First I would like to express sympathy to everyone who has suffered because of this virus, particularly students who have had their educations interrupted. I have difficulty imagining what it would have been like if this virus had shown up around the time that I turned 18, and closed everything down for more than a year.
At least we have the internet today. Can you imagine what this would be like without the internet? If I had one of these phones when I was a teenager, it would be a dream come true. I would spend so much money on books and music records, if it was today all I would need is a phone.
Please spend more time with your parents. Some day they will be gone. If I could have my mother and father back I would hang out with them all day, every day.
If you are isolated in lockdown, why not make the best use of this time? All of this could turn out to be a very good thing. This time could be used for improvement. You could be reading. You could be exercising. You could be strengthening your relationship with God.
If you are isolated and have no one to talk to, maybe that is part of the plan. Go ahead and start talking because God is listening.
The most common New Year's Resolution is to begin an exercise program, but it tends to have a high casualty rate. When I was 15, one June day just after the end of tenth grade, something just came over me and I got tired of feeling out-of-shape. I walked out to the porch and did five pushups.
Except for religion, that was about the most life-changing day of my life. I have been obsessed with physical fitness ever since. Having my age begin with a 6 only inspires me more. Exercise is wonderful, as well as absolutely necessary.
Remember, once again, that one of the purposes of this blog is to show readers that everyday, all around you, are things that no one has ever pointed out. With the internet today it is easy to notice something, and then check to see if anyone has ever pointed it out.
Here, for example, are a few things about religion.
We know that there was once a great supernova, the explosion of a large star that made a brilliant light show in the sky. We also know that there was a cataclysmic split in the Christian religion, as a major part separated from the Catholics to become the Eastern Orthodox Church. The remnants of the supernova are today known as the Crab Nebula, the year was 1054.
What I thought of, and could not see that it had been pointed out, was that the two happened at exactly the same time. Could the supernova have been a sign from God? It is certainly the best-known example of a supernova but Europe apparently did not pay much attention to it. The supernova was recorded by Arab, Chinese and, Japanese sources, and the Aztecs are believed to have started their calendar with it.
The Book of Zechariah, in the Old Testament of the Bible, foretells a person with a special mission named Joshua who will "take away the sin of the world in one day". The Book of Zechariah was written well before the Hellenistic era and, maybe this has been pointed out but I couldn't find it anywhere, the name of Jesus is actually the Greek form of Joshua.
What I call the Ancient-Modern Parallel had definitely never been pointed out. There is a famous prophecy in the Book of Daniel of the 69 "Weeks of Years", which is 483 years. It is actually 70 Weeks of Years but, as the book describes, the remaining one is reserved for the reign of the Antichrist.
The 483 years are prophecies to be from the reinstitution of services in the rebuilt Temple, which would be the Second Temple, and the death of the one who would come as the Messiah. The year given by Wikipedia as Ezra reinstituting the correct services is 457 B.C. The most commonly accepted year of Jesus' Crucifixion is 26 A.D.
This is exactly 483 years, just as foretold.
The siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians which resulted in the destruction of the First Temple, which was Solomon's original Temple, began in 587 B.C. Before that the early worship center, at Shiloh, was destroyed by the Philistines in 1050 B.C.
The time between these two restrictions is 463 years.
Now let's go to more modern times. Just as there has been two great destruction of Temples in ancient times, not counting the destruction of the Temple after the time of Jesus, there have been two great splits in the church in more modern times.
The Eastern Orthodox Church split away from the Catholics in 1054 and the Reformation, which resulted in the separation of the Protestants, began in 1517.
What do you notice here? From the first split to the second is 463 years. From the second split to the end of the millennium is 483 years.
The reason that it dates to the Crucifixion of Jesus, rather than the next destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D., could have to do with Jesus referring to His own body as the Temple, which will be destroyed but then rebuilt in three days. The religious authorities didn't understand, and thought he was referring to the Temple on the Temple Mount.
Remember that everyday, all around you, are things that no one has ever pointed out.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Finally let's not forget to have a little bit of humor. It is actually very good for your health.
I know that I shouldn't think that this is funny but I can't help it. Laundry detergent used to be sold in boxes of powdered soap. During my youth there was a fountain downtown that turned on automatically each morning.
One night, somebody poured a box of laundry soap into the fountain. When it turned on in the morning it was like a tsunami of suds. All of my life I have not forgotten how funny it was.
Someday we will laugh at how silly these masks look.
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