Spring is Here

Now that we have passed the Vernal Equinox we can officially say that Spring is here. It can be felt all around us: in the air, in our hearts, and, for some, in our sinuses. Spring is the
time of year when life sprouts up all around us and love is literally in bloom. Spring holds a special place in the hearts of many and has for hundreds of years. But where did the name "Spring" come from? Before Spring was called Spring it was called "Lent." Then, in the 14th century, it became known as "Springing Time." This was in reference to the plants "springing" up. It was then shortened to "Spring Time" in the 15th century, before finally coming to the modern term "Spring." Now we must simply try not to succumb to spring fever. Have a lovely Spring everyone!!

A Prayer Through Psalms: Chapter 4

Answer Me When I Call

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

Psalms 4

1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

   You have given me relief when I was in distress.

   Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

   How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah

3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

   the Lord hears when I call to him.

4 Be angry, and do not sin;

   ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.Selah

5 Offer right sacrifices,

   and put your trust in the Lord.

6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?

   Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”

7 You have put more joy in my heart

   than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

   for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Much like the last psalm, this was written in a time of distress for the Psalmist. However, the psalmist has faith in the night and points out that the righteous have nothing to fear because God is good. *NOTE* while the righteous are not without sin, they are in a covenant relationship with God (much like us Christians). 

4:1- The psalmist uses imperative verbs in this verse to illustrate how the righteous can fearlessly call on God because God is his righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6). 

4:2- What you find honor in directly impacts what makes you ashamed. This psalmist finds his honor in God, but when he sees men turning away from God and seeking lies, he feels ashamed.

4:3- "The godly" is another reference to "the righteous".

4:4 and 5-  (see Ephesians 4:26) The Psalmist refers to the attitude with which the people of God should offer the sacrifices listed in Leviticus Chapters 1 through 7, with a righteous heart and trust in God. Without this attitude, no form of worship is acceptable to God.

4:6 and 7- The psalmist is confronted with skeptics presenting the classic problem of evil; however, the psalmist points the skeptics to God who has provided a joy which cannot be found when things are "good" or when "grain and wine abound",

4:8- God confronts our struggling psalmist, giving them the ability to rest.

My prayer for today is that we can be confident in Christ's sacrifice which has made it possible for us to call on God fearlessly. I pray that as our lives progress and things get hard that we can remember to find honor in Christ and find our comfort in Him instead of the conveniences of this world. I pray that God will bless those who are restless and give them rest and confidence in His power to rescue. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 

A Prayer Through Psalms: Chapter 3

Psalm 3

1 O Lord, how many are my foes!

   Many are rising against me;

2 many are saying of my soul,

   there is no salvation for him in God. Selah

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

   my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

   and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;

   I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

   who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord!

   Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

   you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;

   your blessing be on your people! Selah

This is a Psalm of David from when he was fleeing from his treacherous son, Absalom. This was written in a time of great despair and warfare for David, so be on the lookout for military-like imagery as we dissect this week's passage.

3:1- There are many enemies who are rising above the king and nation of the chosen people.

3:2- The enemies try to convince David that God is not going to protect him in this time of need

3:3- However, David remains steadfast in his faith even through the voices of doubt surrounding him. He uses the phrase "lifter of my head" which is a traditional expression of encouragement.

3:4- "The holy hill" refers to Zion which is the place God set aside for the Israelites to make sacrifices.

3:5- God has been faithful to David, allowing him to sleep in a war camp even though he is surrounded by enemies. This is a peace which can only be provided by God.

3:7- "Arise, O Lord!" This phrase is commonly used in wartime Psalms, calling on God to defeat the enemies of flesh and blood.

3:8- In the end, Salvation belongs to God and He will save who He saves. "Selah" is a Hebrew word used throughout the book of Psalms which doesn't have a known meaning aside from the fact that it is an exclamation of joy, so if you decide to sing this Psalm, go ahead and shout "Selah!" while you're at it.

My prayer for this Psalm is that even through the hard times in our lives, we will remember that God is faithful and He will deliver His people. In return I pray that we will be faithful to God, not so that we can expect God to be faithful in return, but in loving admiration of God's faithfulness to those who do not deserve it. Amen

The Earth is Red with Clay: Part 2

Sorry for the lateness of the post... Having Good Friday off messed up my schedule and it completely slipped my mind. Enjoy!

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I hoist my bag of seeds back on to my shoulder and trudge over to the backyard, dragging the plow behind me. Once I make it back there, I am surprised. There are very few workers back here, only me with my plow and a twelve-ish year old Hispanic boy laying down pavers into a patio. But that isn’t even the most surprising thing. That would probably be the giant gaping hole, several feet across, that sits were a termite eaten shed once stood. The Hispanic boy must have caught me staring at the chasm, because he starts explaining what it is.
“That happened yesterday.” He starts. “One of the older boys was using a jack hammer to try and get up that last bit of the shed foundation and the ground just fell out from underneath him.”
“It just… fell?” I can’t wrap my head around it. He was just working and the ground… fell. The boy nods his head. I cautiously step over to the edge of the pit, and nudge a pebble down into the abyss. At first I wonder if the rock will ever reach bottom at all, but after several seconds I hear the faint echo of it clatter on the rocky floor.
From behind me I hear the splashing of water and the heavy footsteps of a little girl. “G, what are you looking at?” Dandy asks.
I whirl around to face her. “Nothing!” I cry, hoping to draw her attention away from the hole. “Just lost in thought.” Dandy can't get near the hole. It was big and menacing and Dandy was small and clumsy. One wrong step and the last of my makeshift family was gone. I nudge Dandy back up towards the front of the house, but she slips by me before I can grab her.
“What is that?” I haven’t heard that much curiosity in her voice in a long while. It makes me scared. Dandy may be a pretty melancholy kid, but she still has never grasped the concept of cautiousness in her short seven years. That’s kinda what the Apocalypse did to people; it stole their happiness, but not their recklessness. Probably why so many of them aren’t here anymore.
“It’s nothing, like I said. Just a sink hole from where someone was digging yesterday.” My explanation does not stop her from walking closer.
“Dandy, come back.” She stands as close to the edge as humanly possible.
“Dandy, stop!” I scream. Dandy turns around to look at me. Our commotion seems to have brought the attention of the Commanders, because I hear them rushing up behind me. Dandy scowls at me for ruining her fun, but trudges back over to my side. I hadn’t noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch the unfolding events, but they have started to go back to work, including the Commanders.
I look down at Dandy, who refuses to make eye contact and still scowls. “What were you thinking? You could have slipped and fallen into the hole and I would have never seen you again.” I grab her shoulders and make her look at me. “You can’t ever get that close to the hole again, you hear me?”
Dandy looks me square in the eyes, and I swear I see hers start to water. “You’re not my mom; you don’t get to tell me what to do.” She retorts before running off. I’m not… what? Dandy has never said anything like that to me before. She has called me all sorts of names and told me I was terrible at all sorts of things, but never has she denied that I was family. My eyes have started to water too.

The rest of the morning has gone much more smoothly. I got the whole backyard planted before lunch. The Commanders also went back and roped off the hole in the corner, to make sure no one else got any funny ideas about investigating it. Now that it is lunch break, I’m sitting with some of the other workers my age, munching on a roll and some jerky. They all chatter and laugh among themselves, talking about how some of the other Reconstructions sites are going, and how things were starting to come back. One boy said that he found daffodils growing in front of his house, bright yellow, delicate daffodils. He said that his mother had told him that they were a sign that spring was coming. Springtime, I wonder would it would be like for it to be warm outside all the time. It was always cold during the Apocalypse, and if it ever was warm, it was a sticky, muggy kind of warm that meant a storm was coming. Not the nice gentle sunlight warm that was springtime. But even with all their laughter, all their talk of hope, I still can’t bring myself to join in. I just pick at my lunch, all melancholy. I’m can’t stop thinking about Dandy, and what she said. I mean, it a hole in the dirt that probably leads to more dirt. Why would she get so mad at me for telling her not to look at it? It’s just a hole in the dirt, right?  Peering behind me, I can look straight at the hole and the yellow caution tape surrounding it. But that’s not the only thing I see. Is that… a person, walking along the back fence right by the hole? It is. It’s a short person with short blond hair and a slouchy wrinkled frock… Dandy?
“Guys…” I whisper, slapping the person next to me on the shoulder, trying to get their attention. “Guys… there’s… Dandy!” I leap up from my seat and run over to the far corner, a couple other kids jumping up after me. Dandy has crossed the caution tape and is standing with her toes hanging off the edge. “Dandy, don’t move!” I holler.
I don’t know if my shouting startled her. Or if she jumped off the edge at her on will. But, one moment she was there, toes hanging on the edge, eyes peering down into the darkness, and the next minute… she wasn't. The only thing to take her place is the panicked screams of a little girl falling down the hole. And as we run closer to the hole, the little girl is quieter and quieter, until I am finally gripping the edge of the abyss and she is silent. I frantically stare down into the hole, looking for any sign of her. But the darkness has already consumed her.

And Dandy was gone.

A Prayer Through Psalms: Chapter 2

Psalm 2

1  Why do the nations rage

   and the peoples plot in vain?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves,

   and the rulers take counsel together,

   against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

3 “Let us burst their bonds apart

   and cast away their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;

   the Lord holds them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

   and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6 “As for me, I have set my King

   on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

   today I have begotten you.

8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

   and the ends of the earth your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron

   and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

   be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear,

   and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son,

   lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

   for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

In this Psalm we have a theme of kings which are contrasted among each other. We have wicked kings, heavenly kings, and wise kings. Keep these different kings and contrasts in mind as we continue to analyze the Psalm commonly ascribed to david.

2:2- The political leaders of the world are gathering the nations together in order to declare war on "the anointed" which refers to the current King of Israel and Jesus Christ, the King of kings.

2:3- "Burst their bonds" is a metaphor for rebelling against the "anointed".

2:4-6- God does not recognize the authority and underwhelming power of the Rebels and responds by installing a "King on Zion (heaven)" who will be triumphant. While the Psalmist is most likely referring to an earthly king, the parallels to our Savior are uncanny. It's verses like these which remind us that the Bible truly is the inspired word of God.

2:7- "Son" also referring to a Davidic king and Christ at the same time. Jesus Christ was a direct descendant of David.

2:9- God used the Israelites to bring destruction upon the "rebels" in the same way Christ brought destruction to the power of sin.

2:12- To kiss the Son is to submit to a higher authority. The wise king submits to the King above all kings out of reverence to His power.

My prayer is that we will live our lives understanding the almighty power of the Son of God and submit to Him as the Wise kings do. I pray that we fully contrast the power of the earthly rebels to the Heavenly King and give our respect and praise to the one who deserves it above all else. Amen.

Good Friday (And Why We Get The Day Off)

As many students at Fideles are aware, we do not have school on Friday this week. But, what makes this Friday special? Why is it different from any other Friday of the year? What is so good about Good Friday?
For those who do not know, Good Friday is the day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is on this day that we remember how Christ suffered for us on the cross. His death represents the ultimate sacrifice for our sins where God's wrath and mercy came together for our benefit. "But why is it called Good Friday?" I hear you ask. It is true that the crucifixion and death of our savior is a somber thing to celebrate, and other cultures, such as Germany, treat it so. However, it is Christ's suffering that marks the beginning of the turning point in history. Without Jesus' Suffering and death the Christian faith would be meaningless. It is through the pain of Good Friday that the Joy of Easter Sunday is revealed to us. 
Good Friday is a great way to honor and remember Jesus' sacrifices for us. However, the Bible tells us to remember Christ's sacrifice throughout the year and tells us to honor it through the Lord's supper. 1 Corinthians 11:24–26 (ESV) 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for5 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”6 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
During Good Friday this year remember what was done for us and honor God. We truly have reason to celebrate for this weekend is anniversary of the foundation of our faith.

A Prayer Through Psalms: Chapter 1

Recently I downloaded an app called "Read Scripture" which provides a detailed Bible study plan with the goal of reading through the entire Bible in a year. However, what makes this plan special was the emphasis they put on worship and prayer, as such, part of my daily reading plan includes a prayer through Psalms. This has inspired me to dissect the book of Psalms chapter by chapter using an ESV study Bible and record my observations on this blog. Hopefully this will be able to encourage you to live by faith.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,    nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,    and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree    planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,    and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so,    but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,    but the way of the wicked will perish.

The first Psalm is a fitting introduction to the collection of poetry because it is one of the only wisdom Psalms. The Psalmist notes that a wise person loves God and studies his word, but the wicked person despises God.

1:1- Note the word "blessed" doesn't just mean happy, but it means to enjoy a special relationship or favor with God. The wise person is described by what he avoids, walking in the counsel of wicked, standing in the way of sinners, and sitting in the seat of scoffers.

1:2- A wise person is described as someone who not only follows, but takes delight in the law of God.

1:3- This more or less alludes to how Joseph was given prosperity by God for his faithfulness (Genesis 39:3). The wise person is like a prospering tee, not suffocating because it is close to water.

1:4- This verse contrasts the wicked in a harsh way. Where the righteous man is called a luxuriant tree, the wicked man is chaff that the wind drives away.

1:6- There are two ways of life, one which follows the Lord and one that turns away. The one which follows the Lord is fulfilled by faith in Jesus Christ.

My prayer today is that we, the people of America, will remain strong in the counsel of the Lord. That we will not try to seek out council in the place of the wicked, for they are like chaff in the wind. However, the Lord is steadfast, and those that remain in him are steadfast. Amen.

The Earth is Red with Clay: Part 1

The Earth is Red with Clay

I have always loved the Georgia red clay. Its bright red color is warming and familiar, the texture almost soft. I love where you find it. In places that have been dug up, scarred. It is only evident after the ground has been torn up and thrown into itself. I like how it stains everything it touches. It paints my clothes, my skin. It cannot help making its mark on the world. With the Reconstruction in full swing, it seems to be showing up more often, as I ride my bicycle down the cracked asphalt, in the lot across the street from my house.

                It’s nice seeing the world red for a different reason.

…

                “Dandy!” I cry, “Get up! Anne and Light will be here soon to take us to the Reconstruction site, and unless you want to muddy your last pair of pajamas, I suggest you move it!” I tiptoe down the stairs, careful for splinters and the crack on the seventh step. I hear a muffled “Okay” from Dandy up the stairs behind me, before I take a left through the dining room into the kitchen. Reaching into the cabinet hanging by a thread on the wall, I try to find two of the least chipped bowls for breakfast. Neither of them look pretty, both etched with lots of cracks and ragged edges, but they will suit the task of holding a small portion of oatmeal this morning. Sun filters in through the broken glass above the rusted sink, the sunrise almost blinding me as I whip up some oatmeal from the packets that the runner left for us last night. Dandy trudges into the room just as I set her breakfast on the table. As she sits down to her meager meal, I notice how her blonde hair sticks out in every direction from her head and how her smock is scrunched up around her waist.

                “Now Ms. Dandy Lion, how on earth do expect to work in the Reconstruction site looking like that?” I inquire. She just frowns at me as I reach over and slowly comb her hair out so that it rests nicely right below her ears, and pull down her dress.

                “I made you breakfast.” I nudge, “I know it’s still just cold oatmeal, but it’s still better than what we were eating during the Apocalypse, right?” Dandy doesn’t say anything, just picks at the peeling paint on the table. There is quite a large gap missing from where she sits. I grab my oatmeal and sit at the table across from her. There is no sound except the clinking of dirty spoons on cracked bowls. The light shining through the window, gives everything a delicate glow. It’s so different sitting at this table now than it was just a few weeks ago. Eating oatmeal, rather than moldy bread and grass. Basking in the sunrise rather than the stormy shadows. It's all different now. Now that the looters and thieves are locked away. That the tremors and storms have stopped. The monsters are gone. After seven long years, the Apocalypse has ended in no more than a couple of weeks.  Safety had come so suddenly.

                There is a knocking at the door. I jump up from my seat and dart to the front of the house, quickly tying back my dirty red hair. The cracked wood almost falls off its hinges as I swing it open.  There standing as expected is Anne Archy, the tall and lanky brunette girl, and Light Ning, the scrawny Asian boy to her left. “Georgia!” Anne shouts, rushing at me with a hug. I hug her back, and give Light one as well. “Are you ready to go?” she asks.

                 I nod my head yes, and grab Dandy and my lunch sacks from the front steps. “Dandy! We’re leaving!” I holler back. Dandy plods up behind me, a frown still creasing her face. I grab my bicycle tied to a post I think was once part of a front porch, and hop on, perching Dandy on the little seat behind me. The four of us ride off towards our destinations, leaving the little dilapidated house in our wake.

                “So Georgia, where are you and Dandy stationed today?” Anne asks once we finally make it out of the neighborhoods.

                “The Tinkerwood neighborhood housing reconstruction, just like every other day this week.” Housing reconstruction is starting to get really old. Everyday it’s just bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar. “What about you?”

                “Nursery and Daycare duty. Somebody’s got to look after all those orphans.” She replies, with a half-smile on her face. Humor is much darker these days. “Light said that he’s headed to the factory to work on kitchenware.” Light, who is riding a few feet ahead of us, turns around and smiles. For a mute, Anne and I are never at a lack of what he is thinking.

                “Oh! Hey, Light! While you’re at the factory today, can you see if you can snatch me a couple new bowls? The ones I have left over from the Apocalypse are barely holding together.” I request as I pedal faster to catch up with him. Light just nods his head in reply, before suddenly veering off to the right, down the street that leads to the big factory at the edge of town. Anne turns down the street to the left, waving goodbye as she heads to the nursery. I can start to see the Tinkerwood Reconstruction site looming in the distance. As Dandy and I come up on it, I notice many people have already arrived and gotten to work. I quickly lift Dandy off of the bicycle, and let it flop onto the pile of other parked bicycles. Grabbing our hard hats and safety vests from shack right outside the work site, I try to make an assessment of the workers here today. Most of them are teen-aged children like me. At seven years old, Dandy is probably the youngest one here. If there are any adults working, they are wearing the white vests of the Commanders, supervising while the rest of us work. Never picking up a nail or hammer; just watching and waiting for one of us to get hurt. Being an adult is special; we don’t have very many of those around anymore and most aren’t expected to live that long. But those that stopped the Apocalypse and started the Reconstruction said they would change that. That we could all live long and happy lives with mothers and fathers and toddlers running through green grass and sunshine and happy memories. While I don’t doubt for a minute that they will keep their promises, I am starting to wonder when we will get all of those nice things. Because while Dandy and I have made a good team through the whole Apocalypse, I’m sick of trying to be an adult when I’m not one.

                Dandy and I take the little trolley- which is no more than pedal powered wooden boxes- down to our stop, lot 12. Most of the other lots already have constructed houses on them, all straight and new, without any peeling paint or concave sides. But there are thirty lots at the Tinkerwood site, and the neighborhood won’t be open to the new home owners until they are all finished. Dandy waves at the trolley boy as he pedals away. She gets to be the water girl again for the day, and she runs over to her little pail and cup, resting by the rusty hand pump. Now that the house on this lot is almost done, I have grass duty, getting to plant the seeds so that grass can one day grow in the lawn like it once did. I grab a bag of grass seed and start to drag the hand plow over to the back corner where I will start planting, when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

                “Ms. Georgia Clay?” The voice is a grown man’s, an adult. I turn around to see who it is. I have never seen this man at any of the other Reconstruction sites this week, but he is wearing one of the Commanders white vests. Even so, he’s different from all the adults I’ve seen recently; he’s much cleaner and put together. “I am here from Headquarters, taking a census in order to assist in the Reconstruction.” It makes sense now. Headquarters is as close to a capital as we can get these days. It really is a miracle, its creation and all. The locals came together and basically built the entire city in days. Now they live in the lap of luxury, waiting for the rest of us to catch up. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions before you start work?”

I have no objections. “Sure,” I reply, tossing my bag of grass seed down at my feet.

He takes out a clipboard and a pen. “What is your full name?”

“It’s just Georgia Clay, but that’s not my original name. I had a different name before the Apocalypse, but I can’t remember what it was.”

He jots down my answer and continues his questionnaire. “Age?”

“Sixteen, I think.”

“Any illness or birth defects that you know of?”

“Me? None, fit as a fiddle, sir.” I see a smile pinch the corner of his lip.

“What neighborhood do you live in?”

“Claytown; it’s scheduled for Demolition and Reconstruction in a couple weeks.”

“Is there anyone else living in your house with you?”

“One seven year old girl. Her name is Dandy Lion.”

His eyes dart up for just half a second to catch a glimpse of the scrawny little water girl tottering around the lot, spilling half of her water in her wake. “Is she related to you at all? Sister, cousin, niece…” I can’t tell if this is part of his census or if it is just his own curiosity.

“No. She’s just someone I met, a year or two into the Apocalypse.”

“Interesting…” His pen scratches wildly on his paper. I wonder what paper feels like. I have barely seen any in quite a long time. “Most people do not exhibit that much kindness.”

“She was an infant. I found her in a ditch in front of my house. Couldn’t just leave her.” The story was much more complicated than that, but I wasn’t about to bog him down with details.

                The man clicks his pen, and tucks his clipboard under his arm. “That will be all for today, miss. Thank you for your time.” And without another word, he leaves. Doesn’t stop to question anyone else, just grabs the closest trolley and leaves. Strange. 

Settle In, It's Story-time!

Good Morning, Fideles crew! One of the services that this blog would like to provide is a serial story posted every Friday. Nothing fancy or complicated- just, over the course of six weeks, one of six parts of a story will be posted on this blog, each of the parts culminating in a full story at the end of the time. The first part of the first story will be posted sometime later today and hopefully there will be many more stories to follow that one. I hope that you all enjoy them and look forward to them every Friday!

~ Macy O'Fallon ~

Faith Alone

Hello, my name is Kyle Rutherford, editor of the 2016 Fideles Yearbook and the head of the new Fideles Christian School student run blog "Sola Fide". Sola Fide is one of the 5 "solas" of the protestant Reformation among Sola Scripturo, Solus Cristo, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, and Soli Deo Gloria. Sola Fide means faith alone and it alludes to how we should live our lives, with constant faith in Christ. We the student writers of Sola Fide hope to communicate the importance of living by faith and encourage those who are currently trying to live by faith.