By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--July 25, 2014
Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
Internet trolls out there wait for columns like this one.
Feeling that inestimable sadness of the heart with all that is going on in our world, I went back out onto my deck just before sunrise yesterday morning to be there for God’s daily morning orchestra, the real Twitter: the spine tingling birdsong that announces the beginning of each and every day. In unison, the birds, like the angels of another realm so many long to someday see, join together in song to praise another dawn.
Seeing the multiple stars, each one’s name known by the Creator (Psalms 147:4-5 say, "He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite."), awaiting the first daybreak birdsong of God’s Orchestra, is sorely needed medicine for flagging souls.
So many worrisome thoughts had driven me out to the deck. With more Palestinian-built tunnels unearthed in Israel; the weapons of Hamas found stashed in two schools under United Nations' control; the ongoing use of civilians as Palestinian human shields. All sleep-robbing worries of what’s really going down in faraway Gaza. Much closer to home are the tens of thousands of permanently embittered anti-Israel activists spreading their hatred in the town and city halls in North America and overseas. They are the never-ending Gaza flotillas of their day.
With Hamas and planes downed by missile fire in Eastern Ukraine capturing mainstream media headlines, the fate of Christians driven out of their homes in IS-controlled territory is all but overlooked.
Yet, Hamas, whose agenda is currently being upheld by thousands of anti-Israel protesters worldwide, is pushing the same agenda as IS in Christian territories.
Through massive violent death of innocents, both seek a caliphate.
Through all of this, People of Faith feel real pain through knowing about the not so long ago proud array of State Department pictures of innumerable mosques that have been refurbished with American tax dollars. A cursory search of the Internet shows that the pictures have disappeared from the State Department website.
On Sunday, the Mar Matti Monastery--recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence--was taken by the terrorists of IS.
Mar Mattai Monastery is gone, and impossible to replace, is never coming back. But the U.S. State Department paid out some $770 million to refurbish mosques in foreign countries, proudly displaying pictures as proof. Add those millions to Monday’s John Kerry announcement that the United States is providing $47 million to help address the “humanitarian” situation in Gaza.
Just one day before, allowed only the clothes in which they stood, forbidden to carry their priceless relics with them, the gentle resident monks at Mar Mattai Monastery were sent walking along the roads, a cleric and residents reported Monday.
“Islamic State (IS) fighters stormed Mar (Saint) Behnam, a 4th century monastery run by the Syriac Catholic church near the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh, on Sunday, the sources said. (Telegraph, July 21, 2014)
A page ripped forever out of Christianity, a testament to centuries old history gone, gone with the wind.
Word from the White House on the fate of IS takeover of one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence? dollars? ‘Silencio’!
Ditto for the fleeing Christians of Mosul: “After being issued an ultimatum from ISIS in Mosul, some of the city’s last Christian families have fled, only to be robbed of their last possessions at ISIS checkpoints. Friday at noon was the deadline for Christian families to meet ISIS’s demands: Convert to Islam, pay an anachronistic Islamic tax for non-Muslims known as jizya, leave Mosul, or be killed. But the day before the final exodus, Christians were informed jizya was no longer an option. The order came to convert, leave, or die. (Daily Beast, July 22, 2014)
“Residents say the militants, who declared a caliphate last month headed by Abu Bakr Baghdadi, spray-painted Christian houses with the letter "N" in Arabic, which stands for Nasrani, or Christian, to identify them. (The Daily Star, Lebanon, July 2, 2014)
“The move and the ensuing migration of Christians have sparked outrage in Lebanon. “While religious figures and Christian politicians issue statements to voice their opposition and rage over events in Mosul, many Lebanese have opted to change their profile pictures on Facebook to a picture of a yellow “N” (in Arabic) with a black background.”
Seeing the stars and hearing the heralding of daybreak by God’s early morning orchestra is proof positive that life goes on.
It is true that the barbarians are lined up at the gate, but even with them ready to crash through the door, daybreak, each and every day is man’s best proof that the world continues.
I was glad to be out on the deck for yesterday morning’s orchestra. It made me more prepared for the personal tragedy that was to end my day, the death of my beloved little dog, Kiko, who had followed me for 19 years.
We all need the inspiration of knowing in all the tumult that some Hand guides the world. And it’s not Barack Obama’s or Al Gore’s.
Keep the faith, always.
Support Canada Free Press
View Comments