Armory Birds

Here’s a story: Lee and I recently moved to a hundred-year-old house in the Old Mechanicsville neighborhood, so we have some new things to get used to…like roaches.  (We actually had roaches in the last place we lived but there weren’t as many cracks and crannies for them to escape into!!!)

We returned home from a movie late on Thursday night.  There was a roach in the kitchen.  We attempted to squash it.  It escaped into a crack (of course!).  Then we heard a rushing, rustling sound from the living room.   Lee though intruder; I thought giant rat.  We were both wrong.  It was birds, three of them.  They had come in through the fireplace in our living room.  They were flying around our living room and foyer, somewhat inexpertly, I quickly noticed, as if they were not quite fully-fledged.  The other thing I noticed immediately was that I had no idea what kind of birds they were.  Lee and I both thought they looked like bats.  They were mostly black or very dark gray, with pointed wings, which they held open when they clung to our curtains. 

            I’m not very good with animals.  I had no intention of touching the birds with my bare hands but they didn’t find their way to the door on their own, so I caught them in a hat and put them outside.  I was really sad that these young birds didn’t seem to be good flyers yet and releasing them might be a bad thing.  But I didn’t know what else to do.

            I kept thinking about our avian intruders.  I kept wondering what type of birds they were.  I left for the beach.  (Incidentally, after I had departed, ANOTHER bird came down the chimney and Lee had to catch it and release it!  He couldn’t just hide under a trashcan this time and leave me to the bird-catching!) I googled “birds in your chimney” and immediately found out that we had chimney swifts.  I learned several facts about chimney swifts:

• Chimney swifts roost in holes like hollow logs, building nests that cling to the vertical sides, but the reduction of their habitats forced them to find alternative nesting places – chimneys.
• Chimney swifts prefer stone or brick chimneys.  New homes with metal flues and chimney caps are unusable for swifts.
• Chimney swifts only reside in North America in the summer (April – July).  They are migratory, spending the winter in eastern Peru.  (Wow, that’s crazy!)  They have also been found in Europe.
• They are insectivores; a family of swifts may devour up to 12,000 insects per day.
• They are incredibly difficult to raise in captivity and are on endangered species lists.
• Keeping your chimney clean, which you should probably do anyway, is the best way to ensure that chimney swifts can build a good nest.  If the chimney is sooty, the nest will not adhere to the side and might fall into your fireplace, spilling baby birds.

I’m excited about hosting chimney swifts!!!  I’m sad that I wasn’t able to help the first family of swifts but if they hadn’t ended up in my living room, I might not have ever learned about them!  It has been fun to let God teach me about Armory Birds! 

New Poem

Buzz [5.25.11]

Drink a cup of coffee

Strong coffee.

Wake up the body

The mind and heart are waiting

For everything else to

Catch up.

Leave room inside,

Vast and spacious

Montana soul.

Wide sky of blue

For flying,

For falling,

For shouting out the Name.

No space for

The Spirit of Lightness.

Gravity makes things heavy.

Heaviness makes things light.

Eternity is clapping,

For the runner

Is running his course.

The Word is weighty.

Teaching the steps

To the elusive dance.

Speaking out the movement

One by one by one

Wooden legs waiting

Stone feet tapping

An all-new rhythm.

The Word

Is not whatever.

It comes

And when it comes

It makes its home

And dwells.

Little Love Stories

In my Fiction Writing class we've been talking about short-short stories, otherwise known as flash-fiction or whatever.  Basically, it's a really short story.  No big deal, right?  Well, actually, for story-tellers, it can be a challenge to tell an entire story in less than a thousand words!!!  So, here's a couple of little love stories.  The first one was inspired by words from Parke Cottrell and a game called Buzz Words.  

Little Love Story #1:

On the oncology floor of the hospital, the sterile surfaces were disguised with plastic grapes and fake flowers.  The kids would pull off the leaves and write love notes to each other. 

On more than one occasion, these secret communiqués had fallen into the wrong hands, causing nurses to loose entire nights of sleep to bouts of weeping.

There was a file box behind the desk at the nurse’s station jammed with memorabilia; things the children had left behind when they moved on.  Photographs, colored-in pictures, tiny caps for bald heads.  The nurses tried not to open it too often.

On Thursday, poor emaciated Johnny succumbed.  They removed a green scrap from his clutching, lifeless hand.  "I love you," was all it said.  Sister Lilac burst into tears.  Only a week ago, she had retrieved a similar artifact from the cold grip of little Estelle.  "I love you too," was the simple message inscribed in Johnny’s enfeebled script on the artificial foliage.

Little Love Story #2:

“You know I would give my life for you,” Jimmy told her on a regular basis.  “Clearly not,” said Maggie, as the screen door slammed behind him yet again.  “Dying for someone and living for them are two very different things,” she always told the cuckoo clock in the hall.  When Maggie heard that old Jimmy’s been run down by a drunken driver outside a bar in Reno, she sighed and shrugged.  “At least I know he finally did something for me.”

Little Love Story #3:

She had cried all night; she was gone in the morning. She’d left only her handkerchief. He hadn’t known what to say to her, though now many options came to him. He held the hankie to his heart and cursed himself for driving her away with his silence. She needed words the way a flower needs water. But he’d never had a green thumb. It was just his way, to let things die. They’d had weeks and weeks of beautiful springtime but summer heat always follows, drying up the lush growth and scorching the ground. This kind of movement was confusing. Just when he’d gotten used to a season, it moved on. The world was always moving on and he was always struggling to catch up.
Write her a letter, said a tiny voice.
It’s too late, he said in response. But the paper was there and a pen on the desk in the kitchen. He opened toe drawer and found a single stamp among the litter of bills and papers.
“She’ll never get it,” he said aloud. He wanted her there, with him. Tangible. To trust his words to go out into the wide world and, somehow, to find their way to her seemed a leap of faith impossible for him to make. But it was the only way for him to tell her what she desperately needed to hear and what, he now realized, he desperately needed to say.

There you go!!!  All that story goodness in less than 500 words!


Peace,
Laura Cottrell 

Altered Books

This is a quick introduction to the world of Altered Books:

Begin with an ordinary book (preferably one you don't want to read, since you will be "altering" it quite a bit!).  

Rip out some of the pages.

Using your trusty Glue Stick, glue some of the pages together.

Hardback books are nice and sturdy!!!

Next, get out your Sharpie markers, crayons, photos, magazine clippings, stamps, paint, etc...and just have fun!  You can choose a theme for your Altered Book (such as "My Summer") or just use your Altered book for experimentation!

Here are some photos of pages from some of my Altered Books:  This one was done with paint chips, foam letter stamps, and acrylic paint.

This page was made with magazine clippings and cardboard letter stickers.

This page is a paper and magazine clipping collage on the theme of Psalm 130.

You can even cut out a space in your book and glue larger things inside it, like these shells.

The Book of Luke - Laura

So…the book of Luke.  I like Luke because he’s authentic.  He was a doctor and the only non-Jew to pen one of the gospels.  I think that’s important because he is writing to his Greek friends, people who don’t necessarily know all about the Jewish religion, people who are probably skeptical about the whole thing.  And he just tells it like it happened.  I love that Luke doesn’t pull punches; he doesn’t leave out or gloss over the hard and crazy things Jesus said.  (Check out Luke chapter 11 where Jesus curses the religious leaders with six woes for being “like unmarked graves which men walk over without knowing it”!!!) 

Jesus is inviting us to take off our masks!

In twenty-first century America, we are used to having everything sold to us.  We expect everything, including our breakfast cereal and toilet paper, to come to us in neat packages with brightly-colored pictures on the front.  I am bothered by the fact that we want Jesus to come the same way.  We want a story from the Bible that goes down easy, that we can pour milk over and eat with a spoon.  But Jesus doesn’t need a PR representative.  Jesus isn’t selling.  He told some rich religious people, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.  What is highly valued among men is detestable to God.” (Luke 16: 14-15)  Jesus sees through the masks and invites us into the kingdom of God where we learn to play by different rules and value the things that God values.  There are a lot of lessons from Jesus about taking off masks.  We can’t hide our hearts from God.  He knows how messy and needy we are.  Jesus words are heavy; they don’t go down easy.  So, whether we are “expert witnesses” who’ve been following along with Jesus for years or, like Luke’s Greek friends—new to the whole thing, we’ve got to peel off the masks of self-justification and cynicism and recognize Jesus.  In Luke chapter 4, a demon recognizes Jesus, saying, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”  It’s pretty crazy that demons know the truth that religious people are blind to. 

            God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear you, and hearts that are courageous enough to follow you into the radical life you call us to!

-Peace,

Laura Cottrell

Haggai - Laura

The Book of Haggai is about building houses.  It's about priorities.  God tells his people that he wants them to rebuild his house, the Temple, and to stop being so focused on building up their own houses.  He spends chapter 1 reminding them of this discrepancy; he even reminds them that the work they are doing isn't satisfying them (Haggai 1:6).  They need to check their priorities.  They need to see the bigger picture:  God's house is more important than my little house; God's kingdom is more important than the little kingdom I spend so much time trying to build.  Through the prophet Haggai, God is reminding his people that his kingdom is a big deal.  He chose them (2:23), he was with them (1:13 - so huge!!!), and he even went so far as to stir their hearts to motivate them to do what he was asking (1:14).  

God says: 

"I will shake the heavens and the earth.  I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms."  And so he does.  

Peace,

Laura

Picture: "The Kingdom" by Laura Cottrell, pencil on paper

Jude - Laura

The book of Jude doesn’t get quoted all that often; it’s only a page long and some of it is fairly obtuse (see verse 9 about the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses…sometimes I’m surprised by what I find in the Bible! Isn’t God mysterious?!). However, the last section, entitled “Doxology” in my NIV, is epic. The word Doxology is a Greek word which literally means “glory word”. I think that’s a fitting title for Jude’s last section, which invokes God’s blessing on the reader in a powerful way. As you read this “glory word,” may the glory of God be spoken over you:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)

Peace,
Laura
 
Photo: The Gloria Patri - Traditional Latin Doxology

Colossians – Laura

Paul knows about dying. He talks about dying a lot in his letters (Paul uses the words “death”, “die”, “died”, “dead”, and “crucified” almost 150 times in his letters!!!). He’s not trying to be morbid…he’s trying to follow Christ. Paul understands the intrinsic part that death plays in the life of the believer. Not only are we dying, physically, even as we live, but we are born spiritually dead. We must be made alive.  These forces of life and death are at work in us, even as we go about the very normal thing we think of as life. We tend to think that to live, we must go on breathing, talking, and walking around. But Paul knows that Real Life is so much more than that, in fact, it has nothing to do with physical life at all. “You died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3-4) We think death is something that is coming, one day, hopefully not too soon. But Paul knows that life, as we have known it, is over… “having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12) We just can’t think about life the same way anymore. Life is over, death moves in, but only for a time. New life is coming!

Peace,
Laura

(Photo by Massimo Catarinella, some rights reserved)

Jonah - By Laura

I feel like I got gypped out of the REAL story of Jonah during my years of attending Sunday School as a child.  I knew all about the whale and the fact that Jonah decided not to obey God, which was the move that landed him in the belly of said whale.  But there are a few plot points I believe are worth noting, that didn't make it onto the flannel board.

1. Jonah didn't run from God simply because he didn't want to serve God or "do mission work." He didn't disobey because he wanted to stay home. No, Jonah heads off to Tarshish, wherever that is, because, as he says, "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."  Jonah knows God.

2. Just because Jonah knows God, his character, and what he's likely to do in a given situation, doesn't mean Jonah likes it!  He has a reason to dislike the Assyrian's, whose capital city is Ninevah.  The Assyrians violently destroyed the Kingdom of Israel in 720 BC and deported many of it's people.  Jonah's life is dated around the 8th century BC, just in time to put him in the middle of that mess.  He's bitter, he's scarred, and he's holding out for godly retribution.

3. Jonah is not a liar; he tells the men on the ship exactly where he's going and why.  He's not trying to hide anything.  He knows God has tabs on him.  He's not spineless either.  He's dead asleep in the hold of a ship in the middle of a raging storm.  And, he seems fine with being tossed overboard in order to save the ship.  However, getting swallowed by a whale seems to be too much for him.

4. Jonah prays.  He believes in God and knows Him intimately.  He is learning lessons about grace.

5. God screws around with Jonah, provoking his already angry, fed-up heart with His little vine stunt.  I would be pissed off too.  Sometimes, obeying God looks like trekking through the desert to preach good news to your worst enemies...and God has mercy on whom he will have mercy.  Fortunately, God seems to have mercy on Jonah, taking time to explain His motives and give Jonah a little bit of perspective.  "Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well.  Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (Jonah 4:11)
6. Jonah gets used as an example by Jesus, or rather, the faith of the Assyrians of Ninevah is contrasted with the unbelief of the Israelites of Jesus' day.  Read Matthew 12: 38-45 for some hard words Jesus spoke to hard hearts.  


Having taken a closer look at the story of Jonah, I realize that I'm a fan.  He has guts and he knows God.  Apparently, agreeing with God about all the fine print isn't a prerequisite to being used by Him to fulfill his purposes...thanks be to God for that!!! 

Matthew 21-25. thoughts from Lee

Between the Triumphal Entry and the Last Supper, Jesus was busy teaching. His words to me in these five chapters can be summed up pretty succintly: It's not like you thought.

You thought it was about efficient worship. It's not like you thought.

You thought that your service to God was of primary importance. It's not like your thought.

You thought that you deserved your wages. It's not like you thought.

You thought that right behavior leads to "good" results. It's not like you thought.

You thought that you know what "good" means. It's not like you thought.

You thought first was first and last was last. It's not like you thought.


God, you are violently removing assumptions from my heart. You are ruining my system of theology and how I live my life. Help me to receive your Word.

Thoughts on Holy Week

The wounded surgeon plies the steel

That questions the distempered part;

Beneath the bleeding hands we feel

The sharp compassion of the healer’s art

Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.

Our only health is the disease

If we obey the dying nurse

Whose constant care is not to please

But to remind of our and Adam’s curse

And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse.

The whole earth is our hospital

Endowed by the ruined millionaire,

Wherein, if we do well, we shall,

Die of that absolute paternal care

That will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere.

The chill ascends from feet to knees,

The fever sings in mental wires.

If to be warmed, then I must freeze

And quake in frigid purgatorial fires

Of which the flame is roses and the smoke is briars.

The dripping blood our only drink,

The bloody flesh our only food:

In spite of this we like to think

That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood—

Again, in spite of that we call this Friday good.

-T.S. Eliot, from East Coker

I love Eliot’s take on Holy Week, the reason for it, and our response. 

Last Thursday, Lee and I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  I wanted to see the work of a German artist named Gerhard Richter, who I had read about in the most recent issue of Image Journal.  His work is incredible, much of it is so realistic, it looks like a photograph.  But the piece that struck me the most, was a piece called Blood Red Mirror.  This painting was created by applying red paint to the back of a piece of glass and the result is a colored yet highly reflective surface.  When you stand in front of it, you see yourself and your entire world tinted blood red.  For me, it was a great gift to be reminded on Maundy Thursday of the way that Christ’s death color’s my life.

And somehow, “in spite of that we call this Friday good.”

Spiegel, blutrot, 1991 by Gerhard Richter.

Photo Credit: http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/paintings/other/detail.php?6876

Mount Cammerer

Lee and I hiked Mt. Cammerer last Saturday...11 miles, knee deep snow, which no one had made tracks in.  We did.  It was awesome (and the hardest thing I've done in a long time!)

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."
-Ecclesiastes 1:9

There may be nothing new...
but what's already here is pretty neat!!!



Peace,
Laura

Thoughts of Cynicism - Laura

The Blog through the Bible continues with Ecclesiastes...

I can be pretty cynical when I set my mind to it.  Maybe that’s why I’ve always enjoyed the book of Ecclesiastes.  I agree with Solomon, it does seem like most of life is pointless most of the time.  I grew up attending church and felt like people often told me (or at least gave me the impression) that it is ungodly to be cynical.  We’re supposed to be happy, right?  We are supposed to trust God to make everything ok, right? Yes, but Solomon just knew there wasn’t a formula for finding meaning in life.  Life is defined by tension and struggle and only a fool is glib enough to pretend it isn’t.  Only a fool thinks that happiness is the only meaning in life.  Only a fool pays little enough attention to actually FEEL content with his lot in life.  One of the greatest gifts that God gives to men is discontentedness, what I like to call Holy Unrest.  It drives us, it gives us a hunger for more, it points us to God—the only one who can give meaning to our lives and our inevitable deaths. I’m learning that a little cynicism is healthy.  It keeps me humble – I haven’t figured everything out.  It keeps me engaged – it makes space for questions.  It keeps me hungry – willing to feast on the crumbs of truth and meaning that I find in the world around me – gifts of the God that Solomon so wisely advised his readers to fear, obey and stand in awe of.  So, cynicism isn’t a crime…but don’t overdo it:

“Do not be overrighteous,

Neither be overwise—

The men who fears God

Will avoid all extremes.”

-Ecclesiastes 7:16&18

Peace,

Laura Cottrell

Ecclesiastes - Lee

I have something in my eye. It has been there all day. Well, actually, I think that my eye has been scratched slightly. My eye feels fine while it is open, but every blink feels like I am rubbing a tiny grain of sand against my eyeball... it is not very comfortable. It's pretty rare that I stop to consider my eyes. For 24 years they have worked pretty much perfectly. I have been able to see everything in front of me (provided that there's enough light). These eyes are good eyes; you can take 'em to the bank. I can see.

At least that's what I like to think. What if everything that I thought I was seeing clearly was actually distorted?

In The Princess Bride, the Sicilian bad guy loves to use the word "Inconceivable!"At a later point, Fezek (Andre the Giant), offers a funny little challenge to the short, bald Sicilian, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."In Ecclesiastes, I hear a challenge from Solomon. It's as if he is getting up in the face of my Christianity and questioning it's basic form and function.

I want to do what's right, earn a living, love and support my family, be wise, be happy, be blessed by God. Solomon informs me of an unnerving truth:
Everything is meaningless when I do it. That which originates from me is vanity... that's hard for me

That which originates from God - whether ease or struggle - is good and right.

more later.

Lee

Ecclesiastes 1 - the Truth is - by Lee

For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge
increases sorrow.
Ecclesiastes 1:18


The truth will set me free. But the truth will not make me happy. For the truth is, there is something terribly wrong, isn't there? (Thank you, V.)

Thoughts on 2 Timothy - Laura

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

What does it mean to have a form of godliness but to deny its power? 

What is godliness?

I am struck by the forcefulness of these words in 2 Timothy because they do a pretty good job of describing most people these days.  (yes, even people in churches.)  Maybe there's more to godliness than merely being good.  Maybe it has more to do with being like God himself, in all the mystery of what that means...if so, I'm thinking it will be a good idea to get to know the God I profess to imitate.  I do know him but as I get to know him better, hopefully, I will see a little bit more of the power of godliness at work in my life!!!

Peace,
Laura Cottrell

New Post - Lee

Why is this so hard for me? I don't have a good answer for that...

I have enjoyed reading: Song of Songs, Nahum, 2 Timothy (almost finished)... I just can't seem to make myself get on here and write about it. I really hate writing things down. And I especially dislike writing things that other people can read (even if no one actually is reading it).

Lent is here. Tonight we will be attending the Ash Wednesday service at church. I really don't know what will be said, but I know that Lent can be an opportunity to rearrange. I would really like to begin posting here daily during Lent. If I fail to do that, there is no condemnation for me; I need to remember that.

2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2:11-13
The saying is trustworthy for,
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful -
for he cannot deny himself.

The Wrath of God - Laura

       “Do not be deceived:

       God cannot be mocked.

       A man reaps what he sows.”

       -Galatians 6:7

God’s wrath and his justice are part of his personality.  The book of Nahum describes God’s wrath against Nineveh.  It’s not very long (only 3 chapters) but packed with retribution and vengeance:

       “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power;

       the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. 

       His way is in the whirlwind and the storm…

       His wrath is poured out like fire;

       the rocks are shattered before him.”

       -From Nahum 1

Fortunately, God’s personality is multifaceted.  He is a God of justice and wrath but also a God of Grace.  Thanks be to God!

Peace,

-Laura Cottrell

Love Poems - Laura

I have lingered over Song of Solomon, waiting for something to happen, but its hard to know what to say. I feel like most people ignore or overlook Song of Solomon for a number of reasons but first and foremost because people don’t understand it, don’t think it’s important. Most people overlook this part of the Bible because they don’t have any idea what true love really is, are desperately disappointed by the relationships they have and don’t like to read poetry anyway. Who wants to read an intimate conversation between a lover and his beloved, when you could never imagine saying anything like that to anyone?

Let’s pause for a moment over the fact that one of the most beautiful and intimate pieces of erotic, romantic poetry ever written is IN THE BIBLE. Wow! Most love poetry is written from a single perspective and is concerned with one of two things: the lamentation of love lost or the hope for “better” love in the future.

But Song of Solomon is different:

Beloved: I am my lover’s and my lover is mine

Lover: You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;

You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,

With one jewel of your necklace.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!

Beloved: I belong to my lover and his desire is for me.

Now. Present tense. No regret, no waiting and wishing. This love is real.

Another thing I notice is the way that others are invited to observe this epic love affair. Friends comment on the relationship, question the lovers, and reflect on the depth of their love. This relationship flows out beyond two people only. Love, according to Song of Solomon, is faithful but not isolating. Passion begets passion! (Galatians 4:18-20!!!)

Here are a couple of other poems about love, some of the few that reflect this immortal, unswerving, unselfish, life-giving love:

“MINE by the right of the white election!

Mine by the royal seal!

Mine by the sign in the scarlet prison

Bars cannot conceal!

Mine, here in vision and in veto!

Mine, by the grave’s repeal

Titled, confirmed, -delirious charter!

Mine, while the ages steal!”

-Emily Dickinson

“You say you want diamond and ring of gold

You say you want our story to remain untold

All the promises we made

From the cradle to the grave

When all I want is you.”

-U2

I want this kind of love to take root in my heart:

“Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like a blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot wash it away.

If one were to give

all the wealth of his house for love,

it would be utterly scorned.

-Song of Solomon 8:6-7

-Peace,

Laura Cottrell

Joshua, The Cast - Laura

The book of Joshua is a crazy read, from the ubiquitous story of the destruction of Jericho to the more mysterious tale of the day the sun stood still, Joshua takes the Israelites from wandering in the desert, to possessing the land that God gave them to inherit.  What I love the most about the book of Joshua is the cast of characters.  The book of Joshua is populated with a crazy bunch of people.  I’d like to introduce you to them:

Joshua: The eponymous aide to Moses who takes command when the Moses dies.  He leads the Israelites on a rampage through the land of Canaan, which God told them to conquer and possess for their inheritance.

The Israelites:  The people of God; at their best in the book of Joshua.  For the most part, they obey God and, by God’s power, defeat all their enemies.  By the end of the book, they are so impressed by God’s provision and power that they swear to follow him and be his people forever, even though Joshua warned them that God would hold them to their promise, should they cease to be faithful to him.

Spies: Two nameless Israelite men who sneak into Jericho to spy out the land and the city’s defenses.  They end up staying with a prostitute, of all places, hiding on her roof when the king of Jericho comes looking for them.

Rahab: Prostitute of Jericho; she and her family are the only inhabitants of Jericho left alive after the Israelites destroyed the city.  She goes on to become the many-times-great-grandmother of Jesus (See Matthew chapter 1)

The Commander of the Armies of the Lord: An angel who, when asked by Joshua, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” answered, “Neither.”  He appears to tell Joshua to take off his shoes because the place where he is standing is holy.  One word for this interaction...WOW!!!

Achan: The man from the tribe of Judah who took plunder from Jericho and hid it in his tent.  All the plunder from Jericho had been devoted to the Lord.  The Israelite army couldn’t be victorious in their battles until Achan was stoned to death along with his entire family.

The Gibeonites: An indigenous people who made a treaty with Israel so that they wouldn’t be destroyed by them.  Their ploy involved dressing up in worn out clothes, packing their bags with old, moldy bread and pretending like they had come from a long way off.  Points for cleverness but they ended up getting cursed by the Israelites.

Adoni-Zedek: King of Jerusalem when the Israelites arrived.  He gangs up with several other local kings and they decide to attack the Gibeonites because they had made a treaty with Israel.  Joshua and his army come to the rescue, marching all night and pursuing their enemies, cutting them down with the sword.  Many more of the bad guys died when God sent large hailstones to rain down upon them.  Also, the sun stood still for an entire day while the Israelites demolished the armies of Adoni-Zedek and friends.  Adoni-Zedek hid in a cave with the other kings but Joshua found them and used them as an example of what God would do to all their enemies.

Caleb: A brave warrior of Israel who inherited the land that Moses had sworn to him when he went to spy on the land of Canaan.

The Daughters of Zelophehad:  A particular clan of the tribe of Menassah had no sons, only daughters.  Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, Tirzah.  They reminded Joshua that the Lord had promised them an inheritance among their brothers—and they got it!

Great book with great lessons, namely, (1)God does what he wants, (2)when he wants to, (3)and we better be along for the ride.  Next up...Song of Solomon.

Peace,
Laura