Feeling down-in-the-mouth?

Last weekend, a spelling error that I noticed in a PowerPoint slide of Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace provided my journal with an interesting object lesson (not to be read at mealtime).

In the first verse of the hymn a line on the screen read: “That saved a retch like me” instead of “That saved a wretch like me”.

A wretch (spelled with a W) is one for whom we feel sorry whereas a retch (spelled without a W) is that which is spued out of the mouth.

However, this lapsus calami may still have been quite biblical.

Leviticus 18:25 & 28 speaks of the land vomiting out its evil inhabitants and Leviticus 20:22 speaks of the obedient ones not being vomited out of the land.

In Job 20:15 we read the words of one of Job’s “friends”, Zophar the Naamathite. Zophar’s discourse upon the certain misery of the wicked includes the expression, “He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.” (Which is just another way of saying that wickedness is a retch.)

After the well-known expression “[As a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” the proverb continues, “ Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. (Proverbs 23:7,8)

Proverbs 25:16 warns against eating too much honey (remembering that honey, according to Proverbs 24:13, is good for you.) confirming that too much of a good thing is bad for us. (This warning is repeated in Proverbs 25:27.)

Revelation 3:16 reads, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” This is the most unequivocally definitive verse likening us (embarrassingly) to vomit!

However the most reassuring verse in the Bible in relation to us being a retch is found in Jonah 2:10 where God caused Jonah the wretch (spelled with a W) to become Jonah the retch (spelled without the W) in order to give Jonah a second chance. It says “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” Jonah then changed from retch to revivalist, from throw-up to show up, from puke to preacher, from sick to sermoniser, from filled with spew to filling the pew, in short, Jonah was called from the vomit by God to the vocation of God.

Finally, if you’re feeling down-in-the-mouth over this, remember Jonah. He came out all right!


-- Lionel Hartley ©14 April 2011

What is Okay?

What is Okay?

Modern society says
"If it feels okay do it
If it looks okay take it
If it doesn’t look okay camouflage it
If it sounds okay believe it
If it ridicules what is okay join it
If it stands up for what is okay disown it
If it appears okay grab it
If it burns okay smoke it
If it thrills okay inject it
If it smells okay sniff it
If it doesn't smell okay accuse somebody of it
If it could be okay believe it
If for others it is okay gossip about it
If it tastes okay eat it
If it fizzes okay drink it
If it moves okay follow it
If it doesn't move okay push it
If it may be okay try it
If it may not be okay try it anyway
If it is okay criticise it
If it isn’t okay challenge it
If it can’t be okay question it
If it can be okay disbelieve it
If everyone thinks it is okay steal it
If it fits okay spoil it
If it doesn't fit okay force it
If it grows okay stifle it
If it said to be okay ignore it
If it might be okay leap at it
If it swears okay listen to it
If it lies okay heed it
If to heed it is okay lie about it
If it lusts okay copy it
If it flies okay shoot it down
If it doesn't fly okay blow it up
If it works okay break it
If it doesn't work okay blame someone else for it
If it breaks okay destroy it
If it doesn't break okay destroy everything around it
If it destroys okay give it to a child."

What is okay? - What does God say?

©1998 Lionel Hartley

A Camper’s Primer

I received an email today requestiong a copy of a piece that I wrote almost half-a-century ago called "A Camper’s Primer". I have located a copy for posting here. Here is is:

"A Camper’s Primer Puppetry Script" by Lionel Hartley, Stereo Publishing Co, Christchurch, ©April 1963, © renewed and updated to reflect more recent technology 2006, © 2011.
Hi. I'm your camping instructor. I am very qualified to teach you as I spent an entire Wednesday afternoon in a tent in my lounge-room braving all sorts of weather as I watched the BBC documentary "Pokey Dog Goes Wilderness Watching" with David Egg-in-burrow and Pokey the Plastic Poodle. I also crossed a busy carpark in the rain with bare feet! Listen carefully and I will give you the best advice any camper could possibly wish for. Here is a Camper's Primer in three easy lessons:
Lesson 1. Everything you need for survival in the wilderness must be carried on your back. You will fare best if you strap on an experienced camper.
Lesson 2. One skill all campers must have, is that of finding food in the wild. Always make sure you are no more than four minutes from a supermarket.
Lesson 3. Contrary to popular belief, electricity cannot be generated in the wild by rubbing two dry wires together. Lesson 4 (I know I said there were only three, but that was to grab your attention. Actually there are 29!!!)
Lesson 4. If you should find yourself lost in the wild, remember it is not considered good form to call out for your Mummy.
Lesson 5. A good rule to remember when packing your overnight bag is “Take nothing but photographs: leave nothing but footprints.” A second rules states that: There are two things you should never take on camping trips -The first is “too much”, and the second, “too little”.
Lesson 6. Proper nourishment is vital if you plan to trek over long distances. You can eat well and avoid delays if your partner will agree to carry the food while you munch on it.
Lesson 7. Always leave a campsite early in the morning. You will then have plenty of daylight later when you return to look for the things you left behind.
Lesson 8. Never worry about cooking plants you have found growing in the wild. You are perfectly safe as long as you don’t try to eat any.
Lesson 9. Photographs will remind you of just how much fun you had while living in the rugged outdoors. This is an excellent reason for not taking any.
Lesson 10. Cleanliness is important - a clean camper is a happy camper. He is happy because others in the party will let him sleep in the tent.
Lesson 11. Many campers are concerned about getting a stiff neck from sleeping all night on hard ground. Don’t worry. It is impossible to sleep all night on hard ground!
Lesson 12. Scissors should be carried at all times to modify trousers or sleeping bags that stretch in the rain.
Lesson 13. If you carry an umbrella, make sure it is packed in the bottom of your ruck-sack to prevent the likelihood of it ever getting wet.
Lesson 14. Rope tying is a valuable skill which can be practiced on your pyjama cord during those restless nights.
Lesson 15. Holes punctured in the roof of your tent will allow undesirable odours to leave the tent without clogging the doorway.
Lesson 16. Unless a semi-trailer is following you up the mountain, you should endeavour to pack no more than you would require if you planned on staying outdoors for twenty-five years at a time or more.
Lesson 17. Sponge cakes and custard pies should be packed in the top of your soiled laundry bag to have on hand to poison dangerous wild animals that you may meet in Australian wildernesses, such as giant bats, vampires, goblins, and boogie monsters.
Lesson 18. For ease of carrying, no more than 15 kilometres of electric cable (for your TV, or blow-wave hairdryer) should be carried on any given excursion.
Lesson 19. Never put a metal billy in your portable electric oven unless you don't intend switching it on.
Lesson 20. Because of the risk of "a-chillyback" syndrome, it is unadvisable to carry a full size refridgerator on your back when climbing up-hill - simply carry a stocked bar fridge, an ice cooler, a medium sized deep freezer, and an ice-packed chilly-bin or two.
Lesson 21. Contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to cram an entire scout-troup under a single umbrella without one person getting wet PROVIDED it is not raining.
Lesson 22. Automobiles should not be used when abseiling as the wheels are likely to be tyred.
Lesson 23. Video remote control units cannot be used to hasten, slow-down or pause an abseiler in descent. Scissors applied to the top of the rope have a more dramatic effect.
Lesson 24. A rope and a rubber bone are better fare than a plastic raincoat when the weatherman predicts that it will be raining cats and dogs. Hailing taxicabs is an unlikely occurance in the wilderness, but be prepared for reigning monarch butterflies.
Lesson 25. Orienteering using only a magnetic compass is best conducted in the safe confines of your tent to reduce the possibility of loosing your way before you loose your mind.
Lesson 26. Be sure to take your Bible on your camping trip. To avoid doctrinal error, take also a comprehensive Bible concordance, The Selected Writings of Pious Saints and an assortment of Bible dictionaries. A Bible handbook or set of commentaries may also prove useful. The 250 volume set of the International Encyclopaedia of Religion in hard binding would be a good choice, along with a canvas edition of "St. Paul's Tent Making Tips".
Lesson 27. Warning, submarine testing has proven that chocolate sponge cake and salted potato crisps are not waterproof over 5,000 feet above sea level if it is raining.
Lesson 28. After any accident you may be unlucky enough to succumb to, please check if your first-aid kit is in order. A compact mountaineering first-aid kit should contain at least one Doctor and two nurses, along with sundry medical supplies: Eg. an X-ray machine, CAT scanner, pathology and pharmaceutical laboratories and assorted bandages, splints, beds, etc.
And finally, Lesson 29. One sure way to camp out and still have all the comforts of home is to camp out at home.
Happy Camping.

Lionel Hartley

When Love is Feeling Sick

Once upon a time
Love was feeling poorly,
So he went to the Doctor
On Monday, bright and early
To see what alchemy would cure the pain
And light up the love in his life again.

In order to have a healthy love
A love that's warm and close
The doctor prescribed the giving of love
And if that doesn't work?
Double the dose.

-- Lionel Hartley
First published in Tiger's Journal, Christchurch, New Zealand, April 1998

The answer to any question

I was asked by the editorial team of the University of Canterbury's Response Magazine in July 1980 if I could write a single answer that could be used to answer any question.
Here is what I submitted for publication in the September 1980 issue:
"Here is my politically correct standard home-grown generic off-the-shelf domestic answer: 'Personally, I absolutely definitely feel that maybe it could possibly be the considered opinion that, taking everything into account, and weighing up all the pro's and con's, there is a general consensus that, as far as can be known, there is no conclusive answer to this question, as yet. Tentatively speaking of course, although I would like to stress that this is only my opinion and I'm not claiming this is the be all and end all as it's an interesting question that, at least, should stimulate debate.'

-- Lionel Hartley"

A New Commandment

On my face book page, a reader asked, “What did Jesus mean when he said he was giving us a New Commandment (John 13:34)? What was wrong with the 10 Commandments that He had to give a new one?”

Immediately prior to Jesus telling the well-known story of the Good Samaritan, we read in Luke 10:25-28 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26) He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he [Jesus] said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”
A child was asked, “What was the first commandment?” To which he replied, “The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.” This is not what the Bible says.
The Ten Commandments can be easily divided into two sections — the first four (Exodus 20:1-7) relate to how we love God and the latter six (Exodus 20:8-17) relate to how we love each other. The lawyer’s answer encapsulated these two sections – the first with the phrase, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” and the second with the expression “Thou shalt love … thy neighbour as thyself.” So, in summary, the last six of Ten Commandments are (as it were) one command: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (See Leviticus 19:18). The Apostle Paul writing to the Church in Roman said, “… if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:9-10)
There was nothing wrong with the ‘old command’ per se, but the problem was in the way that we applied it. This ‘old commandment’ refers to a particular way of loving others — that is, as we love ourselves. Sadly, most of us don’t really love ourselves a great deal. True, we are naturally selfish and think of ourselves before others, but we often don’t take very good care of our bodies, our minds, and our spiritual condition. Jesus recognised this state of affairs and knew that a command to love others as poorly as we love ourselves was inadequate, since we didn’t really know what love is. Jesus came to demonstrate in a very tangible way ‘what love is.’ “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” 1 John 4:10) Therefore He could say that the way we should love is not so much the way that we love ourselves, but the way that He loved us — unconditionally. This is what is recorded in John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
In her book ‘The Desire of Ages’, author E. G. White penned these words in 1898, “In this last meeting with His disciples, the great desire which Christ expressed for them was that they might love one another as He had loved them. Again and again He spoke of this. ‘These things I command you,’ He said repeatedly, ‘that ye love one another.’ His very first injunction when alone with them in the upper chamber was, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.’ To the disciples this commandment was new; for they had not loved one another as Christ had loved them.” (Page 678)
-- Lionel Hartley.

The Leaven of the Spirit

Today I was asked for a copy of a poem that I wrote in July 1997 that appeared in a local newsletter.
Here is the poem:

The Leaven of the Spirit
Lord, You are the bread of life.
Make me, Lord, a slice of thee;
May life for me be Spirit filled -
The leaven swelling up in me.

The silent unseen working
Transforming lazy flour
Into holy air-filled bubbling life;
Risen, baked, and given power!

So life no longer is a loaf
Of wasted energy.
Lord, may the crumbs I leave behind,
Draw other souls to Thee.

-- Lionel Hartley 22/7/97