Reading What It Says
And seeing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” Matthew 9:4
Seeing – Would you ever say, “I see what you’re thinking”? Do you mean that you can look inside the mind of another person and observe the neural synapses firing electrons? Do you mean that you can visibly perceive the formation of mental images? No, of course not. The expression is an idiom. What we actually observe is behavior like facial expressions and the movements of parts of the body, and on that basis we draw a conclusion about what the person is thinking. That’s why we say that we see what they are thinking, not that we hear or understand or some other verb of acquisition. So when it comes to Yeshua, why don’t we use the same logic?
How many times have you heard someone say that Yeshua had “supernatural” powers here on earth? After all, He could read men’s minds, couldn’t He? Doesn’t this verse say so? He could walk on water. He could raise the dead. Doesn’t that mean He must be God walking around in a body that looks human? NO! It doesn’t. And if it did, we would all be the most miserable of men (as Paul would likely express it). Why doesn’t this evidence make us draw the conclusion that Yeshua is really God? Because that isn’t what it means to be human. When Paul says that Yeshua emptied himself of his divinity in order to take on the existence of a human being, he did not mean that Yeshua only appeared to be human and that, when convenient, He could bring back all those divine powers. No, to become a doulos, a slave, meant that Yeshua gave up those divine powers. He was not God disguised as a man. He was a man in the service of the Most High God.
Of course, He was a unique man. No other man has emptied himself to become like us. No other man has been perfectly obedient. No other man could be the required sacrifice from before the foundation of the world. But Yeshua’s humanity guarantees that He does in fact know our mortal frame. He knows our weaknesses, our temptations, our limitations. He is not Superman or even Batman. He is one of us. That’s why He can be my savior. What He does, He does in the same way that God uses us to do the will of the Father. Through obedience. Through an intimate relationship. Through suffering. Through abandonment.
There are some things Yeshua does that you and I can never do, but those things are usually not the signs of divinity (there are some exceptions). He even tells us that His authority and His manifestation of power does not come from Him. He does what the Father shows Him to do. He could take back His divinity, but that would destroy His reason for coming here in the first place. In fact, that’s what some of the temptations are all about. We should forever rejoice that Yeshua was God’s man. His voluntary limitation makes it possible for you and me to enter into God’s unlimited purposes. Yeshua knows me from the inside out. That’s worth celebrating.
Topical Index: seeing, power, emptying, Matthew 9:4
Interesting article. Thanks Skip.
I find your your question regarding thought “Do you mean that you can look inside the mind of another person and observe the neural synapses firing electrons?” interesting.
I know that the nature of thought was not the main point of the article but I am interested to know if you believe that this is all that thought is; just neural synapses firing electrons.
I think I’ve always thought of Yeshua as a man with God-like powers, always assuming what He did was because He was also God. I’ve never imagined that He was fully human while on earth, having given up all those powers and doing things by God’s power alone. I think it’s the concept of “fully God and fully man” that we get that confuses the issue. But for Yeshua to be fully man, having given up being fully God-like in power, really emphasizes His relationship with the Father! But I wonder, was all His wisdom and knowledge and understanding about things like prayer all things He learned along the way as He learned about relating to the Father as a man? Or where they things that He inherently knew because God was literally His Father?
Cool post! Thanks Skip!
Dr. Moen,
So do you think Jesus got his information about their thoughts directly from the Father or was he just making a calculated guess based on facial expressions and common human reactions to similar circumstances? I’m not sure what your position is regarding this.
Thanks,
I think both are possible. The point is that neither makes Him into a god disguised as a man. Maybe one of the signs of being truly human is the ability to see with transparency.
but He was not only a man. He is not from Adam. He knew what the Pharisee was thinking about the woman who washed his feet with her hair and I am not sure what conversation it is but there were times He knew what the Pharisees were thinking and He tells them what they are thinking in their heart. I believe there was a point at the last supper He recognizes what they are wondering about. Now I know through the Holy Spirit He can do the same today so perhaps the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him at that particular time for His purpose.
I have to run to work.
Kay
Ian and Tara-yes, this is true,- we have given Skip much to “catch up on” when he returns to cyberspace..
I believe He would be pleased with our communication with each other because this is how we learn and grow- from “one another.”
(G-d always speaks to a human heart- through a human heart.) All the men in the Bible were just that- men. Men who heard from G-d (thus saith the LORD) and spoke the words they were instructed to speak. (Yes,please.., – not only the “speaking,” but let’s not leave out the “doing!”- lol!) Righteous men of the “shema!” (to hear and to obey).
I’m going to “leapfrog” into the next topic for “seeing” because -“Without prophetic vision/revelation the people run wild, but blessed are those who follow [God’s] teachings.” (Proverbs 29.18) Isn’t it a coinkydink that the Hebrew word for seeing-“raah”, is also one of the (I shall say “titles”) of YHWH? – Jehovah Raah (found in Psalm 23).
Also, Ian and Tara, I would love for you to share what you know of the precept and practice of “kavannah”. -In order for a successful marriage to occur we menfolk need to be filled with “kavannah.” Ahmein? Because Yeshua was “fully human”, perhaps-He (Son of man and Son of G-d) was filled with “kavannah?”
Hi Carl – So sorry that I didn’t respond to this earlier – Tara asked, over Shabbat, why we hadn’t responded; I think it was because I said I would stop posting for a while and didn’t notice you had asked for a comment on ‘kavanah’. [By the way, for those of you who are interested, Ian types most of the posts for us – Tara keeps Ian in check by questioning his ‘kavanah’!]
The issue of kavanah is at the fore-front of our mind at the moment – the month of Elul is one where “what we have done/are doing and why/how we do it” are examined. Now, I’m not a 100% sure where some of this teaching came from – a lot of it is my notes on lectures – but where I can give merit to a source, I will do so. [As I’ve said, we are intently studying Judaism, so we hear a lot of teaching and I don’t always makes notes of who said what].
‘Kavanah’ (for those who don’t know) has a range of meaning – ‘intention’, ‘synchronousness’ ‘focus’ and ‘concentration’ would be some of them. The root of this word is “l’chavan” – ‘to point’ or ‘to direct’, ‘to hit the target’. Let’s see this alongside a word that is often mis-translated in our English bibles – the Hebrew word ‘chait’. It is usually translated as ‘sin’, but it really means ‘error’, ‘mistake’, ‘short of the mark’ (Skip has written about these definitions). It comes from a root word “lachto” which literally means “to miss a target.”
Judaism teaches that we should be living life with ‘kavanah’, and that anything that isn’t done with ‘kavanah’ is not being focused or directed and will, probably, miss the mark. Orthodox Jews teach that we will live with ‘kavanah’ if we concentrate on the Six Constant Mitzvot (1. Know that there is a God 2. Know that there is no other power 3. Understand that God is One 4. Love God 5. Fear God 6. Don’t be led astray by your eyes or your heart.)
Rabbi Ginsberg says that the problem is that, for many of us, our mind is somewhere else most of the time. We are here, but our minds are all over the place. However, life is happening right here and right now – and it is “right here and right now” that we can meet with God. And, connected to your point, Carl, now is the time for love – love of God, love of those in our families, and love of our neighbour in the community.
OK – let’s develop this: we heard one rabbi say that our physical life on earth is meant to help us achieve spiritual goals. Jews teach that there is a physical copy of everything spiritual and that the way we interact with the physical affects things in the spiritual realm. The worry is that most of the time we are quite aimless in the things we do.
The Ba’al Shem Tov says that there are two parts to a mitzvah – the deed itself, and the ‘kavanah’ that is required to accompany it if it is to ‘hit the mark’. He also taught that there are two aspects to ‘kavanah’ – applying it and not applying it. He said that sometimes, when a Jew becomes aware that he has not fulfilled a miztvot, that “this stimulates in him a deep spiritual pain that pervades him to the very core of his soul, bringing him to a deeper connection with God, and with Torah, mitzvot and his Jewishness…”
Contrary to what is commonly believed, the Jew has not committed sin by not fulfilling the commandment, he has (rather) ‘erred’, ‘made a mistake’, or ‘missed the mark’. When a Jew becomes acutely aware of this, the ‘kavanah’ to not make that mistake again can lead to a “height of spirituality otherwise unobtainable, and the experience imparts to his spiritual life a depth and perfection that only this situation can generate”. A Jew who repents and makes amends is always considered more ‘spiritual’ than one who never makes a mistake. [Of course, we don’t purposefully sin in order that we can ‘make a correction’ and earn merit!]
There is, the sages teach, a correspondence between the actions of our bodies and the development of our spiritual life… and between the performance of physical tasks and the development of spiritual aspects. They say that physics uses “the abstracts of mathematics to obtain truths about the physical cosmos, and that Judaism tells us how to manipulate physical entities (ourselves, objects, actions, words…) in order to manifest truths of the spiritual cosmos.”
Some religions view ‘matter’ in a negative sense; that ‘material’ is the opposite of ‘spiritual’ – which is viewed as ‘positive energy’. They see the physical body as being less important than the spirit. However, Einstein teaches that ‘matter’ and ‘energy’ are really the same thing (E=mc2). The body is actually a kind of concentrated, condensed spirituality! If the body is, in anyway, lower than the spirit (soul), it is only because the body is the means to the end – the soul.
We know from Scripture that the relationship between marriage partners mirrors the covenantal relationship between God and His people. It is essential that it marriage is entered into with ‘kavanah’ – with intent and concentration. We are not just picking a life partner, we are entering into a covenant to become ‘one’. Remember, the amount of effort we put into developing this physical relationship affects things in the spiritual. There are numerous mitzvot about marriage – these, too, should be performed with a focused attention (for the man, these chiefly mean putting his wife first). You can’t just ‘saunter’ into or through marriage. But, think again of that example of the higher spirituality that comes from repenting and making amends when we realise that ‘the target’ has been missed… surely, this should have all of us climbing down off our “high horses”, making sure that we don’t let the sun go down on our (usually) petty squabbles, and joyously submitting to the person with whom we are to truly become one – with the kavanah of pointing people to God’s Oneness. Shavua Tov!
I forgot to say that the sages, when asked what ‘kavanah’ looks like said, “It is like gazing on the King.” And they explained it by saying that Moses gazed at God on the mountain and was able to do all that God commanded in the building of the Tabernacle in perfect detail: “And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the LORD had commanded, this they had done.” This is kavanah.
“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4.3)
I am so grateful for today’s word brother Skip. And I am so grateful Yeshua knows my weaknesses. He was/is human “just like me.”
Adam was human. David, Moses, Abraham.. on down the line. “Men’s.” (and ladies too!). All with one thing in common. We are human. I had a father and I am a father. I am a son and I have a son. I am one of many- a human creature-made in the image of YHWH who also became flesh and lived among us (as a man).
Many times He referred to Himself as “the Son of Man.” For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4.15)
We can never say- “Lord, you just don’t know what I’m going through”, because He does- very much so. He is our compassionate Savior. All the oooky stuff that goes with being human- “this man” was a partaker of.
The first guy botched it. The first Adam failed. Hasatan took him down and the rest is history. Ah.. but “this man”- the second Adam- well…. the rest is history!- lol! For you “see” this man was perfect! Hallelujah- this man showed us how to do it! He demonstrated for you and me, how we too can live in victory over sin, self and Satan.
Victory is available, it just a matter of whether we avail ourselves of it (or not). The (daily) choice and choosing are ours. Three times HaSatan tempted Yeshua but Mr. Dummyhead was no match for the ONE who created him. (poor little guy..)
Please “hear this.” Three times. Not once. Not twice. Not “verily, verily.” No, this time it was -verily,verily,verily! Three times Yeshau said unto the Defeated One, –“it is written.”
He showed us how to do it, y’all. “Do it” like this- “it is written.”
You “see”, we have a weapon. (actually more than one!). But, this one is a wonderful weapon. It is “the sword of the Spirit- which is the word of G-d.” “For the word of G-d is alive and active- sharper than any two-edged sword.”
You who belong to Him and are called by His name know this to be true. (Yes, I’m talkin’ to you!). Three times, a “sword” came out of the mouth of the LORD- and three times (someone-poor fella’) was wounded. Sliced and diced- go G-d!
Oh.. when our Messiah speaks–life occurs! Darkness is dispelled and confusion is replaced by clarity. Can you “see” this?
Yes, Yeshua was a man. The only “perfect” man who ever lived! Abraham-flawed. Moses-flawed. David-flawed. Peter-flawed. Skip-flawed. Carl-flawed. Oh.. but “this man!” The second Adam- do you “see?”
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
-“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” (Matthew 28.17) -Have you seen this man?
Can I admit to having a few problems with the concept of the devil – I never used to have (it was a cultural thing) – but then I discovered that he only began to appear (progressively) in the Hebrew understanding after the Jews had been in exile in Babylon (it was a cultural thing!). So, as far as I can see, there was no ‘devil’ in pre-exile Hebrew religious understanding. Even today, not all of Judaism signs up to the belief of a devil. Hasatan, yes – the devil, no.
That came as a shock to me – a person who used to echo, “Of course there’s a devil, I’ve done business with him!” But, Tara and I could tell you a whole host of stories of how positively life changes when you accept Genesis and its assertion that God is good and that everything He made is good… Now, to explain this fully – and to give an explanation about what was going on in the New Testament with demonic occurences every other paragraph – would take a really, really, long time… so I won’t do it.
However, (briefly) it is worth pointing out another thing. If Jesus was actually tempted – in other words, He considered the temptation before rejecting it – then, according to orthodox Judaism, He couldn’t have been a tzaddik. Othodox Judaism recognises 3 kinds of people: those who cannot sin and aren’t even tempted (this is the tzaddik) – note: there is an exception in that they can be led to sin for a specific reason (again, a long story – another time , maybe); those who could sin; that is they are tempted, but will never sin because they have chosen a life-style where sin isn’t entertained; and, then, those who do sin.
As I say – just some Jewish understanding for you for your information. Now, if you are a western mindset Christian you don’t have to worry about these things – remember, Jesus has conquered the devil and you are dead to sin. All I am doing is sharing a different viewpoint. And, Carl, I’m really sorry that our ‘information’ seems to be attached to your posts. Please don’t take it personally!
My goodness!- If I was that thin-skinned I would have perished long ago!– noo!- I love your posts- please keep at it!.
You are correct (again) – I really do need to “watch my words”- but hey, “iron sharpens iron!”)
Now on to bigger and better things. The existence of Hasatan. Is there such a created being (His former name was Lucifer) who appeared in the garden to tempt our great-great- no so great grandfather Adam? Was there a literal “being” who appeared to tempt (the) Christ?
Matthew 4.1 says: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Diaballó (the Accuser). Did this “temtation” actually (physically) take place?
“Did this “temptation” actually (physically) take place?”
Hi Carl,
In Mark 1:12 in my Bible it says that:
“the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness and he remained there for 40 days, and He was tempted by Satan.”
So in my view the story is easy to believe, but a bit unfair because it is “two against one.”
We know from Job that Satan is already a formidable adversary, not unlike the other “sons of God” in terms of stature.
In Mark we see a sort of “good cop bad cop” routine applied to Jesus; with God leading him into the wilderness and Satan doing the “testing,” to see what Jesus could take.
My Bible actually says that Jesus was “tempted” by Satan.
But I don’t believe Jesus was tempted, because “temptation” requires both a subjective desire and an objective opportunity.
And I don’t believe Jesus had any desire to offend his Father, because his sole purpose in life, his reason for being, was to serve and honor his Father.
But, was Hasatan in God’s employment… or was he a disgruntled ex-employee trying to mess up God’s operation?
“But, was Hasatan in God’s employment… or was he a disgruntled ex-employee trying to mess up God’s operation?”
Hi Ian and Tara,
Well, we know HaSatan was most definitely in God’s employment although not his “right hand man.”
We can see in the book of Job that HaSatan is like the other “sons of God.”
But in some ways “special” because he has a name (like Yeshua).
In cinematic terms, I tend to think of HaSatan as The Left Handed Gun (1958).
Like the “bad boy,” Billy the Kid.
Played by the actor Paul Newman in one of his first great roles.
Hi Michael
Note, though, that ‘ha (the) satan (opposer)’ is his job description, not his name. And Lucifer (a much later word) comes from the Latin – ‘lux’ = light and ‘fer’ meaning bearer. It was often used to refer to the ‘morninng star’ or the planet Venus (so not a biblical or Hebrew name for him – and maybe still a job). And now it’s time for sweet Shabbat! Shabbat Shalom!
Bless You! You know, Carl, it’s your rhetorical questions that make me want to let folk know what we’ve discovered – mainly, I think, because they were/are the questions Tara and I have been asking for these last 10 or so years. However, I’m getting concerned that the comments we post are taking the focus off the ‘words’ (the purpose of the site). I think we’ll try and hold back a bit until Skip is able to add his comments to those we and others have made, before we think about posting the nuggets we’ve discovered listening to Jewish teachers expounding their understanding of God and His purposes.
Hi there, have internet today from Honduras. No worries (is that Australian) about the “words.” The purpose of the blog is to share whatever you wish. I just love to see the interaction. This is YOUR voice, not mine. And I am so pleased to see that you really don’t need me to keep it going. The best part about Scripture is that you can start with any thread and discover it is all connected. Go for it!
Hope the trip is ‘more of all’ than you wanted it to be. Thanks for the “go ahead”.
Seriously, speaking of Australians, Would one of you Aussies, on this Web Site, write if there is a place for a woman that thinks she needs to leave this country. She does not want to go out alone, but join a group of people serious about living a Godly life that would be committed to worth while values. She is about sixty years old, and has enough resources to care for her self. She has been greatly deceived by two husbands, the last one was ” a hyprocrite and joined the church with her, walking pretending, to be a Christian. He was a con -artist selling drugs—now with criminal charges against him. But if he is allowed to get out of jail/prison– he has threatened her so many times, she thinks she needs to leave. She has been in the lives of one of our daughters and husband/family, and we have known her too, for about six years. Our daughter and husband has done some serious business with her, and know her to be honest, and she is desireable of a real walk with the Lord. They testified in Court for her, recently.
So if one of the Missionary groups in Austrailia, would give us a web site, or information, we would greatly appreciate it, and get in touch with you. Thanks, LaVaye B.—- God is giving us some unusual situations to minister in! My prayers and studies recently have been in legal things from the Bible== very interesting– seldom in all my years has this been a priority! — Thanks Skip for allowing us to comment.
>>the comments we post are taking the focus off the ‘words’ (the purpose of the site).<>”What saith the scripture?”<< (Luke 17.20)
Indeed!
It is interesting that the development of the idea of the devil is, as you say, very scanty in the Tanakh, but we can follow more and more elaboration in the period before Yeshua. During that time, a number of Hellenized ideas circulated in the culture and they seem to have had an influence on Jewish thinking. Of course, our current conceptualization can be traced to all kinds of pagan influences, but just like heaven and hell, there was a progressive development of the idea of an evil “person” called HaSatan. That is why there is so much more discussion of demons and the devil in the New Testament writings.
“And seeing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” Matthew 9:4”
Hi Skip,
Many interesting concepts to comment on today, but let me start with the translation above.
I think we usually say we “know” rather than “see” what is on someone’s mind, even though we are probably looking at the other person.
And we “know” what is on their mind because we can “feel” what is in their heart.
So from that perspective my translation seems to be closer to “reality”:
“Knowing what was in their minds, Jesus said, “Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts?” Matthew 9:4”
That said, it begs the question why we can tell from emotional “signs” what others are thinking.
Maybe it has something to do with the theory, held by some subatomic physicists.
That physical reality is composed of “waves” of energy and “packets” of information.
That in some unconscious way we are all “connected” in a kind of communication “network.”
Yes, Michael! And the Scripture was talking about this stuff before ‘science’ was considered a serious use of time!!
Okay, it is me again, but on a total different subject. Just now, I received this e-mail from our # 3 granddaughter. Her subject may be of interest to all of you writing, reading Today’s Word/Comments;
” Hi Family, I have a master’sd degree. My thesis “Old versus New: Cartographic Discourse and Mapping the Protestant Identity in Paradise Lost” has been submitted. I attached the final PDF version if you’re curious as to what this monster actually looks like. I’d be excited, but Ive had 4 hours of sleep over the past twonights”
“On another interesting note: I met with my Prof at Columbia yesterday. He was very encouraging and said that he would use his connections ( especially at Notre Dame and University of Boston as well as other places, to my advantage when I was applying for PhD. He loved my thesis–it is really a completely new apporach to Renaissance literature. —– I’m done, and will leave Stoney Brook, Long Island, soon for home, TX. love, Beth, yea!”
—( LaVaye here— I have not read it yet, but think it is interesting that this 22 year old granddaughter chose this to write about. She did spend a year in Rome with a group of U.S. students with U of TX/Duke U. for one semester, and Oxford one summer semester. Not sure how she will use this knowledge in earning a living.– I do not know how to put this thesis on this comment–just an illiterate grandmother, but I love one quote from Milton’s Paradise Lost, ” Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!” L.B.
You must be a proud mama! She sounds quite smart! I think I understood about 5 words in the title of her thesis! LOL! 🙂
grandmama, sorry! 🙂
“Old versus New: Cartographic Discourse and Mapping the Protestant Identity in Paradise Lost”
Hi LaVaye-Ed,
Wow, that is a very impressive thesis for a Master’s Degree!
Reflecting as it does a rather firm grip on a broad range of literature, history, and critical theory.
It brings to mind the work of Michel de Certeau and a recent article on his entitled:
The Transversality of Michel de Certeau; Foucalt’s Panoptic Discourse and the Cartographic Impulse.
I would think your daughter already the basis for a great PhD thesis.
And a great future in academia as well 🙂
Michael, Thanks, I always read your replies, and have noticed what a variety of things you have read, studied or watched in plays of movies. When I was in college I had a great interest in those types of things, but as I married, and became a mother of a large family, and a husband that traveled a lot, I had to choose and narrow my interest to the practical things for us to have , proper food, clean clothes, order in the home, and the expenses for the children to have the opportunities for art, music, athletics, travel ., thus I found it necessary to teach school for 26 years. And then I wanted to excel in my job of being a teacher that really loved what she taught, and gave them love & joy of learning to my students, and to my own children, grandchildren and now three little great grandchildren. With all those duties, I was always seeking and searching for a God that was real. We had always been to church regularly each week- more than once a week, too.
When I was about 41 years, the Heavenly Father inundated me with His awesome love according to His Word, for months, years I was in AWE over all of this. We were not in a church that believed the Full Council of God, and so I was not able to speak of it. But the Bible became real to me ( really us–as Ed and one of our daughters experienced different parts of this, too)– this continues, today. —- So when I hear & read of our granddaughter’s literature interest; I am reminded to look back over my life, and be thankful, and pray that her life will be so blessed, too.
When I get a book from one of our children, or grandchildren, and written inside it, something like this, ” To my Mom, or Mamaw,— who gave me a love for reading and studying, I know you will be blessed by this book.–With Love, and signed by one them”—- that is my reward for what I gave up in the world of books–now movies, DVD’s, and I began to give humble praise to the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings! —- I am at Peace with the Creator of the Universe! LaVaye
“the Heavenly Father inundated me with His awesome love according to His Word, for months, years I was in AWE over all of this.”
Hi LaVaye,
Well I think we both started commenting on this blog about the same time.
And I notice how we often seem to share certain experiences; for example, Thailand.
I have always experienced a sense of AWE with certain movies, works of fiction, and philosophical/psychological texts.
What I have learned from Skip is how the source for a lot of these “texts” can be found in the Bible.
Before studying the Hebrew view of the Bible with Skip, I could see Biblical “subtexts” but could not really appreciate the depth or power of the connections.
At UCSD I was very lucky to study under Fred Jameson who was an expert on Foucalt and brought folks like Michel de Certeau, mentioned above, to UCSD as visiting professors.
Before they found a office for Michel de Certeau in the French Department he was in an office next to me in the Humanities department.
A couple of years ago at Duke University, Fred Jameson was the winner of the fifth annual Holberg International Memorial Prize from Norway.
In his acceptance speech, Jameson talked about world literature as a kind of “network.”
I have been working in the networking industry for the last 25 years and at Cisco learned a lot about “service provider” networks.
John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco, also has an advanced degree from Duke and is known as a technology “evangelist” in the networking industry.
For about 6 years, every time John Chambers spoke, which was frequently, I went and listened carefully.
During that time, I was connected to Skip who, at the time, was also working with “service provider” networks in a consulting capacity, if I recall correctly.
I came to the conclusion that somehow all these things were connected 🙂
Michael, I skimmed your reply, and found it very interesting, I will check out some of the details later– but off the top of my memory, recall that in our small Christian U. approx in mid-50’s ( yes, we are old-Ed is 81 years, I am not for behind) that we had a PhD from Duke U. in the field of Parapsychology, because it was a small school, we came to know him and his wife, two young children. ( we never heard from him after we all left), At that time , Duke’ s Dept. in that area, was noted for research and writings of Dr. J.B. Rhine. —– When our granddaughter, Bethany went with the College in Rome, that was a division of a joint effort of Duke, and U TX, I was reminded of that. ——- Along with her application, acceptance and going, I found out how these universities work together, now , to do such studies. Beth was the only student that went from the Southern Central part of the U.S; the rest were from East or West Coast. She ended up with a room-mate from Notre Dame, they became good friends. After their return to the states, Bethany visited her with other students that were in Rome at the time, in Wisconsin where her roomate and family lived on a Lake.— Others came another time to Cental TX, where Beth’s parents, our daughter and son-in-law live in the “country and farm and “ranch”— Bethany has written on her applications for various things that she is a paradox that she is a paradox, as she grew up on a “ranch/farm”, learned to care for and ride horses, excelled in rodeo barrel racing, and yet she loved reading literature and classics. When she was under six, and # 3 in a family of four girls, I nicknamed her, ” Our Crown Jewel”, not because of any of the above, but because she had a heart to be kind and caring, and wanted to do what was right in dealing with her siblings.
I wrote her a very long e-mail just before she left to go to Rome to study three years ago; she did not have time to read it, so printed it and took it to the airport, and read it while her mother was driving.— Her comment was as she named all the things everyone had warned her about,,( she was 19 years old-flying alone to N.Y. and only then meeting two people she did not know to fly with her to Rome)–and she said, and what is my grandmother concerned about? All The perils of the Roman Catholic Church and how it could affect my background of a Bible believing church.——
God is faithful , she did not totally throw out her up- bringing, and join the Catholics and the splendor of the Pope and the Vatican, although she saw and heard him give a blessing from the Window, and visited the most famous of the Museums.— Came home graduate a year later from
U of TX, and studied Universities with her interest, and got enrolled in Stony Brook, Long Island
Praise Yahew, Lord, and all of His many meaniful Names— we have knowingly been blessed by so many of them. — Glad you met Skip— and yes, we both seemed to have started commenting about the same time, and I think it was near the time he opened it up for people to write. I know it was my first attempt at writing on anyones blog, comments, or “whatever”– L.B.