christ. For those new in the faith, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John would be beneficial to read and meditate upon (1 Peter 2:2). For those more mature Christians, the 4 gospels are also incredibly valuable as review (Hebrews 5:14). Perhaps we can pray for one another to have those ears to hear God's words of wisdom, and also to be blessed with diligence.
During our fellowship each Sabbath perhaps we can inspire others of like-mind in our excitement for the fast approaching holy day season? Unlike my excitement to share something worldy with my physical sister which did not go so well due to the lost iPad, this excitement and zeal for the better things, the spiritual things, should be focussed and balanced with wisdom and attention to concentrate wisely so that we are well prepared for service to God and others, never taking our eyes off Christ. Notice Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth". Also, Colossians 3:12-17 "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him".