Oklahombres

verything I have been reading or listening to this past winter seems to have references to Saint Augustine’s The City of God. It is something I have wanted to read for some time, so I have decided to read it this year. I do mean this year, because

1. I am a slow reader.
2. I don’t have a whole lot of time to devote to this project.
3. The book  is quite long.

In fact, it may take me considerably longer than just a year.

Throughout the corse of my reading I am going to post some lengthy quotes from The City of God that I find interesting, helpful, or pertinent to our own age. This passage impressed me with that same “pilgrim” quality of Abraham found in Hebrews 11:8-16. Would that we were more like that.

The whole family of God, most high and most true, has therefore a consolation of its own—a consolation which cannot deceive, and which has in it a surer hope than the tottering and falling affairs of earth can afford. They will not refuse the discipline of this temporal life, in which they are schooled for life eternal; nor will they lament their experience of it, for the good things of earth they use as pilgrims who are not detained by them, and its ills either prove or improve them. As for those who insult over them in their trials, and when ills befall them say, “Where is thy God?” we may ask them where their gods are when they suffer the very calamities for the sake of avoiding which they worship their gods, or maintain they ought to be worshipped; for the family of Christ is furnished with its reply: our God is everywhere present, wholly everywhere; not confined to any place. He can be present unperceived, and be absent without moving; when He exposes us to adversities, it is either to prove our perfections or correct our imperfections; and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of time, He reserves for us an everlasting reward.

St. Augustine, The City of God; Book First; chapter 29.

The eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, is badly named, common as well as Latin. It is certainly eastern, found native in the south-eastern quarter of the United States, yet canadensis refers to Canada, where this small tree is not even remotely native, or even viable. I haven’t a clue as to why this small tree has been so named. My wife jokes that a man must have given it its common name, since the buds are hardly red. Regardless what you call it, this time of year the eastern redbud is a stunning little tree. Being the state tree of Oklahoma, you will find it planted just about everywhere in the Sooner state, except out in far-western Oklahoma, where there is not enough rainfall. The specimen shown here is Cercis canadensis ssp. texensis ‘Oklahoma,’ and is one of the newest additions to our little “park.” Boasting a deeper pink/purple bloom than seedling redbuds, ‘Oklahoma’ is showing up more and more in landscapes, for obvious reasons.

Taxonomically, the eastern redbud is a legume, making it more closely related to the green bean and peanut than to the oaks or maples. The family tie can be seen in that the seed pods, when still green resemble miniature snow peas. The flower buds of the eastern redbud, unlike any other plant I can think of, are borne in clusters on older wood all up and down a stem. This feature makes even our little specimen quite showy. My wife took these pictures a little over a week ago, but this redbud, and all the others around are still in full swing. Later, when the blossoms fade and seed pods begin to form, large heart-shaped leaves will emerge, dark green and polished. If you don’t have one of these in your landscape, you either live in an apartment, or you’re not an Oklahoman.

If you live in these climes, it’s time to be thinking about getting a garden started. Get outside this weekend and enjoy God’s handiwork, and have a great Lord’s Day.

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

35. What is the meaning of: Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary?

• That the eternal Son of God, who is and continues true and eternal God, took upon Him the very nature of man, of the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost; so that He also might be the true seed of David, like unto His brethren in all things, sin excepted.

36. What benefit dost thou receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?

• That He is our Mediator, and with His innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, wherein I was conceived.

aint Augustine, like all good teachers likes to ramble, just a bit. It will be a dozen or more “books” into The City of God before Augustine gets to the real meat of his subject, but the journey to the start, as it were, is quite fascinating. Within the opening “books,” what we would call “chapters” today, one will find a host of subjects, ranging from theology to philosophy, with a good bit of Roman history mixed all through, and a good bit more besides. In the next to the last chapter of the first book of The City of God, Augustine lays out the purpose of the book. It is a gracious explanation of the mixed multitude that the visible church is made of; an explanation filled with hope, and the gospel.

But let this city bear in mind, that among her enemies lie hid those who are destined to be fellow-citizens, that she may not think it a fruitless labour to bear what they inflict as enemies until they become confessors of the faith. So, too, as long as she is a stranger in the world, the cit of God has in her communion, and bound to her by the sacraments, some who shall not eternally dwell in the lot of the saints. Of these, some are not now recognised; others declare themselves, and do not hesitate to make common cause with our enemies in murmuring against God, whose sacramental badge they wear. These men you may to-day see thronging the churches with us, to-morrow crowding the theatres with the godless. But we have the less reason to despair of the reclamation even of such persons, if among our most declared enemies there are now some, unknown to themselves, who are destined to become our friends. In truth, these two cities are entangled together in this world, and intermixed until the last judgment effect their separation. I now proceed to speak, as God shall help me, of the rise, progress, and end of these two cities; and what I write, I write for the glory of the city of God, that, being placed in comparison with the other, it may shine with a brighter lustre.
Saint Augustine, The City of God; book 1, chapter 35.

Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, is probably the most widely-planted spring-flowering tree in the eastern half of North America. It will grow anywhere it can get a moderate amount of rainfall, but its native habitat is that of an understory tree in hard-wood forests where there is a well drained, evenly moist soil. You can find the native stands in the hilly woods of eastern and south-eastern Oklahoma, mostly all of them white, with a few accent trees standing out in various shades of pink.

This year Holy Week has fallen right in the middle of peak dogwood bloom here in Oklahoma. There is a legend which claims that the cross of Christ was made of timbers from the dogwood tree. The story goes that at the time dogwoods were as large and stately as any oak, but after the crucifixion Christ saw to it that the dogwood would never grow so large as to be able to be used for such purposes again. He also changed the appearance of the white blossom to resemble a cross, and gave the ends of each petal a rusty notch, representing Christ’s pierced hands and feet, and bleeding head. The center stamens and pistils also are suppose to represent Christ’s crown of thorns. Even though there are a number of European and Asian species of dogwood, the story is most surely only a legend. To begin with, Palestine is way too arid to support the dogwood’s growth. One has to admit, the dog wood blossom does make an able symbol to remind us of the death of our Lord.

This little specimin, only in its second season, grows on the west side of our house. Like the cornelian cherry dogwood, Cornus mas, that featured a few weeks back, this dogwood also was planted to celebrate the marriage of one of our three children. I was commenting to my wife the other day that we didn’t have a white-blooming specimen in our landscape. The rusty-red notches are very prominent against the pure whiteness of the blossom. We will have to look for one soon. Hay kids, next year is our 35th. Maybe you guys could go together and….

Try to find a Good Friday service today where ever you happen to be. If you are near Tulsa, come worship with us. Good Friday puts Our Lord’s resurrection in perspective. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

37. What dost thou understand by the word: Suffered?

• That all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life, He bore, in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race; in order that by His passion, as the only propitiatory sacrifice, He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal life.

38. Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate, as judge?

• That He, being innocent, might be condemned by the temporal judge, and thereby deliver us from the severe judgment of God, to which we are exposed.

39. Is there anything more in His having been crucified, than if He had died some other death?

• Yes: for thereby I am assured, that He took on Himself the curse which lay upon me; because the death of the cross was accursed of God.

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. Mark 16:1-6; ESV.

For to the just all the evils imposed on them by unjust rulers are not the punishment of crime, but the test of virtue. Therefore the good man, although he is a slave, is free; but the bad man, even if he reigns, is a slave, and that not of one man, but, what is far more grievous, of as many masters as he has vices; of which vices when the divine scripture treats, it says, “For of whom any man is overcome, to the same he is also the bond-slave.”
Saint Augustine, The City of God, book 4, chapter 3.

There is nothing common about the common Lilac, Syringia vulgaris. It has a fragrance that is like nothing else in the landscape, a fragrance that more than makes up for this old standard’s lack of show for the remainder of the year. Being deciduous, it stands bare all winter long, and for it to bloom in the spring that winter needs to be long and cold. Here in zone 6b most all lilacs are at their southern limit. The lilac is to the north country what the crape myrtle is to the south.

All that being said, the fragrance of the lilac all by itself is worth the entire price of admission. We have one planted on the south-west corner of our house, which is where our bedroom is located. On warm spring nights, with the windows open, the gentle breezes fill the room with scent of lilac. So much else is blooming out in the landscape these days, but I had to pick this one for this week.

Have a great weekend, to the glory of God, and be sure to gather with the saints on the Lord’s day. Blessings.

(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)

40. Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer death?

• Because, by reason of the justice and truth of God, satisfaction for our sins could be made no otherwise than by the death of the Son of God.

41. Why was He buried?

• To show thereby that He was really dead.

42. Since then Christ died for us, why must we also die?

• Our death is not a satisfaction for our sin, but only a dying to sins and entering into eternal life.

43. What further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross?

• That by His power our old man is with Him crucified, slain and buried; that so the evil lusts of the flesh may no more reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

44. Why is it added: He descended into Hell?

• That in my greatest temptations I may be assured that Christ, my Lord, by His inexpressible anguish, pains and terrors, which He suffered in His soul on the cross and before, has redeemed me from the anguish and torment of hell.