2:117, #421: Elijah the Presbyterian

Yesterday while mowing on the old John Deere I thought about telling folks to pray for sunshine for the next three days so I could mow the rest of the property in preparation for the Camp Cornelius Cookout/Campout. My 'hook' would have been James 5:17 about Elijah being a man of like nature to ours...you know, someone who loves God with all his heart and is willing to call down fire and death on his antagonists...behavior that reminds me of Presbyterians for some reason!!

Then it occurred to me that the New Testament equivalent of Elijah was John and James "Boanerges" ("sons of thunder") in Mark 3:17/Luke 9:54...brothers who wanted to call down destruction on Samaritans who would not receive Jesus. I guess you could call them the Christian terrorists of the first century, Eh? I wonder if James the brother of Jesus, traditional author of the Book of James, had the Boanerges in mind when he wrote chapter 5?

This morning it dawned on me that the Facebook quiz "What Biblical Character Are You?" came up with this result:
"You are Elijah. You're somewhat of a loner. You prefer to challenge others on your terms. When the confrontation doesn't go your way you may get depressed. The good news is that you have inner strength that few people possess." Yeah, and I'm ready to call down destruction on my antagonists on more than one occasion! Although, I must say that "'Vengeance is Mine' says the Lord" makes me say "OK, You go get 'em and I'll get on with life!" It really is an antidote to a lot of wasted emotional effort, by the way.

So...in 24 years of mowing, I've only requested a weather alteration once while mowing...I needed 15 minutes of dry weather, when it was obvious that a downpour was about to break on me, so I could finish mowing an area, got it, and just made it back to the Shop when the deluge began. Generally speaking, I figure I'll regulate the interior environments of my buildings and let the rest of the planet to "He Who gives rain to one city and withholds it from another" as Amos 4:7 says....you all can request dry weather for social outings as you feel led.
Got umbrellas, firewood, and wienies?