Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful to be a grandmother again. My oldest daughter had a baby girl on Saturday. Little Amelia was born in Vancouver, so I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m thankful for her. I’m thankful that she is healthy and doing well. I’m thankful that I’ll be flying down to see her soon.

I’m still thankful for Natalie, granddaughter #1, who just got her first tooth. I’m thankful that she is healthy and happy and sociable. Today, she crawled a tiny bit before she fell over, so she’ll probably be getting around by herself before long. I’m thankful that she’s learning new things every day.

Grandmotherhood is a gift and calling for which I am thankful.

I’m thankful for other gifts, too.

• Sunshine and warmer temps. It snowed yesterday, but it’s proper spring weather today.
• The pond behind our house. It may be a mosquito factory, but the dogs love to cool off in it, and the birds love it, too.
• That it will soon be time to plant the garden.
• That the trees will have new leaves.
• Strawberries in season.
• God-breathed scripture. How would I know Jesus without it? 

What are you thankful for?

Syttende Mai

It’s the 17th of May (Syttende Mai), National Day or Constitution Day for Norwegians. It was in 1814 that Norway broke away from Denmark after being under Danish control for several hundred years. On May 17th of that year, Norway’s constitution was established. Nevermind that Norway was part of a kingdom with Sweden until 1905, this is the day that they celebrate their independence. 

 

To celebrate the Seventeenth of May, I’m posting the words to the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet. There’s a link at the end so you can hear it, too.

I have no idea what that one line in the English means and Google was no help. So I’ll ask you: What is a “saga night” and how does it send “dreams to our earth”? 

In Norwegian:

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt, over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem.
Elsker, elsker det og tenker
På vår far og mor
Og den saganatt som senker
Drømme på vår jord,
Og den saganatt som senker
Senker drømme på vår jord,

Norske mann i hus og hytte,
Takk din store Gud!
Landet ville han beskytte
Skjønt det mørkt så ut.
Alt hva fedrene har kjempet,
Mødrene har grett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant vår rett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant, vi vant vår rett.

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem!
Og som fedres kamp har hevet
Det fra nød til seier
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred slår leir,
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred, dets fred slår leir.

 In English:

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged, weathered, above the sea,
with those thousand homes.
Loving, loving it and thinking
about our father and mother
and the saga night that sends
dreams to our earth.
And the saga night that sends,
sends dreams to our earth.

Norseman, in house and cabin,
Thank your great God!
It was His will to protect the country
Although things looked dark.
While fathers fought
And mothers cried,
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our right.
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our rights.

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged and weathered, above the sea,
With those thousand homes.
And as our fathers’ struggle has raised it
from distress to victory,
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp.

—Listen. 

Active Punishment or Natural Consequences?

Or maybe both? Quoting from Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, Andrew Sach:

[S]ome have argued that God does not actively punish sin, but instead allows sinners to reap the ‘natural’ consequences of their actions. The idea here is that God does not intentionally impose these consequences; they are the natural outcome of events, a moral cause and effect analogous to physical cause and effect. Thus the husband who commits adultery suffers the consequence of collapsed trust in his marriage, and the man with a violent temper experiences the inevitable decay and loss of friendship. Within such a framework, it is claimed, we should not talk about God intentionally or actively punishing sin.

But this is a mistake, because it downplays an aspect of God’s work in creation; namely, his continuing, intentional sustaining of all things. All ‘natural’ consequences, whether physical or moral, take place because God continues to will the existence of the universe and the causal relationships that occur within it. Since the moral consequences of sin are willed in this way, they have the character of divine punishment.

Of course, so-called ‘natural’ consequences of sin are not the only kind of divine punishment there is, but it is real divine punishment.