sundayeveningthoughts

[sundayeveningthoughts]

An Amazing Guy

Sunday Evening Thoughts

May 3, 2020

Dear Paul and Rachel,

                                               An Amazing Guy

As a father has compassion for his children, the LORD has compassion for those who fear him. Psalm 103:13

I write this last Sunday Evening Thoughts in mid-March alone at the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club cabin on a beautiful, early, spring night. Hard life, I know!

There is a serious pandemic starting with the Covid-19 virus and the noise about the virus in the news is driving me crazy, plus Trump disgusts me. Any person who would mimic a handicap person is not just crude, but disgusting. 

As I said last time, S.E.T. began only as a quick note to two of you. A few of your friends saw it and asked to be linked and whenever I met any of your roommates or friends I asked them if they wanted to join. They all said yes. At one point I had about 50-70 college kids reading it — a real “feel-good “ moment for me.

In this last S.E.T. I want to talk again about Daddy Jack, your grandfather, whom I mentioned in many early Thoughts. He is the best man I’ve ever known. An amazing guy. 

Daddy Jack was a great man, though he had little education. At age 15 he quit school in the 8th grade and joined the Navy. He lied about his age. My grandfather had just died a few months before (perhaps of the Flu Epidemic of 1918?). They had become poor, and his aunt signed the permission slip as my grandmother, knowing her sister would not prosecute. I don’t think Mama Miano minded deep down, after all her husband, Papa Miano, left Taormina, Siciy in 1877 by himself as a 16-year-old. I’ve recently come to realize that is also why it was no big deal when I left home at age 14, only to return intermittently. 

He told me, whether the story is apocryphal or literal I don’t know, that when he joined the Navy he immediately left for a trip to South America, and as was typical in 1918 whenever you crossed the equator for the first time, the older sailors always tossed the newbies overboard. 

That story always sounded cool!

Once when I was 16, I came home on a brief summer vacation. I had been hanging out with “those Westhaven Boys” (a derisive name from Nanny Jean, your grandmother, meaning trashy, dirty, or hoodlums - the “hoodlums” word she often used), and I did stroll into the house late one Friday evening a... a… a… little starry eyed. Daddy Jack looking up from his bifocals, as he was crocheting, said, “You know on my first trip to South America when I first joined the Navy, we went to Columbia, South America,” he paused, then continued, “they have a different kind of cigarette in Columbia than we do here in the U.S.” 

That’s all he said, and went back to crocheting. I knew then I had a cool dad.

I have never met a person who was so streetwise, and yet still so cheerful about life. Formal education, no; street education, a PhD. Amazing!

How amazing? The day of his funeral, all five of his children, except for my sister who had had a Caesarian section two days before with her third child and was still in the hospital but had been valiantly replaced by her husband — a good guy, were standing around Daddy Jack’s casket joking on him because of his favorite tie: A gaudy, out-of-style tie, with permanent spaghetti sauce embedded on his red, white, and blue stripes (Daddy Jack was always patriotic in a proud sense. I think now part of his patriotism was directly influenced by the Navy providing him three square meals when he was a hungry 15-year-old kid, and food and shelter for his wife and family in the coming years. Don’t read that as greedy, only pragmatic), expressed:

(Oldest son #1) “Hey guys, unfortunately Daddy really loved me the most. I know he loved you too, but I was the oldest, a Junior no less, and I know he loved me the most.”

(Son #2) “Where in the world did you get that? No way!” with voice levels starting to rise, “I joined the Navy at age 17. You all know Daddy retired after 26 years as a Chief, something he was very proud of, and I followed in his footsteps becoming a Navy Electrician no less, just like him. He loved me the best, I know.”

(Son-in-law to Daddy Jack and husband to Child #3) “With all of you boys in the house growing up, you know how he always protected her, and there was nothing she could do wrong in his eyes. Sorry fellows, but I think he loved her the most, and I know she agrees.”

(Third son #4 child) “Woe mules, slow down,” decibel levels inching-up, “I am certain he loved me the most. I was the first to go to a seminary, and he always wanted a son who was a priest.”

(Lastly, Moi #5) “You guys are crazy!” with the volume so loud that only the dead can’t hear us and hands gesturing to emphasize my point. “I know for a fact Daddy loved me the most. He retired when I started the 5th Grade, and he drove me to school every day that year. We were pals! We played chess all during elementary and junior high. We actually did hang-out. Definitely, he loved me the most!”

He was that amazing! That every child could be so self-assured he loved them the most. A true gift. 

I am confident he is someone you would love to have known.

Van taught me about business. Daddy Jack taught me about life. Clem taught me about the Gospel. All three lessons precisely combine my philosophy (and the ancient Hebrew biblical authors) on a fulfilled life: Food, sex, and the Lord are all your you need to enjoy a happy life! Pretty simple.

It’s been a great run with Sunday Evening Thoughts, but it’s ending. Paul and Rachel, you are completing your doctorates, and nobody is in college. Congratulations to Paul and Rachel! 

You guys are wonderful. As all of you head into your professional worlds, remember the little guy.

Have a great week..

Love

Dad

P.S. Here is a nice little tribute to John Prine who died recently during the coronavirus outbreak by Dave Matthews. Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Letters

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

                                                           Letters

Dear Paul and Rachel,

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. II Thessalonians 3:17

This is the next to last Sunday Evening Thoughts forever. S.E.T. began over 18-years-ago when Timmy first started college, and you, Paul were in your third year. The format started as a letter written to you about common, everyday occurrences: How to get along with your roommates? How to argue for a better grade that you thought you deserved? And how to love others in society? 

But it’s time for them to end. It has been all mine — good or bad. I only have three areas of expertise: Bicycles, the Bible, and beer, with knowledge of the topics in that order. For you long time readers, you recognize “the mark of every letter of mine; it is the way I write.” If you had someone read you this Sunday Evening Thought, and didn't know who wrote it but were a regular reader, you would easily recognise who wrote it. So, it’s time for a change. 

Still, to this day I like to get letters from friends. I heard from an old high school classmate last week, who was heading to hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain. He wanted to know if I had hiked it since I like to hike, especially the last few years. (I haven’t.) But I was genuinely excited to get his email.

For this next to last S.E.T. I had planned to write on Thomas Merton’s book Cold War Letters, which I recently finished. What a prophet he is! His insights on war and violence are as pertinent today as in 1962-3. It seems to me a true prophet's words are as valuable in 2020 as in 1963 or 700 BCE when he/she first spoke or wrote them. Ditto for Martin Luther King’s writings and speeches. Ditto for Dorothy Day. (Boy, Pope Francis is smarter than we realize recognizing all three of these folks.)

But I’m not going to write about Merton's Cold War Letters, though I encourage you to get “bitten” by Thomas Merton’s writings. Then I thought I’d make it very personal and examine letters from Clem (a great man!) that I still possess. But they were too sad, and not the best description of Clem, as he mentions several friends of ours in their late 20’s and early 30’s who were struggling because they had recently miscarried or aborted. 

Then I gave a considerable amount of thought to write on Sue’s letters that I still possess from late high school. Sue (not her real name) is a friend I made when in high school who was serving 25-years-to-life in a Virginia’s prison for murdering her husband. She participated in a premeditated murder with her boyfriend to collect her husband’s life insurance. She too was complicit. It was a very gruesome murder where the boyfriend not only killed her husband, but decapitated and delimbed his body. The boyfriend was originally sentenced to death, but in 1973 the Supreme Court overturned all executions, and his sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole. He died there. Sue was sentenced as an accomplice to 25-years-to-life in Goochland Women’s Prison. She was paroled in 1989 after 20+ years for good behavior. I haven’t heard from Sue since 1973. But I did learn about the American justice system in a practical matter, especially the power of prison guards to make or break your day-to-day existence. Yet all 30-40 letters from Sue are not very exciting, except for revealing the mundane life in a women's prison.  

No, I chose a letter from Roxanne (not her real name either) — my Eighth Grade girlfriend. Since we as a world are in a time of crisis with the coronavirus, perhaps this will make you laugh? 

Here it goes…

Hi Tommy,

You better not give Kenny my phone number... Please don’t. I would feel dumb at that party with you. You will know almost everybody at Pat’s party. Now you name one person I would know at Sonny’s party besides you?  I’d like to know how Cecil XXX knows me. You make it sound like he used to like me or something. (He didn’t. I would never like him.) I like you anyway so it does not matter… Why do you have to leave Pat’s party so you can go to Sonny’s? Pat’s is over at 11 o’clock. You said Sonny’s is over at 1 o’clock. Please stay as long as you can. Me and you already have a special seat. Me, you, Paul, Gail, Jimmy & Pat are on the sofa. The other people will have to sit around in a circle. It will be so much fun. (It will be the first time I am with somebody).

Luv,

Roxanne

P.S. Write back

P.S.S. Come to Pat’s party

P.S.S.S. Forget about Cecil XXX

P.S.S.S.S. It is 488-XXXX in case you forget

What a party! (… your mom laughed-out-loud when I read this letter.)

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. If that didn’t make you smile, then this will — a live Phish version of “Alumni Blues/Letter to Jimmy Page.” “Letter to Jimmy Page” is the riff Trey Anastasio plays at the 2:53-4:03 mark. Since much of Phish’s music is organic, they usually include it with “Alumni Blues” which has a timely lyric, especially tonight, “Well, I’m alright… because I’ve got a degree!” 

P.S.S. “Letter to Jimmy Page” is a very short song; originally written by Trey to Jimmy Page. Figuring he'd never read a letter if he wrote one, Trey opted to write a song instead. Apparently Jimmy was in a funk, depression state at that time (about 1985). 

P.S.S.S. I’m amazed at how many Phish fans would know that about Trey and Jimmy. They know more about Phish than Orthodox Jews know about the Torah, religious Christians know about the Gospels, or devout Muslins know about the Koran. 

P.S.S.S.S. Crank it up! (See my Eighth Grade writings skills are still intact!)

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Higher

Sunday Evening Thoughts

Higher

March 1, 2020

Dear Paul and Rachel,

The Talk in Three Phases: Part 3 — Higher

Hark! Oh, my lover is coming,

     bounding over the mountains,

          leaping over the hills.

               Song of Songs 2:8

“No more sex talk talk tonight,” said the Dad to the children.

“Phew!” expressed the kids to each other in a private Whatsapp connection.

”Glad Dad has it out of his system!” they joked.

“Is there a higher love?” he pondered.

“Damn, here it comes.” they demurred.

I ask that question because I just saw a 3-hour (180-minute) movie, The Hidden Life, based on the life of Franz Jägerstätter, and I am wondering? I cannot write this S.E.T. without giving spoilers, but I bet you can guess, Jägerstätter is executed in the end by the Nazis. 

Franz Jägerstätter is a Catholic martyr from Austria during World War II who refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler. But Jägerstätter is no Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who had theological education and social standing, though he too refused to support Hitler, thus losing his life too.

(FYI: Bonhoeffer was hung at Flossenburg Concentration Camp. Mom and I visited there two years ago. Very sad place. One of the small ovens in Flossenburg. Most people were not gassed in ovens at Flossenburg, but shot or hung.)  

Jägerstätter, conversely, is uneducated, no social standing — poor, yet married to a beautiful woman, with three lovely little girls. He has no prestige. He is a simple farmer. But he was a man of great conviction!

Everybody is telling him, yelling at him, and cursing at him to sign the damn papers — support Hitler. Jägerstätter refuses. His local parish priest wants him to sign it; his bishop wants him to capitulate and sign it; the mayor of his village — and best friend — wants him to sign it. He refuses. His wife is unsure for many months, but is enlightened by the end to his view of “higher love.” 

Unlike Mahatma Gandhi, Jägerstätter had no political plan for an alternative to the evil Nazi politics. But Jägerstätter knew in his soul, his gut, to refuse allegiance to Hitler was the right thing to do. He believed in a higher love. 

Why should you see this movie? You should see the movie because of the cinematography. The Hidden Life is a short 3-hour course on Western Fine Art Paintings, especially classical European art. Terrence Malick, the writer and director, frames every scene like a great masters painting. You get Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, Salvador Dali, and Picasso. But the Naturalists, the Pastoralists, are the ones who get the most acclaim. In many ways, Terrence Malick frames the life of Franz Jägerstätter in its iconic, beautiful pastoral scenes like the author of Song of Songs frames the beauty of the love between the two lovers in Song of Songs. Malik designs scenes in the gorgeous beauty of the Austrian Alps. It is beautiful cinematography!

I first heard about Franz Jägerstätter in the early 70’s from Dorothy Day. She liked him not only because he was a pacifist, which the film does not mention, but because Jägerstätter is a common man. He is the St. Joseph, the Worker of the 20th Century. A simple man. 

Jägerstätter is a simple man who has a beautiful wife that digs in the soil hand-n-hand with him, scything hayfield upon hayfield, shearing sheep upon sheep, and sweating drops upon sweat drops while plowing their “verdant garden,” thus producing child upon child. 

“Oh no, here it comes,” I hear you say. And you are right! The physical love between Franz and his wife, Franziska, is palpable in the film. But to be honest, I thought the film needed even more “Shepherd Shelter time” on screen, though it is clearly implied. Franz Jägerstätter is not as poetic in his love letters to Franziska as Solomon is to his lover in his poems in Song of Songs, but the love and physical expression is present. 

Still, did Jägerstätter possess a higher love? A higher love that manifests itself “on earth” simply by saying “No” to evil. Throughout the movie the statement is often made to Jägerstätter, “No one will know what you have done. Why do you still refuse?” But he is a solitary witness. In every sense, Jägerstätter is a great man of principle who simply said, “No.”

Gordon Zahn wrote the biography In Solitary Witness in the mid-60’s about the life of Franz Jägerstätter, which I read in college. Nevertheless, I remember it read like a scholarly dissertation, which it partially had been for Zahn. But Jägerstätter’s personal letters found in Letters and Writings from Prison, by Erna Putz, reads more emotionally, where you get a better picture of the person. 

So, back to my original question, is there a higher love? I think so. I hope so.

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. Pretty easy to find a song that interprets tonight’s S.E.T.  - Steve Winwood’s, “Higher Love.” An early live recording on David Letterman is very good. Graham Nash and David Crosby singing Nash’s “A Simple Man” is another easy choice. But that’s a little too easy. I think Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” tells the life of Franz Jägerstätter best. It is hauntingly beautiful!

Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

The Talk in Three Phases: Part 2 — Black is Beautiful

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

February 16, 2020

Dear Rachel and Paul,

                                                     Black is Beautiful

I am dark but desirable,

     O daughters of Jerusalem,

like tents of Kedar,

     like Solomon’s curtains.

Do not look on me for being dark,

     for the sun has glared on me,

My mother’s sons were incensed with me, 

     they made me a keeper of the vineyards.

     My own vineyard I have not kept.

Tell me, whom I love so,

     where you pasture your flock at noon,

lest I go straying 

     after the flocks of your companions.

—If you do not know, O fairest of women,

     go out in the tracks of the sheep,

and graze your goats

     by the shepherd's shelters.

Song of Songs 1:5-8 (Translation by Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary)

       It has been a difficult three weeks deciding which texts from the Song of Songs to analyze in detail. It is very easy to choose libidinous texts like “Your eyes are like doves,” or “Your hair is like a herd of goats,” or “Your teeth like a flock of matched ewes” (that will get you a date!). But in the current trend if you said to anybody other than your girlfriend, “Your two breasts are like two fawns” or “Your lips nectar” or “Your robes the scent of Lebanon,” you will probably get arrested. On the other hand, if she says, “Let my lover come to his garden and eat his fruit,” I interpret that as a “Yes!”

       Remember the author of Song of Songs takes each person and has the other describe the physical characteristics of the other in pastoral nature-terms from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet, and yes, every body part. But I’ll leave that for you to play with…  the text, the text... no pun intended!

       Full disclosure: Very little of the exegesis I am providing is my original thought. 99% of it comes from Robert Alter, Professor of Hebrew Languages at U. of California, Berkeley, and author of The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary; 50% comes from Michael Coogan, Professor of the Semitic Library, Harvard University, and author of God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says; and 45% from Jennifer Wright Knust, Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University, and author of Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire. How does it add to more than a 100%? Because by-and-large, all three agree on the meaning behind the texts in Song of Songs.

       Song of Songs 1:5-8 is fascinating. So let’s start…

       “I am dark but desirable” opens this section with an interesting disclaimer. Is it a protest or an attribute? The ancient beauty of black women like Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and the Queen of Sheba are well known. Historians disagree on the “blackness” of each of these women, but all are historically known as being beautiful, strong, black women. 

       Still, why the conjunction “but”? Why is darkness viewed as less desirable? It is interesting that even today in many parts of the world the darker a woman is, the lower the social class she is thought to be associated with. But, before we judge people in countries that subscribe to that notion, Michelle Alexander points out in her book The New Jim Crow that Americans are in many ways worse, because we legalize it into our way of life by legislating exorbitant fees and jail time for petty traffic violations in Southern American cities that keep black Americans impoverished. This happened to a black, female Thinker here in Hampton Roads. Nevertheless, the female protagonist in Song of Songs confidently thinks of herself as “hot”!

       “O daughters of Jerusalem” or in popular vernacular, “Listen you rich, white, city bitches, don’t think of yourself better than me.” Sorry for the aggressive tone, but I’m trying to be honest to the text. This is interesting in a couple of ways: Not only is she defending herself of her phenotypic characteristic, but she is also supporting the rural, agrarian view v. the city slickers. Why is this important? When I asked a Thinker who works in the Middle East, what is the real cause behind the civil war in Syria, they said that it is very much an economic battle of city v. rural, manufacturer v. farmer, or in reality, who controls the prices of goods. When farmers in Syria tried to raise their prices, Assad (the government) rejected buying it for their asking price. This led to the collapse of the rural economy. Assad then offered to buy farm goods at a guaranteed price to which the farmers agreed, but then raised the prices of fertilizers and other necessary farming manufactured goods to grow and produce the raw farm goods or food. This led to more protests of farmers, which then started to spread to suburban dwellers, because farmers could not pay for their purchases, which led to protests in the cities. And before you know it, the farmer, the small business person, and lastly, the poor city dwellers are being bombed by Assad with the help of both Russia and the U.S., all the while ISIS grows as an apocalyptic response to the societal problems created by greed, or in biblical terms the “daughters of Jerusalem.”

       Welcome to the real world today! … and in ancient times!

       “Like tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon” refers again to darkness, blackness. She is as black as the tents of Kedar. Kedar is a nomadic, dark skinned, Arab tribe which to this day, Arab Bedouins make their tents out of black goat's hair. And according to Alter, the root of Kedar q-d-r is the same root for black or darkness in Hebrew, thus a play on words which is lost on most of us. “The curtains of Solomon” were certainly viewed as cloth of royalty and beauty. Thus again, a playful poetic image, “she is as black and rough (in a feminist sense) as the tent of nomads, but as beautiful and exquisite as the finest fabrics of Solomon’s.” Alter also notes there are some sexual insinuations in this too. She can be as aggressive in bed as necessary to achieve her own sexual satisfaction, but can be as gentle as necessary for him to achieve his too. In this last sense, a poetic juxtaposition of parallel images. 

       “Do not look on me for being dark, for the sun has glared on me, my mother’s sons were incensed with me, they made me a keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.” Again the female protagonist cries out for equal justice. She is black because she is made that way. And although her brother’s were incensed — “incensed” has the same root as “sun glaring,” thus again a Hebrew play on words referring to things being burned or blackened. She responds that they want to keep her locked up and maintain her virginity, but she responds she is her own self and has not kept her “vineyard.” Of course in an economic sense, they want her to work for them, thus she cannot be free economically to be self-fulfilled financially. 

       “Tell me, whom I love so, where you pasture your flock at noon, lest I go straying after the flocks of your companions” is a little tease on her part. “‘Hey babe, what are you doing this afternoon?’ she inquires with a shy smile. ‘A woman has certain needs too that must be fulfilled,’ she jests, ‘or should I call one of your friends?’ she says rhetorically.” Note the nature words used - pasture, flocks, attending sheep, creating images of pastoral scenes used in European art of the 1800’s and 1900’s through the American pastorals of the mid-20th century. 

       (Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” shows a pastoral scene of an unfulfilled woman longing for more.) 

       “If you do not know, O fairest of women, go out in the tracks of the sheep, and graze your goats by the shepherd's shelters,” he now speaks, playing along with her game. He also compliments her on her beauty “O fairest of women.” If she feels at all intimidated because of her darkness, rest assured, he likes it. Black is beautiful! 

       My favorite part of our visit to India last year, besides the actual wedding, was our visit to rural India. One of the things we saw were these little 6’ x 10’ lean-tos (shepherd shelters) with a straw roof that all farmers used in the late afternoon for shade from the hot sun and to store some extra products, as the temperature often approaches 112* F in the summer. One can easily see those lean-tos as a rendezvous for a young couple deeply in love with little chance of being caught in an afternoon by frolicing in the hay. 

 (Mom at a farmer’s hut in rural Chennai, India.) 

       This was our conversation when we were in rural India!

“Oh fairest of women… go out by the shepherd’s shelter..,” I encouraged. (1:8)

To which Mom said, “While the king was on his couch, my nard gave off its scent.” (1:12)

Yes, yes, I thought, it’s going to be a good day. What else should I say? I know, “O you are fair, my lover… our bed is verdant, too.” (1:16)

Mom responded, “Like a quince tree among the trees of the forest, so my lover among the forest. In its shade I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my taste.” (2:3)

“Look, Solomon’s bed!” she proclaimed. (3:7)

“What a stud I am!” I boastfully thought. (Extra biblical text not found in the Hebrew Bible)

       Why are such graphic, sexual physical descriptions found in the Bible? Because it is precisely the most natural, most human characteristic we possess. Unfortunately, in my opinion, my church — the Catholic Church — still doesn’t get it. Natural human behavior is clothed in pious (and often sanctimonious) language from celibate priests with negative connotations of sin and hell. I don’t know, perhaps they still want to maintain control of the people like in the Middle Ages, but unfortunately for them, today the people are smarter than the priests. Fortunately, I think Pope Francis is starting to “get it.” After all, “who am I to judge” (Pope Francis in a 2013 interview on his book, Mercy).

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. Songs of strong, black women are found often in hip-hop, especially from female singers. Tupac is a complex figure. On the one hand, he was often involved in violent situations, and on the other, many of his songs preach against many social injustices. Here is one about the wonderful role of strong, black women. 

Crank it up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYaR6LOnkak

Little somethin' for my godson Elijah and a little girl named Corinne

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots

I give a holler to my sisters on welfare

Tupac cares, if don't nobody else care

And uh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot

When you come around the block brothas clown a lot

But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up

Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up

And when he tells you you ain't nuttin' don't believe him

And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him

'Cause sista you don't need him

And I ain't tryin' to gas ya up, I just call 'em how I see 'em

You know it makes me unhappy (What's that)

When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy

And since we all came from a woman

Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman

I wonder why we take from our women

Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?

I think it's time to kill for our women

Time to heal our women, be real to our women

And if we don't we'll have a race of babies

That will hate the ladies, that make the babies

And since a man can't make one

He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one

So will the real men get up

I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter

Aiyyo, I remember Marvin Gaye, used to sing to me

He had me feelin' like black was tha thing to be

And suddenly tha ghetto didn't seem so tough

And though we had it rough, we always had enough

I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules

Ran with the local crew, and had a smoke or two

And I realize momma really paid the price

She nearly gave her life, to raise me right

And all I had to give her was my pipe dream

Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to tha bright screen

I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of fifteen cents

It's hard to be legit and still pay your rent

And in the end it seems I'm headin' for tha pen

I try and find my friends, but they're blowin' in the wind

Last night my buddy lost his whole family

It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity

It seems tha rain'll never let up

I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin' wet up

You know it's funny when it rains it pours

They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor

Said it ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is

It ain't no hope for tha future

And then they wonder why we crazy

I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby

We ain't meant to survive, 'cause it's a setup

And even though you're fed up

Huh, ya got to keep your head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier

Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter

And uh

To all the ladies havin' babies on they own

I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone

Daddy's long gone and he left you by ya lonesome

Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody else want 'em

'Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure

And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more

'Cause ain't nothin' worse than when your son

Wants to kno' why his daddy don't love him no mo'

You can't complain you was dealt this

Hell of a hand without a man, feelin' helpless

Because there's too many things for you to deal with

Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless

While the tears, is rollin' down your cheeks

Ya steady hopin' things don't all down this week

'Cause if it did, you couldn't take it, and don't blame me

I was given this world I didn't make it

And now my son's gettin' older and older and cold

From havin' the world on his shoulders

While the rich kids is drivin' Benz

I'm still tryin' to hold on to my survivin' friends

And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but

[sundayeveningthoughts]

A Brief Respite

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

February 9, 2020

Dear Paul and Rachel,

                                              A Brief Respite

… knock, and it will be opened to you Mt 7:7b

     In working through Part 2 of “The Talk,” I thought a brief diversion from a detailed study of Song of Songs would be a nice respite by mentioning something I discovered this week in reading Thomas Merton’s The Cold War Letters. (Note: You’ll hear a full S.E.T. later. These letters were  written to his friends between October 1961 — October 1962. Really, not much has changed.)

     In one of the letters, Merton mentions in passing his poem “A Picture of Lee Ying.” “A Picture of Lee Ying” describes a 19-year-old woman who walked from Peking (now Beijing) to Hong Kong — a 306-day trek (I did the hiking math), but is turned away at the gate. 

     In reading Merton’s description of this poem, I thought of two things: One, how insightful Pope Francis was when he spoke to the U.S. Congress. I can’t help wonder if he was thinking of Merton’s poem “A Picture of Lee Ying.” Pope Francis spoke,

    Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children? 

     And secondly, all four people Pope Francis mentioned were in many ways prophets of their days: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Specifically on Merton, Francis said, “Merton was above all...  a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons... He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.”

     Rather than drone on about Thomas Merton and the poem, read it for yourselves and see if you think the same about him.

                                            A Picture of Lee Ying

She wears old clothes she holds a borrowed handkerchief and her sorrow show us the papers have bad news again today Lee Ying only 19 has to return to China

Days on foot with little or no food the last six days on water alone now she must turn back

Three hundred thousand like her must turn back to China there is no room say the officials in Hong Kong you must go back where you came from

Point of no return is the caption but this is meaningless she must return that is the story

She would not weep if she had reached a point of no return what she wants is not to return

There is no place for her and no point for thousands like her there is no point

Their flight from bad news to worse news has caused alarm

Refugees suffer and authorities feel alarm the press does not take sides

We know all about the sorrow of Lee Ying one glance is enough we look at something else

She must go back where she came from no more need be said

Whenever the authorities are alarmed everyone must return to China

We too know all about sorrow we have seen it in the movies

You have our sympathy Miss Lee Ying you must go where we are sorry for your future

Too bad some people get all the rough breaks the authorities regret

Refugees from China have caused alarm

When the authorities are alarmed what can you do

You can return to China

Their alarm is worse than your sorrow

Please do not look only at the dark side in private life these are kind men

They are only obeying orders

Over there is Red China where you will remain in future

There also the authorities are alarmed and they too obey orders

Please do not look only at the dark side

All the newspapers in the free world explain why you return their readers understand how you feel

You would not want the authorities to have the sympathy of millions

As a tribute to your sorrow we resolve to spend more money on nuclear weapons there is always a bright side

If this were only a movie a boat would be available have you ever seen our movies they end happily

You would lean at the rail with "him" the sun would set on China kiss and fade

You would marry one of the kind authorities 

In our movies there is no law higher than love in real life duty is higher neglect duty

How do you life the image of the free world sorry you cannot stay

This is the first and last time we will see you in our papers

When you are back home remember us we will be having a good time

     I’m not sure if this is a respite? Lol… perhaps Song of Songs puts more of a smile on your face!

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. Coincidentally I saw the Oscar Nominated Short Films this week. One film, called Saria, is the true story of many young women trying to escape from a Guatemalan orphanage, nine of which, when caught, were locked into a room, and later that night suffocated because the matron refused to open the door when a fire broke-out. Unfortunately it is not yet available on video. But here is a more cheerful way to describe our treatment of immigrants, “Let Me In” by The Sensations. Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

The Talk in Three Phases: Part 1 — Young Minds

Sunday Evening Thoughts

January 26, 2020

Dear Paul and Rachel,

               The Talk in 3 Phases: Part One — Young Minds

     Your two breasts are like fawns,

          twins of a gazelle,

               that graze among the lilies. Song of Songs 4:5 (Translation by Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible)

On a warm spring day your youngest brother, 4-years-old at the time, walked into your other (about 12-years-old) brother’s bedroom that had a colorful poster of Kathy Ireland selling Guinness beer hanging on the wall, and inquired, “Timmy, you like “breastisies” don’t you?”

Tim, pondered the question for a moment and answered, “Yes Tommy, I do.”

End of discussion, as “breastisies” must be something good.

Contrast that discussion with your three uncles, who, at our house a couple of years ago were having a baughty conversation about a different well-developed actress, when your mom, hearing enough inappropriate talk, instructed them, “Breasts are partially sweat glands, which aid the production of milk.”

Your uncles cowered, “Sweat glands huh, kind of loses their appeal.”

I never remember having “the talk” with any of you. Mainly because in my mind dinner conversation about human sexuality and reproduction flowed as freely as conversation about who was in the lead at the Tour de France. Since Mom taught Human Sexuality at the college level, we always believed conversation and knowledge should come organically. Descriptions of human anatomy and physiology might well be explained as factually by her as I could explain the derailleur system of a bicycle.

But that did not mean anything goes with words to describe your questions. Our rule: You must use proper words at all times, or be gently corrected. Thus, if you used a slang word for breasts within her earshot be ready for a 45-minute lecture about lactoferrin, a chemical component in human breast milk that binds iron ions and is innate to the immune system, but also aids as an anti-cancer, anti-allergic function. Nevertheless, “breastisies” is acceptable for a 4-year-old.

Why are we having “The Talk” now? Because I just finished a new translation of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible. Superb!

Your gift to me this Christmas, a complete copy of The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (Vol. Three-Volume Set) by Robert Alter is greatly appreciated. Alter is a brilliant professor of Comparative Hebrew Literature at U. of California, Berkeley, who has the ability to write insightfully and clearly, something I am sure all of us will agree some academics lack.

Having borrowed the first two volumes from Norfolk Public Library for much of the first semester, your gift came at a timely place, as I am beginning the third part of my study of the Hebrew Scriptures: the Ketuv’im.

A brief summary. The Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible, or for our discussion the Old Testament) is composed of three parts: The Torah (the first five books - Genesis, etc.), the Nevi’im (the prophets - Isaiah, etc.), and the Ketuv’im (the writings - the Psalms, etc.). Song of Songs is found in the Ketuv’im.

What is the Song of Songs? It is a fourth century BCE collection of six to 12 love poems between a woman and a man, each expressing their love for each other most often by describing the physical characteristics of the other using nature as metaphors for their physical bodies and emotional feelings. Boy, talk about getting high school juniors to pay attention in class, read (and explain!) Song of Songs and they are all-ears.

Traditionally in Jewish culture, Song of Songs tells the story of the LORD’s love for Israel, and in Christianity, traditionally it is the story of Christ and the Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a famous, long treaty on the topic as a comparison of God’s love for humankind. Bernard was a Benedictine priest who was a major impetus for the reformation of Benedictines (12th Century about 1120) developing into the Cistercians and Trappists, a more contemplative religious order and makers of great beer. Today, few scholars view Song of Songs in such simplistic terms as Bernard. Most scholars think it is a graphic, love poem of physical love-making and emotional bonding. Of course, though both Jewish and Christian traditions made different comparisons in the past, they never completely abandoned the allegory used by the Song of Songs author for human physical love, because it is found in both Jewish and Christian medieval art describing the book.

(The Leipzig Mahsor - A Jewish Prayer Book from 1310)

(The Westminster Bible of the 1300′s)

(If you study the details of both pieces of art, you will notice a clear, detail of cheerfulness, playfulness, in reference to the Song of Songs.)

Like Mom’s lecture on lactoferrin – when your initial thoughts had little to do with that, a serious discussion about Song of Songs must include conversation about literary forms of ancient Hebrew poetry. For example, Song of Songs contains parallelism - how one verse is read and the next verse is either a direct parallel in thought or an opposite parallel thought; sequence - how the author starts the first verse of a poem with a Hebrew letter, then each sequential verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet (note: consonants only); and especially wordplay, where the author uses a homonym or a similar sounding word at the start of each line for effect on the reader. Unfortunately, so many of these literary images are lost on us in even the best English translations.

Song of Songs is ascribed to Solomon in the opening editorial verse, clearly a late editorial ascription. Not only is the text written in about 320 BCE and Solomon lived in 980 BCE, but assigning a book to Solomon gives the voice of importance to the text, as Solomon is a wise and great leader in Jewish tradition. And besides, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3 - whew, I get tired thinking about that!).

Two final thoughts for tonight. First, Song of Songs is the only book in the whole Bible that does not mention God by any name. I find that very interesting, but can reach no conclusion as to that significance, only speculations. Secondly, there is no mention in the text that the man and woman are married. In all of my studies of ancient Hebrew literature and much of the New Testament too, this is not an issue. It’s only in the late books of the New Testament, where sex/marriage become an issue. It should be noted that those are the very books of the New Testament that emphasise church structure, doctrine, hierarchies of importance of people, and less significance for women in society, something Jesus never talks about, or when he did, he said the opposite, “the kingdom of God is within you” (less structure), “the last shall be first” (the lowest people are the best), and “I say, love your enemies” (love, simply love).

Pretty good advice!

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. This is the earliest live recording of Elton John’s “Your Song.” I don’t know if Elton John had Song of Songs in mind when he wrote it, probably not, but it certainly is a romantic ballad. Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Deep and Wide

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

December 15, 2019

Dear Paul and Rachel,

                                                  Deep and Wide

The Lord’s spirit is upon me

     as the Lord has anointed me

to bring good tidings to the poor, 

     to bind up the broken-hearted, 

to proclaim freedom to the captives,

     to the prisoners, release,

to proclaim year of favor for the Lord

     and a day of vengeance for our god,

     to comfort all who mourn,

to set out for the mourners of Zion,

     to give them turbans instead of ashes,

joy’s oil instead of mourning,

     a glorious wrap instead of gloomy spirit.

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Hebrew Bible by Robert Alter 

Merry Christmas!

Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the people.” Well, that is what he allegedly said, and he might be right. 

What Karl Marx wrote, in his 1843 literary criticism A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right is, “The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man… Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification… Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” 

Since I’ve been preaching that the Bible should always be read in context of “time + place”, tonight let’s look at Christmas from three ideas of religion using time + place: Marx’s religion, Isaiah’s religion, and Luke’s religion.  

Karl Marx is writing in 1843 in a post Enlightenment and Industrialization Period, and a major economic collapse has recently occurred in Europe. Still, science is booming! Modern industry is booming. Life expectancy is booming. In once sense, Marx is saying, “Life is good - for the rich, let’s reexamine what we believe about God.” Of course, for Marx, life is good. Although slavery had been abolished in England in 1833, the vestiges of involuntary servitude are clearly present in England and Continental Europe when Marx is writing. And we know about the Americas. But life is not good for the thousands and thousands of indentured servants in factories in Europe and slaves in the U.S. and Australia. No, life is very hard. Thus in fact for many, many people, religion does give them some solace from their horrible lives. 

The Book of Isaiah is fascinating. All critical scholars believe the Book of Isaiah covers a 200-300 period from at least 721 BCE to after 538 BCE, the first return from Babylonian exile. Still, the theme of (First) Isaiah (Chapters 1-39) and (Deutero or Second) Isaiah (Chapters 40-55), and even the latter (Third) Isaiah (Chapters 56-66) make the same point, “Trust in the Lord, and you will be free.” Once again, people in Israel are in bondage in Assyria, Babylon, and later Cyprus, and are subject to hard living conditions. They struggle to see the Lord except in their predicament, nevertheless the Lord brings “good tidings to the poor.”

The Gospel of Luke borrows from Isaiah and delivers a similar message, “Following the Lord frees you from some troubles of this world,” at least in theory. Luke explains, “‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11). John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg argue in The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach Us About Jesus’s Birth that the Gospel of Luke is not simply about a good life in the next world, but a new life in this world too (“on earth as in heaven”) with equality among all people in every social, economic, and political realm. This is a radical thought in the first century; this is a radical thought today. 

The Christmas story tells a miraculous tale where, against all odds — both physical (a supernatural conception) and spiritual (the ancients didn’t separate the two) life can be better. For some, religion is an opiate - an addiction, whereby they discard the good of others to only feed their habit. But Marx is partly correct: Religion is the opium of the people in that Christmas relieves us from the pain of discrimination, racism, sexism, hatred and bigotry, and inequality in both social and economic forms. 

If only we Christians really believed in the true Christmas!

I’m not sure what kind of “joyous oil” that Isaiah is referring, but I hear there are new “oils” that are legal in many states that make you “joyous”! But I’ve never had that oil. 

Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Dad

P.S. Let’s have a Christmas party! Here is an oil from Lizzo as a salve. Lizzo - Coconut Oil  - crank it up...

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Got an Address?

Sunday Evening Thoughts

November 24, 2019

                                              Got an Address?

Dear Rachel and Paul,

The Lord said to me again, ‘Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. Hosea 3:1-2

Got an address?

Of course, I’m joking, albeit inappropriately. More on this in a bit…

Phil Berrigan once said, “The Books of the Prophets are the most radical literature ever written, including Karl Marx’s Manifesto.” I’ve thought of Phil and his brother Dan these last few weeks as I have been working my way through the Hebrew Scriptures by critically studying the Books of the Prophets: Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. 

Dan Berrigan writes in Minor Prophets, Major Themes,

“Thus the prophets stand as correctives to the bowderizing of chaos of imperial history, the perversion and suppression of truth, the pretense of immorality, the triumphant arches, the steles, the pyramids and royal tombs — the preposterous shams of the superhumans. Come down, come down is the prophetic cry; we shall take your true measure!”

As John Dominic Crossan insists when reading the Bible, that all studying should be done in the context of time + place of the author. Thus, Northern Israel — called Israel in the Bible, after the historical split (about 930 BCE just a few generations after David, the first king), and the Southern Kingdom, called Judah, more often the militarily stronger of the two, constantly fought both each other and foreign powers, especially Assyria in the mid to late 700’s (750-690 BCE). And it is during this time (750-690) that the three biblical prophets Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah are composed as the first chronologically written books of the prophets in the Bible. The message is pretty much the same whether the prophet is speaking to Israel (North) or Judah (South): Be faithful to the covenant! 

This concept of “covenant” is significant for two reasons: First, as Hosea illustriously describes, Israel should be faithful, unlike the one who purchases a prostitute; and secondly, the earliest covental views found in the Torah are much more egalitarian, especially with concerns for the poor, than the later views after the monarchy is formed. Again, the prophets remind us not to trust in military might and power —  with a clear hierarchy of wealth and gratis, but to return to a more equitable form of justice, as when the covenant was first formed. 

Pretty radical stuff!

The prophets of old were often threatened with their “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in their witness against corruption and injustice. Ditto for today. Coincidently two “prophets” of today have recently been scorned and ridiculed, and in one case, one will probably be sentenced to death. 

The first is Colin Kaepernick who this week took on the NFL again by speaking out against systemic racism in our country — the origin of his kneeling protests. By many accounts, Colin has lost almost 100 million dollars. What courage! Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote an excellent article yesterday describing how white, powerful men control American culture, but in today’s American society, perhaps some of American culture can be viewed more democratically through social media. After all, “The inmates are running the prison,” a response from one NFL owner describing the protests, speaks volumes toward their thinking.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/opinion/colin-kaepernick-nfl.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage 

The other prophet of today is Elizabeth McAlister, the 80-year-old wife of Phil Berrigan, who was found guilty last week of destruction of property in the act of pouring her blood on a nuclear weapon in Kings Bay, GA. [Kings Bay Military Base is the home of the Trident submarines, which carry the Trident II-D-5 missiles that collectively include enough nuclear fire power to kill 14 billion people and make Earth uninhabitable.] Liz is a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 group who participated. In Liz’s case, she is currently in prison and has been since the protest - or prophetic act -  first occurred almost two years-ago. In all likelihood, she will receive a 20-year sentence. Almost for certain, a death sentence because of her age. 

Prophets! … a troublesome crew. 

I am not making light of the severe problem of international prostution in the opening joke, where many women are often subjected to sexual slavery, or even the objectification of women as prostitutes. I know some of you are working to extinguish these problems internationally. And I commend you.

Have a good week.. and pass “the raisin cakes.”

Love,

Dad

P.S. The famous recording “The House of the Rising Sun” (originally the “Rising Sun Blues”) by The Animals in 1964, about a house of prostitution, was first recorded by Clarence “Tom” Ashley and Gwen Foster in 1933 as a bluegrass song. Musicologists tell us that the song is based on an Old English song/poem of the 1600’s with some added lyrics. Interesting, the opening lines “There is a house in New Orleans, They call the Rising Sun, And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, And God I know I'm one” probably has been changed from “it’s been the ruin of many a poor girl” to “the ruin of many a poor boy.”

Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Two Friends

Sunday Evening Thoughts

November 17, 2019

                                                  Two Friends

Dear Paul and Rachel,

Those who withhold the kindness of a friend, forsake the fear of the Almighty. Job 6:14 

Those who withhold the kindness of a friend, forsake the fear of the Almighty? Job 6:14

(Note: Because ancient Hebrew has neither punctuation nor diacritical marks, some scholars ask whether Job 6:14 is a statement or a question.)

I have two friends who are very sick, dying: One imaginary, and one real. My imaginary friend is President Jimmy Carter, who went into the hospital again this week for brain hemorrhaging, a by-product from his brain cancer. Jimmy is my imaginary friend because I have never met him, though I stubbornly had the chance in college and blew it. Damn Tolkien, for writing such a good book in The Hobbit that I could not put it down to walk next door and meet the ex-governor of Georgia who was running for president. One college roommate chatted with him for over 20 minutes.

Jimmy Carter, hands down, is my favorite president. Every year I appreciate him more and more. Carter has, more than any other political figure in the world, tried to reasonably solve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict with a balanced and nuanced view to the history and reality of world events, including the Holocaust. He is a man of great Christian faith, but appreciates good academic scholarship of the Bible. He is bold in his political decisions, and though I often disagree with him, I feel he thinks his way for the Common Good, and not for his own political or economic interest. Jimmy Carter, now 95-years-old, is my friend… at least in my imagination. 

My other friend is real, but I will give him the imaginary name, Sean. Sean has Lymphoma JFK-LBJ-TMZ-90210, or some such name. I am not trying to be flippant, but does the specific type really matter? Sean is undergoing both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Sean tells me he has very few white blood cells, so as part of the immunotherapy, they give him drugs to make white cells which prevents resistance to colds, flu, and other everyday common diseases. Nevertheless because he has few white blood cells, the drugs to create new white cells are compacted into a narrow bone density that has shrunk because it has not had any white cells for a long time. He describes the feeling after chemo-immunotherapy treatment as “imagine your bones in a steel vise, and someone is cranking the vise against your bones as hard as they can.” 

Like Jimmy, Sean is a good man, though 30 years younger. Like Jimmy, Sean has great Christian faith. But I sense that for the first time in 65 years, he is questioning, “Why?” And I am glad he is questioning. After all, if he was not questioning “why” to a possible life-ending disease, then he would have no faith. Make sense?

I read the Book of Job again this week, coincidentally, before I heard about Jimmy or talked to Sean. Job is a tricky book to read. Job is also the favorite book of Alf J. Mapp, the most famous historian on Thomas Jefferson before Clay Jenkinson of The Thomas Jefferson Hour came on PBS. Alf went to the same school as T.J., William & Mary, though graduated from the W & M Extension, now Old Dominion University. I know this was Alf’s favorite book because he told Mom and I once when we had dinner with him… but I digress. 

Job is tricky to read because it must be read totally metaphorically, and with a great deal of poetic license. I mean who wants a God that gambles (yes, gambles!) with your life and allows you to have such hardship, who causes disease to run rampant throughout your body, who causes you to lose all your possessions, and who causes the death of all of your children, because of a bet between the he (the Lord) and Satan (Job 1). That’s pretty cruel!  

Job also describes the Gospel of Prosperity found in many Evangelical Churches today (though to be fair the Catholic Church functionally subscribes to it also, as another friend wants to get married in her local Catholic Church but must cough-up almost $1,000 to rent her Church.) Job’s friends argue with Job that he lost everything because he has sinned, otherwise it would not happen. Personally, I find all of Job’s friends arguments interesting but obviously unsatisfying, but I find Job’s and the Lord’s arguments equally unsatisfying. And therein lies my problem: If all of the arguments are unsatisfying, then perhaps nothing matters. Nihilism at it’s best! 

But I find nihilism lacking too, it lacks hope — in anything. 

Perhaps Jimmy and Sean have the right answer, a great deal of faith, and always questioning, “Why?”

Have a good day…

Love,

Dad

P.S. One of my favorite movies is the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man, which many people think is the story of Job. This scene pretty much summarizes the movie… enjoy!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Wadi

Sunday Evening Thoughts

November 3, 2019

                                                     Wadi

Dear Paul and Rachel,

The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord; and the Levites took them and carried them out to the Wadi Kidron. II Chronicles 29:16

During the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah of Judah (715-687 BCE), local religious objects were destroyed and dumped into the Wadi Kidron, according to II Ch 29:16. In reading this text, a bell went off and jogged my memory about the Wadi Kidron. What is the Wadi Kidron? Then I remembered, we spent the better part of a full day wandering around the Wadi Kidron or the Kidron Valley as part of our tour of Old City Jerusalem. 

(Visualize the picture as if no modern houses or roads are there. The Kidron Valley extends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea - about 20 miles.)

From the southwest side of Old Jerusalem Walls, one can enter directly into the Kidron Valley from the Dung Gate. Obviously, as the gate name implies, animal and human waste must have been transported through this gate, so as not to spread disease by transporting it through other gates where food and people congregated. Looking out into Kidron Valley from the western wall of Old Jerusalem, we see thousands of various tombs including the Tomb of Absalom, the Benei Hazir Tomb, and the Tomb of Zechariah. 

(Benei Hazir Tomb on left and Zechariah’s on right.)

Slightly further up the hill from the tombs on the opposite side of the Kidron Valley from the Old City (about a mile-and-a-half) is the Mount of Olives, the place Jesus went to pray after the Last Supper in Jerusalem and where His execution occurred, according to the Gospels.

(Old photo from the early 1900’s at the Tomb of Absalom without roads and housing. Note: Old City Jerusalem in background.)

My biggest frustration with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is the lack of cooperation in even the most minute details of everyday life. For example, the Israeli government does not pick up trash in East Jerusalem, a mainly Palestinian neighborhood. It seems to me, basic services like trash collection and drinking water could be performed with little effort from the Israeli government. This becomes absurd as you walk along mixed neighborhoods that have Palestinians on one block and Israelis on the next. My gut says rats do not discriminate between Israelis and Palestinians. And God forbid, the local Israeli government would repair sidewalks in Palestinian neighborhoods. One would think of the four billion dollars the U.S. gives yearly to Israel, they would fix the sidewalks and pick up the trash for the benefit of all people living in the region, but alas, over three billion of the aid is military hardware. 

Poor Kidron Valley! 

For the last three millennia, the Kidron Valley has been used as a dumping ground, and this continues to this day. The sewage and other human waste is dumped into the Kidron Valley, and according to recent articles in The Jerusalem Post, Palestinians and Israelis cannot get together to solve the sewage problem. This has become a new problem for Israel as they continue to steal Palestinian land and build Jewish settlements, because the sewage must go somewhere. 

The Palestinians won’t cooperate with Israel because it would show weakness on the PLO’s part by capitulating with the unrecognized Israeli government, and Israel will not build sewage treatment plants because it would assist the Palestinians and make their life a little better. So they are at another — sic! — stalemate. 

One thing for certain, the sh_ _ is going somewhere! And that is the Kidron Valley. Poor Kidron Valley! Why do people hate you so much?

I started thinking about where is the world leadership to solve this problem? One answer, at the most basic level, is Pope Francis — specifically his encyclical Laudato Si (Praise to You). Francis begins his Catholic teaching by quoting his namesake Francis of Assisi, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.”

(Note: Free to read in pdf form on the Vatican website.)

Herbs aside, once again Pope Francis presents a holistic approach to the human condition. Humanity is intimately tied into the earth — Mother Earth, using Francis’ terminology. Mother Earth, the womb from which all life is produced; Mother Earth, the placenta that nourishes all life. 

Rather than me explain Laudato Si, here are some of Francis’ own words that I thought was interesting:

Our Common Home — In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us…” [Yet] Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience.

Climate Change — The climate is a common good [a moral issue], belonging to all and meant for all. ... A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system.

Global Inequality — The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation… The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned. In different ways, developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future. The land of the southern poor is rich and mostly unpolluted, yet access to ownership of goods and resources for meeting vital needs is inhibited by a system of commercial relations and ownership which is structurally perverse.

The Mystery of the Universe — Yet it would also be mistaken to view other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination. When nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. This vision of “might is right” has engendered immense inequality, injustice and acts of violence against the majority of humanity, since resources end up in the hands of the first comer or the most powerful: the winner takes all. Completely at odds with this model are the ideals of harmony, justice, fraternity and peace as proposed by Jesus. 

The Common Destination of Goods — Whether believers or not, we are agreed today that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone. 

Modern Anthropocentrism — Practical Relativism — A misguided anthropocentrism leads to a misguided lifestyle. … I noted that the practical relativism typical of our age is “even more dangerous than doctrinal relativism”.

Integral Ecology — Ecology studies the relationship between living organisms and the environment in which they develop. It follows that the fragmentation of knowledge and the isolation of bits of information can actually become a form of ignorance, unless they are integrated into a broader vision of reality.

Cultural Ecology — Many intensive forms of environmental exploitation and degradation not only exhaust the resources which provide local communities with their livelihood, but also undo the social structures which, for a long time, shaped cultural identity and their sense of the meaning of life and community. 

The Principle of the Common Good — An integral ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics. The common good is “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment. 

A New Lifestyle — Today, in a word, “the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle.”... Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption. We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions [emphasis mine] and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that “less is more”. 

In thinking about the Kidron Valley, I recalled, “I’ve seen a recent picture of it, but where?” Then it dawned on me, we have had a Fritz Eichenberg lithograph print on our stairway for 30 years called “The Long Loneliness”.

(A pregnant, distraught Mary, whispered to by the Angel Gabriel, is pondering her situation in her window in Jerusalem with the Kidron Valley and the future crucifixion of Jesus in the background.) 

Just in time for Christmas!

Have a good week!

Love,

Dad

P.S. I wish the Temple priests had found a better way to dispose of their trash, but perhaps this will brighten the environmental disaster we are creating. It is the 1969 original presentation of the song, “I love trash.” Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Tolerance or Conviction

Sunday Evening Thoughts

                                     Tolerance or Conviction

Dear Paul and Rachel,

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I Kings 3: 10-12

I recently read the extensive biography of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson: Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Like most politicians that I am aware, I know more about Franklin than I wished I did.

Throughout the book I kept thinking about the parallels between Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson and the kings of ancient Israel, as I continue with my study of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the early Americans preached tolerance toward England and tried for years to reconcile with the king. Others, almost from the beginning, wanted revolution and freedom from the oppression of British taxes, political control, and especially quartering British soldiers in their homes, which, if nothing else was a symbol of British militarism against the Colonists.  Franklin took the middle road. He first tried to reconcile the colonies and England, then when he couldn’t, he advocated for revolution.

One very sad parallel between Ben Franklin and most of Israel’s kings is the relationship between him and his only son William. Ben had little to do with the rearing of William, as he sauntered all over the colonies as the first Postmaster General, then headed off to party with the French. Franklin did convince the British Prime Minister to give William the governorship of New Jersey as soon as it became available. No nepotism there! But as the years went by, William, ever the Tory, supported England, and refused to join the revolutionary cause. Ben, though one of the last colonial leaders to support the revolution, could not agree with William’s conservative position, and this became a major stumbling block between them. The father-son riff became so intense, they stopped communicating for most of their adult lives. Eventually William moved to England, and Benjamin lived out his senior days in Philadelphia — though spent many years getting high with the French before he returned.

The relationship between most of the kings of Israel and their sons is similar. It’s hard for me to tell who was more greedy the fathers or sons in ancient Israel — probably some of both. Still, it’s a sad situation. I am grateful we do not have that type of a relationship. Further, I see little to admire in any of the ancient Israelite kings or the colonial aristocrats that I would like for you to imitate. The exceptions might be Solomon appears wise (in his early reign not in his latter), and all of the colonial leaders were both big readers and prolific writers.

Benjamin Franklin like so many early figures played politics to better himself. He got the British Prime Minister to rescind the co-chair position for National Postmaster so he could have the whole job for himself. He complained about his son as the governor of New Jersey after he cunningly procured the job for him, and while Franklin is remembered historically for his tolerance, it is also true he rarely took a strong moral stand (i.e. slavery, religious beliefs, or even freedom from England) until the political winds forced his hand.

Which brings up a quandary: When does a moral issue require tolerance? And when does a moral issue require conviction? It’s complicated.

One final anecdote about Franklin: After the Constitution was ratified, many colonial leaders wanted to disband the military; others thought they should keep a standing army. Franklin was certain that if we kept a standing army, we would inevitably use it whether it was necessary or not. Thus, Franklin believed that we should not keep a standing army, but use those funds for poor colonists who truly needed assistance. And in this I admire Ben Franklin.

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. When Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the play Hamilton, he had a full mixtape of songs that were never used in the play. One song that I think expresses the hubris of the ancient kings of Israel as well as their equivalents, the Colonial Aristocrats, is “Ben Franklin’s Song.” Miranda gave to the song to The Decemberists to perform. Enjoy! 

Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Buds or Beloveds

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

October 6, 2019

                                            Buds or Beloveds

Dear Paul and Rachel,

When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 

1 Samuel 18:1

In reading the Hebrew Scriptures from the beginning again this summer, I’ve been concentrating on reading them in a different light. Namely, what motive is behind the authors’ writings? This is a little trickier than it sounds, because you must first look for the correct time period of the story, prayer on a character’s lips, or song that is sung, and then determine the historical matrix of time and culture when it is first incorporated into the biblical text. For the moment, any later further redactions of the Hebrew or Greek texts I’ve ignored, though it is often present. So original ancient songs and stories of 1,200-1,000 BCE often have a different significance when used by the current authors of most Hebrew texts, roughly 500-300 BCE.

As I’ve indicated in the first couple of S.E.T’s. this year, there is often a strong political (and economic!) inclination to the message. Follow the money! Of course, in the ancient world and in the Hebrew Scriptures, this includes lots of violence: War after war after war. Hardly an image of a loving God!

In studying I and II Samuel, there is no difference in violence between these books and the first 5-7 books in the Bible. David doesn’t just fight Goliath; he decapitates him after he kills him with a rock. Once again, the full story of David and Goliath is not a bedtime reading story for little kids, if read in total from the Bible.

But one little respite from the violence in the stories has been to read and study the relationship between David and Jonathan. So let’s get to the juicy question: Were they lovers/beloveds or simply best buds?

First, let’s look at the various texts surrounding this question of David and Jonathan:

 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul… Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt... 1 Samuel 18:1-5

But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. 19:1

But David also swore, “Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ … Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”  20:3-4

Jonathan said to David, “… But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also… 20:12-13

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan. He said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 20:30

Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him. 20:32-34

… David rose from beside the stone heap and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more. 20:41

Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.’” 20:42

… He [Jonathan] said to him [David], ‘Do not be afraid; …Then the two of them made a covenant before the Lord… 23:16-18

David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah… I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. II Sam 2:1,26.

 The traditional Christian view is that David and Jonathan were simply good buds. They had a platonic relationship. There was no homoerotic relationship — homosocial, yes; homosexual, no. There are no direct texts that state David and Jonathan had sex.

When thinking about David and Jonathan’s relationship, I chuckled because I remember a Will Ferrell (of SNL and Elf fame) interview describing his fraternity at U. of Southern Cal. He said his fraternity had become very sexist toward women on campus, and more often than not simply counted how many women they could score at frat parties after getting them drunk. So he expressed at a frat meeting that they should definitely keep women out, except for parties. And in further Will Farrell humor, he motioned at a frat meeting that to show their bro-hood, they should, “all take off their clothes and hug each other!”

"La Somme le Roy", 1290 AD. This picture might be just buds giving a hug.

Traditional scholars take each of the texts above and give explanations that are plausible. For example, in the first text above from 18:1-5 where “Jonathan makes a covenant with David,” their explanation is Jonathan agrees to recognize David as the new heir to the throne of Israel, and David accepts that recognition. Further, with the theological significance of the Davidic Throne throughout Jewish history, this acknowledgement makes perfectly good sense. And for Christians later in their theology of Jesus, all of the Gospel writers trace Jesus’ lineage back to David, which is especially important in the Gospel of Luke — though in Luke it is to be used as a contrast to the riches (wealth) and power (military) of David to the richness of poverty (“Blessed are the poor” Luke 6:20 – note: not poor in spirit) and the power of nonviolence (“But Jesus said, No more of this!” Luke 22:51 after a disciple cut off the ear of a guard, mentioned as Malchus in the Gospel of John), which is rarely emphasized by some of these traditional scholars.

Most modern scholars of the last 50 years do not accept the platonic position. Jonathan’s love for David exceeding his love for himself implies more than simply friendship. Jonathan’s willingness to die for David if his father strikes him is more than allegiance. Saul’s reaction to Jonathan and David’s relationship, calling his own son a son-of-a-bitch (“you son of a perverse, rebellious woman”), is further evidence supporting their gay relationship. Later Saul threatens to disown Jonathan if Jonathan does not break off his and David’s relationship. (I suspect many young gay people today have experienced this reaction from their parents!) Finally, David’s expression of Jonathan’s love for him “surpassing the love of a woman” describes their emotional and physical affection.

So, how do I see it? (Do you really care how I see it? Lol…).

One modern historical biblical scholar, Michael Coogan (Professor of Semitic Languages at Stonehill College and Harvard, Editor of the Oxford Annotated New Revised Standard Version (the bible of Bibles for serious academic studies in colleges), and the author of God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says), writes that he cannot conclude absolutely that David and Jonathan were lovers. He says there are plenty of indications to think that, but no certainty. And, for the record, I like his writings and highly respect him.

 I highly recommend this book if you want to know what the Bible says, and equally does not say, about sex.

On the other hand, Susan Ackerman (Professor of Religion at Dartmouth), author of When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros In Stories of Gilgamesh and David, notes that there is much ambiguity about their relationship, yet the overwhelming evidence points toward David and Jonathan as partners.  

Also, Jennifer Wright Knust, a professor from Duke and author of Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire is very certain that David and Jonathan are a couple.

To me, Coogan is correct that the text does not state David and Jonathan had  sex, but I think he errs in that many issues in the bible never state exactly the area of discussion, but the implied meaning is clear. One might be able to explain away any one of these David-Jonathan texts, but I think it is disingenuous to collectively dismiss all of them. 

The overall story clearly implies that David and Jonathan are more than friends. It implies that they are lovers.

One other fascinating anecdote about the David and Jonathan story is that according to the texts both men had many wives, and children from several of them. Perhaps they are indeed the sexually ambiguous models of the LGBT community today, but I’ll leave that for another Thought.

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. Donatello certainly had his thoughts about David’s gender identity…

 This song sung on the TV show Glee expresses David and Jonathan pretty well, but, full disclosure, this song is one of your little brother’s least favorite Broadway plays, “Take Me or Leave Me,”  Rent.

 Crank it up!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Samples of Vengeance

Sunday Evening Thoughts

Samples of Vengeance

September 29, 2019

Dear Paul and Rachel,

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, … with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines… And Samson grasped the two middle pillars… Then ... said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ … and the house fell on … all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. Judges 16:28-30.

I have a theory: People are generally the same throughout all of history. We are no more moral today, then 3,000 years ago. Or 300 years ago. Thomas Jefferson knew slavery was wrong. Yet ole T.J. had more slaves at the end of his life than when he wrote the original draft of the Declaration of Independence that included freedom for slaves. In my book, Jefferson gets off-the-hook for his actionable racism too easily in American historical public opinion. Ditto for George Washington. Ole G.W. hardly saw an Indian he didn’t want dead, except when it benefitted him during the Revolutionary War. 

To Major General John Sullivan

[Middlebrook, 31 May 1779]

Sir,

The expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the six nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more… G Washington

And Sullivan’s men did just that, selling scalps of dead Native Americans to the government in Pennsylvania, and stripping the flesh off their bodies for leg-wrappings around their boots. As noted when on April 8, 1756, Lt. Governor Robert Morris enacted the Scalp Act: “Anyone who brought in a male scalp above age of 12 would be given 150 pieces of eight, ($150), for females above age of 12, they would be paid $130.”

The stories of Joshua and the Judges are not for little kids to emulate at vacation bible school. They are violent stories of failed, terribly flawed people who think they hear the voice of God. As a literary genre, the Books of Joshua and Judges are stories of Tragic Literature with anti-heroes that win your support. They are the Tony Sopranos, the Corleones of ancient Israel with flawed, psychotic personalities like Walter White of Breaking Bad. 

So why are they in the Bible? I’m not satisfied with the traditional view that they were simply following the voice of Yahweh. I don’t believe Yahweh said, “Kill these tens of thousands of Caananites or Amorites or Gazains.” If anything, these are examples of “How not to get along with your neighbors?”

What do I really think? I think the Books of Josua and Judges are ancient religious tales used by later wealthy religious writers (the Deuteronomists) to justify their own violent procurement of wealth by waging war and suffering on “foreigners,” all-the-while using the rise of monotheism (Yahwism) for nationalism as a pretense to justify their violence and wealth. 

What’s the difference between Sampson when he committed suicide and violence against the Philistines (“And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Then Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it ...” Judges 16:28-29) and the ISIS suicide bomber who detonated a powerful bomb in his vest after dancing with children at a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan a few months ago that killed 63 and injured 182, many of them children?

I see no difference. Violence: All in the name of their God. 

Christians are not immune to violence in their God’s name. Think crusaders killing thousands of Jews along the Rhine River and Muslims in Palestine by us Catholics. Think hanging young women accused of sorcery in Salem, Massachusetts by us Protestants. Think quoting Romans 13 about our laws in the U.S. being “Divine Law,” then stripping babies and children from scared immigrant mothers allowing some children — such as Felipe Gomez Alonzoto — to die in cages, and this behavior accepted by us Evangelicals. 

Felipe

Violence: All in the name of the Lord.

I think we Christians fail to see the “real” gospel of Jesus; that nonviolence is always the right answer; that the real gospel is a just society of egalitarian principles; that the example of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the radical example by which we should live, because the violence of imperial Rome causing Jesus’ death is overcome by his resurrection — his up-raising. His uprising!

Nonviolence trumps violence — every time.

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad

P.S. “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine at PinkPop 1993 is a song of protest against racism and militarism, “Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses,”  written mainly by Tom Morello, though the whole band collaborated, after a white police officer killed four black teenagers in L.A. during riots protesting the beating of Rodney King by four different white police officers. (Note: Contains graphic lyrics.)

[sundayeveningthoughts]

I’m Just Sayin’

Sunday Evening Thoughts

September 22, 2019

Dear Paul and Rachel,

                                              I’m Just Sayin’

The Lord SPOKE to Moses, SAYING: SPEAK to Aaron and his sons, SAYING, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall SAY to them, 

The Lord bless you and keep you; 

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. 

Numbers 6:22-27 NRSV (emphasis mine)

Have any of you never heard this text? The Aaronic Blessing or Priestly Blessing is used at all Christian and Jewish weddings, funerals, and other liturgies (I am convinced the etymology of these words come from the Hindu wedding blessings or samskara [rites of passage], prayed in ancient Sanskrit instead of ancient Hebrew): 

May the Lord bless you and keep you; 

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.  Numbers 6: 24-26

Still… What does the text mean in the Hebrew Scriptures? 

First, a little background in archeology. In modern times (1979), at the Ketef Hinnon site (located just outside the Southwest Wall of Zion Gate in Old City Jerusalem for those who have visited Jerusalem) a 13-year-old boy assisting Gabriel Barkay, an archeology professor from Tel Aviv University examining an ancient burial site, stuck his hand down about two feet of ground sand on the floor, and discovered a sub-strata of various artifacts belonging to previous deceased people in the same tomb. Apparently in ancient times, after one body decomposed on one of the 22 tables in the chamber, their remains would be set down on the surrounding floor, and saw dust or stone dust would be sprinkled overtop the bodily remains creating a repository. A new corpse would then be placed on the table. One of the boy’s discoveries were tiny two amulets (KH1 and KH2), according to Barkay in the article, “The Challenges of Ketef Hinnon” in The Journal of Near East Archeology. 

As Barkay studied these half-inch amulets, he realized these amulets were rolled, thin, silver sheets described by Barkay “like a homemade cigarette filter” (some of you can identify with this), and KH2 was about ½” wide x 1 ½” long unrolled, with primitive Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions of the Numbers 6:24-26 blessing. 

  Barklay dates these amulets toward the end of the 7th century or early 6th century BCE (650-595 BCE) making these the oldest biblical texts known!

How does Barklay know the dates? Besides carbon dating, he and other scholars are able to examine the Paleo-Hebrew letters and pinpoint the period that those characters were used in ancient Hebrew writing. And in 2004, using newly developed computer graphic imaging not previously available when first discovered, they not only identified the characters with more certainty, but even identified which stroke on the etching was made first, second, and third of each letter. Exciting stuff, huh!

A good line-by-line translation of KH2 is:

1. -h/hu. May be blessed h/sh-

2. -[e] by YHW[H,]

3. the warrior/helper and

4. the rebuker of

5. [E]vil: May bless you,

6. YHWH,

7. keep you.

8. Make shine, YH-9. -[W]H, His face

10. [upon] you and g-

11. -rant you p-

12. -[ea]ce.

Thus in context a good translation is:

May you be blessed by the LORD, the warrior/helper and rebuker of evil,

May you be blessed by the LORD and keep you,

May the LORD shine His face on you and give you peace. 

 But, what does the text mean?

In order to understand this particular text, we must look at it in context to the rest of the story in the Book of Numbers. In the first two chapters, the Israelites are to form 12 sections of soldiers, based on the 12 tribes of Israel with leaders and assistant leaders, followed by 12 encampments surrounding and protecting the priests and the tabernacle — that’s why it’s named “Numbers,” followed by a couple of chapters of easy priests duties (compared to what awaits the rest of the Israelite army), some texts dealing with various social laws keeping the community hygienic, chapters on very generous gifts to the priests, and a large section on a wife having sex outside of her marriage (don’t worry fellows, this section doesn’t seem to apply to the husband in context of the Book of Numbers) and how to test her guilt or innocence — by her holding a handful of raw grain, “dishevel the woman’s hair,” then forcing her to drink some water from the priest’s hands, and if she vomits, she’s guilty, and “‘the Lord [will] make you an execration’” and “the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.” Num 5:11-23. 

Oh happy days!

Following the beautiful prayer above in Ch 6, the next few chapters are more gifts and offerings given to the LORD (via the priests who get their cut of every offering), then the rest of Numbers deals with battles by conquering lands, some of which they had never been in before. 

Thus, Numbers is an ancient war-plan, first by organization of troops, strict enforcement of subjugating women’s rights, protecting the priests who never go to battle with gifts, and finally off to war. 

 So what does the prayer mean?

 This beautiful prayer is asking for war-booty by seeking the protection of a warrior-God by taking the land and livestock, the women of neighboring villages as concubines and their children as slaves, and returning a large portion of all the war-booty to the priest-leaders who did not do any fighting. 

 Doesn’t this sound familiar? 

 It’s never the Senators sons who go fight our wars. It’s never the bishops or popes. It’s never the CEO’s of major corporations or their sons. It’s never the Bushs, the Clintons, the Obamas, the Trumps, or any of their sons or daughters. As a matter of fact, Theodore Roosevelt’s son, Quentin, shot down in Word War I, is the only President’s son ever to die in war. And even in my day, seminarians received a draft deferment for Vietnam. 

 In reading the complete Pentateuch or Torah, it seems the five books describe the rise of Israelite nationalism clouded in religious language by requiring all of them to pledge allegiance to a particular God named Yahweh, thus forming a cohesion of loyalty to make them better soldiers, all the while the war-booty is returned to the wealthy who did no fighting — the priests. After carefully reading the whole Torah for a month, I am wondering about some of the meaning behind the early Israelite stories? I am wondering, if God is love, where’s the love? 

 Of course I know intellectually and academically the Pentateuch contains religious books not historical books. I realize it covers a very ancient, primitive time. I’m aware 99% of the ancient world was fully patriarchal, with women in most civilizations having little to no social or political power. I’ve studied enough archeology to know that not all ancient Israeilites were enslaved by the Egyptians, and that when the Israelites returned from Egypt, many Israelites were still living in “Israel.” I recognize that the authors of these books are writing or compiling these books hundreds of years after the setting of the stories. I’m conscience that most of the stories are to be read metaphorical, not literal. I know this, and still I find it a little unsatisfying. 

 Hope this doesn’t hurt too much!

 Or, as I emphasized at the beginning, “I’m just sayin’...”

 Have a good week…

 Love,

Dad

 P.S. As the saber rattling begins for yet another war in the Middle East, this time with Iran, because we have totally destroyed Iraq, Syria, and Yemen to the tune of over 480,000 people in those countries, often women and children, according to a recent academic study at Brown University, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/ , a friend sent me a humorous bumper sticker he saw while biking and hiking in Canada, “What Gun Would Jesus Buy.”

I began to wonder, if Brexit goes through, will we see this slogan on the new walls between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland?

Here is a great cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Sons” by Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and Zak Brown. Crank it up!  

[sundayeveningthoughts]

Let’s Get Started

Sunday Evening Thoughts 

September 15, 2019

Dear Paul and Rachel,

                                             Let’s Get Started 

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth… 

Genesis 1:1

It seems to me that major projects, life-changing events, or the complex design of a plan rarely begin at a particular point in time. Almost always when kids start kindergarten, they have spent the better part of the summer preparing — buying crayons, dull-pointed scissors, non-toxic glue, and of course a lunch box. Note: Tempus fugit, when I started the First Grade (no kindergarten in those days), we could bring sharp pointed scissors (and we did stab each other), toxic glue (which some kids did sniff), and only rich kids had lunch boxes (we used paper bags in my house). My point is most parents don’t suddenly wake up their 5-year-old the first Tuesday after Labor Day and say, “You are going to school for the first time in your life.” Parents always prepare the kid for the day. In other words, life-changing events usually are a process or evolve over time.

Ditto for college…

This process occurred to me this summer, as I’ve spent a considerable amount of time re-reading the whole Bible, starting with Genesis, the first book. 

Let’s back up…

The Christian Bible is composed of two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. We can generalize and say the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, but that is not technically correct, because it begs the question, “Which Hebrew Scriptures?”

The Hebrew Scriptures used by most Jews today is the Masoretic Text, the official text of Rabbinic Judaism. It contains 24 books in total all written in Hebrew. The “official” Hebrew Scriptures have never been found. The Old Testament in most Protestant Bibles contains only a translation of the Masoretic Texts. The Old Testament in Catholic, Greek/Russian Orthodox, and some more traditional Protestant denominations use the Hebrew Scriptures of the Septuagint, which contain 70 books all written in Greek, but often translated into Hebrew when used in Jewish liturgy. Catholic Bibles compress it to 46 books. The Septuagint was composed in the mid-third century BCE, thus a very old translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. We should note that the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Scriptures of the Hebrew-written Masoretic Texts is 900-1,000 CE, but the oldest copy of the Greek-written Hebrew Scriptures Septuagint is 300 BCE. And almost for certain, Jews of Jesus’ time used the Septuagint Hebrew Scriptures. The added books of the Septuagint have no major theological, practical, or substantive difference from anything found in the Masoretic Texts. Thus today most educated Jews and Christians concede the stories and lessons found in the added books are worthy of study by all.

The Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures can be broken up into three categories: The Torah (or Law, also commonly called the Pentateuch — the first five books), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Wisdom books (Ketuv’im). If you take the first couple of letters in Hebrew of each of the categories—T, N, and K, you form the Hebrew word Tanakh, as some Jews refer to their Scriptures with that word. 

That’s a great word – Tanakh! Has a nice sound to it. So, if you are trying to score a date with the pretty, red-headed Jewish girl in your Biology Class, casually say, “What’s up? Oh, I’ve been reading the Tanakh.” She’ll be very impressed… who knows where it might lead?

Thus I started reading the Tanakh, and started with Genesis the first book of the Torah, and by far the most popular of the five. All of you are at least a little familiar with stories in Genesis: The creation of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood Story, and the beginning of Israel with the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stories. Yet it’s important, I think, to remember that Genesis is not the oldest book in the Torah, nor are any of the Genesis stories the oldest stories in the Hebrew Scriptures, nor are any of the oldest fragments of Hebrew texts stories of Genesis.

Nevertheless Genesis, as the name implies, is a great place to begin.

 Most of the stories in Genesis were written sometimes hundreds of years after other stories in Exodus and Numbers — two other books in the Torah. We don’t know exactly when Genesis was written; best guess is sometime between 400-300 BCE. So in a more critical appraisal, it is important to ask, “What’s going on in the 300’s BCE that they write these stories?” And as is often the case in most great literature, not only is the 300′s a religiously significant period, but has social and political significance too. If you fail to ask the question, you lose much of the meaning of the author(s).

 Look around the world today, and see how religion is being used — good and bad — by various leaders for their social, economic, and political objectives. It’s actually fun to read the Bible that way!

Go find the red-headed, Jewish girl and impress her!

Have a good week…

Love,

Dad 

P.S. Tracy Chapman’s “New Beginning” is a great way to start our year. Crank it up!

The whole world's broke and it ain't worth fixing

It's time to start all over, make a new beginning

There's too much pain, too much suffering

Let's resolve to start all over make a new beginning

Now don't get me wrong I love life and living

But when you wake up and look around at everything that's going down

All wrong

You see we need to change it now, this world with too few happy endings

We can resolve to start all over make a new beginning

[sundayeveningthoughts]

A Chance

Sunday Evening Thoughts

May 26, 2019

                                                   A Chance

Dear Paul and Rachel,

When Jesus saw the crowd, he went up to the mountain… Matthew 5:1

Once again we end Sunday Evening Thoughts for the academic year 2018-19. And once again, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing Thoughts on Sunday evenings. Because of my dimness in writing, quite often you Thinkers — usually a different person each time — will respond with corrections to spelling, grammar, and syntax; and for that I am grateful.

This year, perhaps more than ever, you have inspired me. You inspired me when you excitedly wrote to tell me of a new book (This is an Uprising by Mark and Paul Engler) 

about how nonviolent protests actually work better than violent ones, and in your own way you explained how you saw this as the gospel — the message of Jesus. You inspired me when you challenged me to be more precise in my explanations: “Roman imperialism does not equal South African apartheid” (Born a Crime by Trevor Noah),

and by using poor comparisons, I cheapen the severity of racism. You inspired me in the day-to-day living of your life and witnessing first hand in poor countries immense poverty caused by, what else, war and violence; but that you take a Thinking approach, like Tolstoy explained to Mahatma Gandhi in A Letter to a Hindu by Leo Tolstoy 

that only through psychological chains could 10,000 British enslave a hundred million Indians. And you inspired me when you brought me a book, An Anthology of the Experiences of Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Victims,

from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and how it inspired you to commit to nonviolence — though I think you were already there.

Your inspiration makes me hopeful.

Your inspiration also makes me want to act in some small way. If we are talking about God, in the form of Jesus, mainly what we know comes from the Gospels. And Jesus always took some action. Ultimately this is what caused his arrest and execution, his insistence of justice for all: justice for black folks, white folks, and brown folks; justice for the rich and poor; and justice for Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims. Universal justice. The justice taught by Jesus is found in Matthew 5.

So from a combination of all of the inspiration I’ve received from you this year, I am sponsoring a tent “up on the mountains” at Floydfest Music Festival that I call A Peace Initiative, in Floyd County, VA. The main purpose of A Peace Initiative is to bring some awareness to the absurdity of even possessing nuclear weapons, let alone to consider using them — clearly antithetical to the command from Jesus in Matthew 5 to “love your enemies.”

If you notice I am calling it “A” Peace Initiative not “The” Peace Initiative. I do not have the answer to solving the problem. I only have “a” small way of initiating people to think about nuclear weapons in a more humane, dare I say “Christian,” light.

On August 6, 1945 when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a little two-year-old girl named Sadako Sasaki lived one mile from the epicenter. Ten years later, Sasaki developed leukemia from the radiation she received from the atomic blast, a common effect in many Japanese children from the area. Placed in a room in a Red Cross Hospital, Sadako Sasaki met another young girl dying from radiation who folded paper cranes. Inspired by her roommate, Sasaki’s father told her the ancient Japanese tradition of the crane symbolizing strength, courage, and faithfulness. Her new friend told her that if she folded 1,000 cranes, she would be healed from leukemia. Tradition says she folded 644 cranes before she died at the age of 12. Today, the origami crane symbolizes not only strength, but also the devastation of nuclear war. A large origami crane is prominently displayed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan.

At my booth, I am asking for a $2 donation to make two cranes: one for a 1,000 origami tree and one for the person to take home for their Christmas tree. (Note: No one will be refused if they don’t have two-bucks.) All donations will go to the Sadako Sasaki Soup Kitchen here in Norfolk and part of the Norfolk Catholic Worker.

So, if you want to hear some great music for a couple of days, Floydfest runs from July 24-28, please come to Floydfest, and while there please stop by and make an origami crane. And if you are even more inspired, please come and volunteer for a few hours and work the booth helping folks fold origami cranes.

In any case, have a great summer!

Love,

Dad

P.S. In thinking about what song to end this S.E.T., I first thought of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance,” but it seemed a little cliché. At last year’s Floydfest I bumped into a great new band with historical pedigree, Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real. Yep, he’s Willie’s son. They are also the band who wrote and played in this year’s movie “A Star is Born.” Generally he writes his own music, but he finished his set at Floydfest last year with Tom Petty’s “American Girl.” Since Floydfest is about great music and a few days of relaxation (and this is Memorial Day Weekend), I think this is more appropriate. Besides, Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real are playing again at Floydfest!

… have a great summer!

[sundayeveningthoughts]

3 Very Important Pieces of Art: Part 3 — Biblical Narrative

Sunday Evening Thoughts

April 28, 2019

             3 Very Important Pieces of Art: Part 3 — Biblical Narrative

Dear Rachel and Paul,

We have different gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8.

There are many different types of art. For the last three weeks we have examined three: Painting, film, and for tonight, written narrative.

One of my favorite assignments when teaching high school was to ask the kids to call their oldest living grandparent, aunt, or uncle, and ask them about their earliest memories of their oldest relatives. So that now for many of them, they are going back almost a hundred years. One girl, I distinctly remember, chatted with her grandfather and recorded their conversation on the telephone. She was of Filipino descent, so he described growing up near Manila, and swimming among the coral reefs spear fishing. She was thrilled to hear his stories and about life in the Philippines in the “old times,” and shared his story with the class.

She got an A+.

I know I’ve told this story before in an earlier S.E.T., but it’s worth re-telling: Daddy Jack (your grandfather) had a scar on his fourth finger that went around his finger. He told us that when he was in WW II he was working a generator in the Pacific Ocean and his finger got caught in the pulley that wrapped around the motor. He said the generator accidentally cut-off his finger. He said he picked up his finger and went to see the medical corpsman on his ship who then sewed it back on. He said he has never had any feeling in the bottom half of his fourth finger since then, and that he could only bend it marginally straight.

Two old stories — life in the Philippines and life out at sea.

I believed Daddy Jack’s story exactly as he told the story — until about ten years ago. Then I started thinking, “Wait a minute! In 1944, on a small ship, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it would have been impossible to literally reattach a digit without serious microsurgery. I suspect there are only one or two places in all of Hampton Roads that could do that detailed surgery today, and they possess substantially better equipment and techniques to reattach all of the minute blood vessels and tendons.” “There is no way,” I reasoned, “a totally severed finger could be reattached under those circumstances in those days.”

I believe he told the truth. I think this is how he remembered it. Did he historically pick up a totally severed finger and have a medic sew it back? I doubt it.

The stories in the Bible are exactly like that — wonderful, artful narratives about great people who lived long, long ago. In other words, the Bible, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, are great literary stories about great people. For the moment, try not to think of the stories as historically factual but what they truly represent. In other words, think of it as great art — beautiful, narrative art!

Robert Alter in his wonderful, insightful, complex book titled The Art of Biblical Narrative reveals the artistry in many, many places of the Hebrew Bible. He too wants readers to not concentrate on what literally happened (especially since we often cannot know, except by our own religious books), but to concentrate on what the author says in his/her writing. He also wants a little less emphasis on the Documentary Hypothesis Theory (four different schools/authors) and to see the whole narrative as presented. (I confess this last point is something I often overdo.)

Alter, also an ancient Hebrew scholar, notes the beauty of rhyme in many of the words and phrases often lost in any translation. He explains that the same stories are told and retold in many different books of the Bible.

Take the two stories of creation for example: The author, P (Priestly) of Genesis 1, uses a fully balanced scheme of words and phrases to explain his version: Day One this happens, this is the result, this is the cause; and each day is followed by the conjunction “and” to show the continuity of the whole story. Alter notes the very beginning of this story is told in typical ancient Near East fashion found in many ancient creation stories, “When God began to create heaven and earth…” Alter paints a beautiful portrait of ancient poetry and prose.

I discovered a newfound appreciation of the first creation story.

Alter provides example after example of scenes in the Hebrew Bible as beautiful ancient Hebrew narrative art.

Alter writes, “It seems perfectly plausible… the makers of biblical narrative gave pleasures of invention and expression because, whatever their sense of divinely warranted mission, they were, after all, writers, moved to work out their vision of human nature and history in a particular medium, prose fiction, over which they had a technical mastery…” p. 156.

Like Andy Warhol’s painting Campbell’s Soup Cans, like Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather, the authors of the Hebrew Bible wrote fantastic narrative art.

If you want a little challenge this summer, grab a copy of The Art of Biblical Narrative. FYI: It is not something you will read in one sitting, but I believe it is something you will ultimately thoroughly enjoy!

Have a good evening!

Love,

Dad

P.S. Great books! With a little explanation of the background of the books in the Hebrew Bible, I believe they often come alive as great narrative art. And speaking of artists, this weekend in Virginia Beach, Pharrell Williams is hosting a three-day music festival called Out of the Water. Will he play this song?