Bert Hielema–Columns and Writings

January 29 2023

PEACE

One of Jesus’ most striking greetings is found in John 14: 27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”

The world’s peace is nothing else than the regularity of order; we are said to have peace when life runs smoothly and routine is undisturbed. 

But peace is more than living in a well-regulated society. Peace is even more than having a good relationship with God and others. 

The core of peace appears when we are at ease within ourselves, as outlined in Psalm 119, verse 97 – “Lord how I love your law! It is ever in my mind”. That law is much more than the Ten Commandments. Jesus mentions it in the prayer he taught us, with the first rule: “Hallowed be Your name.” 

That phrase has nothing to do with God’s name, be that Yahweh, Elohim, Adonai, Father, Mother, Creator. God is beyond a name.  It has everything to do with honoring his signature, his name, found on every creature, as outlined in Colossians 1: 16: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

Yes: creation is holy!

The ‘invisible’ in that text, in my lay opinion, refers to the TV and other airwaves that bring our news and make mobile phones and various airborne devices possible, even our telepathic conveyances, including the prayers that emanate from our hearts and minds, as Psalm 141 says so pointedly, “Let my prayer arise before you like incense, the raising of my hands like an evening oblation”.

Like incense….

It reminds me of the indigenous rite of smoking a ‘peace-pipe’. The smoke of burning material, often scented, envelopes the persons into a circle of togetherness, visible and invasive, slowly ascending to the heavens. In the Revelation of John, incense symbolizes the prayers of the saints “the golden bowl full of incense”, as in Revelation 5: 8 and 8: 3.

Peace and prayers are difficult to find.

I love the word tranquility, the sense of serene servitude, the stance of sanctified solemnity, the hour of devotion, symbolized as lazy smoke from ‘incense’ slowly ascending. That state is increasingly more difficult to find. 

I treasure my shalom when, first thing after breakfast, drinking cups of tea, I randomly type my meditation on a text of the lectionary. I find peace in peeling me own potatoes, and later in preparing a meal of my own vegetables, my kale, my sauerkraut, my beets and beans and red cabbage. I am such a blessed person, yet daily, my prayers go to my children, my grandchildren, my eight greatgrandchildren: what is their future?

Peace, all-encompassing peace, embracing the totality of our experience, is nigh impossible today. There certainly is no peace in the weather.

Last week I read in the New York Times an interview with Bill Gates, who has given billions away through his foundation, also to environmental causes. He mentioned that the UN goal to keep Global Warming to 1.5 C is no longer possible, even keeping at below 2 C is a pipe-dream, so, perhaps 2.5 C is our next target, making ‘peace’ on the weather scene has become an illusion. 

Arctic News writes: The joint impact of a strong El Niño, high sunspots and the volcano eruption near Tonga could make a difference of more than 0.87°C. This rise could trigger further developments and feedbacks that altogether could cause a temperature rise from pre-industrial of as much as 18.44°C by 2026. 

That means total conflagration as in 2 Peter 3!

Peace and the Doomsday Clock

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the clock has been since it was established in 1947 to illustrate global existential threats at the dawn of the nuclear weapons age. In the first few weeks of 2023, at least 100 people have been killed in mass shootings across the USA. Both are a far cry from peace.

“Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” 

In a world, increasingly violent, increasingly inundated with atmospheric disturbances, true peace is hard to find. As ‘religion’ wanes, as churches are increasingly embroiled in sexual scandals, with rigid notions about sexuality differences, the only true source of ‘peace’ is found in looking for and simulating the conditions expected when Christ returns: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. (Isaiah 65: 17).

January 22 2023

THE END OF THE WORLD.

I have a book by that name, written by Otto Friedrich, a former senior writer at TIME weekly. It was published in 1986, and I bought it that same year 

on December 24, perhaps a Xmas present to myself. The subtitle was, not surprisingly, A History, as, evidently, the world did not end. 

I have no idea why “The End of the World” fascinates me. Perhaps my upbringing has something to do with it, memorizing the Apostles’ Creed, which ends with: “(I believe) in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting”. Perhaps Noah’s Flood influenced me, and the implication, that next time ‘we’ would be the instigators of the End. 

Even though there are books hinting at The End, such as Elizabeth Kolbert’s, “The Sixth Extinction”, and Bill McKibben’s, “The End of Nature”, I don’t know of any recent church publications that prepare us for THE END which surely will come. 

A subtle change.

It was different centuries ago. The historian, Johan Huizinga, in his “In the Shadows of Tomorrow”, wrote that, (and I translate): “It would be useful to place our notion of crises in a historical perspective, considering the immense internal commotions of centuries past. There is an essential spiritual difference between then and today. Then there was a consciousness expressing: Our world, however big or small, is imperiled, is on the verge of dissolution. That particular position was very prevalent in people’s minds, and fed into the feeling of the approaching End of the World.”

This was plain already in the year 410, when the Sack of Rome took place. The theologians of those days, relying on Revelation 18, equated the Fall of Rome with the Fall of Babylon, the End of the World, as described in that chapter.

Throughout history, horrendous events, such as the Black Death – 1347-50, when about half the European population died – were seen as God’s judgement. Then everybody was a church member, so, yes, in their minds, the ‘End of their World’ was a correct assumption, which proved to be true for their place and time.

How people’s religious motivations have changed!

In 1983 on November 10, exactly 500 years after Martin Luther was born, and in 1517 openly defied the world’s all-powerful institution, the Church of Rome, my brother, my wife and I visited Wittenberg, and the church where Luther had affixed his 95 theses. On the concrete steps of that now empty and neglected edifice, two teenagers were shooting dope. That, to me, signified the religious State of the World today, where the church no longer is the penetrating force 5 centuries ago. The world-shaking events Otto Friedrich described which, by and large, were regarded as religious-significant happenings, no longer are connected to biblical givens. Society at large has undergone a seismic change in faith-matters. Where even a century ago churches were thriving, today religion has become redundant. The End of the World has been decoupled from the human mind.

Back to In the Shadows of Tomorrow.

Dr. Huizinga writes – and I agree – “We know that much in the past has been better than today. But we also know that, in general, there is no way back. There only is an ‘ahead’, even though the unknown future fills us with dread”.

That ‘ahead’ is eerily outlined by Dr. Nouriel Roubini in his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos this past week. He said, 

“What I have called mega-threats others have called a “poly-crisis. We are therefore facing not only the worst of the 1970s (repeated negative aggregate supply shocks), but also the worst of the 2007-08 period (dangerously high debt ratios) and the worst of the 1930s. A new “geopolitical depression” is increasing the likelihood of cold and hot wars that could all too easily overlap and spin out of control.” The managing director of the International Monetary Fund calls it a “confluence of calamities”. The world economy, she warned last year, is facing “perhaps its biggest test since the second world war”. Similarly, the former US secretary of the Treasury, Lawrence H. Summers, argues that we are facing the most acute economic and financial challenges since the 2008 financial crisis. And in its latest global risks report – released just before elites gathered in Davos this month to discuss “cooperation in a fragmented world” – the World Economic Forum warns of “a unique, uncertain and turbulent decade to come”.

Arctic News writes, “A huge temperature rise threatens to unfold, as the already dire situation threatens to turn catastrophic due to the combined impact of a number of developments and feedback, such as La Nina to El Nino. 

The convergence of these events could well result in THE END OF THE WORLD as we have fashioned it.

January 15 2023

SHELTERING IN THE SHADOWS OF TOMORROW

An incident, its details I have forgotten, has marked my life. I probably, once had an appointment, was quite late, and get such a severe scolding, that now, being on time, has become an ingrained habit with me, making me very ‘time-conditioned’, ruling my life, and even coloring my outlook on eternity.

Colors my outlook on eternity? Yes,

In my biblically biased opinion, I view my life from the perspective of the END. I see myself as ruled by “Teleios”, found in Matthew 5: 48, where Jesus tells us to be ‘teleios’ as his father is ‘teleios’, translated as ‘perfect’. It actually tells us to live life from the end of life on earth to the present. 

Life from the ending?

‘Teleios’, translated as ‘perfect’, has no reference to its root, ‘telos’, which means ‘end’. Jesus really means us to be ‘ending-oriented’, measuring life not from birth to death, but living it back from its very end, the New Creation, living a life shaped by that future, that future being the New Creation, the Kingdom to come: “Seek first the Kingdom, the welfare of Creation”, is Jesus’ explicit command. That indicates a perpetually sustainable life, for which I regard my present life as the ‘proving ground’.

A radical new concept.

So, yes, this gives me a totally different outlook on life: it involves a radical change what the “Christian Life” is all about! That a change is needed is obvious: the heaven heresy has totally distorted this concept.

We now live in a time of negative tendencies, more about killing than healing, more about breaking down than building up. It is all too plain that Western culture is fracturing at the seams, with spikes in anxiety, depression and mental illness, loneliness and alienation, with family failure and systemic racism. To stand strong in these days of fracturing, we must adopt rules for life to withstand the onslaught that imposes itself upon us.

I am very aware of this ordeal, with our energy use as the real culprit.

That’s why I am very ‘energy’ conscious. I only turn on a light when it is absolutely necessary. In 1993, when I retired, I installed 3 solar panels and batteries to alleviate my energy use. For decades I used wood for heating but this year, reading about its detrimental influence on air quality. I have given up on wood, using it only when electricity is disrupted.

My daily routine centers on healthy habits, both physical and spiritual. I believe that the Lord has given me my body as a gift to honor him. 

Plenty of signs.

Gail Tverberg, an actuary, starts her latest blog, OurFiniteWorld.Com, with these words:

“Why is the economy headed for a financial crash? It appears to me that the world economy hit Limits to Growth about 2018 because of a combination of diminishing returns in resource extraction together with rising population. The Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying financial manipulations hid these problems for a few years, but now, as the world economy tries to reopen, the problems are back with a vengeance.”

I fully concur with her assessment and see it as another sign that Revelation 18 is about to be implemented. There the heading is The Fall of Babylon, which directly points to a looming collapse, eerily abetted by the US 

Republican tiny majority in Congress, a bunch of politicians without a clue about The TIME we live in.

In October, the World Meteorological Organization reported that the atmospheric concentration of all the main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – had reached record highs. WMO head Prof Petteri Taalas said: “We are heading in the wrong direction.”

Admit it: Our path to cosmic destruction continues unabated. There’s little we can do about it, even though we must adhere to the best of our ability to live a redeeming life. 

2023.

The year 2023 has had an ominous start, witness California, where one of my three daughters lives in Santa Barbara. Even that privileged couple, Harry and Meghan, were under evacuation orders. Climate Change knows no boundaries. Tornadoes anyone?

What I observe all around me, confirms my suspicion that, in spite of repeated warnings and massive conferences, nothing will change.

In 1935 Dr. Johan Huizinga, wrote: “In the Shadows of Tomorrow”. This famous historian then warned, “We live in a world possessed, and we know it.” In 1939 his predictions came true: all hell broke loose. 

Today we live in a world even more possessed, even more threatening, even more ominous and devastating: and we too, are ignoring the obvious.

Today, 2023, I shelter in the shadows of tomorrow: waiting,“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” Malachi 4:2.

January 8 2023

BECOME LIKE A CHILD.

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God above.’

In my Grail version of the Psalms, the Catholic Priest, Joseph Gelineau, who translated the 150 songs, comments on Psalm 13, “The fool in the Bible is not an ignoramus; nor is he a theoretical atheist or agnostic….He has his values all wrong and is encouraged by past experience to behave as if God would never take action”.

“Would never take action?”  

Well, observe the world; war, mayhem in Washington, weird weather everywhere. It took a long time, but God is now taking action: His revenge is unfolding before our very eyes! Time to reflect, and accept that the new and dangerous conditions prior to Christ’s return, are here. And getting worse. 

When I was 4 years old, our family spent a day at the sea. I was thirsty and tasted the sea water and spit it out right away. Weaned on biblical stories (each night my mother would read from our Children’s Bible) I went to my father, and told him to get a piece of wood as Moses had done to make bracken water, sweet.

That, somewhat, indicates what it means when Jesus tells us to become like a child: trusting and simple-minded. God’s wisdom compared to our intelligence is like comparing the Himalayas to a toothpick. We act as if we are God, but it is now becoming painfully clear that our actions are overpowering us.

Today foolishness defines life. 

There is more uncertainty now than there’s been in the past 80 years. There’s more tension between large nation states, particularly nuclear-capable entities than we’ve had in a long time: in many countries, the threat of unrest, as well as crime, terrorism, health issues and natural disasters, is higher than ever. The stalemate in US politics is typical of today’s stupidity: it illustrates that there are no simple answers to complex problems. The emerging forces of fragmentation will continue to bedevil the leaders of both American political parties, as do parties throughout democracies today: how do we deal with end-times?

Confusion reigns in the weather especially. We have created a meteorological monster whose power dwarfs anything humanity has devised. We have done something to the weather, our constant companion wherever we go. The changes we have wrought now are irreversible. Chances are that this year we’ll move into the next El Niño. Moving from the bottom of a La Niña to the peak of a strong El Niño could make a difference of more than half a degree Celsius. Look what we face already with the rise of just ONE degree Celsius: imagine a rapid escalation there! 

Earthquake.

We have fundamentally altered the earth, God’s Created Word. I cannot emphasize this enough: God’s works are God’s words in which he speaks to us loud and clear. This tragic truth is that the church has never wholeheartedly endorsed creation’s holiness.

What we are experiencing today is just the beginning of the birth pangs, as Romans 8: 22 attests. We haven’t seen anything yet: Revelation 11: 13 informs us how a coming earthquake will cause a significant section of the world to collapse. My study Bible notes that ‘earthquakes are a regular feature of divine visitation, and reveals the terrified realization that Christ is the true Lord of all.’ When that ‘ominous warning’ of Christ’s imminent return will strike, no earth scientist can accurately predict.

The Bible is not a history book, nor is it a book that tells us when and where a certain event will take place. It basically tells us that God created, we uncreated, and Christ re-created, we being partners in that re-creation process. The Bible informs us of a beginning and an end, and tells us to look for the final signs, which today point to ‘the last Days’. Matthew 24 warns us that they will be terrible, as the full consequences of our ‘foolishness’ is revealed, evident in political confusion, warlike conditions, increasing weather volatility, economic uncertainty, over-doses staggering, and more nihilistic behavior. The youth senses that there really is no future in a society where ‘more’ is the norm, while ‘less’ should be the aim.

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God above.’

Well, there is a Creator/God who has embedded in his creation a revenge factor: destroy my work of art at your own peril! We now are directly dealing with what Malachi, the last Old Testament Prophet, writes: “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble” (Malachi 4:1). The root meaning of ‘arrogant’ is foolish selfishness, failing to care for creation.

Isaiah 42:9: “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them”.

Have a look at the latest Arctic News

January 1 2023

Zeitenwende.

I better explain the title: Zeitenwende. My search resulted in a German explanation:

das Ende einer Epoche oder Ära und der Beginn einer neuen Zeit.

Which, in turn needs translating: “The end of an epoch or era, and the start of a new time-period.

Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, used the word when Russia attacked Ukraine. He backed up his remark by increasing German’s military budget  by $100 Billion, more than doubling its existing allotment. 

Olaf Scholz, me thinks, expressed a change in circumstances far beyond the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: it could well be the end of the world as we have become accustomed to it. That future points to war unending. Already, the USA increased its military budget to an unprecedented $858 Billion, more than half of its total spending.

I should point out that ‘defense’ spending is highly negative: it causes extreme environmental damage through higher Green House Gases: the USA war machinery alone uses more barrels of oil than the 4 Baltic Countries combined. By the way, the USA promised $30 Billion for poor countries to offset the environmental damage caused by rich nations there, but in its 2023 budget of $1.7 Trillion, no provision for this was made.

A curious note.

Before I elaborate on what I see ahead in 2023, a curious note.

While 2022 added up to 6, and was divisible only be ‘6’, the number of the Devil, 2023 adds up to ‘7’ and is only divisible by ‘7’, representing the Holy Number. Something to think about as we enter this ‘epoch-changing’ year!

The Romans and War.

The Roman Emperors had a saying to persuade the ruling Senate and the top decision-makers to finance their wars: “Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum”, “If you want Peace, Prepare for War.” Utter baloney, of course: the Roman Empire, with its legendary legions, was always at war, witness 70 A.D. when the Jewish Temple was destroyed, always new nations to plunder, always new rebellions to squash, always new sources of food to find for Rome’s teeming millions. 

As is often the case with me: Zeitenwende reminds me of the Bible, and of Deuteronomy 31: 17-18, where God confided in his friend, Moses, who was about to stop being Israel’s leader. God said, “They – the people of Israel – will abandon me, and I will hide my face and they will be destroyed. Many disasters will come upon them”. This claim is repeated in Deuteronomy 32:10. So true. Of the 12 tribes that entered the Holy Land, only 2 – Judah and Benjamin – survived. The other 10 tribes simply vanished. Their destruction came because they had abandoned God. 

How about us?

We too have abandoned God. We are destroying God’s Word, his creation, and the Zeitenwende will greatly accelerate this process. After all, ‘God’s Works are God’s Words’. We can’t stop destruction anymore: Tesla is no panacea. 

The End Game.

2023 is the start of the earth’s endgame, the onset of a series of increasingly interlocking disasters, culminating in total destruction of all man-made devices and forms of human inventions.

We better become accustomed to this new reality and be prepared. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” said the UN secretary general, António Guterres. We have no choice now; everything must change, but human nature will not change: see COP 27.

In the last decade everything has fundamentally been affected: more global hunger; more migrants forced to move; more violent demonstrations; more regional conflicts; more diseases and deaths; more droughts and floods; more natural disasters; more heat and cold; more disease transmitted from animals to humans; more forest destruction; more biodiversity decline; more ideological extremism; more cyberattacks; more large-scale fraud.

Everything is connected to everything else.

Barry Commoner’s four rules of ecology are more relevant than ever, of which the first one is “Everything is connected to everything else.” The other three are: (2) Nature knows best; (3) Nothing disappears; (4) Nothing comes free.

That ‘everything is connected’ must start with our mind: a ‘mindset-change’ is needed, a conception that the Earth is HOLY, that misusing the earth is ‘sin’ against the Creator and his creation. We have to sit down, and pray, and, with inner conviction, confess that “Nature” knows best, that the Divine Creation is a living item, representing God to us; that “nothing comes free”, that whatever we have taken from Creation need to be repaid. Today we are in that ‘pay-back’ situation, because ‘nothing ever disappears’. The oil we burn is composed on elements that stay with us: forever.

We know that. God knows that. “Will I find faith when I return”, Jesus lamented. No. Not that ‘holiness’ faith. That’s why he returns to renew the earth. Pray for grace.

December 27 2022

WHEN WILL THE LORD RETURN? 

I have a curious habit. When I see a number, such as 2022, the year gone by like a shadow, then, to train my mental arithmetic, I add up the digits, 2+0+2+2, notice that they total ‘6’, see it’s divisible by 3, and know that, since it is an even number, also a multiple of 2. All this results in its ‘prime’ number: 2022/6 = 337. In my mind, this past year was ruled by ‘6’, the digit that symbolizes ‘the Devil’. 

How true?

Well, looking back, we still have the Russia/Ukraine war, a totally evil event. We have had two major Climate Conferences, COP 27 in Egypt, where the Devil came out on top, because nothing concrete resulted, and COP 15 in Montreal on Biodiversity, where only promises were made. 

Promises!

With a recession looming – meaning less tax income – with mounting obligations for healthcare – being sick is the new life-mode, with military threats on the increase – meaning greater need for weaponry, ever more complicated and expensive – with an aging population, meaning more money for old age pensions, promises might not be kept! 

Oh, did I mention ‘natural’ disasters? Who will foot the bill when the alarm bells toll for hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, drought, heat, cold, each year more intense and frightening? 

China! The world’s manufacturing hub. It may collapse, and when it does, brace yourself: shortages galore. The weather? El Nino succeeding La Nina? That would cause continuous calamity. 

So, what about the COP15 promises to give restitution to nations harmed by our carbon emissions? Maybe in Zimbabwe billions with inflation soaring and money devaluing.

A new “Silent Spring”.

When creation was complete, God called it very good: it all fitted together, the one species serving the other: complete symbiosis. That ‘inter-dependency’ has vanished.

According to the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report, which looks at studies of some 32,000 species worldwide, vertebrate populations have declined on average by 69 percent since just 1970. In some ecosystems, the collapse of vertebrates has been even more drastic: In Latin America and the Caribbean, for instance, the studied populations have fallen on average by 94 percent since 1970, while the species that live in the world’s rivers and lakes, the estimated decline has been 83 percent.

As many as a million animal and plant species currently face the threat of extinction, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (I.P.B.E.S.), a figure that translates to about 13 percent of bird species, 25 percent of mammals and 31 percent of sharks and rays. Insects are dying off, too — possibly more than 50 percent of them since 1970 – endangering pollination. Also, the planet is experiencing a new “Silent Spring” of wildlife destruction because many wild birds are dying from avian flu: the past year has seen the most significant and sudden loss of birds in decades. 

I remember getting the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson in 1963: I gave it away without ever reading it. Oh, my. What kind of person was I in those days? No ecological concern al all! 

A new mix among mammals.

Already 62 percent of global mammal biomass is livestock — animals raised by humans for our consumption. Four percent is wild. Taken together, humans and their food represent 96 percent of all mammal life on Earth. Only 4 percent of global ecosystems remain intact. No wonder, the reigning mood at COP 15 in Montreal was LAMENT.

When will the Lord return?

The Bible tells me that when God had finished creation and reflected on what he had done, he called it ‘very good’. Everything was connected to everything else:  the grass blades fed the many different animals; the lions took care of the injured of the weaker species, the birds nestled in the trees: every part of the universe existed for the perfection of its totality. Divine goodness pervaded the earth, the skies, the seas. 

That is no longer the case.

Suppose you were an eminent artist and, through some queer quirk your total portfolio, once regarded as a ‘world treasure’, was slowly first, then rapidly destroyed, how would you feel? How would God, the greatest artist, feel today? No wonder we face God’s vengeance. The harm we have inflicted on God’s creation is backfiring on us. The species we have murdered, the forests we have leveled, the air we have poisoned, all this and more is threatening our wellbeing and sanity. Indeed:

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
 (Hebrew 10:31)

That’s what’s happening today, because Creation is God’s primary Revelation. God’s works are God’s words. We destroy them at our peril. This could well mean that Christ’s return is imminent: his patience has limits.