I have never quite understood what some are on about when they point to the vast size of the universe as some kind of evidence that we are insignificant, and that any notion of human significance is ‘anthropocentric’ (human-centred). Continue reading “size ‘problem’”
Category: art
psalm 8 remixed
A targum of Psalm 8:
- Yahweh our Master!
Your Name is priceless throughout the universe!
Your glory is unsearchable and inscrutable
and utterly beyond our capability to measure. - Even the smallest and inexperienced ones; yes – babies
they praise you – just as you wanted
all this is like ignorant and inane babbling to those who hate you,
yet this incoherent baby-noise completely silences sinners and evil-doers. - When I ponder the chaotic-order of the cosmos,
the mechanics of your workshop,
whether multiple distant galaxies or single stars,
knowing you plan and place them all, - I wonder why you bother thinking of mere humans,
or why you concern yourself with homosapiens? - But – no other thing you’ve created comes as close to your divine greatness,
potential and power, reason and rhyme; you gave it – we have it. - Everything that you’ve created, we are now responsible for;
under God and over creation: - …over the lions and llamas,
and every land-dwelling animal, - …over every single thing that flies in the air,
and every thing in fresh-water or salt-water,
indeed – every kind of ocean-floor crawling and swimming thing. - Yahweh our Master!
Your Name is priceless throughout the universe!
‘ribblesdale’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
For your enjoyment:
“Earth, sweet Earth, sweet landscape, with leaves throng
And louched low grass, heaven that dost appeal
To, with no tongue to plead, no heart to feel; Continue reading “‘ribblesdale’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins”
brian walsh: targum of Romans 1:1-17
Read Romans 1:1-17 (in a good, easy to read translation like NIV or CEV), and then check out Brian J. Walsh’s ‘targum’ (an interpretive ‘modernisation’ of a given passage) of it… (Copied from here)
I just love this stuff…
Continue reading “brian walsh: targum of Romans 1:1-17”
in science and in medicine
This is the opening verse to the song ‘Miracle Drug’ on U2’s latest album ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’.
I want a trip inside your head
Spend the day there…
To hear the things you haven’t said
And see what you might see
I wanna hear you when you call
Do you feel anything at all?
I wanna see your thoughts take shape
And walk right out
Freedom has a scent
Like the top of a new born baby’s head
They’re good, aren’t they? One can easily imagine these words speaking of the struggle of one human understanding another. The strained desire to know and be known in return. The pain of failed relationships, and a longing for a ‘miracle’ cure…
But these lyrics come even more alive when we hear Paul Hewson (‘Bono’) describe what inspired him to write these words: Continue reading “in science and in medicine”
Amos 5:18-7:17 (targum)
‘Targum’ (plural is ‘targumim’) is a literary genre in which parts of the Hebrew Bible are ‘modernised’ and/or re-interpreted for the current time (specifically, it means an Aramaic translation.). This genre has been around for at least 2000 years, because some of the writings from the ‘Dead Sea Scrolls‘ consist of ‘targumim’ fragments. Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat, in their book ‘Colossians Remixed: Subverting The Empire‘ use this genre quite well – I think – to suggest how the message of certain parts of Paul’s letter to the Colossians might be heard in modern, western culture.
Anyway, our church is almost finished teaching through the book of Amos, (I’ve just recently finished a course called ‘Prophets in Context’ by Tim Bulkeley at Carey Baptist College and his Amos commentary is – in my humble opinion! – the best fully-online commentary on this book.) and I recently preached on the text of 5:18 – 7:17. Here, for your enjoyment, discomfort (or both!?) is my ‘targum’ of this passage… Continue reading “Amos 5:18-7:17 (targum)”
still hangin’ on
“I’m hangin’ on… you’re all that’s left to hold on to.” – Bono in Red Hill Mining Town
Yesterday I had two conversations about relationships. You know, the romantic kind. Aren’t they exciting? I mean, isn’t the thrill of discovering that someone else is thinking about you just priceless? It’s a little more than obvious that the human race is consumed with obtaining this feeling. I just saw an ad for yet another online dating company, mate1: intimate dating. What a joke! Intimate? Online?
Both of my conversations yesterday touched on the undeniable pain and misery of ‘breaking up.’ We talked about how all of your hopes and dreams come crashing down in mere seconds when this happens.
The common thread in my two discussions yesterday was this: both people I talked to shared with me the belief that we should never put our ‘hopes and dreams’ in anyone other than Jesus. All three of us were speaking from much experience as well. The thing about humans is that it’s not a question of if they will let you down, it’s a matter of when!
In a song called “Wedding Dress,” Christian songwriter Derek Webb refers to ‘lovers less wild’ that draw us away from Jesus, the One who loved us (as another of his songs points out) ‘to death.’ He is the One who died for sinners. He is the One who won’t take back His love. He is the One who will never cheat on you. He is the One who will patiently put up with your junk.
May you be able to say to Jesus, “I’m hangin’ on… You’re all that’s left to hold on to.”
-Dale