"Call Me Ishmael."
My blogs
| Introduction | "Call Me Ishmael." You may recognize that as the opening line of Melville's "Moby Dick." His reference is to the Biblical Ishmael, the first-born and illegitimate son of Abraham with Hagar, handmaiden to his wife, Sarah. (See Genesis:16 - 21) The name has come to symbolize misfits and outcasts because Ishmael was, indeed, cast out into the desert by Abraham. Yet God rescued him from certain death in the desert. (And the literary Ishmael was rescued from the sea). Have you, as a follower of Jesus, a lifestyle that is often counter-cultural, ever felt that you haven't fit in? That you've been cast out? Have you ever felt abandoned? Have you ever felt that you are wandering the desert, or adrift in the sea? I know at times I have. The name, Ishmael, means "God hears." Each time I have felt abandoned I have called out to God - and God has heard and rescued me. Please know that each blog reflection I offer is really a prayer, an expression of my desire for God to be with me. And with each plaintive prayer, I know that - God hears. We are all Ishmael. |
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