Author: George Morrison

Thuggery                          Word on the Week                    20thJuly 2024.

The dictionary definition is that of a violent and aggressive man, especially a criminal.   It may require to be updated as most criminals are patient and calculating.   The people they influence and inflame do the dastardly deeds.

However, they break the laws of the land and in a week when the candidate for the US Presidency was shot at and our own Mary Lou MacDonald revealed that she received a death threat it seems that violence is all around us.

It breaks out in the protests against housing refugees or economic immigrants in places that have suffered from social neglect and poor Government policies.   Local backlash, fanned by inflammatory news in the media, triggers violence.  

The issue of tents to immigrants when there is no other housing available, only for these same tents to be forcefully removed portrays a government which does not know what to do.

Violence does best where there are injustices.   These can easily be fanned into flame by fake news.    Fear can be whipped up when Immigrants are given a bad name.   Single males, language barriers and no prior liaison with the community produce a toxic mix.

The irony is that so many of us have immigration in our family’s past.  In many cases the indigenous people assisted the incomer.   Today sons and daughters fly off to the pleasanter spots of the globe and report favourably on the reception they receive.

But at home violence spreads.   It appears in main streets, buses and lodges in the brain in a “they are out to get me” motivation, so I strike first.    And if we saw ourselves as the victims of injustice we too revert to violence, perhaps it’s internalised but it’s in our heart (Genesis 6 verse 11). 

There was only one man in the Bible of whom it was said “He had done no violence” and that was Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53 verse 9).   Indeed, it was for these sins, internalised or articulated, that Jesus died and rose again to prove he had conquered sin (1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 to 4).

Nobody likes to be called a thug.   But when we realise that it was for thugs that Jesus died maybe I should revise my likes.   After all, the repentant thief on the cross did just that and was welcomed into paradise (Luke 23 verses 40 to 43).

Or as the Apostle Paul said “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3 verse 20).    And there all the thugs who come to Christ will be made new!

I reckon I was about age eight when I heard the Rev. Ingles Black preach a sermon on Henry Francis Lyte.   It remained with me largely as a result of his hymn “Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.” It measures the ageing process!

Henry was born in Kelso in Scotland, educated in Ireland, went to Trinity College where he won the prize for the best poem for three years!   He thought about Medicine but decided to “go into the church”.

He was ordained and served a brief curacy in Waterford before moving to Marazion in Cornwell.   It was here that two important events took place in his life.   Up to this time he had lived a worldly life and when a neighbouring clergyman sent for him, afraid he was dying unpardoned, the pair of them set about reading the Bible in earnest.

As they searched the Scriptures they found comfort in St Paul’s Epistles.   Henry received the gift of God’s grace and was converted to Christ.  The clergyman also found peace with God and died happy in the knowledge of sins forgiven and acceptance with God.  

In due course Henry was moved along the south coast to All Souls, a church in Brixham but not before he had married the local Methodist Minister’s daughter!    He ministered among the seafaring population of the town with her at his side.   Rather bizarrely she refused to leave the Methodists so they went their separate ways to public worship!

Brixham was where William of Orange landed in1688 to claim the English throne from King James 11 who was his father-in-law!   It had become a naval base and the occasional visits of ships affected the morality of the town!    However, fishing was the main employment and despite his ailing health he became well known and loved by the community.

Henry was able to use his poetical gift to set the psalms to music.   His first book was psalms in metre.   He also wrote many hymns.  This is the first verse of the most famous; “Abide with me fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide   When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless O abide with me.

There is a note of triumph running through the hymn.   It comes from Henry resting in the fact of Jesus presence with him (Deuteronomy 31 verse 6).  The last verse breaks into the glory:   Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies; Heaven’s morning breaks and earths vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Dashboard

Swallows                          Word on the Week                    22^nd June 2024.

The warmer weather this week encouraged the Swallows to go hunting!   They turned up in numbers and began to catch up on their food supply.   The insects they depend on do not fly in the rain!   Indeed, it was the cold wet weather which caused an absence of swallow activity, that is until now.

It was a joy to visit the farmyard and hear the melodious ‘tswit’ coming from all quarters as the birds execute their manoeuvers.   The display is not for show but is part of the feeding process.   They have been blessed with a large mouth, hinged at the widest part of their head so that the gape can scoop up multiple insects on the wing.

Their wings are slim and pointed making them highly acrobatic.   With a slender body and long trailing tail feathers the bird has a very efficient wing load ratio enabling it to travel vast distances with no rest.   With its short legs and feet, it is seldom seen to land, preferring to perch on wires, rooftops or tree branches.

The long tail feathers are attractive to the female although the glamour is not all that necessary as the birds mate for life.   The young who make it through their first year return with their parents and create a mud nest near their original home.    

The nest, which is cupped in shape, is typically built on the timbers of a stable tucked under the slates and accessed through tiny gaps in the wooden door.   It differs from its relative the House Martin who prefer external locations such as under the eaves of the roof.   In order to adhere to the wall, it requires more mud and produces an elliptical shape with only one small hole for an entrance.

These birds spend the Winter half of the year 10,000 kilometres away in sub-Saharan Africa.   In some cases, ringed Irish birds have turned up in South Africa.   Like other migratory species they rely on their God given instinct to guide them to fresh food supplies for their journey.

It could be likened to the Christian who having trusted God for his/her salvation should not worry about everyday things.   Jesus thought they could teach us a lesson.   “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (St Matthew Chapter 6 verses 25/7) We each choose our master – either faith or worry.  Which is it to be?

Are there Bots in the Bible?      Word on the Week          15^th June 2024.

Generative A I is an Artificial Intelligence which creates text, music or pictures on the instructions of its user.   It is increasing in popularity receiving more than 1.8 billion hits on its site per month.   It even exceeds the popular channel called Netflix!

Bots or rather robots are programmed by Artificial Intelligence to faithfully carry out specific actions over and over again.   Many tasks in the work scene have repetitive actions which lend themselves to robots.   All their actions are programmed by routines that specify the direction, speed and distance of a series of coordinated motions.    This information is stored in the robot’s library and can be updated to suit changing needs.  

Generative A I has a Library of information available to it and can answer questions in circumstances where the questions are anticipated.   Employees answering phone calls rely on the robot’s ability to provide the answer.   It is a short step for the robot to deal with the call itself!

This is the A I which can produce essays for students drawing the information from its pre-programmed library.   Apparently it has now delved into paintings and music obtained from its stored information.   It is only as good as its programmer’s skills!

When we come to the Bible we meet Jesus who made this extraordinary claim; “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49–50).   There we have it Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6 verse 68).

What of the other Bible writers?   The apostle Peter recalling his time on the Mount of Transfiguration spells out that this was not some cleverly invented story but as an eye-witness he could vouch for its authenticity.  He heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (2 Peter 1 verses 16/17).

He continues to claim that no prophecy of Scripture came from the prophet’s own interpretation but men spoke from God as the words were borne by the Holy Spirit (Verses 19 to 21).

The apostle Paul in prison awaiting execution wrote “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).                                                   Certainly there are no Bots in the Bible!

Music Will Calm You                 Word on the Week                   8^th June 2024.

One of the earliest gramophone records that came into my collection was that of Kathleen Ferrier singing with her superb contralto voice, “Art thou troubled? Music will calm you”.

It was written by George Frideric Handel who, by all accounts, had good reason to prove the truth of the lyrics!

Scripture gives us more evidence of this fact.    When a harmful spirit from God came upon King Saul, David, who was at this time was Saul’s servant, would play music on his lyre.   This refreshed Saul and the harmful spirit left him (1 Samuel 16 verse 23).

In Psalm 130 we have an example of Keith Getty and Stuart Townend’s, two of the most talented modern hymn writers, making the Psalmist sing like a Christian!    The middle verses are rendered; –

So put your hope in God alone
Take courage in His power to save
Completely and forever won
By Christ, emerging from the grave

I will wait for You, I will wait for You
On Your Word, I will rely
I will wait for You, surely wait for You
‘Til my soul is satisfied.

Singing has always marked out the Christian.   From the early days of evangelism when Paul and Silas were beaten for healing a disturbed girl in Jesus name and thrown into prison at Philippi they were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight (Acts 16 verses 16 to 25).

In the more settled situation of the church Paul writes both to Ephesus and Colossi commending the singing of Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs and ‘making melody to the Lord with your heart’ (Ephesians 5 verses 19 to 20).

There has always been a stream of Christian music through the centuries becoming particularly rich during times of revival.   In recent years some very fine musicians have enhanced our worship with their songs. The last verse; –

I will wait for You, I will wait for You
Through the storm and through the night
I will wait for You, surely wait for You
For Your love is my delight.

Waiting on the Lord is never in vain.

You’ve Been Trumped               Word on the Week          1^st June 2024.

This was the name of a film documentary made in 2011 to record the struggles between locals and Donald Trump who wanted to build a golf course in the sand dunes at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.   The area was one of scientific interest and not all the locals were in favour of the venture.

In particular Michael Forbes, a local farmer, refused to sell his land despite various efforts of intimidation by Trump.   The New York Times critic said the film depicted Trump as an insensitive lying bully who tried to pressurise the golf course neighbours to sell their properties to him.   Trump failed.

A sequel called “You’ve Been Trumped Too” was launched in October 2016 highlighting the problems experienced by the neighbours of the Trump International Golf Links.   Trump’s lawyers threatened legal action against anyone who screened the film.   The effort to block its release failed.

Trump’s mother, Mary Ann McLeod came from Tong a village 4 miles North of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.   At the age of 18 she emigrated in 1930 to New York where she married Fred Trump, a property dealer, in 1936.   Donald was the eldest of five children.   Before she died in August 2000 she did not reckon that Donald would make a good President – wise woman!

The events of this week where Trump was found to be guilty by a 12-person jury on all 34 counts in a criminal trial.   This is the first of four cases pending.   The same stream of vitriol that he used against Michael Forbes was unleashed in a 30-minute Press briefing.   The legal gag, silencing him during the trial, had been lifted and the pent-up fury released!

As a modern Goliath he has won the admiration of a certain class of American and frightened the Republican Party so that none will stand against him (1 Samuel 17 verse 24).  He reported that $39 million (€36 million) had flooded into his campaign in the 10 hours since the jury’s verdict was read out. It emerged that searches for Trump on Google jumped by 3,200 per cent overnight!

Trump’s ability to turn defeat into victory is remarkable.   It is predicated upon his view of the truth!   His followers have shown a liking for it which has encouraged him.   His view of reality is described by Isaiah in chapter 5 verses 20/21.

Believers in the Bible as the Word of God have seen a fanatical bully in Saul of Tarsus transformed into Paul, one of the leading Apostles of Jesus Christ (Acts 9 verses 3 to 6).   Trump’s self-centeredness requires to be changed to Christ-centeredness.   God can do it.   It happened to me.   

Jackdaw                           Word on the week                                25^th May 2024.

Now with the warmer weather the hens are being fed outside.   Their trough is an old metal rain gutter stuck into half a hollow concrete block.   The hens are untidy eaters so the Jackdaws who are waiting nearby are on the alert.

As they see me approach with the bucket of hen pellets they venture close with loud “Chaks” to announce their presence.   They know that there are only a few moments of grace before I open the henhouse and the hungry hens race to the trough.

It’s no contest!   The Jackdaws withdraw to appraise the situation from the hen-run wall.    They are normally in pairs as they mate for life.  They also use the same nest year after year.  

The nest can be in a tree crevice, or an unused house chimney.    Some nest in the wall of an old building in the farmyard.   In my youth we lived near sea cliffs which were topped with layers of heavy red clay.   The clay was a favourite place for rabbits to burrow.   Any disused hole was soon taken over by Jackdaws who lost no time in furnishing it with short sticks and moss.

Occasionally we would find an injured bird and take it home for some TLC.  Their claws would catch your fingers in a vice-like grip.   Gloves were essential, although not always available, for handling them.   It is with these claws that they satisfied their predilection for shiny things.   Rings and something as large as a teaspoon could be carried off to their nest.

The Jackdaws themselves are the smallest of the crow family.    Their plumage is charcoal with a grey nape.   The forehead, chin and beak are jet-black.   Their eyes are pale and stare slightly unnervingly at you!

They come from a family of birds known for their intelligence.   The largest, the Raven, is mentioned in the Bible.   The bird was used by God to feed Elijah during his three-year exile when there was famine in the land (1 Kings 17 verses 1 to 6).  

The faithfulness of the Jackdaws to each other is but a pale reflection of the faithfulness of God in honouring all his promises (Psalm 145 verses 17 to 19).

The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
    he hears their cry and saves them.                                                    

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10 verse 13).

Marriage Joy                    Word on the Week                     18^th May 2024.

There is nothing like a family wedding to release an outpouring of wedding joy! The clans are gathering, crossing the ocean, flying in at various times all to be there for the Big Day.   Those on this side of the Atlantic feel they are in Philadelphia as a result of the stream of pre wedding photographs arriving in our smartphones!   The joy is infectious! 

Marriage is the vehicle God has provided to convert this wedding joy into a lifelong love relationship (Genesis 2 verse 24).   A new level of bonding takes place, initially to counteract loneliness (verse 18) then flowing out into a lifelong covenant of companionship.

This realisation came to me rather late.   Believe it or not it was when I was kneeling with Betty at my side in the front of the church that the momentous nature of the covenant struck home!   This was no contract dependent on the feelings of those involved as to whether it lasts or lapses.  

This was vows taken before God and in the presence of his people to love and serve one another as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her.  These vows have a permanent ring to them embodied in the phrase “till God do us part”.   This happened, by God’s grace, and Betty’s patience, 63 years ago!

The joy of the marriage day needs to be captured for the long haul!   It cannot be bottled for the future but it can be new every day for the believer (Lamentations 3 verses 21/3).   Where Christ is in the heart the troubles of this life can be conquered at the cross where forgiveness is to be found and mutual love nourished (2 Corinthians 5 verses 17/8).

Children are gifts from God and bring their own Joy with them (Psalm 127 verses 3/5).   They make a couple into a family and are the bedrock of society.   Today the culture tends to oppose Marriage.   It promotes a promiscuous lifestyle with children being looked after by the State.  

The Church is God’s remedy to this where it proclaims Christ, his earthly life, death for repentant sinners and resurrection to eternal life.    Faith in His work changes people from being self-centred to Christ-centered maintaining the love and joy of Jesus in our culture today.

May the Joy of Jesus enter every Christian Marriage and remain there.  Put the old acrostic into effect: – J=Jesus, O=Others, Y=Yourself.   The joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8 verse 10).  

Bodies as Beacons                    Word on the Week                    11^th May 2024.

The practice of body art has had a field day.   In fact, some are so adorned that there is no more space left!    Perhaps a new level of grotesque has been reached in our entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Our competitor, Bambie Ray Robinson, sings under the name Bambie Thug. The song, Doomsday Blues, seems to have gone through a number of versions.   The current one depends more on the performance of the singer than the power of the lyrics.

Like everything associated with Doomsday it is full of dark imagery.   Bambie takes on the guise of a witch, or as one writer has put it, she is Irelands ‘Goth, Gremlin and Goblin’.    The song makes use of the personal pronoun ‘I’ which is repeated frequently.   The voice ascends into a scream which earns it a unique spot amongst the other entries.

Eurovision has become increasingly political over the years.   Originally points were awarded based on the performance of the song.   In those days Ireland did well with songs such as ‘The Voice’ with singer Eimear Quinn “.   Then Eastern European countries joined and tended to vote for each other!

More recently the performers have gone in for political point scoring so that Robertson has her body painted with words which translate to ‘Ceasefire and Freedom’.   This referred to the Gaza war and was picked up by Social Media.  The European Broadcasting Union immediately banned it and Robertson washed it off!   However, the damage was done and the message went viral!

Robinson’s practice of neopagan witchcraft makes her well suited to sing Doomsday Blues.   The performance is heavily influenced by her acting of pagan rituals in a darkened stage with only a couple of male props as back-up.

Apparently Robinson is said to have done blood magic.  This involves using her own blood.   Her witchcraft has influenced her songs both in writing and performing them, making her somewhat unique in an event where it is hard to be original.

It couldn’t be further removed from the blood of sacrifice used in Scripture.   In the Bible the blood had to be from a perfect offering which was substituted in place of the sinner (1 Peter 1:18/9).    Jesus Christ was himself the sacrifice enabling the sinner who believes in him to go free from witchcraft and other pagan practices (1 John 3 verse 8).

The believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, a beacon of light as opposed to darkness (1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 to 20).

People as Pawns                    Word on the Week                        4^th May 2024.

‘The Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.  So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt’ (Deuteronomy 10 verses 17 -19).

Or, these days, the US of A!    Once uprooted from ‘home and hearth’, in unfamiliar surroundings and in an alien culture, the refugee is dependent, to a large extent, on the people of the land where he has sought refuge.  

If the land is Ireland and he is a recent arrival, he may be excused for wondering where the Ireland of the 100,000 welcomes has gone.  Perhaps used by the 100,000 immigrants who have arrived here to date. Male refugees were met with tents which they pitched outside the Government Immigration Offices!    Food is supplied but water and toilets they would have to search for!

And in their searching they discovered the regular charity food sources in the city including The Lighthouse in Pearse Street, a Christian run centre supplying food and clothing to the needy.   At its busiest they were coping with 500 clients daily.

The authorities moved in to the tent camp early Wednesday morning and dismantled the tents loading them onto trucks and erecting barriers to prevent a return to the site.   They transported 290 men outside Dublin to the hotel at City West where they are to remain till their case is dealt with.   Additional staff have been assigned to the International Protection Office where they are trying to cope with a backlog of applications amounting to 20,000 at present!

There has been some hostility to the refugees.   Some properties designated to house them have been destroyed by fire.   Another tactic has been to try to intimidate the politicians involved in immigration by appearing in large numbers outside their private houses.   The positions of the immigrant and the anti-immigrant have never been further apart.

It was the same story in Ephesus.   The Apostle Paul found the Jew/Gentile conflict, as of now, created divisions.   These were healed by the preaching of the Good News that Christ had made a way by his blood shed on the cross both could have their sins forgiven and be reconciled to God and each other (Ephesians 2 verses 13 – 21).

Pawns have rights!   In chess they advance in a straight line.   They can also be changed to a more versatile piece when they reach their full potential!

Coming to faith in Christ is a surer way to realise it!