Good afternoon
August 6, 2021
” There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.”
― Willa Cather
In the Ancient Near East societies ( around the time of the Bible) all have stories about a flood. Are they telling the same story, or did all societies experience a flood ? The family stories that we have in Genesis have some of the same characteristics . God, deception and redemption are repeated in all of them. The names and times are different. Sitcoms on TV have the same themes over and over again, and the show has to fit into 22 minutes.
John Toews, former President of Conrad Grebel University College, told a group of pastors, ” You know you have only three different sermons, it might be only two in the end. I agree. One is understanding God, and I do not understand all of God. And the second one is ethics. How should a Chrstian act in this world ? I preach the same two sermons, with different words. A former professor told me that ” Fred, you have to be pretty arrogant to think you will have something new to say every Sunday ” . I think Stars Wars is so well-liked because it is the universal story of good against evil.
I hear people say that the Bible talks about the same sins and redemption that we have today.The same stories go around and around. It seems to be part of the human condition, that we have seen things before in the same way. Frogs sing in the same key the whole world over. The robin sings the same song every morning when I walk, and I still find it comforting and amazing.
Prayer
Thank you God for the biblical story
Thank you for all of our stories:
of pain
of loss,
of celebration
of joy.
Show to us how we are
part of Your great story of life and of faith.
AMEN
Fred
Soaring like Vultures ….lifted up by unseen Hands …. Trust, silent enters my fears Monica Pieper Landoni 2021