Matt W Cook

I was just reading an evening devotional book by Spurgeon and I was so durned encouraged that I decided to post it in full for you all.

When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were
refreshing themselves at the evening meal, the mysterious
stranger who had so enchanted them upon the road, took bread and
brake it, made Himself known to them, and then vanished out of
their sight. They had constrained Him to abide with them,
because the day was far spent; but now, although it was much
later, their love was a lamp to their feet, yea, wings also;
they forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone, and
forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell
the gladsome news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by
the way. They reached the Christians in Jerusalem, and were
received by a burst of joyful news before they could tell their
own tale. These early Christians were all on fire to speak of
Christ’s resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the
Lord; they made common property of their experiences. This
evening let their example impress us deeply. We too must bear
our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account of the sepulchre
needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of
something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from
which nothing can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts
and special manifestations; but the one object God has in view
is the perfecting of the whole body of Christ. We must,
therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them at the
apostle’s feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has
given to us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak
what you know, and testify what you have seen. Let not the toil
or darkness, or possible unbelief of your friends, weigh one
moment in the scale. Up, and be marching to the place of duty,
and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.

At our nightly family prayer meeting Jospeh said that he wanted to say a prayer. This is what he said:

“Thank you Father for…Peter, Shawni, Abu, Ammi,…Shrek, Mulan, Toy Story, me Jopheus. Amen!”

This is a portion of a letter Albert Einstein wrote to a friend.

“The word ‘God’ is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions.”

Does he miss the point? Mostly.

When he talks about the Bible he’s referring to the Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament. And a man who reads the Old Testament with 21st century conditioning and culture would probably come to the same conclusion that Einstein did. Seems a little childish, all these stories about miracles and giants and battles and such. If we were only given the light of the Old Testament today I think we could come to the conclusion that the Bible’s religion is just one among many, similar in almost every way to all the other religions of the world.

The New Testament changes everything. The Light of the Gospel shines a massive light backward to the Old Testament that illuminates the ancient stories and songs and poems and prophecies and gives them a depth that proves to be mind-blowing to any scholar who wishes to study. On its own the Old Testament served its purpose for the people and time in which it was given. But it was always incomplete.

Einstein missed the point because he missed the message that was hidden between the lines of the Old Testament. He missed Christ. He calls the Bible childish only because he never looked to the Child who crafted the universe with which he was so enthralled. Christ is deeper than the infinite cosmos. So deep and so wise and so strong that, at first glance, he looks rather foolish and rather weak. But…

The truth is an ocean where the strong can swim in deep.
And the weak and the broken can walk across so easily.
You are, to me, a beautiful mystery.

Update: It turned out to just be food poisoning. Thanks for praying, Ruth’s well on her way to recovery.

Hey folks,

It looks like Ruth may have malaria. Pray for her lots right now! It’s 1:21am here, and she’s not having a good night.

How it all went down.

May 2nd, morning. Cramps and slight contractions had made Ruth’s night a bit of a touch and go in regards to sleep. But that was kinda nice. A good sign, she figured. We woke up around eight, got ready for the day and decided to head out to the hospital around nine or so.
We headed downstairs to the car lot, high on cloud nine. This was it, we happily mused to ourselves, the day we had been waiting for. Perhaps by nightfall we would have a new baby in our family!
We bounced into the black car a very nice British family had lent to us for a couple months. With great joy and gladness I inserted the key and turned it as I had countless time before.
Nothing happened.
No lights, no beeps, no engine revving into life. Silence. Confused, I tried it again. Nothing. I scratched my head and tried to think about this for a while. I tried again. Nothing. Again, nothing. It soon became apparent that the engine wasn’t going to start.
But we were not yet daunted. Because there was another car in the driveway that was waiting for its owners to pick it up after a week. Surely, I thought, they wouldn’t mind me borrowing it in an emergency. So I hopped in that car and turned the ignition. Guess what? It wouldn’t start either. At this point we were getting worried. Ruth was to meet with her doctor at nine. It was already half-past. I tried both cars a couple more times, then took my wife’s hand and ran (rather, waddled) down the street to get a rickshaw.
We got to the hospital at nine forty-five. Ruth doctor, a lovely lady named Aliya Aziz, saw us at about ten thirty. After some talks and examination Dr. Aliya decided that today was, indeed, the day. She predicted a baby by seven or eight that evening. “Joy!” said our hearts.
Eleven o’clock found us in the maternity ward. Ruth was directed to a room while I was given papers and told to get to admissions and admit her. That took almost an hour. It was nearly twelve when I found Ruth again in Delivery Room 5. The strangest thing about this delivery room was that it was shared. That’s right, there was another lady ready to give birth in the same room. A curtain separated the two of them. This is where things started to get…annoying.
Nurses would come and go. They had to examine Ruth a few times, and every time the examined her they wanted me out of the room. I couldn’t do much, so out I went. Then they would call me back. And them kick me out again. At twelve they broke her water, active labour began.
Eventually they were able to move Ruth into a delivery room that wasn’t shared, which was nice. I stayed with her in this one, and I resolved to stay even if all the nursing staff wanted me out. Most of the nurses were small, anyway. I figured I would take them.
When Joseph was being born Ruth had an epidural. Unfortunately the doctor who administered it kinda…screwed it up, giving Ruth back pains that still bother her. So we both decided to steer clear of that. Aga Khan (the hospital) offered some sort of injection or laughing gas for the pain. We had decided on laughing gas, partly because needles are no fun at all. Partly because I was hoping I could sample a little bit of it myself.
So the pain hit. And it hit hard. Joseph’s birth was completely different. This time around it was raw and real. The raw reality of the situation made normal life seem surreal. It was as if we had been living a dream all our lives and had only now arrived at what life really was. And it hurt. So Ruth called out for the gas that had been promised her.
“I’m sorry.” Said one of the nurses. “We’re out.”
“What about the injection?” I asked.
“It’s too late for that.” Was the reply. “She can’t have it.”
“That’s retarded!” Ruth yelled out. The nurses, who grasp of English was tenuous at best, didn’t get it.
A light of hope went out for Ruth at this point. She was still hanging on to the words that Dr. Aziz had given her, that the baby would come in the evening. Here we were, at one o’clock, and the pain was racking her like…a woman in labour.
Things got intesnse. Nurses piled into the room, along with a friendly looking doctor who took the time to greet, hug and kiss every nurse while my wife writhed on the table. Eventually they got prepped for the birth.
Up until this point they had all been sternly commanding Ruth not to push. Ruth was about to smack then in the face when finally the blessed permission was given. “Push.”
It only took two.

And that was it. No meds. Baby at 1:30. Yeah…baby.

Introductions can be made here.

Will be updated a lot in the next few days!

What weighs 3.4kg, takes forty weeks to prepare and now dominates the life of a Paki-Canadian family?

Asha Sehr Cook.

Mubarak ho! Ruth went into labour around noon, our time. Asha arrived an hour and a half later.

Asha is an ancient name with origins in Sanskrit. Today it has evolved from its one source into a handful of languages with distinct meanings. In Hindi it means hope. In Arabic it means life or lively. This name reminds us that though two groups of people be ever so far apart, like Hindus and Muslims, there is One Name in which the two people can become one with hope and life. That name is Christ. Asha points to him. And in Christ there is a Hopeful Life and a Lively Hope.

Sehr is the Arabic word for the early morning right before the sun rises, while there is still darkness. It is also the first prayer of the day. It reminds us that even when there is darkness over the land there is a glimmer of light on the horizon that brings with it hope and life. This name is especially precious when we think of the struggles we have been going through while Ruth was carrying Asha. Through it all, when it seemed like we were in the dark night, we could still hold onto a confidence that Dayspring is coming. It also reminds us that we are in the Sehr of this world. That is, though many things in the world seem dark and evil we know that the True Morning is coming, and when he does the light and hope and life will be so great that we almost forget the darkness.

More will come later, but for now I need to get off the computer and by my wife’s side. Here’s a picture of my beautiful, dear daughter:

What weighs 3.4kg, takes forty weeks to prepare and now dominates the life of a Paki-Canadian family?

Asha Sehr Cook.

Mubarak ho! Ruth went into labour around noon, our time. Asha arrived an hour and a half later.

Asha is an ancient name with origins in Sanskrit. Today it has evolved from its one source into a handful of languages with distinct meanings. In Hindi it means hope. In Arabic it means life or lively. This name reminds us that though two groups of people be ever so far apart, like Hindus and Muslims, there is One Name in which the two people can become one with hope and life. That name is Christ. Asha points to him. And in Christ there is a Hopeful Life and a Lively Hope.

Sehr is the Arabic word for the early morning right before the sun rises, while there is still darkness. It is also the first prayer of the day. It reminds us that even when there is darkness over the land there is a glimmer of light on the horizon that brings with it hope and life. This name is especially precious when we think of the struggles we have been going through while Ruth was carrying Asha. Through it all, when it seemed like we were in the dark night, we could still hold onto a confidence that Dayspring is coming. It also reminds us that we are in the Sehr of this world. That is, though many things in the world seem dark and evil we know that the True Morning is coming, and when he does the light and hope and life will be so great that we almost forget the darkness.

More will come later, but for now I need to get off the computer and by my wife’s side. Here’s a picture of my beautiful, dear daughter:

Start praying everyone…something wrinkled this way comes…

I think.