Pillars of Hercules
Stories
THE WONDER OF WORDS: BOOK 2
ONE-HUNDRED MORE WORDS AND PHRASES SHAPING HOW CHRISTIANS THINK AND LIVE
Pillars of Hercules was the name ancient Greeks gave to two rocks on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. This Strait is a narrow body of water connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Strait is created by the close proximity of the southernmost part of Spain and the northern coast of Africa. Greek legend said Hercules had placed the rocks on either side of the Strait. The Pillars of Hercules were pictured on the fifteenth century Spanish coats of arms. On the Pillars were scrolls, bearing the Latin words "Ne Plus Ultra" (no more beyond). This was a warning to sailors not to enter the Atlantic Ocean. However, after Christopher Columbus voyaged to the New World and returned, the inscription on the Pillars of Hercules was altered to read "Plus Ultra," that is, there is something more beyond.
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead brought humanity the assurance that there's something more beyond. Reflecting on the meaning of Jesus' victory over death, St. Paul wrote this: "Our present earthly body is like a tent in which a man lives temporarily while he is on a journey from one place to another. But we know that, if this temporary home is demolished, we have a house which God will give us, a house not built by any human hands, made to last in heaven for ever." (1 Corinthians 5:1, Barclay translation) President John Quincy Adams shared that faith. Alvin Rogness reports that, when Adams was eighty-one years old, a friend inquired of his health. Adams replied: "John Adams is very well, thank you. But the tenement he has inhabited these many years is in a sad state of disrepair. It sags in the corners, its roof leaks, and when the wind blows it creaks and groans in every joint. I suspect that John Adams will soon be forced to seek other quarters. But John Adams himself is very well, thank you." Every Sunday is a little Easter reminding us planet Earth bears as "chief treasure one forsaken grave" across which faith sees the inscription, "Plus Ultra" - more beyond!
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead brought humanity the assurance that there's something more beyond. Reflecting on the meaning of Jesus' victory over death, St. Paul wrote this: "Our present earthly body is like a tent in which a man lives temporarily while he is on a journey from one place to another. But we know that, if this temporary home is demolished, we have a house which God will give us, a house not built by any human hands, made to last in heaven for ever." (1 Corinthians 5:1, Barclay translation) President John Quincy Adams shared that faith. Alvin Rogness reports that, when Adams was eighty-one years old, a friend inquired of his health. Adams replied: "John Adams is very well, thank you. But the tenement he has inhabited these many years is in a sad state of disrepair. It sags in the corners, its roof leaks, and when the wind blows it creaks and groans in every joint. I suspect that John Adams will soon be forced to seek other quarters. But John Adams himself is very well, thank you." Every Sunday is a little Easter reminding us planet Earth bears as "chief treasure one forsaken grave" across which faith sees the inscription, "Plus Ultra" - more beyond!
