Christ-Bearer: Columbus and the American Covenant

 

    

Today, I would like to focus in on some quotes from  Columbus' journals and from books written about him by contemporaries.  I don't know how much Columbus knew about the American Covenant, but he certainly knew his Bible and considered himself and his quest to be in fulfillment of prophecy.

I do not dispute the monitary and even power goals of the Spanish Queen in funding Columbus' voyage.  I also do not dispute the damage done by the Conquistadors on the indigenous people of the America's.  Even the Catholic clergy who accompanied the Conquistadors did irrepreable harm when they destroyed perhaps thousands of Mayan and Aztec codexes and other items of religious and historical importance because they saw then as pagan.  They tried to bring Christianity by the sword and as history has shown time and time again, that in itself is un-Christian.

Setting that aside, I want to look at the spirit guiding, perhaps even driving, Columbus.  It begins with his Christian name, Christoforo [Christopher,] which means a vessel bearing Christ.  Columbus took that to be part of his mission to carry Christ to the unknown parts of the world.

Columbus did not feel that he was perfect in any way.  In fact, he wrote:
I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvellous [sic] Presence.[1]

Nevertheless, he undertook the task because he felt called to do so. 
No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service.[2]

In a letter to a friend, he explained further:
God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth, of which He spoke in the Apocalypse of St. John after having spoken of it by the mouth of Isaiah, and he showed me where to find it.

He bestowed the arts of seamanship upon me in abundance, and has given me what was necessary from [astronomy], geometry, and arithmetic; and has given me adequate inventiveness in my soul, encouraging me to go forward, and without ceasing they inflame me with a sense of great urgency.[3]

He was quoted as saying:
The only thing that sustains me is my hope in him who created everyone; his support has always been near. On one occasion not long ago, when I was deeply distressed, he raised me with his right arm, saying: ‘O man of little faith, arise, it is I, do not be afraid.[4]

Columbus kept accurate notes of his mission as he saw it.  Between the third and fourth voyages, Columbus actually complied many of these notes and spiritual promptings in what he called  Libro de las profecias or Book of Prophecies.  He wanted others to understand “the historical and prophetic meaning of his discoveries and his own role as ‘Christ-bearer.’”[5]

Columbus may not have understood the American Covenant of which I speak, but he certainly did understand the spiritual nature of his vision and mission.

© Gebara Education, June 2017 All rights reserved.

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[1] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/christopher_columbus.html

[2] Ibid

[3] Columbus to Doña Juana de la Torre, Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati della R. Commissione Colombiana, pt. I, vol. ii; I Scriti di Cristoforo Colombo, ed. Cesare de Lollis (Rome: 1894), p. 82  Quoted in the Ensign, October 1992

[4] Cristóbal Colón, Textos y documentos completos: Relacionesde viajes, cartas y memoriales, ed. Consuelo Varela (Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1989), pp. 137–38. Quoted in the Ensign, October 1992

[5] “Columbus and the Hand of God,” Ensign magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October, 1992

The Role of Religion in the Founding of America

Vladimir Putin on the Religious Roots in America

This morning as I was doing my essential morning exercise of perusing Facebook, I came across a post from the page of Milo Yiannopoulos whose recent proposed visit to Berkley (UCB) was the target of a violent riot fomented.  It was a clip of a speech by Vladimir Putin, President of Russia on January 17 of this year.  I was quite taken and - frankly - surprised by his topic which was the religious roots of western nations, particularly of the United States.
 

Before I quote Mr. Putin, let me make a disclaimer that I am in no way endorsing him as a model of religious propiety.  He is the leader of an authoritatian society and is, in fact, one of the dictators listed on the site I quoted yesterday.  What I am saying is the Mr. Putin, as an outsider and - insofar as I know - an atheist, is stating what he is witnessing geopolitcally as he observes Western nations on a downward course of self-destruction.  He knows his history well enough to know that the West, particularly the United States, was founded on Judeo-Christian values and laws that were millennia in the making.  This is what he said (I transcribed the English translation.)

People in Europe act ashamed of their religious affiliations and are, indeed, frightened to speak of them.

[Americans]deny and reject their own roots, including their Christian roots which form the basis of western civilization.

He went on to say that one culprit is the excesses and exaggerations of political correctness and closed by saying;Without moral values of Christianity and other world religions, without rules and moral values which have formed over millennia people will inevitably lose their human dignity.

I would like to hear what Mr. Putin would have to say about the Russian Orthadox Church that was driven almost out of existence by the Bolshiveks, but he didn't and that would be a topic for another day.  What he did say piqued my interest because it expresses my own thoughts and feelings on the matter.  This has been true since the first day of former President Obama's first term in office when he said, "America is no longer a Christian nation" and his agenda to push the so-called contributions of Islam to the "weaving of the American tapestry."

What I would like to do over the next few weeks (and I can't promise to write every day) is to look at the influence of religion in general and Christianity specifically in the founding of this nation.  We shouldn't have to have a Russian dictator tell us what we should already know for ourselves. 

• We have, in fact, rejected our root values.
• We have, in fact, allowed political correctness to run amok.
• We have denegrated the value of all human life to the point that we are losing our human dignity.

Please join me.

© Gebara Education, June 2017

All rights reserved.

Three Little Girls and a Cat

Once upon time, three little girls lived in a teeny, tiny apartment with their mommy and daddy and a cat. 

The oldest girl was Meadowlark.  She loved to draw pictures and write stories.  Soon the refrigerator was covered with her art.  Then the walls were covered.  Soon all of her many pictures and stories were scattered all over the teeny, tiny apartment with no place to show them.

Robin was the middle girl.  She loved to run and jump.  But in the teeny, tiny apartment, there was no room to do those things, so she walked around while she made up stories in her head.  She sometimes even jumped on the furniture until it sagged in the middle and looked shabby.

Canary was the baby.  She loved to snuggle with her mommy and eat and sleep.  As she grew, she quickly got too big for her teeny, tiny bed in the teeny, tiny apartment.  Mommy and Daddy didn’t know what to do because there was no room to get a larger bed for their little Canary.

The cat loved to go outside and play, but there was no yard for him to play in, so he spent all day in that teeny, tiny apartment, always trying to sneak out the door whenever it was opened.

 

There they all lived in a loving but squishy way in the teeny, tiny apartment.  Then one day, something wonderful happened: Daddy graduated from pastry college and got a job in a city in another state.  Daddy had to go to the new city right away and Mommy was left at home with the three little girls and a cat.  Everything was in a flurry in the teeny, tiny apartment as Mommy worked for weeks to pack and clean. 

Soon the day came when they would all move to the new state.  Grandpa drove the big truck with all of the furniture and boxes from the teeny, tiny apartment.  Grandma drove the car with suitcases, snacks, pillows, Mommy, and three little girls and a cat. 

It was a hot trip.  It was a long trip.  It was a grouchy trip.  The three little girls didn’t like sitting in their car seats.  The cat didn’t like being in the cat carrier.  Mommy didn’t like the noise when Meadowlark and Robin squabbled in the back seat.  They had to stop often so Mommy could feed Canary and so the three little girls could take potty breaks.  Everybody was hot, tired, and cranky by the time they pulled into the motel for the night.

The next morning, Grandpa invited Meadowlark to ride in the big truck with him.  That stopped the backseat squabbling.  As the family traveled north into the mountains, the air became cooler.  The scenery became prettier.  Robin played quietly in the backseat and Canary seemed calmer in her car seat.  Even the cat didn’t fuss when he was put into his carrier.

 

Finally, after a long day of traveling, they all arrived in the new city.  When they pulled up to their new home, all three little girls’ eyes popped wide open.  They didn’t see a teeny, tiny apartment.  They saw a big house!  There were bedrooms upstairs and bedrooms downstairs.  There was room for all of their things.  There was a big backyard with a cherry tree and lots of grass to play in.  The three little girls were so happy. 

 “This is the house I’ve always dreamed of having,” said Robin.  She ran around from room to room and up and down the stairs.  She even ran around in the new backyard where it was cool and green.

“Is this really happening or are we dreaming?” said Meadowlark.  She took the pictures she had been drawing on the trip and found a place for every one of them.

“Brrrrrrrrr!” said Canary and she smiled and laughed as she bounced in her chair.

The family was all together again.  They all survived the long move.  They were with Daddy again.  They didn’t have to live in the teeny, tiny apartment anymore.  They were all cozy and comfy in their new big house.  And everyone was happy: Daddy, Mommy, three little girls, and a cat.

©June 2017 by Gebara Education

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