Travesties of Reading the Old Testament

The Old Testament. So many rich stories and wonders to behold, great evils that troubled earth and its’ inhabitants and joy met by grief. It’s truly a travesty that some would read it. Let me clarify before you totally disagree with me. The Old Testament is important, but is not as straight forward or as understandable a read as is the New Testament.

I was raised in a Christian home and have been around the stories and the Testaments all my life. I strive to follow Christ, though it seems I fail daily to put myself away. One day I am determined and motivated and the next is a sad attempt at getting my feet out of bed. And looking at the state of modern church is the same as looking at a freeway pile up. We've come violently in contact with other believers who might not have exactly the same beliefs as we, which is an example of dabbling in OT reading with lack of understanding.

It seems, at least in my region that we are trying to amend the wounds of one another. Good. But that's still not the purpose of the body of Christ. We're getting up, but it frustrates me to see us so stuck on ourselves. It's like we're juggling outreach with keeping an amount of peace among the body.

I'm not sure why I'm saying all this. Maybe my point is to make you totally disagree with me. Maybe I’m trying to make you breathe from a different side of the pillow. Not all people should read the OT right away. Maybe it's an over zealous attitude that drives many "on fire" Christians to come to the conclusions and stances that they do, such as agreeing and disagreeing with fellow believers.

Recently I've been reading the OT and it's full of stories I don't remember hearing. We have our Trademark stories as Christians. One example is Elijah. He was a great prophet and served God mightily. And Elisha was his servant who took his place when Elijah went to be with God. At least that's all I thought Elisha was. Turns out his story has twice the significance, at least for me. He was a bit more down to earth and had a different type of ministry than that of Elijah. Elisha is labeled the prophet of double fire. But in Scripture he is labeled Bald Head.

So what I’m saying is that the OT has its’ importance and place. It's what led up to the birth of Christ and is proof that he is the Messiah. Please read it. But don’t go into it with your own expectations because they’ll be shot down by the controversy you read, and you might find yourself trying to justify the evil that took place in the stories. Wrong had its’ place then and does now, whether or not we like it. It’s a present misfortune that is upon the earth. One day all things will be made right. But for now, I gotta walk through the dirt and snow.

And it makes me sad. More on sadness later.

Andrew R. M. Hanson

Odd and Complementing. (Muck/Snow)

Ah, Minnesota Winter. Bountiful skies of crisp clean air infiltrating my nostrils as I step over the threshold of my apt. into ankle deep crystals of minuscule dimension and color covering the 6x6 area of the deck one story above the frozen dirt below my feet.

My eyes catch the glint of a thousand colors dancing across the roofs of houses, cars and covering lawns as the sun brings the snow to glittering life. A cold wind makes me glad I own this scarf wrapped so completely and ever so stylishly around my neck, and the snow rising up and over the walls of leather my shoes supply does cause me to wonder if I should wear boots...?

Walking down those treacherous 6 or 7 steps to the driveway where my car waits to begin warming for the journey ahead, I think of how terrible it would be to slip up and crash and burn. Or freeze. Whatever.

The snow plow came by and mixed the purity of the snow on the curb with the darkness of earth, tar and decaying road. The end of my driveway is a new street side curb. Good thing I have all wheel drive. Though the mixture of frozen elements is ugly, I'm somehow captured by the odd, yet, complementing mutuality between the two; One being amassed of filth, the other of beauty, and fresh.

Can the two co-exsist? Well, in fact, they do, which intrigues me. For such blatant purity is crossed by unfathomably soiled grime, and so makes a way to walk, drive and operate through the lastingness of the cold. Throughout this time of year, there is bitterness and there is peace that passes all understanding among it, right here, right now.

I'm on this earth, and yet, the Truth of Redemption in my dreams is more real to me than this trodden sod. The conflict between me and God is sad. But that's the redeeming factor, that I'm a failure and He is mercy that brings me back to life. For after the stillness and death of Winter, there comes renewed emergence of something that is alive. And the contrast of snow and dirt are remembered, when, from the ground, a beauty is revived.

That's the beauty of a snow-plowed Minnesota Winter.

Andrew R. M. Hanson

Mr. Spontaneous and Sir Routine

Hi there, friendly people,

This is my second post, first real post. So, really, not many are gonna see this. But, those of you that do are the fortunate few.

As you can see, I like to rhyme, and hence, do it all the time. But, that's enough for now.

If you've been watching the tv lately, I don't know what you've been seeing, cuz I haven't watched tv in so long! Ok, I have occassionally stopped to view a small portion of a program that someone flipped on, letting it enter the household, but, I haven't seen much regularly. Recently I've only heard rumors of what is on television. Some examples: Holiday Festivity commercials, Holiday programming, Funny commercials, A teacher dancing provacatively on her desk in front of the class of children, etc. These are the things I've been hearing, though it's only rumor as far as I'm concerned.

In other news, I've been using conventional oven or waffle grill rather than a microwave oven at a ratio of 3 to 1. It's amazing how much more genuine the food tastes now! The exceptional quality of the munchables has been truly delightful. Though, the time issue is another aspect to consider. Seems it takes planning ahead to use conventional cook ware, which is a bother. However, I suppose this structure in my life could be a healthy thing, whereas the alternative, spontaneity, can have detrimental effects on my self-control, if dwelt on too often. I say too often, you see, because at times such relief as straying from the norm of a day is necessary.

I suppose I said all this to point out that tv and microwaves are easily accessible. And that convenience is desireable. I do enjoy good stress relief. Though were it not for discomfort and hard work, I'd not be well equipped for a days requests. I like to be made to think about something before I can understand it. When all that I have to do is routine, I think my brain becomes docile during need for defiance, dormant, idle and most likely shrinks in size. That isn't a good thing, which again presents the need for spontaneity and with the spontaneous doings, thought out decision making on the fly. Please get along, Mr. Spontaneous and Sir Routine.

After reading all those words, you may have a slightly better understanding of why it is that microwaves actually reverse their main prerogative and stress me out. Wouldn't your mind be up in arms if your brain was shrinking?!

Next week... Snowblowers and their effects on the beauty of winter. What makes winter in Minnesota beautiful after all?

Andrew R. M. Hanson

News!

There are some news for me right now. Ability to comment, or lack thereof, has finally pushed me to open the account. That is one new. More later...

Andrew