No, this is not another mistaken post like that of December 5 when I posted something here that was meant for unclimber. Sorry about that.
Psalm 2, I have no idea. It sounds violent and scary to me. I fear that I am having problems 'hearing' God through the Bible. I figure that God talks through many means and that the Bible is one of them. Let him who has ears hear. I hear nothing from Psalm 2. But, as Larry has said on his own blog, God talks to all of us and Larry wonders whether what God really wants is for us to ask our neighbors what God told them. I am enjoying reading what God has said to you.
I recently took a yoga class and the instructor would send us e-mails with a Yoga thought for the day, some meditation for us to ponder. These meditations didn't really do much for me, but she inadvertantly gave me one that did.
In one week's class, as I did my pose, I could hear the instructor move about the room saying to various students, "I'm here." I assumed she did that to alert them that she was about to touch them to assist or adjust them in their pose so that they wouldn't be startled.
I thought a lot about that simple "I am here" and all that it means
It means -- I will assist you, adjust you, help you move into the pose
It means -- you are not alone, I will travel with you on your spiritual path, I will be your friend
It means -- I am here, right now, in the present
I am not ruminating on the car that cut me off or a co-worker's comment that seemed insulting
I am not thinking about how I'm going to get a project done or Christmas cards out
I am not trying to escape or dull my senses
I am here
As a mother it reminds me that all my children require of me is that "I am here" for them
to listen to them and love them and care for them, its as simple as being here with them
As a Christian who has a lot of problems with the materiality and consumerism that surround Christmas, it says to me that God came down to be with us for awhile, to live with us, and teach us, and experience life the same way we do.
I am here.
Namaste
December 16, 2005
December 14, 2005
david's reflections on psalm 2
I think as Larry says, this in its original context, is the voice of a minor tribal chieftain. I'm not entirely comfy with the label barbarian as its is a label created by the Roman Empire to describe conquered peoples -- the bearded ones. Both anachronistic and ethnocentric. Besides -- I wear a beard!
Israel of this period struggled to keep its identity. It was surrounded by other Semitic peoples governed by their own tribal chieftains. They wanted to keep their territory, maintain their identity as the sons of Abraham, and somehow be faithful to this God of theirs. This kind of nationalism is far from dead -- it is far from being relegated to and ancient and primitive past. We may believe there is a better way -- but that has far from been proven by either history or international/interfaith consensus.
What wisdom or spiritual nourishment can I draw from this text despite this?
The power of politics is relative. God alone is king and those who claim the title for themselves will eventually fall.
The other powers and principalities and rulers of the dark air -- the things that rule my life and oppress me -- they too rule at the sufferance of God Almighty. They too will either serve spiritual ends, my liberation and the liberation of others, or they too will fall.
What originally was likely a hymn in honour of a king's coronation in Jerusalem, is taken up allegorically, typologically, spiritually, to point towards a day when God and God's ways will rule in my heart and life instead of all the petty potentates that direct my life now.
That is gospel. That is good news. Marana tha.
Israel of this period struggled to keep its identity. It was surrounded by other Semitic peoples governed by their own tribal chieftains. They wanted to keep their territory, maintain their identity as the sons of Abraham, and somehow be faithful to this God of theirs. This kind of nationalism is far from dead -- it is far from being relegated to and ancient and primitive past. We may believe there is a better way -- but that has far from been proven by either history or international/interfaith consensus.
What wisdom or spiritual nourishment can I draw from this text despite this?
The power of politics is relative. God alone is king and those who claim the title for themselves will eventually fall.
The other powers and principalities and rulers of the dark air -- the things that rule my life and oppress me -- they too rule at the sufferance of God Almighty. They too will either serve spiritual ends, my liberation and the liberation of others, or they too will fall.
What originally was likely a hymn in honour of a king's coronation in Jerusalem, is taken up allegorically, typologically, spiritually, to point towards a day when God and God's ways will rule in my heart and life instead of all the petty potentates that direct my life now.
That is gospel. That is good news. Marana tha.
December 13, 2005
Laughable
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
"Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.
"He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.
These lines suggest that rulers, people held in esteem by others, or even those who just think that they are kings of the world sans God, who do not recognize God in all things, and who try to break their bonds with God, may think themselves free. However, God must just laugh at this. For how can anyone break his bond with God? It would be like a fish, breaking his bond with water, or a tree breaking its bond with the earth. We can no more separate ourselves from God than we can separate ourselves from the air that we breathe. It’s laughable to think otherwise.
This was so succinctly echoed by poet Kabir:
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
the ghosts will do it after?
and...
I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
"Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.
"He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.
These lines suggest that rulers, people held in esteem by others, or even those who just think that they are kings of the world sans God, who do not recognize God in all things, and who try to break their bonds with God, may think themselves free. However, God must just laugh at this. For how can anyone break his bond with God? It would be like a fish, breaking his bond with water, or a tree breaking its bond with the earth. We can no more separate ourselves from God than we can separate ourselves from the air that we breathe. It’s laughable to think otherwise.
This was so succinctly echoed by poet Kabir:
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
the ghosts will do it after?
and...
I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
and now, poet Hafiz...
I have a thousand brilliant lies
for the question:
What is God?
If you think that the Truth can be known From words,
If you think that the Sun and the Ocean
Can pass throuh that tiny opening
Called the mouth,
O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly laughing -
Now!
December 12, 2005
Psalm 2 - Yikes! / C
Serve the LORD with fear; with trembling bow down in homage, Lest God be angry and you perish from the way in a sudden blaze of anger
... The God of this psalm is more like a bully than a loving father, and seems underserving of respect or love, though he may indeed evoke fear.
Happy are all who take refuge in God!
... I think not - you'd always have the worry you might anger God and be turned into a pillar of salt.
I find it hard to reconcile the OT God and the NT God - they seem pretty different to me.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. - 1 John 4:18
... The God of this psalm is more like a bully than a loving father, and seems underserving of respect or love, though he may indeed evoke fear.
Happy are all who take refuge in God!
... I think not - you'd always have the worry you might anger God and be turned into a pillar of salt.
I find it hard to reconcile the OT God and the NT God - they seem pretty different to me.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. - 1 John 4:18
Why do the Heathen Rage?
(KJ version of Pslam 2): It takes one to know one, we used to say. Heathens indeed!
It helps to get some historical perspective: It's presumably about King David. (Some of the 'unlettered' believe that David wrote all the Psalms.) He was the tribal chieftan who "slew tens of thousands".
He was also the founder of the House of David, from which Jesus sprang.
So we have a contradiction here: a bloody, barbaric king, who was said to have written the most popular of the O.T. books, also founded the line from which the Messiah sprang.
This psalm is used in the N.T. to fill out the description of Jesus: "Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
The psalm superficially sounds like Alley Oop, but it's like a filthy mine from which one brings forth diamonds. You might say that of the entire O.T. Out of the miry clay we came.
It helps to get some historical perspective: It's presumably about King David. (Some of the 'unlettered' believe that David wrote all the Psalms.) He was the tribal chieftan who "slew tens of thousands".
He was also the founder of the House of David, from which Jesus sprang.
So we have a contradiction here: a bloody, barbaric king, who was said to have written the most popular of the O.T. books, also founded the line from which the Messiah sprang.
This psalm is used in the N.T. to fill out the description of Jesus: "Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
The psalm superficially sounds like Alley Oop, but it's like a filthy mine from which one brings forth diamonds. You might say that of the entire O.T. Out of the miry clay we came.
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