Acts 11:26 …And the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Oh my wonderful Friends, greetings and salutations ladened with blessings of peace and prosperity from the Most High God Jehovah, our Creator and Provider! You can see the ole fella’s enthused tonight. As they say, you can’t keep a good man down. But my enthusiasm is partly due to my recent reading of a novel that provided a rather apt analogy of the ideal characteristics of a mature Christian. The book’s name is ‘The Persimmon Tree,’ by one of my favourite authors, Bryce Courtenay. Some of his better known titles are ‘Tandia,’ ‘The Power of One,’ and the truly incredible Australian Trilogy of ‘The Potato Factory,’ ‘Tommo & Hawk,’ and ‘Solomon’s Song.’ Oh Friends, that’s just an amazing, exciting, adventurous series, as are all of his books. But out of all that I’ve read, ‘Tandia’ is still # 1. Yes, ‘The Power of One’ is good, but it doesn’t come close mih young D. (smile) Anyway, ‘The Persimmon Tree is set in the Pacific area during World War II. This particular part takes place in Indonesia when the Japanese captured the islands. A Japanese Colonel takes a liking to a beautiful 17 year old young lady of Dutch and Indonesian descent. He sets out to teach her the Japanese language and culture. Listen to this: ‘Konoe Akira picked up a chopstick and balanced it in his hand. "In the heartwood of the sacred persimmon tree is ebony, the hardest, most beautiful of all woods. It is created by nature and will last longer than the katana, the layered and folded steel of the everlasting samurai sword." Aye my people! Doesn’t that sound like what we were meant to be? Tough, beautiful and created by God, not man, to last longer than man-made steel. "To the Japanese this is the symbol of life, a heartwood that will outlast everything man can make, a core within that, come what may, cannot be broken and represents our inner strength and divine spirit." Yes my Friends, that’s what a true Christian needs; a solid core, spirit, heart, or whatever within us, that represents our many divine gifts and blessings that will never be broken by anything man makes. I got all excited when I first read that, knowing it was a good parallel for our faith. But the best is yet to come. I’ll just quote the appropriate parts, cause my explanation won’t do it justice. The couple is walking in a garden on their last night together. ‘Konoe Akira stopped and pointed to a slender sapling, no more than a metre high. "This is a persimmon tree, now three years old. With luck it will live to be one hundred years. I have planted one of these wherever I have found myself. I was a small child when instructed to do so by my esteemed and venerable grandmother. "The heartwood," Anna said remembering the chopsticks and the Colonel’s description of the persimmon tree at the time…. "Your metaphor of orchestral performers and those who play jazz music was a worthy one. For me, the persimmon tree is just such a metaphor for life. It has many metaphors. The outside wood, which is very beautiful, has several characteristics. It is strong, but has the capacity to absorb shock and if it strikes a hard surface it will not splinter. This is the metaphor of resilience. Then, when its trunk is light and smooth it is young, but when it grows older it is veined with purple. This is the metaphor of youth growing into maturity with calm and dignity. In the summer, its leaves are arched and overlap to provide shade for others: animals, birds and humans who labour in the field. This is the metaphor of caring about all creatures and helping others. In the autumn, the leaves drop and the fruit ripens; they are fiery red balls the size of my fist and hang like glorious lanterns from the tree. This is the metaphor of passing on the sweet fruit of life, its joy and tenderness because, before it is eaten, the fruit must be soft beyond a softness that any other fruit can endure without corruption… I have already spoken of the metaphor of the centre, of the heartwood, more resilient than steel, the core that cannot be defeated. These are the metaphors: the core, beyond strength of will; the resilience of the outer wood that will not splinter but always keeps to its resolve; the leaves that, in providing shelter, consider the convenience of others beside themselves; finally, the ripened fulfillment, when the autumn of life comes and with it the soft fruitfulness of wisdom and LOVE to be passed on." He reached into the pocket of his military tunic and withdrew a tiny envelope. "In here are eighty seeds of the persimmon tree Second Vase. Plant one seed every year of your life. May you live to plant the last seed when you reach one hundred. In all things, may your heart be soft and sweet and generous as the fruit of the sacred persimmon tree, your body as resilient as the outer wood, and your mind as strong as the heartwood." He turned and bowed.’ Oh Friends, I don’t think we can ever give a fellow human a better blessing or words of advice. It’s an ideal to which we should all try to attain. And yuh know those first followers of Christ, at Antioch and elsewhere had all those attributes. They had to, else they would not have survived all the hardships they suffered. Note too, the name Christian was at first a derogatory term, denoting the people of Christ. The people of Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas spent a year teaching, continually hearing them talk of Christ, suitably named them Christians. But, per the scholars, the Jews would never label them thus, since it would be like saying that they were the people of the Messiah. But we are! And it’s interesting to note that the term ‘Christian’ only occurs two other times in the Good Book; Acts 26: 28, and 1 Peter 4:16. Oh my people, let’s remember the numerous trials and tribulations, the first Christians suffered, the many sacrifices they made so that the Gospel of Christ could be preached, preserved and propagated. Now it’s our turn to do likewise. The Word itself is like the persimmon tree; sturdy and true, and we should try to emulate them both. Remember all those esteemed and venerable grandmothers who tried to show us the right way, and let’s do them proud, by living righteous lives and spreading the Word. Much LOVE!…a true Christian is…soft, sweet, generous, resilient and strong…
Oh my wonderful Friends, greetings and salutations ladened with blessings of peace and prosperity from the Most High God Jehovah, our Creator and Provider! You can see the ole fella’s enthused tonight. As they say, you can’t keep a good man down. But my enthusiasm is partly due to my recent reading of a novel that provided a rather apt analogy of the ideal characteristics of a mature Christian. The book’s name is ‘The Persimmon Tree,’ by one of my favourite authors, Bryce Courtenay. Some of his better known titles are ‘Tandia,’ ‘The Power of One,’ and the truly incredible Australian Trilogy of ‘The Potato Factory,’ ‘Tommo & Hawk,’ and ‘Solomon’s Song.’ Oh Friends, that’s just an amazing, exciting, adventurous series, as are all of his books. But out of all that I’ve read, ‘Tandia’ is still # 1. Yes, ‘The Power of One’ is good, but it doesn’t come close mih young D. (smile) Anyway, ‘The Persimmon Tree is set in the Pacific area during World War II. This particular part takes place in Indonesia when the Japanese captured the islands. A Japanese Colonel takes a liking to a beautiful 17 year old young lady of Dutch and Indonesian descent. He sets out to teach her the Japanese language and culture. Listen to this: ‘Konoe Akira picked up a chopstick and balanced it in his hand. "In the heartwood of the sacred persimmon tree is ebony, the hardest, most beautiful of all woods. It is created by nature and will last longer than the katana, the layered and folded steel of the everlasting samurai sword." Aye my people! Doesn’t that sound like what we were meant to be? Tough, beautiful and created by God, not man, to last longer than man-made steel. "To the Japanese this is the symbol of life, a heartwood that will outlast everything man can make, a core within that, come what may, cannot be broken and represents our inner strength and divine spirit." Yes my Friends, that’s what a true Christian needs; a solid core, spirit, heart, or whatever within us, that represents our many divine gifts and blessings that will never be broken by anything man makes. I got all excited when I first read that, knowing it was a good parallel for our faith. But the best is yet to come. I’ll just quote the appropriate parts, cause my explanation won’t do it justice. The couple is walking in a garden on their last night together. ‘Konoe Akira stopped and pointed to a slender sapling, no more than a metre high. "This is a persimmon tree, now three years old. With luck it will live to be one hundred years. I have planted one of these wherever I have found myself. I was a small child when instructed to do so by my esteemed and venerable grandmother. "The heartwood," Anna said remembering the chopsticks and the Colonel’s description of the persimmon tree at the time…. "Your metaphor of orchestral performers and those who play jazz music was a worthy one. For me, the persimmon tree is just such a metaphor for life. It has many metaphors. The outside wood, which is very beautiful, has several characteristics. It is strong, but has the capacity to absorb shock and if it strikes a hard surface it will not splinter. This is the metaphor of resilience. Then, when its trunk is light and smooth it is young, but when it grows older it is veined with purple. This is the metaphor of youth growing into maturity with calm and dignity. In the summer, its leaves are arched and overlap to provide shade for others: animals, birds and humans who labour in the field. This is the metaphor of caring about all creatures and helping others. In the autumn, the leaves drop and the fruit ripens; they are fiery red balls the size of my fist and hang like glorious lanterns from the tree. This is the metaphor of passing on the sweet fruit of life, its joy and tenderness because, before it is eaten, the fruit must be soft beyond a softness that any other fruit can endure without corruption… I have already spoken of the metaphor of the centre, of the heartwood, more resilient than steel, the core that cannot be defeated. These are the metaphors: the core, beyond strength of will; the resilience of the outer wood that will not splinter but always keeps to its resolve; the leaves that, in providing shelter, consider the convenience of others beside themselves; finally, the ripened fulfillment, when the autumn of life comes and with it the soft fruitfulness of wisdom and LOVE to be passed on." He reached into the pocket of his military tunic and withdrew a tiny envelope. "In here are eighty seeds of the persimmon tree Second Vase. Plant one seed every year of your life. May you live to plant the last seed when you reach one hundred. In all things, may your heart be soft and sweet and generous as the fruit of the sacred persimmon tree, your body as resilient as the outer wood, and your mind as strong as the heartwood." He turned and bowed.’ Oh Friends, I don’t think we can ever give a fellow human a better blessing or words of advice. It’s an ideal to which we should all try to attain. And yuh know those first followers of Christ, at Antioch and elsewhere had all those attributes. They had to, else they would not have survived all the hardships they suffered. Note too, the name Christian was at first a derogatory term, denoting the people of Christ. The people of Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas spent a year teaching, continually hearing them talk of Christ, suitably named them Christians. But, per the scholars, the Jews would never label them thus, since it would be like saying that they were the people of the Messiah. But we are! And it’s interesting to note that the term ‘Christian’ only occurs two other times in the Good Book; Acts 26: 28, and 1 Peter 4:16. Oh my people, let’s remember the numerous trials and tribulations, the first Christians suffered, the many sacrifices they made so that the Gospel of Christ could be preached, preserved and propagated. Now it’s our turn to do likewise. The Word itself is like the persimmon tree; sturdy and true, and we should try to emulate them both. Remember all those esteemed and venerable grandmothers who tried to show us the right way, and let’s do them proud, by living righteous lives and spreading the Word. Much LOVE!…a true Christian is…soft, sweet, generous, resilient and strong…
SCRIP-BITS 