As so frequently happens, I am
unexpectedly again interrupting the flow of thought from Post 109—unexpectedly for
me, at least. I’ll try to continue that train of thought in the next
entry. Do I need to apologize? Well, at
least, this way you can never quite tell what the next post will bring you. It’s
called keeping you in suspense!
Mexican's Cinco de Mayo
I have occasionally
reproduced in this blog some items from the Denison Forum. Today, I will not
reproduce much from them, but I will summarize a bit of their entry for today,
May 5, 2016. They encourage us today to celebrate two important events, the
first of which is called Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican
holiday that commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 defeat of France at the
Battle of Puebla. This victory, where a rag-tag force of 2,000 overcame 6,000
well-trained French troops, bolstered the Mexican people in their resistance
against the French. Six years later, French forces withdrew. Cinco de Mayo
remains a symbol of the Mexican people's struggle against imperialistic forces.
Since we have many Mexicans in Canada and in view of our important trade
agreement NAFTA with them, I considered it a neighbourly thing to draw your
attention to this worthwhile celebration of independence. We can be doubly grateful in view of the fact
that Canada did not have to fight its way to independence from Mother UK. Our
transfer of power came amicably, though I am not sure our Quebecois compatriots
would interpret that transfer in quite the same way.
Jewish Holocaust Memorial
And then there is the Holocaust
Memorial Day known as Yuom HaShoah. In Jerusalem, all
places of entertainment, bars, restaurants, cinema, and theater must be closed
by law. At 10:00 A.M. a siren will be heard for one minute." When that
siren sounds today, traffic on the roads will stop. The entire nation will
cease all activities as its people remember what happened and pledge that it
must never happen again. I refer you to the Denison Forum itself to follow up
on their suggestions for our proper response. It is well worth reading.
Dutch Liberation Day
But then there is a third
celebration: the liberation of my home country, The Netherlands, from Nazi
occupation in 1945 that we began celebrating on May 5.This event involved
Canadians more than Americans and so it is more of a Canadian celebration than
American, though they too were involved. The Dutch in Canada, among whom I am
one, always organize events to mark this Vrijheids Dag—Freedom Day. We all
continue to be exceedingly grateful to the role of Canada in that liberation.
As a seven-year old at the time, I well remember the Canadian tanks rumbling
through our village, throwing chocolate bars and other goodies to the public
lined up along the road. As well I remember the 2-week celebration of evening
dancing in the village. Two weeks is a long time in the life of a seven-year old.
I had come to the conclusion that all of life is one grand party! You will find that story in our memoirs, Every Square Inch, vol. 1, chapter 2 (www.SocialTheology.com/boeriana.htm).
Ascension Day
But the most important
celebration is a universal one in contrast to the previous three. Christians
especially should recognize this day as Ascension Day! See in the Bible—Luke 24:50-51;
Acts 1:9-11. Ascension refers to the
ascension of the risen Christ to heaven in the presence of and, yes, in the
very eyes of His disciples, soon to become apostles. I realize I’m always
referring you to the books I have published, most of them both hard copy and
online. This celebration is also captured by a book written by my main role model,
Abraham Kuyper, that I translated under the title The Ascent of the Son—The Descent of the Spirit, the latter section
referring to Pentecost. It is found on the Kuyperiana page of the above website
SocialTheology.com.
Let me treat you to my
translation of Kuyper’s Introduction and then leave the rest for you to read on
the website:
On Pentecost, the Church of God steps onto the world stage as
the Catholic World Church. Originally, the Church was universal or catholic—the
meaning is the same. It was so during early days of life in Eden and in the
days of Noah , even during the time that Terah, the father of Father Abraham,
wandered in the area Ur of the Chaldeans and Haran, that is the modern land of
Iraq.
However, since the call of Abraham, the universal Church was
narrowed down to one people and nation and, eventually, enclosed within the
national borders of Israel. From this point on, the church was no longer
universal or catholic but became a volkskerk, a national church in the
strictest sense of the word. She retained that status until the day of
Pentecost, when she laid down the trappings of a national church and once again
morphed back into the original universal Church, catholic in its higher
Scriptural import.
This development flowed out of Christ’s Ascension into
Heaven. From the Ascension on, the Head of the Church no longer has His seat in
the earthly Jerusalem on Mount Zion, but in the Jerusalem that is above, from
where He rules His Church for all peoples and nations alike. The Apostle Paul
especially has abundant praise over this mystery in his touching epistles to
the Churches of Ephesus and Rome. Thus the Ascension and Pentecost belong
together in one single unity. He ascended into Heaven in order to pour out the
Holy Spirit. It is because of that unity that this bundle offers you
meditations on both of these aspects of salvation history together. These
meditations first take you into the heavenly Jerusalem, into the Tabernacle
made by God without human participation. From that point, they descend with you
back to the Church on earth, but now together with the Comforter, that is the
Holy Spirit.
Abraham Kuyper May 1, 1888
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