Jesus Saved. Now what will we do with ThAt?!?

A recent Facebook post by Rev. Dr. Allan R. Bevere began a conversation about the necessity of participation in ecumenical dialogue. Several weighed in espousing a belief in relativism, some arguing in favor and others against. Unbeknownst to them, most fell into the categories of either inclusivist or pluralist. Allan weighed in as a member of "both categories". I weighed in as an "outside the three".

The three traditional categories of interfaith position, exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist don't do it for me. While I admire the exclusivist's passion in their faith, I dislike the consequence of it when in discourse with others as it leaves little to no room for any other opinion to be valid, of value, or sometimes, even to be heard. The inclusivists I find closer to something that makes sense to me but quickly comes to a halt as their view of salvation in my opinion may be short sited. I admire too the pluralist's respect for the value of diversity, for their desire for unity, and many other aspects of their position. However, I hold to the belief that there is ultimate truth, that God has revealed it to and for humanity, and that Jesus Christ did do something very important here, as both human and God. How humanity interprets that "ultimate truth" and "revelation" is a different matter, one for much discussion.


Which brings me to this: the older I get, the more I come to believe that Jesus really did come for everyone. Yes, everyone. In other words, we are all saved. However, I currently believe that with salvation comes responsibility (think limited free-will). You must choose to participate in that which you are already enrolled, or choose to reject that association -- just like Adam and Eve. Reject it and suffer the consequences. Accept it and accept the responsibilities of it. Accepting also comes with bonus packages should you choose such as gifts of the Holy Spirit given in baptism to fulfill those responsibilities and the Church to walk with you in community and offer a place of belonging as you work together. I do not yet see a middle ground.

However, I do see a lot of people in the world trying to make sense of what they observe. I see seekers and searchers trying to determine what they are doing with this higher being that they witness in creation. Their life experiences, exploration of the world, and discoveries can and do inform humanity as to the bigger picture that God has created/allowed in the world. Like me, they seek and search for meaning, understanding, belonging, and purpose. This should be no surprise as God created humanity and did so in God's image. God did not create a series of classes of humanoid beings of various values to be weighed, ranked and used.

While I have a long way to go to test this theory, it is where I stand on such matters for the moment. (Admittedly, I spent a month trying to figure out what to do with baptism if we are all saved. That was thanks to an off hand comment overheard at worship on Sunday from a stranger.) That said, I truly welcome your insights. Your thoughts will help me come to understand God better too. And for that, I thank you in advance.

Bell's Hell

I never post enough. I'm sorry. So it's with great joy I offer the commentary of one professor of Church History (among other things) on Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Dr. John Byron, author of The Biblical World blog, reviews Bell's work in a series of posts, the second of which is the most interesting as of this writing.

Enjoy, Love Wins: My Thoughts on an Attempt at Asking some Important Questions (Part II).

Dancing, Stray Cats, and an Apertif

I was recently asked to share my experience/advice/wisdom/stupidity/etc in finding a thesis topic with several bright-eyed-with-wonder, excited, first year masters students. Honestly, where do you start? How do you explain a process that developed gradually and really had very little to do with you?

My thesis topic evolved like a building of a Lego set. No way would I have chosen this topic. But, like the wisdom once shared with me on a campaign trail after several glasses of refreshment *cough - scotch - cough*, you don't choose a career, a career chooses you. Apparently, in my case, my thesis chose me, kind of like a stray cat that will not leave your back porch in the middle of the night but instead yowls into the wee hours of the morning until you drag your sorry butt out of bed and toss it a can of tuna... but you only open it half way in silent protest before stumbling over a book bag, three pairs of stillettos, and a bunched floor throw your own cat created in its quest to play I Gotcha! with his furry blue mouse at 2 am while snickering at the stray out back.

My process for discovery of said thesis really began with things I noticed. I noticed stuff that I wasn't really all that fond of, like a church that hired an armed off duty police officer to keep the poor away and how the world beat up disaster response ministers so badly that they themselves became victims of their own ministry. This stuff ticked me off and our collective response to both was, "oh well. We'll just forget them or give them a little respite and it will all be okay." No, it's not going to be ok. Not without a lot of other stuff happening. But it is a lot easier to sweep things under the rug, isn't it?

The problem is that when you sweep things under the rug, your cat, in an effort to play hide-the-mouse, kicks up all that dirt and dust. And before you know it, you're covered in it while wearing white with 40 people on their way to enjoy an aperitif or two and your stunning comestibles.

I decided that I could research and reason and wonder and growl and throw shoes and all the rest to make sense of what I saw. Or, I could be sensible and ask God. So, I prayed. God eventually revealed to me a vision that, over time, I am confident will become a revelation worthy of an 85-100 page thesis. Research, rhetoric, writing, etc helped me to make sense of this idea and before long, I had a topic.

Two other colleagues spoke on their experiences of topic selection. One beautiful soul entered into her coursework determined to write on the prophets only to discover that she had a love affair with a woman who pleads with a king. Another soul had some powerful experiences in his life that has led him to seek answers to questions about why and how. Both were seemingly driven anthropologically, one by heart, one by head, both valid in their approach.

In my case, I have done enough stuff for me over the years. I truly want my work to be for someone else. So I opened my heart and my head to God, trusted in the divine, and laid my tired and frightened head upon his lap to listen. Of course, being an exhausted grad student, I fell asleep. But when I awoke! it was clear and I was to use both my heart and my head to care for the task I was given.

The spiritual disciplines, in the words of Richard Foster, are "liberation from the stifling slavery to self interest and fear. When the inner spirit is liberated from all that weighs it down, it can hardly be described as dull drudgery. Singing, dancing, even shouting characterize the Disciplines of the spiritual life." Dance I will. And as deep calls to deep (and in the words of my departed grandmother), I shall let the words flooooooow!

Did Tyndale die in vain?

It is a great honor to humbly present to you perhaps the greatest Sunday School friend, the clever pastor's best source, the message from Jesus himself: The Sacred Sandwich!

Ok, maybe not quite all that. But it is one of the FUNNIEST blogs I've had the pleasure to read. May your day be the better for enjoying their contributions.

Sincerely,

Your author

Anonymous Academic Intimacy?

As many know I am assisting in an OT class this summer. I have always felt very fortunate to have this opportunity but I really do not think I appreciated it in its entirety.

The professor recently posed an assignment for the students to write letters home, reflecting on the course to date and the most challenging "what I've learned from this" or "what I'm still struggling with" bits and pieces. Their honesty and depth of sharing is remarkable. I have witnessed students move from "What is this silly blog thing?" to commenting on very deep thoughts of one another about everything from an understanding of God to domestic violence to "wait, you mean that isn't historical? But I've been quoting that as fact for years!".

One of the students commented on how they preferred learning in a live classroom setting. This initially brought much agreement. As such, I composed a short response that offered a different view. In a classroom, not everyone is heard. Sometimes it is a matter of time. Not all students are great orators. Some produce better stuff once they have had a chance to digest the material. And some just get distracted by Facebook. You might get to know a person by their attire, their ability to orate well, their loudness or meekness, their body language, or even by their intellectual contributions. But do you really get to know them well? Do they know you? What have you really learned from one another? In a class I took this past spring, I really only learned from two other students. Most of what I obtained was from the professor, the assignments and from processing discussions with non class members over "Margarita Mondays" - a weekly discipleship group so dubbed by a table top weekly promotion card at our local gathering spot.

On line learning allows for everyone to participate and in fact, requires it. Everyone has a voice and every voice is considered. I have found them all to be valuable, especially when they interact as many interesting things surface that would never come to be in a classroom of 25 or 30 (or even 12-15). The time given the reflections and contributions makes them more thoughtful and deep. A certain level of intimacy develops. I may not know these people by their body language but I know what is important to them. I know where they are on their journey to understand certain texts. I know how the information is going to influence their ministries and how they personally interact with others who are important to them. I have learned about many of their passions. I know more about how they understand God and what they think God knows about them. And I have learned this about every single one of them.

It is indeed humbling and I thank God as I am privileged to witness it.

Digging

I logged into Facebook this morning to catch up on friends news as I have been away from an internet connected computer for a whole day. What I found was somewhat saddening...

1. An article by an atheist who writes on religion. He's decided to dig through the number of clergy in pastoral positions who don't believe in God. Unfortunately, he sort of dances gleefully through the article missing the point that doubt is not atheism. Broke my heart on a number of different levels.
2. A quote from John Wesley about Christianity being a social religion and how turning it into a solitary religion destroys it brought dissent from one person. He first attacks Wesley for being greedy (which was rebutted well) but then argues that faith is personal: single, solitary and personal. Major problem with this. First off, it's impossible. Faith is something that changes your heart and your way of being. simply as you live your faith, others are affected. Secondly, faith should help you recognize that God has granted you gifts and those gifts should be used among one another in community. You share yours. You receive others. Etc. That cannot be done apart from a social engagement. Third, the "personal choice for Jesus" stuff drives me bonkers if for no other reason than it oversimplifies faith and baptism, it assumes a commitment that may not be there, and it often falls short of helping nurture the person along in their faith walk into deeper understanding of the triune God. I could go on digging but I'll stop here as there is a number three...
3. A classmate from grad school is on dig at the moment, working through some nifty bronze era stuff. You can follow her chuckle heavy trip here. I love having smart, successful friends!

Bible, In Context

Thanks to Allan Bevere for sharing this nice little clip by N.T. Wright on understanding the Bible in context. Good stuff!

Computers are Like Old Testament Gods

'Tis not every day this student is invited to serve as an aid for an Old Testament class. Perhaps that is why I am enjoying the work so very much despite the technical issues for some students who are learning to master the servant of software in the battlefield of ones and zeros. For them, I offer these thoughts from great thinkers of our time.

Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy. ~Joseph Campbell

Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog. ~Doug Larson

The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back. ~Author Unknown

But they are useless. They can only give you answers. ~Pablo Picasso, about computers

In God we trust, all others we virus scan. ~Author Unknown

Rebooting is a wonder drug - it fixes almost everything. ~Garrett Hazel, "Help Desk Blues," 2002

Jesus saves! The rest of us better make backups. ~Author Unknown

There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the network. ~Guy Almes


And a little poetry...

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
~Suzie Wagner, 1998

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
~David Dixon, 1998, winning entry of the Haiku Error Messages 21st Challenge by Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau, sponsored by Salon.com

Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that
~Margaret Segall, 1998

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
~Peter Rothman, 1998

A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
~David J. Liszewski, 1998

Lastly, "If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done." ~Scott Adams. *snicker*

A "Thank you!" to QuoteGarden!

Virtual Blushing

This semester seems to be the semester of the techno geek. My Theology of Evangelism class considered evangelism and mission in a virtual world setting like Second Life. I have jumped on board as a tech assistant for a DL class on the Hebrew Bible. And for an ethics class, I composed a little paper on the merits of church in virtual space. The paper is entitled, "Wherever Two or Three are Gathered in My Name, I am Virtually There" (Ekklesia in the Metaverse Church). Research required 17 straight hours of worship in virtual space, bible studies, interviews, and fellowship experiences, some good, and some really really (did I mention really?) bad.

After toiling with this paper I popped out for a grade, a former professor asked to post it on his blog. It's enough to make a girl virtually blush. Post he did. Here. Hope you enjoy something I think to be a thought provoking and somewhat mind bending topic that challenges our way of thinking about what makes church, a church. Special thanks to Allan Bevere for his interest, encouragement, ability to turn a bad paper into something hopefully interesting, and patience with putting up with a smart mouthed kid in two of his classrooms.

It's Official! I'm a TANAK Techno Geek!

As I dig through the pile of texts on atrocity and human agency (not to mention free will and doctrine of humanity), I received a spiffy little email from one Dr. Brooke Lester informing me that I have been selected by the faculty committee of OT distance learning (consisting only of said Lester) to serve as assistant to a summer course. This is exciting news especially as all I have really ever wanted to do was teach. Okay, and maybe bring about world peace. But now really is not the time to discuss it. Popcorn?

That all said, we should be seeing some newbies pop in here in a bit. Those brave enough to wander by the Blogfire of the Vanities, I welcome you. May the links on the right be helpful in your quest to make sense of Coogan and to order your time line. If it helps, this photo depicts my time line and is the result of a semester of work that now hangs in my dining room. My boyfriend attempted to touch a sticky once... he now is without two fingers. Meanwhile, my adviser tells me that The Sticky should not be allowed in a graduate student's life. I have since made arrangements for an armed guard to stand watch in the event of any funny business. (Even the critter walks to the other side of the dining room table now. Wise critter.)

Rabbi Herman Schaalman once commented that one cannot be a Christian without first being a Jew. With my deep appreciation for the Hebrew Bible, I cannot agree more. For it is in understanding the Old Testament that we come to appreciate the depth and richness of Christ's life and resurrection. My hope for all new OT students is that you will come to love our origins and find inspiration in our Christian story, driving you closer to the fullness of Christ. May you all be blessed!

Red Shoe Theology

The semester is coming to a close with finals approaching. I am deeply disappointed that I have had little time to compose brilliant (or at least mildly entertaining) posts to share with the blogosphere. But, in the spirit of resilient and persistent women everywhere, I offer you a post by a classmate entitled "Red Shoes". Here, this graduating woman shares the history of a long standing tradition in honor of the first female theology faculty member in the United States, Georgia Harkins. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Harkins and many other fine theology faculty. We are blessed for Her contribution and efforts to raise the bar for women in our field.

These are my red shoes this year. They are Enzos, Starlite, available at Nordstroms.

Visit Red Shoes here!

No, it's really simple

If there is one thing I know it is that theology, understanding, and frankly, life is always more complicated than we think. In honour of this discovery, I offer you the following tee, available in all sizes, pink for ladies, white for boys from badscience.net. This was on my Christmas wish list. Now, it is on my St. Patrick's Day wish list. I will be envious if you get one first, but it is not for the reason you will think. It is far more complicated!


A special thanks to Dr. Brooke Lester of Anumma for putting me on to this little gem!

Dictionary Addition

We at the Blogfire of the Vanities humbly propose to you, the gentle reader, the following term for addition to your theological vocabulary. This word is sinfusion.

Sinfusion: [sin-fyoo-zhuh n]
- noun
1. the coercion of a derogatory or sinful behavior into another person's soul
2. peer pressure
3. the act of a steeping or soaking of one's soul in temptation by one's friends: Here Steve, have another beer!
4. attempting to corrupt another into committing sin against themselves or others
5. the care, feeding and nurture of preexisting and or hidden sinful behavior in another person

There went the pipe theory...

Biblical Archeology Review just posted the following:

Results from recent DNA analysis performed on the mummy of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun have revealed that he was a product of inbreeding, disabled and suffered from malaria. By mapping chromosomes from the DNA of various mummies, researchers were able to link family lines and found that King Tut’s parents, Akhenaten and a woman whose mummy is known as “Younger Lady,” were in fact brother and sister.

The larger article is fascinating and is provided by National Geographic entitled, "King Tut Mysteries Solved: Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred". Enjoy!

Ideas on Ideology

Something with which I am playing for a class exploring sin and evil… I fully reserve the right to reverse, adapt, erase, eliminate, edit, junk, utilize, revise and or eat the following words. Thank God they are virtual as paper is hard to digest.

Religious Ideology is the reflection of our transformed experience as a result of biblical interpretation, created and understood in the context of our social world in which we were raised and now live.

I think it safe to say that the development of an ideology is always done with good intention. However, it is not always done responsibly. From “slave master theology” to “Christological enslavement”, human error in reason produces faulty results. The check and balance is done by a given community (family, church, corporation, government, academia, etc .) to ensure protection against a faulty ideology. I acknowledge that communities can error too, but that is a matter beyond the scope of this inquiry. When an ideology is adopted without critique by that community (perhaps the sin of omission), great evil can and does result (sin of commission).

Antithetically, a “good” ideology, when adopted in community, produces great fruits. Yet, the check and balance is still a necessity for two reasons. First, evaluation of ideology is a responsible discipline, valuable not just in the current moment, but in the future. “Life”, in all its challenges, pressures, socio-economic and political circumstances change, makes the necessity and or influence of an ideology in its original form, relevant or irrelevant. Secondly, a review of the belief system as it is enacted, prevents deterioration of its intention for the good or for the bad. This assumes that any ideology, or for that matter theology, can be enacted in perfection. Sadly, as fallen beings, we are not only incapable of a perfect theology, ideology or worldview, but we are also incapable of carrying it out. This again reinforces my admiration for the remarkableness that is Christ, both human and divine.

Open My Eyes

I'm writing my reflection paper for Rome and listening to the broadcast of worship from my home church, Southminster. They are snowed in and as such, the children's choir who was to perform was unable. Instead, there is a child who was selected to sing the piece solo. She's the voice of an angel.

For healthy churches with members who love worship and fellowship, the investment of the internet is so very meaningful. I was unable to make it to worship today so I logged on to the worship service hundreds of miles away and was able to hear the familiar voices of people whom I love, enjoy the musical gifts of child and adult alike, hear the Gospel message and celebrate the community that was my family for over a year and remains my family in my heart.

My experience in Rome was a miracle. A year prior, I was surrounded by the love of Southminster in a world that had failed me. A year later, I stood among the men who were in discussion with the Vatican for church unification, working tirelessly to build trust and to find ways where we can celebrate our mutual love and adoration of Christ. The year prior, I was under five different roofs, being fed by friends. A year later I ate gelato and drank espresso in Rome. The message today for the children's sermon is that God is in control. He is indeed.

Today's sermon is on Luke 5:1-11 - "Jesus causing mischief". The message is, roughly, that God works in odd ways to bring about His intentions. She calls it "God's Serendipity". His touch of light in your life is reflected in your changed soul. Interesting really, as it was His act of serendipity that brought me to Rome, to witness the unification of our Church, to bring the message of encouragement to those what stick with the work, to thank them and to find my own healing. And all it required was a step of faith, of trust, and of love in our Lord. Thank you, Lord for Opening My Eyes.

The Anti Christ of Painting

Many of us are preparing for our J-Term which means I am doing some extensive prep work on Rome. This past semester left me up to my eyeballs in the ashes of 64 AD. But now, I jump ahead to the 1500s and take a peak at Caravaggio, a painter from northern Italy.

Caravaggio disdained the classical painters, so much so that one called him the "Anti-Christ of Painting". He drew criticism from some who suggested that his work would bring down the entire school of the Classical tradition, and compliments from others who admired his work and borrowed from it, using light and darkness in their work. This despite his anti-social life filled with everything from assaults to murder, produced a man who painted astonishing works full of depth, richness, and even, at times, torment. Perhaps it was this life of darkness that prevented him from embracing the light of the Renaissance - beauty, form, and faith.

One of his best known works was the Conversion of St. Paul, painted for the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. To me, the work depicts the events in an earthly sense, singing in my heart the hand of God as Paul looks up from the ground beneath the horse. Many probably found this to be in terrible taste in the time and the painting certainly does not host the brightness nor colours of the period. But then again, none of Caravaggio's paintings really do. They are dark with sporadic bits of colour which draw your eye away from the dark places. In The Calling of St. Matthew for instance, your eyes are drawn away from the subtle Christ to the red sleeves of the tax collector, in a tavern. A tavern. Yes, a tavern.

Caravaggio's work, dark as it is, oozes feeling. Study one painting for a moment and you'll experience a depth of emotion - a sense of being seen, of being of this world - all the while being called apart from it. His reflection of faith, intentional or not, leaves one to drool, and not one bit like the Dormition of the Virgin.

Wandering

So there were these a people who wandered. They wandered a lot. In the desert. It was hot. Really hot. And dusty. They carried around this big box marked by winged creatures. It had a few stuffs inside. These people wandered around the hot, dusty, desert carrying a few stuffs in a box. (Who are these crazy people?)

These are our ancestors of faith.

You may be wondering a lot of things, among them why the heck we Christians consider a bunch of wandering people who carry a box through the desert our ancestors or maybe why they bother to put braille menus on some drive through windows, but more specifically, what was in the box.

Everyone always wants to know what's in the box. Ask Pandora.

The box was special. In fact, it was so special that the people who carried this thing around raised tents to host the thing. So as they went, they carried the box and when they rested, they built a tent that held the box. (You're kidding me, right?)

No, really! These are our ancestors!

When they raised these tents, they built out special places in them to hold this box. And, since it was special, special people were chosen to wear special clothes and do special things to the special box in the special room. The special clothing included an apron adorned with ornamental pomegranates and golden bells along the hem and semiprecious stones at the shoulders with a bunch of names engraved on them. They also got to wear cool hats. Oh! And they got to bathe frequently because they had to be clean. (Bathe, really?)

Yes, really.

And they did it all because God told them to.

(I'm not gonna ask.)

Seriously.

These are the people who God chose as his own. These are the fore fathers of David, and as such Christ. These are the dudes and babes who will inherit the land. And they did it simply because God told them to.

Yet sin crept behind. It doesn't take much to mess it up (just ask Eve). After all the lallygagging in the desert (okay, so it wasn't really lallygagging), the ancients settled and built a temple in the same style as the tent. They placed the arc of the covenant in the temple in a sacred space. And thy purified and anointed the priests who wore pomegranates to protect and serve Yahweh. Then, Moses departs for forty days. Like a child whose babysitter falls asleep and then gets into trouble, so did the ancients. And what do they do? They make golden calves fully breaking the commandment. This ticks Moses off and, coincidentally, begins the path of the sin of Jeroboam. Nice kick off for the DtrH. Idol worship!

Family Ties, Ancient Style

First off, I think I need this tee to wear to my OT class every Tuesday. (It's available at Think Geek.)

Now, some thoughts on the ancestors of Israel...

1. For years I have expressed the following motto to various Christians as a means to keep in check their spiritual commitment to their vow: Are you willing to give up Isaac? It's a beautiful example of the sacrifices we all have to make when being loyal to God. No doubt Abraham had regrets. I'm not sure it's possible to be human and not. Michael Coogan makes the point that "Abraham and Isaac never speak to each other again, and immediately after it Sarah, who has been absent from the narrative, dies." Abraham, in his immediate state, has been left by his wife, seemingly abandoned by his son, and is left alone because of his faithfulness. From a 21st century perspective, heck yeah I want some of that kind of treatment from my God! Yet, that's exactly what may be required of us: loosing those close to us in service to Him.

2. Circumcision. It seems like the Israelites were circumcised, in part, to distinguish themselves from the Babylonians while in Exile. Course, circumcision was also a right of passage not to mention a preparation for marriage in some cultures. But my 20th century mind cannot help but to get hooked on the idea that our ancients really dug the fact that they were circumcised and their Babylonian captors were not. This leaves me to imagine a number of smirks and chuckles not to mention innuendos that were likely to be available. What? Oh come on! You cannot tell me that our forefathers had no sense of humour!

3. One of the annoying things about a reading assignment when you are in 8th grade is when you get stuck with a book of the Bible that seems to contain nothing but genealogies. So and so begot so and so. Ya-a-a-wn. Any good 8th grader knows to read the first two lines of the list and the last two lines to realize that somehow, David and Jesus were actually connected. What they don't tell the average 12 year old is that these ancestral narratives are endogamy. (Yeah, I didn't get the term either.) Think of it as intermarriage for the purpose of preserving one's community, or more specifically, their identity and property. This is why later on, the people are going to look at Moses and wonder what the heck he was thinking marrying a Midian (never mind the fact that Abraham hooked up with an Egyptian and Esau got cozy with the Canaanites). In fact, it's something that kind of haunts his story among Jews even today as some Jews find it important that they marry other Jews simply to maintain the bloodline. "But Moooooom! Moses did it!" probably isn't a sound case for the average 20 something Jewish female.

4. Lastly, one of the most emotional things for me to come to understand about the Hebrew Bible is that God made some promises to the old folks, and he kept them, however, the old folks all had to die for the promises to be fulfilled. Granted, they brought it on themselves. Honestly, how often must God say, "Do it THIS way. No other way. Not that way. THIS way. Over here. Look. Right THERE. Yes, THIS way!" before we people get it? God promised land, descendants and blessings.

Abraham got land, but it was to bury his wife. Granted it was the right land. And God did eventually provide a lot more land to his descendants, but to Abraham, that's serious faith to stick with a God with not a whole lot of demonstration of fulfillment of his promise. Especially after the whole Isaac episode.

As for descendants, yes, there are some. Plenty actually. But a lot of the women were barren and had to hook up with God so that their wombs would kick in to service.

Lastly, the promise of blessing. Abraham was under the impression that other people out there would long for the kind of blessings he had. You can almost imagine Abraham, at some point in his life saying, "Riiiigggghhhhht." He experiences turmoil for Lot, watches cities rise and fall, has his wife taken into a harem, has turmoil in his house between his wife and household staff, is expected to obey God in sacrificing his own son, his wife dies, his son seemingly doesn't speak to him again, then takes a new wife and apparently concubines, only to die. And those are just the highlights. People did hope for blessings like his and continue to do so to this day. They hope for success for their children. They hope for God's favour. They hope for a better life. And it's God who provides that for them.

Before I go, I say forget the blogging tee. I want this one instead. And yes, it really does glow.

Kicking the Tree of Life

The sexualization of our young people is a constant worry for the elders of our society. The Hip Hop generation, Britney Spears, even good girl Miley Cyrus all draw comments - some good and some bad - about their sexuality. Our society is preoccupied with sex. And no one really knows how much is too much let alone where the line should be drawn for "appropriate" behavior. This is not only an issue in the US, but in various countries (for instance, compare and contrast nudity in Brazil and China).

While I always knew that there elements of sex in Genesis, I am still surprised to see the struggle of the Hebrews to make sense of sexuality. The nature of the creation story seems inspired to reflect themes common to the people of the times. It's not too a far leap to understand why the ancients may have included language reflective of sexual themes. Honestly, there wasn't much to do back in the day for recreation. They didn't have the internet. And what's life without the internet?

It was probably only a matter of time before they started to wonder who (or what) thought up the idea of intercourse. Humanity seems to always want to know "why" as evidenced in the story of Eve and the serpent, for by eating the fruit one will "become like God, knowing good and evil". Which brings us to the word "know". "Knowing" always gets us into trouble. To know the difference between good and evil put Adam and Eve into a pretty bad spot. To know one another suggests a level of sexual intimacy that could be problematic in terms of survival if not committed between one another. Needing to "know" can lead us down unhealthy paths that lead to other sinful behaviors both of commission and omission.

So, does having sex make you knowledgeable? And do we, when having sex (outside the confines of marriage), insult God by seeking knowledge we are not yet meant to have? Do we commit sacrilege by seeking to be God-like in arrogant ways? When we act sinfully do we kick the tree of life and stick out our tongues at God?