| And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Luke 2:10) | ||
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Dear friends and relations,
The angel said - do not be afraid. But we are. That's why the angel had to say it.
Who would have believed that these were tidings of great joy? "Who would have believed our report?" writes Isaiah in his most famous servant song. Bob attended two lectures on the Dead Sea Scrolls at UVIC this past fall. It was fascinating to see how one discovery pushed back the date of the earliest manuscript of Isaiah by over 1000 years from the Leningrad text of the 11th century to the pre-BCE text of Qumran. How do we understand this passage about the suffering servant? Is it a statement of what it takes to be a human - a giving of one's life for others? - or is it perhaps a journey of self-discovery only interpreted later as a giving of one's life for others? And maybe we can't distinguish between self-discovery and self-indulgence. We might think we are living for others but maybe we are living only to protect our own self-image. Who wouldn't be afraid. Good news might turn out to be not so good after all.
And we fear because we are not in control - of our lives, of our dear ones, of our selves even. Some put their trust in fixed canons of words - but the Dead Sea Scrolls again revealed multiple differing 'original' Hebrew copies of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. Apparently the third century BCE Alexandrian translators of the Hebrew were not making it up. The LXX (Greek Old Testament) is indeed a translation from a Hebrew text even though it is not identical with the other Hebrew text that made its way into the Masoretic tradition. And the Samaritans weren't making it up either. Their Pentateuch came from a Hebrew 'original' too - even though it also is not in full agreement with the Masoretic text. (So much for salvation from an immutable canon of words). I suspect they were just like us in searching and questioning the interpretation of the traditions they had received.
Christmas is when people pass on wishes of Peace and Joy - (capitalized), while the world only wants to capitalize on the exchange of gifts. And it fears not making a profit, or losing a job, or whatever other fear we want to imagine. There wasn't much peace and joy in that first century. It is on record in Judea as the most violent of times in memory. There were more brutal dictatorships and more demonstrations and revolts per decade than at any time in the prior 1000 years. And in our time - peace? We might say that the work is worth it, but the results are not guaranteed. Not a good consumer attitude at all!
This year, Bob has been writing essays. You can see them on the homepage - under unpacking the liturgy and in other places. He still continues with his story. Research took a bloody direction this year with a couple of books on the blood of the covenant and the imagery of blood in inter-testamental and later Rabbinic writings. The story has a great gap in part II which he hopes to fill with gospel pericopes interpreted on the spot by memories of minor characters. It is a life story in some ways - a progressive or regressive discovery (choose your preference). This 57 year old adolescent is not really hard to handle. He has been written about before by greater writers than himself (e.g. Dostoevsky - The Idiot). He continues at AMA. They won a gold medal this year for intermediate to large system development.
It is Bob's observation that Diana works very hard for many organizations: Church as deputy People's Warden, Church Choir, vox humana chamber choir, Galiano Ensemble orchestra, Youth Orchestra. Diana spends considerable time designing and publishing posters, leaflets, liturgies, and program notes. Our singing has been great joy to us with many concerts and recitals. For Bob the highlight was the Sacred and Profane by Benjamin Britten, a seeming handful of nails turned into gossamer clothed sound.
At home, Jeremy continues to live with us, still unemployed since his settlement. James continues on the streets, with some help from Social Services and some little problems with the law. Sarah continues at Cambridge in England and Marcus is now Dr Tomalin. He is a great help and encouragement to Bob in his scholarly pursuits, especially for learning Hebrew and Greek. Simon continues with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony. He will be touring with the MCO early next spring (30 March Chan Center - 5 April Saltspring Island) - so many of you in the West can hear him as well as hear about him.
You have probably figured out by now that life is a complex business with a vaguely remembered past, an unforeseeable future, and a three-in-one Salvation motif. Did those shepherds get it? They were a despised lot themselves, and maybe they had a few marks of pride, or some not so illustrious relationships, or had lost a lamb or two. Who wants to worship a new born king with that on your conscience! On the other hand, angels can be pretty convincing, so the shepherds, curiosity aroused, went to Bethlehem.
It's that salvation and that king that are supposed to help us overcome our fear - whatever it is that bothers us. The donkey in Bob's Christmas story may have figured it out.
God be with you
Bob