Obsolete
Obsolete words. Unlike "archaic" words which are old, maybe even tired, but have simply fallen out of common use, "obsolete" words as simply no longer used at all. As one literary site puts it:
Believe it or not ... words do “disappear” ... For an English word to be considered obsolete, there can’t be any evidence of its use since 1755 – the year of publication of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary.
To that point, pastor and writer Joseph Parker (1830-1902) provided commentary on the closing words of Isaiah 35:10, which state, "Sorrow and sighing will flee away." He expressed,
"When searching for the meaning of certain words in a dictionary, you will occasionally come across a word marked as 'obsolete.' The time has come for sorrow and sighing to become obsolete in our lives. The things that mar life here and now will become part of the past."
All of human history has undoubtedly been marked by tragedies, sorrows, disappointments, and evils. Therefore, it is truly comforting to know that there will come a time when sorrow and destruction will pass away, and God Himself will wipe away all our tears. At that moment, we will experience the truth written in the holy scriptures that "the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
Are you burdened today by problems that seem insurmountable? Do you feel lonely, heartbroken, and disappointed? If you are a child of God, reflect on these affirming words:
"The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
A brighter day will come. On that beautiful day, words like lament, destruction, and tears will become not merely archaic, but utterly obsolete.
Christmas' 1st Light
In 1882, in a townhouse at 136 East 36th Street in New York City, Edward Hibberd Johnson had an idea that would make him the unsung set decorator of a zillion holiday snapshots. Although Christmas trees became popular between 1840 and 1870, what really made them were the candles. While they were festive, they were also a fire hazard.
Johnson, who worked with Thomas Edison, set up a tree by the street side window of their store. Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white, and blue light bulbs, strung them together around the tree, and placed the trunk of the tree on a revolving pedestal, all powered by a generator. The lights drew a crowd as passersby stopped to gaze at the glowing marvel. Johnson turned this and the practice of doing more each year into a tradition.
At that time, a string of 16 vaguely flame-shaped bulbs sitting in brass sockets the size of shot glasses sold for $12 - about $350 in today’s money. By 1914, that same set cost just $1.75. By the 1930s, colored bulbs and cones were everywhere.
Today, an estimated 150 million light sets are sold in America each year, adding to the tangled millions stuffed into boxes each January. They light 80 million homes and consume 6 percent of the nation’s electrical load each December. And though the contagious joy of these lights has been co-opted orange at Halloween, and red at Valentine's Day, it all started with Johnson’s miracle on 36th Street.
The first Christmas light was a star that led some people to Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. That light was prophesied over 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah.
There is always violence, injustice, abuse of power, homelessness, refugees fleeing oppression, families being ripped apart, and bottomless grief. December is the darkest time of the year.
If we look only to the earth and human resources, the darkness only gets worse. The world is a dark place, and we will not find our way or see reality unless the Source, Jesus, is our Light (v.2c; upon the world a light has dawned; not from the world).
"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine" (Isaiah 9:2, NIV).
Just Keep Swimming
Curt Paul Richter was a Harvard and Johns Hopkins educated biologist, psychobiologist and geneticist, who served for many years as director of Johns Hopkins’ psychiatric clinic, where he served until becoming professor of psychobiology in 1957.
He made many important contributions to the fields of biology and psychobiology. One of his most famous experiments involved drowning rats – a study which, today, would probably land him in jail for animal cruelty.
He knew that rats had a reputation for being able to swim for exceedingly long periods of time (in excess of 50 hours!). Yet when he placed rats in a tightly confined bucket of water, they quickly discovered they had no means of outlet, no means of relief, and literally gave up, allowing themselves to simply sink to the bottom, and drowning, on average, within about 15 minutes.
He knew they had the “physical” ability to continue swimming much longer, so concluded they must have felt both helpless and hopeless. So he tried again, this time pulling the rats from the water once he saw them beginning to struggle. He let them rest for a short time before returning them to the bucket. They once again began swimming, testing the confines of their surroundings, but instead of giving up and allowing themselves to sink and drown, they kept swimming! And swimming! And swimming! Many swam up to 60 hours until their bodies could simply no longer endure.
What was the difference between these two groups of rats? Richter concluded the difference was HOPE -- that “feeling of expectation” that a particular outcome or desire will come to pass (Google Dictionary), “to look forward to [something] with desire and reasonable confidence” (Dictionary.com).
These drowning rats had been saved once, so they were instilled with the hope – the expectation, the reasonable confidence -- of eventual rescue yet again. Sadly, their hope was misplaced. Their motivation to battle the fatigue, battle the seemingly impossible circumstances, and just keep swimming still landed them in the bottom of the bucket.
Hope is an amazing motivator. And when it is well placed, it is a lifeline.
To the Christian, who has placed their hope squarely in the promises of God, our “feeling of expectation” is much more than a feeling. It is an assured confidence “in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (Titus 1:2). It is that knowledge and confidence in Christ’s finished work on our behalf that will ultimately result in our salvation and eternal life,
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal … so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 4:16–5:5).
Life gets hard folks. You may feel hemmed in on every side, with no visible means of relief or escape. Your body, not to mention your mind and spirit, may want to just give up. But, in the immortal words of Disney’s Dory, “Just keep swimming!”
Allow the assured promises of God to keep you motivated. Death will be swallowed up in life. He has given you His Spirit as a guarantee of the salvation and glorification which is to come!