Friday’s Fave Five

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It’s time to slow down for a moment with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to think about the blessings of the week before their memory is gone forever. Please feel free to join in!

1. Outside time. I’m very much an indoorsy person. But last Friday night, Jason and Mittu brought take-out barbecue over. Then we all sat on the patio and drew with sidewalk chalk, blew bubbles, and threw Pop-its on the concrete. It was before this week’s heat wave set in, and the sun was on the other side of the house. It was a pleasant evening.

2. Peace and security. There have been some shake-ups behind the scenes here which I can’t discuss just yet. But whatever else happens in life, we know God loves us and will take care of us.

3. Anticipation. We learned for sure this week that my step-father, nephew, and two of my sisters will be coming to visit us this fall. I can hardly wait.

4. Mini candies. I don’t usually make desserts much any more unless it’s a special occasion or we’re having someone over. With just two of us here, we don’t need extra sugar. But we keep Hershey’s miniatures and Reese’s mini peanut butter cups in the pantry when we want a little sweetness.

5. Flowers. My flowers are all doing well, thanks to my husband’s diligent watering. But my petunias, in particular, are flourishing more than they ever have before.

Bonus: Fathers. I am thankful for the fathers, father-figures, and grandfathers in my life and for the fathers my husband and son are. Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there!

The Confessions of St. Augustine

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Augustine of Hippo wrote his Confessions partly as an autobiography, partly to express his views on doctrine.

Augustine was born in 354 and grew up in northern Africa. His mother, Monica, was a Christian, but his father was a pagan until close to his death. Augustine was sent to school to study rhetoric and eventually taught grammar and later rhetoric in Carthage, Milan, and Rome.

In the school he was sent to, boys bragged about their sexual exploits, even making up encounters so as to have something to tell. He began a relationship with a mistress that produced one son. He later agreed to forsake his mistress and marry, but the girl he was engaged to was too young. In the meantime, he took another mistress.

He was involved for many years in Manichaeism and astrology.

When Augustine first began to study the claims of Christianity, he was plagued by what the nature of God was, the origin of evil, and the seeming unconquerable hold his lust had on him.

Through reading, study, and conversations with others, he eventually he turned away from Manichaeism, disproved astrology, and came a satisfactory understanding of the nature of God and evil. It took a very long time, however, for him to be willing to give up his lust. He once famously prayed, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.” He tells how this last stronghold was broken and how he came to believe in Christ for salvation and was baptized.

Confessions is written in thirteen books, the first nine autobiographical and the last four philosophical. He was only in his forties when he wrote it and lived until 76, so the book only covers the first half of his life. Wikipedia says Confessions is the “first Western Christian autobiography.” It’s written somewhat like the psalms, with Augustine’s history or thoughts on a subject followed by bursts of penitence or praise. In his introduction, the translator of this edition says:

One does not read far in the Confessions before he recognizes that the term “confess” has a double range of meaning. On the one hand, it obviously refers to the free acknowledgment, before God, of the truth one knows about oneself—and this obviously meant, for Augustine, the “confession of sins.” But, at the same time, and more importantly, confiteri means to acknowledge, to God, the truth one knows about God. To confess, then, is to praise and glorify God; it is an exercise in self-knowledge and true humility in the atmosphere of grace and reconciliation.

Augustine is considered one of the early church fathers. Though a Catholic, he is also claimed by many Protestants as well. Of course, the Reformation wouldn’t happen until the 1500s. But some of the seeds of Protestant thought are in Augustine’s writings, one being the doctrine of original sin.

Confessions was one of those “I probably ought to read that sometime” books. I put it off several times, thinking it would be hard to understand.

The words themselves weren’t hard to understand. The copy I read and listened to was originally translated by Albert C. Outler in 1955 and then included in this version in 2002, so perhaps the archaic language was modernized. But as Outler said in his introduction, “A succinct characterization of Augustine is impossible, not only because his thought is so extraordinarily complex and his expository method so incurably digressive, but also because throughout his entire career there were lively tensions and massive prejudices in his heart and head.” “Incurably digressive” was a good way to put it.

The dialogue and narrative testimony wasn’t hard to understand, either.

But what I found hard to follow were Augustine’s lengthy trains of thought: for example, over 16 Kindle pages pondering what was meant by “The earth was without form and void” in Genesis 1:2, 20 pages on what time is and how it is measured, similar long discourses on memory and many other subjects.

Also, I am not familiar with many of the schools of thought or warring doctrines and philosophies of the times. In fact, I am sorry to say that I know very little about the first millennium AD after the first century or so.

Augustine’s famous quote, “Thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee,” comes from the first page of his confessions. Some of my other favorite quotes:

Thou wast always by me, mercifully angry and flavoring all my unlawful pleasures with bitter discontent, in order that I might seek pleasures free from discontent. But where could I find such pleasure save in thee, O Lord—save in thee, who dost teach us by sorrow, who woundest us to heal us, and dost kill us that we may not die apart from thee.

I especially liked “mercifully angry” and “woundst us to heal us.”

I got a lot from his discussion of the will and struggles with food, especially that “What is sufficient for health is not enough for pleasure.”

He had a section on people with differing interpretations and Scripture and said, “In this discord of true opinions let Truth itself bring concord, and may our God have mercy on us all, that we may use the law rightly to the end of the commandment which is pure love.”

I enjoyed finding an incident I had heard, but did not know came from this book. Augustine’s mother, Monica, had prayed for him for years. She talked to a bishop who had had some of the same struggles as Augustine with the Manicheans. She wanted the bishop to speak to Augustine, but he felt Augustine was unteachable at the moment, and they should just pray for him for now. She cried and begged him, until he said, “It cannot be that the son of these tears should perish.”

There was another illustration I had heard but didn’t realize came from Augustine until I read it here. He tells of a friend, Alypius, who had “a passion for the gladiatorial shows,” but determined they were bad for him and he wouldn’t attend any more. One night he ran into some friends who, with “friendly violence . . . drew him, resisting and objecting vehemently, into the amphitheater” to watch. He determined to keep his eyes closed. But a cry from the audience caused him to open his eyes, and, “as soon as he saw the blood, he drank it in with a savage temper.” He became enamored once again with the violence of the games, receiving “a deeper wound in his soul than the victim.”

There was one famous illustration that I was looking forward to reading that was not in the book. The story is told that, after Augustine’s conversion, he ran into one of his mistresses on the street. He tried to avoid her, but she kept following and calling to him, “Augustine, it is I.” He was said to have answered, “Yes, but it is no longer I.” This article indicates this incident may not have ever happened. On the other hand, it may have come from some of Augustine’s writings that are not searchable online. At any rate, it’s not in his Confessions.

I am not Catholic and therefore couldn’t agree with his distinctly Catholic views. Probably my biggest disagreement is that, though he expressed faith and his life changed before his baptism, he equated salvation with baptism several times in the book. Also, he spends a lot of time near the end of the book interpreting creation allegorically–the firmament is supposed to mean the Bible, the spiritual gifts are supposedly meant by the sun, moon, and stars. etc. He goes into a great deal of explanation as to how he came to these conclusions. But personally, I think we have to be careful not to make something in the Bible symbolic that the Bible doesn’t convey as symbolic. He and his mother also put a lot of stock in visions and dreams, which I don’t.

So, I have mixed views about Augustine. But I am glad to finally have read this book.

I started out listening to the audiobook read by one of my favorite narrators, Simon Vance. I read parts in this 99-cent Kindle version, but didn’t find Augustine’s arguments any easier to follow. The last few pages, I read along while listening to the audiobook. That seemed to be the clearest way for me to gain the most from the book. If I ever read it again—which won’t be for a very long time to come—I’ll have to try it that way from the beginning.

I am counting this book for the Pre-1800 Classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate.

Have you ever read Augustine’s Confessions? What did you think?

Walking Through the Flames

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When we were taking care of my mother-in-law in our home, our caregiver would stay with her on Sunday mornings while we went to church. I offered to trade off with my husband for Sunday evening services, but he always chose to stay home with her. I think he wanted to give me a break since I was with her so much while he was at work.

Jesse, our youngest son, was still home at that time. So he and I had about a twenty minute drive to church. I usually plugged my phone into the car speakers with the music on shuffle. Sometimes I turned the music down and we talked. Sometimes he’d fall asleep or play a game on one of his devices. Sometimes one or both of us would sing along softly.

But when “Walking Through the Flames” came on, we sang along together at full voice.

I’m not sure what about this song inspired our outburst. It’s based on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3 who would not bow down to the king’s idol, even when their lives were threatened. Their faith and their words have inspired believers for centuries:

“Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

If you know the story, “Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury” (verse 19), ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal, and had the three Hebrew men tied up and thrown in.

The furnace was so hot, the men who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in died. But the three Hebrew men, instead of immediately succumbing to flames, were walking around untied. And what was more, someone else was with them, and “the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods” (verse 25).

Nebuchadnezzar called them out and saw that they were not only unhurt, but they were not even singed. They didn’t even smell like smoke. Then “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God'” (verse 28). He decreed that no one in the land could speak against the God of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego without dire consequences. Although Nebuchadnezzar was not a believer yet, the next chapter in Daniel tells how he became one. No doubt this incident had a part in establishing his faith in the one true God.

In “Walking Through the Flames” (words are here), Jeanine Drylie retells the story in song and then applies it to us.

But when the hour of trial comes and fire is all around
We’ll find the place we’re walking on is really holy ground.

And praise be to God that the flames will set us free
And praise be to God, we shall gain the victory.

The version in my playlist is sung by Mac Lynch on a CD by the Wilds Christian Camp titled Praise the Everlasting King. Unfortunately, I can’t find that CD or that version of the song online anywhere. But here’s the song by the Northland Baptist Bible College:

I wrote a couple of posts based on truths from this passage of Scripture: “But If Not,” when our pastor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and From “What If” to “Even If.”

These truths and this song will always minister to me. But my heart will also be warmed by the memory of singing this song along with my son in the car on Sunday evenings.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

 

When You’re Afraid to Take Communion

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I am embarrassed to admit this, but for many years I was hesitant and sometimes outright afraid to take communion. But I thought sharing my experience might help some who have wrestled with the same thing. If you’ve never had troubles with this issue yourself, you might know someone who does.

I became a Christian as a teenager, and most of the churches I’ve attended since then have taken a serious view of communion. We had communion about once a month. Usually the whole church service was built around celebrating communion rather than just tacking it on at the end. By contrast, one church we visited had communion every Sunday, and it was just another part of the service, like passing the offering plates. I much preferred the special emphasis placed on it.

Often, the second half of 1 Corinthians 11 is read before communion (or the Lord’s Table or the Lord’s Supper, as it has also been called). In that passage, Paul recounts how Jesus instituted communion with the disciples the night before He was betrayed. Then Paul issues this solemn warning:

 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world (verses 27-32).

The pastor preparing for communion would echo the same warning. Anyone who was saved was welcome to join in, but we were encouraged to examine ourselves beforehand. It would be incongruous to partake of the symbols representing Christ’s body broken and blood shed for us while harboring known sin in our hearts.

In the church we attended after we were married, time was provided during the communion service for self-examination. That was the largest church we attended, and it took time to pass the elements to everyone. Piano music would be playing softly while we waited, and there was plenty of time to pray.

My pastor there compared confession of sin to opening a series of boxes. You open a box only to find another box within. You open that box and find another one, and keep going til there are no more boxes.

As you pray and ask the Lord to search your heart, you confess to Him whatever sin comes to mind. Then you wait and see if anything else comes to mind, and confess that. And so on until nothing else comes to mind. This particular church allowed time for this.

At subsequent churches we attended, there was not much quiet time to pray. Some pastors would have people stand up and share a testimony or a passage of Scripture while we waited for the elements to be passed. Nothing wrong with that, but without that time to pray, I often felt unready to participate unless I went through this self-examination process at home beforehand.

Even with time to pray, though, I often felt unready. What if I missed confessing something? The part of the passage about eating and drinking judgment on ourselves to the point of becoming sick or dying scared me. Ending up in the ER a few days after one communion service fed that fear.

So, often I would refrain from taking the elements as they were passed, just to be safe.

Then our pastor began to address those who refrained from communion. (Had an usher told on me? Was I the only one?) I don’t remember what the pastor said except to encourage people to participate.

Over the years, God graciously helped me overcome this fear. I thought I’d share what helped in case I’m not the only one who has dealt with this.

Unworthily, not unworthy

The KJV that I grew up with translates 1 Corinthians 11:27 as “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Unworthily is an adverb describing how we partake. Newer translations are clearer in saying “in an unworthy manner.” But for years I struggled with this. Of course, none of us is worthy in ourselves. We’re only made worthy to commune with God because Jesus died for us and has saved and cleansed us—the very thing communion portrays.

The paragraph above this text in 1 Corinthians 11 (verses 17-22) addresses the way the Corinthians partook unworthily. They were making a feast out of communion in a way that showed up who had more vs. who had little. The remembrance of the Lord’s table was dividing people instead of unifying them. Plus some were drinking to the point of getting drunk while others went hungry. The rest of the passage was instruction and reminders of what communion represented and how it was to be partaken of, with reverence and remembrance of the Lord’s death.

So that’s what Paul meant by partaking in an unworthy manner–flippantly, self-indulgently, forgetfully. He didn’t mean that no one who was unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness could partake, because that would include all of us.

I’m not off the hook even if I don’t partake.

If I am examining my heart, asking God to search me, and confessing my sin to Him, and I come across something I am not willing to give up, I’m not off the hook by just not partaking of communion that day. God still wants me to deal with whatever it is and will eventually chastise me if I refuse to submit to Him.

I couldn”t remember every sin anyway.

I’ve always been thankful for the way 1 John 1:9 is phrased: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we confess our sins, we’re not likely to remember every little sin. And as we grow in the Lord, we become aware of thoughts and actions that are sinful that we didn’t realize before. But when we confess our sins, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Self-examination doesn’t need to be a long process.

Self-examination is a good thing. But we don’t need to save everything up until communion time. We need to confess sin to God as soon as we’re aware of it and convicted by it. I have become more and more aware that we all have blind spots. Jesus warned people about looking for specks in other people’s eyes when they had big logs in their own. God told people in Malachi what they were doing wrong, but they denied there was a problem. He told the church in Laodicea, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). I’ve been regularly asking the Lord to show me my own blinds spots. When we’re seeking to walk closely with Him every day, asking Him to show us where we fall short, confessing sin to Him as we become aware of it, we won’t need extremely long periods of self-examination before we’re right with God.

Consciences need training.

I’ve discovered about myself that I have an oversensitive conscience. It would make a long post even longer to go into why I say this. The solution to that isn’t to ignore my conscience: conscience is a tool in the hands of God. Ignoring it can lead to the opposite problem of not being sensitive enough. The more I read God’s Word, the more my conscience is trained according to His will so I don’t lapse into legalism on one side or license on the other. (A good book on this subject is Conscience: What It Is, How To Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley.)

Now, instead of dreading communion, I appreciate the time to remember what Jesus did for me. We get so caught up in the daily cares of life, and we’re such forgetful people, it’s good to get back to basics. I’m thankful that most of the churches I have been in have taken communion seriously. I’m thankful for God’s tender patience as I worked through some of these issues. And I am thankful that most times of communion end with joy and renewed appreciation for God’s grace.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

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I have just a few links to share this week:

Prayers That God Will Not Answer. “There are times when it seems like God does not hear us. There are times when it seems like God has become deaf to our prayers and unresponsive to our cries. There are times when we seek but do not find, knock but do not find the door opened. Why is it that God sometimes does not answer our prayers?”

Embodied Discernment: Learning to Discern With Our Hearts. Minds, and Actions, HT to Challies. “Where I went wrong is that my discernment only engaged my mind—and if you’re like me, maybe you’ve gone wrong in this way too. Why is this a problem? Doesn’t discernment only require logic and study?”

5 Steps to Deal with a Distressing Situation. “Based on 1 Samuel chapter 30, I want to share with you these five biblical steps when we face adverse situations which cause great distress and bitterness.”

Patsy at InstaEncouragements is hosting a summer book club reading and sharing insights on Aging With Grace: Flourishing In an Anti-Aging Culture ​by Sharon W. Betters and Susan Hunt. Discussion on the first chapter is here. It’s not too late to join in!

Friday’s Fave Five

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It’s time to slow down for a moment with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to think about the blessings of the week before their memory is gone forever. Please feel free to join in!

1. End of school celebration. We had a little party with pizza and confetti cake after Timothy finished his school year.

2. A long talk with an old friend. We had touched base on Facebook, but it was good to have an extended conversation and catch up on all the family.

3. Timothy’s help. Jim bought a big pile of dirt to fill in several paces in our yard. Timothy wanted to bring his shovel over to help. 🙂

4. Not cooking. Jason and Mittu brought dinner the night Timothy helped with the shoveling. Jim was out of town one night, and I splurged with a takeout meal. With dinner for Timothy’s party and takeout Sunday, I’ve had a light week in the kitchen.

5. Humor. One evening when the sky was overcast, I asked Alexa if it was going to rain. It gave me a weather report, but said nothing about rain. Then Jim asked it, “Is it raining?” It said, “It will start raining in half an hour.” I sighed and shook my head and said, “We’re a long way from making a Commander Data,” the human-looking android in Star Trek. Then we began to come up with ways Data might answer like Alexa does:

Captain: Data, fire phasers!
Data: Would you like me to put phasers in your shopping cart?

Captain: Data, are the Borg nearby?
Data: Here’s what I found on the web. . .

Captain: Data, plot a course to Deep Space Nine.
Data: Setting a course for Deep Space Nine. By the way, I can also track meteors.
Captain: Okay, do that.
Data: Go to the Data app on your phone . . .

We shared these on the family group text, and my oldest son added this one:

Captain: Data, slow the ship to one-quarter impulse.
Data: I don’t know any devices named “Ship.”

This reminds me of a quote by Henry Ward Beecher: “A man without mirth is like a wagon without springs, in which everyone is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which is runs.” I’m thankful for the way humor can turn irritations into a fun exchange.

Eugene Onegin

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Eugene Onegin is a classic Russian story by Alexander Pushkin, first published serially in the early 1800s before being published as a book. The most unique feature of the story is that it is all written in verse. In fact, Wikipedia says the form of poetry used in the book has come to be known as the “Onegin stanza” or the “Pushkin sonnet.”

Eugene is only 26, but he is rich and bored with his world, tired of balls, parties, etc. He’s self-centered: when the uncle who was to provide his inheritance was sick, Eugene complained of how boring it was to sit by his uncle’s sickbed. Euegen is described a couple of times as a misanthrope.

Eugene meets and befriends a young poet named Vladimir Lensky. Lensky is engaged to Olga Larina and invited Eugene to dine at the Larina’s house.

Olga is fun-loving and carefree. Her sister, Tatyana (or Tattiana, depending on the translation) is introverted and bookish. Tatyana is particularly fond of romance novels. For some reason, she falls hard for Eugene. After he leaves, she pours out her heart to him in a letter.

When Eugene comes again, he tells her he is flattered but not interested in marriage. She would be his pick if he did marry, but even though they might love each other intensely, he would eventually grow bored with her. He also warns her about naively being so open and vulnerable—some men might take advantage of her.

Tatyana is, of course, embarrassed and heartbroken. They don’t see each other for a while, until Lensky invites Eugene to Tatyana’s name day celebration. Lensky leads Eugene to understand that the celebration will be with just a few people. But instead he finds it’s a country version of the type of balls he is so bored with. He’s so irritated with the situation, he flirts and dances a lot with Olga. Lensky gets mad and challenges Eugene to a duel.

In duel having killed his friend
And reached, with nought his mind to engage,
The twenty-sixth year of his age,
Wearied of leisure in the end,
Without profession, business, wife,
He knew not how to spend his life

Some years later, Eugene attends a ball in St. Petersburg. He sees a beautiful woman and realizes it’s Tatyana. She is married to an older man now, called a prince in one place and a general in another. Eugene finally feels alive and determines to declare his love. Tatyana still loves him but refuses him. She’s determined to remain faithful to her husband.

That’s pretty much the whole plot, though there are a few side scenes, including a nightmare of Tatyana and a visit from her to Eugene’s house when he is not there.

I listened to the audiobook available free at Librovox. Even though it was nicely read, it was very hard to follow. The parts that contained action or dialogue were understandable, but suddenly the narrator would be off in some kind of musing where I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. At one point, he even says, “Haste, haste thy lagging pace, my story!” I read parts of it, but I think it would have been better to read the whole thing (this Kindle version was 99 cents but Project Gutenberg also has it online here). This version was translated by Henry Spalding, who gives some helpful comments on footnotes. One example: “It is perhaps worthy of remark, as one amongst numerous circumstances proving how extensively the poet interwove his own life-experiences with the plot of this poem, that it was by this road that he himself must have been in the habit of approaching Moscow from his favourite country residence of Mikhailovskoe, in the province of Pskoff.” It’s amazing that he could translate from Russian to English and still have it come out rhyming.

Wikipedia’s article helped me get more from the story than I would have on my own. I especially liked this line: “Another major element is Pushkin’s creation of a woman of intelligence and depth in Tatyana, whose vulnerable sincerity and openness on the subject of love has made her the heroine of countless Russian women.” There’s also an interesting section on how the duel didn’t conform to the usual rules.

Probably most people are familiar with the story through the opera by the same name written by Tchaikovsky. I watched it last night on YouTube (which thankfully had subtitles) while Jim was out of town. The music was wonderful (only the music at the opening of Act III was familiar to me, but it all sounded very Tchaikovsky-ish). The opera left out the boring parts and added in a few things, but it kept the greater part of the story elements. In fact, I picked up on points that I missed in the book. I have to say I much preferred the opera to the book in this instance. While looking for more information on some of the singers, I found this nice review of the DVD version of this performance.

I’ve not watched opera in a long time. I’m always amazed by the power of operatic voices. Opera writers and singers know how to milk a dramatic moment for all it’s worth. 🙂 I thought the first ball, the country one, looked a little clunky and mused that the smoother ones in movies are probably heavily edited: we usually just see various steps and moments rather than zooming out to see the whole thing. But then the later ball in St. Petersburg was very synchronized. So perhaps the first one was clunky on purpose to show it was a “country” one.

One side note I found interesting. I had wondered how Onegin was supposed to be pronounced. The narrator of the audiobook pronounced it with a long O and E and soft G, accent on the second syllable. But in the opera it sounded like O-nya-gin–long O and A and soft G, which I am sure is more accurate.

I read/listened to this book for the “Classics in translation” category of the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate. One advantage this book has as opposed to others in its category is that it’s a lot shorter. Other Russian books I’ve read are some of the longest novels. But I am glad to be familiar with the story now in both the book and the opera.

Are you familiar with Eugene Onegin?

Shadowed by Grace: A Story of Monuments Men

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In the novel Shadowed by Grace: A Story of Monuments Men by Cara Putman, Captain Rachel Justice is a photojournalist during WWII. Her mother is dying of tuberculosis, and Rachel takes an overseas assignment to Italy to try to find the father she never knew to see if he can help provide for her mother’s treatment. All Rachel has to go on is a sketchbook given by her father to her mother with the initials RMA on some of the pages. Her mother refuses to say any more about her father and does not want Rachel to find him.

Lieutenant Scott Lindstrom is an officer with the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Division, and stationed in Naples. He had arts degrees from Harvard and was a curator of a museum in Philadelphia. But he felt he could use his expertise to do something meaningful, to save history, to salvage beauty and meaning to sustain people after the war. He says, “We are defined by what we love and respect” (p. 28, Kindle version).

The problem was, his superiors and many soldiers didn’t take his job seriously. When lives were at stake, what did art matter to them? He had trouble getting the men and resources he needed.

When he did get a chance to talk to local people who might know where art was hidden, they didn’t trust him. The Germans had said they’d protect art, too—but they stole or destroyed much of it.

And now he was assigned to babysit a woman photojournalist who shouldn’t be so close to the danger.

So Scott and Rachel get off to a rocky start. But as they get to know each other, they appreciate each other’s mission and characters.

When Rachel shows Scott the sketchbook, hoping his knowledge of art and Italy may help her identify the artist, she doesn’t say the artist is her father. Scott thinks he recognizes the early work of an artist friend and mentor in the sketches, but he’s suspicious about why Rachel would have such a prize.

Scott is a Christian. Rachel isn’t sure she believes or trusts God. Her own father’s disinterest in her colors her view of God.

There is historical fiction that contains a romance, and romances that occur in a historical setting. I prefer the former, but this story is the latter. Still, the peek into the Monuments Men work, art history, photojournalism, the problems women in the military faced, the refugee situations in Europe all made for an interesting story.

One thing that jarred me just a bit was a major betrayal in the story that seemed to blow over much more quickly and easily than I would have expected.

But all in all, this was an enjoyable book.

Cara shares some of the influences that went into the book in an afterword and in the video below.

Were you familiar with the “Monuments Men” and their work?

What Can We Learn About Depression from Elijah?

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You probably remember the big showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal from the Bible. If you grew up in Sunday School or children’s church, I’m pretty sure you heard the story taught with flannelgraph figures.

Ahab was one of the most wicked kings of Israel. God had told the prophet Elijah to tell Ahab there would be no rain in Israel for three years. No rain meant no crops; no crops meant famine. Finally, after three years, God sent Elijah to confront Ahab. Elijah called for the 450 prophets of Baal to set up an altar, as would Elijah. A bull would be cut up and laid on their altars. They would each call on their God, and the one who answered by fire was the real God.

Elijah let the other prophets go first. They prayed, cried, cut themselves for hours, but nothing happened.

Then Elijah’s turn came. He had men dig a moat around the altar and then pour enough water to soak the meat and altar and fill up the moat. Then Elijah prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (1 Kings 18:36-37).

And God did! Fire fell and consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, and all the water. “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God’” (verse 39).

The prophets of Baal were slain. Rain came. That should have been that.

But it wasn’t. When Jezebel, Ahab’s wicked wife, heard what had happened, she sent a message to Elijah threatening his life.

And Elijah was afraid and ran, asking God to take his life.

How did Elijah go from facing down 450 false prophets to running from one woman? How did he go from the heights of such victory to the depths of wanting to die?

Some teachers are very hard on Elijah here. Some have even said that when God told Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor, Elijah basically lost his ministry. Just this week, after starting this post, I saw someone accusing Elijah of “pouting.”

Thankfully, I’ve heard this passage treated differently more recently. And in my last read-through a few days ago, several things stood out to me.

Ministering to the physical ministers to the spiritual.

A lot of preachers say Monday morning is their worst time of the week. I’m not a preacher, but when I have taught or ministered in some way, I am pretty depleted afterward.

It’s significant to me that at the outset, God lets Elijah sleep, feeds him, and lets him sleep again.

We have a tendency to think it’s noble to disregard our physical needs for spiritual purposes. At times that is necessary: fasting, taking care of a new baby, ministering to someone who is ill. Sometimes you have to just do your best and trust God to make up for the deficit. But as a general rule, God has built a need for nourishment and rhythms of rest into our being. Especially when we’ve had a major crisis, or even a major victory, we can expect a crash afterward and a need for rest and recovery.

Time with God brings a change in perspective.

I find the questions that God asks people fascinating. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9). God knows the answers. But when He asks a question, instead of starting off with confrontation or instruction, He gives people opportunity to examine their hearts.

Elijah had thought he was all alone. He shouldn’t have—Obadiah had just told him about hiding a hundred prophets in caves for their protection. Maybe Elijah didn’t feel he was God’s only prophet, but he was the only one taking a stand. But God said, no, there were 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. The next few chapters tell of the work of some other prophets of the Lord.

God often works in quiet ways.

Like Elijah, we would have expected everything to change after the confrontation on Mt. Carmel. That demonstration had proved conclusively that the God of Israel was the real God, hadn’t it? Probably some people’s hearts turned, but Ahab’s and Jezebel’s hadn’t.

It’s interesting that the Bible most often shows God working through quiet ways rather than the miraculous. Of course, God is God. He can work a miracle any time He wants, and He still does today. But most of the miracles took place in the time of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus’ ministry, and the days of the early church in Acts. People in Jesus’ day begged Him for a sign, but He knew that if they wouldn’t believe the truth they had, they wouldn’t believe a sign, either.

God told Elijah to stand on the mountain. God passed by, and a strong wind tore rocks away. But God wasn’t in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. Then came a fire, but God wasn’t in the fire. Then came a low whisper: other translations say a gentle whisper or a still, small voice.

The ESV Study Bible says, “God has other ways of working than the spectacular (though He is always free to work in supernatural ways)” (p. 637). This doesn’t mean God didn’t use the showdown. But the work wasn’t finished yet, and “the quiet ways of God must take their course before” this part of history is over (p. 637).

Trust God with the results.

It’s hard to pour your heart into something that apparently hasn’t done any good. The key word there is apparently. We can do God’s will God’s way and still look like we failed. But God knew what would happen and what He would do. It may look like God isn’t winning, but the story isn’t over yet.

Just a few chapters later, God’s prophecies about Ahab and Jezebel would come to pass. A king of Judah would see a revival come to the land.

Don’t go it alone.

When Elijah anointed Elisha as his eventual replacement, he didn’t retire immediately. For the rest of his ministry, he had a friend and mentee. “Then [Elisha] arose and went after Elijah and assisted him” (1 Kings 19:21). Some years after Elijah was gone, Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet of the Lord. “Then one of the king of Israel’s servants answered, ‘Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah'” (2 Kings 3:11). Before Elisha became a mighty prophet in his own right, he served Elisha, ministering to his needs.

Do the next thing God has for you.

Was God done with Elijah?

No. God gave him three different men to anoint for different purposes (Elijah handed off two of those to Elisha). In chapter 21, God sent Elijah to confront Ahab over his theft of Naboth’s vineyard (apparently with no fear of Jezebel this time). In 2 Kings 1, God gave Elijah a message for King Ahaziah.

In 2 Kings 2, Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire, the only person we know of who was ever taken to heaven that way. (Interestingly, God did not answer Elijah’s prayer that he might die. God had something different in mind.)

An angel said John the Baptist would come in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:8-17).

Elijah and Moses appeared when Jesus was transfigured (Matthew 17:1-8).

May believe that one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 will be Elijah.

Does that sound like someone God was done with, or even displeased with?

Not to me.

God doesn’t cast us off when we get discouraged. If He did, all the psalmists who cried out to God in anguish and momentary disillusionment would have been in trouble. But He does want us to come to Him and renew our minds with His Word.

Of course, there is a type of depression that involves brain chemistry and can benefit from medication. But these measures—taking care of physical needs, gaining perspective, fellowship with others, trusting God with results and serving Him—can help even in those cases.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

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Here’s the latest thought-provoking reads seen around the Web lately.

Our Hope In the Ascension, HT to Challies. “Of all the aspects of Christ’s work in his state of exaltation, the Ascension is one of the most overlooked.”

God Matures Us Through Suffering, not Miracles, HT to Challies. “Suffering, not miraculous deliverance, is the primary way God matures his children. A supernatural event can encourage us, of course, but it doesn’t mature us. Maturity comes through trusting God when things are really hard, even seemingly unbearable. Will we trust God when the miracles don’t happen?”

A Letter to All the Marthas. “It struck me that Jesus hadn’t written Martha off. He saw her faith and hard work as well as her weaknesses. And he loved Martha just as much as Mary. I began to view Jesus’ words through a lens of love.”

Why You Should Stop Being Responsible and Start Being Faithful. “Losing my mother as a teenager accompanied by my father’s paralyzing grief amped my firstborn sense of responsibility. I equated being responsible with being dependable. But when being responsible means depending on myself and my resources instead of relying on God it’s unhealthy and ungodly.”

Are Cuss Words Sinful? HT to Challies. “You hear them in movies, television series, and in actual conversations. To some, these words sound cool, and they have made them part of their lives. Yet when you learn their meaning, cuss words will make you cringe.”

The Sugar Coating, HT to Challies. “I have some authority to say that self-pity doesn’t get you anywhere. Trust me, I’ve tried it. Even on those occasions when people who really ought to know better don’t recognise the sheer weight of the scars you bear, and you feel like you must delve into the pools of pity to shake them out of their repose—it still isn’t worth it.”

4 Guidelines for Dating Without Regrets. “Somewhere between my generation and the current one, dating became difficult—far more difficult than it had once been. I am sure the so-called “purity movement” bears at least some of the responsibility as does the modern-day hookup culture. So, too, do the ubiquity of pornography and the rise of social media and dating apps. What was once relatively straightforward seems to have become strangely complicated.”

Adventures in Aging. Melanie writes about a change of heart from being depressed about age to embracing new possibilities.

Dementia’s Drowning Caregiver. Lots of good tips.

How to Think Wisely About Becoming a Social Media Celebrity, HT to Challies. In these days when we’re told we have to have a big enough “platform” before an agent or publisher will even consider looking at our manuscripts, we need to keep grounded in God’s truth of who we are in Him.