Here it is Sunday again, and I’ve yet to blog about some thoughts I had about last week’s Relief Society. It was wonderful—informative, inspirational and well-delivered. Michelle began by asking us if we knew what the 2nd shortest verse in the Bible was, and no one did. Do you happen to know? Don’t feel too bad if you don’t because you have a lot of company. I learned from Michelle that it’s in Luke 27:32: “Remember Lot’s wife.” Interesting, huh?
The story is a familiar one. Before destroying Sodom completely, God gives Lot and his family the chance to escape the fire and brimstone and warns them not to look back. All seems well, but then Lot’s wife takes a backwards glance, and she’s forever turned into a block of salt.
I’ve thought about her off and on over the years and wondered exactly what meaning we’re supposed to take from her action and its consequence. Before going any further with this, I’m going to copy and paste something I’d written in Musings of a Missionary Mom about this situation.
“This story has always seemed crazy to me. Crazy and cruel. Crazy for her to look back after God had clearly told the family not to and cruel for God to actually turn her into a pillar of salt. But then again, Lot’s wife was human, a mere mortal just like the rest of us who don’t’ always do what God tells us to do. We try, but sometimes we slip and fall just like she did. Still, what she did seems like such a minor infraction. A backwards glance, and forever she’s a chunk of sodium.
"There’s got to be an explanation. Some scientists would have us believe that it never happened, and that in fact there are salt formations all over the area near the southern tip of the Dead Sea. Others with no plausible explanation might say that It’s a metaphorical story. Perhaps it is, and yet I prefer to believe the actual Biblical account and keep asking myself why God was so emphatic about not looking back and why he meted out such severe punishment. After all, the ramifications of that act affected her entire family. Lot had no wife; his daughters had no mother.
"I’m wondering if this story is oft-repeated not only as an indication of what God can and will do if we disobey him but also because looking back is unhealthy. How can one move forward if she’s forever looking longingly at yesterday? Some people live so much in the land of Yesterday that they can’t go forward. They become pickled like the pillars of salt somewhere between Sodom and Zoar.”
Here are some additional insights from Michelle’s lesson.
*Everyone in Sodom was evil. God who looks on the inner person knew perhaps that her heart was really in Sodom. Would Lot’s wife have tainted their new life?
*Michelle mentioned that we have a problem going forward. We want things to be the way they were ‘back when.” Things never are. Change is certain. We can realize that and look to our future and what’s in store for us or stay stuck, longing for days gone by.
*Someone brought up the fact that God turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt because she was disobedient. Michelle, an excellent teacher, reminded the class that we are all disobedient…and probably a lot more so than Lot’s wife. She simply turned and looked back. What are some ways that you have sinned? Do you even want to go there???
So tell me what you think about the meaning of this story. It’s a fascinating one that I feel must have significance, and I’m open to new ideas…or to a rehashing of the old ones.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Life Turns on a Dime
Life can turn on a dime, or at least that’s what I’m always spouting off to my children. But really, don’t you think there’s a lot of truth to that? Based on a seemingly little decision, a person’s whole life can change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. What I’m thinking about this morning are three of King David’s wives: Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba.
Caught between her father’s villainy and her husband’s safety, Michal chose in favor of the latter. Rather than turn David over to Saul who would surely have him killed, Michal helped him escape through a window into darkness and the relative safety of the night. As a consequence, her father was furious when he discovered the ruse, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she didn’t see her husband for years. When Michal and David met again, their circumstances were greatly changed, and for this morning, I’ll just note that she had slipped greatly in his affection.
Married to a brutish (my interpretation), Abigail made a decision that changed her life forever. While David and about 600 men were living in the wilderness of Paran, he sent ten men to Nabal, Abigail’s husband, to ask for food. He refused. When Abigail learned of this, she didn’t think twice about packing grain, bread, sheep, raisins, figs and sending them to the future king and his men. She followed behind and personally begged for forgiveness for Nabal’s foolishness. What a diplomat! Nabal died shortly thereafter, and it wasn’t long before David sent for Abigail who, again without hesitation, went to David and became his wife.
Bathing on a rooftop as was the custom at the time, Bathsheba was spied by David and summoned to his presence. While the other two above-mentioned women probably made more of a conscious choice, she undoubtedly went to King David because of the royal writ. Her husband was away at battle, and perhaps she imagined that the king had some information for her about Uriah. Once in David’s presence, we know what happened, and as a consequence, she became pregnant, her husband was sent to the front of the battle, and David married her. Their child died, but later she gave birth to Solomon.
My purpose wasn’t to give a Bible study lesson this morning…guess I got a little carried away. It’s just that it recently hit me that these women, just like us, made seemingly little decisions that affected the course of their lives. It makes me want to step back and think twice about my choices. What about you?
Caught between her father’s villainy and her husband’s safety, Michal chose in favor of the latter. Rather than turn David over to Saul who would surely have him killed, Michal helped him escape through a window into darkness and the relative safety of the night. As a consequence, her father was furious when he discovered the ruse, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she didn’t see her husband for years. When Michal and David met again, their circumstances were greatly changed, and for this morning, I’ll just note that she had slipped greatly in his affection.
Married to a brutish (my interpretation), Abigail made a decision that changed her life forever. While David and about 600 men were living in the wilderness of Paran, he sent ten men to Nabal, Abigail’s husband, to ask for food. He refused. When Abigail learned of this, she didn’t think twice about packing grain, bread, sheep, raisins, figs and sending them to the future king and his men. She followed behind and personally begged for forgiveness for Nabal’s foolishness. What a diplomat! Nabal died shortly thereafter, and it wasn’t long before David sent for Abigail who, again without hesitation, went to David and became his wife.
Bathing on a rooftop as was the custom at the time, Bathsheba was spied by David and summoned to his presence. While the other two above-mentioned women probably made more of a conscious choice, she undoubtedly went to King David because of the royal writ. Her husband was away at battle, and perhaps she imagined that the king had some information for her about Uriah. Once in David’s presence, we know what happened, and as a consequence, she became pregnant, her husband was sent to the front of the battle, and David married her. Their child died, but later she gave birth to Solomon.
My purpose wasn’t to give a Bible study lesson this morning…guess I got a little carried away. It’s just that it recently hit me that these women, just like us, made seemingly little decisions that affected the course of their lives. It makes me want to step back and think twice about my choices. What about you?
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