Here’s an interesting trivia question: Which states (of the United States) are the farthest North, East, West, and South? I’ll give you a hint: The answers are not four states; the correct answer contains fewer than four states. I’ll give you another hint: Fifty years ago, the answer would have been Maine (farthest North and farthest East), Florida (farthest South), and Washington State (farthest West), but none of those states are on the list now.
Okay, I’ll admit it, it’s actually a trick question. First of all, most of us that live in the contiguous United States (or lower forty-eight) have a bad tendency to forget about the other two states, Alaska and Hawaii. Even those that think about those two realize that Alaska is the farthest North, Hawaii is the farthest South, but usually aren’t sure which one is farther West, and even then, most of would never consider either one of them to be the farthest East. They are both West of the lower forty-eight, how could either one of them be considered the farthest East? The answer is that somewhere along the line, mapmakers decided that we needed an imaginary line that splits the Eastern Hemisphere from the Western Hemisphere. This line passes through Alaska. So, in general, if one stands and faces North, then to one’s left is West, and to one’s right is East. If one stands on that line in Alaska, though, then to one’s left is East, and to one’s right is West. One could be standing two feet on either side of that line, and the normal rules apply, but, since Alaska spans the two hemispheres, it is considered to be both the farthest East and the farthest West of all the United States. Of course, this is essentially due to convention; in any given person’s mind, when traveling in a westerly direction on a spherical planet like ours, one is always moving farther West, no matter how many imaginary lines one crosses, or even if one return’s to one’s original position.
Okay, I’ll admit it, it’s actually a trick question. First of all, most of us that live in the contiguous United States (or lower forty-eight) have a bad tendency to forget about the other two states, Alaska and Hawaii. Even those that think about those two realize that Alaska is the farthest North, Hawaii is the farthest South, but usually aren’t sure which one is farther West, and even then, most of would never consider either one of them to be the farthest East. They are both West of the lower forty-eight, how could either one of them be considered the farthest East? The answer is that somewhere along the line, mapmakers decided that we needed an imaginary line that splits the Eastern Hemisphere from the Western Hemisphere. This line passes through Alaska. So, in general, if one stands and faces North, then to one’s left is West, and to one’s right is East. If one stands on that line in Alaska, though, then to one’s left is East, and to one’s right is West. One could be standing two feet on either side of that line, and the normal rules apply, but, since Alaska spans the two hemispheres, it is considered to be both the farthest East and the farthest West of all the United States. Of course, this is essentially due to convention; in any given person’s mind, when traveling in a westerly direction on a spherical planet like ours, one is always moving farther West, no matter how many imaginary lines one crosses, or even if one return’s to one’s original position.
Casting Crowns released a song awhile back that asks how far the East is from the West. The purpose for the question is because the Bible tells us that when God pardons a sin, He separates that sin from us as far as the East is from the West. I want to make it clear that, in that context, at least, God has no respect for our imaginary lines (it’s possible that He has no respect for our imaginary lines in any context, I’m not sure; to be honest, I don’t know of any context where He would respect longitudinal lines). He’s not talking about standing on an imaginary line and saying, “Okay, you’re on one side of the line, and your sins are on the other.” He’s not even talking about standing at the equator and removing your sins from you by a distance of 12,500 miles (approximately half the circumference of the earth at the equator). He’s really just saying that once He forgives you, and separates your sin from you as far, or farther, than you can possibly imagine. Once God separates you from your sin, you don’t have to ever worry about hearing about that sin from God again—unless you refuse to forgive someone else. You might be very surprised at how quickly God remembers everything you ever did wrong if you refuse to forgive someone else for what they did to you. It’s no accident that Jesus said that if we don’t forgive other men’s trespasses, then God wouldn’t forgive our trespasses either.
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