Her heart is heavy, her movements slow, her face bears evidence of her grief. This road she now treads she has walked a time before. Yet now the sting of her pain seems even more intense. It wasn’t too long ago that she laid to rest the love of her youth, the man who treated her like his queen and built her a home in the midst of green pastures. In a twinkling of the batting of an eye her status had changed from wife to that of widow. Now life has dealt her yet another heavy blow as her only reason for living, her only son, lies lifeless on a stretcher being carried to his burial place.
Right at that moment she longed to bury her head one last time in his dark brown curly hair, to embrace him to smell the woody scent on his masculine skin and hear the laugh of his contagious laugh resonate in her ear. Not even this last request would be given her as touching the dead would make her ceremonially unclean.
It is ironic that she lives in a place called Nain. The meaning of that name, Nain, is Pleasant. How is it possible to live in a place called Pleasant when all you have to show for it is loss, pain and simply more never ending pain?
And now as death made its exit through the city gates, Life made his triumphant entry into her Pleasant place. For the first time in her whole ordeal she feels as if someone can actually see the pain trapped inside her heart. Without a word He motions to the pall bearers to come to a halt. And so without being concerned about becoming ceremonially unclean and being frowned upon by those around, He touches the stretcher. As death gave way to this great exchange, life was restored to the young man again. He sat up on the stretcher and began to speak of what it felt like to have awoken from his deep sleep.
While people questioned and others rejoiced this miraculous work, the widow from a place called Nain wept even more. For her hope has sprung alive and her joy been restored in her Pleasant place. What was meant to be a funeral filled with sorrow turned into a joyous homecoming celebration.
Pleasant places often bear marks of excruciating memories of pain and rejection. Its water colour stains reflects hours of tears and often years of torment. It questions the very notion as to whether the boundary lines spoken about by the Psalmist have fallen in pleasant places. Yet, in the midst of all the uncertainties of life lies this eternal truth, that hope is not merely given, but hope is created, when the Giver of Life makes his graceful entrance into our Pleasant Places.
Rodrique E. George
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Neos...like never before
After months of preparation the day finally arrived.
Perfectly starched napkins, the finest Jewish cuisine, the best musical band in the region of Cana… As they welcomed their guests to their wedding banquet they ran the checklist through their minds. Of course, how could they forget about the wine? Old Jacob, the local connoisseur gave them a good deal on the best wine in his cellar… several gallons for their big day.
Their thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mary. She was responsible for Hannah, the bride’s exquisite wedding gown. Mary was accompanied by her son, a quiet young man. She introduced him to the bride and groom. “Jesus… his name is Jesus,” she said.
Cutlery beating rhythmically on plates, beautifully dressed Jewish folk chatting merrily about their bountiful harvest, melodious music setting the mood for a picture-perfect wedding… There was however something strangely different about this wedding banquet.
Mary stood within earshot from the wedding planner when the waiter broke the dreadful news to her. Not even two hours into the wedding banquet and they had a major crisis… they’d run out of wine. Mary and the bride’s mother had been friends since childhood. She thought of the humiliation, the embarrassment… the wagging tongues gathering in the town square talking about the fact that they had run out of wine. She whispered something in the ear of Jesus. He rose from His seat and ventured towards the kitchen, Mary following shortly behind Him. Before He could utter a word to anyone, Mary instructed the waiters to do exactly as He told them.
They filled every water pitcher and clay vessel they could find. Yes, He told them to fill it with water. Ehud, one of the waiters, thought this was absurd. Yet, there was something about this cool, calm and sophisticated looking yet simple man that gripped his attention. “Now go and serve the guests,” he said.
Neos, means “like never before.” The conventional way of wine-making dictates that good wine is distilled and cellared over time. Never before has such matured, dark-ruby, purple rimmed wine with richly flavoured nose of concentrated mouth-filling fruit been produced in this way… Neos, like never before… and now the guests were really talking. This was not common practice at any wedding banquet. The good wine is normally served first, yet they actually kept the best wine for last.
YOU are standing on the threshold of a new beginning. YOUR one foot standing firmly in the yesteryear of yesterday and the other in 2008, the year of Neos, like never before. Before you can take hold of the finest tasting wine served from the Master’s goblet you need to remove your foot from the mundane year of man and place it firmly in the place called “like never before.” It is from that place that healing flows into the decaying bones of infirmity. It renders hope to the person masking a torrid life of emotional pain. From it flows a fountain flooding a masonic heart of bitterness… it is within reach of the Master’s hand changing the negative cycle of a barren womb. It has promising benefits for the reshaping of a marriage once seen as going nowhere slowly. Broken dreams are reconstructed into an academy of brilliance never experienced on the face of earth ever before.
YOUR Neos moment is knocking at your door. God is challenging you to a life where you are free to grow… on His terms, far removed from where you are in control. YOUR Neos moment beckons you to seize from pushing your way… He only requires you to allow Him to do it His way… like never before.
Perfectly starched napkins, the finest Jewish cuisine, the best musical band in the region of Cana… As they welcomed their guests to their wedding banquet they ran the checklist through their minds. Of course, how could they forget about the wine? Old Jacob, the local connoisseur gave them a good deal on the best wine in his cellar… several gallons for their big day.
Their thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mary. She was responsible for Hannah, the bride’s exquisite wedding gown. Mary was accompanied by her son, a quiet young man. She introduced him to the bride and groom. “Jesus… his name is Jesus,” she said.
Cutlery beating rhythmically on plates, beautifully dressed Jewish folk chatting merrily about their bountiful harvest, melodious music setting the mood for a picture-perfect wedding… There was however something strangely different about this wedding banquet.
Mary stood within earshot from the wedding planner when the waiter broke the dreadful news to her. Not even two hours into the wedding banquet and they had a major crisis… they’d run out of wine. Mary and the bride’s mother had been friends since childhood. She thought of the humiliation, the embarrassment… the wagging tongues gathering in the town square talking about the fact that they had run out of wine. She whispered something in the ear of Jesus. He rose from His seat and ventured towards the kitchen, Mary following shortly behind Him. Before He could utter a word to anyone, Mary instructed the waiters to do exactly as He told them.
They filled every water pitcher and clay vessel they could find. Yes, He told them to fill it with water. Ehud, one of the waiters, thought this was absurd. Yet, there was something about this cool, calm and sophisticated looking yet simple man that gripped his attention. “Now go and serve the guests,” he said.
Neos, means “like never before.” The conventional way of wine-making dictates that good wine is distilled and cellared over time. Never before has such matured, dark-ruby, purple rimmed wine with richly flavoured nose of concentrated mouth-filling fruit been produced in this way… Neos, like never before… and now the guests were really talking. This was not common practice at any wedding banquet. The good wine is normally served first, yet they actually kept the best wine for last.
YOU are standing on the threshold of a new beginning. YOUR one foot standing firmly in the yesteryear of yesterday and the other in 2008, the year of Neos, like never before. Before you can take hold of the finest tasting wine served from the Master’s goblet you need to remove your foot from the mundane year of man and place it firmly in the place called “like never before.” It is from that place that healing flows into the decaying bones of infirmity. It renders hope to the person masking a torrid life of emotional pain. From it flows a fountain flooding a masonic heart of bitterness… it is within reach of the Master’s hand changing the negative cycle of a barren womb. It has promising benefits for the reshaping of a marriage once seen as going nowhere slowly. Broken dreams are reconstructed into an academy of brilliance never experienced on the face of earth ever before.
YOUR Neos moment is knocking at your door. God is challenging you to a life where you are free to grow… on His terms, far removed from where you are in control. YOUR Neos moment beckons you to seize from pushing your way… He only requires you to allow Him to do it His way… like never before.
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