August 12 2017
AM I AN OPTIMIST OR A PESSIMIST, OR…….?
Optimism (from the Latin optimus, best) and pessimism (from the Latin pessimus, worst) are two opposing worldviews or states of mind. An optimist has an overall positive view of things (the glass is half full), while the pessimist holds a negative view of happenings. (the glass is half empty).
So I ask my readers: what am I? An optimist, a pessimist, or what? I know what I am, and at my age I don’t think I will change.
A brief life history.
I was born in 1928, the year before the Great DEPRESSION started, then lived through 5 years of German occupation (1940-45), experienced 8 years of rigorous academic training (1941-49), and endured 18 months of compulsory military service (Sept.49-Mar.51). In June 1951 I immigrated to Canada.
There I worked on a farm and a feed mill for a year, after which I became permanently self-employed – insurance, real estate, real estate appraising – always dealing with people and their properties, and also always involved in church affairs – elder- and serving on Christian school boards. Married in 1953 we successfully raised 5 children, all becoming professionals.
I have always been a reader. In 1972 two books changed my life: THE LIMITS OF GROWTH gave me an awareness of the Finiteness of the earth, and a Dutch book, given to me by one of my salesmen, AFTER DEATH….WHAT? convinced me that HEAVEN was a heresy based on Greek pagan philosophy, a teaching that has conquered most of Christian thinking and still doing irreparable harm to creation.
In 1959 I quit smoking and started running. Even now I do this 2-3 times each week, at least 5km. I should also mention that we, since 1975, have basically been vegetarian, both for health reasons and environmental concerns.
The 1975 energy crisis – when oil suddenly shot up to $100 per barrel – influenced my thinking to the point where a move to the country, building an energy-efficient dwelling, trying to live more simply, was the result.
In the year 2000 I started writing a weekly 750-800 words column for the daily Belleville-based INTELLIGENCER. I did that for 10 years, when the chain was sold, and all columns were syndicated from Toronto, so my contribution was suspended. Before that I wrote a bi-weekly column for THE CHRISTIAN COURIER, basically a Christian Reformed magazine, both commenting on the news and also writing the odd feature article.
I quit that about 5 years ago when I no longer agreed with its editorial policy.
Since then I have translated 4 books, of which 3 have been published. Google “Bert Hielema” for details.
So what sort of label can you hang on me? I will not keep you any longer in suspense: I see myself not as an OPTIMIST, nor as a PESSIMIST but something totally different: I see myself as a PROPHET, PRIEST and KING.
That sounds quite presumptuous. Being a prophet …. OK that would not surprise you, judging by my writings, resembling somebody like the prophet Jeremiah, of whom the terms “Jeremiads” comes from, those ominous predictions, calling for doom and gloom. So where do the “priest and king” office come from?
This threefold office originates in Jesus Christ, and is a Christian doctrine based upon the three functions in his earthly ministry – those of
prophet (Deuteronomy 8: 14-22),
priest (Psalm 110:1-4), and
king (Psalm 2 and 8).
I agree: admitting to these callings sound pretentious, different, unreal and, perhaps, out of touch with daily living in a secular society where God is hardly ever honored. It smacks of hubris, of elevating oneself beyond one’s status.
Yet, whether we like it or not – and I guess as a Christian we have to be obedient to Christ – we must follow in Jesus’ footsteps, and live with him as an example.
So what does this entail?
PROPHET
The average human thinks that a prophet is a special person who speaks for God or one who foretells the future, at least that’s what my dictionary tells me, but I take issue with that explanation, because it would limit the office of prophet to crackpots, since nobody can predict the future.
In the Old Testament there were prophets galore. There are the major ones, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and a host of minor prophets, twelve in total, such as Amos, Jonah – perhaps the most well-known for that Big Fish story.
Prophets, then and now are always unpopular.
Prophets in Old Testament times were shunned and avoided, because the Lord always sent them to remind the people of Israel that they had strayed from THE COVENANT, that treaty between God, his people and creation. Prophets were bringers of bad news, warning them of the consequences of breaking the Promise.
Today this is no different because that same Covenant outlined in Genesis 9 – when God allied himself with us and creation – is still in force today, so I think that now more than ever prophets are needed, and, yes, equally held in contempt as pessimists and doomsayers.
One thing prophets always do is questioning the status quo: people hate that, hate change, loath being reminded of occupying The Comfortable Pew, as Pierre Burton called it.
Matters have not changed. A line from Amos comes to mind when he, pointing to worship proceedings said, (Amos 5: 21) “I hate, I despise your religious feasts, I cannot stand your assemblies”. It’s so easy to see this now that the extent of Christian service is often fulfilled in an hour of church attendance.
So if prophets don’t foretell the future, what do they do?
In the Bible they were called ‘seers’ not because they could see into the future, but because they could see the truth, could understand the deeper meaning of life and have a holistic view on events, not stating what’s going on in isolation, but grasping the true consequences of the day’s happenings, and the deeper spiritual message of the present moment.
Today that is plain in the matter of CLIMATE CHANGE, which solely is the result of our day-to-day energy use. Prophets point this out, issue warnings and call for obedience to God’s creation, because God’s Primary Word is the world we live in.
Thus a prophet is first and foremost a believer who is convinced that a new present requires new thinking and different approaches. They openly and unabashedly dare to look at what is happening ‘out there’ and advocate to assume full responsibility for the immense changes needed to live according to God’s laws. Prophets also have the courage to critically look at past doctrines, to test them on their relevance for today and tomorrow, and advocate changes reflecting more inclusive thinking.
All this means that they tell the TRUTH about the Way of Death we are pursuing and proclaim as the only hope in life and death the advent of The New Creation, which Christ promised to bring with him upon his return.
That’s why prophets see Scripture as a lamp for their feet and a light for their path in God’s wonderful creation, knowing that Christ, as the Son of Man, the Ben-Adam, the Son of the Soil, will return to make all things new. That’s why a prophet, in spite of all the sin and evil in this world, looks to the future with full confidence. That’s why a prophet already can visualize what this future will be like and thus can critically evaluate the present in the light of the glorious newness that is coming.
OK, that sounds very much like me, and it should, because, as a believer, that is my mandate, and, dare I say, the mandate of all believers.
Looking back how we have arrived at the circumstances we are in today I detect that the economic boom that made America in the 20th century the globe’s largest economy and the envy of the world can be traced to some fortunate circumstances.
Where Europe and the rest of the world suffered ruinous wars, North American industrial hinterlands were not only spared destruction, but benefited immensely as producers of war materials and the providers of the black gold in Texas and elsewhere in its territory: the United States, in the 20th Century, produced more petroleum than all the other countries on Earth put together. The oceans of oil on which the US floated to victory in two world wars made it the economic super power of the by-gone era.
That domestic oil-flow must now be reduced, which also holds true for global supplies, as we now know the ultimate dangers inherent in its continued use, which makes the task of a prophet a precarious one. Breaking our addiction to the conveniences on which our way of life is based, makes the task of a prophet not an easy one.
With the ongoing CHANGE IN CLIMATE it is not difficult to predict for those who have ears to hear, eyes to see and minds to embrace, that the big challenge facing today’s industrial societies is managing the end of abundance, rather than the onset of greater wealth for the Rest of the World.
The brief period of cheap and plentiful energy, must end. For an all too short a period this was in itself an exceptional occurrence in historical terms. It amounted to nothing else but a tremendous acceleration of human history- of which the more than tripling of the number of humans in my life time is just one example – so that the Coming of Christ would be sooner.
A realistic look at what’s happening makes plain that the period of unprecedented prosperity, extraordinary extravagance and gigantic growth, is ending, perhaps suddenly. That means that society has to relearn the lessons of more normal and less unusual times, times where we can once again truly and purposely honor creation. That’s what Peter alluded to in 2 Peter 3: 11-12 when he asked us “to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming.”
In this connection I’d like to draw your attention to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, where we ask the Lord “Your Kingdom Come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That is a direct appeal for the speedy coming of The New Creation.
Enough about our task as PROPHET.
So what about being a PRIEST AND A KING?
Psalm 110: 14 points to our eternal priesthood.
We live on God’s earth, God’s Holy Earth, the place where he dwells as we sing:
- This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—
His hand the wonders wrought. - This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
This is our Father’s world. Living in his holy temple, in his world, means that we are priests. As priests we have to obey his order of creation, which means loving creation, caring for it and engage in holy living.
I admit that’s a different view! God’s presence is not in a church building or cathedral or basilisk or synagogue. No, God’s temple is his creation, and we are called to administer this on God’s behalf. That is our priestly function.
KINGS.
| Psalm 2 tells us that the earth is our kingdom, which we must rule with wisdom. Psalm 8 says it so wonderfully: “You made us ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under our feet: everything!!”
That makes us kings. But not the cruel kind, the despot, the usurper, no, the serving kind, as Jesus was, who outlined his ministry as recorded in Matthew 20: 28, “indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve”. |
So no, I am not an Optimist, not a Pessimist, but in essence I am a servant, a servant to God’s command to be A PROPHET, A PRIEST AND A KING.