Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:
I felt like blogging today since I haven’t blogged in some time. This past Sunday I continued with the Bible Study I am a part of on Sunday mornings and learned about El Qanna, which means “Jealous” and was a name God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament. The thing I learned was that jealousy in God’s eyes is not a bad or improper form of jealousy; it is a righteous form. He told the Israelites that his name was El Qanna because he is jealous for Zion and hated when anything threatened the covenant relationship he had with the Israelites. Satan would use God’s own name to slander God, but I believe that is because we have been taught that there is only one form of jealousy and that it is only bad. I enjoyed learning about the name El Qanna. One verse that has also been in my mind as of late is Luke 7:47b, which says, “…But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” When something stands out to me in the word I feel as though I must address it. I have read the Bible at least three times now as best I can remember and sometimes it is hard to see what God is teaching you when you read it over and over again. This verse jumped out at me because there is so little forgiveness today. Many Christians today simply know that God forgives but they don’t know how to reconcile themselves to one another. I find this ½ of a verse crucial to many people today (myself included). If we do not forgive another person their wrongs (in a kind and understanding fashion) we may directly set a precedent in that person’s life to the point that they love others little. Setting the example is so important and I believe it is why so many Christians today fail at spreading the word of God. I will be thinking of this verse for some time as I work on applying it in the various aspects of my life.
Yesterday (Monday) was the first day of our Spring Break and we filled our day with a lot of fun, some of the pictures are from our experiences. First, we visited the C.N.M.I. museum on Middle Road. The museum was closed for a few weeks during government cuts on the Island, but it was open when we went. The museum has a decrepit exterior and the interior is fairly nice if it weren’t for the water damage above the public restrooms that was releasing moisture into the various exhibits. The cost is $1 per person if local and $2 per person if a tourist. The exhibits were really, really neat. I suggest that anyone who wishes to know more about the native peoples visit the museum. The museum explained a lot about the native Chamorro people that I did not know. I think the most interesting thing I viewed was a decorated spear head made out of a human femur. I would have taken pictures of it, but pictures were forbidden in the museum gallery. I believe it was because of the priceless collections of Spanish Jewelry taken from the ocean during an archaeological underwater dig. The only criticism I have of the museum are the odd hours, the water damage (which will ruin the exhibits), and the spelling errors that were rampant throughout the exhibit labels. Needless to say, it was another Saipan experience.
We then went to the Sugar King Park. There is a building there (maybe a museum?) but it was closed and I didn’t know if it was because we arrived too late or there is no money to keep it open… The park itself is rather run down, which is too bad really, because the Sugar King was a major player in Saipan’s history under the Japanese Empire. The park has a walk way encircling it and a botanical garden to the left or rear of the complex. If it had been kept up the garden would be exquisite. There is a path you may walk on and it leads to a Buddhist shrine with a bell. We were told by an elderly Japanese man who was just about to lock the door to come in and ring the bell and pray since the “Peace Bell” he said is non-religious in nature. The Buddhist society on the island had set up the shrine and the bell in memory of the deceased Japanese soldiers on the island and that both Christians and Buddhists were welcome there. We then took a few more pictures and left.
Other things we did that day were visiting Kara’s favorite smoothie shop “Yellow Mango” and having dinner with Pastor Dickerman and his wife, Sandy; since it had been something they had wanted for some time in order to get to know the teachers. Pastor Dickerman was gone during the first part of the school year so it was hard to get to know all the new teachers. The meal was wonderful and the time well spent. Kara and I hope to have them over for dinner sometime when we are able. I hope you enjoy the pictures I put up a description of them is below.
Yours Truly,
Grant
Picture 1- Kara next to beautiful flowers dangling from a trellis at the park.
Picture 2- Picture of face from the statue of Matsue Haruji a.k.a. the Sugar King
who was born in Aizu Wakamatsu-city, which ironically is a Fukushima prefecture of Japan near the nuclear disaster site. You can learn about The Sugar King online and if you visit Saipan.
Picture 3-Kara making funny faces next to a lion sculpture in front of one of the many shrines at Sugar King park.
Picture 4- Me at Sugar King Park in front of a silly plant structure that looked twisted and gnarly.
Picture 5- Is of the bell and shrine inside its enclosed space.
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