Tuesday, May 08, 2007

A Tale of Two Tombs

Congatulations are in order for Israeli archeologists who have located the tomb of Herod the Great. Herod was the famous ruler of Jerusalem who built the temple which was in use in Jesus' time. He was also the first of a series of infamous Herods who seemed to have a pull toward evil (incest, murder, rejection of the One True God). Read about the find here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270575,00.html

This is an important find yet I find it ironic that man continues to pursue dead people rather than the living Lord. The hill on which the tomb has been found is "clearly visible from Jerusalem". Apparently scholars are sure they have the right place, a place that was used to house the corpse of a truly dead person. Maybe they should be focusing on the empty tomb in Jerusalem rather than the tomb of Herod.

Jesus only used his tomb three days. Herod appears to have needed his two thousand years or more. Why not pursue the One whose tomb is empty? It took Herod many years to build the stone temple and the wall around Jerusalem. Today only a portion of that wall remains and the mound on which the temple, destroyed in A.D. 71, stood is home to a Muslim mosque. Jesus said if you destroyed the real temple (Himself) the He would raise it again in three days. He did. Why not seek the King who sits on His royal throne forever? Herod built up the place known in Jesus' time as Jerusalem. Jesus is building a New Jerusalem. It is a place where there will be no more need for dead men's tombs.

What do you think?

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

This is a followup to my Doctor's visit a few weeks ago. The Dr. ordered an MRI and a new EEG. The EEG showed that my medication seems to be helping. The MRI showed nothing related to the seizures I have been having. It did, however, uncover a different problem. It seems I have an aneurysm in my internal carotid artery. I am scheduled to have an MRA (MRI's brother?) soon and then meet with another neurologist to see if this is something worth worrying about. In the meantime I have forbidden anyone from worrying about it and if it turns out to be challenging news then I will appeal for everyone to refrain from worry in accordance with Philippians 4:7-8.

The health roller coaster is so much fun! The really interesting part is that many people want to know how I "feel" about this. My honest answer is that at first I felt shock, then a little fear. Now, I just don't know how I feel. My Godly wife wanted me to tell some of the other men of the church how I was feeling. We had a Deacon's meeting and I complied. I shared two things. First, I really feel like fishing. Second, I honestly do not know how I feel. They were quite content with both of these feelings. Sweet and Precious was not nearly as content.

Let's face it. This could be something very serious or it could be a total non event. The serious part makes me want to prepare for anything bad that might happen. I reminded her where the will is and where the insurance policies are and who to call for financial help. Trust God and be as prepared as possible. That is the only thing I know I can do.

There have been some positive effects to this. Yesterday I went golfing with my Dad, my son and my brother Richard. Rich is about to be deployed so we were glad to get to spend a day with him. We played a five hour round of golf at a local muni. (Dad's club was booked as we did not know we would get the chance to play until the day before.) I decided that just to be on the safe side of things I would refuse to get angry. I figured that blowing a gasket might be a sure fire way of blowing out a vessel. Anyway, regardless of my reasoning I had a very different time on the course. I played horribly but each time I hit a bad shot, and there were many, I just started laughing. You would be amazed at how much fun I had shooting a terrible score!

The thing that makes this even more amazing is that I am by nature a little on the competitive side. My motto has always been, "It does not matter whether you win or lose, it matters whether I win or lose!" My brother beat me by three strokes and I still had a great time. Three generations were looking at me in wide eyed wonder expecting the usual outbursts, mumblings and Tiger Woods like sulking that usually accompany getting beat. I think my son even asked, "Who are you and what have you done with my Father?'

Anyway, the variety of health situations I have had have spiced things up. Who would have thought that an MRI could lead to a more fun golf game!? Variety really is the spice of life!