Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4, KJV).
This famous image of liberation readily becomes symbolic of all triumph of order and good over evil and chaos. The old spiritual has it exactly right:
Oh Mary, don't you weep don't you mourn
Oh Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn.
Pharaoh's army got drownded,
Oh Mary don't you weep.
'Mary' could be Mary of Bethany imploring Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead, or Jesus’ mother at the foot of the cross, being reassured that the unimaginably awful scene before her is not the end of history. Pharaoh's army got drownded - and the meaning of Good Friday is known only on Easter Day.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 22 August 2011
22nd August 2011
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God (1 Kings 19:4-8).
Elijah, in the space of a few short verses, descends from the giddy heights of victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to the depths of suicidal depression in the wilderness. In this state he twice has an angelic visitation. The angel does not miraculously lift his depression but first provides sustenance for Elijah’s present condition and, on a second occasion, provides food and drink for a forty day journey through the wilderness. Only at the end of this long journey does Elijah have a transformational encounter with God. Food, drink and the presence of ministering angels are essential accompaniments through the long journey of depression.
Elijah, in the space of a few short verses, descends from the giddy heights of victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to the depths of suicidal depression in the wilderness. In this state he twice has an angelic visitation. The angel does not miraculously lift his depression but first provides sustenance for Elijah’s present condition and, on a second occasion, provides food and drink for a forty day journey through the wilderness. Only at the end of this long journey does Elijah have a transformational encounter with God. Food, drink and the presence of ministering angels are essential accompaniments through the long journey of depression.
Monday, 15 August 2011
15th August 2011
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12).
If God revealed himself to Moses at Sinai through fire and earthquake (Exodus 19:18), this is precisely not the case for Elijah. This text subverts the typical biblical language of theophany. Elijah here learns that God is not necessarily to be found in spectacular signs such as he had previously witnessed on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40).
This text is the inspiration for the American Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier’s great hymn:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!
If God revealed himself to Moses at Sinai through fire and earthquake (Exodus 19:18), this is precisely not the case for Elijah. This text subverts the typical biblical language of theophany. Elijah here learns that God is not necessarily to be found in spectacular signs such as he had previously witnessed on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40).
This text is the inspiration for the American Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier’s great hymn:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!
Monday, 8 August 2011
8th August 2011
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. I Corinthians 9:24
The Greeks celebrated physical achievements; here, the Greek-speaking St Paul draws on that cultural tradition for a metaphor for the Christian life. English poets seem drawn to the alliterative possibilities of ‘race’ and ‘run’. Wordsworth describes how the watchful sun marks the diurnal patterns of our passing life – years: ‘another race hath been, and other palms are won’ (‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1802-04), l. 199). Many people will also remember J. Mansell’s exhortation to ‘Run the straight race through God’s good grace’ from the Victorian hymn ‘Fight the Good Fight’ (English Hymnal, 389)
The Greeks celebrated physical achievements; here, the Greek-speaking St Paul draws on that cultural tradition for a metaphor for the Christian life. English poets seem drawn to the alliterative possibilities of ‘race’ and ‘run’. Wordsworth describes how the watchful sun marks the diurnal patterns of our passing life – years: ‘another race hath been, and other palms are won’ (‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1802-04), l. 199). Many people will also remember J. Mansell’s exhortation to ‘Run the straight race through God’s good grace’ from the Victorian hymn ‘Fight the Good Fight’ (English Hymnal, 389)
Monday, 1 August 2011
1st August 2011
From Daniell, David (2003), The Bible in English: its history and influence, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press
‘The Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Holy Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionary for morning and evening prayer. This was the third such official translation into English; the first having been the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second having been the Bishop's Bible of 1568. In January 1604, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans, a faction within the Church of England.'
‘The Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Holy Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionary for morning and evening prayer. This was the third such official translation into English; the first having been the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second having been the Bishop's Bible of 1568. In January 1604, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans, a faction within the Church of England.'
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