Morning Grace

Inch Plant

 

  Last year an old friend sent me a copy of The Apostolic Fathers with a note saying how encouraging these ancient writings had been to him. (These writings are some of the oldest Christian writings that have been preserved outside of the New Testament.) On this quiet and beautiful spring morning, I have enjoyed a bit of 1 Clement. He had a a beautiful way with words. Chapter 32:4-33:8...

And so we, having been called through his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety, or works that we have done in holiness of heart, but through faith, by which the Almighty God has justified all who have existed from the beginning; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What then shall we do, brothers? Shall we idly abstain from doing good, and forsake love? May the Master never allow this to happen, at least to us; but let us hasten with earnestness and zeal to accomplish every good work. For the Creator and Master of the universe himself rejoices in his works. For by his infinitely great might he established the heavens, and in his incomprehensible wisdom he set them in order. Likewise he separated the earth from the water surrounding it, and set it firmly upon the sure foundation of his own will; and the living creatures that walk upon it he called into existence by his decree. Having already created the sea and the living creatures in it, he fixed its boundaries by his own power. Above all, as the most excellent and by far the greatest work of his intelligence, with his holy and faultless hands he formed humankind as a representation of his own image. For thus spoke God: "Let us make humankind in our image and likeness. And God created humankind; male and female he created them." So, having finished all these things, he praised them and blessed them and said, "Increase and multiply." We have seen that all the righteous have been adorned with good works. Indeed, the Lord himself, having adorned himself with good works, rejoiced. So, since we have this pattern, let us unhesitatingly conform ourselves to his will; let us with all our strength do the work of righteousness.

  Look at that description of how the Lord acted after the 'good works' which he did in creating the universe: he rejoiced! May we also do good works which give us cause for godly rejoicing!

******

  Other than this section, my favorite section has been his writings about hospitality, especially as seen in the Old Testament. That section is about a page long and can be found here, chapters 9-12.

Kalanchoes

the non-Marco Polo travellers of the Middle Ages

A few years ago, I came across references to Ibn-Batuta, who travelled from Morocco across much of Africa and Asia. In modern day terms, he visited Kenya and Somalia and Egypt and Mauritania and Mali and Niger at different points in his life. He traveled throughout the Middle East and Central Asia; he also took a long journey that took him to India, China, and Indonesia. Naturally, he wrote a book letting others (like us) know that he did all this. This was in the 1300s. His claimed travels are the most of any recorded before the modern era. Have you ever heard of him?

Ibn Batuta

The guy that did Marco Polo in reverse at about the same time... Well, today I came across Rabban bar Sauma, an Eastern Christian  who was a Uygur born in what is now Beijing who traveled across Asia, planning to go to Jerusalem, but eventually was sent as far as Paris, meeting with various European kings along the way. Naturally, he wrote a book telling about his travels. This was in the late 1200s.

 Or, there's Zheng He. The brilliant Chinese admiral who was a Muslim. His sailing took him to Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Arabia, and eastern Africa. He had a translator along who wrote a book. This was the early 1400s.

Look them up; they are incredibly interesting, and there's tons of information about them in one form or another.