20. What “Kind” of Person?

What “kind”⦁ of person?  – > (⦁see bottom)

I’m a morning person. I have been most of my life. I do recall at an age around ten (give or take) getting chastised by my dad on a morning when I “slept in.” That might be part of it. It might also have to do with having done work most of my life that required me to be up and rolling early. I’m also a “slow starter,” rather prefer easing into the day, rather than feet hitting the floor running. So, I have some early morning moments.

I have seen a lot of sunrises in my life. Cameras never really capture their beauty. But they are special times for me. They remind me what an amazing artist our God is. Each morning a new canvas with new colors. Sometimes what we call “primary colors,” sometimes with pastels and gentle transitions. And if one watches long enough, the sky changes continuously from first brightening to a glow, changing to colors, into what the day promises to be. There are some great Hebrew words that reflect what the dawning consists of:

Morning

• h1242. בֹּקֶר ḇôqer; from h1239. בָּקַר ḇâqar
  p.30 בקר distinguish differences   CM free from control (B27)

Sunrise

• h4217. מִזְרָח mizrâḥ; from h2224. זָרַח zâraḥ
  p.70 זרח radiate light upward and outward   CM project outward (E30)

Dawn

• h7837. שַׁחַר šaḥar
  p.260 שחר seek bright future   CM complete/limit (E10)

Looking at the words together, one gets a picture of the darkness of night being a limitation, and the morning being a time of breaking free of that limitation and anticipating what is to come; it seems a picture of hope. In the scenes I see painted in the heavens, I see the glory of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I had a thought this week as I was driving to work in the early morning.

I purposely take a way to work that avoids the fast pace of the interstate. I takes me five minutes longer, but it allows me a distance on a fairly desolate road, which gives me a chance to admire that glory of God I am speaking of. But most mornings there is someone else along this fairly lonely stretch of road, a man with a reflective vest riding his bicycle along the side of the road, presumably to work. The thought that crossed my mind was, what if I was so engrossed in watching the glory of our Creator that I hit a man riding his bike? And this led me mentally to a word in 1 John:

•1 John 4:20-21 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

What really does this mean? We are to be mindful of the circumstance of those with whom we share this walk. And share the road, at a minimum. And help out when needed. (again, see the end of chapter 25 of Matthew)

I’m a morning person. Maybe you are a night owl. Maybe you’ve worked the night shift most of your life. Maybe you are up caring for someone in the night and sleep at hours that seem peculiar to my way of life.

Maybe in your neighborhood you live behind a privacy fence in a gated community and maybe in my neighborhood people sit out in the yard and chat and there are no fences.

Maybe I have a parent with dementia or a child with a disability and it is nearly impossible to meet some of the expectations you have of me. Maybe I’m given written instructions in a language I don’t speak, or I can barely read, maybe picking out one word in four. Do we have patience with one another when the other is not in our “fast lane?” As all sunrises are different, so too are all people. All are part of God’s handiwork.

We are messengers to one another. Maybe we don’t want to hear a message to be mindful of ones different from us. Maybe that is the whole purpose of our not being the same, so that a God can speak to us, not just through sunrises, but also through those who maybe irritate us or frustrate the plan we had in mind••• if anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. If for no other reason,  it is because we are all manifestations of God, and as different as sunrises. Some other time we will look in more depth at what God meant when he said, (Gn2:18) “It is not good that man should be alone.”

(These are a few of my own times of appreciation••• no doubt you can find many more beautiful photos than these.)

 

⦁And by the way, for the word “kind,” look to Genesis chapter one. You will see it frequently. Ten times, a number of “completeness.”

• h4327. מִין mîyn
• p.137 מון define group or species
• GV p.141 מנן hold back; p.141 מנה apportion [divide and limit]; p.137 מון define [group or species]; p.105 ימן sidle [to the] right
• DV אמן – p.141 מנן distance [hold back]; p.141 מנה apportion [divide and limit]; p.137 מון define [group or species] > p.11 אמן depend upon; rely upon
• CM (מנן no cognates); מנה give/withhold (B67); (מון no cognates); ימן hide (C53); (אמן no cognates)

I was going to do more here on this word family, but have realized it will require a study all on its own.

May you appreciate the glory of God, in times and in people and their circumstances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTn1f0ZImB8

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