partsofspeaking

In my daily reading I have come to Isaiah 53.   To modern Christians that seems obviously about Jesus Christ.   To those of his generation, it took great faith to see it.   We are so immersed in a Christian interpretation of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible prophecies that we can’t see them as anything but directly relating to Christ, but it took a great leap of faith, imagination, and understanding for his contemporaries to do so. The other evening I went to a concert at our college.   The performers were an adult choir that sings sacred music, mostly in churches, mostly in liturgical ones.   They did a wonderful job, and their music was God-honoring and well performed.   I enjoyed it, and the leader was smart enough to have us stand and sing at two points.   But one student wouldn’t stand and sing.   I imagine he was protesting that at a secular college such sectarian music was being played and that he was expected to participate in somet...

Last night, in between trying to transcribe interviews for my doctoral work, I had on Downton Abbey .  It struck me that this is a show where a major tragedy occurs when the lord has to wear a black tie rather than a white one, when the forks are not straight.  Oh, please, I don't have time for this.  I don't even like these people.  Will I be a sheep and watch it when it comes back on in January?  I hope I won't give in. My brother and sister-in-law work at a historical mansion in Maryland, and they were offering a Downton Abbey tea.  A great idea, but then they found out that could get them in trouble.  But I still hear others doing it.  This is a good example of how PBS can make its own money and doesn't need it from the government.    I remember an SNL skit back in the '90s that showed a mock PBS fund drive.  They were giving away "Abortion Rights Now" umbrellas.  A very savvy dig at PBS not being politically neutral...

I hesitated to include that as a theme of Christmas and the preparation for it.   I have watched too many Hallmark Movies whose outcomes I could figure out in ten minutes.   (Hallmark used to make once-a-year, really good dramatic shows that bore repeated watchings.   Now they are Lifetime with a little less sex.) Hallmark, and other movies (see Love Actually, While You Were Sleeping, et al) put love in the context of Christmas so that lovers can walk in the snow, kiss under mistletoe, deal with crazy families, give a special gift, etc.   It’s all quite sweet.   Nary a manger in sight, of course.   We don’t want to confuse romantic love and easy premarital sex with the existence of God incarnate, do we? Oh, I’m getting snarky.   I always do when I think about the media’s effects on civilization.   Or when I hear “the miracle of Christmas,” “the magic of Christmas,” blah, blah, blah. Anyway, enough of that.   Love of the real, ...

Ever since I started this doctoral program I am in, I have been surrounded by “reflection,” “reflexivity,” and “reflective practice.”   Reflection is our gift, our duty, our (intellectual) salvation, our need.   Reflection can be transformative, but it requires (1) a openness to change, (2) deep personal self-honesty and (3) time. Luke tells us that Mary pondered.   The dictionary defines “ponder” as “ to weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully: He pondered his next words thoroughly” and “ to consider something deeply and thoroughly; meditate (often followed by over  or upon.” That is the most well known incident of the word “ponder” in the Bible, but the words “consider” and “meditate” are more prevalent. In my dissertation research I am asking my colleagues is they practice reflection.   I get interesting responses.   The main one I am getting is that “we need more time” to reflect.   Perhaps we should make time to reflect?...

How often does the Bible tell us to rejoice?   According to my eword software, 161 times the word appears in Scripture.   That’s pretty clear.   Rejoice means to have a party in the right sense.   Now, party has taken on the wrong meaning nowadays.   It means excess, inebriation, drugs, you name it.   That is so sad, because the Bible has a lot of parties in it and the Jews were supposed to have lots of parties and feast days.   Perhaps because Christianity has historically been on the defensive as a religion (persecuted, out of the mainstream) we have been afraid to party, to celebrate, to rejoice.    Our Puritanical (or maybe Victorian, or fundamentalist) attitudes cast parties as suspect.   But they aren’t. I know that there is a difference between joy and rejoice in our minds.   Joy is a stable attitude or condition of mind, but rejoice is an event, an action, an emotional response.   Baloney.   We can rejoi...

The first theme of Advent is hope.   What a beautiful word.   I was talking with a dear friend the other day about people who attempt (or succeed at) suicide.   Because of her own personal experience, she doesn’t agree with people who say suicide is a “selfish” act.   A person who gets to the point of self-destruction has lost all hope, so they perceive their act as selfless; at least I believe that in most cases.   My point here is not to argue suicide motivations, but to emphasize that hope is the glue of our lives.   It is what gets us up in the morning.   It is what makes us have children. It is what makes me believe my work matters.   It is what motivates our prayers and our service. Advent is all about hope.   The Jews (some at least) believed in the promises and waited, hopefully, in the true and full meaning of the word, for the Messiah, the deliverer, even if they didn’t understand (or could) the ramifications of that ti...