I have the obnoxious habit of posting a blog, then finding more and more corrections or changes I need to make to it. I'm told that some of your computers will send you an email alert whenever I've posted. Dear ones, does that mean, that every time I've re-posted a revision, you are getting "beeped?" If so, let me know. That must be most annoying and I will proofread and revise before any posting.
About Me
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thanks, Gideon
Today we look at Gideon. Yes, the inspiration for Gideons International, the guys who leave Bibles in motel rooms. I remember these as a child from our family's long road trips back to New Jersey (hi Marsha) and I always thought that was a really cool thing to do. - For a neat history of this, [the bibles, not our road trips] see this link
After the forty years of peace, thanks to the ladies, (see Feb. 5) once again the Israelites just seemed to forget it all and “again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” O.K., there is a definite pattern here. Man does bad. God retaliates by sending destructive enemies. People beg for help. God sends prophet/leader. Leader saves people re-teaching the lesson. People are good for 40 years again (certainly something magical about that number in the bible, have you noticed?). Then they forget the lesson and go bad again. That’s basically Gideon’s story, but there are some interesting elements.
When an angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says He is with them, Gideon asks, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Wow. You go, Gideon. Then when the Lord says to him that he is to lead fight against the Midianites, “give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” Wow again! I like Gideon; he’s got guts. So God puts on a spontaneous combustion display. That’d probably work for me. Gideon is moved to build an altar to the Lord with the naming, The Lord is Peace. Really?
Before he goes into battle for the Lord, he asks for TWO more signs that he has a fighting chance. The Lord responds each time. This is amazing. Doubting Gideon keeps testing God and God delivers. Wouldn’t you think God would chastise him for needing such proof over faith?
Gideon has 30,000 troops in line to battle the Midianites, but God whittles that to 300 because he wants to make sure the credit is given to supernatural intervention instead of just outnumbering the enemy. Oh, brother.
Gideon single-handedly kills and beheads the leaders of the enemy tribe, but refuses to actually “rule” over his own, saying the Lord rules. Gideon has 70 (7-0) sons from his many wives and one from his concubine. [O.K., why would one need a concubine??] and all enjoyed peace for forty years. See, that number!
Then no sooner does Gideon die, but the people “did not remember the Lord, their God,” returned to false worshipping, and failed to show kindness to Gideon’s family.
What is it with these people? Can’t they see the pattern themselves? Do they not tell enough stories, oral histories, tales of old to remind them of the lessons?
Confession #64: This passage returns me to the age old question: Is Human inherently bad? Or has God given human some impossible standards to live by, given our nature? Or, has HUMAN given other humans unreasonable demands and expectations of godliness? Don’t know, don’t know. But my confession/observation here is that we have a tougher time stayin’ out of trouble without good leadership and a constant re-telling of tales (i.e. history) to learn from those before us.
Confession #65: I’ve often told my students that one of my smartest traits (and yes, I have some real dumb ones too!) is that I have often been able to learn from others’ mistakes, bad decisions and failings. Not everything has to be learned from the School of Hard Knocks. Now, I have certainly learned from that metaphorical institution also, but heck, why not glean some wisdom for free from others. Whether parenting, money management, or love relationships, we’d all do well to look to the failures and disasters of others and learn, learn, learn! Hear that Wall Street??
After the forty years of peace, thanks to the ladies, (see Feb. 5) once again the Israelites just seemed to forget it all and “again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” O.K., there is a definite pattern here. Man does bad. God retaliates by sending destructive enemies. People beg for help. God sends prophet/leader. Leader saves people re-teaching the lesson. People are good for 40 years again (certainly something magical about that number in the bible, have you noticed?). Then they forget the lesson and go bad again. That’s basically Gideon’s story, but there are some interesting elements.
When an angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says He is with them, Gideon asks, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Wow. You go, Gideon. Then when the Lord says to him that he is to lead fight against the Midianites, “give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” Wow again! I like Gideon; he’s got guts. So God puts on a spontaneous combustion display. That’d probably work for me. Gideon is moved to build an altar to the Lord with the naming, The Lord is Peace. Really?
Before he goes into battle for the Lord, he asks for TWO more signs that he has a fighting chance. The Lord responds each time. This is amazing. Doubting Gideon keeps testing God and God delivers. Wouldn’t you think God would chastise him for needing such proof over faith?
Gideon has 30,000 troops in line to battle the Midianites, but God whittles that to 300 because he wants to make sure the credit is given to supernatural intervention instead of just outnumbering the enemy. Oh, brother.
Gideon single-handedly kills and beheads the leaders of the enemy tribe, but refuses to actually “rule” over his own, saying the Lord rules. Gideon has 70 (7-0) sons from his many wives and one from his concubine. [O.K., why would one need a concubine??] and all enjoyed peace for forty years. See, that number!
Then no sooner does Gideon die, but the people “did not remember the Lord, their God,” returned to false worshipping, and failed to show kindness to Gideon’s family.
What is it with these people? Can’t they see the pattern themselves? Do they not tell enough stories, oral histories, tales of old to remind them of the lessons?
Confession #64: This passage returns me to the age old question: Is Human inherently bad? Or has God given human some impossible standards to live by, given our nature? Or, has HUMAN given other humans unreasonable demands and expectations of godliness? Don’t know, don’t know. But my confession/observation here is that we have a tougher time stayin’ out of trouble without good leadership and a constant re-telling of tales (i.e. history) to learn from those before us.
Confession #65: I’ve often told my students that one of my smartest traits (and yes, I have some real dumb ones too!) is that I have often been able to learn from others’ mistakes, bad decisions and failings. Not everything has to be learned from the School of Hard Knocks. Now, I have certainly learned from that metaphorical institution also, but heck, why not glean some wisdom for free from others. Whether parenting, money management, or love relationships, we’d all do well to look to the failures and disasters of others and learn, learn, learn! Hear that Wall Street??
Monday, February 23, 2009
To Be or Not to Be
Ooh, I know I last said "tomorrow" and that was 10 days ago. A few days in Sin City Vegas seeing Chris Angel's Mind Freak show and Cirque du Soleil's Love and I get detoured from more ethereal pursuits.
I have had difficulty answering my own question posed in last entry. But here I shall try. I believe I would rather have to defend what I had done, rather than what I had NOT done. I would hope that my actions, while perhaps misguided or unsuccessful or misunderstood or foolish, would have come from good intentions, never intending any of the above consequences. We are on this earth to BE, to act and react, to try, to be dynamic creatures for our short time here. Most of our real living does not take place in living rooms, eh? But the person who is guilty of not responding, acting, saying, has relinquished his/her power. She has failed to grab every moment and opportunity afforded her. He has refused the gift of being.
Confession #62: Having expounded on the above, I confess I am more guilty, I believe, of what I have not done or said. I hope the final quarter of my life will be meaningful because I will have changed that pattern.
This blog’s other question dealt with killing versus murder. Is there a difference? According to original Hebrew bible, there is very much a difference. If you kill someone from the back it is murder. If you kill someone from the front, it is not. If you kill in defense, war, accident, it is not murder. But, you say, the Commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Period. Ah, but this is where the power of language lies. Again, the wording from the earliest form of the Bible states, Thou Shalt Not Murder. Big, big difference. (So go ahead and squash that cockroach in defense of your household's health.)
I have had difficulty answering my own question posed in last entry. But here I shall try. I believe I would rather have to defend what I had done, rather than what I had NOT done. I would hope that my actions, while perhaps misguided or unsuccessful or misunderstood or foolish, would have come from good intentions, never intending any of the above consequences. We are on this earth to BE, to act and react, to try, to be dynamic creatures for our short time here. Most of our real living does not take place in living rooms, eh? But the person who is guilty of not responding, acting, saying, has relinquished his/her power. She has failed to grab every moment and opportunity afforded her. He has refused the gift of being.
Confession #62: Having expounded on the above, I confess I am more guilty, I believe, of what I have not done or said. I hope the final quarter of my life will be meaningful because I will have changed that pattern.
This blog’s other question dealt with killing versus murder. Is there a difference? According to original Hebrew bible, there is very much a difference. If you kill someone from the back it is murder. If you kill someone from the front, it is not. If you kill in defense, war, accident, it is not murder. But, you say, the Commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Period. Ah, but this is where the power of language lies. Again, the wording from the earliest form of the Bible states, Thou Shalt Not Murder. Big, big difference. (So go ahead and squash that cockroach in defense of your household's health.)
Has wording been changed due to one’s agenda, or convenience, or syntax, or some monk’s tired hands in copying the bible manually?
And do we form arguments, even lay laws today based on the so-called literal meaning of this document? Do we shake one finger sanctimoniously at others while another finger points to an isolated word in this recording as we hammer down on our fellow human beings? Are we hiding behind words, words, words, to keep our little brains from having to do the real work, the messy work of THINKING? Using our own divine sense of reason? Allowing our own minds and hearts to listen very quietly and still for God’s voice to speak to us?
Confession #63: I think those who are literalists are more lazy than anything. It is just easier to leave your own God-given critical thinking at the door, lay down your own intelligent ideas at your feet as you pick up this book and let your own brain muscle turn to mush around paper and ink. There, I’ve said it, and it only took me 7 months of this endeavor to admit it.
And do we form arguments, even lay laws today based on the so-called literal meaning of this document? Do we shake one finger sanctimoniously at others while another finger points to an isolated word in this recording as we hammer down on our fellow human beings? Are we hiding behind words, words, words, to keep our little brains from having to do the real work, the messy work of THINKING? Using our own divine sense of reason? Allowing our own minds and hearts to listen very quietly and still for God’s voice to speak to us?
Confession #63: I think those who are literalists are more lazy than anything. It is just easier to leave your own God-given critical thinking at the door, lay down your own intelligent ideas at your feet as you pick up this book and let your own brain muscle turn to mush around paper and ink. There, I’ve said it, and it only took me 7 months of this endeavor to admit it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Do unto others before they do it to you.
So back to the issue of interpretation.
My Jewish friend, Helen, vehemently tells me that modern translations of the bible are woefully inaccurate. As a linguist I respect the value of each word; the change of one can mean a drastic difference. According to her, the original Hebrew bible (from whence it all came) does NOT say, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” rather, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” What’s the difference, you ask. She tells me that Judaism is all about DEED, and Catholicism (for the benefit of contrast) is all about FAITH. DO is action, LOVE is emotion. It doesn’t matter how you feel about your neighbor; you need not love him. But you must act out of a just and noble place. You can love your neighbor all you want, but if you do not help that neighbor, the love is meaningless.
I told her I thought the key to happiness, peace, fulfillment, lies in the three-legged stool of God, Self, and Others. If all one’s actions are truly aligned with love for all three, one can’t go wrong. Although that’s easier than it sounds. If one “leg” is not stable, the entire stool collapses.
Confession #60: It seems to me that if one simply “acts” good, it is self-serving as a ticket to heaven. But if one develops his capacity to love, the natural by-product is a nourishing and developing of the soul, which could be why we are here. It brings us closer to, perhaps, the ultimate divine spirit from whence WE came.
Confession #61: But then again, the more I think, the less I know.
Question: Standing at the pearly gates, would you rather have to defend what you did here on earth, or what you didn’t do? Hmmm
Tomorrow: murder or killing?
I told her I thought the key to happiness, peace, fulfillment, lies in the three-legged stool of God, Self, and Others. If all one’s actions are truly aligned with love for all three, one can’t go wrong. Although that’s easier than it sounds. If one “leg” is not stable, the entire stool collapses.
Confession #60: It seems to me that if one simply “acts” good, it is self-serving as a ticket to heaven. But if one develops his capacity to love, the natural by-product is a nourishing and developing of the soul, which could be why we are here. It brings us closer to, perhaps, the ultimate divine spirit from whence WE came.
Confession #61: But then again, the more I think, the less I know.
Question: Standing at the pearly gates, would you rather have to defend what you did here on earth, or what you didn’t do? Hmmm
Tomorrow: murder or killing?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Salute to the Ladies!
YES! FINALLY! Not only does a woman emerge in Scripture, but as a leader. And not one, but two. Lawdy.
I give you Deborah and Jael.
“Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court…and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.” STOP. First of all, I am struck that a woman is in a position of authority for the first time mentioned. Awesome. I am also struck by the casual reference to this. Up until now, every (male) leader’s mention is accompanied with generous verse on how God had chosen him. Suddenly, Deborah. But o.k., I kinda love the casual nature of this, as if to say it’s no big deal.
Anyway, she sends for Barak (yep!) and directs him to lead an army against Sisera, who had “cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” He says he’ll go but only if she’ll go with him. No explanation why. She says o.k., but if I go with you, then the honor will go to me, a woman. I find this a fascinating dynamic. That is, indeed, what happens, but as every man in Sisera’s army goes down, Sisera flees. Now we come to Jael.
Jael invites Sisera to her tent offering relief and promising protection. But once he’s asleep she “picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died.” O—M—G!!
Barak comes looking for Sisera. Jael says, here, I’ll show you the man you’re looking for.”
What followed was The Song of Deborah, singing praises of her and Jael.
“Then the land had peace forty years.”
Man, oh, man, these women are amazing. Strong, decisive, and revered by their people.
Confession #58: Here are two early models for women as wise leaders. Why have we suffered from so much historical misogyny and oppression when so early on the template is in place to trust females in action, decision-making and, shall we say, problem-solving?
Confession #59: Not sure I would ever have what it takes to lead an army or drive a tent peg through a sleeping man’s head, but I’ve surprised myself before!
Lingering question: Was Jael’s act a killing or murder, hmmm? See Jan. 29 entry. Weigh in now. Polls will be open for two more days.
“Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court…and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.” STOP. First of all, I am struck that a woman is in a position of authority for the first time mentioned. Awesome. I am also struck by the casual reference to this. Up until now, every (male) leader’s mention is accompanied with generous verse on how God had chosen him. Suddenly, Deborah. But o.k., I kinda love the casual nature of this, as if to say it’s no big deal.
Anyway, she sends for Barak (yep!) and directs him to lead an army against Sisera, who had “cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” He says he’ll go but only if she’ll go with him. No explanation why. She says o.k., but if I go with you, then the honor will go to me, a woman. I find this a fascinating dynamic. That is, indeed, what happens, but as every man in Sisera’s army goes down, Sisera flees. Now we come to Jael.
Jael invites Sisera to her tent offering relief and promising protection. But once he’s asleep she “picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died.” O—M—G!!
Barak comes looking for Sisera. Jael says, here, I’ll show you the man you’re looking for.”
What followed was The Song of Deborah, singing praises of her and Jael.
“Then the land had peace forty years.”
Man, oh, man, these women are amazing. Strong, decisive, and revered by their people.
Confession #58: Here are two early models for women as wise leaders. Why have we suffered from so much historical misogyny and oppression when so early on the template is in place to trust females in action, decision-making and, shall we say, problem-solving?
Confession #59: Not sure I would ever have what it takes to lead an army or drive a tent peg through a sleeping man’s head, but I’ve surprised myself before!
Lingering question: Was Jael’s act a killing or murder, hmmm? See Jan. 29 entry. Weigh in now. Polls will be open for two more days.
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