Wednesday, November 29, 2006
What a long strange trip it's been...
Tomorrow is the last day in November, the end of 2006 is near, and I say...good riddance. This year has been a roller coaster and I am happily looking forward to a fresh start.
I was reading my Note from Pastor Andy (not my pastor but probably would be...if I lived in Texas and attended church regularly) and was really captivated by what he had to say. Here is some background that may be boring but I feel I need to include:
Pastor Andy was visiting Dr. Ray Pritchard's (I have no idea who this is) website and came across a message Dr. Pritchard wrote answering the question, "When was Jesus born?" One of the paragraphs in the message caught Pastor Andy's attention and he went on a self proclaimed rabbit trail. Here's the paragraph (which I think is actually pretty interesting):
Here is Pastor Andy's rabbit trail and what also struck me:
2002 and 2003 were quite a good time in my life and I would love to have a chance to go back there and start again. But, C. S. Lewis said, "Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." And, looking back to four years ago, I agree with Pastor Andy. There are definitely some things I would do differently, I'd start doing some things for the first time, and I'm certain I'd stop doing some things at all. But, that's not going to happen. So instead, I will take Pastor Andy up on his challenge and think ahead to the year 2010. How will I have wished then that I'd spent the four years that yet lie before me now? That I can actually do something about. And do something about it I plan to.
By the way, if you are interested, here is when Dr. Pritchard concludes Jesus was born, what Pastor Andy refers to as "the payoff":
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. - Emily Dickinson
Currently listening to: Wintersong - Sarah McLachlan
I was reading my Note from Pastor Andy (not my pastor but probably would be...if I lived in Texas and attended church regularly) and was really captivated by what he had to say. Here is some background that may be boring but I feel I need to include:
Pastor Andy was visiting Dr. Ray Pritchard's (I have no idea who this is) website and came across a message Dr. Pritchard wrote answering the question, "When was Jesus born?" One of the paragraphs in the message caught Pastor Andy's attention and he went on a self proclaimed rabbit trail. Here's the paragraph (which I think is actually pretty interesting):
"In A.D. 525 Pope John I asked Dionysius, a Sythian monk, to prepare a calendar for the Western Church. He dated Christ's birth as Year 754 of Roman time. Thus January 1, 754 Roman time became AD 1. Christ's birth was thought to have occurred one week earlier, on December 25. The years before were calculated at BC (Before Christ) and the years after as AD (Year of Our Lord). In this reckoning, there was no year zero. The calendar went from 1 BC directly to AD 1. There was only one problem with this scheme. Later research showed that Dionysius missed the date by at least four years because he miscalculated the death of Herod. Our present calendar is four years off. Thus this should be 2001, not 2005!" (This was obviously written a year ago).
Here is Pastor Andy's rabbit trail and what also struck me:
It's that last line that grabbed me..."this should be 2001, not 2005!" That Dionysius-I always thought he was little flustered! Here's a thought: what if it was? What if, all of a sudden, the year was not 2006 but instead was 2002 and we all had four years of our lives to live all over again? How would we live them differently, if at all? Would we choose different priorities, make different decisions; follow through better on certain goals?
2002 and 2003 were quite a good time in my life and I would love to have a chance to go back there and start again. But, C. S. Lewis said, "Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." And, looking back to four years ago, I agree with Pastor Andy. There are definitely some things I would do differently, I'd start doing some things for the first time, and I'm certain I'd stop doing some things at all. But, that's not going to happen. So instead, I will take Pastor Andy up on his challenge and think ahead to the year 2010. How will I have wished then that I'd spent the four years that yet lie before me now? That I can actually do something about. And do something about it I plan to.
By the way, if you are interested, here is when Dr. Pritchard concludes Jesus was born, what Pastor Andy refers to as "the payoff":
"It is true that the Bible doesn't tell us the exact date of Christ's birth, which means that it is not an essential element of our faith. However, it does give us enough historical markers so that we can make an educated guess. Christ had to have been born before Herod's death and after the Roman census was announced. His birth likely took place in the last few months before Herod's death when the deranged ruler, wracked with pain, his evil mind churning out plot after plot, feared nothing more than the report of a child born who was "King of the Jews." It makes perfect sense to believe that Herod's vicious slaughter of the babies of Bethlehem was one of the final official acts of his horrific career. It all fits. Therefore, I would suggest that a date late in the year 5 BC or early in 4 BC is a possible time for the birth of Christ. When the ancient traditions are taken into account, it is not impossible that Christ was indeed born on December 25 in the year 5 B.C."
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. - Emily Dickinson
Currently listening to: Wintersong - Sarah McLachlan
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