Marking Time

The picture is of my second full moon in Afghanistan, seen here setting over the mountains. I didn't quite get the picture right, but the moon sets fast, so I had to do my best with post production. Keeping time by the moon is natural for someone working night shift. Every time you walk outside, it is there looking down at you. Was it Robinson Crusoe that kept time by marking a stick? I can't remember, but I have found that I mark time many ways while I am here. I have a stack of clean clothes in my closet here, since I just did laundry for the fourth time. I keep time by paychecks, and by meals. I can almost keep time by pounds lost (9 so far, which means a ways to go still).

Marking time isn't just a way of looking back at how far you've come, it is a way of anticipating the good times ahead. My church has a coffeehouse called "Ebenezers," the name given by Samuel in the Old Testament to monuments to things God had done. It means, literally "hitherto the Lord has helped us" or, as my pastor would say "so far, so God." The name of the coffeehouse, by the way, is plural, not possessive, marking the many times God has been faithful. Every time we measure our days gone by, we are setting Ebenezers if we do it with gratitude towards God. I have a pile of clean underwear in my closet that is an Ebenezer, and when I have a pile of dirty underwear in my closet, that will be an Ebenezer too.

However, I think of the words "hitherto" or "so far" (as the NIV says) as being also forward looking. "So far" implies something further, and an Ebenezer is not only a mark of what God has done, but a faith-building encouragement of what God still has ahead.

This week are two Ebenezers that are important to me. My son's first birthday is tomorrow, and my wife's birthday is the day after. For me, these days not only mark how far God has brought each of them, but the promise of more days ahead. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday J. and N., happy birthday to you . . . and many more.