1) Returning from Moscow and trying to get on full-time with the State Dept. was a wilderness experience. I left Moscow without a job, in a leave-without-pay (LWOP) status, on Dec. 15, 1995, the day Newt Gingrich and his Republican buddies shut down the government, I think to spite Bill Clinton. We relocated to No. Virginia, so I could try to get another federal job and keep my government service unbroken. I took the metro in to DC every couple of weeks to check job postings at State, and also take computer classes at night to improve my skills. Nothing was happening, so I asked State to extend my LWOP for another six months, and started the process of going back to the USPS, something I dreaded and really didn't want to do. But to keep my federal career intact I retook the clerk/carrier exam and was able to get rehired less than one week before my LWOP expired. I was at one of the lowest points in my life, having trudged through a rainy, cold January day of carrying mail, when I returned home to two messages from State, telling me to call back ASAP, to get the paperwork started to begin work at FSI (Foreign Service Institute). I was totally stunned and disbelieving. I had not interviewed or even been contacted about any possible position, and here I was being offered a job, in technology, at State! Only God could have "made that way"!
2) Thankfully, I don't see myself in a wilderness now. I see myself in a good spot, healthy and happy, enjoying AZ and retirement.
3) I have seen God's hand in my life many times, but usually only when I look in the "rear view mirror". Only upon reflection, can I see how He has guided my steps. If I was to name my "well" it would be "Moscow". Just getting there, and continuing my federal career was a miracle, but the return (above) was a clear deliverance story for me.
4) The most glaring example is slave traders justifying the exploitation of black people claiming the curse of Noah's son Ham rendered all Africans subhuman. Sadly, racism of varying degrees still persists. The story of exodus ("Let My People GO!") inspired the abolitionist movement of the 19th century and the civil rights movement of the 20th century. Th Bible can be used to justify any position, which shakes and strengthens my faith. We need discernment, and Jesus as our model for how we interpret the Bible. His "fulfillment of the Law" was love, compassion, healing, and forgiveness; not violence and oppression.
5) After Martha's brain surgery in 1997, there did not seem to be a way where she would recover. Some doctors said she may be stuck in a wheelchair with little cognitive function. I was afraid for our future, yet I knew, deep down, that God would somehow bring her back. Many people prayed for her healing and gradually she came back. This was a wilderness time for both of us where we were starved for any "morsel of manna" as a sign of God's presence. Today she is a miracle of God's grace and healing, a testimony to the power of prayer. I knew God had to make a way (for her recovery) because to the human eye, there was no way.
6) My impression of the Law has been and is negative. I understand how it brought order and stability and limits, but it was also very oppressive and patriarchal. Women were treated worse than slaves in many cases. I see it now as a way for God to "herd His Hebrew cats", to try to control and focus them on being God's representatives on earth. We have to remember that "God is like Jesus" - who came to fulfill the Law perfectly through his love, forgiveness, healing, and ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
7) I remember early on in my Bible studies, a strong emphasis on context: the who, where and when is often more important than the how and why. We all come to the Bible (and everything else) with our own personal bias, often trying to find Godly support for our own preconceived views. We have to guard against this misuse of Scripture. Asking ourselves, "What am I looking for?" is an honest way to keep a check on our personal biases.
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1. The experience that sticks out for me is very recent. A couple of weeks ago I was hooked up to an EEG machine for 46 hours. For 45 hours and 45 minutes I was seizure free. Just a few of minutes before I was unhooked I had one. As usual, I did not know it happened. Initially, I was really frustrated. Gina said it was the first time she had seen me truly upset since the diagnosis. I broke down. Since then I have stepped back and found some perspective I am certain it was a God thing. What if it had happened 15 minutes after I was unhooked instead? We’d think everything is good right now and it really isn’t. That would be even worse news in the big picture of what I am working through right now.
ReplyDelete2. I am obviously in uncharted territory for myself right now. Being very healthy until recently this has been tough. Overall, I haven’t leaned on God as much as I should have either and I am working on being better about that.
3. As I stated in the first question, I think that experience was definitely a God thing. Considering I don’t know when the seizures are happening who knows how long it would have been until I was hooked up again (and who knows if we would have even seen something when I was). I don’t have a name for it at this point but when I look back on it down the road I am sure I will eventually.
4. I loved how blatantly Evans stated it in the book…that “the truth is, you can bend Scripture to say just about anything you want it to say.” To me, that is upsetting and has certainly shaken my faith in the Bible overall. Evans also talks about it earlier in the book about how she needed to refocus on how she connected with the Bible and I have also had to do something similar over time to feel good about what the Bible is and how it can help in my life.
5. Obviously I was not nearly as intimately involved but the Martha example would be one I would use too…and how amazing she has been through it all. She could be so angry about it and that is not the position she has decided to take, which speaks to both her faith and her character.
6. I am certain that the A.J. Jacobs book did not speak to you in the same way it spoke to me but it really helped to put in perspective how ridiculous some of “the Law” is. I know some of my responses sound like I don’t have a great respect for the Bible. But, that is not it at all. I did have to adjust my perspective though. Overall, I think it is an amazing book…I just needed to learn how to connect with it first.
7. I agree with that, and is the reason why so many denominations and viewpoints exist. I love it when something can be interpreted in more than one way, when it is healthy. But, I don’t always see it that way with the Bible unfortunately.