Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

• Ecclesiastes 8:2-8

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.  Since she was a doll that had come to life, we came up with the term ‘other living.’  She was not a human, an animal, or even a plant, but she was definitely living, and very vibrant.  Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs.  After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.

This Week’s Question

In the last episode, Babs went with me for my doctor visit.  I think Dr. Melanie Torme thought we were an item.

We were nearly to the state line, heading east, the big city in the next state was apparently approaching as the traffic got heavier and we added an extra lane.

But Babs was distant.  She smiled less than usual, and it was definitely not like her to avoid starting a conversation.

I broke the ice, “Babs, we were on some of these roads a few weeks ago.  We went this route when you first became ‘other living.’  You have had a year to read tons of books.  Do you want to see anything that we missed the last time, a year ago?”

Babs stared out the window, watching the trees as we sped past them.  She then looked forward, not fully turning back to me.  Babs sighed, “I just want to be with you, Harold.  I want to savor every moment of this trip.  Sure, there are historical things to see.  I would like to spend some time in the Washington, DC museums, but that is quite some time off.  If we stay in some of the same hotels, I would like to rekindle friendships.  But most of all, I want surprises.  After all, you are my king.”

I sputtered, “Your king?”

Babs nodded, “In reviewing Ecclesiastes 8:2-8.  There is a lot in just a few verses.  I am to obey my king’s orders, but if you keep asking me what I want, I have no idea what you are ordering me to do.  I took an oath to protect you and I am bound by it.”

I sighed, “But, Babs, we are equals.  We are each other’s travel buddy.  Yes, I have a job to do, and you are along for the ride, but you give me someone to talk to.  You give me a laugh when I need one.  You are an extra set of eyes on the road, especially now that the traffic is getting heavier.”

Babs asked, “Do you see the red car coming up from behind?”

I nodded, “He, or she, has changed lanes a few times, very impatient.  I am already thinking of making a move for the steering wheel onto the shoulder or hitting the brake.  But thanks for mentioning that one.  What is the driver’s story?”  That was one of Babs’ gifts.  She could tell you why the driver was distracted.  That did not excuse the behavior, but I was less angry, almost sympathetic, as a result.

Babs huffed, “No noble crusade with this one.  He is one of those arrogant types that never sets the alarm because he always wakes up on time. … until he doesn’t.  He had a late night tryst with the wrong woman and got to bed late, then slept late.  An alarm clock would have avoided this.”

I groaned, “But he is another human being, and God wants us to love even the arrogant ones.”

He passed me and I hit the brake.  He passed just as I was crossing a bridge, so changing lanes to miss his back bumper as he cut me off was not an option.

I asked, “But back to Ecclesiastes 8.  All you said was to obey.  What else is there?”

Babs sniffled, “The next command, although this is wisdom literature, is to not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.  That hurts me deeply.  When you quit travelling, I am duty bound to move on.  And I must let go and leave.  Something better will take my place, but you will have to wait for that.”

I asked, “And how do you know this?”

Babs giggled, “1. 2. 3.” And then we sang, “I don’t know!”

Babs laughed, “I just sang those words at first.  I had no idea what the tune was, but after being at home for three weeks, it’s your doorbell’s song.”

I laughed, “I hadn’t thought about it, but you are right.  What is next?”

Babs smiled, “A king’s word is supreme.  We cannot question his word.”

I huffed, “You question me all the time.  I guess I am not much of a king after all.”

Babs scrunched her nose.  “Harold, you are drifting toward the line on your side and there is someone in an old pickup coming up fast.  But you saying that I question you?  That is because my primary job is to make sure you and I reach our destination safely.  Oh, please slow down, Harold.  We have a two-day drive before your first appointment.  We do not need to speed through a busy city to get there early.  So, you make mistakes, I try to correct you.  In that way, you are not that much of a king, but you are my king.  God, on the other hand, is not to be questioned.  He made that quite clear to Job when He appeared to Job.  The same wording, sort of … ‘Who are you to ask such a question’?  But then the rest is talking about humans and God.  You obey God – You come to no harm.  Although you might not feel like it, feeling miserable, there is still a proper time and a proper procedure.  You know, communion, Sunday school, baptism, worship.  Then for all those so-called prophets these days, no one can tell the future, so why listen to them.”

I interrupted, “But you quite often tell the future.”

Babs giggled, “That’s because I am ‘other living.’  I can see things coming, like that construction sign.  You need to merge into the left lane.  Just one lane is enough.”

I growled, “That was not telling the future.  You just read a sign.  I could have done that.”

Babs made a raspberry, “You could, but you were distracted.  I saw the sign.  You did not.  And by the way, you are three times the age of that girl.  Why did she distract you?”

I shrugged, “I was marveling at how she could dance and drive at the same time.  That’s all.”

Babs giggled, “And she had a pretty face, dimples, and a nice body.  Those things had nothing to do with it?”

I shrugged again, “That’s my story and I am sticking to it.  Besides, I did not catch the dimples.  She was driving too fast.”

Babs cackled, “You may be getting to retirement age, Harold, but you are still a little boy in some ways.”

I asked, “And what comes next in Ecclesiastes 8?”

Babs asked, “Can you control the wind?”

I replied, “No.”

Babs continued, “So, how can you think you can have any say over death?  The doctors know a lot.  They can prolong someone’s life at times, but even those methods fall short when it is someone’s time to go.  But, Harold, slow down.  Umm.  Harold, stop!  Stop!”

I stopped just as a young worker dropped some tools and they bounced off the Jersey barrier and into my lane.  He quickly retrieved them.  I was glad everyone behind me read and heeded the sign to beware of sudden stops.

Babs said, “And I am not sure about Solomon’s last wise saying in these verses.  He says that in wartime, the soldier cannot be discharged, and wickedness will not release someone who practices it.  What does that mean?”

I shrugged, “My father’s enlistment was up during the Korean Conflict, and he was allowed to not reenlist, but he was stateside.  If he had been in Korea, that might have been different.  He was in the National Guard anyway.  But for a human that is trapped in wickedness, the wickedness will never let go, but God’s power can break that bond to release the person trapped by wickedness.  You just have to let God do it.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “Wouldn’t it be easier to not do wicked things in the first place?  Wait!  Don’t answer that.  I have been with you for a year, and I still do not understand this whole sin nature thing.”

When we got to our intermediate destination, Babs flopped onto her bed and was asleep before I had even taken my shoes off.  Hmmm.  What if the “king” wanted to talk more?  Okay, as she said, I was not that much of a king.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

My wife was great about blending conversations with warnings about signs that I had failed to read.  Sometimes, she warned me about things that were not there, especially as she got older.  She told me to “STOP!!!!!” … when we were a half mile from the stop sign.  But occasionally she saw things that were real that I did not see until after I stopped when she told me to stop.  Having a travel buddy is a good thing.  Jangled nerves at times, but a good thing.

And my wife could often fall asleep before her head reached the pillow, even when she had agreed to continue our conversation when we got to the room.

My Dad joined the Army and went to England to prepare as an infantryman on D-Day. But the day before the invasion, they asked if he had experience working for the railroad. He had quit his job on the railroad to join the Army. My Dad was supposed to work on the Mulberry Docks, resupplying the troops, but the storm blew the docks away. Instead, he followed the Army into Belgium, repairing and operating railyards to resupply the troops. While running the railyard at Liege, Belgium, he was caught behind enemy lines after delivering a message to Gen. McAuliffe at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. It took him a month to get back to Liege. He went into Germany to rebuild the Offenbach railyard south of Frankfurt, Germany, and then he worked on the Tempelhof airdrome in Berlin before coming back to the states. He transferred to the National Guard and became an artillery expert. Before the end of the Korean Conflict, he had been called onto active duty, and he was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, teaching new recruits artillery skills. His enlistment was up, and he called it quits. So, the bit about getting released from the military during conflict was a tip of my hat to my Dad.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.