Fearing
God?
“The fear of
the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good
understanding. To
him belongs eternal praise.” *
While
in
Switzerland, our tour group was housed for three nights in a
beautiful hotel at
Interlaken, southwest of Lucerne. Interlaken, which means
“between two lakes”
was a lovely city. The weather was clear while we were there,
affording
spectacular views of the Jungfrau region of the Alps. Both the hotel and an
adjoining senior
residential home were sponsored by a faith-based organization.
As guests, we
mingled with some of the residents and were even invited to join
them for an
evening program. Not a bad place to retire!
One
day the group
took the train from Interlaken to Bern, the capital of
Switzerland. We were met
by a young man named Adrian who led us on a walking tour of the
old part of the
city. Our first stop was at the former home of Albert Einstein
and his wife,
Mileva. Adrian, a journalist for the newspaper Der Bund,
was proud of
the fact that Einstein was a subscriber to that same newspaper
when he lived in
Switzerland from 1902-05. Later in the day, Al and I went on our
own to see the
Einstein museum across the river from the old city. One whole
floor was
dedicated to the famous physicist, especially on his theory of
Relativity that
was formulated while in Bern.
As
we walked along
the cobblestone street from the Einstein home toward another
famous landmark, the
clock tower, several unique fountains were pointed out. In the
center of one
fountain was an ogre holding some little children in his hands.
An unspoken
threat to the kids of the city to behave? We hurried by it to
the Zytglogge or
“time bell” tower and arrived just before noon.
A fantastic example of Swiss
craftsmanship,
the Zytglogge was first built as a tower in the 1200’s. The
clock mechanism
came several hundred years later. Exactly at 12:00 pm a gilded
figure
representing Chronos, or Time, began to strike the bells at the
top of the
tower. At the same moment, a rooster crowed and flapped its
wings. As the bells
continued ringing, several figures appeared on different levels
of the
structure. It ended with the final three crows of the rooster,
reminding me of Peter’s
denial of Jesus.
Close
by the tower
was the Parliament building. Completed in 1902, the east and
west wings of the
huge building were mirror images of each other, connected by the
center domed
section. Today it is used for the convening of the Swiss
Parliament and
government offices.
From
the
Parliament building, Adrian led us to a stately Gothic cathedral
originally
intended as a Catholic church. Construction began in 1421 and
was completed 150
years later, after the Reformation had taken place in Bern. The
church became a
center of Protestant worship; but many of the original religious
carvings and
objects were preserved, including an intricate carving over the entrance of the
church that depicted Judgement Day. The figure of Christ stood
at the top of
the tall archway, with a procession of Biblical figures, saints and
angels descending
down both sides.
Above the tall doors was a
sword-wielding
angel, Michael, with “heaven” on his right and “hell” on his
left. Famous
people and church leaders, as well as common folk were depicted
in both places,
indicative of that final day when every person will appear
before God’s
judgement seat. Fittingly, Lady Justice stood in between the two doors. The
ornate doorway depicted a very graphic picture, one that every
person could
understand whether literate or not. It was an obvious reminder
to passers-by of
God’s justice and His mercy.
As
the guided tour
ended, our group disbanded to go different directions. Al and I
stayed on the
plaza in front of the cathedral sitting near another fountain. At the center stood a
statue of Moses holding
the ten commandments. I filled up my empty water bottle at the
fountain,
thinking again about the 15th century portrayal of
Judgement Day
over the cathedral doors. It certainly evoked feelings of fear,
but not like
that of the child-eating ogre. Rather, the fear of God is the
consuming desire
to love God above anything or anyone else, trusting Him and
doing His will. And
the outcome of fearing the Lord is positive—knowing Him
personally and
experiencing life with Him forever.
The
hours are
passing by. Perhaps it’s time for a change of heart!
* Psalm 111:10 NIV
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| Berne Muenster cathedral, same as above, from a distance |
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| Moses fountain on the plaza in front of the Muenster Cathedral |
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| Ogre fountain! |
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| Clock Tower or Zytglogge |
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| Parliament Building |
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| Einstein museum |
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