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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Patchwork strangeness


In studying the ideas about the Son of Man, I have run across some very interesting material. It's found in the pseudipigraphical books of the Old Testament. Some call this period of time the intertestamental period. There seems to have been an evolution for the Son of Man.

In Ezekiel, for example, the son of man refers to humans. In Daniel, the son of man seems to be a heavenly creature. That image appears to be the same in 1 Enoch as well a 2 Esdras. When Jesus uses the term, he uses it to refer to himself. If not, then he is referring to some other being to follow him, even another messiah. Most people interpret Jesus' words to mean that he is referring to himself.

Then, there is the use in Revelation. One would think that John, who is a believer and follower of Jesus, would take the term to mean Jesus. Instead, it seems to follow the Daniel, 1 Enoch, 2 Esdras usage. Now that's passing strange. Unless, of course, the apostle John did not write the Revelation, which I tend to be leaning toward the more I read the book.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

A pixel in the big picture


The Great Teacher said we shouldn't worry about what may happen tomorrow. Each day has its own set of problems. We can't add an inch to the height we are given in life. Our father clothes the birds and flowers in more splendor than King Solomon could clothe himself with all his riches, so we shouldn't be asking what we are going to eat, drink , and wear.


OK. Well and good. I guess I need to gauge my trust level here. It might not register so high. But, this year will definitely put this frame of sayings to the test. In a way I do worry about how the place that I work during the day will consider the kind of work I do after-hours. One could construe them to be in conflict with each other. I prefer to consider the after-hours work as an investment in future return rather than a conflict of interest. It's all in perception. I think this will come to a head on September 26th. That's when the intersection of the two work places will occur. Do I worry about it? According to the above, the Maker of situations can work out people's perceptions as well as feeding birds and clothing flowers. I just need to approach the date in September with an understanding that the big picture can easily be handled if I merely trust that it will be.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Ying and Yang


Sometimes I look at the mountains and see sheer, unadulterated beauty and truth. At other times I see the result of the collision of earth's plates causing one plate to pleat, the other to be lost beneath the earth. I guess that represents the two sides of me. One side very analytical, rather detached, objective.
The other side realizes what is breath-taking, splendid, ethereal.
One side doesn't rob the other side. If anything, one side enhances the other. That should be true of all humans - having two sides. Spending time with someone else helps us not just to notice the two sides of an individual, but to see how the two sides enhance a fuller character.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Musing about what I don't know anything about


Last night I was putting together a module for a class and had to deal with the Sumerian culture. Anytime I deal with a culture before the scientific revolution, I am taken aback by the sheer amount of ignorance that was in the people's lives and how much of their belief in the unknown was notional and fabricated. Of course, they didn't know better.

I know that someday, the people of another future time will look on us the same way. What we call science today will be taken for granted as known fact for centuries and as commonly known as our knowledge about the sun around which we rotate. They will look at us and wonder how we existed in such ignorance.

Yesterday I was studying a part of the New Testament that few people read anymore. I was struck by its coherence and parallelism, but I also knew that many just dip in and read a stretch of verses once in a while and miss the coherence and parallelism. Yet, they persist in some belief that the stretch of verses "taught" them even though the larger context and historical context might lead to a different understanding.

All of the above makes me know that the amount of knowledge I may have is small, temporary, and foundational for people living in some future society. That leads me away from feeling smug. It leads me right into feeling humble, sometimes insignificant. It makes me want to live forever so that I can keep up with the knowledge curve, keep up with the leading edge of discovery.

But, I know that I will not live forever in the environment I want to stay in. But, that does show my ignorance. I will live forever in an environment I have no knowledge of, but trust that it is so much different, so much more splendid, so much more filled with knowledge that I might as well die now because it may be another 5000 years before people on earth attain to the knowledge of an inkling available in the eternal world. I think I just talked myself out of staying around here forever.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Battles are fought ahead of the field of battle


It's nice to look up and see friends all around. Often the journey in life is rough or lifeless. It's those echoes of friendliness that rocket out of the darkness when life does get rough or lifeless that make one know that Someone Else knew the you needed the smile, the prayer, the call, the note, the ironic play of events.

Tonight I just need to recognize that the Creator can come from deep in the cosmos to my little life with just the right sequence of friends' encouragement to carry on. When's the last time someone who hasn't called in 6 months rings your number just to say hi. When's the last time a meal with someone you haven't seen in about a year wants to pray blessings over you after dinner. When's the last time you were driving down the road and an out-of-town friend calls out of the blue and is traveling the opposite direction just 15 minutes away. So, you stop on the road and visit. All that happened in a span of 24 hours.

But, the Maker of coincidences knew that needed to happen because just a short 72 hours later the dark clouds gathered to rain. But, the rain didn't drown you or make you lose your way because you had had friends that lifted your spirits so serendipitously just hours before.

The beast with the number 666 can't paint the picture bad enough when the One who arrays himself against the number, who also wears a victor's crown, has already bolstered your spirits 3 1/2 days ahead of time.