Snow Like Wool

Psalm 147 links the wonders of creation with God’s providence and grace. The previous post focused on the first part of the psalm, especially v 7-9 that urges us to sing our thanksgiving to God for the gift of rain that sustains all living things.

The closing verses of this psalm swing to the opposite season with a sharp reminder of winter – the irresistible onslaught of cold winds, frosted windows, drifting snow and ice-pellets.

He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?

A Psalm of Water for Thanksgiving

This week-end I will be in New England to celebrate an early Christmas with my three children and six grand-children.

We will have turkey and potatoes and an abundance of food – and, no doubt, a glass of wine to mark the occasion. And we will pause before we eat to do something very important.

From "The Horse and His Boy"

In honor of C.S. Lewis who died forty-eight years ago today, November 22, 1963,  . . . here are a couple of water references from The Chronicles of Narnia.

In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta is travelling across a desert at night. He is thirsty, hungry, tired and lost. . . and feeling very sorry for himself. Suddenly he discovers that someone or something is walking beside him. In his fear he tries to ignore it, but finally whispers, “Who are you?” The unwelcome fellow traveler replies, “One who has waited long for you to speak.”

Our 200th Post

Today we celebrate the 200th post since this blog began in July 2010.

I stand today even more in awe and wonder of our Creator-God than when I first logged on to share my thoughts with an unseen audience around the world.

Every day since I began, the hydrologic cycle has performed flawlessly, and water has continued to flow over the crest of Niagara like a never-failing stream - not because of my blog, admittedly, but in illustration of God’s unfailing love, infinite wisdom and astounding beauty that I have attempted to portray in each unique post.

The Scent of Water - Wells of Hope

In Job 14, the beleaguered wise man asks a lot of questions trying to solve the riddle of life and death.

Using a string of similes, Job ponders our human mortality – we’re like flowers that wither, fleeting shadows, day laborers (here today, gone tomorrow), lakes and rivers that evaporate, soil and stone eroded by running water.

But knotted into this string of death images is the intriguing thing called hope. Is it a mirage? Is it a false dream, a futile longing, that our lives have meaning and significance? Or does the world contain hints that point to a reality bigger than death?

At the Scent of Water

One of the signs of global climate change is that many places in the world are becoming drier by the year, though not always a result of decisions as reckless as the Aral Sea (see last week's post). Climate change is taking its toll and desertification is encroaching on many communities around the world.

It’s not just happening in Africa, Australia and California. Climatologists and meteorologists in central Europe have said that the region is seeing more and more extreme weather including long periods of dry and hot weather in the summer, severe flooding and bitter winter weather.

Your Troops Will Be Willing

In honor of Remembrance Day, here is a quote from Psalm 110 - verse 3

Your troops will be willing

on your day of battle.

Arrayed in holy splendor,

your young men will come to you

like dew from the morning’s womb.

As my brother said in an early morning e-mail today - "enjoy a wonderful day of Freedom - and remember that it wasn't free".

I'll resume my reflections (see yesterday's post) on Job's insights on life and death in the next post.

Poppy Photo - Flanders Fields Music

The Aral Sea Disaster

The Aral Sea stands as one of the monstrous environmental catastrophes of the 20th Century.

Before 1960, it was the world's fourth largest inland sea – behind Asia’s Caspian Sea, North America’s Lake Superior and Africa’s Lake Victoria – with an area of 68,000 km². It had a vibrant fishing industry employing 40,000 people. Today discarded fishing boats lie on the sand 20 kilometers from shore.

In the 1950’s and 60’s Soviet engineers began diverting its two major inflowing rivers to irrigate cotton fields. As a result Uzbekistan has become one of the world’s major cotton producers. But this drawdown had a disastrous result as the sea lost most of the inflow of its source waters. The mighty Aral Sea began shrinking – and shrank steadily until, in 2004 it was only 25% of its original surface area, and by 2007 it had declined to 10% of its original size.

Gihon Spring and Spiritual Disciplines

In the past two posts we looked at the Gihon spring on the lower east side of Jerusalem and the some of the ancient and historic engineering strategies by Jerusalem’s inhabitants to protect the spring from invaders and to channel the spring water down to the Pool of Siloam in the south part of the city for easier access by Jerusalem’s citizens. Hezekiah’s tunnel and the Siloam pool are still being used today tourists can walk the length of it and archeological excavations continue to uncover its marvels.

Hezekiah illustrates the partnership between nature and human development. Every city, no matter how blessed it is with natural resources, needs human ingenuity to protect and develop it. This partnership shows up in many areas of life where natural gifts must be supplemented by human initiative.

Gihon Spring and Hezekiah's Tunnel

In the previous post we looked at the Gihon spring on the lower east side of Jerusalem and the shaft used by ancient residents to access the water. During Solomon’s reign another passage, the Siloam channel, was excavated channeling Gihon water to the south of the city, but still outside the city walls.

Three centuries after Solomon, Jerusalem found itself in dire straights. The Assyrians who had already defeated the northern kingdom were threatening the cities of Judah. King Hezekiah (715-687 BCE) understood that without a secure water source, Jerusalem could not withstand a long siege.

The Gihon Spring

You would expect Jerusalem to be a dry city. With no river and very little rainfall how has it survived as a vital urban center for more than three millennia?

Since ancient times, Jerusalem has relied on two natural springs: En-Rogel in the Kidron Valley on the south side of the city, and the more important one, the Gihon spring on the east side of the hill of Jerusalem. The Gihon is a karst spring fed by groundwater that accumulates in a subterranean cave; whenever the space fills to the brim, it empties through cracks in the rock and is siphoned to the surface. But that surface is still well below the level of the city.