Prologue to John’s 2010 Christmas Story. The real story.
Diary entry. Tuesday, 11-9-10.
Yesterday, during a deep conversation with a friend, I came face to face with a reality that I not faced before. I realized that I thought of myself poorly, I won’t describe it, it’s not worth the effort, for whatever reason in my childhood. The reason really doesn’t matter – whether it was my Mother’s domination or Grandmother’s judgmentalism or the desertion by my Father and thus, my growing up without a father. The point is that I have perceived that I am no good and evil and therefore must perform at perfection to be acceptable to someone.
That perfection does not allow for me to be human and have the same desires and make the same mistakes that other humans make. I must be either Nietzsche’s Superman or Camelot’s Lancelot’s perception of his own perfection or worse, perfect enough not to need a savior. Perhaps that is why I have such a difficult time accepting forgiveness.
My friend and I role-played. The friend played God/Jesus who asked me if I could accept His forgiveness. I said that I could not. He asked me why. I had difficulty with the answer, but it seems that my sin, my self-enemy, my “me” is just too bad to be salvaged.
In other words, God asked, “So you’re saying that your sin is so great that my grace cannot cover it?” “Yes,” I admitted. “So then what kind of a God do you believe in – one that is all powerful or one that is not powerful enough to forgive you?” If the latter is so, then He is not a God at all but a cosmic pretender and my badness is worse than His goodness.
Examine the facts. God created the Heavens and the Earth merely by speaking it – willing it - into existence. I have seen Him work in great and small things that only He could have done. I have seen Him heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind and make the lame to walk. And He has promised that if I will only trust Him, He will forgive me and wash me as white as snow.
It takes faith to accept this, but the evidence is that Grace is real and that it is greater than my sin and my imagined sin. Shall I crucify Christ again by refusing his grace-gift? What a dangerous course that would be and what a foolhardy course as against the great weight of the evidence.
Then tonight, I thought I would read Chapter 2 in Boa’s book.(1) It is filled with spiritual affirmations about not my goodness but my personhood and my right standing with God not based on my own merit but based on His love and amazing grace.
Then I thought of the song, “Amazing Grace” and felt how John Newton must have felt and how he must have shed tears when he penned the lines, “amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me/ I once was lost but now am found/ Was blind but now I see.”
And then, I had a vision from God, the role-played God, but God. In the vision, I was walking with my Father by a beautiful lake. He had on a plaid shirt, a ball cap and hiking boots. He had a pipe but I saw no smoke. I was once again a little boy about seven or eight years old and he had his arms around me and I felt more loved and secure than I have ever felt before. We talked and he showed me many things in nature and I looked on with wonderment.
But then I saw a snake and the snake struck at us and my Father reached out and caught it. The snake wrapped itself around him and they rolled around and fought on the ground. It was a gory and bloody battle to the death.
I saw the snake grow large and turn into a black and gold dragon that was huge. My Father held firmly and tightly around the snake’s neck until he broke its back with a snap. And then it was over.
My Father lay mortally wounded on the ground and I went to him. He reached out to me and I felt secure again. He said, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll always be with you and protect you. Nothing can ever harm you as long as you stay close to me.” Then he smiled and lay back down. As he did, I saw his spirit rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came to me and held me just as my Father had done.
Again, we walked and talked and enjoyed each other. He said, “We’ll have many places to go and many hills to climb, that’s why I have on hiking boots, but I’ll guide you and uphold you, you need never be afraid.” And we walked on through the woods and up hills.
We came to a very high mountain, as I have seen in Northern India in the Himalayas and we looked down at the valley below. He said, “All this is yours because all of it is mine, but more importantly, all the people there are yours, love them as I have loved you.”
Then we climbed some stairs through stone and masonry arches that appeared very old and perhaps were a ruin. At the top, he said, “I’ve got to go now, but I’ll always be with you. I love you. You are my son. Don’t be afraid.” And then he disappeared.
I stood there and looked and thought how precious he was to me and how he had saved me from the deadly dragon-snake at the cost of his own life. Yet, he lives on in me because I AM his son, his heir – the object of his affection. With such a blessing, how can refuse his grace gift?
Then I seemed not to remember my sin. All I remember is him and how his love made me feel. And all was quiet.
“Thank you, God, for this vision, this affirmation of who you are and who I am. I now know your love and power. Surely it is sufficient to cover my deepest woe. I trust You – I know so. AMEN.”
_________________________________
(1)Conformed to His Image, by Kenneth Boa. Zondervan Press, 2001.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
“The Christmas Tree – Return to Cheaha Mountain” - Annotated Version
“The Christmas Tree – 1. Return to Cheaha Mountain”
John’s 30th 2. Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2010
1957, a simpler time: Sputnik had not yet flown, no one possessed a cell phone or IPad and Elvis had just hit the big time; And Val’s biggest worry was making an “A” on next week’s spelling test right before the Christmas holidays. Val almost always made “A’s” in spelling and in fact in most all his second grade subjects. It seemed to be an expectation, a “must do.” Failure was not an option and making less than an “A” was a failure. If Val failed, he would be left alone he felt - alone like he felt when his mother deserted him in the ladies lingerie section of Loveman’s; or alone like the time the school bus left him because he was seconds late; or alone like he felt when he found no one at the church and believed that the Rapture of the Church had come and he had been left behind. Perhaps, he felt like a failure and alone because his classmates ostracized him just because he was who he was. Val never forgot those feelings of failure and “aloneness,” and Val did not like to be left alone.
On the other hand, above all other people, Val loved and idolized his father, 3. Cecil. Cecil never seemed to place expectations on Val and never seemed to show disappointment when Val didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
But all of that was left behind today, because today was special day. 4. Val and Cecil were going up beautiful Mount Cheaha, as they had done for as long as Val could remember, to get the family Christmas tree. They drove the windy gravel road until it became a narrow dirt road and finally ended in a clearing, an island of sunlight amidst the hovering sassafras 5. , hawthorn, and river birch and of course, pine trees at the opening of a great wood. In that wood, somewhere Val knew was “their” Christmas tree.
This was a special day of the year for Val, a gift, if you will, from Cecil to him – not so much the gift of the Christmas tree or of the presents that would be placed under the Christmas tree, but the gift of the time that Cecil spent with Val in this shared enterprise. The day always made Val feel “special;” And Val needed to feel “special.”
They parked the black over white 6. Bel Air with black wall tires, no air conditioner and no radio; got a 7. bow saw and some ropes in a gunny sack out of the trunk; and began their tireless trek into the wild and wondrous wood. Cecil told Val, “Be careful where you are walking, the snakes 8. are still crawling even at this elevation of the mountain.”
The very mention of snakes raised the hair on the back of Val’s neck, for more than being left alone, he feared snakes. But as they walked deeper and deeper 9. into the wood, climbing ever higher and higher, Val became easier and the “snake warning” became less of a sting to his young mind.
Travelling now deeply into the wood, they searched for the “perfect” tree and in a sunlit clearing, they saw it, the most beautiful Virginia pine tree 10. that Val had ever seen. Cecil opened the gunny sack carrying the ropes and 11. bow saw, got out the saw and began to first clear from around its base of the underbrush and then began to cut the tree. “Schree-scraw, schree-scraw, schree-scraw,” went the saw making the familiar cutting noise that was one of the pleasing sounds of the adventure to which Val always looked forward until “crack, thwish, thud,” it sounded as it toppled to the straw-covered 12. mat, the floor of the wood.
“Hand me the rope and we’ll tie it on ‘er and pull ‘er out,” ordered Cecil to Val as the first and most exciting part of the job was now complete. But, as Val reached his hand into the sack to retrieve the rope 13., Cecil suddenly spoke in an ominous and entirely different tone of voice – loud and direct - calm, yet with a sense of urgency. “Don’t move.” Val let loose of the sack and turned his head toward Cecil and said, “What, Daddy?” 14. And at that instant, a coiled 15. rattlesnake moved toward Val.
Time moved in slow motion 16. for Val as he saw with one eye the snake flying straight as an arrow 17. toward him and with the other, Cecil stretching out between Val and the snake. In mid-air, 18. Cecil caught the snake by the neck and they both fell to the straw covered mat. The snake began to coil itself around Cecil, striking him again and again and again. 19.
Time now stopped, rational thought ended and fantasy took flight for Val. In his seven-year olds mind’s eye, he saw Cecil and the snake rolling around on the ground locked in mortal combat which must have lasted for hours in this time-frozen state of mind. 20. As Val seemed to gain the upper hand with the snake, the creature began to grow larger and larger until it became a huge black dragon 21. with gold tipped wings 22. and an arrow shaped tail. 23.
Undaunted, Cecil maintained his death grip about the reptile’s neck and squeezed until with a “crack,” the neck was broken. In Val’s mind, it was as though the dragon deflated and became snaked-sized again 24. and lay lifeless upon the mat. Cecil slumped beside it – himself mortally wounded.25.
A sudden wave of guilt passed over Val as he realized that his father was mortally wounded because Val had not followed his instruction. Val had failed once again and this time his failure had killed his father. Cecil looked up at Val and painfully yet with certainty, put his arm around his shaken son. “Daddy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t do what you said,” cried Val with tears of fear and remorse. “I forgive you, son, never think of it again,” 26. said Cecil in a tone of assurance that Val had never heard quite so definitely before. As Cecil held Val in his arms, Val felt safe and secure once again. Cecil’s voice grew more hushed. “Don’t be afraid, son, I’ll always be with you 27. and I’ll always protect you. Nothing can ever harm you if you stay close to me.” And then he smiled lovingly and lay back onto the tree upon which he had fallen. 28.
As he lay back on the tree, in Val’s mind’s eye, he say Cecil’s spirit 29. rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came over to him and held him in his arms just the way Cecil had done. 30. And Cecil’s spirit said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” So Val un-kneeled and walked with Cecil’s spirit just as he had walked with Cecil before. And he felt the same warmth and love that he had always felt. The Spirit said, “Son, we will have many rough places to go and hills and mountains to climb but I will guide you and uphold you and you will never need to be afraid or feel guilty 31. or alone.”
They walked on through the wood climbing ever higher and higher. 32. Eventually, they descended slightly to Pulpit Rock. 33. Val looked down at the verdant valley below. The Spirit said as he 34. pointed, “All of this valley is yours because it is mine and you are my son and heir. But more importantly, all of the people in the valley are your people. Love them as I love you.” 35.
Beside Pulpit rock is the ruin of an old church. 36. They climbed the still remaining great stone and masonry steps through medieval-looking arches 37. – all which remained of what was once a great pinhoti 38. cathedral. The ceiling now was the blinding blue canopy of the late fall sky and the floor, the vast valley below.39. This was the precipice, the point of no return, the end … perhaps. The Spirit said, “I’ve got to go now, but I will always be with you and I will always love you, my son. Never be afraid.” Then the Spirit disappeared. 40.
Val stood and took in the scene for a long time for there was a lot to take in and on many different, but related levels. His thoughts turned to how once again his failure has caused him to be left alone. However, his attention was diverted by a flight of sparrows 41. beginning to search for their evening bites, 42. and he was reminded of the words of the old song, “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Then following along behind the sparrows, he saw forever circling the red-tailed hawk and he remembered Cecil’s words, “I forgive you.” In that moment, Val felt both forgiven and unforsaken – no longer alone.
As the silky shadows of evening began to rise up the craggy crest of the Great Mountain, Val knew it was time to go. Retracing his steps, Val began his descent to find Cecil’s body, still lying upon the tree of sacrifice, his blood still dripping on its branches like Crimson-coloured ornaments. 43. He wondered what he would do with that body. Back through the arches, back by Pulpit Rock, down the wooded path Cecil trudged, tiredness now beginning to set in on his little frame. Finally he reached the clearing where Cecil’s body had fallen onto the Christmas tree. But hurrying over to the site, he discovered that the body was no longer there.44. He looked around for signs of where someone else may have taken the body ,45. but finding none, he realized that somehow, his Heavenly Father had taken care of Cecil as Cecil had promised to take care of Val.
What he did see however, was some of Cecil’s still-present blood hanging from the myriad of branches of the Christmas tree like those Crimson-coloured ornaments that he had imagined at the top of the mountain. “How fitting,” he thought, “that Cecil, who gave his life for me left some of his blood to remember him by and left me this Christmas tree upon which he once had lain.” It was not the Christmas tree that was the gift to him but what the blood-formed ornaments meant that was the Christmas gift to Val.
Though now it is no longer 1957 and life and circumstances have grown much more complex, man has walked upon the face of the moon and passed into history, everyone has a cell phone or an IPad and Elvis has left the building years ago, Val still remembers that fateful Christmas in 1957 when he learned that his failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined, were forgiven and that he would never again be alone.
Now, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift . . . can you?
. . .
Here’s wishing you a happy and forgiven Christmas.
John R. Wible
__________________________________________________
Notes:
1. There are two “returns” here, the one mentioned in the story and our second visit to Mount Cheaha in these Christmas stories. See “The Gift of Who I am” by John R. Wible, December 25, 2007.
2. If you saw last year’s story, you will note the somewhere the numbering got off track. 30th is correct.
3. Actually, I was raised without a father. “Cecil,” named for a friend of my grandfather’s was my imaginary playmate.
4. This scene came to me as a sort of vision. I have dramatized the vision.
5. These trees are indigenous to Mount Cheaha.
6. The car in question was my mother’s. It also had rubber floor mats and a 140 cu. In engine. I’m not sure it would really pull Mount Cheaha.
7. The bow saw was the tool I was using when I fell off the ladder two years ago.
8. Like Indiana Jones, I am afraid of snakes.
9. And deeper and deeper into the vision.
10. Virginia Pines are abundant at the upper elevations of Mt. Cheaha.
11. Bow Saw – I was using a bow saw when I fell off the tree two years ago. See my post on the “Fall Testimony” at my blog:.
12. The floor of the wood is referred to as a mat, because later we’ll see the forest floor turn into a wrestling mat.
13. In certain Christian denominations, the faithful stick their hand into a box or sack containing rattlesnakes to prove their devotion to and faith in God. I do not condone this practice.
14. This is a picture of our frequent response to God. He gives us a clear and direct order and rather than just doing it, we question Him about it – here with fatal consequences. Because Val questioned, he should have been struck by the snake and killed.
15. Rattlesnake – The snake represents Satan as in Genesis 2 and 3. The snake also represents all the compiled evil that Val finds in his own soul. Eph.. 6:12.
16. The story now takes on a dream-like quality.
17. “Straight as an arrow-“ Ephesians 6:16 speaks of Satan shooting “flaming arrows” at us. Here, the snake is the embodiment of all the arrows in one.
18. Cecil now becomes a type of Christ figure, suspended in mid-air as Christ was suspended between Heaven and Earth at His crucifixion. “Never did the obscene come so close to the holy as it did on Calvary. Never did the good in the world so intertwine with the bad as it did on the cross. Never did what is right involve itself so intimately with what is wrong, as it did when Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth.” – Max Lucado.
19. “The Battle is the Lord’s” – 1 Sam. 17:47; 2 Chron. 20:18.
Actually, the event is over in a matter of seconds.
20. Dragon – In Revelation 12 and 13, Satan is pictured as a dragon
21. Traditionally, especially in sculpture, angels are pictured with gold-tipped wings. This is a vestige of the time when Satan was an Archangel.
22. See note 17.
23. Great problems, when confronted show themselves as petty things when faced with faith.
24. Christ died once for all. Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 3:18.
25. “As Psalm 103:12 states, ‘As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.’ East and west never meet. If you go west you keep going west. But if you go north and get to the top of the earth and keep going in the same direction, you will eventually go south. So the forgiveness given by Christ is forever and your sin no longer exists. His forgiveness is permanent, powerful and sin-destroying forever. Don’t carry the unnecessary weight of sins that are covered by the blood.” Jesus is Lord, Daily Commentaries. Commentary on Heb. 9:11-15.
26. “Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matt. 28:19-20.
27. Likewise, Jesus died upon a tree, the Cross. Deut. 21:23.
28. A picture of the Holy Spirit.
29. Since Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same person as part of the Godhead with the Father, the presence is the same.
30. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21.
31. Toward Heaven.
32. To those who have been to the site, Pulpit Rock takes a slight descent as it outcrops.
The Spirit is a person not an inanimate object.
33. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34,35.
34. There is the ruin of an old building by Pulpit Rock, perhaps it was a church, perhaps not.
35. The arches are actually Pinhoti Trail Markers.
36. Pinhoti is Creek Indian for "Turkey Home." So it is perhaps not surprising that visitors usually see wild turkey on the Pinhoti trail that runs up Mount Cheaha.
37. With guilt gone, we are no longer in the box that it builds for us and we can see the blue sky and the verdant valley.
38. At this point, the story reaches its apex. It is the moment in which Val “gets it.” He is forgiven and free.
39. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me,” from the song of the same name. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a Gospel hymn. Although today it is a staple of African-American worship services, the song was originally written in 1905 by two white songwriters, lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. The song is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography.
40. Bites – a line from another “sparrow” song, “The Sparrow” by Charles Billingsley, performed frequently by my daughter, Amy Higginbotham.
41. “Dark is the stain that we cannot hide/what can avail to wash it away? Look there is flowing a Crimson Tide . . .” “Grace Greater than Our Sin” by Julia Johnson and Daniel Towner.
42. Just as the women found Jesus’ body was no longer there, Matt. 28:5-6; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24:5; and Jn. 20:5-7.
43. Jn. 20:2.
John’s 30th 2. Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2010
1957, a simpler time: Sputnik had not yet flown, no one possessed a cell phone or IPad and Elvis had just hit the big time; And Val’s biggest worry was making an “A” on next week’s spelling test right before the Christmas holidays. Val almost always made “A’s” in spelling and in fact in most all his second grade subjects. It seemed to be an expectation, a “must do.” Failure was not an option and making less than an “A” was a failure. If Val failed, he would be left alone he felt - alone like he felt when his mother deserted him in the ladies lingerie section of Loveman’s; or alone like the time the school bus left him because he was seconds late; or alone like he felt when he found no one at the church and believed that the Rapture of the Church had come and he had been left behind. Perhaps, he felt like a failure and alone because his classmates ostracized him just because he was who he was. Val never forgot those feelings of failure and “aloneness,” and Val did not like to be left alone.
On the other hand, above all other people, Val loved and idolized his father, 3. Cecil. Cecil never seemed to place expectations on Val and never seemed to show disappointment when Val didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
But all of that was left behind today, because today was special day. 4. Val and Cecil were going up beautiful Mount Cheaha, as they had done for as long as Val could remember, to get the family Christmas tree. They drove the windy gravel road until it became a narrow dirt road and finally ended in a clearing, an island of sunlight amidst the hovering sassafras 5. , hawthorn, and river birch and of course, pine trees at the opening of a great wood. In that wood, somewhere Val knew was “their” Christmas tree.
This was a special day of the year for Val, a gift, if you will, from Cecil to him – not so much the gift of the Christmas tree or of the presents that would be placed under the Christmas tree, but the gift of the time that Cecil spent with Val in this shared enterprise. The day always made Val feel “special;” And Val needed to feel “special.”
They parked the black over white 6. Bel Air with black wall tires, no air conditioner and no radio; got a 7. bow saw and some ropes in a gunny sack out of the trunk; and began their tireless trek into the wild and wondrous wood. Cecil told Val, “Be careful where you are walking, the snakes 8. are still crawling even at this elevation of the mountain.”
The very mention of snakes raised the hair on the back of Val’s neck, for more than being left alone, he feared snakes. But as they walked deeper and deeper 9. into the wood, climbing ever higher and higher, Val became easier and the “snake warning” became less of a sting to his young mind.
Travelling now deeply into the wood, they searched for the “perfect” tree and in a sunlit clearing, they saw it, the most beautiful Virginia pine tree 10. that Val had ever seen. Cecil opened the gunny sack carrying the ropes and 11. bow saw, got out the saw and began to first clear from around its base of the underbrush and then began to cut the tree. “Schree-scraw, schree-scraw, schree-scraw,” went the saw making the familiar cutting noise that was one of the pleasing sounds of the adventure to which Val always looked forward until “crack, thwish, thud,” it sounded as it toppled to the straw-covered 12. mat, the floor of the wood.
“Hand me the rope and we’ll tie it on ‘er and pull ‘er out,” ordered Cecil to Val as the first and most exciting part of the job was now complete. But, as Val reached his hand into the sack to retrieve the rope 13., Cecil suddenly spoke in an ominous and entirely different tone of voice – loud and direct - calm, yet with a sense of urgency. “Don’t move.” Val let loose of the sack and turned his head toward Cecil and said, “What, Daddy?” 14. And at that instant, a coiled 15. rattlesnake moved toward Val.
Time moved in slow motion 16. for Val as he saw with one eye the snake flying straight as an arrow 17. toward him and with the other, Cecil stretching out between Val and the snake. In mid-air, 18. Cecil caught the snake by the neck and they both fell to the straw covered mat. The snake began to coil itself around Cecil, striking him again and again and again. 19.
Time now stopped, rational thought ended and fantasy took flight for Val. In his seven-year olds mind’s eye, he saw Cecil and the snake rolling around on the ground locked in mortal combat which must have lasted for hours in this time-frozen state of mind. 20. As Val seemed to gain the upper hand with the snake, the creature began to grow larger and larger until it became a huge black dragon 21. with gold tipped wings 22. and an arrow shaped tail. 23.
Undaunted, Cecil maintained his death grip about the reptile’s neck and squeezed until with a “crack,” the neck was broken. In Val’s mind, it was as though the dragon deflated and became snaked-sized again 24. and lay lifeless upon the mat. Cecil slumped beside it – himself mortally wounded.25.
A sudden wave of guilt passed over Val as he realized that his father was mortally wounded because Val had not followed his instruction. Val had failed once again and this time his failure had killed his father. Cecil looked up at Val and painfully yet with certainty, put his arm around his shaken son. “Daddy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t do what you said,” cried Val with tears of fear and remorse. “I forgive you, son, never think of it again,” 26. said Cecil in a tone of assurance that Val had never heard quite so definitely before. As Cecil held Val in his arms, Val felt safe and secure once again. Cecil’s voice grew more hushed. “Don’t be afraid, son, I’ll always be with you 27. and I’ll always protect you. Nothing can ever harm you if you stay close to me.” And then he smiled lovingly and lay back onto the tree upon which he had fallen. 28.
As he lay back on the tree, in Val’s mind’s eye, he say Cecil’s spirit 29. rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came over to him and held him in his arms just the way Cecil had done. 30. And Cecil’s spirit said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” So Val un-kneeled and walked with Cecil’s spirit just as he had walked with Cecil before. And he felt the same warmth and love that he had always felt. The Spirit said, “Son, we will have many rough places to go and hills and mountains to climb but I will guide you and uphold you and you will never need to be afraid or feel guilty 31. or alone.”
They walked on through the wood climbing ever higher and higher. 32. Eventually, they descended slightly to Pulpit Rock. 33. Val looked down at the verdant valley below. The Spirit said as he 34. pointed, “All of this valley is yours because it is mine and you are my son and heir. But more importantly, all of the people in the valley are your people. Love them as I love you.” 35.
Beside Pulpit rock is the ruin of an old church. 36. They climbed the still remaining great stone and masonry steps through medieval-looking arches 37. – all which remained of what was once a great pinhoti 38. cathedral. The ceiling now was the blinding blue canopy of the late fall sky and the floor, the vast valley below.39. This was the precipice, the point of no return, the end … perhaps. The Spirit said, “I’ve got to go now, but I will always be with you and I will always love you, my son. Never be afraid.” Then the Spirit disappeared. 40.
Val stood and took in the scene for a long time for there was a lot to take in and on many different, but related levels. His thoughts turned to how once again his failure has caused him to be left alone. However, his attention was diverted by a flight of sparrows 41. beginning to search for their evening bites, 42. and he was reminded of the words of the old song, “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Then following along behind the sparrows, he saw forever circling the red-tailed hawk and he remembered Cecil’s words, “I forgive you.” In that moment, Val felt both forgiven and unforsaken – no longer alone.
As the silky shadows of evening began to rise up the craggy crest of the Great Mountain, Val knew it was time to go. Retracing his steps, Val began his descent to find Cecil’s body, still lying upon the tree of sacrifice, his blood still dripping on its branches like Crimson-coloured ornaments. 43. He wondered what he would do with that body. Back through the arches, back by Pulpit Rock, down the wooded path Cecil trudged, tiredness now beginning to set in on his little frame. Finally he reached the clearing where Cecil’s body had fallen onto the Christmas tree. But hurrying over to the site, he discovered that the body was no longer there.44. He looked around for signs of where someone else may have taken the body ,45. but finding none, he realized that somehow, his Heavenly Father had taken care of Cecil as Cecil had promised to take care of Val.
What he did see however, was some of Cecil’s still-present blood hanging from the myriad of branches of the Christmas tree like those Crimson-coloured ornaments that he had imagined at the top of the mountain. “How fitting,” he thought, “that Cecil, who gave his life for me left some of his blood to remember him by and left me this Christmas tree upon which he once had lain.” It was not the Christmas tree that was the gift to him but what the blood-formed ornaments meant that was the Christmas gift to Val.
Though now it is no longer 1957 and life and circumstances have grown much more complex, man has walked upon the face of the moon and passed into history, everyone has a cell phone or an IPad and Elvis has left the building years ago, Val still remembers that fateful Christmas in 1957 when he learned that his failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined, were forgiven and that he would never again be alone.
Now, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift . . . can you?
. . .
Here’s wishing you a happy and forgiven Christmas.
John R. Wible
__________________________________________________
Notes:
1. There are two “returns” here, the one mentioned in the story and our second visit to Mount Cheaha in these Christmas stories. See “The Gift of Who I am” by John R. Wible, December 25, 2007.
2. If you saw last year’s story, you will note the somewhere the numbering got off track. 30th is correct.
3. Actually, I was raised without a father. “Cecil,” named for a friend of my grandfather’s was my imaginary playmate.
4. This scene came to me as a sort of vision. I have dramatized the vision.
5. These trees are indigenous to Mount Cheaha.
6. The car in question was my mother’s. It also had rubber floor mats and a 140 cu. In engine. I’m not sure it would really pull Mount Cheaha.
7. The bow saw was the tool I was using when I fell off the ladder two years ago.
8. Like Indiana Jones, I am afraid of snakes.
9. And deeper and deeper into the vision.
10. Virginia Pines are abundant at the upper elevations of Mt. Cheaha.
11. Bow Saw – I was using a bow saw when I fell off the tree two years ago. See my post on the “Fall Testimony” at my blog:
12. The floor of the wood is referred to as a mat, because later we’ll see the forest floor turn into a wrestling mat.
13. In certain Christian denominations, the faithful stick their hand into a box or sack containing rattlesnakes to prove their devotion to and faith in God. I do not condone this practice.
14. This is a picture of our frequent response to God. He gives us a clear and direct order and rather than just doing it, we question Him about it – here with fatal consequences. Because Val questioned, he should have been struck by the snake and killed.
15. Rattlesnake – The snake represents Satan as in Genesis 2 and 3. The snake also represents all the compiled evil that Val finds in his own soul. Eph.. 6:12.
16. The story now takes on a dream-like quality.
17. “Straight as an arrow-“ Ephesians 6:16 speaks of Satan shooting “flaming arrows” at us. Here, the snake is the embodiment of all the arrows in one.
18. Cecil now becomes a type of Christ figure, suspended in mid-air as Christ was suspended between Heaven and Earth at His crucifixion. “Never did the obscene come so close to the holy as it did on Calvary. Never did the good in the world so intertwine with the bad as it did on the cross. Never did what is right involve itself so intimately with what is wrong, as it did when Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth.” – Max Lucado.
19. “The Battle is the Lord’s” – 1 Sam. 17:47; 2 Chron. 20:18.
Actually, the event is over in a matter of seconds.
20. Dragon – In Revelation 12 and 13, Satan is pictured as a dragon
21. Traditionally, especially in sculpture, angels are pictured with gold-tipped wings. This is a vestige of the time when Satan was an Archangel.
22. See note 17.
23. Great problems, when confronted show themselves as petty things when faced with faith.
24. Christ died once for all. Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 3:18.
25. “As Psalm 103:12 states, ‘As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.’ East and west never meet. If you go west you keep going west. But if you go north and get to the top of the earth and keep going in the same direction, you will eventually go south. So the forgiveness given by Christ is forever and your sin no longer exists. His forgiveness is permanent, powerful and sin-destroying forever. Don’t carry the unnecessary weight of sins that are covered by the blood.” Jesus is Lord, Daily Commentaries. Commentary on Heb. 9:11-15.
26. “Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matt. 28:19-20.
27. Likewise, Jesus died upon a tree, the Cross. Deut. 21:23.
28. A picture of the Holy Spirit.
29. Since Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same person as part of the Godhead with the Father, the presence is the same.
30. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21.
31. Toward Heaven.
32. To those who have been to the site, Pulpit Rock takes a slight descent as it outcrops.
The Spirit is a person not an inanimate object.
33. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34,35.
34. There is the ruin of an old building by Pulpit Rock, perhaps it was a church, perhaps not.
35. The arches are actually Pinhoti Trail Markers.
36. Pinhoti is Creek Indian for "Turkey Home." So it is perhaps not surprising that visitors usually see wild turkey on the Pinhoti trail that runs up Mount Cheaha.
37. With guilt gone, we are no longer in the box that it builds for us and we can see the blue sky and the verdant valley.
38. At this point, the story reaches its apex. It is the moment in which Val “gets it.” He is forgiven and free.
39. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me,” from the song of the same name. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a Gospel hymn. Although today it is a staple of African-American worship services, the song was originally written in 1905 by two white songwriters, lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. The song is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography.
40. Bites – a line from another “sparrow” song, “The Sparrow” by Charles Billingsley, performed frequently by my daughter, Amy Higginbotham.
41. “Dark is the stain that we cannot hide/what can avail to wash it away? Look there is flowing a Crimson Tide . . .” “Grace Greater than Our Sin” by Julia Johnson and Daniel Towner.
42. Just as the women found Jesus’ body was no longer there, Matt. 28:5-6; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24:5; and Jn. 20:5-7.
43. Jn. 20:2.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Christmas Tree- Return to Cheaha Mountain
“The Christmas Tree – Return to Cheaha Mountain”
John’s 30th Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible
December 25, 2010
1957, a simpler time: Sputnik had not yet flown, no one possessed a cell phone or IPad and Elvis had just hit the big time; And Val’s biggest worry was making an “A” on next week’s spelling test right before the Christmas holidays. Val almost always made “A’s” in spelling and in fact in most all his second grade subjects. It seemed to be an expectation, a “must do.” Failure was not an option and making less than an “A” was a failure. If Val failed, he would be left alone he felt - alone like he felt when his mother deserted him in the ladies lingerie section of Loveman’s; or alone like the time the school bus left him because he was seconds late; or alone like he felt when he found no one at the church and believed that the Rapture of the Church had come and he had been left behind.
Perhaps, he felt like a failure and alone because his classmates ostracized him just because he was who he was. Val never forgot those feelings of failure and “aloneness,” and Val did not like to be left alone.
On the other hand, above all other people, Val loved and idolized his father, Cecil. Cecil never seemed to place expectations on Val and never seemed to show disappointment when Val didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
But all of that was left behind today, because today was special day. Val and Cecil were going up beautiful Mount Cheaha, as they had done for as long as Val could remember, to get the family Christmas tree. They drove the windy gravel road until it became a narrow dirt road and finally ended in a clearing, an island of sunlight amidst the hovering sassafras, hawthorn, and river birch and of course, pine trees at the opening of a great wood. In that wood, somewhere Val knew was “their” Christmas tree.
This was a special day of the year for Val, a gift, if you will, from Cecil to him – not so much the gift of the Christmas tree or of the presents that would be placed under the Christmas tree, but the gift of the time that Cecil spent with Val in this shared enterprise. The day always made Val feel “special;” And Val needed to feel “special.”
They parked the black over white Bel Air with black wall tires, no air conditioner and no radio; got a bow saw and some ropes in a gunny sack out of the trunk; and began their tireless trek into the wild and wondrous wood. Cecil told Val, “Be careful where you are walking, the snakes are still crawling even at this elevation of the mountain.”
The very mention of snakes raised the hair on the back of Val’s neck, for more than being left alone, he feared snakes. But as they walked deeper and deeper into the wood, climbing ever higher and higher, Val became easier and the “snake warning” became less of a sting to his young mind.
Travelling now deeply into the wood, they searched for the “perfect” tree and in a sunlit clearing, they saw it, the most beautiful Virginia pine tree that Val had ever seen.
Cecil opened the gunny sack carrying the ropes and bow saw, got out the saw and began to first clear from around its base of the underbrush and then began to cut the tree. “Schree-scraw, schree-scraw, schree-scraw,” went the saw making the familiar cutting noise that was one of the pleasing sounds of the adventure to which Val always looked forward until “crack, thwish, thud,” it sounded as it toppled to the straw-covered mat, the floor of the wood.
“Hand me the rope and we’ll tie it on ‘er and pull ‘er out,” ordered Cecil to Val as the first and most exciting part of the job was now complete. But, as Val reached his hand into the sack to retrieve the rope, Cecil suddenly spoke in an ominous and entirely different tone of voice – loud and direct - calm, yet with a sense of urgency. “Don’t move.” Val let loose of the sack and turned his head toward Cecil and said, “What, Daddy?” And at that instant, a coiled rattlesnake moved toward Val.
Time moved in slow motion for Val as he saw with one eye the snake flying straight as an arrow toward him and with the other, Cecil stretching out between Val and the snake. In mid-air, Cecil caught the snake by the neck and they both fell to the straw covered mat. The snake began to coil itself around Cecil, striking him again and again and again.
Time now stopped, rational thought ended and fantasy took flight for Val. In his seven-year olds mind’s eye, he saw Cecil and the snake rolling around on the ground locked in mortal combat which must have lasted for hours in this time-frozen state of mind. As Val seemed to gain the upper hand with the snake, the creature began to grow larger and larger until it became a huge black dragon with gold tipped wings and an arrow shaped tail.
Undaunted, Cecil maintained his death grip about the reptile’s neck and squeezed until with a “crack,” the neck was broken. In Val’s mind, it was as though the dragon deflated and became snaked-sized again and lay lifeless upon the mat. Cecil slumped beside it – himself mortally wounded.
A sudden wave of guilt passed over Val as he realized that his father was mortally wounded because Val had not followed his instruction. Val had failed once again and this time his failure had killed his father. Cecil looked up at Val and painfully yet with certainty, put his arm around his shaken son. “Daddy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t do what you said,” cried Val with tears of fear and remorse. “I forgive you, son, never think of it again,” said Cecil in a tone of assurance that Val had never heard quite so definitely before. As Cecil held Val in his arms, Val felt safe and secure once again. Cecil’s voice grew more hushed. “Don’t be afraid, son, I’ll always be with you and I’ll always protect you. Nothing can ever harm you if you stay close to me.” And then he smiled lovingly and lay back onto the tree upon which he had fallen.
As he lay back on the tree, in Val’s mind’s eye, he say Cecil’s spirit rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came over to him and held him in his arms just the way Cecil had done. And Cecil’s spirit said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” So Val un-kneeled and walked with Cecil’s spirit just as he had walked with Cecil before. And he felt the same warmth and love that he had always felt. The Spirit said, “Son, we will have many rough places to go and hills and mountains to climb but I will guide you and uphold you and you will never need to be afraid or feel guilty or alone.”
They walked on through the wood climbing ever higher and higher. Eventually, they descended slightly to Pulpit Rock. Val looked down at the verdant valley below. The Spirit said as he pointed, “All of this valley is yours because it is mine and you are my son and heir. But more importantly, all of the people in the valley are your people. Love them as I love you.”
Beside Pulpit rock is the ruin of an old church. They climbed the still remaining great stone and masonry steps through medieval-looking arches – all which remained of what was once a great pinhoti cathedral. The ceiling now was the blinding blue canopy of the late fall sky and the floor, the vast valley below. This was the precipice, the point of no return, the end … perhaps. The Spirit said, “I’ve got to go now, but I will always be with you and I will always love you, my son. Never be afraid.” Then the Spirit disappeared.
Val stood and took in the scene for a long time for there was a lot to take in and on many different, but related levels. His thoughts turned to how once again his failure has caused him to be left alone. However, his attention was diverted by a flight of sparrows beginning to search for their evening bites, and he was reminded of the words of the old song, “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Then following along behind the sparrows, he saw forever circling the red-tailed hawk and he remembered Cecil’s words, “I forgive you.” In that moment, Val felt both forgiven and unforsaken – no longer alone.
As the silky shadows of evening began to rise up the craggy crest of the Great Mountain, Val knew it was time to go. Retracing his steps, Val began his descent to find Cecil’s body, still lying upon the tree of sacrifice, his blood still dripping on its branches like Crimson-coloured ornaments. He wondered what he would do with that body. Back through the arches, back by Pulpit Rock, down the wooded path Cecil trudged, tiredness now beginning to set in on his little frame.
Finally he reached the clearing where Cecil’s body had fallen onto the Christmas tree. But hurrying over to the site, he discovered that the body was no longer there. He looked around for signs of where someone else may have taken the body, but finding none, he realized that somehow, his Heavenly Father had taken care of Cecil as Cecil had promised to take care of Val.
What he did see however, was some of Cecil’s still-present blood hanging from the myriad of branches of the Christmas tree like those Crimson-coloured ornaments that he had imagined at the top of the mountain. “How fitting,” he thought, “that Cecil, who gave his life for me left some of his blood to remember him by and left me this Christmas tree upon which he once had lain.” It was not the Christmas tree that was the gift to him but what the blood-formed ornaments meant that was the Christmas gift to Val.
. . .
Though now it is no longer 1957 and life and circumstances have grown much more complex, man has walked upon the face of the moon and passed into history, everyone has a cell phone or an IPad and Elvis has left the building years ago, Val still remembers that fateful Christmas in 1957 when he learned that his failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined, were forgiven and that he would never again be alone.
Now, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift . . . can you?
. . .
Here’s wishing you a happy and forgiven Christmas.
John R. Wible
For an annotated version and the vision from which this was taken, see: HTTP://johnwible.blogspot.com
A colour copy is also available is John’s downloads at: http://www.slideshare.net/jwible/
John’s 30th Annual Christmas Poem
By John R. Wible
December 25, 2010
1957, a simpler time: Sputnik had not yet flown, no one possessed a cell phone or IPad and Elvis had just hit the big time; And Val’s biggest worry was making an “A” on next week’s spelling test right before the Christmas holidays. Val almost always made “A’s” in spelling and in fact in most all his second grade subjects. It seemed to be an expectation, a “must do.” Failure was not an option and making less than an “A” was a failure. If Val failed, he would be left alone he felt - alone like he felt when his mother deserted him in the ladies lingerie section of Loveman’s; or alone like the time the school bus left him because he was seconds late; or alone like he felt when he found no one at the church and believed that the Rapture of the Church had come and he had been left behind.
Perhaps, he felt like a failure and alone because his classmates ostracized him just because he was who he was. Val never forgot those feelings of failure and “aloneness,” and Val did not like to be left alone.
On the other hand, above all other people, Val loved and idolized his father, Cecil. Cecil never seemed to place expectations on Val and never seemed to show disappointment when Val didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him.
But all of that was left behind today, because today was special day. Val and Cecil were going up beautiful Mount Cheaha, as they had done for as long as Val could remember, to get the family Christmas tree. They drove the windy gravel road until it became a narrow dirt road and finally ended in a clearing, an island of sunlight amidst the hovering sassafras, hawthorn, and river birch and of course, pine trees at the opening of a great wood. In that wood, somewhere Val knew was “their” Christmas tree.
This was a special day of the year for Val, a gift, if you will, from Cecil to him – not so much the gift of the Christmas tree or of the presents that would be placed under the Christmas tree, but the gift of the time that Cecil spent with Val in this shared enterprise. The day always made Val feel “special;” And Val needed to feel “special.”
They parked the black over white Bel Air with black wall tires, no air conditioner and no radio; got a bow saw and some ropes in a gunny sack out of the trunk; and began their tireless trek into the wild and wondrous wood. Cecil told Val, “Be careful where you are walking, the snakes are still crawling even at this elevation of the mountain.”
The very mention of snakes raised the hair on the back of Val’s neck, for more than being left alone, he feared snakes. But as they walked deeper and deeper into the wood, climbing ever higher and higher, Val became easier and the “snake warning” became less of a sting to his young mind.
Travelling now deeply into the wood, they searched for the “perfect” tree and in a sunlit clearing, they saw it, the most beautiful Virginia pine tree that Val had ever seen.
Cecil opened the gunny sack carrying the ropes and bow saw, got out the saw and began to first clear from around its base of the underbrush and then began to cut the tree. “Schree-scraw, schree-scraw, schree-scraw,” went the saw making the familiar cutting noise that was one of the pleasing sounds of the adventure to which Val always looked forward until “crack, thwish, thud,” it sounded as it toppled to the straw-covered mat, the floor of the wood.
“Hand me the rope and we’ll tie it on ‘er and pull ‘er out,” ordered Cecil to Val as the first and most exciting part of the job was now complete. But, as Val reached his hand into the sack to retrieve the rope, Cecil suddenly spoke in an ominous and entirely different tone of voice – loud and direct - calm, yet with a sense of urgency. “Don’t move.” Val let loose of the sack and turned his head toward Cecil and said, “What, Daddy?” And at that instant, a coiled rattlesnake moved toward Val.
Time moved in slow motion for Val as he saw with one eye the snake flying straight as an arrow toward him and with the other, Cecil stretching out between Val and the snake. In mid-air, Cecil caught the snake by the neck and they both fell to the straw covered mat. The snake began to coil itself around Cecil, striking him again and again and again.
Time now stopped, rational thought ended and fantasy took flight for Val. In his seven-year olds mind’s eye, he saw Cecil and the snake rolling around on the ground locked in mortal combat which must have lasted for hours in this time-frozen state of mind. As Val seemed to gain the upper hand with the snake, the creature began to grow larger and larger until it became a huge black dragon with gold tipped wings and an arrow shaped tail.
Undaunted, Cecil maintained his death grip about the reptile’s neck and squeezed until with a “crack,” the neck was broken. In Val’s mind, it was as though the dragon deflated and became snaked-sized again and lay lifeless upon the mat. Cecil slumped beside it – himself mortally wounded.
A sudden wave of guilt passed over Val as he realized that his father was mortally wounded because Val had not followed his instruction. Val had failed once again and this time his failure had killed his father. Cecil looked up at Val and painfully yet with certainty, put his arm around his shaken son. “Daddy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t do what you said,” cried Val with tears of fear and remorse. “I forgive you, son, never think of it again,” said Cecil in a tone of assurance that Val had never heard quite so definitely before. As Cecil held Val in his arms, Val felt safe and secure once again. Cecil’s voice grew more hushed. “Don’t be afraid, son, I’ll always be with you and I’ll always protect you. Nothing can ever harm you if you stay close to me.” And then he smiled lovingly and lay back onto the tree upon which he had fallen.
As he lay back on the tree, in Val’s mind’s eye, he say Cecil’s spirit rise from him, a benevolent spirit which came over to him and held him in his arms just the way Cecil had done. And Cecil’s spirit said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” So Val un-kneeled and walked with Cecil’s spirit just as he had walked with Cecil before. And he felt the same warmth and love that he had always felt. The Spirit said, “Son, we will have many rough places to go and hills and mountains to climb but I will guide you and uphold you and you will never need to be afraid or feel guilty or alone.”
They walked on through the wood climbing ever higher and higher. Eventually, they descended slightly to Pulpit Rock. Val looked down at the verdant valley below. The Spirit said as he pointed, “All of this valley is yours because it is mine and you are my son and heir. But more importantly, all of the people in the valley are your people. Love them as I love you.”
Beside Pulpit rock is the ruin of an old church. They climbed the still remaining great stone and masonry steps through medieval-looking arches – all which remained of what was once a great pinhoti cathedral. The ceiling now was the blinding blue canopy of the late fall sky and the floor, the vast valley below. This was the precipice, the point of no return, the end … perhaps. The Spirit said, “I’ve got to go now, but I will always be with you and I will always love you, my son. Never be afraid.” Then the Spirit disappeared.
Val stood and took in the scene for a long time for there was a lot to take in and on many different, but related levels. His thoughts turned to how once again his failure has caused him to be left alone. However, his attention was diverted by a flight of sparrows beginning to search for their evening bites, and he was reminded of the words of the old song, “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Then following along behind the sparrows, he saw forever circling the red-tailed hawk and he remembered Cecil’s words, “I forgive you.” In that moment, Val felt both forgiven and unforsaken – no longer alone.
As the silky shadows of evening began to rise up the craggy crest of the Great Mountain, Val knew it was time to go. Retracing his steps, Val began his descent to find Cecil’s body, still lying upon the tree of sacrifice, his blood still dripping on its branches like Crimson-coloured ornaments. He wondered what he would do with that body. Back through the arches, back by Pulpit Rock, down the wooded path Cecil trudged, tiredness now beginning to set in on his little frame.
Finally he reached the clearing where Cecil’s body had fallen onto the Christmas tree. But hurrying over to the site, he discovered that the body was no longer there. He looked around for signs of where someone else may have taken the body, but finding none, he realized that somehow, his Heavenly Father had taken care of Cecil as Cecil had promised to take care of Val.
What he did see however, was some of Cecil’s still-present blood hanging from the myriad of branches of the Christmas tree like those Crimson-coloured ornaments that he had imagined at the top of the mountain. “How fitting,” he thought, “that Cecil, who gave his life for me left some of his blood to remember him by and left me this Christmas tree upon which he once had lain.” It was not the Christmas tree that was the gift to him but what the blood-formed ornaments meant that was the Christmas gift to Val.
. . .
Though now it is no longer 1957 and life and circumstances have grown much more complex, man has walked upon the face of the moon and passed into history, everyone has a cell phone or an IPad and Elvis has left the building years ago, Val still remembers that fateful Christmas in 1957 when he learned that his failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined, were forgiven and that he would never again be alone.
Now, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift . . . can you?
. . .
Here’s wishing you a happy and forgiven Christmas.
John R. Wible
For an annotated version and the vision from which this was taken, see: HTTP://johnwible.blogspot.com
A colour copy is also available is John’s downloads at: http://www.slideshare.net/jwible/
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Izzy's Choice: A Christmas Allegory
Izzy's Choice: A Christmas Allegory
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2003
John's 23rd Annual Christmas Poem
See the footnotes version on my Slideshare page at: http://www.slideshare.net/login?from_logout=1
''It's not about you," intoned Minnetonka’s eight-grade school teacher, Henrietta Mentor, "it's really not.” Something rang true in that statement for the beautiful Izzy, child of privilege. But, on the other hand . . . did it really?
Being beautiful was easy for Izzy, I guess because she was. It also helped that her father,the famous and learned Judge Abrams, had lots of money and that her mother, Rachael was drop dead gorgeous. Funny how fame, money and beauty seem to go together. Expectedly, Izzy was popular in school; a class favorite and well, you get the picture.
Izzy had lots of friends, but two of them were special, Lucern and Josh. Lucero was also from a wealthy family . . . really wealthy and cosmopolitan. He was the great-looking guy with all the stuff who had all his stuff together. Moreover, Lucern was a philosopher, “To thine own self be true," he was fond of saying quoting Polonius' famous advice to Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Izzy always wondered what he meant by that. Lucern evoked a fascination in Izzy that was rivaled by little else.
Josh was different. He had flaming red hair and freckles about which he took no small amount of heat from his classmates. His family ... well, it wasn't in the class with Lucern's. But - there was something "intriguing" about Josh. He was real -''what you see is what you get" real. And Izzy was attracted to that, too.
Lucern and Josh were different and no more so in their goals and plans for life. Lucern determined to follow in his father's footsteps in the international trading business. No one ever really knew exactly what he traded, but he made a lot of money at it - very exciting, fast moving
and constant travel. Josh, on the other hand wanted to be a preacher-boy, with all that goes with the profession about which he seemed to have no illusions. In fact, Josh never seemed to have any illusions. He was always a straight arrow, something else that Izzy really liked about him.
Josh and Lucern for all their differences had one thing in common - they both loved Izzy.
Teen years flew by for Izzy and as time passed, she grew more and more beautiful. And beauty became more and more important to her because beauty brings acceptance and power, power over others and what is more important, power over your own destiny. If you are beautiful, you can feel good about yourself. "Isn't that what it's about any way," Izzy often thought, though Henrietta's Mentor's words sometimes passed through her head, "it's not about you?"
On Izzy's Twenty First birthday, something happened that would alter the course of Izzy's life (or would it?) Judge Abrams and Rachael gave a wonderful Christmas/Birthday party in Izzy's honor. And a great party it was. Everyone who was anyone was there and everyone who wasn't - wasn't. They exquisitely decorated the great hall of their mansion. Christmas was everywhere; from the seventeen-foot Carolina Spruce Tree to the forty-odd arrangements of holly and ivy; to the mistletoe hanging from the huge chandelier. Over the mantle place was a big banner, ''Happy Twenty First Birthday, Izzy." ''Maybe it is about me," she thought as Henrietta shook her head.
Among the well-heeled guests were, of course Lucern who seemed to blend right in and Josh who seemed to not. Lucern was as handsome and rakish as ever. Tonight, he wore an unusually toothy smile in his face. He had a plan and Izzy was it. Tonight, he would make his move and take her for his very own. He dreamed of possessing that great beauty and making it
his. He had everything else, why not. His plan was to "make her an offer she couldn't refuse."
Josh also had a plan and it too, involved Izzy. After everyone had eaten all the lane cake and ambrosia with real whipped cream and cherries on top they could, and all the top round roast beef in a biscuit with mustard they wanted and had "small-talked" about all things unimportant, came the time for Izzy to open her presents. Izzy enjoyed being the center of attention, who wouldn't, and opening all the elegant gifts was the cherries on her ambrosia.
She proceeded to open her presents - lots of nice things from the best stores. And then there were two presents left: one from Lucern and one from Josh. Two small boxes - very small boxes, looking strangely alike except for the paper and ribbon. Lucern's was the highest quality, gilded paper with satin ribbon. Josh's wasn’t. It was what one would expect from Josh, not flashy.
Izzy opened Lucern's first. She tore off the richly decorated paper and fine satin ribbon to reveal a ring box. She popped up the lid and then gasped. She gazed upon a two-carat solitaire which Lucern's father had imported directly from the DeBeers' South African diamond mine at Finsch. "Ooooh!" she cooed, "It's, it's . . . breath taking." And it was that. .. breathtaking. ''Izzy, I offer this to you if you will marry me," Lucern oozed. ''I can promise you that this ring has...friends. Come with me," he sought in his elegant continental manner which made even beautiful Izzy's head swim, much too elegant for a twenty-one year old young man.
As she touched the ring to take it out of the box, her life-to-be seemed to flicker before her eyes in a succession of scenes accompanied by a John Williams score.
Instantly, she was standing at the altar of her church wearing a taffeta wedding dress with a train as long as a princess'. In what was literally another flash, she saw three beautiful girls with long eye lashes and a huge home in the hills with a curvy winding driveway and a galaxy of lights in the windows – a dream come true. And then into view came a stage and a wildly appreciative audience applauding her beauty and talent as the stage manager came out to hand her a dozen long-stemmed roses. She found herself bowing gracefully and thought, "everything I ever wanted . . . and more." But where was Lucern tonight - Caracas? Istanbul? What very uncommon people was he charming tonight?
"Come with me. Izzy," said Lucern, "and you'll have it all, I promise." Surely an offer she couldn't refuse. "To thine own self be true," nodded Lucern. "Is this what it's all about," thought Izzy, ''having everything bright and beautiful? Is this ALL there is?" But the words of Henrietta Mentor echoed in her head, "it's not about you."
Izzy's fantasy was brought back to reality by Josh's ''Izzy, Izzy, there's another present. It's from me. Please open it." Coming out of her fog, Izzy saw the last little present under the tree, the plainly wrapped one and she opened it also with anxious anticipation.
It, too, was a ring, an engagement ring but predictably it had none of the grandeur of Lucern's ring. It was . . . nice, serviceable and earnest. Perhaps the setting clasped the littlest diamond she had ever seen, but a diamond nevertheless. ''Does this mean what I think this means" she asked Josh as the room grew instantly silent and everyone bent inward as though they were listening to E.F. Hutton. After what seemed an unusually long time Josh broke the silence, "Yes, it does Izzy, it means that I love you and I, too am asking you to marry me. Izzy, you know I can't promise you what Lucern can promise, in fact I can't promise you anything except the life of a preacher's wife and all that goes with it . . . and all my love for as long as you live."
As Izzy touched this plain ring, once again she was transported through time. There was the same church (different dress, though.) And a two-bedroom, one bath parsonage that needed a lot of work just to be livable. Then she saw the birthing suite at County General and a child born . . but something was wrong . .. little John Mark was a Down's Syndrome child. "This life is going to be hard," she thought, "a life of work and taking care of somebody else."
And she saw her once great beauty ebbing away; worn by the years and drained by John Mark and the care he needed until in his late 20s he went to be with Jesus. No house in the hills, no long eye-lashed girls, no stage, no roses.
Instead, she saw a tiny day-care center just for Down's Syndrome children, "John Mark's House" read the sign in the front yard. And then it got bigger and bigger and it acquired ''friends.'' Friends in other cities and "friends" in other countries, important friends. And she saw hundreds of "John Marks" passing through the doors and then fading away. And through it all, she saw Josh standing by her side with that ever-present grin until his image, too faded away, having given himself away until there was literally no more to give and then joining John Mark with Jesus.
And she saw herself an old woman, no longer beautiful in the same way as when she was 21 but beautiful nevertheless. She felt her face beautiful as though it had been etched by the knife blades of life and buffed by the giving of herself until, like Josh there was no more to give ... and then giving some more. And she could hear the words of Henrietta Mentor, "it's not about you." And she realized that it really wasn't. She wondered in this second dream state if life really consisted of not what you keep, but of what you give away; if you find yourself by losing yourself? Was Henrietta Mentor really right?
''Izzy, Izzy," her mother interrupted her thoughts, ''Izzy you've got a choice to make this Christmas Eve, what and who is it going to be?" The room remained silent. This required a response, silent she could not be. The air was pregnant with anticipation for the answer. What would her answer be? Who and what would she choose?
***
Who and what indeed? Who and what do you think Izzy chose? Think you know? Not so fast, biscuit breath, really think about it. The more important question is who and what would you choose for yourself? What HAVE you chosen? Is it all, as Shakespeare says about being true to "thine own self?" Can you really "have it all?" Does it really matter?
Christmas is about parties in Great Halls with seventeen-foot trees and wonderful food and lovely family and gifts, that's true. But, it's also about choice - so is life. There are always two rings under the Christmas Tree of Life, which will you choose and which will you wear?
Now, go and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!
John R. Wible, 2003
By John R. Wible, December 25, 2003
John's 23rd Annual Christmas Poem
See the footnotes version on my Slideshare page at: http://www.slideshare.net/login?from_logout=1
''It's not about you," intoned Minnetonka’s eight-grade school teacher, Henrietta Mentor, "it's really not.” Something rang true in that statement for the beautiful Izzy, child of privilege. But, on the other hand . . . did it really?
Being beautiful was easy for Izzy, I guess because she was. It also helped that her father,the famous and learned Judge Abrams, had lots of money and that her mother, Rachael was drop dead gorgeous. Funny how fame, money and beauty seem to go together. Expectedly, Izzy was popular in school; a class favorite and well, you get the picture.
Izzy had lots of friends, but two of them were special, Lucern and Josh. Lucero was also from a wealthy family . . . really wealthy and cosmopolitan. He was the great-looking guy with all the stuff who had all his stuff together. Moreover, Lucern was a philosopher, “To thine own self be true," he was fond of saying quoting Polonius' famous advice to Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Izzy always wondered what he meant by that. Lucern evoked a fascination in Izzy that was rivaled by little else.
Josh was different. He had flaming red hair and freckles about which he took no small amount of heat from his classmates. His family ... well, it wasn't in the class with Lucern's. But - there was something "intriguing" about Josh. He was real -''what you see is what you get" real. And Izzy was attracted to that, too.
Lucern and Josh were different and no more so in their goals and plans for life. Lucern determined to follow in his father's footsteps in the international trading business. No one ever really knew exactly what he traded, but he made a lot of money at it - very exciting, fast moving
and constant travel. Josh, on the other hand wanted to be a preacher-boy, with all that goes with the profession about which he seemed to have no illusions. In fact, Josh never seemed to have any illusions. He was always a straight arrow, something else that Izzy really liked about him.
Josh and Lucern for all their differences had one thing in common - they both loved Izzy.
Teen years flew by for Izzy and as time passed, she grew more and more beautiful. And beauty became more and more important to her because beauty brings acceptance and power, power over others and what is more important, power over your own destiny. If you are beautiful, you can feel good about yourself. "Isn't that what it's about any way," Izzy often thought, though Henrietta's Mentor's words sometimes passed through her head, "it's not about you?"
On Izzy's Twenty First birthday, something happened that would alter the course of Izzy's life (or would it?) Judge Abrams and Rachael gave a wonderful Christmas/Birthday party in Izzy's honor. And a great party it was. Everyone who was anyone was there and everyone who wasn't - wasn't. They exquisitely decorated the great hall of their mansion. Christmas was everywhere; from the seventeen-foot Carolina Spruce Tree to the forty-odd arrangements of holly and ivy; to the mistletoe hanging from the huge chandelier. Over the mantle place was a big banner, ''Happy Twenty First Birthday, Izzy." ''Maybe it is about me," she thought as Henrietta shook her head.
Among the well-heeled guests were, of course Lucern who seemed to blend right in and Josh who seemed to not. Lucern was as handsome and rakish as ever. Tonight, he wore an unusually toothy smile in his face. He had a plan and Izzy was it. Tonight, he would make his move and take her for his very own. He dreamed of possessing that great beauty and making it
his. He had everything else, why not. His plan was to "make her an offer she couldn't refuse."
Josh also had a plan and it too, involved Izzy. After everyone had eaten all the lane cake and ambrosia with real whipped cream and cherries on top they could, and all the top round roast beef in a biscuit with mustard they wanted and had "small-talked" about all things unimportant, came the time for Izzy to open her presents. Izzy enjoyed being the center of attention, who wouldn't, and opening all the elegant gifts was the cherries on her ambrosia.
She proceeded to open her presents - lots of nice things from the best stores. And then there were two presents left: one from Lucern and one from Josh. Two small boxes - very small boxes, looking strangely alike except for the paper and ribbon. Lucern's was the highest quality, gilded paper with satin ribbon. Josh's wasn’t. It was what one would expect from Josh, not flashy.
Izzy opened Lucern's first. She tore off the richly decorated paper and fine satin ribbon to reveal a ring box. She popped up the lid and then gasped. She gazed upon a two-carat solitaire which Lucern's father had imported directly from the DeBeers' South African diamond mine at Finsch. "Ooooh!" she cooed, "It's, it's . . . breath taking." And it was that. .. breathtaking. ''Izzy, I offer this to you if you will marry me," Lucern oozed. ''I can promise you that this ring has...friends. Come with me," he sought in his elegant continental manner which made even beautiful Izzy's head swim, much too elegant for a twenty-one year old young man.
As she touched the ring to take it out of the box, her life-to-be seemed to flicker before her eyes in a succession of scenes accompanied by a John Williams score.
Instantly, she was standing at the altar of her church wearing a taffeta wedding dress with a train as long as a princess'. In what was literally another flash, she saw three beautiful girls with long eye lashes and a huge home in the hills with a curvy winding driveway and a galaxy of lights in the windows – a dream come true. And then into view came a stage and a wildly appreciative audience applauding her beauty and talent as the stage manager came out to hand her a dozen long-stemmed roses. She found herself bowing gracefully and thought, "everything I ever wanted . . . and more." But where was Lucern tonight - Caracas? Istanbul? What very uncommon people was he charming tonight?
"Come with me. Izzy," said Lucern, "and you'll have it all, I promise." Surely an offer she couldn't refuse. "To thine own self be true," nodded Lucern. "Is this what it's all about," thought Izzy, ''having everything bright and beautiful? Is this ALL there is?" But the words of Henrietta Mentor echoed in her head, "it's not about you."
Izzy's fantasy was brought back to reality by Josh's ''Izzy, Izzy, there's another present. It's from me. Please open it." Coming out of her fog, Izzy saw the last little present under the tree, the plainly wrapped one and she opened it also with anxious anticipation.
It, too, was a ring, an engagement ring but predictably it had none of the grandeur of Lucern's ring. It was . . . nice, serviceable and earnest. Perhaps the setting clasped the littlest diamond she had ever seen, but a diamond nevertheless. ''Does this mean what I think this means" she asked Josh as the room grew instantly silent and everyone bent inward as though they were listening to E.F. Hutton. After what seemed an unusually long time Josh broke the silence, "Yes, it does Izzy, it means that I love you and I, too am asking you to marry me. Izzy, you know I can't promise you what Lucern can promise, in fact I can't promise you anything except the life of a preacher's wife and all that goes with it . . . and all my love for as long as you live."
As Izzy touched this plain ring, once again she was transported through time. There was the same church (different dress, though.) And a two-bedroom, one bath parsonage that needed a lot of work just to be livable. Then she saw the birthing suite at County General and a child born . . but something was wrong . .. little John Mark was a Down's Syndrome child. "This life is going to be hard," she thought, "a life of work and taking care of somebody else."
And she saw her once great beauty ebbing away; worn by the years and drained by John Mark and the care he needed until in his late 20s he went to be with Jesus. No house in the hills, no long eye-lashed girls, no stage, no roses.
Instead, she saw a tiny day-care center just for Down's Syndrome children, "John Mark's House" read the sign in the front yard. And then it got bigger and bigger and it acquired ''friends.'' Friends in other cities and "friends" in other countries, important friends. And she saw hundreds of "John Marks" passing through the doors and then fading away. And through it all, she saw Josh standing by her side with that ever-present grin until his image, too faded away, having given himself away until there was literally no more to give and then joining John Mark with Jesus.
And she saw herself an old woman, no longer beautiful in the same way as when she was 21 but beautiful nevertheless. She felt her face beautiful as though it had been etched by the knife blades of life and buffed by the giving of herself until, like Josh there was no more to give ... and then giving some more. And she could hear the words of Henrietta Mentor, "it's not about you." And she realized that it really wasn't. She wondered in this second dream state if life really consisted of not what you keep, but of what you give away; if you find yourself by losing yourself? Was Henrietta Mentor really right?
''Izzy, Izzy," her mother interrupted her thoughts, ''Izzy you've got a choice to make this Christmas Eve, what and who is it going to be?" The room remained silent. This required a response, silent she could not be. The air was pregnant with anticipation for the answer. What would her answer be? Who and what would she choose?
***
Who and what indeed? Who and what do you think Izzy chose? Think you know? Not so fast, biscuit breath, really think about it. The more important question is who and what would you choose for yourself? What HAVE you chosen? Is it all, as Shakespeare says about being true to "thine own self?" Can you really "have it all?" Does it really matter?
Christmas is about parties in Great Halls with seventeen-foot trees and wonderful food and lovely family and gifts, that's true. But, it's also about choice - so is life. There are always two rings under the Christmas Tree of Life, which will you choose and which will you wear?
Now, go and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!
John R. Wible, 2003
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
"Of Form and Substance"
Friday, October 15, 2010
Why Jesus is Different
Jesus stated that he was the “Messiah,” the “Son of God,” the Anointed One,” in short, God Himself – not “a god,” but God Himself. In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement,
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
A Summary of His divine claims is found in the following from a compilation by Global Media Outreach.
Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic--or Lord and God. There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian agrees he was not just a legend. If Jesus were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? Christ said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.
Here are some of the key claims Jesus made about himself.
• Christ claimed to live a sinless life. John 8:28-29; John 8:46-47.
• Jesus Christ claimed to be the ONLY way to God. John 14:6. Note: No other world religious leader, such as Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed ever made this claim.
• Christ claimed to have shared the glory of God in Heaven. John 1:1-5; John 17:5
• Jesus Christ claimed to be able to forgive sins. Luke 5:20-21; Luke 7:48-49.
• Christ claimed to be a Heavenly king. Luke 22:69; Luke 23:1-3; John 18:36-37.
• Christ claimed to be able to give everlasting life John 6:40; John 6:47; John 10:28-30; John 11:25.
• Jesus claimed that he would die and come back to life. John 10:17; John 12:32-33; John 16:16; Luke 18:31-33.
• Christ claimed that he would return again to judge the world. Matthew 24:27-30; Matthew 25:31-32; Mark 14:61-62.
What about this claim to be the “Messiah,” God’s Anointed? The doctrine or concept of the “Messiah,” or transliterated into Greek, the “Christos” or “Christ,” did not always exist in man in general and not in Judaism in particular. It has its roots in Judaism, not Mosaic Judaism, but the mature Judaism that that had grown over centuries. The concept starts with King David, out of whose line would come the “Anointed One” who would reign forever. This concept is not found in the Torah, but in the prophets, principally Isaiah and Daniel and the non-canonical, work 1 Enoch, written partially in the 3rd century B.C. and partially in the late first century AD.
However, the idea was so strong in the Jewish mind just before, during and just after the time of Jesus that even King Herod the Great , who was not really a Jew, by birth, at heart, or in his beliefs, when confronted by the inquiring Wise Men from Persia seeking information about the birth of the Messiah, that same Herod was seized with anxiety and while feigning desire to come and worship Him, secretly planned to have Him murdered – thus the infamous “slaughter of the Innocents.”
According to Paul W. Johnson who is responsible for the ideas in the next few paragraphs, Jesus of Nazareth was what Johnson classifies as a “Jewish Universalist.” He, Jesus, believed that the teachings of Judaism were not esoteric to the Jews only, but were for the whole world. While influenced by the teachings of the prophets and perhaps by 1 Enoch which was popularly read in the First Century. He was also influenced by the pacifist ideas of the Essenes, the cave-dwellers who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls, interestingly enough, as was John the Baptist, and by the Baptist sect itself. Jesus would not be a mob leader, a Jewish Nationalist as had several of His predecessors, who ended up dead as did their message. No, Jesus would rather came as “a lamb to the slaughter,” a sacrifice, a martyr, no, the, martyr, a theme also strong in the Jewish mindset at this time in history beginning in the inter-Biblical period of the Maccabees recorded in the also non-canonical work, 1 Maccabees.
Jesus was a carpenter by trade, but all Jewish men were either tradesmen or merchants, there being no such thing as the professional clergy outside the Scribes. He was not the “Simple Carpenter of Nazareth” as some believed, He was a great theologian. It is obvious that He was learned in the Law and the Prophets. He was considered by foe and friend alike as a Rabbi, a learned teacher, worthy of being listened to and followed.
At the time of Jesus’ Earthly life, there were two great parties influencing Jewish life and religion, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees, who only recognized the first 5 books of Moses, the Torah, therefore, apparently did not believe in the afterlife or in the spiritual realm or its inhabitants such as angels since none of these are mentioned in the Torah, were in control of the temple, the priesthood and the national treasury and thus to a great extent, the Jewish government to the extent the Romans allowed self government. Thus, the Sadducees encrusted over the centuries a very strict and almost anal-retentive requirement of following the letter of the Law – the Torah.
One of the other great influences was the party of the Pharisees which goes back to the time of the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent Diaspora. The Pharisees also admitted the rest of what we know as the Old Testament including the works of poetry and wisdom and the major and minor prophets. The Pharisees were deeply divided into two camps – one led by the great Rabbi Shammai, who took a pedantic, strict constructionist view of the Law – meaning the whole Old Testament plus the oral tradition passed on by generations of rabbis and scholars.
The second great rabbi of the First Century was Rabbi Hillel, sometimes known as Hillel the Babylonian because he was born and raised in the Jewish community that still flourished in Babylon. He was apparently one of the Diaspora Jews brought to Jerusalem by Herod to open the minds of the Jewish people to a more universalist view of the world and their religion, basically for commercial reasons. Hillel was somewhat of a liberal thinker that brought to the table a “more humane and universalist” interpretation of the Law. He taught that it was the spirit of the law that was important, not the letter, a concept adopted by Jesus and Paul.
Hillel was famous for his great aphorisms. He was once asked if one could state the entire law while standing on one foot. Hillel replied that one should not to another that which he would hate to have done to himself. “That,” he said, “is the Law. The rest is commentary. Go and study it.” This is of course familiar sounding as Jesus propounded the “Golden Rule,” perhaps based upon it. It is argued by Johnson that Jesus was at least very familiar with and influenced by the works and sayings of Hillel. Johnson also speculates that Jesus may have even studied with Hillel. Johnson at page 128 says, “Jesus’ teaching career saw him translate Hillel’s aphorisms into a system of moral theology and, in so doing, strip the Law of all but its moral and ethical elements.” At the same page, Johnson goes on to state that Jesus was able to take Hillel’s teaching to their logical conclusion and in fact, cease to be a Jew, but rather founded his own religion “which was sui generis. “
Jesus incorporated in his ethical Judaism an impressive composite of the eschatology he found in Isaiah, Daniel and Enoch, as well as what he found useful in the Essenes and the Baptists, so that he was able to present a clear perspective of death, judgment and the afterlife. And he offered this new theology to everyone within reach of His mission: pious Jews, the [common man,] the Samaritans, the unclean, the gentiles even.”
But, like many religious innovators, Jesus had a private message to his inner circle. That message involved His impending suffering and martyrdom, foretold by the prophets, commonly believed by the people since the time of the Maccabees and inevitable because his teachings threatened the very heart of Jewish life, custom and government. His basic belief that following the letter of the Law was no longer required by man, but rather faith or belief in the “Son of Man,” his favorite and prophetic designation of Himself, would ultimately alienate even liberal thinkers in the Jewish government, run him afoul of the Sanhedrin and bring about His death at their hands, though through the instrumentality of the Romans. We see this new religion later adopted and interpreted faithfully by Paul as he evangelized the world.
Jesus impact on the Jews and ultimately the world was crystallized by the fact of the common belief among His followers that He rose from the grave. That he was seen in His risen form by as few and one and as many as 500 people at one time is acutely well documented in each of the Gospels. Even Josephus, the most reliable writer we have of this period and non-Christian wrote of His resurrection:
"When Pilate, upon the accusation of the first men amongst us, condemned [Jesus] to be crucified, those who had formerly loved him did not cease [to follow him], for he appeared to them on the third day, living again, as the divine prophets foretold, along with a myriad of other marvelous things concerning him."
Admittedly, it is debated by scholars that at least part of the Testimonium Flavianum is an interpolation, since Josephus was not a Christian and characterized his patron Emperor Vespasian as the foretold Messiah.
Assuming, arguendo, the truth of the facts mentioned herein above, it will be helpful to examine the ethical teachings of the Jews as they clearly and undeniably influenced those espoused by Jesus,
Judaism - Moses, (circa. 1400-1200 BC) gives us not only the Jewish faith but also the ethical principles which underlie it, the Decalogue. The Ten Commandments, or Ethical Decalogue (as distinguished from the ritual Decalogue), are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh were written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. The phrase "Ten Commandments" generally refers to the broadly identical passages in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
The commandments passage in Exodus contains more than ten imperative statements or “Words,” totaling 14 or 15 in all. However, the Bible itself assigns the count of 10. Faiths and denominations have divided these statements in different ways. The Torah or first five books of the Hebrew Bible have a total of 613 “commandments” and assign no greater value to the Ten Words than the others.
These ethical principles have been elaborated on by the rabbinical tradition over the centuries, (or as I have said, “Moses gave us the Law and man wrote the regs.”)
We are then brought back to the ethical teaching of Christianity or more specifically of Christ.
Christianity – The ethical teachings of Jesus, mentioned supra, build on the Judaic concepts of ethical behavior but take the teachings in an internal manner. The greatest portion of Jesus’ teaching comes from the so-called “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus states that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus reaffirms the principles of the Decalogue and commands strict adherence.
And, in being most critical of the Pharisaic tradition of keeping the “jot and tittle” of the law, but with a bad motive, He tells those seated on the Horns of Hatten that their righteousness must exceed that standard. In much of the discourse that follows, Jesus takes a fresh look at the various words of the Decalogue and places his spin on them. Their essence, however is that mere adherence to the law is not sufficient. Jesus teaches that man must do more than appear to be righteous, he must be righteous.
In summary of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, through example, admonishes listeners to approach life in two ways: both negatively and positively. When you are done wrong, let it go, don’t insist on your rights and don’t act out of spite. But He goes further, on to the positive telling the reader, rather to be generous to the wrongdoer. The Apostle Paul adds to this, “be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with the good.”
No discussion of the ethical teachings of Jesus would be complete without perhaps His most famous ethical statement found in Matthew 5:43 “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (KJV.) The gospel writer, Luke, perhaps recording this same event has Jesus state, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This may be a paraphrase of an aphorism first uttered by Rabbi Hillel.
The teachings of Jesus would seem to go on about love. In fact, they do. In Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV), we find this answer to the question posed by the scribe, perhaps to attempt to trap Jesus or perhaps merely seeking his thoughts on the subject which was one of discussion in the rabbinic tradition of the Jews as to which was the greatest of the commandments.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. [Jesus adds unsolicited, quoting the Shema] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [And His summary statement:] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Thus, the ethical teachings of Christianity as stated by Jesus reaffirm the spirit of the Jewish Ethical Decalogue underlain by the two-edged principle of love. “Love God and love man.” How is this expressed in real life? The Apostle John records in John 14:15 Jesus near last word to his Disciples, (NIV) “if you love me, you will obey my command.” That’s how Jesus tells them to love God [Jesus having equated Himself with God in the great “I am” sayings peppered throughout the Gospel of John.] How does one love man? By treating him as you would treat yourself.
The Apostle Paul says, to reach God, one must be righteous, but man is not righteous by nature, thus a spiritual dilemma. Paul tells us that it is by taking on the “mind of Christ” that we can be made righteous and thus reach God. Thus the writer’s herein concept of “living outside yourself.” This principle is the expansion of the “it’s not about me” principle. It is a good thing to understand that life is not about yourself, however, to live in such a manner that recognizes this principle and applies it to daily life is “living outside yourself.”
The penultimate expression of “living outside yourself” is to lose one’s self in Christ, Himself so that eternal life may be truly found, never to be lost again.
(Note: See this also posted on my Facebook post dated October 15, 2010.)
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