Perspectives: Zion

 

Of Justice and Blame

In the book The Gospel of Mark by Amy-Jill Levine, she spends some time writing about the beheading of John the Baptist.

To set the scene, we need to know about Herod Antipas, who was the ruler of Galilee. Also in the passage are his wife, Herodias, and his niece, Salome, who is his wife's daughter. Yes, there you catch part of the issue - Antipas was married his brother's wife, and he divorced his previous wife to do so.  John, according the Mark, has been preaching against this, implying it was incest. On top of that, word of Jesus' activity has reached Herod Antipas. Also, Josephus, an ancient historian, recounts that Herod Antipas was concerned about the popularity of John the Baptist, worried that John could lead the people to rebellion.  Let's just say the situation was complicated.

Antipas holds a party to celebrate his birthday. As part of the entertainment, Salome, who was probably about 12 years old, dances for those attending. Levine writes, "Herod Antipas and Herodias are well matched. He, inappropriately, lusts for the girl; she, inappropriately, uses the girl to achieve her own ends.  Caught in the middle is John, who loses his head.

Levine also writes, "While history tends to blame Herodias - blaming the 'evil woman' is an easy and common move - the person finally responsible for Johns' death is the tetrarch (Herod Antipas) or, in Mark's account, the king. His oaths, and the co-recliners, that is his guests, are more important than justice."

When, in our lives, do we place our reputation, our belongings, or our own plans above the work of justice? When, in our society, do we do that? And isn't it easy to blame someone else?

 

Religious Experiences

What elements would you include if you were describing a profound religious experience to a friend?  Would your description be any different if your friend happened to be a scientist?

When my husband and I were youth counselors, we took our youth group to a Conference Camp for a retreat. After we had packed the two vans to leave and head back home, we circled up the field outside the cabins with the cross in the background and shared a closing prayer.  As my husband led the prayer, a wind came across the field and surrounded us. It felt like the presence of God. 

 

When I tell that story to people, I include what we were doing at the time, who was there, the fact that we were praying together after a meaningful retreat with the youth, and then how the elements of nature – the wind and the field – contributed to the profound experience of the presence of God among us.  I would use the same elements of the story if I were telling the story to a friend who was a scientist because my purpose is not to explain the science of the wind but presence of the holy.

Perspectives: Ceiling

Ceiling in Las Vegas.  Everything is bright there.

 

In the Mountains

Inspired by Psalm  125:1-5

Those who trust,

those who have faith in God

are like the mountains that surround us.

They cannot be moved

And are here forever.

As the mountains surround us

in the heart of Appalachia

so God is in our midst

surrounding us.

Now, tomorrow,

and every day to come.

Even though injustice, violence, and oppression

sneak around us,

press to have their way,

God is not separated from us.

God's will shall be done.

May we see your goodness, o God,

May we know your way.

Give us new hearts in you.

Bring us peace, O God,

and help us to be bringers of Peace.

May we all turn aside from our crooked ways,

and follow you, our God.

 

Truth and Facts

How is truth dependent upon facts? Is truth more than “mere fact”? Can you think of something that is true but not factual? Is this possible in science? In religion (e.g., are any stories in the Bible true but not factual)?

The Cambridge English dictionary defines fact as “something that is known t have happened or to exist, especially something for which proof exists, or about which there is information”  Oxford languages says truth is “a thing that is known or provided to be true.”  Facts are true, as far as we can tell, but truth is not limited to facts. 

There are many examples of things that are truth but not factual.  A parable shares truth, but probably are not factual. The point of a fable, for example, is to share a truth in a way that is not factual. Simple metaphors and more complicated allegories are not factual, but can be truth. Moving beyond those kinds of examples, love is truth, but can’t really proven.

It is more difficult for something in science to be considered truth but not factual.  According to our video, indicators of truth in science include measurability, replicability, and controlled experimental evidence. For me, the theory of evolution is close to truth because it is supported by the evidence.  A hypothesis is less than truth because it has yet to be proven by experimental evidence. In science, truth and fact walk hand in hand.

In religion, there are many examples of stories that are considered true but are not factual.  We don’t search for factual support for stories in the Bible even though we consider them to carry truth (or not very often do we search for evidence). An example, for me, are the biblical stories of creation.  They carry truth, but are not factual. Did Jonah really live in the belly of a fish?  Maybe not, but there is truth in the story.

Perspectives: State Park Lake

Tomlinson Run State Park

 

The Barrier of Fear

I'm reading the book The Gospel of Mark by Amy-Jill Levine.  Today I read her thoughts on the transfiguration in Mark (or the metamorphosis of Jesus).  If you remember the passage in Mark 9, once Peter suggests that they build three tents; which must not have been a good idea.  Verse 6 says, "He did not know what to say, for they were terrified."  Levine says that this phrase is also used when the disciples are waiting for Jesus in the Garden of Gesthemane (Mark 14:40). 

I thought about the idea of not knowing what to say because you are afraid.  It happens to us, doesn't it? What do you say at a funeral or at the bedside of a person in the hospital? We don't know what to day - we are afraid of saying the wrong thing, or making something worse than it already is. Maybe we are afraid of the situation itself. Whatever it is, we are afraid, and sometimes we don't know what to day or what to do.

Fear can be an obstacle, can't it - a barrier to doing what needs to be done. A barrier to offering words of kindness or forgiveness, to lifting someone up who needs help. A barrier to spreading the good news. Levine points out that in the last chapter of Mark, the women who come to the tomb are afraid when they find the tomb is empty.  "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone , for they were afraid." 

The thing is, though, that we know that they eventually did tell people.  Levine says that, "fear yielded to faith and then action." Obstacles don't have to be permanent barriers to moving forward into the will of God.  Even though the suggestion of building tents wasn't a good one, Peter did respond, even with words that weren't helpful, and then he followed Jesus down the mountain.  Later Peter betrayed Jesus (out of fear), but then promised to love God's people.  The disciples were afraid in the garden, but eventually, they served Jesus. We don't have to continue in fear - we are empowered to move through it.

 

Can Evolution Encourage Belief?

The incompatibility of Darwin’s theory to faith is often assumed. What is understood to undermine belief in this model? What is your take: Can evolution encourage belief? Why might God choose evolution as a means for creation?

According to the material, the two challenges in Darwin’s theory of evolution are that it undercut the idea that God directly designed all creatures and that it challenged notions of humanity’s uniqueness.

 

I do believe that evolution can encourage belief. First, for someone who finds a literal interpretation of Genesis to be too difficult for belief, evolution provides a physical means by which we can understand how God created. Secondly, the vastness of God’s creatures – their uniqueness and wonderfulness is a product of evolution, so that to me is inspiring.  Third, humanity is unique among God’s creatures. We share many characteristics in common with other creations, but we are still uniquely made. The idea that evolution brought us to this point is amazing and inspiring.

 

God created a physical world and God placed physical creatures in it. Evolution means that God created a system that adapts to the world around it. I think this flexibility and adaptation speak strongly for evolution being a way that God created the world.  And I think a physical world needs a physical means of creation.