Hagia Sophia

It's probably one of the largest and oldest churches I've been in (and I've had my share of large, ancient churches).  It's also no longer a church.  As a museum, on a Sunday morning it was filled with people of all faiths, marveling at the decorations and architecture.

Since the book of Revelation had been written to people in this region nearly 2000 years ago, I found a quiet corner and read a few chapters to myself.  

In a part of the world so deceived by Satan's lies, with reminders of his falsehoods everywhere...

this verse stood out:

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  ~Revelations 20:10 

In a dark and hopeless world, Revelation offers an abundance of hope.  The Kingdom of God will prevail.  Hagia Sophia may now be filled with people from various tribes, tongues, and nations, merely marveling at a beautiful building, but someday a similar group will sing praises around the throne of God.  

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.   ~Revelation 22: 3-5

Easter Thoughts

As I pondered the resurrection story this year, I was struck by the relentless pursuit of a God who refuses to give us up, to let sin win. Surely a man pursuing a woman would soon move on if she gave him as little encouragement as we give God. And yet his passionate pursuit of humanity brought him to the cross…and his ultimate victory was gained when he rose from the dead.

Others have said it better than I can, so I will partially quote a couple poems here.

Holy Sonnet #14

John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you

As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;

That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend

Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,

Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.

Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,

But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,

But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;

Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. 

The Hound of Heaven (lines 1-51, 151-182)

Francis Thompson

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

  I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

    Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.     

      Up vistaed hopes I sped;

      And shot, precipitated,

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,

  From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

      But with unhurrying chase,       

      And unperturbèd pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

      They beat—and a Voice beat

      More instant than the Feet—

‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’   

          I pleaded, outlaw-wise,

By many a hearted casement, curtained red,

  Trellised with intertwining charities;

(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,

        Yet was I sore adread   

Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside).

But, if one little casement parted wide,

  The gust of His approach would clash it to.

  Fear wist not to evade, as Love wist to pursue.

Across the margent of the world I fled,

  And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,

  Smiting for shelter on their clangèd bars;

        Fretted to dulcet jars

And silvern chatter the pale ports o’ the moon.

I said to Dawn: Be sudden—to Eve: Be soon;      

  With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over

        From this tremendous Lover—

Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!

  I tempted all His servitors, but to find

My own betrayal in their constancy,

In faith to Him their fickleness to me,

  Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.

To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;

  Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.

      But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,     

    The long savannahs of the blue;

        Or whether, Thunder-driven,

    They clanged his chariot ’thwart a heaven,

Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o’ their feet:—

  Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.       

      Still with unhurrying chase,

      And unperturbèd pace,

    Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

      Came on the following Feet,

      And a Voice above their beat—       

    ‘Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.’

His name I know, and what his trumpet saith.

Whether man’s heart or life it be which yields

  Thee harvest, must Thy harvest-fields

  Be dunged with rotten death?

      Now of that long pursuit

    Comes on at hand the bruit;

  That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:

    ‘And is thy earth so marred,

    Shattered in shard on shard?

  Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!

  Strange, piteous, futile thing!

Wherefore should any set thee love apart?

Seeing none but I makes much of naught’ (He said),

‘And human love needs human meriting:

  How hast thou merited—

Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?

  Alack, thou knowest not

How little worthy of any love thou art!

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,

  Save Me, save only Me?

All which I took from thee I did but take,

  Not for thy harms,

But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.

  All which thy child’s mistake

Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:

  Rise, clasp My hand, and come!’

  Halts by me that footfall:

  Is my gloom, after all,

Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?

  ‘Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,

  I am He Whom thou seekest!

Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.’

Questions

This semester I've been TAing a class on Genesis where one of the major emphases has been on learning to ask good questions.  Accordingly, one of the most recent quizzes I graded required the students to ask three good questions about Genesis 26.  As I read through the questions I found that a good number of students had similar questions about verses 16-25:

And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”  Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.  And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.  Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.  But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him.  Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.  And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”  Then he went up from there to Beersheba.  And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”  So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. 


The students noticed that
1. Isaac was mightier than Abimelek and
2. The disputed wells were all on land that God had promised to give Abraham and his descendants.
Therefore, they wondered, why didn't Isaac exercise his might and right and simply fight for control of the land?

It's a valid question, though I find its implications rather disturbing.  (Before I enumerate why, allow me to say that I in no way mean to criticize the students for asking it.)

There are two implications to this question which really stand out to me:
1. Might makes right.  If we have the ability to take what we want, there is no reason we shouldn't do so.
2. Having God on your side gives you more rights than others.
Both of these have interesting religious and cultural significance which I'd like to examine further.

1. Might makes right.
a. While this (hopefully) does not reflect Christianity as much, it does seem to reflect many of the cultural values alive and well in America today.  Look out for number one.  We're often encouraged to take what we can, without regard for how our actions may affect those around us.
b. I think this, especially in the context of Genesis 26, also indicates how far our lives are removed from war here in America.  It's easy for us to say, "Why didn't Isaac fight?" when we can't picture the suffering that would have resulted from such a feud, on both sides.  Isaac may have won in the end, but at a huge cost.  Some may argue that God might have helped Isaac win without loss of life on his side, which leads well into the second point.

2. God on our side.
This is a touchier subject, especially since the context of the passage leads pretty easily to a comparison to modern Israel.  Therefore, before I start, I offer the disclaimer that I don't intend this as criticism of Israel or the Jewish people.
a. As Christians, I think it is easy for us to look at the Bible and say something like, "Oh, God says this is wrong.  Let's go stop it!  After all, God is on our side."  Generally this results in disaster.  Some examples might include prohibition, or the modern political fight against homosexuality or abortion.  While I would agree that drunkenness, homosexuality, and abortion are all wrong, I am not sure that legislation is the best way to impose our values.  And, in spite of our conviction that "God is on our side," such legislation seems to fail pretty regularly.  Sometimes this conviction comes out in other ways, like with angry people leaving rude theological comments on blog posts, so convinced that they are right and "God is on my side."  As if we have a God-given right to be rude and offend people.
b. I think this also reflects on many Christians' attitudes towards Israel and Palestine.  "The land was promised to Abraham and his descendants.  Therefore, the Palestinians have no right to be there."  Such oversimplifications are common and bother me considerably.  At the very least they forget that Abraham and his descendants were to be a blessing to those around them and that they were to take care of strangers.  More than that, though, such an attitude totally fails to take into account reality.  Do the Jews have a right to the land?  Maybe so, but that does not negate the fact that much of that land is currently occupied by a different ethnic group who have their own rights as humans.  I think that sometimes we forget that the God who gave such promises to Abraham is the same God who said, "Love your neighbor."  Living here in America, far removed from everything over there it's as easy for us to say "Isaac should have just fought Abimelek" as to say "The Jews should have all the land and push out the Palestinians" and ignore all the possible negative consequences of such actions.  Abimelek and the Palestinians may not be part of the promised people, but they are not impervious to salvation either and therefore still deserve our consideration.

To sum up, I think it is far too easy for us to simplify both Biblical and modern situations and make judgments without stopping to consider all the facts.  If I may suggest, let's try to take time and listen to both sides and consider the consequences before we jump into foolish action.

Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past

I guess there's something about holidays that tends to trigger memories.  Maybe its the observation of long-held traditions that remind us of past years.  Perhaps it's especially prevalent at Thanksgiving as we are asked to reflect on the past year and share what we're thankful for?

Whatever the reasons, I have found myself reflecting on the many differences between this Thanksgiving and last.

1. Last year I was in Israel, this year I'm in Montana.  (There's quite a bit more snow here.  More elk too.)

2. Last year at this time my house had been invaded by seven family members, including a niece...they just were my flatmate's family members, not my own.  

This year my house has been invaded by three of my own family members, including a nephew (with about ten other family members occasionally dropping by).  Both invasions were/are very welcome.  Family is a great blessing.  

3. Last year I celebrated Thanksgiving with my sister and several other JUC students, most of whom I'd only known a couple months.

 This year I celebrated with my mother, father, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, along with some cousins and family friends I've known most of my life.

4. Last year, just for the sake of tradition, my sister and I did a little calculus.

This year we managed to avoid that tradition, but we did experiment with building better windmill-like devices.  What can I say?  We're a bunch of geeks.  

Between now and then much has changed, and I do have much to be thankful for.  For example, I'm thankful for the time that I got to spend in Israel and I'm thankful that I graduated!  However, as I think of things I'm thankful for, I find many hints of the bitter-sweet.  

~ I'm thankful for the good friends that I made while in Israel, and I'm thankful for things like skype and facebook which allow us to keep in touch...as we are literally spread across the globe and I miss them.

~ I'm thankful that I was offered a volunteer position at JUC...though visa difficulties have made it impossible for that opportunity to come to fruition yet and have sort of thrown me into limbo.

~ I'm thankful for another fall in Montana - a beautiful one at that - and I'm thankful to see snow and cold here, though it is not where I would have chosen to be.

I am reminded a little of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I am not going to hypothesize about what Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was, nor am I going to claim a similar situation, but I think I am beginning to understand some of what he must have been feeling.  Things are not all bad, but for the first time I can remember, I've made plans and been unable to follow through.  Just a sudden brick wall.  I  can understand that such an experience is probably good for me in general, I just wish I understood a few more of the specifics.  However, I'm trying to cling to the grace of God, in spite of my confusion.  To summarize:

~ I'm thankful for a God who is still at work in my life, though, at the moment, I don't understand what He's doing.  

Waiting

It's not an easy task, but it's one that seems to occupy much of life.  When school is in session we wait for the weekend, the next vacation, or for the glorious summer break.  The last few weeks of summer are spent waiting (some people with eager anticipation, some people with fear and loathing) for school to start again.  In grade school you wait to be one of the "big kids."  Much of High School is spent anticipating college and much of college, anticipating life after school.  We seem to  be always looking to the next step, whether near or far.  

"I can't wait for dinner!"
"I can't wait for summer!"
"I can't wait to make new friends!"
"I can't wait for my birthday!"
"I can't wait to graduate!"
"I can't wait to get married!"
"I can't wait until I know what to do with my life!"
"I can't wait until I have kids!"
"I can't wait until I have grandkids!"

Of course, we actually can (and do) wait, sometimes with more patience and contentment than others.

I have had, I suppose, my fair share of waiting, most often for school to transition to summer and then back.  I generally enjoy both the school year and the summer, but that transition is a welcome change every year.  Up until now, though, most of my waiting has had a certain ending point in sight: summer will begin on a set date, and school will start up, as scheduled, in the fall.*  There is a sense of waiting and anticipation, but not a whole lot of uncertainty.

It's somewhat different this time around.

It seemed clear that God wanted me back in Israel this fall.  Doors were opening.  Even before doors opened I had decided that I wanted to go back.  It seemed like a pretty clear next step with fairly clear timing.

It hasn't quite worked out as I hoped.  The doors are still there and will still probably open fully in time, but I have no idea when that time will be, and there's really nothing I can do about it.

So what DO I do?  I try to be content here, though many times I find myself longing for Israel.  I try to find things to do here while not committing to too much time.  I try to reconnect with friends and family while still staying in touch with friends from Israel.  I'm not really sure where to strike the balance, so I pray a lot for wisdom, guidance, and patience.

I don't know why, in God's providential plan, I have suddenly encountered this obstacle.  I know, though, that He has a reason.  I just hope that I learn what He's teaching and/or do the job that He has for me here.

*I should note here that this sort of waiting differs greatly from the sort of waiting that involves other people.  It is much more difficult to schedule when you will meet friends, get married, or have children (unless, of course, you are already engaged or pregnant - that usually makes the planning a little more certain).

Rosh HaNikra

The longer I am in Israel, the more I see of it, the more I find myself falling in love with the land. I first loved it for the history, the geography, the connection to the Bible. I still love that aspect, more all the time, in fact. But I've come to love more than that. I think it may help that this is my second spring here. It's a land that is easier to love in the spring, when the hills are all abloom with a multitude of wildflowers, the fields of wheat are fragrant with the coming harvest, and the sky is scattered with fluffy white clouds. It's glorious. In the summer and fall with everything brown and dead and hot and dusty it can be difficult to understand why God ever choose this land. But when those first rains kiss the ground and green again becomes part of the color spectrum, everything seems so much more clear.

With fewer required field studies this year I've had more chances to explore. I still often visit sites of historical interest (indeed, they are nearly impossible to avoid) but I've visited places more off the beaten track, and in addition to a better understanding of the history and geography of the land, I've also managed to get more of a feel for the land: the flora and fauna, the smells, the roads, the deserts and the shores.

Today I visited Rosh HaNikra. It's as far north on the sea coast as one can get in Israel. There the sea constantly throws itself against the white cliffs, eating away at them, forming and enlarging caves where the breakers can dash themselves with deafening thunder. Perhaps there are days when it is calmer, but this was not one of those days. It was a perfect day. Yesterday was gray and the air full of dust but the night wind blew it all away and we woke to a sunny day, scattered with clouds and waves joyfully racing to the shores.

I took hundreds of pictures, but they don't do justice to the feeling of being inside the groto, hearing the wave rush in the opening, seeing the light fade as the entrance is blocked by the foaming water, the joy and splendor or the water racing towards and up the sides of the cave, the surprised wonder when the force of the rush is enough to sprinkle all observers with a good amount of salty blue water. Still, I'll try to give you a taste of the beauty and the drama in this "slide show."



1Chronicles 16:29-34 
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;  tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!


Job 30:22 
You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

Psalm 42:5-8  

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.  Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.  By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 46:1-3  
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. 
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Isaiah 17:12-14  
Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.  At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.


Isaiah 51:15  
I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name. 

Revelation 1:12-16
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Purposes

“Perhaps we could succeed in vanishing without a trace if they would let us be, but they will not let us be. After brief periods of toleration their hostility erupts again and again.”

~Theodor Herzl (from Ideological Perspectives by Gideon Shimoni, p.10)

Herzl, one of the founders of Zionism, maintained that the main thing that defined the Jews as a people was their enemies. Others argued that shared history, culture, and religion were more important in defining this separate people. These things are certainly important, but Herzl discounted them as the most important. He had a point. Especially with the advent of the Enlightenment and the emancipation of the Jews, many Jews began to assimilate into the societies in which they found themselves, adopting the culture, and, in many cases, the religion. These adaptations did not end the persecution of the Jews, however. Indeed, assimilated Jews could even be considered more of a “threat” in the anti-Semitic propaganda that circulated. With all the different branches and schisms within Judaism itself, it is possible that the Jews as a cohesive people would have ceased to exist, if it were not for the persecution that lumped them all back together.

In Jewish and Christian circles the question is often asked, “How could a loving and just God have allowed something as terrible as the holocaust?” It is a valid question to wrestle through and has no simplistic answer, in part because our finite minds cannot grasp the infinite purposes of God. However, I wonder if, in part, God allowed the holocaust to preserve the Jewish people. It sounds contradictory, but the holocaust brought Jews all over the world together as nothing else would have.*

The next often asked and debated question is then, "Does God have a plan for the Jewish people?" I would argue that their survival in spite of the odds, and the existence of a Jewish state, clearly indicate that God has a plan for the Jewish people. It is less clear what that plan is and how it fits into the Biblical account. There are passionate opinions on both sides, which I don't want to go into in this post. I merely wanted to pass along the thought that, in a round-about-way, perhaps the holocaust offers evidence that God has a plan for the Jewish people.

*Please know that I am not at all defending the holocaust. It was a horrible thing. I am simply stating that I believe that God is sovereign and good, and therefore, maybe this was one of His purposes in allowing this event.

Nahal Ammud

Today I went hiking in the Upper Galilee.  It was amazing.  It's a place with very little Biblical significance, so I hadn't been there.  It does have significance to Jewish mysticism, but our reason for going there was simply for pleasure.  We started up near the top of Nahal Ammud and hiked some distance down it.  There was some scrambling in a couple areas, but in general it was pretty easy, as far as hiking goes.  It was beautiful, though, and also mostly deserted except for us, which was nice.  I don't think I've ever seen that many wildflowers in my life - they carpeted the hill sides: lovely sights for the eyes and sweet smells for the nose. :)

Here are some examples of the scenery we saw.  

Yes, they had cows.  They were cute and I talked to them.

Prickly but beautiful thistles.  

Also very cute tadpoles.  

These were some of my favorite flowers because of their variety of color.  The same plant could have flowers with colors ranging from purple to pink.  

Barbed wire! :)

It was a wonderful day, really.  It was nice to get out of town and have a bit of a break from school.  

Today for Jews was a special blessing of the sun.  I think the words they use for that blessing are fitting to end with:

"ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית"

"Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation."

Miracles

,Miracles, I suppose, are really a rather controversial subject. Certainly numerous things have been written on them -- skeptics trying to explain away recorded Biblical miracles, spiritualist trying to prove the existence of various random miracles, and everything in between.

I was thinking about miracles today, mostly because of a vague memory of Israel. I remember riding past a village or something and our tour guide explaining that this particular people group believed that the messiah would be born suddenly of a man. Now that's an odd miracle. And I was thinking that such a miracle does not seem like something the God of the Bible would do. Which made me wonder: are there some miracles that really are in some sense impossible? I don't want to put limits on God's power, but on the other hand, His nature does limit what He can and cannot do (He can't sin, etc.) It rather seems to me that having the messiah born suddenly of a man would kind of go against God's nature. Let me explain my reasoning.

I am admittedly a geek, but because of my scientific background, I do think of God as the Great Scientist. Not only that, of course, but he did create the world and holds it together. There's nothing we've discovered in science that He did not first invent and create. He made rules and put limits on the world, which are good and save us from chaos. I think He follows His own rules. Even in miracles. I don't mean to make miracles sound less miraculous because they aren't. Even if we knew all the rules by which the universe operates (which we don't) there would be no way we could apply them to make these miracles happen ourselves.

Let's take the virgin birth, for example. Mary had all the parts necessary for life in her body. For God to tweak one of her eggs just a little to turn it into a sperm, for example, would be all that was required. I don't know that we could do that today, but we definitely could see how it theoretically could be done. From then on naturally processes would be followed. This is drastically different from what would be required in the messianic birth referred to before. To have a man give birth at all goes against nature. For it to be sudden would require basically an act of creation ex nihilo by God. I don't think that's how God works (in fact, I know that's not how He worked in the birth of the messiah). Thus, I would call it an "impossible" miracle.

I'd go on with a few other examples, but I need to go to bed. Let me know if y'all have any thoughts. :)