This issue of the “Tidings” is dominated by ecclesial news. The time of year is partly responsible as many ecclesias send in their happenings for the past year all in one report. But it also reflects the increasing size of our community. When there are more people and more ecclesias, there is simply more news to report. The volume is so great that we have had to leave out Notes on the Daily Readings this issue, postpone an article answering the many submissions regarding the Jew and Arab issue and keep all other items as brief as possible.
The news consists of all the normal items –baptisms, transfers, visitors and deaths — except for one occurrence that rarely happens to us: sudden death by accident. As will be seen under the report from Austin (Leander), TX, Sis. Aletha Brown was killed while driving on treacherous roads in a recent winter storm. She leaves behind her a loving husband, two daughters and a legacy. A legacy that reflected a deep love for and a highly developed insight into the Truth.
An appropriate Psalm
Our own exposure to Sis. Aletha was very brief, but in that brief acquaintance she made a comment which struck us as being particularly perceptive. She found Psalm 37 to be an exceptional exhortation to the saints of God. And it is — especially to those who now live on with the burden of her tragedy weighing on their hearts.
The entire thrust of the Psalm is — not to be overcome by short-term problems but to look to our eternal end.
The ungodly may now prosper like a great tree (Psa. 37:35); he may have wealth while the upright struggles with financial need (v.16); the unbeliever’s plans may seem to work for his own benefit while the faithful suffers from the hostility of the wicked and their unjust judgments (vs. 7, 12, 32-33). The righteous may even experience great calamity. But he is not to despair. The wicked “shall soon be cut down like the grass” while the upright shall “dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed” (vs. 2-3).
How could the upright not despair when he sees the unjust live a prosperous life and die peacefully of old age while the faithful is cut off in her prime? The key is in taking God’s perspective and looking to the eternal end.
Even if the wicked prospers for 80 years now, what is that compared to eternity? “Mark the blameless, and behold the upright: for the end of that person is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off” (vs.37-38).
We must carry on now by faith. That is not easy! The present existence seems to have such reality while the future seems at times like a dream. But “faith is the substance of things hoped for.” By faith, the world to come can seem to be far more substantial than the present order which will soon pass away for ever.
By faith, the worthies of old were able to endure the tragedies of their lives. It is only through faith that we can do the same. Our sister saw that lesson in the Psalm and took comfort in it; may we do the same.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One