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Saturday, August 13, 2005

I was translating from Codex Beza today. In class we were translating a section from Mark but not from the normal UBS or NA text. It was so cool to be reading from a text, even though it was a western text, that wasn't cut and pasted together from differernt readings.

I had the last meeting of my last summer course. A greek class worth one hour. We met weekly and translated. Parts of it were very fun but I got very tired of it in the end. My translations actually got sloppier as the summer went along. I think part of it was that I was in summer mode and didn't care to do much work.

Here is a quote to think of:

Generally bu the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.

Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Some time ago I helped a dear friend load up her moving truck and go. My help was paid for with what is called a Sorbet Fizz. The Sorbet Fizz is TCBY's mix of sorbet and sprite. It is an amazing drink. There is a fizzy creamyness to it that tingles the tummy and brings joy to the palat. This certain Fizz I drank was Orange Sorbet. I love that orangy taste especially when it is mixed with the tingle of soda.

Yesterday I was going to treat myself to a sorbet fizz, just as I had it before. The Orange, the fizz... wow what a combo then after standing in a long line at TCBY I found they had no orange sorbet. So without thinking I just figured they were out and went to another TCBY, this is memphis we have like fifteen of everything in driving distance and like fifty starbucks shops.

So I walked into the other TCBY and made my request, "One large Sorbet Fizz please," and the individual behind the counter began to make my fizz, I had figured it would be just like that first one I had that brought so much joy to my palat. Then he finished, and set it before me, it was green, not the wonderful orange that I had before. I said to this man, "last time I had this it was Orange," and his reply almost broke me.

"The flavor changes with the sorbet of the day." I didn't take the green monster before, hung my head and walked out the door.

Today I went to the supermarket, picked up some Orange Sherbet, and Sprite. I mixed them together using my hand mixer. After two tries, I never matched the taste of that Sorbet Fizz. Maybe it is because of the sentiment of the situation... something I will never taste again because the taste was not simply the mix of two wonderful ingrediants but also the situation of seeing a dear friend leave... The bitterness of an event showing me the depth of the sweetness for so long I had been a part of.

Maybe I will never have another good sorbet fizz, but I will always have the wonderful memory of that sweet mix of orange sorbet and sprite.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

I feel like the Lord lead me to Ezekiel 34 today. It is a wonderful passage of scripture. The thing is to me that I don't know a lot about the book of Ezekiel, only that a lot of weird stuff goes on in it. Before writing this I had to consult a commentary and at that I have found that the book is very complicated. Ezekiel is among the exiles in Babylon, and I can't talk much about the message he is carrying and to whom he is carrying it. Regardless, this leads me to study the book of Ezekiel better in the future. I believe the temple has been destroyed by this time Jews are in exile, it is looking pretty bad and they aren't expected to get out of exile any time soon.

Chapter 35 is intersting, it is about a shepherd, and sheep. You see the shepherds had grown fat, so they were judged in their obesity. Then there were the sheep, they had gone astray for lack of leadership. Ezekiel points out (as I take the cannonical purpose of Ezekiel) that God makes the decision to gather his sheep back together. Chapter 37 is one of those well known chapters about the dry bones comming to life. The dry bones represent Israel and they, as Israel will come back to life.

These allagories strike me from the perspective of one who wants to be clergy. I am reminded about how easy it is to make my Bible study a matter of acedemics instead of God. See, the greats, St Basil, Athenasius, even Augustine, the entire purpose of their writing was to bring people closer to God. If you read my booklist below you might even note that I add CS Lewis to this. All of these men had their flaws, but their point it to help people understand God and the things that keep us from him.

Things like that were all thrown out the window in the 19th century with the rise of modernism and of German Libralism (Libral meaning the critical study of scripture apart from faith). There is currently a rise in the desire to go back to faith based study. To making it be about knowing God.

Of course let me get back to why this chapter strikes me. Will I be a fat shepherd or a good shepherd. This has nothing to do with my weight but how I vew my ministry. Simply put will I make it God centered or me centered. One way that manifests istself is in my desire to work and play well with others. I don't think during the day, how can this bring me closer to God, I think , "what can I get out of this?" As a leader people will depend on me. That is why I have been so thankful that I have the chance to be in seminary. My time around spiritual giants changes me, humbles me, and helps me understand there is a mystery to all of this. But still, I fear, I fear of falling into the pit of being a fat shepherd.

Now I take into account that we read this section as a messianic prophesy and that I am not the "Good Shepherd," but it also makes me ask, "What kind of leader am I amongst the sheep?"
My computer is sick, I think it has had some unprotected contact with other computers. What is funny is that I have an antivirus program, a spyware thing, and a firewall. What the heck.

Anyway... I want to give a "must read," or a "books I like" list.

Non Fiction
Mere Christianity- CS Lewis
1 Corinthians - Richard Oster
Practicing the Presence of God- Brother Lawrence
The Imitation of Christ- Thomas a Kempis
1 Maccabeas
Tobit
The Book of Commin Prayer
St. Chrysostems Liturgy

Theologcial Fiction
Chronicles of Narnia- CS Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet- CS Lewis
Till they Have Faces- CS Lewis
In the Beginning- Chaim Potock
Davida's Harp- Chaim Potock
Night- Eli Wiesel
Dawn- Eli Wiesel
Jacob's Ladder- Noah Ben Shea

Fiction
The Unabridged Hitchikers Guide- Douglass Adams
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul- Douglass Adams
The Lord of the Rings- Tolkein
Blankets- Craig Thompson
Arabian Nights - Any Good Translation
For one volume Jack Zipes/ Malphers and Mathers in 4 Volumes

This is a working list, what do you think?

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

I was sitting on my couch this evening with Abraham, one of my birds, sitting on my shoulder. I made pirate sounds a few times because, well I mean, do I really need to explain it? I really wish I had a picture of it to post but what can you do?