A Book, a Puzzle, and Prophets of Old
Recently, I passed along a copy of The Measure by Nikki Erlick to my daughter, who was looking for an interesting book. If you haven’t read it, the basic premise is that one day, every person of a certain age finds a box outside his or her door indicating exactly how long the recipient will live.
Many question the origin, the meaning, the accuracy of the boxes’ contents, but the question I pondered was, “Would I want to know?” Hold that thought.
My other daughter recently gave me a 1000 piece ‘advent puzzle.’ She had divided the puzzle into twenty-five bags, with the idea that I would work one each day of December, finally revealing the whole picture on Christmas. The first two bags contained the border pieces, and the others, small portions of the interior.
As I worked on today’s section, my mind wandered from questioning what the puzzle picture might look like to questions of the future. If it were possible, would I want to know the date of my own demise, the state of the world in a hundred years, or what life might be like in a thousand? And if I did somehow have that knowledge, what would I do with it?
The bible cautions us to not worry about tomorrow, stating that each day has its own problems. Yet there are dozens of biblical prophets. Called by God to communicate specific messages to the world, these men and women were compelled to speak honestly and accurately.
In difficult times, it may be comforting to believe that someone has the true story, that someone can speak with assurance that better days are ahead. But what if the news is bad? What if the prophet knows the message will not be well received?
In days of yore, messengers who brought bad news were killed. Some of those biblical prophets were murdered, too; others were ridiculed or ignored. Today, those who speak of bad consequences of current actions are called alarmists, fear-mongers, or doomsday prophets. Not wanting to believe things could get ‘that bad,’ we ignore them to our peril.
Perhaps this explains why so many false prophets of old just uttered words their rulers wanted to hear.
But the test of a true prophet is simply fulfillment of the prophecies. You shall know them by their fruits, after all.
The difficulty is that sometimes we don’t live long enough to see the outcome of our actions, the fulfillment of the prophet’s words. Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah some seven hundred years prior to the birth of Christ. It seems that those who plant the seed are often not around to eat the fruit. God’s timing is different from our own.
In today’s world, we’re encouraged to be mindful and present in the moment, reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow, and admonished to focus on things within our control. Maybe this why I would choose to not open any mysterious boxes appearing on my doorstep. I’d rather take things one day at a time, focusing on today’s problems, piecing together life’s puzzles bit by bit.
Wishing you the love and peace of the Christmas season, as you seek truth and wisdom, remembering to focus on the present moment, not the presents under the tree.