The One Year Bible: Out with the Old

 It's been a few weeks since my last post and in the intervening time, I've reached the end of the Old Testament in my one year journey through the Bible.  I've read about Daniel and Esther,  the end of the Exile of God's people in Babylon, and the return  and rebuilding of Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. 

I'm a bit partial to Ezra since my  son carries his name.  What's cool is that his best friend at school is named. . .you guessed it--Nehemiah

 I found I particularly enjoyed Nehemiah's first hand account of the work of rebuilding Jerusalem.  The challenges, missteps and ultimate successes of the Jewish people as they begin again make for interesting reading.  Nehemiah also contains probably my favorite list of Biblical participants.  The Old Testament does this a lot--a long list hard-to-pronounce Hebrew names to indicated who did what, whose ancestors are who and so on.  But Nehemiah Ch. 3 is different.  It reads like a movie montage, with interesting little details about the builders and what specific parts of the Jerusalem wall they helped rebuild.  We learn that the people of Tekoa who worked without their leaders because the leaders wouldn't work with the construction supervisors.  We learn Shallum worked with his daughters to help rebuild his section of the wall and that Baruch didn't merely repair his section but "zealously repaired" it.  We are told that some of the workers repaired parts of the wall right across from their homes.  The whole chapter creates such a nice picture of people working together towards a common goal. 

The final readings, in chronological order, are from Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament and the entire book of Joel.   These readings end with a little bit of reprimand (Malachi 3:8-10 contains everyone's favorite tithe text: "Will man rob God and yet you have robbed me! Bring all the tithes etc". I half expected Malachi 3:11 to read "We give thee but thine own" since that song always follows that scripture in church!), a little bit of doom for the enemies of God's people, and a promise of restoration.  

Looking back at the Old Testament as a whole, here are my takeaways:

What matters to God:  

Good news for the "social justice" warriors and purveyors of the "social gospel."  It's very clear from the Old Testament what matters to God and it is the treatment of the poor, the weak, and the marginalized. God is deeply angered by economic injustice, policies that enrich the rich at the expense of the poor.  God hates the shedding of innocent blood (and no He doesn't really refer to unborn babies here, though I suppose you can make that reach if it suits you).  God has a lot to say about humbling the proud and bringing down the mighty.  To be honest, He almost sounds a bit socialist. I'm just saying.  Read it for yourself, if you don't believe me.  

While God does not like the neglect of his laws, He's not interested in ceremonial lip service.  Showing up to worship while your heart is inclined to other gods doesn't work for Him. God really is not okay with worshiping other gods but what's interesting is that his condemnation of idol worship is often in the same breath that he calls out Israel for corruption and bloodshed. It's almost as if the the two are connected in His mind.

I was really surprised by how much the Sabbath comes up across the Old Testament. It's a lot more than I expected.

It's notable and sobering that what matters to God in the Old Testament and what seems to matter to much of His church today are inverted. Ironically, it sometimes seems that the more "Biblical" the Christian claims to be, the more out of sync they are with what matters to the God of the Old Testament. But hey,  maybe that's what the "New Covenant" is for?  My reading of the OT makes me more skeptical than ever of talk of "Biblical living" and following "Biblical principles" for modern life.

A Shift in Focus:  

I notice the latter parts of the Old Testament shift from a focus on prophecies of doom to prophecies of hope and restoration. As Israel moves into and then out of Exile there are hints of a coming Messiah, glimmers of a future hope that is global in scale.  There is still the occasional correction, and doom is still prophesied--but now it's not for God's people but for those who would destroy God's people.

The Skipped over Parts: Ezekiel's Temple

I was surprised by significant portions of Old Testament prophecy that seem to have been "skipped over" by my denomination. It came as a bit of a surprise, since I've been enculturated to believe that Adventists don't "skip" parts of the Bible.  One of the big ones is Ezekiel's temple.  This is a prophecy that begins in Ezekiel 40 and continues to the end of the book. It describes in minute detail a new temple that will be built, the division of the land of Israel in this new era, and includes some fascinating descriptions of a Prince in the new kingdom and a river of healing that will flow from the Temple.  The reading itself can be mind-numbingly tedious in places.  I actually found a video on YouTube that really helped me visualize the details that tended to get jumbled up in my mind.  But what it describes is a temple that was never built.  These plans were not what guided the rebuilding under Nehemiah and Ezra.  This temple is massive, a structure that dwarfs anything that has ever been built around Jerusalem.  

Check out the size of this temple compared to the others (and to a football field). It's literally too big to fit on the current Temple Mount

What's further surprising is that other Christian denominations have a lot of thoughts on Ezekiel's temple.  They haven't skipped over it (don't worry, there's other things they have skipped over too).  This temple--when and where it will be built and what it's significance will be is a big part of other evangelical end-time scenarios.  Here's one P.O.V. (according this guy Ezekiel's temple is "hotly debated" among Biblical scholars.  Who knew?).  As an Adventist I don't remember learning about this temple at all.  I listened to a hour and fifteen minute YouTube sermon by an Adventist preacher that claimed to cover the entire book of Ezekiel. It was a good sermon.  But Ezekiel 40-48 barely got a mention.

I'm not saying my church is right or wrong not to have given more attention to this incredible edifice in Ezekiel.  I'm just noting it, mainly so that we can slow down a little bit with our perhaps arrogant assumption that we have cornered the market on a theology that takes into account the "whole Bible" and "not just the parts we like."  At least for me, taking into account the "whole Bible" and not skipping any parts leaves me with more questions than answers.  And I think that's a good thing.

The Out of Context and Culture Parts: "I hate divorce"

Now there's a passage that's caused a lot of grief, especially for women, over the centuries. It's ironic because taken in context, the Lord's hatred of divorce is about protecting women.  Check it out-Malachi 2:13-16:

"13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his.[a] And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!”[b] says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,[c]” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

What's clear in context is that what God hates is a specific kind of divorce.  The kind where you cheat on your wife, divorce her, and move on to a "newer model."  And yet this passage has been part of a doctrine that has taken a hard line against divorce of any kind, a doctrine that has often overwhelmed women, even more than men, with cruelty. 

The Old Testament--indeed the Bible as whole--is full of stories that require an understanding of culture and context.  Sometimes, that context and culture is evident as in this case; sometimes it's not.  In the end, that reality should make us cautious about taking scripture passages from here and there and insisting they mean what we feel they should mean or what seems "obvious" and "plain" to us.

What's Missing:

It's notable that Satan gets barely a mention in the Old Testament after he shows up at beginning of our story.  We see him in Job, and he gets the blame for inciting David to conduct the census in 1 Chronicles.  There are the famous passages about the King of Tyre in Ezekiel that definitely hint at someone of a supernatural nature and Gabriel talks about being resisted by a powerful prince that prevented him from coming to Daniel sooner.  But that's about it.  He's not a major player. And while God has a lot to say about other gods, He doesn't seem to describe them as other  real spiritual entities per se. He treats them as entirely made-up, completely powerless creations of the nations around Israel.

Also missing is virtually any reference to the afterlife.  All God's punishments and warnings are entirely about what will happen to his wayward people in this life.  There's no caution about the eternal cost of their wrongdoing.

I'm not saying that Satan and the afterlife aren't important or real. Just noting that their absence in this part of the Bible.

It's the Back Story:

The Old Testament for the Christian provides important context.  But it's not the main event.  All of the Old Testament is prelude to what our faith is all about: Jesus. Everything about the Old Testament, it's stories, it's commands, and most importantly it's picture of God are subordinate to the Word made flesh: Jesus Christ.  The heart of our faith is a Person not a book.  For those that would make the Bible the central element of our faith, well, there's a religion for that.  It's a good religion, a wonderful faith. It's just not Christianity.

Covid Comes Home: A Corona Chronicle

My positive test. I hadn't been feeling good all day but chalked it up to allergies.  On the way home from school, I noticed I had chills--which is not a symptom of allergies!  I took my temperature when I got home and found I had a fever over 100 degrees.  I then took the Covid test and it came back positive almost instantly. 

 From the earliest days of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, I imagined what it would be like to write this entry.  Back then, I wasn't sure that I would ever have to write it and apprehensive about what it might entail.  Eventually, I became certain I'd write this entry and was unfazed by the prospect.  And now it's here.

To be honest it's anticlimactic. 

I finally got Covid. In fact, as of yesterday morning, with  Kai's positive test, our whole family has had it (Barbara and Ezra both got it last month).

Of course we're late to the party.  By this time, almost everyone we know has had Covid.  It's no longer a great shock to hear that someone has the dreaded virus nor does it seem necessary to put the whole prayer chain on high alert.  Frankly, I'm glad that I got it when I did.  The current variant is much less severe, especially for those who are vaccinated and boosted (which I am) and when I got the positive test, there was little doubt in my mind that the ride wouldn't be too bumpy.  And so far my experience with Covid has been mild.

 I tested positive this past Wednesday, September 21 and went into isolation that day. (I've been staying in Ezra's room on the bottom bunk. It was easier to have him move into our bedroom with Barbara because Barbara's back can't take the bunk mattress).  I felt pretty rough  Weds and Thursday.  Friday, I felt better but was fatigued and slept a lot.  Yesterday, I didn't sleep as much and had more energy.  Today, I feel better still.  Tomorrow is my last day of isolation and I expect to feel close to normal by then if the trend continues.  I might even try to mow the lawn tomorrow!   Kai is only into his second day of isolation but I can hear him on the other side of the wall in his room jovially talking on the phone with a friend.  I'm guessing he's going to be fine too.

So what does it all mean?  It's been a little more than a year since I closed out my regular Covid updates.  I predicted then--correctly-- that we had essentially decided to return to normal life and to do our best to live with the virus.  Back then the most contagious variant of the virus--Omicron was not yet on our radar.  Omicron would prove to be the most relentless Covid version yet, one that would shift the goalpost from preventing infection to preventing severe illness and death. By winter of 2021 we had the highest case counts ever seen, and yet. . .life went on for the most part as normal.  There were no mass shut-downs, no social distancing mandates, and masks remained optional.  By summer of 2022, my biggest fear was not of getting Covid, but of getting Covid at the wrong time. I had a string of trips lined up and I didn't want any of my plans upended by an inconveniently timed positive test.   I managed to dodge the virus all summer.  While colleagues and students were felled just before the 8th grade class trip, I made it to and from Hawaii untouched.  A cancelled flight caused me to arrive in Jordan several days late, just in time the miss the virus's passage through our dig team, infecting four along the way.  I made it to Florida, including an anniversary trip to Miami without incident.  And though I did get sick after that trip, multiple tests insisted it wasn't Covid. And finally, I was able to make a quick trip out West about a week ago.  I think it was on the flight home from that trip that Covid finally caught up with me. 

Covid isn't quite "just like the flu" yet.  According to a recent article in The Atlantic, Covid is projected to continue to kill about 100,000 Americans annually for some time to come. That's three times the typical annual death count from flu.  Yet it's hard to even say where we are currently with case counts and such.  The New York Times still includes the maps and data in it's now-occasional Virus Briefings, though the link isn't provided in each briefing like it was before.  Todays numbers show the spread of the virus has been flat throughout the summer--neither low nor high--but just consistently the same, and has recently even begun to decline.  Of course with so many tests being done at home and thus not reported (ours among them), it's no longer certain how accurate those case counts even are.   We know people continue to sicken and die from Covid, but at a pace our hospitals seem to be able to manage.  Recently hospitalizations have been declining, which is encouraging, though over 400  Americans on average continue to die daily from Covid.  It's really worth taking a deep dive into the most recent NYT data. The good news according to this data is that by every metric we are doing better than we were a year ago.

I've heard some say that we mustn't get complacent.  This virus is still serious! And I don't suppose they're wrong. After all some of the more vulnerable in my life--my mother and mother-in-law for example--have managed to evade infection so far, and I want that to continue!  But I'm just not sure what vigilance looks like at this point?  Are the disruptive measures--the school and business shut downs--worth the good they might achieve?  Wouldn't avoiding crowds and masking every time we go out have be permanent parts of our lives now?  And is that how we want to live?  And would any of these measures even work given how infectious the current variants have proven to be?

This is what I'd like to see--and how I plan to live going forward:  

• Vaccines and the annual or so booster continue to be our primary weapon of defense against severe Covid.  In a few months, when my immunity is likely starting to wane, I'll pick up the  latest booster and probably throw in a flu shot as well.
•   I'd love to see masking when feeling sick normalized.  If I've got the sniffles or maybe a mild sore throat, I'll put on a mask to protect those around me from whatever I might have--Covid or not. 
•  I'd like to see people really commit to staying home when they don't feel good instead of toughing it out.  I know that can be difficult, especially when you apply that stricter standard to your kids too and you have limited sick days at work.  But we can at least be more intentional in this regard.

I predict that Covid will continue to evolve as a more contagious but less virulent disease.  I know it's possible that it could take an ugly turn, but I think that's unlikely.  I do suspect that at some point a new contagion will arise and unfortunately, I predict we will be no better prepared for that outbreak than we were for this one.  It's just not in our character to do the disciplined work required to keep these viruses at bay.

Now that Covid has come home to our family, I doubt there will be much left to say about this virus that hasn't already been said.  I hope that's the case any way.  We will see.

The One Year Bible: Of Bad Shepherds and Dry Bones

 

I don't know why this time around I'm getting so much more out of Ezekiel than I have in the past. Maybe it's not my least favorite book in the Bible after all.

This week, I'm briefly highlighting two stories from the performance art prophet that stuck with me. One is fairly well known, the other almost seems to provide the inspiration for one of Jesus's most well-known parables.

In Ezekiel 33, instead of a sweeping condemnation of His people as a whole, God zeroes in on the corrupt leadership of Israel, casting the ordinary people as the victims of their abusive rule. He describes them as shepherds who feed off their sheep instead of feeding them. He accuses the leaders of Israel of not caring for His people and causing them to scatter.  This is a kind of the anti-good shepherd parable where the shepherd doesn't bother to go looking for those who have wandered away and are lost.  In this passage, as in Jesus's story, God is the good shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep, who binds up their wounds, feeds them and gives them a place of peace, plenty and rest.

And then God addresses the flock itself, a kind of prefiguring of the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. His indictment of the rich abusing the poor is stinging, and should give us all pause: "Isn't enough for you to keep the best pastures for yourselves?  Must you also trample down the rest? Isn't enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must also muddy the rest with your feet? Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink what you have fouled?"

Ezekiel 37:1-11 is probably one of the most well-known passages in the book.  It's another fantastic vision where God takes Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?" God asks.

By this time, Ezekiel has had enough experience with God and His ways to not be too sure of anything so he replies, "O sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that."  Better to avoid either doubt or presumption and just trust God to make it plain.  

What follows a thrilling vision in which as Ezekiel prophecies to the dead, the bones come together until an army of restored corpses lie before him.  Then Ezekiel is instructed to prophesy again, to call on the breath of the four winds to breathe on these bodies, and instantly a vibrant living army leaps to it's feet.  It's a powerful image and I love how the rapper Lecrae captures it in Chris Tomlin's rousing anthem "Awake My Soul."

After weeks of endless doom, this vivid promise of resurrection and restoration is such an encouragement.

The One Year Bible: The Worst Story in the Bible

 A Reflection on Sudden Death

In the end, I suspect that all of our struggles with God, our engagement with faith and religious matters, boil down to death.  Our fear of it, and our resistance to it.  It is the awareness of our own mortality and our wish for eternity that drives it all. In one way our another all religions and beliefs are wrestling with this ultimate human conundrum.  We don't want to die.  And we especially don't want the people we love to die.

The story of the prophet Ezekiel's wife is not gory or violent.  There are no thunderbolts or fire from heaven. It's a quiet, short account, one of Ezekiel's many real-life parables that are the hallmark of his prophetic style.  And yet I have found it one of the most difficult stories in the Bible to accept.

Here it is, Ezekiel 24:15-25:

15Then this message came to me from the Lord: 16“Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. 17Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends.”

18So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do. 19Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”

20So I said to them, “A message came to me from the Lord, 21and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judah will be slaughtered by the sword. 22Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends. 23Your heads will remain covered, and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins. You will groan among yourselves for all the evil you have done. 24Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

25Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest treasure—I will also take away their sons and daughters."

"And in the evening my wife died."  He says it so tersely, so matter fact.  And it hits you like a blow to the gut.  It feels like. . .well it feels like sudden death.  It's pretty harsh, isn't it.

God took away Ezekiel's wife and then didn't allow him to properly mourn her.  All to send a message, to make a point to the people of Israel.  To paraphrase Jesus's disciples: "This is a hard story, who can accept it?"

I wasn't really interested in the usual Christian apologetics--trying to somehow justify God's actions here. I find the argument "Well, He's God so whatever he does is good" to be particularly useless. While technically true, if God can behave in any way He wants and it automatically becomes good, it makes any arguments about moral behavior moot.  While we are held to an exacting standard of moral accountability, God can move the goal posts as He sees fit and we should not make a peep, because "His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than I thoughts."

To paraphrase Bono: "The God I believe in isn't like that, Mister!"

So what to make of this awful story?  After giving it a lot of thought in prayer, this is where I'm at:

If I believe in a good God (and I do), there has to be more to this story that we're just not told. There's a lot that goes unsaid, and what we assume about that missing context says a lot about what we believe about the character of God. Unfortunately, for me--and I suspect many other believers, there's a tendency to assume the worst of God, because deep in our hearts we view Him not with love and trust, but with wariness and fear.  For example, we assume that God "killed" Ezekiel's wife as a means of delivering His latest prophetic message.

But isn't it possible that Ezekiel's wife wasn't killed by God, at least any more than anyone else who dies is killed by God?  It's true that God can always stop death and thus in a way is responsible for it, thus God's statement "With one blow, I will take away your dearest treasure."  But it's possible that Ezekiel's wife had been ill, and God was simply letting Ezekiel know that she wasn't going to make it.  Or she might have been totally healthy, but a brain aneurism or freak accident was going to take her out.  Sudden death is a tragic part of life. None of us are immune from it. And we all have a hard time accepting it. We are all praying for one more heartbeat. We all know death cannot be avoided--we just keep hoping for a delay.  Ezekiel's wife's death seems to be "different" but it's not. 

 Really, the only thing that makes this death stand out from mere ordinary tragedy is that God told Ezekiel it was coming.  And while God telling Ezekiel his wife was going to die in advance seems cold, it's a mercy I would have given anything to have with the people in my life that have died without warning.  One day of advance notice?  Over the phone call that brings you to your knees? I'll take it! 

The more I think about it, the more I find the most challenging part of the story is not Ezekiel's wife's death but his not being allowed to mourn her.  That prohibition seems particularly cruel, especially in a culture where the rituals of grief were so important (in our Western culture a stoic response to grief is considered "strong" and the person who doesn't cry and just gets on with life is seen as "handling it pretty well").  But I also think that the lack of public grieving was the message--not the death itself.  It was Ezekiel's lack of mourning that drew the the attention of the people.  "What does all this mean?" they asked as they observed Ezekiel, dry-eyed, with a stiff upper lip that would make any Englishman proud, burying his dear wife. "What are you trying to tell us?" Had Ezekiel grieved as was the normal custom, there would have been no message to give.  This, not the death, was the Big Ask God made of His prophet. And Ezekiel, having committed himself fully to the work of delivering God's message no matter the cost, was willing to make that sacrifice.

And I'm sure that night, after everyone had gone home, that Ezekiel wailed into his pillow, while the God of the universe rubbed his back.

I still think this is the worst story in the Bible, but I don't think the worst of God anymore when I read it.

"Oh, sometimes the good die young
It's sad but true
And while we pray for one more heartbeat
The real comfort is with You"

                          --Wayne Watson, "Home Free"

The One Year Bible: Prophecy as Performance Art

 This week my reading has been primarily in the book of Ezekiel.  When we think of books of the Bible filled with fantastic beasts, mind-blowing imagery, and mystifying prophecy, we look to Daniel and Revelation.  But Ezekiel holds its own with terrifying descriptions of angels, vivid visions of the Divine coupled with the same prophecies of doom we've come to expect from Jeremiah.

One artist's rendering of Ezekiel's fantastic vision of the cherubim with their four faces (that of a human, a lion, an ox and an eagle) and wings covered in eyes, the wheels (and the wheels within each wheel), and the surface above which sits the throne of God.  After growing up with images of golden haired Ken-doll angels, Ezekiel's eye-popping description  of angels is a bracing reminder that God is bigger, higher, and stranger than we can begin to imagine.

While Jeremiah was holding it down back in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is embedded with exiles in Babylon.  These early arrivals to captivity are, according to both prophets, are the lucky ones.  The unrepentant people of Judah left in Jerusalem are as doomed as doomed can be.

One of the things that really sets Ezekiel apart is the way he delivers his prophecies.  Ezekiel is a performance artist. He shows rather than tells the impending disaster facing Israel. He does crazy things like lie on his left side for over a year and eating food cooked over human feces (Ezekiel 4:4-12).  The human feces was too much for Ezekiel and God relented and allowed him to cook his food over cow poop instead. In Ezekiel 12, the prophet is instructed to publicly pack a bag and pretend he was going on a long journey into exile. He would conclude his little one-act play by digging a hole through a wall with his hands.  

When Ezekiel wasn't putting on performances, he was prophesying through parables.  He tells the story of the useless vine (Ezekiel 15), the two eagles (Ezekiel 17) and somewhat icky parable of the unfaithful wife--a story replete with rather lurid imagery (Ezekiel 16).

I've often said that Ezekiel is my least favorite book in the Bible--I have found it at various times to be confusing, disturbing and boring. But this time around, I'm coming around to Ezekiel and his bizarro performance art, perplexing parables, and surreal visions. 

The One for Mr. Viar

 

Few teachers have had a bigger impact on me personally and professionally than Dr. Paul Viar. Much of the teacher I am today, I owe to him.

I had no idea of that impact when I slunk into his 7:00 AM Biology I class on the first day of my sophomore year of high school at Forest Lake Academy.  Not only did I have no intention of becoming a teacher, I lacked the skills I needed to be even be a good student!  

I had always earned top grades.  School had been easy for me. I had never really had to "study."  I read the book, took the test, got an A. Simple.  Well, all that was about to change.

I was stunned when the first F on a test came back.  What happened?  I was doing what I'd always done--I read the book, I took the test.  Granted, the test had not seemed as familiar as I was used to but an F? I continued to struggle, barely scraping by the first semester with a D- in the class. It took me that first semester to figure out how to really be a student and it was Mr. Viar with his high standards and rigorous instruction that taught me.  I learned to listen in class (not just read the book) and take detailed notes. I learned the value of finishing work on time--even early---but never late.   And I learned how to study.  All of this, I learned from Mr. Viar along with so much more.  The secrets of biology and anatomy and physiology came alive to me in his classroom.  We went bird watching at his direction and followed him on an adventurous rain-soaked trip to the Keys our junior year.  By senior year, I was in good shape in Mr. Viar's class and was even able to indulge in talking all through class to my friend and lab partner Chandra. Well, for a little while anyway, until Mr. Viar pulled us aside for a stern talking to--after that we limited our communication to writing notes.  We weren't mad at Mr. Viar for reprimanding us though--we both had a deep respect and admiration for him and we wanted to make him proud.

I carried the lessons Mr. Viar taught into college where I sailed through A & P.  And when I entered my own classroom only a few years later, I leaned heavily on his example.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew what a good teacher looked like. While I found my footing, I simply mimicked the best teacher I'd ever had.  No-nonsense, high standards, serious business. Even today, now that I've been teaching as long as Mr. Viar had been during our senior year, he remains my role model.

At the end of my 2007 tribute to Mr. Viar as one the most influential people in my life, I noted that I needed to write another letter to him letting him know of his impact on my teaching (I'd written a thank you note to him in college).  I wish now that I'd actually done it. 

For now I look forward to the day when I'll see him again and I'll tell him all about it then.  Until then, rest well Mr. Viar. Your legacy lives on in my classroom, in my students, and in countless others too.

From the Colorado ski trip our senior year: From L to R: Geri Haupt, Dr. Paul E. Viar, and Chandra Maloney. Hard to believe two of the three in this photo are gone. When I first heard that Mr. Viar had passed, the first person I wanted to call was Chandra.  If there are ski slopes in heaven we'll have to have the three of them recreate this classic pic when we all get there.

The One Year Bible: "The Bad News of the Gospel"

 

"Hey guys, letter from the prophet Jeremiah back in Jerusalem and. . .oooh, looks like there's some good news and some bad news."

It's probably one of my favorite Bible texts, an oft-quoted promise of comfort and encouragement found in Jeremiah 29:11-13:  

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord.  'They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.' "

We tend to take this as just a general promise of goodwill towards any seeker of God, and I don't think it's wrong to read the Scripture that way. But I do think that it's important to know the actual context of this promise. It doesn't mean it can't be applied generally--but knowing the specific application matters. 

God's plan for good and not disaster are part of a letter written to the Jewish exiles in Babylon.  Judah had been effectively conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar, and the king of Judah, members of his family and royal court had already been shipped off to Babylon.  Among them were Daniel and his three friends who would make their own mark in the Biblical canon.  But Jerusalem was not yet destroyed and there was still a good number of people still living in Judah.  

God's message to the exiles in Babylon was essentially "I've got bad news and I've got good news." The bad news was that they were going to be in Babylon for awhile.  This was no temporary blip before they got to go back to "regular life" in Judah.  God instructed the exiles to settle down in Babylon, get married, have kids--make a life there.  Furthermore God warned them not to listen to false prophets among them who might suggest that they'd be freed from Babylon in short order.  In vs. 10 (right before the big verse 11): "This is what the LORD says: 'You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. . ." and well you know the rest.

This is not just a general promise of favor.  God is letting his people know that they are going to be in this season of captivity for quite some time, but they should never think that God has forgotten them--it may take awhile, but God's playing the long game and He knows what His ultimate plan is for His people--and it's a good plan, a plan for restoration.

Just is fascinating: to the people in Babylon this promise was not seen as good news.  There were other prophets directly opposing this message and advocating for Jeremiah's arrest and torture for suggesting that God wasn't going to free his people anytime soon.  While God counsels patience and offers encouragement for those already in captivity, Jeremiah 29 concludes with a severe message of certain destruction for those still "free" in Jerusalem, with specific dire consequences for the false prophet Shemaiah.

We tend to like to hear good news, and we balk at bad tidings. But God's plans are long term and may include bad news in the near future.  In another pragmatic promise, Jesus put it this way: "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world." 

The One Year Bible: "Bad Things, 'I May Destroy You', and Something Beautiful: A Review of my Summer Bible Reading"

"Bad things
It's a lot of bad things
That they wishin' and wishin' and wishin' and wishin'
They wishin' on me" 

                                 --Drake, "God's Plan"

Take out the odd cuss word here and there and Drake's "God's Plan" could easily be a psalm of David. Heresy, you say?  Take some time and read the Psalms that are attributed to David and you'll find that most of them are consumed with David's enemies.  Yes there's the famous Psalm 23 and David's beautiful confessional Psalms 51.  There's the wonderful comfort to be found in Psalm 139 and my personal favorite, Psalm 40:1-3, which U2 put to modern music.  But beyond these and a number of other uplifting Psalms, David is focused on his haters.  And even in many of these "positive psalms" David just can't seem to help returning to his favorite theme. Note Psalm 40: 14-15, Psalm 139:19-22, and of course we all know the line from the twenty-third Psalm: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies."  He just can't let it go!

Well, wait. . .that doesn't seem quite right.  Yet, that, more often than not was David's prayer. (Image credit: This comes from the cover of tattoo and graffiti artist Michael Sweater's comic book. I'm not familiar with his work but the image was too good to pass up).

David's psalms are a window into an internal struggle that we don't see in David's outward behavior. When it came to his conduct, David was all about letting God fight his battles for him.  He did not seek vengeance and resisted acting dishonorably even when his enemies weren't playing by those rules.  Inside though, it would appear David was seething.  He was eager for God to lay waste to all those who were wishing bad things on him.

Other psalmists found in the book of Psalms include Asaph, Solomon, and the "descendants of Korah".  Many of the psalms we tend to think of when we think of the psalms--songs of praise and glory to God are among those with no author listed.

Here's some highlights from my summer in the Bible:

The Reign of Solomon and The Kingdom Divided: 

The tribes of Israel were only united through the first three monarchs: Saul, David, and Solomon. After that they were divided into two rival kingdoms: Judah (along with Benjamin) headquartered in Jerusalem and Israel, compromised of the remaining ten tribes, and headquartered in what would become known as Samaria. My reading from the remainder  of May through June, July and the first few days have August have focused on this period.  The readings bounced between the parallel historical accounts found in the 1st & 2nd Kings and Chronicles (check out this helpful article on why both sets of books are included in the Bible even though they seem to tell mostly the same stories).  Also included were readings from the Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and several of the minor prophets including Amos, Micah and Hosea.  Also mixed into the period of the reign of Solomon were Ecclesiastes and oft-ignored sensual gem, the Song of Solomon.

"And Joash Lived. . .Miserably ever after and was murdered in his own bed."

My summer readings included the famous stories of Elijah and Elisha as well as other lesser known prophets.  Ahab and Jezebel make their appearance as do the good kings Asa and Josiah.  One shocking "Did You Know" was the horrible end of Joash. I was familiar with Joash's early life from the Etta B. Degering Bible story of my childhood--the boy king hidden away by his Uncle Jehoida and then placed on the throne at the tender age of seven. I read how as a young adult King Joash crowdfunded the money needed to restore the Temple which had fallen into disrepair under previous wicked kings.  What dear Mrs. Degering failed to mention was that Joash would end up becoming one of those wicked kings himself, even going so far as to murder his dear Uncle Jehoida's own son.  There was no happy ending for Joash--he was assassinated in his own bed. I suppose I understand why Degering chose to end Joash's story on a high note.  The rest of it isn't exactly a good bedtime story.

"I May Destroy You"

This entire period can be summed up as a cycle of God's people (in both Israel and Judah) abandoning God, chasing after the local gods, being dominated by their enemies as a result, and God then coming to their rescue and taking them back.  The prophets carry this theme as well, lambasting the people for their idol worship and warning them of the dire consequences of rejecting God.  These consequences are not vague, or "spiritual."  The nature of their destruction is described in graphic detail--scenes of lurid suffering and agony.  I found some of the prophetic passages a bit disturbing--and not because I wanted to have my ears tickled with positive prophecies of "peace and safety" when there was none to be had (Okay, maybe I wanted my ears tickled a little bit).  But mainly, the whole dynamic of "Love me or I will destroy you" just feels a little. . .toxic to me.  Especially, in the book of Hosea--a book that in past seemed kind of redemptive (especially after Francine Rivers gave it the Old West romance novel update)--the image of God as spurned lover who will torment you if you don't love Him was a bit hard to take.  Certainly the lover/destroyer model would not be acceptable at all in a relationship between two humans. But again, it's important to remember that the original authors and audience did not share our modern sensibilities on what constitutes a loving relationship between humans and their Creator. 

What Makes God Mad 

One thing that is clear from reading the Old Testament prophets is exactly what sins God was angry about.  Yes, there's the above mentioned idol worship.  But beyond that, God was also infuriated by injustice towards the poor, the widow and the orphan. God was enraged by the shedding of innocent blood especially as a means of selfish gain. God's wrath was unleashed on those who engaged in greedy fraud and deceitful business practices.   It's also interesting to note what sins go unaddressed--a lot of the ones modern believers tend to get in a twist about--the sexual "sins" (premarital sex, homosexuality etc) and abortion among them.  The OT prophets give these modern hot button issues nary a mention. 

I also find it interesting how little reference God makes to the afterlife and eternal punishment in this part of the Bible. All of the punishments (and rewards) God threatens in these Scriptures are very much temporal.  God doesn't warn of consequences in the afterlife, but in this life.  And the things that anger God? Well, he wouldn't be a very good God if those things didn't make him mad.  They should anger us too.

What Stood Out to Me

• Ecclesiastes:  This is probably one of my favorite books in the Bible.  I love it's contrarian spirit and how it seems to go against all the ways we believers sometimes try to make sense out of what is often the senseless nature of life.  Solomon looks back and says, "Listen, most stuff doesn't matter--enjoy your life while you can and don't worry too much."  I love it.  Perhaps later on, after the end of the year, I'll go back and reread Ecclesiastes and blog on it.  

• The Last Third or So of Isaiah (Ch.40 to the end):  I had begun to wonder about this whole Bible thing.  I was growing so weary of the numbing cycle of "I will destroy you/I will heal you."  I'd heard  about this or that spiritual seeker (usually the type that becomes an Adventist) sitting down with the Bible, reading for hours and hours for days and days at a time, like a thirsty traveler coming upon water in the desert, and emerging transformed by what they'd read.  What are they reading that I am not, I wondered. Are we reading the same Bible?   I already knew that you have to "ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance" before reading and all that.  I'd faithfully been doing that but I didn't feel I was having the transformative experience that I was supposed to.  Was there something in me, some sort of bad attitude on my part that was preventing me from being blessed? 

And then I hit Isaiah 40 and it was like water in the desert. Something--Someone--outside of that tiresome cycle of  judgement and conditional acceptance enters the scene. There is a change in tone and themes appear that we've never seen before--themes of salvation, of grace, of permanent restoration and heart change.  Jesus is present in these chapters, perhaps more than at any time in the Old Testament so far.  Through Isaiah, we get a glimpse of what's coming. It's beautiful.

The Quarter Century Mark: Our First 25 Years

 

Twenty Five Years Ago today, Sunday, July 27, 1997

Our ten year anniversary, July 27, 2007

Our twenty year anniversary, July 27, 2017

It's been twenty five years since we said "I do" and Babs and I are still doing this thing called life together.

Our first ten years--1997 to 2007-- together were commemorated in this post.

Our next ten years-2008 to 2017--can be found here.

It's only been five years since our last marriage milestone, but I decided to not to wait until 30 years in to recap our journey. Twenty five is a big deal--a quarter of a century!

Year 21 & 22: A Home of Our Own

Our 21st year of marriage, 2017-2018, was one of momentous change for our family and a major new first. We bought our first home!  Sure lots of folks had probably paid two thirds of their mortgage in the time it took us to start out on ours. but better late than never right?  We closed on our home exactly one week before our twenty first wedding anniversary.  

Our family in front our old apartment  in 2018 about a month before our 21st anniversary

Year 22 was all about settling into our new home. Barbara and I had been all around the world together, but now were embracing that American Dream ideal--owning our own home.  Our evenings and weekends were full of "house projects" and lawn care.  The headaches and expenses of home ownership were more than made up for by seeing our children play in the spacious backyard and taking pleasure in the many beautiful spaces inside and outside our home.  In the summer of 2019 we were pleased to host my mom, siblings, and nephews for their first visit to Ohio.

Year 23: Pandemic Partnership

It can seem like time ceases to pass as one year cycles into another--as if we are living in a comforting and familiar loop. But that illusion was shattered in our 23rd year of marriage with the arrival of the COVD-19 pandemic. On March 12, 2020 life was we knew it was radically altered. We went home from school, not to return. Like the rest of the world, we entered into isolation--days turning into weeks and then into months of the four of us hunkered down in our home, trying to wait out the viral storm.  It was a tough time. It wasn't that we clashed so much--but for whatever reason during year 23, I often felt distant from Babs even though we were often in close physical quarters.  Still, we managed to keep our partnership solid, even in the midst of the pandemic.

A few weeks after our 23rd anniversary, on August 13, 2020, Barbara celebrated her fiftieth birthday

Year 24: Refuge

For much of our twenty-fourth year, Babs was a a source of comfort and care as I dealt with the sudden death of my friend Chandra. In many ways, I never felt closer to Babs than I did during my time of grief.  Some of my post precious memories from this sad time, are of the ways in which Babs provided refuge and understanding. I will be forever grateful for that.

Halfway through our 24th year, in February of 2021, we headed up to Michigan to recreate my favorite photo from our dating years, about 25 years after the photo was taken.

Year 25: Enduring Love

And now here we are at year 25. Ours has proven to be a love that endures, and I'm so grateful. For the past year we've tackled the challenges of raising a teenager, navigating a post pandemic work world, working through grief, and committing to continued growth as a couple. It's a lot but our marriage has "good bones"--a foundation of deep friendship that remains constant through all the highs and lows.  We were walking on the beach last weekend when a couple in front of us overheard us talking and asked where we were from.  It turned out that they were also from Columbus, Ohio!  When I mentioned that we were celebrating our 25th anniversary they asked us what the secret was to an enduring marriage. We thought for a moment and then told them that it boiled down to two things--a fundamental mutual respect for each other and a willingness and ability to communicate honestly.

Life is hard. There's no way around that. And there's no guarantee that sharing life with another person will make it any easier.  But in our case, doing life together has been a huge blessing and has brought so much joy to our journey. We don't know what the next twenty-five years will hold, but we know that we will hold each other through whatever joys and sorrows lie ahead.

* * * *

"I'd go anywhere with you
I know you feel the same thing that I do"

                                             --Mat Kearney, "Anywhere With You"

One thing that really surprised me is that in the last five years of our marriage: we stopped celebrating our anniversaries.  During the first decade we splurged on romantic getaways to La Jolla, Huntington Beach, and Hawaii. In the second decade, the celebrations were humbler affairs--maybe just a nice dinner out, or perhaps a night or two at a fancy hotel in Cincinnati.  But in the last five years, the anniversary celebration seems to have withered to nothing.  There's no record of any type of celebration in the last four years.  And in 2021, I wasn't with my wife at all on our anniversary (I was in Alaska)!

So this year, it was time to get back on the romance track and make up for those lost years. 

We knew we'd be in Florida the week before our anniversary and we opted for an early celebration so my mom could watch the kids while we were away.  We had decided earlier in the year that we would surprise ourselves. We could go anywhere and we knew we'd have a great time as long as we were together, just like the song says.  We'd pick a destination at the last minute--it just needed to be a cheap, non-stop ticket to somewhere we'd never been before.  With those parameters, on Friday morning, July 15 we spent a couple of hours scouring the internet and settled on Miami Beach as our destination.

On Friday, July 22, we took the short flight from Orlando to Miami, arriving around 10:00 AM.  Our room at the Hilton Bentley Miami Beach/ South Beach wasn't ready when we arrived but we were able to have a nice brunch by the pool and hash out a plan for the weekend.  By 1:30 our room was ready and we headed up to our romantic digs.  Like any long-time married couple finally free of the kids, we immediately hopped into bed and. . .fell fast asleep!   That nap was delicious, let me tell you.  At this stage in our lives uninterrupted sleep is a luxury to be treasured.   After whiling away the afternoon in glorious slumber, we finally roused ourselves for a walk on the beach before setting off to explore South Beach on foot. Barbara ended up indulging in a pedicure and we went to Publix for snacks and drinks.  Then it was back to our hotel for a late dinner to round out the day.

The Sabbath was truly restful.  We slept late, and then spent most of the day on the beach.  We shifted back to the hotel pool in the late afternoon, and had dinner poolside cracking ourselves up as we people-watched. 

Sunday morning we got up a little earlier and walked on the beach for a bit, ending up at Starbucks for morning coffee and sandwiches.  Then it was back to the hotel to soak up the last of our room before checkout.  We spent a good chunk of Sunday out sightseeing and shopping in Miami Beach's famous Art Deco district.  We closed out the day with some more time at the hotel pool.  We showered and dressed at the hotel gym, and by 7:30 PM were in our Uber on our way to the airport for our flight back to Orlando.

It was a perfect weekend away.  It was wonderful to have no responsibilities, no schedule, nothing to do but be together in a beautiful and luxurious setting. It echoed our honeymoon in so many ways (including frantic shopping right at the end!)  This time of closeness, relaxation, and intimacy was much needed and both Babs and I resolved that we shouldn't allow future anniversaries to go neglected in the years to come.

A Day on the Dig

The view from the sift pile. It's peaceful work. Sometimes I'll put in my headphones and listen to music while I sift since I'm usually there alone. The playlist I had intended to listen to for the trip never downloaded properly (data is too spotty for regular streaming) but I had an older, smaller playlist of about 60 songs from my trip to Texas last November that was still on my phone. So that ended up being the only music I listened to this whole trip.  A lot of nostalgic tunes from years long gone by attached to some special memories. It was nice.

 I've been here in Jordan for just over two weeks.  My days settled into a fairly predictable and peaceful routine.  I get up around 5 AM, do my Bible reading and try to knock out Wordle for the day. Breakfast is at 5:30 AM.  It's the exact same tasty spread every day and so far I haven't gotten tired of it.  I always have two falafels, some chicken sausages, zaatar bread, olives, and a pita sandwich with hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cold cuts--all washed down with a glass of orange drink.  I then follow that up with a pancake or two topped with preserves and a cup of tea, which I usually have to gulp down because the bus arrives at 6:00 AM sharp.

This is our breakfast spread every morning at the Salome Hotel. It's always the same every day but there are enough options that you can mix it up for variety

The tea station

The drive out Tall Hisban is about 20 minutes. Once we arrive we pile off the bus and grab a tool from the trunk of Dr. Bob Bate's car.  Dr. Bates is the chief archaeologist for the dig this season.  He arrives at the dig site early to take photos and prepare for the day.   We carry the surveying equipment and other tools up the tall to their designated spots.  Then we go to our squares where we will receive instructions from our square supervisor and field supervisor. There are three "fields" on this season's dig:  Field T, Field C and Field M.  Field M and C have two squares each (although only one of the squares is currently being excavated in Field C) and Field T has one square.  I work in Field T. My field supervisor is Liz, a graduate archaeology student with seven years of dig experience under her belt. My square supervisor is Colton, a  senior at Andrews University. Both are great to work for.  Also on our team is Farah, a Jordanian university student, Christen, a sophomore from Andrews U, and two local Jordanian workers, Blaal and Ahmad.

The Great Leader (Field Supervisor Liz on left) and Dear Leader (Square Supervisor Colton on right) as I jokingly call them

Left to Right, Stacie Hatfield observes as Liz listens to instructions for the day from Dr. Bates

Jordanian university student Farah carrying the surveying equipment

Andrews University student Christen

Our work basically consists of excavating or sifting.  We'll have one or two people down on the sifts, two or three people excavating the square, and the workers ferrying the dirt-filled gufftan  (that's the plural of guffah)  from the square to the sifts (thought they will occasionally excavate or sift as well).  We tend to trade off jobs every hour or two so that no one gets too tired. 

Sifters at the sift pile waiting for more gufftan of dirt to be brought over for sifting. You can see an overturned guffah on the ground in front of the wheelbarrow in the foreground

The other task we have is the pottery washing and reading.  Pottery reading is done by the square supervisor under the guidance of Dr. Bates.  They sort through the pottery, categorizing and cataloging everything that is found.  But before the pottery can be "read", it needs to be washed. Washing is basically exactly what it sounds like.  The pottery collected during sifting from the a day or two previous is stored in buckets, filled with water.  Our job is to clean each piece of pottery in preparing for reading.  We basically scrub each pottery piece with either a wet bristle brush or a toothbrush removing as much dirt and grime as possible. 

Thanks to "hand models" Dr. Stacie Hatfield and Isabel Srour

In my opinion, it is the most arduous task in the field.  I've washed pottery four times over the course of the dig.  The first day I did it, it was rough.  My back was so sore I could barely stand when I was done, and my hands started hurting early into the process from the scrubbing and gripping.  Since then I  have stopped sitting in a chair to wash pottery.   Instead, sit on a low wood stump or cinderblock with pottery bucket almost even with me so I don't have to lean over the whole time. I also take care to vary my hand positions as I clean so  that I don't put too much strain on my hands. It's still not my favorite task, but it's bearable now.

There is one other thing that made that first round of pottery washing arduous.  When we were working the sifts we were instructed to save only pottery sherds that were larger than Dr. Bate's thumb.  Well, I was so worried about throwing away something of value that I tended to use my own (considerably smaller) thumb as a guide and tended to err on the conservative side when it came to ballparking the "thumb size."  As a result, when it came time to the wash the pottery--much of which I had likely sifted--I was bedeviled by a seemingly bottomless bucket of tiny pieces of pottery. By the time I finally got to the bottom of the bucket I was seething.  I swore then and there to become a new man on the sifter, ruthless in dispensing any pottery sherd that I would later hate if I had to wash it. And that benefited not just me but everyone up the line--the square supervisors and Dr. Bates reading the pottery.  Nobody wants to deal with a bunch of tiny, essentially useless body sherds.   A small diagnostic piece could be valuable (any sherds with distinguishing characteristics--a rim or base, a handle, designs or glaze, or engraving) but beyond that the little sherds needed to be left in the sift to be discarded.

Washed pottery goes here.  Body sherds and tesserae go in the main basket. Diagnostic pieces go in the mesh bag. All pieces will be "read"--counted, inventoried and recorded--later by Dr. Bates and the square supervisor

A nice diagnostic piece

Pottery washing starts after breakfast and can take all of the rest of the morning.  If you finish early you go back to your square to work for a bit before lunch.

We wrap up our work on the squares around 12:30 PM and then take a short bus ride over to the local women's center.  The ladies there prepare us a delicious lunch and then we take the bus back to our hotel in Madaba.

Dr. Labianca holds forth before lunch is served.  Some of us ate inside in the dining area, while others of us preferred to eat out here in the courtyard.

The first thing I do when I get back is take a shower.  Then I might read for a bit, maybe nap. Both Mondays I did laundry--which is done by hand in a bucket.  I might walk to the store, do some souvenir shopping, or write in my journal or on my blog before supper, which is provided by the hotel at 6 PM.  I often spend the evenings in a leisurely fashion, chatting with team members out on the hotel's lovely outdoor patio area until the sun goes down. I turn in early most nights, after maybe talking with Barbara on the phone via WhatsApp.  I might read a few pages of my book before turning out the lights.  My goal is to be in bed before 10 PM.

This is life in on the dig in Jordan, and it's not bad!