These Lively Oracles

There is no two ways about it. The christian life is not easy. Not only do we have to face hassles from others around us while we try to stick to our standards, but we also have to fight against ourselves and overcome our own failings and laziness. But our bible talks about “peace” in a different way than society teaches us. In 1st Samuel chapter 17 King Saul had found himself in a situation that he did not know how to handle. He was King over Israel. He and his army were encamped on a hillside along one side of the Valley of Elah. Half a mile away, on the other side of the valley were the armies of the enemy - The Philistines. And they had a very powerful weapon - Goliath. Goliath was a giant. Biblical scholars estimate him to be anything between 6 to 9 feet tall (2.5 – 3 meters). And he was standing in the middle of the valley. He had been coming down into the valley floor every morning and every evening for 40 days – almost 6 weeks – and shouting and intimidating King Saul’s armies....

I have no memory of the event. Yet it still happened. My sister and I were caught up in the middle of it. But I have no memory of it whatsoever. On Friday 21st of July, 1972 atleast 20 bombs went off in Belfast city centre. We were in the city centre that day but I have no memory of any of the events. However, my sister remembers everything. We were both in our early teens and were going to a dental appointment when the carnage started. Apparently I grabbed my sister by the hand and started to run in the direction of home. The whole town was in desperation. People were running away from one bomb and into the path of another. A policeman stopped us from running through the town and toward home. We were at a loss, not knowing what to do next. I don’t think the policeman knew either. So we just stood there at the side of the road. All of a sudden a man mysteriously appeared in a car. He told the police officer that he would make sure we got home safely. He got us into his car and followed...