One Perfect Rose

One Perfect Rose
by Dorothy Parker

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet--
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
"My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose."
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

I remember well reading this as a senior in high school. I was reminded of it today because I happened to listen to it set to music. I liked the poem in high school, although maybe not totally for the reasons the author intended.

My thoughts upon reading this poem immediately turned to the Bible. God, in His love for His people Israel, and for the rest of the world, sent us His "Perfect Rose." So tender, so easily crushed. And in response? His people said, in essence, "Well, thanks God, I guess that's nice, but we were sort of looking for a rough and tough warrior to save us from Rome. Don't you have anything better? More useful?" And they carelessly tossed the Rose aside, and it was trampled under foot.

The same is true still today. "God, I know you say you love me, but really, couldn't you send me a gift that's a little more useful? A gift that I want? You keep the rose, I'll take the limousine." We distrust His goodness and His omniscience and think we know better than He does what we need.

Back to the actual poem, it is a funny poem, and always makes me smile a little. On the other hand, though, it always makes me a little sad because it reminds me of the inherit selfishness and sinfulness of human nature. Lord help us learn to be grateful for the gifts you send, whatever they are.

The Rockefeller Museum

I finally got to go to the Rockefeller Museum today. I've been wanting to go for ages but just didn't have the time last semester. Admission is free right now, I believe because the Israel Museum is close (or partially closed) so that was nice.

It's a beautiful building.
James Leslie Starkey, the excavator at Lachish, was on his way to the opening of this museum almost exactly 70 years ago, when he was murdered. That's a sad story. He is also buried in our back yard.

Probably the best part of the visit (or one of the best) was when we walked into the first room in the musuem. It had a variety of items from a variety of times, but almost the first think I saw was sort of a crown-like circle of bronze. And I said to myself, "Hey, that looks like the crown-like things from the Chalcolithic period that they found in that cave in the Judean Wilderness." And then I looked at the information card near it, and it was. So that was pretty cool. :) I always enjoy recognizing things we've talked about in class. A lot of the remains were from the Persian, Helenistic, and Roman times, and later. I haven't learned much about those (yet) so I wasn't quite as interested, but they also had some good stuff from the Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, so I enjoyed those. They had some good examples of Tell el-Yehudiah ware that I enjoyed. I also liked seeing some Egyptians remains from Beth Shean. Hopefully I'll be able to visit it again some time.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the Museum, but I did get a picture of the courtyard (for Katie)
and of some bright red flowers with purple-blue centers that were outside in the parking lot area.

There is also a library in the museum which had amazing ancient warnings against book theives posted which I will attempt to reproduce here for your edification. :)

1. He who fears Anu, Enlil, and Ea will return [this book] to the owner's house the same day.
2. He who fears Anu and Antu will return [this book] to the owner's house the next day.
3. He who fears Marduk and Sarpanitum will not entrust [this book] to [others'] hands.
4. He who entrusts [this book] to [others'] hands, may all the gods who are found in Babylon curse him!
5. He who fears Anu and Antu will take care of [this book] and respect it!
6. This book by order of Anu and Antu is to remain in good condition.
7. In the name of Nabu and Marduk, do not rub out the text!
8. Who rubs out the text, Marduk will look upon him in anger.
9. He who fears Anu and Antu will not carry [this book] off by theft.
10. He who carries [this book] off, may Shamash carry off his eyes.
11. He who carries [this book] off, may Adad and Shala carry him off!
12. He who breaks [this book] or puts it in water or rubs it until you cannot recognize it [and] cannot make it be understood, may Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Adad, Ishtar, Bel, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, Ishtar of Bit Kidmurri, the gods of heaven and earth and the gods of Assyria, may all these curse him with a curses which cannot be relieved, terrible and merciless, as long as he lives, may they let his name, his seed, be carried off from the land, may they put his flesh in a dog's mouth.

So there you go, don't steal library books!

Good Morning from Jerusaelm!

After a good-night's sleep I feel more prepared to coherently recount my traveling adventures while I breakfast on cereal and tea.

I left town at about 6am... Note to self: I know it is recommended that for international flights you get to the airport at least 2 hours in advance. However, if you get to my airport two hours in advance of a 6am flight, you will be the only one there.

Anyway, I did eventually get checked in and then through security and finally on to the plane. The sun rose on the way to Denver.
Once there I found my next gate without any difficulty. Apparently some birds found it too. :) That next flight (to Chicago) was quite crowded and I wasn't sure I'd find room for my carry-on luggage, but by the grace of God I did. I ended up sitting by a nice lady, and that was good too.

Once in Chicago I was a little confused. On my e-ticket, Chicago had only been listed as a "stop" between Denver and Frankfurt. I was thinking that we'd probably let some people off, let others on, and get on our way. Apparently not. I got off and checked the information screens in the airport. Yeah, same flight number, but different gate and different plane. You know, they did give me a boarding pass for the Chicago flight when I checked it, but it might have been more useful if they'd have put a gate number and/or boarding time on it. Oh well. What they called a "stop" was actually just another layover, but hey. We did eventually get underway to Frankfurt. This flight was very uncrowded, so I had a couple seats to myself, which was lovely.

I have to say that I rather agree with the fellow at Denver who told me he didn't like the Frankfurt airport much. Of course, we did arrive at about 5am when there was no one there and nothing was open. Still, it was rather large and confusing. The information screens would tell you which concourse your flight was from (A, B, C, etc.) but not which gate, so you had to hope that the number on your ticket was correct. Oh well, it did work out, and I did get on the right flight and I even had a window seat. I never saw much of Frankfurt - it was dark for so long, and then when we took off there wasn't very good visibility. But I did get a picture of cool ice crystals on my window. :)

On the way to Israel I ended up sitting next to and Israeli man from Tel Aviv, a musician who, I believe, plays the oboe. It was fun talking to him (when I wasn't sleeping) about Israel and various other things. He said his symphony is playing a couple times in Jerusalem in the next couple weeks, so I'll have to see if I can get to one.

I made it through passport control and customs without any incident and made my way to the sheruts. Got loaded into one and ended up sitting next to a very friendly young man who apparently is a magician and hypnotist. It was interesting talking to him. Also on the sherut was a man who I'm pretty sure had been on every plane with me since Denver. Turns out he's a grad student at Hebrew U. I thougt it was kind of funny that we traveled so far "together."

It was fun driving to Jerusalem. I wouldn't say that I know my way around very well, but I am starting to recognize more and more places, which is quite a contrast to how I felt arriving here last fall. The sherut driver didn't want to drive all the way up my road, not sure why, so he dropped me off at the bottom of the hill. I only had two bags and they both had rollers, so it wasn't too bad. My friend let me into the school and told me that I get my old room back! I was even able to move in, so that was nice. There aren't too many people around the school yet, but there are a few, and it's good to see them again.

I spent some time moving in and then went out to get groceries with a friend. (Food service doesn't start on campus until Friday, and I don't really want to starve to death before then.) When we got back to school Abbey gave us some of their extra stir-fry. She's my hero. :) Then we watched Kung fu Panda. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't slept more than about 6 hours of the last 48, but I found it quite amusing.

To finish off the day I filled my rice bags with rice I bought at the grocery store, showered, and went to bed. :) Now, today, all that remains is to finish unpacking and settling in, and decide what museum to visit first. :)

Oh, I also finally got my grades. And yes, I passed everything. Yay!

Some things that you don't realize you "miss" about Jerusalem until you return:
1. Hearing random bells at any time of the day or night.
2. The noise of traffic and horns at all times.
3. All the "interesting" smells in the air. Maybe not good smells, but smells that remind you that you are in Jerusalem.
4. Limestone.
5. Green things! (Especially compared to home where everything is brown and white.)
6. Trying to read signs, food labels, and pamplets handed to you in the street and then remembering that you can't read Hebrew (at least not well, and if you can read it, then you still don't know what it says).
7. Trying to understand the sherut driver or store clerk and then remembering that you don't speak Hebrew.

Well, this is quite long enough. I miss you all back home, but I am glad to be here!

In other news...

I will be leaving for the airport in about 2 hours to start my journey back to Jerusalem. I've pretty much decided that it's not worth sleeping tonight. So hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the planes. :) I should arrive in Tel Aviv around 3 pm on Tuesday.

It's been a good break -- really long! I've enjoyed seeing many friends and family, though I haven't seen them all. If you're one of the people I missed (or if you want to see me again), I tentatively plan to be back mid-May-ish. So give me a call then and we'll party. I've also enjoyed seeing mountains and eating pizza and cookies, but I'm also excited to get back to school - my "home away from home." I'm going back a few days early to have a little extra time to settle in AND especially to have time to visit museums that I don't have time to visit while school is in session. It should be fun. :)

Over the break I also purchased a new camera, as the old one has been slowly dying. It's been pretty fun to play around with. As hard as it is to believe from the lack of comments, quite a few people have told me that they read this blog and enjoy the pictures. So for you silent readers, I will try to put that new camera to good use and post a few photos now and then.

I didn't get out into the mountains much over the break (sadly) but I did make it up Hyalite once... Here's a picture from that expedition. :)
I don't have a whole lot more to say at this point. I'm looking forward to this next semester and will try to keep y'all updated on what I see and learn. I'll close with a big thank you for all of you who are praying for me. I really appreciate it, and I hope that you will have a good "semester" too, whatever you may be doing! God bless!

Public Service Announcement...of sorts

Another year, another chance to blog...not that I've made use of that opportunity thus far. Until now. Probably because I haven't really had anything to say.

However, since being home, I have been asked a number of questions, many of which were more or less the same. So for those of you who haven't had the chance to ask me those questions or for those who I didn't have time to give a complete answer, I will include here a list of questions and answers. Please feel free to skip to the ones that interest you. :)


Q. How was your time in Israel?
A. Great. Wonderful. Interesting. Life-changing. Etc.
(Note: I understand that this question and ones like it must be asked, but I hope you will forgive me if my answer is somewhat unsatisfactory. I mean, I really have a hard time fitting 3 months worth of descriptions into a 5 minute conversation. If you want to know more call me, we'll hang out and talk and I'm sure I'll be able to think of more stories or even show you pictures. If not, well, it really was an amazing semester.)

Q. Are you going back?
A. Yes, I am going back. Yes, in spite of the war with Gaza and the conflict with Lebanon. While there is some added tension (especially in East Jerusalem - the Palestinian section) it is not likely to affect my life in West Jerusalem very much. At least not at this point.

Q. When are you going back?
A. Lord willing, I will head back on the 26th of January and arrive in Tel Aviv around 2:30pm on the 27th. I'm rather looking forward to NOT arriving at 3 in the morning!

Q. How long will you be there?
A. Yeah, I'm never sure how to answer this one...it kind of has a couple different answers. So I'll give the full explanation here. For now I am heading back for another semester. Which means that I will probably return to the states sometime in May. However, the program I'm in is a two year program. Which means that I will be returning to Israel for my last two semesters probably sometime in August.

Q. Oh yeah, what program are you doing again?
A. I am getting a masters degree in Biblical History and Geography (though I haven't yet decided on my emphasis - Archaeology, Old Testament, Second Temple, or Geography - and I also haven't decided whether or not to do a thesis.)

Q. What's the school like? Are there students from all over? Do you have any classes in English? Are there many believers there?
A. Ok, the school itself is basically American. It is known as "The American Institute" over there and it is associated with a number of Christian schools in America. So all the classes are in English, and almost all of the students are from America (except a few from Korea and one from Nigera...I think that's about all). As far as I know, all of the students and full-time faculty are believers. However, some of the teachers are native to the land (Jewish and Palestinian) and some of the Jews are Jewish in religion as well. So its interesting to get their perspective. If you want to know more, I think I have a link to the school on the right side of this page. Check it out. :)

Q. What was your favorite part?
A. Oh, that's another nearly impossible question...um...
Short answer: I really liked seeing Petra. And the Pyramids. And....now we'll switch to the long answer.
Long answer: Wow, it might be easier to answer what my least favorite part was. That was probably getting sick on the way home from Egypt. Other than that, wow, it was all pretty great. Honestly, though, I have to say, even though it sounds incredibly geeky, that I probably enjoyed learning the most. And trying to fit everything together. And thinking through what I've always been taught and what some of these more "liberal" teachers at the school taught and trying to draw my own conclusions. (And I've used the word "and" far more than it ever should be used.) Anyway, as ungrammatical as this paragraph may be, it really was a very interesting and stretching semester.

Q. Any nice young men over there?
Q. (Alternate) Ain't you datin' no one yit?
A. No, no, no. No. I mean, fine, there are some young men who are nice, but...no. (Kimberlee, do you hear me??)

Q. What are you doing after you graduate.
A. (short answer) I have no idea.
(long answer) Really, I have loads of ideas, it would just take too long to explain them all in a 5 minute conversation. So I don't try. But here, in the quietness of my blog, I will try to take a moment or two to outline a few of my thoughts on the future, in case anyone wants to know. Let's see...where to begin.
1. I am not uninterested in being a wife and mother someday. However, as that is something completely out of my control and therefore rather unplannable, I'll leave this option out of the picture as I list the other options.
2. I have to say that I really miss teaching. So maybe after graduating I might seek out another teaching job. Maybe I'd try to go back to Petra. Maybe I'd go somewhere else. Maybe I'd even try to teach at an MK school.
3. Speaking of MK's, I'm still interested in full-time ministry, especially overseas. Maybe I'd pursue something in this area.
4. As I've learned more about, well, a lot of subjects, I've begun to see more and more of a need for good, conservative, Bible-believing, Christian scholars in all areas. (See previous post.) Anyway, I do like school, though I'm not sure if I like it that much, but I'm wondering if I should pursue a further degree in something and maybe attempt to meet some of those needs. Probably not, but it is a thought in the back of my mind.

Ok, I think those were the most "burning" questions. Let me know if you have any further ones you'd like to see addressed and then tune in next time for another Q&A with Alana. ;)

Love God with your Mind!

"Sadly, perhaps no group is more gullible to these sorts of claims than evangelical Christians." ~Todd Bolen

The unfortunate thing is he could be talking about a wide variety of claims. In this specific case he is talking about the claim a new movie makes that Noah's Ark has been found on a mountain in Iran, but the fact is that Christians are often far too willing to welcome any harebrained idea with open arms, so long as it appears to be at least mildly on "their side." Poor scholarship and a lack of discernment are rampant in the church today, and at times that seems especially true in the more conservative circles. Perhaps it is because there are so few truly conservative scholars doing work today that anything published that seems to support of conservative view is hailed as "proof that the Bible is true!", before the truth of its claims are fairly evaluated. I am, perhaps, being excessively harsh. I will not deny that there are some good, Christian scholars at work and it is possible that even some of the unscholarly "proofs" have some value in them. Nevertheless, we should be able to do better. Christians should be on the leading edge of scholarship in every field, instead of lagging behind, piggy-backing on the shoulders of people who have a different set of foundational beliefs.

This, roughly, is the topic of conversation that came up the other day as my family was talking. We came up with 3 specific areas of study where not only do we rather disagree with the general direction that "secular" scholars are taking the field, but where there is a lack of good, Bible-based scholars.

1. The study of origins (Creation vs. Evolution). This is my dad's passion, and I admit, I take more than a passing interest in it. The thing is, my dad really believes that the Bible contains the answers to the debate and that in ignoring that, both secular and (often) Christian scientists have taken a wrong turn. Unfortunately, Christian scholars often also have really bad science, making them unacceptable to both sides. With "better" (though really also far from perfect) science on the side of the evolutionists, many Christians have been enticed away from faith in the Bible and even faith in God. If only we had a few good scientists who also had good theology! (Some good rhetoric and logic skills wouldn't hurt either. I've seen too many decent scientists/theologians who lose on their presentations.)

2. Counseling and the interaction between soul, brain, and body. (Psychology and Psychiatry vs. Biblical or Nouthetic Counseling) This was brought up by my brother, but is also an area in which I am interested. The problem is that, in general, Psychology and Biblical Counseling are diametrically opposed. Secular Psychology assumes that people are basically good and the Bible says that people are basically sinful. With this very basic difference in understanding of the root of people's problems, obviously the proffered solutions will differ greatly. Psychology, as I understand it, claims to deal more with the immaterial part of a person (mind, soul, emotions, etc.) The Bible was written by the One who created the immaterial part of a person, so it seems likely that, when applied properly, it would have better answers than those made up by other fallible humans. Therefore, I think Biblical Counseling has an edge over modern Psychology. However, we are not merely immaterial beings - we have a physical part, and the two interact and are inseparable. There are times when something going on in the physical body affects the "psyche" or soul. Unfortunately, there are relatively few Biblical counselors (or even Psychologists) who know much of anything about medicine or the brain. Psychiatrists try to fill this need, but there are very few Psychiatrists with a high view of scripture. I dare say there may be some, but I've never heard of any. Think of the connections that could be made and problems that could be solved by a Biblical Counselor who also happened to be a Neuropsychiatrist. Perhaps instead of recklessly trusting drugs that we don't understand to change behavior they could actually get to the root of any physical causes while still counseling godliness for any spiritual causes.

3. Archaeology (especially as it relates to the Bible). This has been my area of consideration for the past semester, and I have probably already written about it. Oh well, at the risk of repeating myself, I'll talk about it anyway. I admit it. I've been brought up to believe the Bible. So imagine my surprise when I realized that almost no one at my school (teacher-wise, at least) believed anything in the Bible. Ok, actually, I wasn't that surprised, and it wasn't quite that bad. Many of the teachers believe parts. What did surprise me, though, was the fact that some of the harshest critics of the historicity of the Bible are theologians. I was also surprised to find that the most conservative scholars in the field didn't even take the Bible seriously. Some of the conclusions they draw, while seeming to support the Bible, in my view actually rather undermine it. Let me try to give an example to explain. The Bible says that Abraham left Haran and went into Canaan (see Genesis 12). Scholars, perhaps because they don't believe the Bible to be anything more than a rough historical remembrance of events long ago, say, "Hmm...let's look for a time when people were migrating from Mesopotamia to Canaan to try to fix the time of the Patriarchs." And if they find such a time, they say, "See, the Bible is true, in that it faithfully preserved a memory of the past. Abraham himself probably didn't exist, but people like him did!" On the other hand, I, believing Abraham to be a real person, would say, "Wouldn't Abraham's migration be rather unique at the time he left? Otherwise, why would God have to give him special instructions? And if He did, why would it take any special faith on Abraham's part to follow them? If everyone else was doing it, what was the big deal? Wouldn't it seem more likely that this movement of Abraham was very unusual at this time?" I could be wrong, but looking at the Bible, I often find that I would make fundamentally different assumptions than those that most scholars make.) At any rate, the more I learn about archaeology, the more questions I have. What is presented in class really doesn't fit with what the Bible says, which brings many questions to my mind. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many people in the field asking those same questions. There is such a need for conservative Christians in archaeology!

I'll add a couple disclaimers here. :)
1. I by no means want to set up scientific knowledge as a sort of "savior." I do think, though, that as Christians we should pursue knowledge, both scientific and other, to the glory of God, for the furtherance of the kingdom, and to help us better understand Him. As Christians who know and worship the God of truth, I also think we are best equipped to find more truth, if we apply ourselves rightly.

2. Obviously, I believe the Bible is true, and I take a fairly literal, conservative interpretation of it. This point of view is generally scorned by researchers and scientists in the above fields. Leaving aside the question of whether or not this is the correct view of scripture, I think that science is done a great diservice by people automatically rejecting anything from this view point. If nothing else, it offers a different set of base assumptions and therefore asks different questions than pretty much everyone else in the field. I would contend that if science is to progress and stay healthy, it needs to be able to answer these questions too.

And the conclusion? I still have more questions than answers, and still have only one lifetime to try to figure things out. So, if anyone reading this has interests in any of these areas (or other areas - we need Christians everywhere!) maybe let this challenge you to pursue excellence in your field, to be uniquely Biblical in your viewpoint, and to share your findings with the world.

A taste of my joys since arriving state-side

December 15, 2008 12:10 am
I arrived home, still sick from Egypt, after traveling, well, hmm, 2 or so days straight. Let me tell you, it was nice to lay down finally! I left the sands of Egypt on Saturday morning with temperatures probably in the 80's.I arrived home to snow and temperatures in the -20's. Yeah, that was something of a shock to my system. Still, it was good to be home. :)

December 16, 2008 12:05pm
I stopped by Petra to have lunch. That was the first time I'd seen most of my students since June. It was really fun to see them again, even for a short time.

December 17, 2008 2:45pm
I was still sick and not really feeling better, so we visited the doctor. I probably would have gotten better on my own eventually, but he gave me drugs which sped up the process a bit.

December 19, 2008 8:10am
I went to Petra again, to hang out for their day-before-Christmas-break-celebration-and-house-competition. It was nice to have a little more time to talk to both students and teachers there. It made me realize just how much I missed teaching there. Will I ever teach there again? God knows.

December 21, 2008
I went to church in the morning, and was able to see and talk to quite a few people, which was nice. Also went to church in the evening when they had a report from a small team that went to Turkey. (Have I mentioned that I really want to go to Turkey??) They showed clips from the film "Bethlehem Star" which was interesting, at least. We then went home and celebrated Christmas (Mom, Dad, Larissa, and I).

December 22, 2008 5:30am
My alarm went off. We headed to the airport to catch our 8:00 plane to Kentucky. Well, technically, the plane took us to Minneapolis, where we caught a connecting flight to Kentucky. We eventually got here and I got to see my brother and sister-in-law, also for the first time since June.

December 24, 2008
We celebrated Christmas again, this time with Joel and Rachel.
December 25, 2008 9:30am
We got in the van and drove to Elizabethtown to visit my Aunt Erica, Uncle Chuck, and my cousins Vicki, Chas, Amy, Jessica, and Jonathan and celebrate Christmas with them. We played Rook, ate a lot, opened more gifts, played music, and I showed pictures from Israel. We spent the night there and the next day we worked on the deck and the pump, took a walk, and made chicken pot pie and jello fluff for dinner before heading back to Joel and Rachel's.

December 27, 2008 9:00am
We're caught up to today! This morning we went to Bardstown, which is, I believe, something like the second oldest town in Kentucky. It had a tavern from 1779.
We visited a distillery (The Maker's Mark-gotta love that Kentucky Bourbon...or something. Interesting tour, at least),
Drove by the location where Abraham Lincoln lived as a child,
and walked around downtown.

So really, I've managed to stay fairly busy since arriving "home." :) Of course, I still have a month to go...