Jesus’ Command to Sell All You Have

We are studying David Platt's book entitled 'Radical' in our Thursday morning men's group. Pastor Platt has amazing stories of his faith journey where he has traveled the world, helped and witnessed to the poorest of the poor, and is now leading a mega-Church in Birmingham, Alabama. And in our Men's group we are up to chapter 6 in his book, where Pastor Platt suggests with a straight face that we Americans should sell our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33; Mark 10 (story of the Rich Young Ruler)). He points out that nowhere in the New Testament does it suggest that a person's obedience will lead to material blessings. And if God is the source for all of our skills, abilities and talents, and placed us in this wonderful, opportunity filled country of America, shouldn't we be willing to freely give to others what we have received? He also brings the hammer down on American believers by suggesting that rich people who neglect the poor are not people of God.

He suggests American Christians have a blind spot on this issue. As the Jewish people during the time of Jesus had a blind-spot of self-righteousness that prevented them from seeing Jesus, so Americans have a blind-spot about our wealth. The Protestant work ethic of 'I worked hard, I'm talented, and I deserve everything I worked for' does not leave much room for acknowledging God as the source for all blessings. And if material wealth is "earned" by us, then it is much harder for us to give it away to those who don't deserve it – you know, those who don't work so hard, aren't so smart or talented, or who live in a foreign land. Pastor Platt condemns these attitudes, and believes we need to do more, much more in helping the poor throughout the world.

This is a tough message. Won't we always have the poor, no matter what I do? Shouldn't I help those in my local community first, rather than "wasting" money overseas? Isn't the government already doing enough? To combat my attitude, I decided to look at what Jesus taught:

First is Jesus' teaching in John 14:15, which says If you love Me, keep My commandments.

We are told that the greatest Command is to love God, and the second is like it, to love others. But what does the Command to "love others" look like?

In the 'New Treasure of Scripture Knowledge' entry for 1 John 2:3, all of Jesus' commands from the Gospels were assembled. And the most frequently given command (24 times) is His command to love others by giving. Here are the verses:

 

Love Others (Giving/Generosity)

Charitableness, Mt 18:10. Lk 6:(37), 38. give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you;

Clothing to be shared with needy, Mt 5:40. Lk 6:29.

Giving, Mt 5:42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Mt 10:42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Mt 19:21 (Rich Young Ruler – go sell all and give to the poor);

Lk 6:30, Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

Lk 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Acts +*20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

Give according to ability, Lk 11:41n. But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

Invite poor for meals, Lk 14:13. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

Liberality/generosity, Mt 5:42 (Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.) 6:30 (But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?) 12:33 (Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.), 34. Mk 12:41-44 (And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. ⁴³ And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."), Lk 12:33 (Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.). Ac +*20:35 (In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.').

Lending, Mt 5:42 (Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.). Lk 6:34, 35 (And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.).

Pay adequate wages, Mt 10:10. Lk 10:7 (And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages…)

Sell what you have, Mk 10:21 (And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."). Lk 12:32-34 ("Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ^33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ^34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)

Support of the ministry, Lk 10:7. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.

Support of the poor, Lk 14:13, 14. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

My prayer is that this topic and these verses are a blessing to you to help you see how best to help the poor and needy. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff

John 14:12_Believers will do even greater works than Jesus?

Hi everyone, in today's post I am providing you with some research that I have done on the controversial passage of John 14:12-14. Here are the verses:

John 14:12-14 (ESV)
¹² "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

Context 1) In John 14:6 Jesus reveals to the disciples that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one can come to God the Father except through Jesus. After Jesus tells the disciples that He is the "way" to the Father, Phillip asks to see the Father (14:8). Jesus suggests to Phillip that whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (14:9). Jesus then tells Phillip that he should believe on at least the basis of the miracles (NIV, other translations uses "work") he has done (14:11).

Which brings us to the amazing promise of verse 12, which is that whoever believes in Jesus will also do the same works and even greater than what Jesus has done.

Some Commentators limit this promise of greater works of the Apostles, which does not give due credit to Jesus' phrasing ("whoever believes"…) Another attempt to limit this promise is to point out that the geographical scope of the works done is now much greater. But again this has the problem of looking at the promise as if it was made to a group of believers, rather than the individual nature of the promise (whoever believes…) A better look at this verse is given by John Calvin:

John Calvin's analysis: It perplexes many that He said that the apostles would do greater works than He had done. I pass by the other and usual answers and will be content with just one thing. First, we have to understand what Christ means. The power by which He proves Himself the Son of God is so far from being bound to His bodily presence that it must shine forth in more and greater examples when He is absent. Now Christ's ascension was soon followed by the wonderful conversion of the world (Greek omitted), in which His divinity was displayed more powerfully than when He lived among men. Thus we see that the proof of His divinity was not confined to the person of Christ but was diffused through the whole body of the Church. Again, this doing of which He spoke was not peculiar to the apostles alone, nor to a few of the godly, but related to the whole body of the Church.

    Tom's Summary – Jesus' power was not bound to His body itself. Instead, when He is seated in heaven, His power, glory and divinity will shine more clearly than when He walked on Earth. And this doing of greater works is not limited to the apostles, but is given to the whole body of the Church.

I like the way another commentator has put it, focusing on the relationship that is available to us: As the Father abides in (Gk. menō, v. 10) Jesus so too the Spirit abides in (menō, v. 17) the believer. Thus the confidence of Christ can be ours: as the Father was committed to his Son, so Jesus through his Spirit will stand with us in every need (vv. 13–14). The point in these verses is not that every prayerful request will be granted, but that the character of Christ's relationship with God at this level may be ours. But here we must recall Jesus' consistent subordination to his Father's will (5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16f.; 8:28f.) and his desire simply to glorify (12:28; 17:4) and please God (8:29).

The provision of Jesus that will bring about this relationship is declared to be the indwelling Spirit (vv. 15–17), who now bears two new names: the Paraclete (niv Counselor, v. 16) and the Spirit of truth. Elwell, W. A. (1995). Vol. 3: Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Baker reference library (Jn 14:4).

 

Context 2) What is the "work" that Jesus is promising that believer's will be doing greater than even Jesus himself when He returns to heaven? It could be bringing others to a saving faith, such as what took place on Pentecost when 5,000 believers were saved in one day (Acts2). But remember that Jesus told Phillip to believe based if on nothing else on the work that Jesus has done (14:11). The NIV actually translates this as "miracles" and I think it has the right idea here. These works of Jesus included feeding thousands with nothing more than a few loaves of bread and fish, healing the sick, casting out demons, and His teaching. Again, John Calvin is helpful here:

John Calvin's analysis:
Because I go to the Father. The reason why the disciples will do greater things than Christ is that when He has entered into possession of His kingdom, He will demonstrate His power more fully from heaven. It is therefore clear that His glory is no way diminished; for after His departure the apostles, His mere instruments, did more excellent works. Moreover, from this it was plain that He sits at the right hand of the Father, that every knee may bow before Him. And a little later He Himself plainly declares that He will be the author of everything that will be done by the hands of the apostles.

    Tom's Summary – The apostles did greater things than Jesus because He was in heaven. And this does not diminish Jesus' glory in any way. His apostles were mere instruments. Mere instruments do nothing on their own. Instead, it all points to the holder of the instruments, Jesus Christ who is the author of all that the apostles did.

Finally, do not miss the reason for the greater works – that the Father may be glorified in the Son (v. 13). Calvin again provides excellent analysis: This passage agrees with what Paul says: "That every tongue should confess that Jesus is Christ, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). The aim of everything is the sanctifying of God's name. But here is declared the true way to sanctify it – in the Son and by the Son. For although the majesty of the Father is in itself hidden from us, it shines in Christ; although His hand is concealed, we have it visible in Christ. Accordingly, in the benefits which the Father bestows upon us, we have no right to separate the Son from Him, as it is said, "He that honors not the Son, honors not the Father". Vernon McGee makes a great point here, Have you noticed how often Jesus speaks of His Father? The Father is mentioned twenty times in this passage, and it is always the Lord Jesus who mentions Him.

What Role Do Angels Have in Answered Prayer?|

Top of the morning to you. Yes, I have my computer back! I'm so excited – thank you Lord. My computer has been out all of this past summer. But just as school is about to start up, my computer just began to start working again. Before, it would crash every few minutes that I would have it turned on. Then my monitor wouldn't show what the computer was doing. For some reason Windows 7 would not tell me what the problem was. But after lots of prayer, cleaning the dust-balls covering the inside of the computer case, and re-connecting a wire, my monitor was working again. But it kept crashing. Then one day, it started working again – I'm so happy. It may have been the cooler temperatures, it may have been my running 'Checkdisk' which caught a few problems on the hard drive, who knows? But one day it started working again when the day before it was not, and it is working almost as well as when it was new.

The blessing of this past summer is that I have not been sitting on my computer for hours a day. Mostly I have been spending more time with my 10 year old son. I coached his baseball team, we have watched a lot of Twins baseball together, and we are enjoying Monday night wrestling. I also took our three of our children on a four day road trip through South Dakota. I have always wanted to take my family to see Mount Rushmore, and we were able to do this on this road trip, along with a number of other good sights and stories – if you see my son, you may want to ask him about what he thinks of motorcyclists (it was the start of the Sturgis weekend). All in all, even without my computer it's been a great summer.

I wanted to get back into the swing of things by writing a post on the role of Angels in answering prayer. There is a lot of spiritual warfare involved in this post, and so I hope that you are ready for this exciting topic. The centerpiece of this topic is contained in the Book of Daniel, chapter 10, which says:

…"Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. ¹³ But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come." … (Daniel 10:12-14, NLT).

So from this we see that Daniel prayed to God, God heard his prayer and immediately dispatched Gabriel to answer Daniel's prayer. But because the "spiritual prince of the kingdom of Persia" blocked the Angel Gabriel's way, he was delayed three weeks in answering Daniel's prayer. Only because the Arch Angel Michael came to help was Gabriel able to come to Daniel. A similar battle is also seen in the New Testament where the Arch-Angel Michael and Satan fought over Moses' body in Jude 8-9.

Does this mean that all prayers we pray to God may be delayed because of satanic opposition? Does it mean that God is not able to just break through this demonic opposition by His own power? Although the Bible contains lots of information about Angels, it gives us scant more information about this unseen battle that could be taking place around us. But there is some additional wonderful information that we can glean about Angels from the Bible:

Angels - Angels are superhuman or heavenly beings/individuals who serve as God's messenger. Hebrew: Mal' āk (so the OT Book of Malachi means messenger) – The Greek word for Angel is angelos. Angels are mentioned almost 300 times in Scripture. So being God's messenger appears to be the primary way in which the enemy can block the work of the Angels as we see in Daniel Chapter 10.

But what about prayer – is there a connection between prayer and the work of the Angels? If we look at the story of Jesus' birth, I think the answer is Yes! Here is the story of Zechariah in Luke Chapter 1:

One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. ⁹ As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. ¹¹ While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. ¹² Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. ¹³ But the angel said, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. (Luke 1:8-13,ESV).

So it looks like Luke was drawing a connection between the people's prayers and the appearance of the Angel. And again, as in Daniel Chapter 10, we see that that the Angel communicates that God has heard Zechariah's prayer, and that the Angel is telling him that his prayer is answered.

Second, please allow me to bring in a source from outside of the Bible. In the book of Tobit, an ancient Jewish writing that is included in the canon of Scripture in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. It is considered apocryphal by the Protestant Church. So take this portion of the book of Tobit for what you will:

 Then Raphael called the two of them privately and said to them, "Bless God and acknowledge him in the presence of all the living for the good things he has done for you. Bless and sing praise to his name. With fitting honor declare to all people the deeds of God. Do not be slow to acknowledge him. ⁷ It is good to conceal the secret of a king, but to acknowledge and reveal the works of God, and with fitting honor to acknowledge him. Do good and evil will not overtake you…

¹¹ "I will now declare the whole truth to you and will conceal nothing from you. Already I have declared it to you when I said, 'It is good to conceal the secret of a king, but to reveal with due honor the works of God.' ¹² So now when you and Sarah prayed, it was I who brought and read the record of your prayer before the glory of the Lord, and likewise whenever you would bury the dead. ¹³ And that time when you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner to go and bury the dead, ¹⁴ I was sent to you to test you. And at the same time God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law. ¹⁵ I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord." (Tobit 12:6-7, 11-15, NRSV).

What we see in this portion from Tobit is about an Arch-Angel named Raphael. In verses 6 and 7 we see him glorifying God and his instruction to Tobit and Tobit's son Tobiah that if God has blessed you, you should acknowledge and reveal the works and deeds of God. This is good stuff.

But then we see that Rafael tells Tobit that he is one of the seven Angels who stand before the glory of God (v.15). And that he was the Angel who brought Tobit and his daughter-in-law Sarah's prayers to God. And Raphael was the one sent by God to heal Tobit and Sarah. (v.14). So from this portion of Tobit we see that God sends Angels to answer prayers for healing. Could Angels be delayed in answering prayers for healing because of their battles with other fallen angels, as we saw in Daniel Chapter 10? Perhaps. But to me it looks like another bit of helpful information to include when we examine Daniel Chapter 10's description of the spiritual warfare taking place around us.

Praise God the Lord of Hosts, for his power and mercy. God bless you and your walk with Jesus this upcoming week. /s/Tom Wolff

Computer Vacation

I apologize for not posting recently. I have two computers that are on vacation - meaning they won't work. I am having problems with sudden crashes after only a few minutes of working. I am having problems with my monitors working. It's frustrating, but what can I do? I hope to be back posting soon... /s/Tom

The God Particle

Hi everyone,

It's been busy around our home this summer. I've turned 50. We've ended the regular season of Elijah's baseball season. Our home (and my car) is without air-conditioning. This means we've been visiting other family-members (those with air conditioning or by a lake) a lot recently. And so, I have not been writing on my blog. I hope you will understand.

The God Particle or the Higgs boson has received some media attention this past week because of the reports that the Higgs boson was "discovered". Sample news report here. ""I think we have it," said Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director general of CERN, the multinational research center headquartered in Geneva. The agency is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the immense particle accelerator that produced the new data by colliding protons." Scientists hope that the Higgs boson is the invisible part of most of the universe that gives it mass.

A couple of items on this. First, it is premature to call this a discovery, at this point. I like this video which gives a little more explanation than the news article can provide - Higgs Boson explanation / http://vimeo.com/41038445. If you have 7 minutes, and want to learn a little more about the topic, check it out.

Next, is an interesting article on why there is strong resistance by scientists to calling the Higgs boson the "God Particle". Here is an excerpt:

… In an interview with NPR, Victoria Martin, a lecturer in physics and astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and a former student of Higgs, explained why scientists don't like the "God Particle" term.

SIEGEL: I want to ask you about this particle's nickname, the "God particle." What did Higgs, who've I've read is an atheist, think about the nickname the "God particle"?

MARTIN: I'm sure - I actually haven't ever asked him this directly, but I'm sure he doesn't like it. Almost all particle physicists detest that name. ...

So the name stuck and I think it's fine because then people know what we're talking about. But secretly, all of us hate the name, the "God particle." …

Article here. And if you want a silly joke that combines religion and the Higgs boson, here you go:

A Sydney Morning Herald
piece collects the jokes:

A Higgs boson walks into a church, according to one joke which did the rounds. "We don't allow Higgs bosons in here!" shouts the priest. "But without me, how can you have mass?" asks the particle.

May God bless you this week, with all of His Glorious blessings. Amen, /s/Tom Wolff

Tom Believes in Man-made Global Warming

I watched Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ last night, and I was impressed by it. BTW, Google has it available to watch online for free, while Comcast charges$4 for it. A movie of this importance, Comcast should not be charging any money for. But this aside, in today’s post I want to summarize the top three reasons why man-made Global Warming is true, and why we must immediately do something about it. The problem is a simple one. There is a clear correlation between the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and Earth’s rising temperatures. The first question on this topic is whether or not the Earth is really getting warmer. The fact that the 10 hottest years ever measured have all been in the last 14 years makes this point obvious. NASA confirms that nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000, including 2010 which tied for the warmest year ever measured. So yes, Earth is getting warmer. So this brings me to the next question, is this increase in Earth’s temperature caused by man? A couple of reasons suggest to me that it is: First, the huge strain caused on Earth by the world’s population increase. And second, the correlation between measured Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth’s increased temperatures. First, to show the huge population growth on Earth, take a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World-Population-1800-2100.png Graph from Wikipedia. In 1930, the Earth had 2 billion people. Today, there are over 7 Billion people. In just one lifetime, there has been a 350% increase in Earth’s population. I like how Al Gore put it – there is a collision of our civilization and the Earth. An important issue is the pressure that this massive increase in people upon the Earth upon the world’s food and water supply. But this population growth also increases electricity and fossil fuel consumption, which is one of the major components of the increase in Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels. When there is more CO2 in the air, the atmosphere traps more of the sun’s heat instead of allowing it to escape. In other words, more pollution means higher temperatures on Earth. And all of this flows through the large population increase that has taken place over the past 80 years. On the second point that shows Global Warming is man-made, the correlation of Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels and the Earth’s temperatures is firmly established. Scientists have been studying the CO2 levels for some time, and the when combined with the Earth temperatures measurements, there is an eerie connection between the two. Deforestation, use of fossil fuels, power plants, vehicle emissions, all plays a significant part in this rise of CO2 levels. Al Gore on a riser showed how scary the increasing Carbon Dioxide levels will become over the next 50 years. My final point is that the Earth is showing the effects of Global Warming. We see the retreat of the glaciers. We see oceans becoming warmer. We see the ice disappearing off of Kilimanjaro, the Alps, the Himalayas, and in the Glacier National Park. We can see with our own eyes the impact of Global Warming, and if it continues there will be a massive human displacement. Imagine if New York, San Francisco, Florida, Shanghai, and Calcutta all become flooded from melting ice caps. The world could not handle 100 million refugees, and the chaos that this would cause would be terrible. It is time for us to act before it is too late.

The Cell _ A Poem

Yes, some people are amazed at the vastness of the universe, the countless galaxies around us, with a tiny glimpse seen in the night sky above us. The magnitude of the space, the time it took to create all of this, and the likelihood that it all originated from a single point and at a single moment of time. Yes, the universe is an amazing creation, and humbling to the insignificance of man.

But for me, what is more of an attraction is the world of biology. The world of the cell is astounding in that there are soooo many cells in just the human body. Cells make up each organ and the tissue in the body and are the basic functioning piece of the organ or tissue. The human body has approximately 250 trillion cells with approximately 35,000 chemical reactions taking place per second within each of these cells. Think of what this means – 250 trillion cells each having 35,000 chemical reactions per second. And all of this takes place in the great majority of us for decades. We all like a fast processor for our computers, right? How about something that is faster than the world's fastest supercomputer? Interpreting a DNA program and translating it through a code into a physical molecule, the cells collectively function at almost a thousand times the processing speed of IBM's Blue Gene/L state-of-the-art supercomputer. This information processing in one human body for just one function exceeds by some 25 percent the total computing power of all the world's 200 million personal computers produced every year. Vast numbers of cells, incredible speed, incredible efficiency, and it all works seamlessly, effortlessly, and yes, beautifully for the life of its host. I think the cell has to be the most amazing piece of God's Creation. So give me the cell over the universe when you want to be amazed by the power, beauty and creativity of God the Creator.

But because we can't see the cell, like we can see the universe, it is hard for us to grasp how big and vast the cell and its activities are. I have always thought that a good way to help with this problem is to use some kind of an analogy, although is there any way to compare something to the cell's DNA structure? But even with this shortcoming, here is a nice "poem" that tries to compare a cell and its activities to a city:

Imagine miniature cities aswarm with bustling centers of activity, factories, powerhouses, post offices, libraries, trash collection and recycling, quality control, railroads and architecture, import/export centers, communication networks, and transport vehicles.

These cities organize themselves from seed cities, according to a complex negotiation process that assigns them their duties and location.

Some cities specialize in manufacture and export, some in signal processing, some in reclamation or storage, some in warfare, and some preserve the heritage of the whole nation and pass it on.

Each city has no mayor or aldermen or police.

Its multitudinous minions are self-directed, self-replicating wonders and each city cooperates with its neighbors to maintain balance, order, and peaceful exchange for the good of the nation.

Some cities pick up and move, patrolling the highways, some stretch enormous distances to maintain communication, and some link shields to form the nation's boundaries.

Some denude themselves and serve the rest by carrying oxygen to all.

Some live to divide, some adopt a fixed identity and never reproduce again.

All are altruistic in their focus, unless the encoded information in the library becomes corrupted, or signals snarl and warp the message, turning self-sacrifice into the endless hunger, rampage and self-aggrandizement of cancer.

Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made.