Fear of Pestilence                          Word on the Week                 29^th February 2020.

The last time we blogged on the subject of fear it was along the Fermanagh-Cavan border in Ireland.   There had been intimidation and the fear of man was evident.   This week we have witnessed signs of fear of the coronavirus.  It has gone almost global.    No one has said it but this fear is the fear of the judgement of God.

The spread has been rapid.  Antarctica being the only landmass not touched by it. Transmitting the virus is easily done so warnings against touching other people such as shaking hands raise the alarm bells in peoples’ minds.   Pictures of medics ‘suited up’ from head to toe are on the one hand reassuring but on the other increase the apprehension.

On the face of it these seem to be excessive precautions for an illness which is likened to influenza.   Many times this week the media have pointed out the low death rate of coronavirus and instanced the flu which has a much worse record.  However, we have flu somewhat controlled, hence the annual flu jab prevention. With Covid-19 we do not know where it came from nor how long it will be with us.

The best guess blames the bat.   There is also the association with the food market in Wuhan where it is reckoned to have made the transition from bat to man.   Research is taking place to find an antidote but it is unlikely to be on the market soon.   In the meantime, it would seem that what we have to fear is fear itself.   It is irrational but the sense of the unknown makes people apprehensive.

There are a number of incidents in the Bible where God sent a plague or pestilence because of disobedience.    Korah’s rebellion is one such case (Numbers Chapter 16 verses 46 to 48).   These cases are largely directed at his people Israel.   They had been entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans Chapter 3 verse 2) but that had not prevented them from sinning like others.   

Jesus said that in the end times there would be “pestilence” (St Luke Chapter 21 verse 10 to 12).     This is one of the indicators of the end of the age.   Trusting in Christ for your salvation in this life and the next does not enable you to bypass these things.    It does however, give you the assurance of Psalm 91 which may have been in John Ryland’s mind when he penned these words: –

“Plagues and deaths around me fly;

Till he bids, I cannot die;

Not a single shaft can hit,

Till the God of love sees fit.”     

May these thoughts strengthen you as we contemplate a dysfunctional world.

Coronavirus                           Word on the Week              22^nd February 2020.

This virus which started in the Wuhan Provence of China in December 2019 has proved to be hard to control.   It is in the same family of viruses as ‘saars’ (largely in the US from 2002 to 2004) and ‘mers’ (mainly in the middle east in 2012). It now has the name Covid-19.  

It produces respiratory symptoms which can be incubated in a person for up to a fortnight.    The start of the outbreak has been traced to an open air market in Wuhan where fish and live animals are in close contact with people.    These conditions would have given the mutated corona virus ample opportunity to spread. It is now in all 31 provinces in China.

At the end of December, a group of doctors in Wuhan were examining a large number of patients exhibiting flu like symptoms.    Indications were that the results were being kept quiet by Government order.   Dr Li Wen Liang, one of the team studying the disease turned whistleblower and attempts were made to silence him. The rapid spread of the virus required lockdown of Wuhan which coincided with public opinion learning via social media of the attempt to silence the doctor.

All this led to the Government apologising and many more cities being put in quarantine.   Two large field hospitals have been built in Wuhan in record time. Many additional medical staff have been assigned to the city and seven cruise ships have sailed up the Yangtze river and moored in Wuhan to accommodate them.   

Cruise liners are particularly vulnerable and the Diamond Princess now moored in Japan waters has been quarantined with its passengers confined to their cabins for 14 days.    The UK along with other countries who have nationals on board are flying them home but with a further two-week period in quarantine when they arrive.    A miserable end to their holiday!  

Global health officials are worried as the latest cases of the virus have shown up in Italy and affect people who had no link with China or contact with a confirmed case. A plane from China was picketed when it touched down in Ukraine.    This fear is contrasted with the actions of Dr Li who returned to work in the hospital, eventually caught the disease and died on 7^th February.    He was a believer and quoted this text as he died.  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy Chapter 4 verses 7/8).

May God grant to all who believe a like courage when we come to be tested.

Storm Dennis                        Word on the Week                  15^th February 2020.

‘Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow rain and wind warning for the entire country ahead of Storm Dennis which is expected to bring wet and very windy weather over the weekend and into Monday.’    The terse note from the Met Office does not encourage you to get out of bed this morning!

The roar of the wind made Tess, the dog, think twice about venturing out whereas she normally greets the dawn with some loud barking.    All the animals in the yard are in sheds and the hens, who dislike the wind, are confined to the henhouse.

Above the yard and around the trees flocks of rooks do aerobatics in the gusting wind.   They enjoy the turbulence but disappear when the rain arrives.    At garden level the usual tits and finches swing from the bird feeders while the magpie like the local Garda keeps an eye on the proceedings.

The land is waterlogged from previous rains which means it cannot absorb fresh rainfall.    Our drainage has been well tested and mercifully the run-off is working unlike parts of the UK where towns in valleys are particularly vulnerable to flooding.

It is at sea where we are most exposed to these South-westerly winds.   There is always a conflict of interest for fishermen to solve.   Gales stir up the sea and consequently produce a plentiful supply of food.   This makes for good fishing with the best catches made in stormy weather.   Herein lies the problem.    Fishermen’s safety is put at risk in such conditions and the skipper must weigh up the pros and cons very carefully before he puts to sea.

In my youth we fished from small open boats.   We could be caught at sea when an Easterly gale would make the harbour at our home port of Collieston un-navigable.    The alternative was to run for Whinnyfold, five miles away, where we could drop anchor in the safety of its harbour and wait until the storm passed.

The writer of Hebrews likens God’s promise and God’s oath to two cables that secure our ship which I call ‘The Hope of the Gospel’.   “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf” (Chapter 6 verse 19).   The hymn-writer catches this idea in “Will your Anchor Hold?” the often omitted second verse reads: – It is safely moored t’will the storm withstand, For ‘tis well secured by the Saviour’s hand:   And the cables passed from His heart to mine, Can defy the blast, thro’ strength divine.”

This was one of Ann Brown’s favourite hymns.  When it was sung at her funeral I remember the powerful effect it had on her neighbours.    May they and you take to heart the saving work of Jesus.

Election 2020                        Word on the Week                       8^th February 2020.

There is an air of a festival about an Irish General Election.    During the preceding 3 to 4 week’s people with ladders are seen to be climbing many of the utility poles in our towns to fix A1 size pictures of their preferred candidate.    The higher the candidate’s portrait the more symbolically he or she will top the poll!

The old days of public meetings have been overtaken by an all-encompassing media.  It is the TV debates that steal the show.   Party representatives are subject to a grilling by well practiced professionals who are able to reveal inconsistences in their party manifesto.   Attempting to score points publically may be good for audience ratings but lacks the intimacy of the Parish Hall Meeting where a good chairperson can ensure that everyone has a voice.

When I came to live in Ireland over four decades ago I had a colleague who was keen to instruct me in all things Irish which he clearly believed to be superior to anything that took place in the UK!    He was in high spirits in the 1977 election which saw Jack Lynch sweep to power amid the discarding of a number of unpopular taxes.    It all seemed to be too good to be true – and so it proved to be.   Rampant inflation set in during the eighties and the rest is history!

One thing I learned was the single transferrable vote is allegedly superior to the UK and USA system of ‘first past the post’.   It certainly provides the voter with the ability to reward preferred candidates and penalise those not in favour.    The counting of votes takes place after the setting of quotas for each constituency.   You then enter the world of surplus votes and transfers which few, including myself, have fully understood.   It does however make for a dramatic count!   The final results can be a long time in coming.   Where the count is close between candidates a recount prolongs the agony!

The end result is a fairer representation of people’s choices but then coalitions have to be formed, in order to get into government, which thwart the most equitable outcome.  There is no perfect system as we are imperfect people who are involved.

When it comes to God’s electing love for heaven our reliance must be on His mercies (Lamentations Chapter 3 verse 22).    In fact, our trust is not to be on anything we have done, no ‘vote for me’, no ‘look at my record’.    Because few believe this St Paul uses the case of Jacob and Esau where God’s choice was made before either of them could be said to influence it i.e. before they were born (Romans Chapter 9 verses 10 to 12).     

We have Jesus to go to.    He said “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (St John Chapter 6 verse 37).

Exit of Brexit                         Word on the Week                      1^st February 2020.

Midnight in Brussels or 11.00 pm in London heralded the departure of the UK from the EU, although it will continue to follow EU rules and enjoy most of the benefits of membership until the end of 2020.   The occasion was low key.   The ‘Leavers’ who gathered to sing songs were decidedly out of tune.   Even the amplification failed to work properly – perhaps an omen for how the UK will manage in future.

In taking leave from Brussels, Nigel Farage the architect or rather the disrupter of the EU could not resist (although it was forbidden) a final waving of the Union Jack.   Nigel, like the rest of us, does not like being told what to do but in his case his dislike focused on the EU.   “We will not take orders” said the leading character of the divorce from Europe, a role he in which he had had a couple of personal experiences of in the past.    By way of contrast many tributes were paid to UK officials by their EU colleagues who had worked alongside them for a portion of the 47 years since the UK joined.  

The 31^st January opened in Brussels with a rendering of the European Anthem.  It is Friedrich von Schiller’s poem adapted by Ludwig van Beethoven called “Ode to Joy,” from the last movement of his Ninth Symphony.    Schiller’s poem draws on the mythology surrounding the Greek god Elysium whose place at the ends of the earth is where certain heroes are conveyed by the gods after death.

The day ended with the singing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ – which seemed to sum up the affection the workers held for each other.    There are, of course, 11 months to December 31^st to thrash out a trade deal.   Let’s hope they will still be singing at the end of it!

Setting national pride apart, does it matter if the UK are out and Ireland, for instance, are in the EU?    The answer depends on who we are serving.   If it is ourselves we are accountable to then perhaps even Nigel Farage makes sense!   But if conscience has been tutored by the word of God then we will be guided by Micah’s words in chapter 6 verse 8; He has shown you, O man, what is good.   And what does he Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly^] with your God.  

The Lord requires us to show the primary forms of love – justice and mercy, kindness and faithfulness, and to walk humbly with our God.

God is more interested in how we behave in relation to each other and to the countries and their citizens with whom we align.   Jesus said we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” and all the things we think are important will be dealt with by Him (St Matthew Chapter 6 verse 33).