Posted in death, Easter, Resurrection reflections

Spices and grief

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared” (Luke 24:1).

I want to know more about the spices. If I open my spice cabinet, I find paprika, dill, cumin, nutmeg, sage, rosemary, and an assortment of peppers.

That’s not what the women brought to the tomb. The traditional burial recipe was a mixture of aloe and myrrh. It was a salve that honored the deceased by fending off the smell of decomposition.

I remember the purveyors of spices in the markets in Jerusalem when we traveled there a few years ago. The colors and smells were amazing. The blends were enticing. The varieties seemed endless. I wanted to take home some of each.

Spices can cover up the smell of death. But they can’t touch sadness or grief.

Posted in Life, Resurrection reflections

The Last Act of Love: Women at Jesus’s Tomb

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared” (Luke 24:1).

I’ve never felt compelled to go back to the cemetery where my mother and father are buried. I know that many people do. Before his own death fourteen years later, my dad planted flowers at my mother’s grave at a church in suburban Philadelphia. Others return to talk to deceased loved ones. Some go to confirm genealogical information.

Those who went to the tomb were women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to Jerusalem. They watched as Joseph (from Arimathea) and Nicodemus (John 19:29) took Jesus’s corpse from the cross, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a cave, a garden tomb cut in stone. That all happened late Friday afternoon, just before sunset, the beginning of the Sabbath.

These women went to the tomb to complete the burial ritual for Jesus. This includes washing the body, rubbing it with spices, and wrapping it with a shroud, before placing it in a tomb. It was a last act of love, a final goodbye, and part of their grieving process.

It probably wasn’t the first time they had done this. But death is death, and their hearts were heavy. Their minds were filled with horrific images of crucifixion. They had no thoughts about the future. They focused on the task at hand.

To catch the nuance of this verse, try to remember a moment when you had to say goodbye.

It was that kind of a morning.

This is the second in a series of reflections on Jesus’s resurrection as recorded in Luke’s gospel.

Posted in Life

What are you doing at dawn?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared” (Luke 24:1).

What are you doing at dawn?

Some of you reading this have never seen the dawn. You are night owls. It’s broad daylight when you open your eyes after a night’s sleep. You’ve seen pictures of the sunrise, but never the real thing.

Others are more like me. I wake and head out the door with my big dog when it’s dark. The sky embraces the dawn colors as we head around the block. Blue skies have taken over by the time we get home.

When the women set out for the tomb, had they slept at all that night? Did they anxiously await the end of the Sabbath at dawn to finish what they started when Jesus died? Did his words about resurrection rob them of a night’s sleep?

Jesus couldn’t have been clearer. Death, burial, and third-day resurrection. Did they hear it? Understand it? Believe it?

I doubt it.

But they loved him. They watched him die. They set out to do what you do when someone dies. There are rules, rituals, and respect. They loved Jesus. They took care of Jesus. They would take care of him one last time.

What are you doing at dawn?

I’m usually reading the bible at dawn. I’m not boasting. It’s just what I do. I get up. I feed the dog. I pour a cup of coffee. I read the bible. I write in my journal. Jesus loves me. He takes care of me. And he’s going to take care of me today.

What are you doing at dawn?

This is the first of a series of reflections on Jesus’s resurrection as recorded in Luke’s gospel.

Posted in Life

A little dent and a big discount

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The delivery guys with our new garage freezer arrived ahead of schedule. I didn’t have to spend my day waiting through the four-hour delivery window.

I watched as they lowered it to the ground and unboxed it. One of them called me out of the garage and said, “I need to show you this.” He showed me a small dent on the edge of the door, about knee height. He said, “You have two options. You can send it back to the warehouse. Or you can accept it and I will call in to see if there’s a discount.”

I called my wife out to take a look. If we sent it back, who knows how long we’d have to wait for a new one to be delivered? It took three weeks to get this one. We decided to keep it, especially it was just cosmetic and it was, after all, for the garage.

The delivery guy immediately called someone who answered, “Save the sale.” He gave her the information, and she replied, “We can give you $165 off the price.” I didn’t expect that much, so I said, “Sounds good. We’ll take it.” So we got a twenty-five percent discount for a little dent that I haven’t even thought about until now.

The freezer was packed in a styrofoam padded box, so who knows when or how it got damaged? I’m sure the company didn’t want it back, so this was a win for everyone.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Tracks on the road: everyone knows where the big dog lives

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Three days ago workers were walking through the neighborhood, stuffing flyers in front doors. It was information about road resurfacing, which would begin that very day. We were instructed not to park on the street and not to turn the car wheels if we weren’t moving until the new black surface had set.

Sounds easy enough. I leashed up the big dog for a walk, and by the time I looped around, the crew had put the first layer on. Uh-oh. Can we walk on the road? Do I need to stay on the grass?

Lots of yellow-vested road crews were at every intersection. They assured me the surface would be hardened enough to walk on. Good enough for me.

When we got to my driveway, we had to walk across a section that was just barely hardened. A worker said, “Go ahead.” I didn’t leave any footprints. But the Great Dane did. And now her paw prints are on the road surface, just like a kid who couldn’t resist stepping in wet cement.

In time, passing traffic may press it down and smooth the road out. But for the moment, everyone now knows where that big dog lives!

Posted in Life

Chance Encounters at the Coffee Shop

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

After dropping off a dog at the groomer, I like to sit at a coffee shop and do a little reading and writing. It was such a nice morning to sit outside, eavesdrop on other conversations, and watch cars lining up at the drive through.

Suddenly, a man walked up to me, smiling, offering me his hand. I shook it, but he must have seen the puzzled look on my face. He said something, but I didn’t understand him because he had a heavy accent. I did understand when he said, “Are you waiting for someone?”

I chuckled, “Just for my dog at the groomer.” He apologized and went into the coffee shop.

Ten minutes later, another man came up to me and said, “Did someone come up to you, talking about a coat? He was looking for me! He said we look exactly alike, so I had to come meet you.”

I didn’t think he looked like me, other than having a gray beard. But hey, maybe we guys with gray beards all look the same. I shook his hand, too, before he went into the coffee shop.

Most people ignore you at the coffee shop, intent on picking up their order or looking at a computer. How fun to be mistaken for my double!

Posted in Life

Do not, I repeat, do not enter this driveway

Posted on by William Douthwaite

This homeowner has been carefully guarding her driveway for a year.

There are no houses under construction in this part of the neighborhood. No neighbors parking on the street overnight. It’s not near a school bus stop, so no one’s using it as a turnaround.

She just really, really doesn’t want anyone pulling in.

I find this curious. It’s not a great-looking driveway. If she really cared about it, wouldn’t she pressure wash it? And what an inconvenience. Every time she comes and goes, she has to get out of the car, disconnect the chain, and then reconnect it. I’d get tired of that routine in a day or two.

Two other houses beside her have a similar barrier at the foot of each driveway. It’s a very paranoid or protective section of the neighborhood.

It’s as bad as the many homeowners who put reflective sticks in the grass by the road so no one parks on their weedy front lawn where they stack discarded furniture days before big trash pick up. My neighbors need to relax.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

He’s the God of cold, too

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Annie Nyle on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 147.

When I think of God’s creation, especially the Garden of Eden, I imagine of a sunny day, with spring-like temperatures, and a gentle breeze. After all, the first man and woman were naked, so it would have been a nice, warm, comfortable place.

It turns out that the Creator is the God of cold, too.

He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:16-18)

I love these unlikely pairings. Snow covers the ground like a warm blanket. Frost blows through the air like ashes from a fire, settling on tree limbs and rooftops. Ice crystals resemble cookie crumbs falling after a bite. God’s word, which created the wintry weather also melts it. He thaws out a frozen world.

At times, God is a consuming fire. When his people disobey, his anger burns. God sends down fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and to consume Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel. God leads his people through the wilderness as a pillar of fire. Spirit comes down on the apostles like tongues of fire on Pentecost. When John sees Jesus in Revelation, “His eyes were like a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14). In heaven, God is surrounded by seraphim, fiery creatures who never stop repeating, “Holy, holy, holy!”

I think it’s cool that he’s the God of cold, too!

Posted in cookies, Life

Everyone loves the cookie guy!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Khalid Elkady on Unsplash

I love delivering cookies. Every box brings a smile to the recipient’s face. With a gasp, they get their first look and exclaim, “These are amazing!”

But it gets better. When I pulled into a driveway last week, a little dachshund-mix dog greeted me in the driveway. Her six-inch tail was whipping back and forth a mile a minute as I stepped out of the van. With happy squinting eyes, she sat while I scratched her chin and chest, ran my hand down her back.

After a minute of that, I told her, “Hey, I’ve got some cookies for your mom.” She led me up the walk to the front door and I pushed the Ring doorbell with my elbow. Our customer answered the door and I said, “I love your welcoming committee!”

“Oh, was she out here?”

I laughed, “She’s not supposed to be out here?”

Apparently not. I thought they had an invisible fence or something. But my new little friend was just enjoying a few moments of sunshine and freedom on a beautiful afternoon.

Even the doggies are happy when the cookie guy shows up!

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