I saw this picture of a rose today, and was a bit perplexed by the title; I thought: how can thorns be beautiful? Now, my last name is Rose, so naturally I occasionally think about them and even joke about them, saying: Be careful how you handle a rose, for you might get pricked! But thinking about a Rose’s thorn being beautiful… never (until now of course).
Then, there is that hymn that I found a short while ago. Its message is that we all experience unpleasant things, but with God, the hard times are better, for HE is with us. He is our friend, our guide, our ultimate protector. In a way of speaking, HE is our thorn (of protection). Now that I think about it… what does a thorn do, anyway? It protects the flower it is attached to and THAT is a beautiful thing.
That hymn references a couple of Bible verses and I have listed them below, adding a few more adjacent verses for the sake of context.
The Bible says…
Genesis 50 ( World English Bible )
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him.”
16 They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying,
17 ‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Romans 8 ( WEB )
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Both of the passages referenced just below the hymn’s title show that God does in fact work in our lives to transform this world into a better one. God really loves us. Knowing that will help us through the difficult times in our lives. If we return that love, whatever circumstances we encounter will not be too much for us because we know that no matter what happens- WE WILL NEVER BE ALONE.
I look forward to the day when I can hear the hymn sung, but until that day I will rejoice in the message it conveys and once in awhile think about thorns in a more positive way. Now, if I only can get our song leader in church to actually sing that hymn...
Those
in the medical field of prosthetics (artificial limbs) are faced with a
daunting task—to mimic human body parts. Experts in this field of study
are quick to admit that the natural, biological human body is far
superior to anything that humans can design. Yet, even though prostheses
are clumsy, awkward, and inefficient when compared to human limbs,
progress is slowly being made toward more human-like limbs.
While
the idea of a flat Earth is not a new one, it has been recently
resurrected into mainstream pop culture. For a variety of reasons, many
have adopted this view, or have begun looking toward it as a viable
option. For some, the arguments contrasting a spherical versus a flat
Earth are confusing and have caused frustration. This frustration has
then led to a sense of doubt towards many previously accepted beliefs
and facts. Such doubt towards authority has even caused some Christians
to question their faith in God’s Word.
Now
that we have established they are not at the same distance, we can also
explore how solar eclipses also help provide evidence for the distance
factors of the Sun and Moon. A total solar eclipse occurs when the
observer is located within the shadow cast by the Moon blocking the
Sun’s light. Consider the shadow cast on a wall by placing an object in
front of a light source. What happens to the shadow as the distance
between the object and light source is decreased? The shadowed area
becomes larger, and a viewer within the shadowed region would have to
move farther to leave the shadowed area and lose this precise alignment.
If the distance between the light source and object becomes larger,
then the shadow that is cast on the wall will become smaller and
subsequently the observer’s location in the shadow for an eclipse
alignment must become more precise (i.e., since the shadow is smaller,
there is less area located within the eclipse shadow region).
If
we focus on the second major type of eclipse, a lunar eclipse, then we
see, not only further evidence for distances and orientations matching
the heliocentric view, but also evidence for the spherical nature of
Earth. Lunar eclipses occur when Earth is positioned between the Sun and
Moon, and its shadow is cast across the Moon’s surface causing a
darkening of the Moon. While solar eclipses only occur during the New
Moon phase, lunar eclipses similarly occur only during the Full Moon
phase. The precise alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth is emphasized
by the fact that while lunar eclipses only occur during Full Moon
phases, they do not occur every cycle and are quite rare. In contrast to
a solar eclipse that involves one body, the Moon, obscuring the more
distant Sun, a lunar eclipse involves the Earth’s shadow progressing
across the Moon’s surface until it becomes completely engulfed. The
evidence for a spherical Earth comes from the fact that as the lunar
eclipse event begins the curvature of the Earth’s shadow can be seen
advancing across the Moon’s surface. This provides direct observation for the circular shape of the Earth’s body,
as well as the required orbit of the Moon to go around to the opposite
side of Earth from the Sun. Both of these observable facts are contrary
to Flat-Earth models, some of which postulate Earth as an indefinite
plane5 or as a circular inhabitable region set in a rectangular block.6
Let’s
begin making a few specific observations. Beginning with the planet
that has the largest average apparent size, we find Jupiter to be a
beautifully banded planet. The roughly horizontal striations of Jupiter
have varying colors from white to brownish-red. Overlapping the middle
bands, you might see one of the most well-known features of Jupiter: the
“Great Red Spot.” This feature serves as a good landmark and is one of
Jupiter’s most fascinating features. Named for its appearance, this
giant, oval-shaped region in Jupiter’s atmosphere has existed for
several hundred years and is similar to features described by Galileo
Galilei and Giovanni Cassini as far back as the 1600s. In fact, Giovanni
Cassini used careful observations to track the movement of spot
features, seemingly similar to the Great Red Spot, in order to conclude
that Jupiter was indeed rotating about its axis. From the measurements,
Cassini calculated a rotation speed for Jupiter of approximately 10
hours.7 Even with Cassini’s very primitive equipment, his calculation matches the currently measured rotation period of 9.925 hours.8
The
next planet has captivated astronomers’ attention as far back as the
telescope: the red planet Mars offers intriguing observations. In a
similar fashion to his calculations of Jupiter’s rotation, Giovanni
Cassini also calculated the length of Mars’ rotation by measuring how
long it took for surface features to make it back around to the same
spot. Both Cassini and Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens independently
calculated the rotation period of Mars to be similar to Earth’s at just
over 24-hours.9 The similarity between Earth and what we see
when observing Mars is much more than just a similar period of
rotation. Mars has surface features such as large plains, expansive
ravines, and elevated mountains. White regions aligned with its axis of
rotation are similar to Earth’s icy polar regions. Mars also has varying
atmospheric changes, which most notably include huge dust storms that
can obscure large regions. As we consider a round, rotating planet with
mountains and canyons, polar ice caps, and an atmosphere that at times
is clear and other times is congested with dusty storms, we cannot help
but think about days on Earth with beautiful sunny days and about
camping excursions in quiet valleys, or maybe cloudy days that often
bring sudden storms while hiking in the mountains. If Mars exists as a
rotating, spherical planet with diverse landscapes, then so can Earth.
