“Some hard parts about being a good Christian…”

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*Have you been “arguing with God” about the upcoming election?* Begging? **Pleading?**

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Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

The Book of Common Prayer says that by sharing Holy Communion, Christians become “very members incorporate in the mystical body” of Jesus. The words “corporate” and “mystical” are key. They show that a healthy church has two sides, with the often-overlooked “mystic” side posing the question, “How do I experience God?” This blog will try to answer that.

It has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (John 6:37.) The second is that God wants us to live lives of abundance.(John 10:10.) The third is that Jesus wants us to read the Bible with an open mind. (As it says in Luke 24:45: “Then He [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”) The fourth theme – another one often overlooked – is that Jesus wants us to do even greater miracles than He did. (John 14:12.)

And this thought ties them together:

The best way to live abundantly and do greater miracles than Jesus is: Read, study and apply the Bible with an open mind. For more see the notes or – to expand your mind – see the Intro.

In the meantime:

Halloween is coming up, and this year it seems highly appropriate. That’s because five days after Halloween comes the election, and a day after that half the voters will feel like they’ve gotten a treat. The other half will feel bitter, like they’ve been “tricked.” (Interesting etymology, the word can mean a “cunning or skillful act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone.” Or some country?) Which brings up some of the harder parts of trying to be a good Christian.

Regardless of who wins, our ongoing political polarization will likely continue. Which brings up one duty for good Christians, from 2d Corinthians 5:18: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (As in, to “restore friendly relations between.”) Thus the first big question: “Shouldn’t the group that claims to be more Christian make the first move to reconciling, and ending that polarization?”

But that’s not the hardest part. The hardest part of being a good Christian is the part that says “love your enemy,” what Jesus said to do in Matthew 5:44. (“Geez, what a Radical! No wonder He ended up crucified…”) Beyond that, Paul said in Romans 5:6 that Christ died for The Ungodly. So whoever you think that”ungodly” political enemy is, that’s exactly who Jesus died for.

Which means that no matter how rude or obnoxious a political opponent may act, you are duty-bound – as a good Christian – to say to yourself, “Somewhere in there is a child of Christ. Someone else that Jesus died for.” So like I said, many times being a good Christian is a real pain. (Maybe that’s why so many “Christians” today don’t follow Matthew 5:44?)

Which brings up praying, “of which I’m sure God has heard a lot of” over the past few months. Millions of people asking God – or begging, or pleading – to help Their Guy win. (Which makes me wonder, “Does He ever get tired all that whining?”) Which brings up the next big question: How should we pray when it comes to the upcoming election?

For starters there’s Romans 8:26: The Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Of course we could just pray, “Lord, please help My Candidate win,” but wouldn’t that be the same as asking Him to help your favorite sports team win? And that wouldn’t work in court.

Lawyers can’t just go in and ask a Judge for a particular result as a special favor. They have to give a compelling rationale, a good reason for the Judge to grant the request. So one effective prayer might be to ask for the result that will bring more people to Jesus. On the flip side, we could pray that God won’t help a candidate whose election will drive even more people away from The Faith. (Church membership has been declining for years now. “I wonder why?”)

In other words, “arguing with God.” Giving Him reasons to grant your request, like Abraham did in Genesis 18:16-33. (“Abraham pleads for Sodom.”) Or like Moses did in response to God’s threat in Exodus 32:10. (To destroy Israel because of the Golden Calf.) Or like Jacob did back in Genesis 32:22-32. (Just don’t be surprised if you end up with your name changed.) Bottom line? We need to figure out some good legal arguments to help “Our Guy” get elected.

But in the end it may come down to “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me[;] nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42.)

Still, wouldn’t it be nice if that “more Christian group” took those hard starting steps toward stopping our widespread, ongoing polarization? If Americans started reconciling with each other? (Per 2d Corinthians 5:18.) Then we wouldn’t be so much like those Blind men and an elephant in the parable. Each one was partly right but they were all mostly wrong. Why? Because instead of comparing notes and sharing insights – what we used to call Dialectic – they each insisted that their view was the only Truth, the one and only accurate description. I’ll write more on Halloween and “All Saints” in a few days. Meanwhile, something to think about…

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The upper image, courtesy of Wikipedia, is Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, by Alexander Louis Leloir (1865). Leloir (1843-1884), was a a French painter specializing in genre and history paintings. His younger brother was painter and playwright Maurice Leloir. The original caption: “‘Jacob wrestling with the Angel’ – as a result of which his name got changed to Israel.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“Feast days” are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Re: Polarization in America. The link Political Polarization is Not Unique to the U.S., but its Causes are noted, “what is missing from our politics is a simple respect from both sides, at a minimum because people on both sides of a debate can be right.” I addressed that idea in 2018’s On St. James (“10/23”) – and the 7 blind men. (Each man was partly right but mostly wrong, because each insisted his view was the only valid one.) Then there’s U.S. is polarizing faster than other democracies, study finds. But see also Local Government Navigates Negative Impact of Political Polarization Better than Federal Government: “An overwhelming majority of local government leaders (87 percent) believes polarization is hurting the country but far fewer (31 percent) see negative effects in their own communities.”

Re: Decline in attendance. See The Real Reason Churches Are in Decline | Church & Culture, The State of Church Membership: Trends and Statistics [2024], and Behind Gallup’s portrait of church decline.

Re: God as Judge. 76 Bible Verses about God, As Judge – Online Bible.

Re: Case study and rationale. Law School Case Briefs: Your Ultimate Guide – Barbri: “why the court arrived at its holding. This section of the case brief may be the most important, because you must understand the court’s reasoning to be able to analyze it and apply it to other situations — such as those you will see on the bar exam and in real life scenarios when you are a practicing attorney.”

Re: “Arguing.” From 2014, On arguing with God. From April 2016, More on “arguing with God” – and St. Mark as Cinderella. And April 2018, “Trump-humping” – and Christians arguing with each other.

Re: Luke 22:42. I combined the New International and New King James Versions to make the quote more relevant. Also, in a sense Jesus mirrored what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said when threatened with being thrown into the flames: “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king. But if not…” From my April 2015 post, Shadrach “et al.” and the Fiery Furnace.

Just as an aside, in November 2021 – and in my companion blog – I posted Donald Trump – the newest “Undead Revenant?” It mentioned that at the time “Trump’s star seems to be rising once again,” thus raising the possibility that he just might get elected to a second term.

But once again I tried to look on the bright side. That “freed from a need to pander to his wacko base,” Trump might develop a conscience and start thinking seriously about his legacy.

Which might still happen, but I hope we don’t have to find out. (Which may not be a good-Christian thought, but like I said, it’s a real pain sometimes.)

The lower image is courtesy of Blind Men And The Elephant – Image Results. See also Blind men and an elephant – Wikipedia, for more on the parable. I used the image to lead off last year’s Between Halloween and Thanksgiving – 2023! My caption: “If these Men had compared notes – not argued – they’d have a better understanding” – a more accurate view of the elephant, and by extension, a better way of understanding God. (By sharing insights instead of yelling at each other.) For another “between” post see Psalm 137, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem” – 2021, from November 12, two years ago.

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As noted in the opening blurb, this blog has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (John 6:37, with the added, “Anyone who comes to Him.”) This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. From the Old Testament, Psalm 9:10, “You never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.” (In the Version in the Book of Common Prayer.) The second is that God wants us to live abundantly. (John 10:10.) The third is that we should do greater miracles than Jesus. (John 14:12). A fourth theme: The only way to do all that is read the Bible with an open mind:

…closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain’s natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a “search and destroy” relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people’s current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable… Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency…

So in plain words, I take issue with what I came to call “Christian first graders.” Those who stay in a kind of elementary school, and maybe even never go beyond first grade. See John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders,” for more detail. But the key point: “The Bible was designed to expand your mind,” not keep it narrow. Also, the idea that “Jesus was anything but negative. His goal was for you to grow and develop into all that you can be.” (For more on that see ABOUT THE BLOG, above.)

Before that post I wrote that the blog takes issue with boot-camp Christians, the Biblical literalists who never go “beyond the fundamentals.” But the Bible can offer so much more than their narrow reading can offer… (Unless you want to stay a Bible buck private all your life…) Now, about “Boot-camp Christians.” See for example, Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?” The gist of that post is that starting the Bible is like Army Basic Training. You begin by“learning the fundamentals.” But after boot camp, you move on to Advanced Individual Training.”

http://www.toywonders.com/productcart/pc/catalog/aw30.jpg

However, after boot camp, you move on to Advanced Individual Training. And as noted in “Buck private,” one of this blog’s themes is that if you want to be all that you can be, you need to go on and explore the “mystical side of Bible reading.*” In other words, exploring the mystical side of the Bible helps you “be all that you can be.” See Slogans of the U.S. Army – Wikipedia, re: the recruiting slogan from 1980 to 2001. The related image at left is courtesy of: “toywonders.com/productcart/pc/catalog/aw30.jpg.”

Re: “mystical.” Originally, mysticism “referred to the Biblical liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity.” See Mysticism – Wikipedia, and the post On originalism. (“That’s what the Bible was originally about!”) See also Christian mysticism – Wikipedia, “In early Christianity the term ‘mystikos’ referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative… The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.” As to that “experiential” aspect, see also Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Wikipedia, on the method of theological reflection with four sources of spiritual development: scripture, tradition, reason, and “Christian experience.”

For an explanation of the Daily Office – where “Dorscribe” came from – see What’s a DOR?

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On “Jesus riding two donkeys – at once?”

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*An 1897 pointing using a “common visual technique” to make sense of* *Matthew 21:7…*

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Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

And this thought ties them together:

In the meantime:

I last posted on August 24, with Pilgrimage, doing penance and “St. Bart – 2024.” It talked in part about my then-upcoming pilgrimage to Spain for a month, to hike the Camino Finisterre and the Camino Ingles. (Respectively, from Santiago de Compostela and then – days later – back to Santiago.) In some ways that post was remarkably prescient, but then “there’s always the unexpected, isn’t there?” There was a lot of that too, but I’ll explain that more in a later post.

In the meantime, back home, I want to move on to my next book. I’m just now finishing up the one on my 2023 hike on the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail in France. (Hopefully it’ll be done before by the end of November.) But for my next project I want to cover why people who interpret Scripture too literally both rob themselves of at least half the Bible’s value, and drive away new recruits “in droves.” (The people who most need the Faith, the “Ungodly” who are just who Jesus died for. Romans 5:6.) I’d settled on a tentative title, “The Bible was designed to expand your mind.” (To the tune, “If it does not fit, you must acquit.”) But I wanted something a bit more catchy, short and sweet that conveyed the message, but with an image behind it.

Then I remembered a painting I saw, years ago, of Jesus riding two donkeys at the same time. I haven’t been able to find it online, but the one at the top of the page is in the ball park. It struck me as odd back then, but now I think to myself, “Jesus didn’t ride two donkeys at one time. That’s Hebrew poetry you knuckleheads!” Of course I know I’d have to dress up that title a bit, but the point is: A big feature of Hebrew poetry – shown most vividly seen in the psalms – is how it describes one thing in two different ways. But it’s not just the psalms, it’s throughout the Old Testament. So if you read a passage like Zechariah 9:9 too literally, you come up with an odd image, as of Jesus riding two donkeys at the same time. Here’s the passage:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

But read that passage too literally is apparently just what Matthew did, as discussed below.

As for my revelation, I thought it was both a ground-breaking idea and a great title for a new and exciting book on how “the Bible was designed to expand your mind.” (Which can’t happen if you read it too literally.) Unfortunately there’s a problem. Somebody else beat me to the punch, as shown in the Wikipedia article Triumphal entry [of Jesus] into Jerusalem.

The article pointed out that Matthew was “the only one of the Synoptics to mention two animals.” But – the article said – he did not take into account “‘the common Hebrew literary device of poetic parallelism,’ mentioning the same animal twice in different ways.” In particular it cited Professor Bart D. Ehrman, who also said Matthew misunderstood Zechariah 9:9:

This repetition is a Hebrew poetic figure of speech which says the same thing twice in different words, but Matthew accidentally turned this into two separate animals which Jesus rode simultaneously instead of [the] one donkey which is described twice. John 12:14-15 refers to the same passage in Zechariah 9:9, but in his case there is only talk of one donkey.

See also the article Poetic parallelism, on the rhetorical device used throughout world history in “poetry, epics, songs, written prose and speech… It is very often found in Biblical poetry and in proverbs in general.” Thus my conclusion, “Rats, I thought I was on to something!”

I may still use the idea in my new-book title, but I need more research and maybe even some lateral thinking on the problem. In the meantime there’s that set of Camino hikes I just finished in September, and how my August 24 post was so prescient – and how it wasn’t.

For example, after the Camino Finisterre we hiked up to Muxía and spent two nights there. (Part of the Costa da Morte or “Coast of Death.”) There we saw the lighthouse and the Celtic stones “said to be remains of the Virgin Mary’s stone boat.” (The one she used to come and comfort St. James the Greater, who wasn’t having much luck trying to “Christianize” the locals.) And saw the “Pedra D’abalar (rocker stone) in front of Nosa Señora da Barca church in Muxía.”

Next we mass-transited up to A Coruña – “the provincial capital of the province of A Coruña” – and stayed two nights there. One thing we did was climb the Tower of Hercules, the famous lighthouse. (Not the last time we saw A Coruna, under less-than-pleasant circumstances.)

There followed some trials and tribulations – described in future posts – but eventually we made it back to Santiago for two nights in the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario. There I did “penance for whatever sins may remain” from what turned out to be an ordeal of a hike. Grueling at times, but the good news? The rooms were stark, as noted – “bed, desk and tiny bathroom” – but the place had a nice lounge on the first floor and served Estrella Damm. (The one that got to be my go-to beer in Spain.) And remember my definition of a Camino hike: At the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.

Which brings up another theme in this blog, bringing people to Jesus. (“Is there any higher calling?”) The best way to do that – it seems to me – is live your life in such a way that potential recruits say, “I want some of that!” Make no mistake, there is that promised triumph – allegorized below – but before it always comes the ordeal, trying, arduous and/or stressful.

As Underhill said, “It is to vigor, not comfort that you are called.” (Then comes the beer…)

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*A “foretaste of that heavenly banquet to come?”*

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The upper image is courtesy of Entry of the Christ in Jerusalem, 1897 – Jean-Leon Gerome. See also Jesus’s Triumphal Entry: A Well-Orchestrated Mock Coronation, which noted that Gerome’s painting “depicts two donkeys – one trailing behind another. This was a common visual technique used by painters in an attempt to reconcile the text of Matthew 21:7, where Jesus is depicted as riding two donkeys at once.” And Triumphal entry into Jerusalem – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Re: “Pilgrimage to Spain for a month.” Technically – and perhaps hypertechnically – the trip extended into two months. The flight from Atlanta left on September 6 and arrived in Madrid the next morning. We arrived back in Santiago on October 3 and I flew home (from Lisbon) on October 7. See also Poetic License Definition and Examples – Poem Analysis.

“Always the unexpected.” See Bridge on the River Kwai Quotes. with a quote from Colonel Green, “As I’ve told you before, in a job like yours, even when it’s finished, there’s always one more thing to do.” And also The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – Jack Hawkins as Major Warden:

Maj. Warden : Is there something wrong?
Commander Shears : I was just thinking. You speak Yai’s language, I don’t. He’s gonna lead you back to the river Kwai himself, by a route I never took. Will someone tell me why I’m so indispensable to this outfit?
Maj. Warden : I know how you feel, but there’s always the unexpected, isn’t there?

Which is how it turned out on the Camino Ingles…

The lower image is courtesy of Estrella Damm – Wikipedia. An allegory is – in this case – an image expressing an abstract idea or concept. As to “vigor not comfort,” see Underhill’s Practical Mysticism, Ariel Press, 1914, at page 177. Or On the Annunciation (2022) – and Mary “shrinking back.”

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…closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain’s natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a “search and destroy” relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people’s current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable… Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency…

For an explanation of the Daily Office – where “Dorscribe” came from – see What’s a DOR?

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Pilgrimage, doing penance and “St. Bart – 2024…”

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*The “Lighthouses at Muxía,” a maybe-sight on our Camino Finisterre, to “the end of the world…”*

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Saturday, August 24, is the Feast day for St. Bartholomew, also called Bartholomew the Apostle. I’ll write more about him in a bit, but first I’d like to talk about my upcoming pilgrimage, in a return to Spain. In Transfiguration – 2024 I talked about some of my past journeys, leading “to a personal transformation,” but here I’ll talk about the one coming up in September.

The Camino de Santiago … is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried.

But this year, instead hiking to Santiago my hiking companions and I will hike from there. Out on the Camino Finisterre to “the end of the known world.” That is, we’ll be hiking to Cape Fisterra, a route “unique because it is the only trail starting in Santiago de Compostela and takes pilgrims west to the stunning Atlantic coast of Galicia.”

We’ll meet up in Madrid, then take a train for two nights in Santiago. Needless to say, over the course of the month we’ll stay in many different places, but here I’ll focus on where we stay two nights – and where I’ve never been. First, two nights in Fisterra (“world’s end”), after hiking five days. Then two more days hiking to Muxía, where we spend two nights. From there we take a bus to A Coruña, and stay there two days, followed by another bus ride to Ferrol, for another two days off. Then we “start hiking again,” for another eight days, heading back to Santiago. All of which means we’ll enjoy way more “two nighters” than usual on past Camino hikes. (Which I define as at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.) And more bus rides for that matter, but we’ll end up hiking close to the usual 150 miles.

Now, about those two-nighters. I’ve been to Finisterre; we drove there by rental car after an earlier hike to Santiago. (See a photo of that rocky “end of the world” outcrop in the post, James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024.) The first “never been there” two-nighter is in Muxía, known for its beaches and its active fishing industry. “Muxía is part of the ‘Costa da Morte‘ or ‘Costa de la Muerte’ (i.e., the ‘Coast of Death’) … because of the large number of shipwrecks along its rocky shore.” (Wikipedia.) Also, local legend says that St. James the Greater tried to “Christianize” local inhabitants but without any luck. Then the Virgin Mary appeared to St. James “to comfort him. The Celtic stones near the church are now said to be remains of the Virgin Mary’s stone boat.” (Seen above left, the “Pedra d’Abalar (rocker stone) in front of Nosa Señora da Barca church in Muxía.”)

So much for Muxía. The next qualifying two-nighter is A Coruña, the provincial capital of the province of A Coruña. As for things to see, “In addition to the Tower of Hercules, one of the symbols of the city, the peninsula on which the Old Town sits is home to a fascinating Romanesque ensemble of medieval streets, squares and churches.” There’s also a museum of fine arts, an archaeology and history museum, and yet another “Church of Santiago (A Coruña).”

Next up, after another long bus ride, comes Ferrol. It features a harbor which, “for depth, capacity and safety, has few equals in Europe. The entrance is very narrow, commanded by forts, and may even be shut by a boom.” It’s close to the Cape Prior Lighthouse:

The [modern] lighthouse has been constructed on a high coastal clifftop, some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of Ferrol [but] the geographers of antiquity took notice of the granite protuberance off the northwesternmost point of Iberia which, as described by Strabo and other classical geographers, was used even then as a reference point for the end of the Iberian peninsula… A set of steps descends from the lighthouse down the steep cliff to a viewpoint overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

(Wikipedia.) All of which will be a part of our upcoming 2024 pilgrimage to Spain, where – hopefully – at the end of each day I can look forward to that warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. (As it says in Psalm 84:4, “Happy are those … whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.”)

But I did say I’d talk some about St. Bartholomew the Apostle, so here goes. There’s lots of gory detail in the links below, but mostly he’s famous for being flayed alive, and the massacre that happened on his feast day in 1572, during the French Wars of Religion:

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre … in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots… Though by no means unique, it “was the worst of the century’s religious massacres.” Throughout Europe, it “printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion.”

And a personal note: My French ancestors – Huguenots, or Calvinist Protestants – came to America to get the hell away from such ongoing battles of religion and “who’s going to hell.” Yet irony of ironies, this year I’m going back “whence my ancestors came,” for much the same reason they came here. For a bit of spiritual peace and quiet – at least for the month I’m in Spain.

To wrap thing up we’ll end our 2024 hiking pilgrimage with yet another two-nighter, this time at the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario back in Santiago. As noted, “There we will do penance for whatever sins may remain, in that our rooms will be stark. ‘Old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom.'” Where no doubt I will get good and “Jesus-upped,” ready to face whatever strife may come in the upcoming October and November, after I get back home…

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*Main entrance to the “Monastery of San Martiño Pinario*…”

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The upper image is courtesy of Fisterra, Muxía, and a Sunset at the End of the World, in a blog by Trevor Huxham. It has lots of useful information on this particular hike, including that by tradition, on reaching Fisterra, “pilgrims would burn their stinky clothes and bathe in the ocean.” (Which we probably won’t do.) Also that “you can often find some sun-bleached t-shirts tied to crosses or tattered hiking boots with sentimental quotes plastered nearby.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Re: “Hiking close to the usual 150 miles.” My rough calculations show a total of around 140 miles, with pack. (Not counting “saunters” around stopover towns without a pack.)

For more on our proposed route, see e.g. Camino Finisterre from Santiago to Muxia:

This stunning region of Galicia is known as the ‘Costa da Morte’ famous for its wild beauty, seafood, and interesting legends… From Santiago to Cee, the Camino is inland, but from Cee to Finisterre (Fisterra) and to Muxia, it follows the coast. Quiet villages and hamlets, remote farmland, and unspoiled countryside await on this Camino route to the sea cliffs of the westernmost point in Spain… After Fisterra (Finisterre), we recommend you continue your journey along the craggy coastline of Atlantic Galicia to the fishing village of Muxía, famed for its sanctuary by the ocean and ‘magic’ stones.

See also Fisterra, Muxía, and a Sunset at the End of the World, and Tourism in A Coruna. What to see. Tourist information | spain. And for the “more spiritual” part of this post I borrowed from or referred to On St. Bartholomew – and “his” Massacre (2017), and St. Bart 2023 – and more mass-shooting massacre, and links therein.

Re: “There we will do penance,” etc. Borrowed from On James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024.

The lower image is from Wikipedia on Monastery of San Martiño Pinario, “photo by Diego Delso.”

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On St. Mary, Virgin – 2024

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*Mary (mother of Jesus) – who heeded God’s call “to set out on a mission of charity…”*

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Last Thursday, August 15, was the Feast Day of St. Mary the Virgin, in the Episcopal Church and others. See 2014’s St. Mary, Mother, and Mary (mother of Jesus) – Wikipedia:

She is identified [as] the mother of Jesus through divine intervention. Christians hold her son Jesus to be Christ (i.e., the messiah) and God the Son Incarnate. Mary (Maryam) also has a revered position in Islam, where a whole chapter of the Qur’an is devoted to her, also describing the birth of Jesus. . . [She] is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the Church. Christians of the Catholic Church[,] Anglican Communion, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary … is the Mother of God and the Theotokos, literally “Bearer of God.”

But looking back five years, to 2019, I talked about her special day in St. Mary, “Virgin,” and more on Jerusalem. The post talked about a three-week pilgrimage to Israel in May that year, and especially about my second full day in Jerusalem. And brought back lots of memories:

For starters, we arrived Saturday night [May 11] and the driver from St. George’s College [and Pilgrim Guest House] got us quickly through the dreaded Israeli security at Ben Gurion airport [in Tel Aviv]. But then had a tough time finding my lodging on Al-Isfahani Street [in Jerusalem]. Later, after settling in my new room, at 4:10 that morning I heard what I took to be an explosion. It was actually a cannon, marking the start of another day of Ramadan. (The idea is to give people a chance to eat and drink before the all-day fast.)

That Sunday I wandered Jaffa Street and found a great place to eat, the BeerBazaar, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I was part of a group of 20 people from our local church, rounded out by another 20 pilgrims from around the world. We were there for the Palestine of Jesus course, “a 14-day study pilgrimage focusing on the Scriptures, sites, and landscapes associated with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.” (Plus some days before the course exploring Jerusalem on my own, then a day or two getting up to Tel Aviv and exploring it before heading home.)

So what the heck does that 2019 pilgrimage to Jerusalem have to do with Mary’s August 15 feast day? Just that Kenneth Clark for one spoke of her as “supreme protectress of civilisation … the human mother in whom everyone could recognize qualities of warmth and love and approachability.” And that she represents an “ideal of beauty and mediator between man and God.” Such that beginning in the 12th century Europeans from all walks of life cooperated in building the cathedrals that were her “earthly abode.” So for that brief time in history, “All hearts were united and each man forgave his enemies.” In plain words, Mary [is] the Model of Charity.

But I didn’t see a whole lot of charity during our visit to Bethlehem on the afternoon of Thursday, May 16, 2019. We ended the day at the Wall of Separation, also called the “Israeli West Bank barrier.” And in an ironic twist, the Wall in Bethlehem passes right by the “Walled Off Hotel.” See Banksy′s hotel with ′the world′s worst view′ opens in Bethlehem, which said this:

“With a play on words on the luxury Waldorf Astoria chain, this place is called the Walled Off Hotel, because it was built almost immediately next to Israel’s separation wall in the Palestinian-ruled city where Jesus Christ was born.”

Which of course was Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and from which “God’s love, mercy, righteousness, holiness, compassion, and glory” were expressed in Him. But seeing “that Wall” in Bethlehem I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And who knew it could get worse?

Later that night I did some reflecting on the day’s events, and especially the last visit. “I was tempted to conclude that the road to both freedom and spiritual enlightenment seems to be littered with dumbasses along the way. But hey, that wouldn’t be Christian.” Which I suppose is another way of saying that both Jesus and His mother Mary have been working overtime in the years since 2019, and that they could use a lot of help from us down here!

In the meantime in September of 2019 I could look forward to my visit to Portugal. And this year have I have another pilgrimage to look ahead to – to get all “Jesus-upped” – back to Spain and the Camino Finisterre. Which leads me to echo what I said after that May 16, 2019 visit:

Hopefully I won’t find any “Walls of Separation…”

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wallsep1 — *The Wall of Separation, right by the “Walled Off Hotel…”*

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The upper image is courtesy of Mary (mother of Jesus) – Wikipedia. See also Mary’s spring in Ein Kerem – BibleWalks.com, and Ein Karem – Wikipedia, about more cheerful places we visited in Israel. Another note: In Renaissance paintings especially, Mary is portrayed wearing blue, a tradition going back to Byzantine Empire, to about 500 A.D., “where blue was ‘the colour of an empress.’” Another explanation is that in in Medieval and Renaissance Europe:

[T]he blue pigment was derived from the rock lapis lazuli, a stone imported from Afghanistan of greater value than gold. Beyond a painter’s retainer, patrons were expected to purchase any gold or lapis lazuli to be used in the painting. Hence, it was an expression of devotion and glorification to swathe the Virgin in gowns of blue.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

For this post I borrowed from On St. Mary, Mother (2014), and 2019’s St. Mary, “Virgin,” and more on Jerusalem. (That post noted that the Walled Off hotel “included a bar, where I enjoyed another Taybeh Palestinian beer.”) See also St. Mary, 2020 – and “Walls of Separation,” On the Annunciation (2022) – and Mary “shrinking back,” and last year’s Mary’s Visitation and Jefferson’s Monster – 2023. (Also from 2019, On my first full day in Jerusalem.)

Re: Kenneth Clark, the noted British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. He created the 1969 TV series, Civilisation. The references herein are from the book version, at pages 58 and 175.) I cited Clark’s take on pilgrim journeys in the March 2019 post, “On to Jerusalem!”

The full “charity” link is Mary as the Model of Charity – Benedict XVI – Crossroads.

Re: The visit to Portugal. The full link is Just got back – Portuguese Camino! And for more on the upcoming trip to Spain see The Transfiguration – 2024.

Re: “To get all ‘Jesus-upped.'” What my non-religious brother said of my planned trip to Israel.

I took the photograph at the end of the main text.

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The Transfiguration – 2024

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*“You call this a ‘pilgrim trail?’ I call it one big pile of **^%$#** rocks!” (Aka, the Chilkoot Trail..*.)

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For this post I went back eight years to The Transfiguration of Jesus – 2016. (Posted July 29.) It had a note that the term transfiguration “stands as an allegory of the transformative nature” of the Bible Faith. (A marked change, “usually for the better.”) And another note, that Thomas Aquinas considered it “the greatest miracle in the world.” One reason: In all the other miracles Jesus did things for other people, while the Transfiguration happened to Him.

But back to that 2016 post. Then I wrote that it “may be the last post I’ll publish for awhile… I’ll be heading north to Skagway, Alaska. From there I’ll spend four days hiking the Chilkoot Trail. (The ‘meanest 33 miles in history.’) Once that’s done, my brother and I will spend 16 days canoeing down the Yukon River, from Whitehorse to Dawson City.” Then, assuming I survived all that, “I should be back in business some time after August 29.”

I next posted on August 28, 2016, “Back in the saddle again,” again.

So what does this have to do with the Transfiguration? Just that in a similar way I too have been transformed, hopefully for the better, through various pilgrimages. Like hiking the Chilkoot Trail, canoeing 440 miles on the Yukon River, and doing various Caminos de Santiago, including the one coming up in a few weeks. (This year the Camino Finisterre.) I’ll have more on such “journeys of personal discovery” in a bit, but first here’s more about the Transfiguration of Jesus. That feast day comes each year on August 6, and the story is told in Luke 9:28-36:

About eight days after Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem…

On that note the site Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (now defunct) presented a Greek Orthodox analysis. It said that in the story Moses and Elijah “represent the Law and the Prophets.” (“Moses received the Law from God, and Elijah was a great prophet.”) But Jesus represents something new under the Sun. His Transfiguration was a pivotal moment in time:

[T]he setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

But the miracle didn’t just happen to Jesus. Seeing the Transfiguration “transformed” the three disciples who saw it, Peter, James and John. They never forgot what happened that day (which was probably what Jesus intended). John wrote in his gospel, “We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only.” (John 1:14) And as Peter also wrote of the event, “We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” They went from being cowards – cowering in an upper room after Jesus “died” – into men who transformed the World. They transformed personally, then went on to Change the World.

In other words, before they could change the world, Peter and the other Disciples had to change from within. Or as one site said, God “brings change from the inside. God works inside out while so many others work outside in.” Which brings up the subject of “pilgrims:”

A pilgrim … is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system. In the spiritual literature of Christianity, the concept of pilgrim and pilgrimage may refer to the experience of life in the world (…as a period of exile) or to the inner path of the spiritual aspirant from a state of wretchedness to a state of beatitude.

You might even say that Peter, James and John were on such a pilgrimage when they hiked up to the top of that mountain – to that “mountaintop experience” – where they saw Jesus being transformed. But they were also transfigured in the process. As a result of that process they went “from a state of wretchedness to a state of beatitude.” And changed the world.

Of course we today can’t personally see Jesus being transfigured on a mountaintop. “That’s ancient history.” But we can – from time to time – get away from the hubbub of everyday life and take time to “pilgrim” – as a verb. To make it easier for God to bring change from the inside.

Put another way, a pilgrim is someone questing to “find himself.” (See also Self-discovery – Wikipedia.) And one way of finding yourself is through a healthy sense of ritual, as noted in the book Passages of the Soul: Ritual Today. It noted that a healthy sense of ritual “should pervade a healthy society, and that a big problem now is that we’ve abandoned many rituals that used to help us deal with big change and major trauma.”

The book added that all true ritual “calls for discipline, patience, perseverance, leading to the discovery of the self within.” More to the point, the book said a pilgrimage – like hiking the Camino Finisterre this year – “may be described as a ritual on the move.” Further, the book said that through “the raw experience of hunger, cold, lack of sleep,” we can quite often find a sense of our fragility as “mere human beings.” And by realizing that fragility we can come closer to that “sense of absolute dependence on God” that is the essence of the Christian faith.

Finally, the book said that such a pilgrimage can be “one of the most chastening, but also one of the most liberating” of personal experiences. Personally I’m hoping to be more liberated than chastened, but since this is my sixth Camino hike coming up, I have a pretty good idea what to expect. But that’s the thing about a pilgrim hike as moving meditation. “There’s always the unexpected, isn’t there?” Or as John Steinbeck said, “You don’t take a trip, a trip takes you.”

Or finally, as it says in Psalm 84:4, “Happy are the people … whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.” So here’s to happy pilgriming in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

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The upper image is courtesy of Chilkoot Trail – Image Results. I originally included a photo I took – one of a series of photos I took on the Chilkoot Trail (and the Yukon River) – as seen (hopefully) in “Back in the saddle again,” again.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

For this post I borrowed from 2015’s Transfiguration – The Greatest Miracle in the World On Saint James the Pilgrim – and “Transfiguration 2021”, and 2023’s “Love one another” – get Transfigured (too). And for more on the benefits of such “transformative” pilgrim-journeys see I’m back from my Rideau pilgrimage, from September 12, 2018.

Re: 16 days on the Yukon. It only took 12 days, not including a day off in Carmacks, Yukon Territory. The current was so strong we covered 440 miles in those 12 paddling days, or over 36 miles a day.

Re: “Something new under the sun.” A twist on Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Re: “Change from within.” See God Works Change Inside Out – The Gospel Coalition.

The book “Passages of the Soul” was written by James Roose-Evans.

Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) defined religion – especially Christianity – as a feeling of “absolute dependence on God.”

Re: “My sixth Camino hike.” I define a Camino hike as one where at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. Thus those six included hikes on the GR 70 last year (the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail) and the Way of St. Francis in 2022. (See Some highlights – Way of St. Francis 2022.) There was no cold beer at the end of the day on the Chilkoot.

Re: “Always the unexpected.” See The Bridge on the River Kwai quotes … Movie Quotes Database.

Re: Steinbeck. The actual quote, “We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” John Steinbeck – Travel Quote of the Week – Authentic Traveling.

The Psalm 84:4 translation is from the Book of Common Prayer.

The lower image is courtesy of Happy Hiking Image – Image Results.

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On James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024

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Cape Finisterre in Spain – “the end of the known world” – where we’ll hike to this September…

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Over a week ago Thursday – last July 25 – was the Feast Day for James, son of Zebedee, one of the 12 Apostles. Son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle, he is also called James the Greater or James the Great to distinguish him from James, son of Alphaeus.

He was one of the first disciples to join Jesus (Matthew 4:21-22 and Mark 1:19-20), and one of only three apostles Jesus chose to witness His Transfiguration. Tradition says this James traveled to Spain to spread the Gospel there. (He’s the patron saint of Spain and Portugal.) Tradition also says he was the first apostle to be martyred, when he returned to Judea, beheaded in 44 A.D. by King Herod Agrippa I. That’s where the Camino de Santiago comes in.

And more tradition: “Legend holds that St James‘s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela,” under the cathedral named for him. And over the years Santiago has been the goal for multitudes of pilgrims – hiking, biking or on horseback – who “follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth.” Which is why – this time each year – I refer to St. James as the Patron Saint of Pilgrims. And which requires some explanation.

For five of the past seven years I’ve done just such a pilgrimage each September, which needs more explaining. For one thing, I define “Camino hike” as where at the end of each day you look ahead to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer. (Different from a hike on – say the Appalachian Trail – where you pack a tent, sleeping bag, utensils and all food “for the duration.”) That’s why I count last year’s hike on the GR 70 in France – aka Robert Louis Stevenson Trail – as a Camino hike. Also 2022’s hike on the Way of St. Francis in Italy, from Assisi down to Rome. At the end of each day I could look forward a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.

As for “real Camino hikes,” in 2017 my brother Tom and I hiked (and biked) the 450 miles from Pamplona to Santiago. In 2019 Tom, his wife and I hiked the Portuguese Camino, from Porto back to Santiago. In 2021 we three plus Tom’s brother-in-law hiked over the Pyrenees, the part I missed in 2017. (And felt guilty about.*) They went all the way on to Santiago, but since I’d reached Santiago twice already I stopped in Burgos, took a bus down to Madrid and flew home from there. But this year will be different. This year we’ll be hiking the Camino Finisterre.

That is, most Camino hikers head to Santiago. (Where legend says the Saint’s bones are buried.) But this year we’ll hike the 48 miles from Santiago out to Cape Finisterre, once thought “to be an end of the known world.” From there my companions and I will hike another 45 miles northwest to Muxía, “known for its beaches,” then on to A Coruña. (Another 55 miles.) Finally, a hike of some 38 miles will take us back to Santiago and the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario. There we will do penance for whatever sins may remain, in that our rooms will be stark. “Old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom,” with no TV, “iffy” internet – and presumably no beer.

That’s the Alpha and Omega of my 2024 pilgrimage – beginning and ending – but in the next few weeks I hope to add more detail on the in-between. (Like how to find beer?) Stay tuned…

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The upper image is courtesy of Camino Finisterre – Image Results. See also The Camino Finisterre – Pilgrimage to the End of the World: “Because Finisterre was considered to be the end of the known world in the Middle Ages, it held special spiritual and physical significance. And this significance seems to survive to this day.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s On “St. James the Greater” and last year’s On St. James (2023), Pilgrimage, and “Maudlin’s Journey” – both of which have more detail on the saint – along with James, son of Zebedee – Wikipedia. See also Saint James, Patron of Pilgrims – Catholic Education Resource, or – for more on other Camino hikes – see for example Just got back – Portuguese Camino (2019), I just got back from “Camino 2021,” and 2017’s “Hola! Buen Camino!”

Re: “The part I missed in 2017.” The year before, 2016, I’d gotten my fill of mountains after a four-day hike over the Chilkoot Trail, “meanest 33 miles in history.” But that feel-guilty unfinished business ended in 2021, for me a hike from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, over the Pyrenees and on to Burgos.

Re: “Beginning and ending.” See Alpha and omega Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster, and also Alpha and Omega – Wikipedia.

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article on Monastery of San Martiño Pinario, photo by Diego Delso, captioned, “Main entrance to the church.” In the email my brother sent, saying we’d stay there two nights after finishing the hike, he added that the third and fourth floors – “turned into housing” – were “reserved for peregrinos only.” And that the rooms are stark, “old monks cells – a bed, desk and tiny bathroom,” with no TV on presumably not internet. But the rooms were cheap and “a really good breakfast is included.” Aside from that we would have separate rooms, and – I see from a “Maps” search – there’s a McDonald’s fairly close. (A mile up Rua de San Caetano, with free Wi-Fi and they probably sell beer too. See “They sell beer at the McDonald’s in Portugal,” from my companion blog, posted in October 2020.) And a side note: While “peregrino” is generally translated “pilgrim,” it can also mean wandering, migratory, exotic, strange, odd or “extraordinary.” And the term “ideas peregrinas” translates to “harebrained ideas.” (None of which I knew before posting this. See Translate “PEREGRINO” from Spanish into English | Collins.)

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On Mary of Magdala – 2024

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**The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen**, by Rembrandt *(1638)…*

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July 23, 2024 – Monday, July 22, was the Feast Day for Mary from Magdala.

She is remarkable because she overcame a really bad reputation and went on to achieve Sainthood – and this despite the best (or worst) efforts of jealous male early-Church disciples. (Probably because she showed more courage than they did when it counted.) Put another way, the fact that she showed more courage seems to be why she got the reputation for a “sordid past.” But then there’s the opinion of St. Augustine, who referred to her as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” On that note see also Mary of Magdala | FutureChurch:

Mary of Magdala is perhaps the most maligned and misunderstood figure in early Christianity… Since the fourth century, she has been portrayed as a prostitute and public sinner… Paintings [of her], some little more than pious pornography, reinforce the mistaken belief that sexuality, especially female sexuality, is shameful, sinful, and worthy of repentance. Yet the actual biblical account of Mary of Magdala paints a far different portrait than that of the bare-breasted reformed harlot of Renaissance art.

The one indisputable fact seems to be that Mary Magdalene was both the first person to see the empty tomb and one of the first – if not the first – to see the risen Jesus.

Only one Gospel had a male disciple at the Crucifixion – “the beloved disciple” in John 19:25-27. But many women were there, as told in Mark 15:40: “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome.” And the beginning of John, Chapter 20 (up to verse 18) tells the full story of Mary Magdalene being both the first to see the empty tomb and the first to see the Risen Jesus. The short version? “Early on the first day of the week” Magdalene went to the tomb, saw it empty, then went to tell Peter and John. They checked out the tomb, then “went back to where they were staying.” But Mary – faithful Mary, of the lousy reputation – stayed, as noted in John 20:11-18. She saw two angels, then turned to see another man she took to be a caretaker:

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord;” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Which is why this Mary – from Magdala – is rightly known as the “Apostle to the Apostles.”

Another point, early writers may have mixed up this “Mary” with women of the same name, or even some unnamed woman. For starters, “Mary” was an very common name at the time of Jesus. This Mary was born in Magdala, thus her name: “Mary from Magdala,” or Magdalene. (It’s not clear where Magdala is, but most scholars assume it’s “the place the Talmud calls Magdala Nunayya,” or “Tower of the fishes.”) Or this Mary’s bad reputation may have come from a mix-up between her and the “unnamed sinner who anoints Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50.”

Mary Magdalene, the anointing sinner of Luke, and Mary of Bethany, who in John 11:1-2 also anoints Jesus’ feet, were long regarded as the same person. Though Mary Magdalene is named in each of the four gospels … none of the clear references to her indicate that she was a prostitute or notable for a sinful way of life, nor link her with Mary of Bethany.

Then there’s the fact that this Mary “is always shown in paintings with her eyes red and swollen with weeping.” (Though not shown in the painting below.) Thus “the word ‘maudlin’ (the British pronunciation of ‘magdalen’) has come to mean tearfully or weakly emotional.” (See maudlin … Dictionary.com.) In other words, Mary’s surname became a cliche, and a nasty one at that.

From all this it seems that the story of “the Magdalene” shows a lot of Casting the First Stone. But as for me, I’m inclined to give all people a break and show some compassion. That way I can expect a break from God when my time comes. “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:2.)

But is Mary’s story still relevant today? For one example, it’s hard to say what will happen over the next four months, but it’s possible – just possible – that America will elect its first woman president. And that despite the best efforts of jealous male rivals to “sully her reputation.” Unfortunately, despite the loving example set by Jesus, some things haven’t changed.

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The upper image is courtesy of File: Rembrandt – The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen. See also On Easter Season – AND BEYOND.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

For this post I borrowed from 2015’s Mary Magdalene, “Apostle to the Apostles,” 2019’s On Mary Magdalene – and all those “rules and regulations,” from Mary Magdalene, 2020 – and Week 19 of “the Covid,” and from On “Saint” Mary Magdalene – 2021. The 2015 post noted some other reasons people may not have believed her account, which I thought “just goes to show the importance of the interactive – if not the mystical – part of your walk toward Jesus. (Pursuant to John 6:37.) In the end there’s simply no way to prove the existence of either God or Jesus, with enough courtroom evidence to convince the most jaded of skeptics. In the end it comes down to faith and experience.

Apart from scripture, experience is the strongest proof of Christianity… Although traditional proof is complex, experience is simple: “One thing I know; I was blind, but now I see.”

On that note see Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Wikipedia, or the 2015 post itself for more

Re: John 19:25-27: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

Re: “Casting the first stone.” From John 8:7, see also He Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone – Christianity, which included this thought:

God’s law was not given to Israel as a weapon for justifying personal agenda but as a blueprint for glorifying the Lord, to give directions for living life as holy people set apart for God, and as a guide for loving one another well.

The lower image is courtesy of Mary Magdalene – Image Results. This image went with a page on “Penitent Magdalene by El Greco (1590),” with text, “Working with the same theme and with the same traditional symbols (skull and crucifix), El Greco manages to probe even deeper into Mary’s self abasement through his characteristic ‘mannerist’ style.” For other versions see Penitent Magdalene (El Greco) – Wikipedia or Google “Penitent Magdalene by El Greco.” (To see a painting “with her eyes red and swollen with weeping” see 2015’s Mary Magdalene, “Apostle to the Apostles.”)

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On “Dissin’ the Prez” – 2024

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*Would King Solomon update Exodus 22:28, given changes to the Divine right of kings?*

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July 16, 2024 – This year’s presidential election is less than four months away, meaning it’s time to re-examine Exodus 22:28. One translation reads, “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.” In 2014 I took that to mean “don’t diss Obama,” who served as president at the time. But that situation changed after the 2016 election. It raised the question, “Does that apply if ‘the other side’ has disrespected ‘your’ Leader?”

I examined those issues in two previous posts, May 2014’s “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!,” and on November 13, 2016, An update on “dissin’ the Prez.” The 2014 post addressed those who disrespected Barack Obama. The 2016 post wondered if his supporters then had to respect Donald Trump, given Trump and his supporters showing little respect for Obama. And come next January 20, 2025 we may face the same issue yet again.

The 2014 post noted the Apostle Paul standing trial in Jerusalem before the Sanhedrin – the Hebrew “Supreme Court” – for preaching about Jesus. When he said he was just doing God’s work the high priest – Ananais – told a guard to “strike him on the mouth.” That’s when Paul made his rash comment, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”

Those standing nearby said, ‘Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?’ And Paul said, ‘I did not realize, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a leader of your people.”’

Which to me brought up the irony of Conservative Christians who say the Bible must be interpreted literally, yet from 2008 to 2016 felt free to “speak evil” of Barack Obama.

In 2016 the tables got turned, or at least raised an interesting question: “Since conservatives spent the last eight years ‘cursing and reviling’ [Obama], are liberals – not to mention the majority who voted for Hillary Clinton – now free to do the same with Donald Trump?” All of which raises more questions. “Do we interpret 22:28 strictly or liberally?” Put another way, have there been changes since Moses wrote 22:28, changes that may affect how we interpret it? Put a third way, is there “something new under the sun” that could affect the interpretation?

That “something new under the sun” is a twist on Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” And if that’s true we need to interpret the statute literally, to say it’s wrong to disrespect any president.

But is it true that there’s “nothing new under the sun?” Let’s dig deeper.

We could check Ecclesiastes – Wikipedia, which talks about a man known by various names: Koheleth, Qoheleth or Qohelet, the “unnamed author [who] introduces ‘The words of Kohelet, son of David, king in Jerusalem.’” One thing seems certain, that many people disagree about the book’s message, whether it’s “positive and life-affirming, or deeply pessimistic; whether it is coherent or incoherent, insightful or confused, orthodox or heterodox.”

That doesn’t help much, but another article said the phrase (1:9) is “used as a world-weary complaint against life’s monotony. When Solomon wrote the statement, he was emphasizing the cyclic nature of human life on earth and the emptiness of living only for the ‘rat race.’” (Which seems true enough.) But see What does it mean that there is nothing new under the sun?

To say there is nothing new under the sun does not ignore inventions or advances in technology; rather, these innovations do not amount to any basic change in the world. In Solomon’s time, many advances took place in society, but, from the larger perspective of life, human nature has remained and always will remain the same.

Which seems to indicate some wiggle room here, which I suppose could come from a more “liberal translation?” (Since there have undeniably been been both new inventions and advances in technology.) And with that in mind, can we say that the President of the United States is a “leader of the country” as that term was interpreted when Moses wrote?

In plain words there have been big changes to this idea of “leader” since Moses wrote Exodus 22:28. See e.g. Divine right of kings, the idea that a king is not accountable to any earthly authority (such as a parliament) “because their right to rule is derived from divine authority. Thus, the monarch is not subject to the will of the people.” (Wikipedia.) But for one thing, “Catholic jurisprudence holds that the monarch is always subject to natural and divine law, which are regarded as superior to the monarch.” For another, starting in the 1500’s “both Catholic and Protestant political thinkers alike challenged the idea of a monarch’s ‘divine right.'”

Then there were things like the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence, which held that governments get their power “from the consent of the governed.” And that when any government “becomes destructive of these ends” – the right to life, liberty and pursuing happiness – “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” And finally the Preamble to the United States Constitution, starts with “We the People of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

See also Constitution 101: “the federal government was never meant to serve as anything more than an agent, exercising the specific powers delegated by the true sovereign – the people.”

Under the intended constitutional system, “we the people” hold the top position of authority… When an 18^th century British king issued a grant, his name always appeared at the top in the same fashion. The framers merely replaced the king’s name with “We the People…” So, the ultimate and final authority always remains in the people.

So here indeed is “something new under the sun,” Qoheleth notwithstanding.

Back in Bible times there was no such thing as voting and no such thing as an election, where ordinary people chose who would hold temporary power to serve their interests. Back in Bible times a leader held ultimate power, including the power of life and death over any and all of his subjects. Such a leader was a king or other dictator who served for life – or until a stronger king bumped him off. But in America the president is more like a plumber. He’s a hired hand who can serve the Sovereign People for no more than eight years.

Which means what? Does Exodus 22:28 still apply, and if so “to whom?” One thing we do know, the Sovereign American People have the power to criticize and maybe even “diss” any president or other politician they have voted into temporary power. But what happens once they’ve made that choice, through a free and fair election? Once “the Sovereign has spoken?”

I’d say those January 6 rioters may well get pardoned by some earthly power in the coming days, but I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when they meet their Maker…

(“Let the reader understand.”)

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The upper image is courtesy of Ecclesiastes – Wikipedia: “‘King Solomon‘ in Old Age by Gustave Doré (1866), a depiction of the purported author of Ecclesiastes, according to rabbinic tradition.”

As to the headline see What Does Diss Mean? – Meaning, Uses and More – FluentSlang. One example: ““I don’t like him because he always disses me for expressing my opinion.” Also:

The term diss is slang that is used to insult, disrespect, or disregard someone. It can also be used as a noun to refer to receiving a “diss.” The word originated as a shortened version of “disrespect” and is commonly used in casual conversations and online interactions.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Re: Paul’s “whitewashed wall” comment and how he got out of it. In verses 6 and 7, he turned the tables: “Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.”

The lower image is courtesy of Judgment Day … Image Results.

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Other notes on the topic include two new gems from Commentaries on Exodus 22:28. One reads, “The gods of the heathen were uniformly, and with the utmost scorn. ‘reviled.'” Another Comment said the rule applies “even to all dignified persons, who ought not to be spoken ill of, and to be abused in the execution of their office, and especially when they perform well.“

And as to a president serving no more than two terms, one earlier post had this: “Possibly less, if he ends up impeached and convicted. See AU Professor Predicts Trump’s Impeachment.”

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July 4, 2024 – and a “What would have happened?”

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**One** time when Moses almost got *stoned. (Imagine if he’d had to run for re-election…*)

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July 6, 2024 – For this post I’m going back 10 years, to the 2014 holiday just past, and The Bible readings for July 4, 2014. Also, from two days later, For Sunday of the July 4th weekend.

The morning of July 4, 2014, I sat “in a McDonald’s on Concord Pike northeast of Wilmington Delaware. (They have free Wifi.)” Later that day I posted, and the post mentioned – among other things – that “when any government or majority tries to influence the religious beliefs of others, they only ‘beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness.'” My comment, “Sounds like it was written yesterday!” (The post also mentioned a note that it was “wrong for ‘fallible and uninspired men’ to try and establish their own view of religious truth as ‘the only true and infallible.'”)

Two days later I found myself riding a train north from New York City to Montreal. “That means I had to find my passport, and in the process I found [it] makes for some interesting reading.” That led me to what Steinbeck said about Freedom: (You know, the kind for everybody?)

…this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.

In other words, looking back ten years I remember the good things that happened.

But that process also brings up some questions: “What will life be like from now? In 2034, what good things will I recall about 2024?” There’s a lot we can hope for, but if past is prologue I’ll probably remember the good things and – hopefully – not think so much about the bad things. Which is pretty much how the Children of Israel thought about their time back in Egypt, when they were miserable slaves. And that brings up this question: “What would have happened if the ancient Hebrews had The Vote back when they were wandering in the Wilderness?”

One thing we know, they did a lot of complaining.

One example, Exodus 16:3, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Another? Numbers 11:5, “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.” And also Numbers 16:13, “Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?”

As such those ancient Hebrews may have been the first – in recorded history anyway – to fall prey to the Golden Age Fallacy. “Nostalgia is denial – denial of the painful present.” And who falls prey to that fallacy? People who “find it difficult to cope with the present.”

And who was the “who” those people complained about? Moses, the agent of God who delivered them out of slavery. And here’s the thing: They did not sit around pots of meat and eat all the food they wanted in Egypt. And they did not eat freely of fish, along with cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. They were slaves, and they were given slave rations; just enough to keep them functioning, barely. As such they initially reveled in being set free, but then found out they couldn’t handle it. Being “free” was harder than they thought.

So they blamed Moses and looked back at a Golden Age that never was. As for “what if they could have voted,” we know they were ready to stone him. (Not in a good way.) That’s Numbers 14:10, “The whole assembly talked about stoning them.” And so if they had the choice they would have voted Moses out of office and gone back to a time they remembered as better.

But a free people doesn’t go back in time, and especially not to a “better time that never was.” Which brings up that passport and a quote I found on pages 16-17, attributed to Teddy Roosevelt: “This is a new nation, based on a mighty continent, of endless possibilities.” Get that? “Endless possibilities.” (Including the possibility that being free is sometimes hard work.)

But to get to that land of endless possibilities, our ancestors – the people with gumption and nerve – had to leave behind the old and corrupt ways of where they came from. (Another way of saying “conservative types,” but that’s a subject for later posts.) Which brings up the last quote, on page 28 of my passport, from the late astronaut Ellison Onizuka:

Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds . . . to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.

But to me that’s just another way of saying, “Sing to the Lord a new song,” not a stale rehash of times past. A way of saying you can’t “live up to, fulfill or implement” the promise of the American Dream if you interpret the Constitution – or the Bible – in a closed, narrow, or “strict” way. The bottom line? Our duty as Americans – especially Christian Americans – is to foster those endless possibilities of freedom, even if they also benefit some people we don’t especially like. Let’s not go back in time, so we can look forward to a Happy July 4th in 2034…

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The upper image is courtesy of Stoning of Moses, Joshua and Caleb | Byzantine | The Metroplitan Museum of Art. (It’s a mosaic from the 5th century.) See also Stoning – Wikipedia, which includes another painting of the incident. The caption to that painting, under Punishment of the Rebels: “The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron (1480–1482), by Sandro Botticelli, Sistine Chapel, Rome.” See also Heresy – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“What Steinbeck wrote.” See Quote by John Steinbeck. (It wasn’t in the passport.)

Re: Golden Age Fallacy. See also Good old days – RationalWiki, on “remembering only the positive aspects of times past while sweeping concomitant negatives under the rug.”

On Moses’ unpopularity, see On Moses getting stoned, from January 2016. And one possibly-relevant observation from the past, from a book I’m reading now, “it’s a truism in politics that early front-runners are more vulnerable to slipping…” To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876, by Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney, Chapter 10, “The Bitter Divide.”

As to singing a new song to the Lord, see for example Isaiah 42:10 and Psalms 96:1, 98:1, and 144:9.

Re: Lower photo, Ellison Onizuka (1946-1986) was an American astronaut “from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. He was the first Asian-American to reach space.” See Ellison Onizuka – Wikipedia. His image is courtesy of that article.

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John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders…”

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*“Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist” – the man crying out in the Wilderness…*

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June 21, 2024 – “The Bible was designed to expand your mind.”

That’s the new theme for this blog. Or rather, it’s the new restatement of the theme. And by the way, that restatement can be said to the tune, “If It Doesn’t Fit, You Must Acquit.” (Which will be hilarious for “people of a certain age.”) Another restatement? The idea of “Christian first-graders.” As in, Christians who never go beyond first grade when it comes to reading, studying and interpreting the Bible. Which to me applies to those Literalists and Fundamentalists who both cheat themselves and drive away new recruits in droves – especially the young.

On the contrary, John 4:24 says “God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” And 2d Corinthians 3:6 says that in and through Jesus, God “hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (That’s from the King James Bible, the one God uses.) And finally there’s Romans 2:29, where Paul distinguished people who conform outwardly but miss the point “in their innards.” Using an allegory from his former life – before the Damascus Road experience changed that life – Paul said, “Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart – it is spiritual and not literal.” (Emphasis added.)

Incidentally, I ran across that Romans 2:29 quote while reading the Daily Office the day I posted this. (Coincidence?) But back to the subject at hand. I’ll be writing more about Christian First Graders in the future, but this post is supposed to be about John the Baptist, who literally had his head handed to him on a plate. (As shown in the painting above.)

Specifically, today is the Feast Day for the Nativity of John the Baptist. It celebrates the birth of the one “who foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus, whom he later baptised.” The Bible readings: Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85, Acts 13:14b-26, and Luke 1:57-80. Luke tells of Elizabeth – cousin of Mary (mother of Jesus) – and how her husband got struck dumb.

The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced… [T]hey were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John…”

The story of Zechariah getting struck dumb starts at Luke 1, verses 5-7. He was a member of the “priestly order of Abijah,” and he and Elizabeth were righteous before God but also old and childless. Then God sent an angel to tell Zechariah he was about to become a father. He got struck dumb because he doubted the message from God. (He should have accepted on faith what was, to him, counterintuitive. “A lesson for all you young kids out there!”)

That is, nine months earlier – as Zechariah was doing his priestly duties in the inner sanctuary – the angel Gabriel appeared and told him Elizabeth would bear a son. But he doubted: “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.“ And that was why he was struck dumb. As Gabriel told him, “Since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born.” Luke 1:20.

The result? Zechariah wrote out, “His name is John.” Then came Luke 1:64, saying right after he wrote his son’s name, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.” Right after that came the Benedictus, Zechariah’s “song of thanksgiving … on the occasion of the birth of his son.” (And – no doubt – on being able to speak again):

The second part … is an address by Zechariah [to John], who was to take so important a part in the scheme of the Redemption; for he was to be a prophet, and to preach the remission of sins before the coming or the Dawn from on high. The prophecy that he was to “go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways” [Luke 1:76,] was an allusion to the well-known words of Isaiah 40:3 which John himself afterwards applied to his own mission (John 1:23).

Luke 1:80 then says the child “grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.” In turn John was a “key figure in the preparation of the Messiah’s work.” Unfortunately, that advance work included a gruesome death by beheading, as told in Mark 6:14–29: “the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to [Salome]… When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.”

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. On this June 24th we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, who in his lifetime performed an invaluable service as forerunner and advance man for Jesus. May we too perform such “invaluable service,” as for example by bringing more people to Jesus. Especially those put off by Christian First Graders who ignore the message that the “the Bible was designed to expand your mind.” (It was not designed to lord political power over those who dare disagree with us.) Of course all this while keeping in mind that John’s life and especially his gruesome death serve as a reminder that, as one Christian mystic said:

“It is to vigor rather than comfort that you are called.”

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*Salome – who beguiled her dad (Herod II) into beheading* *John the Baptist…*

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The upper “Salome” image is courtesy of nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/caravaggio: “The subject is from the New Testament [Mark 6, verses 14-29]. Salome had danced so well for King Herod that he swore he would grant her any request. Her mother, Herodias, who sought revenge on John the Baptist, persuaded Salome to ask for his head. The old woman behind Salome may be Herodias.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

For this post I borrowed from On the Nativity of John the Baptist – 2015, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul – 2016, On “John T. Baptist,” Peter and Paul – 2021, and On John “T. Baptist” – 2023 (et alia).

Re: “Innards.” The link points to the term as from the Old English inweard “inmost; sincere; internal, intrinsic; deep.” (Which I didn’t know before doing this.)

The “vigor-comfort” is from Practical Mysticism, with advice for the Christian First Graders:”

Hearing now and again the mysterious piping of the Shepherd, you realize your own perpetual forward movement . . . and so are able to handle life with a surer hand. Do not suppose from this that your new career is to be perpetually supported by agreeable spiritual contacts, or occupy itself in the mild contemplation of the great world through which you move. True, it is said of the Shepherd that he carries the lambs in his bosom; but the sheep are expected to walk, and to put up with the bunts and blunders of the flock. It is to vigor rather than comfort that you are called. (E.A.)

Evelyn Underhill, Ariel Press (1914), at page 177. See also Evelyn Underhill – Wikipedia.

The lower image is courtesy of Salome – Wikipedia. The caption: “‘Salomé,’ by Henri Regnault (1870).” The article added that this Salome (III) was…

…a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, who was the son of Herod the Great, with princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great, and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New Testament, where she is not named, and from an account by Flavius Josephus. In the New Testament, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas demands and receives the head of John the Baptist.

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DOR Scribe

Expand your horizons – Read the Bible with an open mind

“Some hard parts about being a good Christian…”

Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

On “Jesus riding two donkeys – at once?”

Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

Pilgrimage, doing penance and “St. Bart – 2024…”

On St. Mary, Virgin – 2024

Hopefully I won’t find any “Walls of Separation…”

The Transfiguration – 2024

On James, “the Pilgrim’s Saint” – 2024

On Mary of Magdala – 2024

On “Dissin’ the Prez” – 2024

(“Let the reader understand.”)

July 4, 2024 – and a “What would have happened?”

John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders…”