Author: Dan

Greetings from Tucson Welcome to ShalomWalk. A place of respite for the inquisitive mind and the weary heart. I'm Dan Craig, my I co-writer is Beth McKean. We are both retired professionals, we're both Christians, and we both enjoy writing about things that matter to us. We want to share things that we think about, as the days come and go. The blog will be comprised of; (1) single page essays on a wide range of topics derived from reading scripture; (2) recipes from Pepper with a story behind each recipe; (3) other kinds of useful information for running a household; (4) Photographs from Pepper and original instrumental music from Dan. Our blog focus. By wisdom our house is built on a sturdy foundation; by understanding the roof brings comfort from the heat of life; by knowledge the rooms are filled with grandeur. As a person thinks in their heart, they become in real life (implied in Proverbs 24:3-4 and Proverbs 23:7). May God bless you and keep you safe in His heart. May God bring you his truth and peace. Amen.

The Rim was High and Awesome

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It was my observation as I worked my way through the first chapter of Ezekiel that the vision seen has a most interesting description of what appears to be a Gyro. The wheels have perpendicular intersecting wheels (think about how ball of yarn looks). They moved in any direction but allowed the angel standing on top to remain facing in the same direction. Rolling Spheres? Kinda. But the description seems to describe intersecting rings, more like a gyro than a sphere. I am wise to be vague on this matter.

Ezekiel 1:15-18 says — As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures [four angels] faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures [four angels] went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around [NIV].

When we take in this message, we cannot escape the glory of God. We see him in full splendor, we see the steadiness of his heavenly environment, all thing in order and in place. No renovation going on in this house. It is all done. We might be wondering, is there anything useful for us to do in Heaven? But clearly the angels have a mission and a function. We also will have a mission and a function. We see his plan with an eye of faith, we see it through a filter, but soon we will discern the full beauty of his glory, wisdom, goodness, and power that shine over the universe, over his throne. We will see God as he is.

The wheels sparkle like topaz, the soft glow of bronze fills the air, much like a reflection of fire on glass. We are not told much about the topaz, but we do know that wheels intersect and we can see the intersecting wheels full of eyes.

We know from the description the wheels moved with the angels; the angels moved with the wheels. Many sources I have reviewed feel that when the living creatures moved in a direction, any direction, they were engaged in God’s work. As the wheels moved, things happened in the kingdom. Movement causes the ministry and ministry causes the movement. Imbedded through all the movement is God’s plan and his glory.

And then we have the rims with eyes. Goodness. We are really moving in the inner court of God’s reality. This idea of wheels with eyes is difficult to accept with our delicate earthly eyes. We are instinctively protective of our eyes. They are hard to protect and even more difficult to repair. Yet, God takes our weakness and makes it his strength.

The rims were of a vast circumference, we note at the bottom of the first chapter as the vision is revealed, Ezekiel drops his head down, shrinking away from the image. He was looking at something extremely large from a distance or he was looking up at some massively large wheels with the rest of the image seeming to be a long way up. The size is astonishing with the height and depth of God’s glory.

The deeper truth — The all-seeing eyes of God’s angels are on the move. This rim is a sign of God’s infinite wisdom and the notion of the ‘eyes of the Lord running to and fro’ throughout the entire earth beholding good and evil, revealing himself full of power to the church (strongly implied in 1 Chronicles 16:9). His interaction is not blind fortune, rather it is carefully orchestrated by the Spirit of God and the angels who move with us every day of our life holding back the hordes of hell. His grace and mercy are forever amazing. I choose Jesus.

Friday Quote

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2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

There is a Time for Everything

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It was my observation while reading Ecclesiastes chapter 3, that Pete Seeger created the song ‘Turn Turn Turn’ from the first 8 verses. Solomon said (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”[NIV]

It is clear there is a plan for us, a plan that has been in place for eons, a plan that includes ebbs and flow of life events, a plan that carries us from birth to death. This plan was built from God’s foreknowledge, (God’s awareness of our choices and decision nuances), he integrates our free will decisions with His goals and forms the plan. Solomon pens the ebbs and flow of life in the context of God’s plan for us. We read about the rhythms of joy and sorrow, tearing down and building, scattering things and gathering things all playing out in our life and the life of our community.

Everyone reading this essay knows that life is full of turns. Not all the turns lead us to smooth waters. Some lead right through the valley of death, complete with tragedy and deep troubles. We know that God provides comfort and protection, but the bumpy road remains. Not all death means the termination of human Life. The death may be of things that matter, or relationships, or feelings, or other things. He uses these troubles to draw us over, around, or through walls that keep us from a deeper trust of his love for us. He uses events (good and bad) to strengthen our character.

There is more — Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 3:11) “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” I think that we know about some things, but there is much knowledge that God keeps tucked away, out of our reach. Human wisdom is real, is true, and extremely useful, but it is built on a limited knowledge structure – the things and ways he chooses to reveal to us. But, for sure, there is not one thing that we can know or ever know apart from God. Everything we experience, encounter, embrace – the good and the bad – is allowed from God. We discover things, we experience all that life brings us and we find trust. His timing is his business; in the end his timing reflects His glory.

Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14) “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to His plan, and nothing taken from His plan.” I think — if we knew everything that God knew it would create a burden that could not be carried. Consider the initial shock that Adam felt after they realized they were being evicted from Eden – I bet it took a while to adapt to their new surroundings. They had two sons, one of the sons killed the other son. This early example of evil is difficult to assimilate. How did things get so far out of control so quickly? I suspect this is why so much is hidden from us.

Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are amazing blessings that are gifted from God to us. With Jesus, hope abounds. We can face a myriad of experiences (good and bad) with hope, knowing we are secure in his grace. I really like the song ‘Turn Turn Turn’. Solomon wrote the lyrics long ago; the 1965 ‘Byrds’ recording holds the distinction of being the oldest known lyric for a #1 U.S. hit on the pop chart. But I think God’s Grace is infinitely better. I choose Jesus.

The appearance of Justice

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It has been my observation while reading scripture on God’s mercy that Justice also appears. We know that Mercy and Justice are attributes of God. We know they both existed before creation; we know they are part of who God is, was, and always shall be. The one true living God has always engaged in mercy when handling our problems and he has always employed justice (fair jurisprudence) when managing cases where his mercy has been rejected, trampled upon, and despised. This was the plan when Jesus walked on earth and he is doing it today, it shall be forever. for as long as we can visualize the future, Elohim will continue – He is God. God’s mercy is not a temporary thing but a strong dominate attribute of the one true living God.

Consider what Micah 6:8 says — He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God [ESV]. When deciding what to do, I think we should start by saying — but for the grace of God, I could be the one to be judged. When we are wronged – we usually have a choice: (1) seek justice or (2) forgive and strengthen the person involved. In general, with mercy, we restore a relationship and move forward towards a positive outcome. The proper outcome of justice should be the same. The notion of walking with God involves finding a proper balance between justice and mercy in a way that advances the cause of Jesus.

I spent many years running a company and was compelled in several cases to explore the relationship between justice and mercy. Justice is rendered when people receive their due. Within the operations of my company, an act of justice typically was causing people to keep their word in agreements. Mercy, on the other hand, was an exercise in forbearance, grace, and compassion (let them off the hook).

I recall a case where I had a client that needed some graphics support for several images in a federal proposal. I reached out to a friend of mine and gave him the subcontract. I defined the requirements and provided a few samples. He did his best, they were not acceptable, I requested and obtained edits to the images, still not good enough. I was starting to push against a due date with no product to deliver. I reached out to another friend, provided the requirements and original samples, he made good stuff, and I delivered the products. Now, what to do with failed graphics. I could not in good faith charge my client for the failures only for the success. I wrestled with paying my failed sub (subcontractor). I knew the failed sub needed the work and I had overestimated his skills. I talked with him, showed him the final results, talked about his mistakes and how to do it better next time, and then paid him. I made the contract with my sub, I concluded I was not clear enough on the acceptance criteria, I took the blame and moved on. I helped him find a job with a local company to get the skills he needed.  Justice? Yes.  Right decision? Absolutely.

Paul says (Ephesians 2:4-6) — because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, … made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by [God’s] grace you have been saved. [For] God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms [NIV].

The deeper truth – it is hard to embrace God’s justice, generally we are not able to fully trust he will deal with the sins committed against us – we want to become part of the vengeance. It is hard to embrace God’s mercy because we are not sure he will accept our meager request for forgiveness, we are not sure he will put away our grievous sin’s. For both viewpoints, there is only one answer. A cross with streaming red blood dripping onto the ground. A tomb with nothing remaining but the empty clothing of a risen Jesus. His mercy and justice will be perfectly applied to close the issues. He will do the right thing. He will never break a bruised reed. He is far more merciful than we can ever imagine.

I choose Jesus.

All Glory, Laud and Honor

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1 All glory, laud, and honor
to you, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.
You are the King of Israel
and David’s royal Son,
now in the Lord’s name coming,
the King and Blessed One.

2 The company of angels
is praising you on high;
and we with all creation
in chorus make reply.
The people of the Hebrews
with palms before you went;
our praise and prayer and anthems
before you we present.

3 To you before your passion
they sang their hymns of praise;
to you, now high exalted,
our melody we raise.
As you received their praises,
accept the prayers we bring,
for you delight in goodness,
O good and gracious King!

Theodulf of Orléans (born 750, probably Spain—died 821, Angers, Anjou [France]) was a prelate, poet, and one of the leading theologians of the Frankish empire.