Thought for Today
Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again.
Psalm 89:28 Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.
1 Corinthians 16:13 Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
Yesterday, that verse above from Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonia was included in the Lectionary readings. Every time I come to that passage in the triannual cycle of readings, I find myself focusing on Paul’s phrase, “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.”
Irrespective of age, economics, societal conventions, fashion trends and almost every other consideration in my life, I always find great comfort when I remember to stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that I was taught. For all of us, there are those ‘troubling times.’ The reasons vary and are both personal, individual and collective. No matter how much we claim to wish otherwise, life never stands still. The world moves on, inexorably.
Our only options seem to be (1) hide our head in the sand, (2) ignore changing situations and be steamrolled flat as they move over us, (3) try to apply yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems, or, (4) change, adapt and move forward. We can vainly tilt at windmills like Don Quixote. It’s been a while since I read the book, but as I recall, that did not work out well and mostly served to give us a catch phrase for vain and misguided efforts.
If we (wisely) choose option 4, if we change, adapt and move forward, we cannot do so without having our lives firmly anchored and grounded. Otherwise, we are no more effective than a dandelion blossom tossed hither and thither by every gust of wind. We must have a fixed frame of reference, a solid, stable point of reference. We can only find such an anchor by standing firm and holding fast to the traditions that we were taught.
Obviously, we cannot blindly stand firm and hold fast to all the traditions we were taught. At one point, our ancestors were taught that the earth was flat and that were they to sail too far, they would fall off. History, science and technology have taught us the fallacies of some of the teachings of the past.
One thing which should seem obvious to us all (but which I felt I needed to point out in my sermon yesterday) is that all of us are taught. Infants are taught first by their parents. Parents are the source of many of our most fundamental beliefs and traditions. Sometimes our parents themselves were taught traditions and ‘facts’ later proved to be wrong.
As we stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that we were taught, we also need to listen to and evaluate the new traditions and information we continue to be taught by teachers, colleagues and the world around us. Life is, or at least should be a continuing learning experience.
“The quote ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’ is often attributed to Winston Churchill, who paraphrased a similar saying by George Santayana: ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Churchill used this phrase in a 1948 speech to the House of Commons.” (Bing search)
Much the same idea can be applied to science, technology, sociology and a lot of other ‘ologies.’ Life is, or at least should be a continuing learning experience. Our learning, however, still needs an anchor point, that point where we stand firm and hold fast.
For Christians and Jews, the prophet Hosea offers us an excellent anchor point, “12:6 But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” Micah reminds us of what to expect when we do return to our God, “6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Imagine a world anchored firmly and fast on the words of the prophets! “What a wonderful world that would be!”
Stay safe, stand firm and hold fast, trust God,
Pastor Ray