The Turtle Speaks

for this contribution to YouTube with some guy named Don singing in the background.

I think it’s timely and well done. You may have to watch it more than once to catch the subtleties.

I’m back in Canada at Nueltin with my father-in-law. Good Times™

For the interested, there are some Facebook photos.

How was N.T. Wright on the Colbert Report last week and I didn’t watch?

Definitely want to read the book…

I received the call tonight at 6:36. Moments early, my dad explained, Judy had passed away.

My aunt was, to say the least, a unique woman. Her fashion was, at best, her own. Mismatched earrings my uncle, the roadie, had found after concerts paired with a slightly over-sized black shirt and jeans. And that long hair.

I can remember, as a child, sitting in the living room of my Grannie’s house in Plano, at Christmas, brushing Judy’s hair.

I remember how she thought my favorite color should be purple because I looked good in purple. And how, when I was a child, she gave me a doll dressed in a satin-like purple dress. She was so proud to have found a doll decked out in my favorite color.

I remember how she called me, darlin’. And honey.

I remember how she came up for my wedding because she had promised me years before that she would be there.

I remember that she would remind me how I was born on her anniversary. She would tell me how people said she and my uncle would never make it and how every year they proved them wrong again.

And I remember when my senior year boyfriend broke up with me that she told me the most important thing in life is to hold your head up high like a lady and take pride in yourself.

She always believed in me.

Judy passed away tonight after a five year battle with cancer. And though a fighter to the last, my mom described the amazing peace that entered her Dallas hospital room- as her breaths become quieter … stilling … slowly… to all but a whisper … until they were gone. Then peace.

Her life wasn’t easy, but it was full of joy and faithfulness and spunk. And she will, in so many ways, be missed.

On my recent trip to Israel I wanted to buy a local souvenir to remind me of my trip and integrate with my faith. Among the gems hidden among the tourist traps were several antiquity shops. Some people purchased Widow’s Mites or Denarius or other such items (I purchased a bronze Roman ring that I lost when we moved a few months ago). I wanted something different. When I saw a coin from the second year (AD 133) of the Bar Kochba revolt, I knew that was the souvenir I wanted.

Who was bar Kochba and why did he revolt? Glad you asked. Simeon ben-Kosiba, renamed Simeon bar Kochba (’son of a star’ which is a Messianic allusion from Numbers), was a Jewish revolutionary. He was proclaimed by many as the Messiah and the populace rallied around him as they prepared to throw off pagan powers. In 132, new coins were minted with the year 1 on them, signifying the beginning of the new nation under the man who would would, in the tradition of the Maccabees, bring about God’s deliverance.

The revolt shook the Roman Empire to its core. Recent archaeological evidence shows how much the Jews rallied behind their leader and how the Romans initially faced some difficulty. After gathering themselves, the Romans crushed the Jews (hundreds of thousands were supposedly killed) in 135. Survivors were exiled from Jerusalem as it was rebuilt as a pagan city.

Why is this important, beyond the historical interest? Because it is the story of a man who was hailed as a Messiah, had a three-year reign, was killed by the Romans, and the movement died, never to be revived. One hundred years earlier another less-popular man had a similar mission, with a few modifications, and today his followers number in the billions. What’s the difference? The claims in what happened after they died.

I have the Bar Kochba coin to remind me, in contrast with the results of his rebellion, of the transformative power of the resurrection of Jesus and the billions that, after his death, claim him as their Lord. With Jesus, no one took up arms (save one or two misguided apostles), no one minted coins signifying rule, and no one lost their life in battle. Instead, people have put down their arms, given their coins and possessions to Caesar and the poor, and lost their lives in service to others.

As usual, a few quotes from N. T. Wright say it better that I could (emphasis mine):

In particular, we have no reason to suppose that after the crucifixion of a would-be messiah anyone would suppose that he had been exalted to a place either of world rulership or divine lordship. Nobody, so far as we know, ever suggested that this was the case after the deaths of Judas the Galilean, Simon bar-Giora, or Simeon ben-Kosiba. Actually, such a suggestion would most likely have been regarded as at best ridiculous and at worst scandalous. The failure of such men to lead a successful messianic movement debarred them from further consideration as candidates for such a position. Even if someone had made such a suggestion, however, they would not then have gone on to say that this person had been “raised from the dead.” Belief in exaltation alone would not lead, in the world of first-century Judaism, to belief in resurrection. If, by contrast, we suppose that the followers of a crucified would-be messiah first came to believe that he had been bodily raised from the dead, then we can trace a clear line by which they subsequently would have come to believe that he must be the Messiah. And if he was the Messiah, then he was also the world ruler promised in Psalm 89 and Daniel 7, and thus he was exalted over the world, and so on. All our texts suggest that this actually was the train of thought that the early Christians followed.

And again, challenging those who deny the literal physical resurrection of Jesus in favor of a metaphorical sense:

Once again, let us be clear. If, after the death of Simon bar-Giora in Titus’ triumph in Rome, or if, after the death of Simeon ben-Kosiba in 135, you had claimed that Simon, or Simeon, really was the Messiah, you would invite a fairly sharp response from the average first-century Jew. If, by way of explanation, you said that you had had a strong sense of Simon, or Simeon, as still being with you, still supporting and leading you, the kindest response you might expect would be that their angel or spirit was still communicating with you—not that he had been raised from the dead. So far as we know, the followers of the first-century messianic or quasi-messianic movements were fanatically committed to the cause. They, if anybody, might be expected to suffer from cognitive dissonance after the death of their great leader. In no other case, however, right across the century before Jesus and the century after him, do we hear of any Jewish group saying that their executed leader had been raised again from the dead.

The very fact that they are Christians today shows early on people were convinced God had worked mightily and powerfully through him and that he is the ruler of the world. That’s what I want to remember, and I’m glad I have the coin as a physical reminder.

To the person who came to this blog asking “should anyways be used in a sentence?” I hope you found your answer.

(It’s “no,” if you didn’t).

Coffee. It tastes ok. It’s perky. It carries a certain atmosphere about it. It also goes great with pie.

Now the BBC comes out and says that “daily caffeine ‘protects brain.’” Quotage:

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests. The drink has already been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, and a study by a US team for the Journal of Neuroinflammation may explain why.

UK experts said it was the “best evidence yet” of coffee’s benefits.

“This is the best evidence yet that caffeine equivalent to one cup of coffee a day can help protect the brain against cholesterol.

Since my painful break-up, coffee has been a good friend. She continues to impress. She asks so little, but gives so much.

In looking through the blog stats, I see there are some of you who come from the same site several times a month to check this blog to see if something is new. Presumably you also are checking sites of other family members, news sites, and the like. Is there a better way? Yes. RSS.

Or, if you’re a visual learner, this short video explains it wonderfully:

Everyone who visits a blog or news site more than once a month should use an RSS reader. You can use them online (as the video suggests) though there are also advantages to a desktop (offline) reader.

I personally use a free product from http://www.newsgator.com/ which I like. (And yes, technically I know that RSS is not the new way to use the net, but since it’s severely underutilized by netizens, I was hoping calling something ‘new’ would entice people).

Now that you’re using RSS, you can use your free time to write comments on blogs or learn to juggle.

What do Jeff Buckley, Rob Bell, and Qohelet have in common? They’ve all helped formulate and crystalize some ideas in my mind regarding the nature of life and how we are to live it.

Qohelet, another word for Ecclesiastes, speaks of God’s hand at work in the daily lives of people:

 Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. Let your garments always be white; do not let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.

Jeff Buckley, the singer/songwriter best known for his enthralling cover of Leonard Cohen’s hallelujah, speaks of the spirituality of intimate relationships, and experiencing grace (the title of his best-known album) and eternal life (a song title). To listen to Buckley sing his passionate lyrics is to hear someone whose spirit and life is infused with a recognition of the otherness that invades and pervades life in a mysterious way, so infusing that all he can do is sing passionately.

Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, and author of Velvet Elvis speaks frequently of the differences between Christianity as a thought process (Western) and a way of life (Eastern). Bell speaks of the presence of God in daily life; in breaking bread and sharing drink with neighbors, watching children play, doing service, sitting doing nothing, grocery shopping, etc.

One of the unfortunate legacies of the Enlightenment is the compartmentalizing of life. People talk about their personal life, work life, love life, and so on. While the validity of these divisions may be debated, one segment of life that it doesn’t apply to is one’s spiritual life. To say that a person has a spiritual life is to imply that there is a segment of a person’s psyche that is characterized by faith or spiritual things.

But faith doesn’t shouldn’t work like that.

As the biblical writers describe a person’s life, there is no word or concept of Spiritual as opposed to other components of life. There is just life. Life lived before God with an understanding of his role and presence in the world. Life that incorporates the mundane elements of existence with the realization of deeper overtones and meanings within all.

When the NT writers use spiritual, it refers to a mindset or gift from God rather than a component of life that is somehow separate from the physical. The OT writers do not use spiritual at all because their conception of God and his work is more integrated into the national consciousness than the NT writers who have to combat paganism and Greek dualism in their writings.

I’m not talking about pantheism or panentheism here, but rather a deep recognition of the work and hand of God in all we do, say, and experience. I feel this has been neglected in the expressions of Christian faith that I have been exposed to. To quote Bell:

This is not just the same old message with new methods. We’re rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life. Legal metaphors for faith don’t deliver a way of life. We grew up in churches where people knew the nine verses why we don’t speak in tongues, but had never experienced the overwhelming presence of God.

Thanks Rob, Qohelet, and Jeff for helping me recognize the Spiritual in everyday life.

I came across an unfortunate comparison between new British and United States currency. I’m not graphic designer, but — and it’s perhaps a [n unfortunate?] side effect of being an Apple user — I appreciate style.

Quite a bit.

That’s one of the reasons I love my wife. That’s why I enjoy well-designed software and prefer Australian currency and products that favor form as much as function.

I’d nearly move to Britain for this currency. For now, I’ll just use a credit card and not have to look at our money…