Trip to Little Rock, Arkansas
In preparation to return to Italy with the gospel, we made our way to little Rock, Arkansas. The trip would be blessed by time spent in the company of the head of the Department of Sciences, Travis Thompson; Italian missionaries: Howard and Doris Bybee, along with Dr. Carl Mitchell (Dixie Café, Searcy); Paul Love, the lyricist of Italia, the Shackleford family (including Becca; unfortunate to miss Lucy Console by hours though); Dr. Bruce McLarty; Levy church leadership and Roger Pritchett of Pleasant Valley.
Shackelford's & Us
Shackelford's with Becca
Among Leonardo’s riddles is this—”Huge figures in human shape will loom, and the nearer you get to them, the smaller they will become” (Emery Kelen, Fantastic Tales, Strange Animals, Riddles, Jests, And Prophecies of Leonardo Da Vinci, 105). He spoke of the shadows of men carrying lanterns by night. Of course, we say, unless we did not know the solution. Perhaps, this is how it is with the God of Scripture. We know something about who he is, nevertheless within the context of these shadowlands. However, unlike Leonardo’s riddle, the closer one gets to the humanity of Jesus the larger he looms, not smaller (Col. 2:9).
Justin Martyr, prior to the Council of Nicea in 325 (about 150 A.D) used Hebrews 1:8 in reference to Jesus: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Yes, we are aware of the Brooklyn, New York, Watchtower people who suggest a little “g” for 1:8. But, Justin Martyr (and others) certainly knocks out their premise that the Trinity was a mute point before Nicea. And, it was Tertullian (160-215 A.D.) who used the phrase,“unity in trinity.” Byron’s language is perhaps the most cogent, “If ever God was man, and man was God, Jesus Christ was both.” The Italian for John 8:58 uses the verb “io sono” (from essere, to be); a present tense depicting God as possessing a state of eternal presentness within the reality of eternity. He is also identifying with Yahweh of Exodus 3:14. How large does that loom the closer one gets. Hebrews 13:8, too, furnishes a beautiful complimentary perspective—”Gesu Cristo e lo stesso ieri, oggi, e in eterno.”
In C.S. Lewis,’ The Horse and His Boy, Lewis set forth a Trinitarian truism that is undeniable; causing us to realize that there are indeed different manifestations of God’s living and communicating being for mankind:
“Myself, said the Voice, very deep and low, so that the earth shook; and again, Myself, loud and clear. Then the third time, Myself, whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, yet,it sounded like it came from round about you, as if the leaves rustled with it.”
This past trip has brought us closer to our desired destination. We appreciate the warmth and the direction for the shadows of the night, for the Three Candles and the One Light! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Housby & Pritchett
Robert M. Housby
March to Milan via Little Rock