Words from the heart

 

 

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father." 

John 15:12 - 15

My father-in-law, about whom I have written on several occasions, passed away after a very short illness at the end of March. He spent his last three years living with us in our home. A car mechanic and later a car valuer, the sound of Jim's shuffling walk through the house, his inquisitiveness about the movements and activities of his grandchildren and great grandchildren, his penchant for cars, Keno and the horses, his generosity and humour will be terribly missed. Jim didn't leave any diaries or words of wisdom. He left us love.

Others may leave memoirs, beautifully published, that family members may consult. Some record special events, daily activities and quiet, reflective thoughts. There are those who bequeath a musical opus, others the remnants of their poetic genius.

The great and the famous have words written about them, Julius Caesar, Wellington, Bismarck, Washington, Churchill. But we are ordinary folk, whose lives are recorded by past calendars that highlight dental appointments and family get-togethers, can and do leave words that will impact on our children. They may not make the annals of well- and oft-quoted proverbs and phrases, but be assured they will be remembered.

In John 15 (9 – 17) Jesus leaves words that are printed upon the hearts and minds of every Christian, for they are not just a standard bearer for Christianity - they are a guide for good living for all, and a pathway to building God’s kingdom. These words are Jesus’ bequest to us. But it is clear that these words are not just to be spoken and repeated to one another, they are to be enacted, made real and lived out through gesture and action.

And this is what the words and story you leave your children must equally do. What would I say? Know that I really love you and will always love you. This is not a command or commandment, it is a statement of fact projected into the distant and eternal future. How will they know these words are important and to be always remembered? I will tell them over and over, and my gestures, words, actions and prayers will constantly affirm them. So, by all means have some words that you can pass on to your child, but they should be words that complete the life you have already lived together.

As disciples of Jesus we have never been perfect in acting out his commandment to love others, it is a work in progress, like us. It is the journey that matters.

Peter Douglas

 

 

Did Saul actually fall off his horse on the road to Damascus?

Conversion of St Paul by Caravaggio

By Hector Molina

He more than likely did not. It is commonly assumed that Rabbi Saul was thrown from his horse on the road to Damascus. This assumption has been reinforced by several artistic depictions, including Caravaggio’s “Conversion on the Way to Damascus” and “Conversion of St. Paul” (1601).  However, nowhere does the New Testament make mention of Saul being thrown from his horse. In fact, it doesn’t even make mention of Saul traveling by horse!

Each of the three accounts of Saul’s miraculous conversion (Acts 9:3-4, 22:6-7, 26:12-14) asserts that Saul, upon seeing the light from heaven, fell to the ground. Most people assume that because Saul was en route to Damascus, he must have been traveling by horse at the very moment when the heavenly light appeared. This blinding light caused him and those accompanying him to fall from their horses to the ground. This is highly improbable. The reason being that St. Luke, the author of Acts, in two of his three accounts of the conversion of Saul, furnishes us with a clue that sheds light on what Saul was more than likely doing when he fell to the ground. See if you can pick it out.

“As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’” (Acts 22:6-7)

“Thus I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’” (Acts 26:12-14)

Each of these passages establishes the exact time of day when the heavenly light appeared that caused him to fall to the ground. It was midday. An important detail to be sure. Some commentators point out that this was to show that there was no delusion from nightly appearances. In other words, because it was broad daylight, his eyes could not have played tricks on him. Others posit the theory that Saul was more than likely not riding his horse at noon because that was an established time of prayer. We know that Pharisees prayed three times throughout the course of the day in imitation of King David, who wrote:

"But I call upon God, and the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon." (Psalm 55:16-17)

[Note: These three times were, nine in the morning, which was their third hour of the day, (see Acts 2:15); the sixth hour was at twelve o’clock (see Acts 10:9); the ninth hour was our three in the afternoon , which was the time of the evening sacrifice (see Acts 10:30)]

Every day at noon, pious Jewish men recited prayers while standing on their feet and facing toward Jerusalem as was their custom (see Daniel 6:10-11). As Catholic author D Taylor Marshall suggests in his book, The Catholic Perspective on Paul, it is quite possible that Saul, the zealous Pharisee that he was, observed midday prayer on that day as he travelled along the road to Damascus. This would have meant that he was likely standing erect and facing south to Jerusalem when he was blinded by the light of Christ and fell to the ground.

Quite an appropriate time to have an encounter with God, wouldn’t you say?

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/did-saul-actually-fall-off-his-horse-on-the-road-to-damascus