Off Topic

The young man climbed into a row boat on a cloudy day and went out thirty yards into the ocean. Then he yelled out, “I’ve heard people talk about you! Ha! How deep could you be?”
The ocean said nothing, and in saying nothing it answered his question.

Anyone can consider himself an expert chef until he dines on his own cooking.

To be done with life before life is done with oneself is precisely what it means to fail one's duty.
Kierkegaard

Everyone is a philosopher, and there are only two philosophies. The first is the philosophy that love is enough all by itself. The second philosophy is that love is not enough all by itself.

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness.
Proverbs 15:9

A selfish man may lose every other self, but the hypocrite has no self.

When the big bad wolf saw that the fourth little pig had grown more foolish than all his brothers, that he had become foolish in the foolishness which is wisdom, he said, 'Aye! There is nothing left for me in this!'. And he retired from his big bad ways.

On my way to work yesterday, I noticed Diogenes digging a hole. He stopped me and asked what I did for a living. After I explained it to him he laughed. "How is that any different from digging holes in the ground?". I suppose that cynical man would have responded that way to anything I could have told him, but it gave me a strange assurance. After all, how is my job any different from digging holes in the ground?

People at church on Sunday morning have three moods: true concern for their neighbor, true concern hidden beneath contempt for their neighbor, and true concern hidden beneath contempt hidden beneath smiles and friendly words.

Bitterness is wrong, and the punishment for bitterness is always bitterness.

Infinite resignation is that shirt in the old fable. The thread is spun with tears, bleached by tears, sewn in tears, but then it gives better protection than iron and steel. The secret in life is that everyone must sew it for himself.
Kierkegaard

Even in laughter the heart may ache,
And joy may end in grief.
Proverbs 14:13

There once lived a skeptic who was certain that there was no God to forgive his sins.
'I cannot be wrong on this matter' He thought to himself, 'Because I am so certain.' And he would not lift a finger to accept otherwise.
One day the skeptic died and was taken to judgment. 'You believed there was no God to forgive your sins, and look, according to your faith it has been given to you, for there is no God here who forgives your sins!'

The woman who wishes only for signs of affection, distains affection.
The generation that asks God for a sign, distains God.

Better to be late for every occasion in life, than to be late in occasioning to live.

The expedition at last found its success when the young archeologist entered the lost temple and opened the book containing the secret to finding happiness. When the archeologist tried to read the formula, the book vanished immediately.

The graduation of Adam and Eve: once they learned, they were forced to go. The true descendent of Adam and Eve is the scholar who is always on the go.

Mary's Song

And Mary said:

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.

Luke 1:46-55

I often find that a single verse in the Bible has enough space to live in it -not only for an immediate moment or a day or a week but for a lifetime.

Mary's song recorded by Luke has a depth to it which is hard to search out. The full meaning is available to us, however, if we will only take the time to meditate on the words as God reveals them to us through His Spirit, just as the Spirit revealed them to Mary.

With that in mind I would like to review Mary's Song -not gulping down the words for a 'big picture' view- but slowly, verse by verse.

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"

Mary begins her song expressing the state of her soul and her spirit. She later speaks of how God has blessed all Israel, but she begins by focusing on the praise in her own soul and her own spirit.

So often it is common to hear of the 'world historical' significance of Christ's birth.

When Christ is discussed in our day there is no possessive sense in the words. We hear them in a more academic tone, as if there was some extravagant System to structure them. Consider Mary's words without the possessive adjectives:

'The soul glorifies the Lord and the spirit rejoices in God the Savior.'

The words are so similar, and yet how vastly different from the way Mary actually spoke! Who's soul glorifies the Lord? Who's spirit rejoices in God their savior?

Mary is not singing on behalf of other people or there opinions. Her song does not admit of a plurality of voices, only Mary's voice can be heard in her words as her God leads her. The possessive voice claims to speak of what is clear to her and not clear to the masses or any kind of historical generalization -even if her blessing is a blessing for all.

...For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

Mary continues to speak of herself, although now she speaks indirectly of herself ... as a servant of humble state.

Mary is reflecting on her identity indirectly. These are the things her heart is hearing from her 'heart of hearts'.

She sees that God pays special attention to those of humble state. She realizes dramatically that she herself is such a person.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name.

Just as God's holiness sets Him apart from all things, so too has the Almighty set Mary apart from all generations.

Mary cherishes the way God has set her apart. She does not laugh and delight as the pagans do in their worldly distinctions. She does not find her happiness in her appearances -the color of her hair, the cost of her clothes, the decor of her home.

Those honors come and go through time, but Mary has found a distinction that transcends history. She has been set apart by God. If we listen to Mary with a teachable spirit, we will learn to cherish the way God sets His servants apart.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

This verse parallels Zechariah's song later in the chapter, that God takes it upon Himself: "to enable us to serve him without fear" (v. 74).

On the one hand, Mary is able to praise God for the mercy He shows to those who fear him, and Zechariah praises God for enabling his people to serve him without fear.

Could these speakers praise God in such different ways? Could they be praising the same God? If there was some common praise that united Mary and Zechariah's thanksgiving, what would it sound like?

The mystery is this: God enables those who fear Him to serve Him without fear.

On the one hand, his people have every reason to fear Him, and yet, at the same time, those who truly serve him have no reason to fear Him.

Zechariah and Mary praise God for this. If a person will take a careful account of their lawless thoughts and then turn to the mercy of God, they will also understand the mystery and the wonder of praising God in this same way.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Here we see a common theme in Mary's song: that God has chosen the lowly to know the fullness of His blessings.

Mary is so puzzled, so amazed that God has committed Himself to the least of all people that she finds herself praising God and thanking Him for his generosity which exceeds every human conception.

What would it take to join in with Mary in this song?

Doesn't Mary openly understand something which we also understand? Doesn't she realize something we try to conceal? If we were going to be honest with ourselves about ourselves, wouldn't the song of our lives sound a lot like her song?

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.

Now that Mary has spoken the way she feels about how God has dealt with her personally, she continues to praise God. Though she continues personally praising God, it is for what He has done for others.

How many others?

She refers to the way God has helped His servant Israel. Is she referring to the descendents of Isaac's son -the descendents who would become more numerous than the sands of the coast or the stars of the sky?

Maybe.

As over-educated believers, we so often forget that long before Israel was a nation, Israel was a single individual who was earlier called Jacob.

God sees the Jacobs. The crafty and the deceivers are in His eyes. This is another way of saying that God sees us personally and the work which we have done against Him.

Perhaps -if we are able to confess to God this unseemly aspect of our ways- we will be able to say with Mary, "He has helped his servant Israel". He has given us a new name, and a new gift - His Son, Jesus.

"...remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever"

Often we remember Mary as a woman who faced harsh circumstances: rejected by her fiancee, becoming an unmarried mother, and so forth.

This is all certainly true. There is a lot we do not understand about the depth of Mary's praise simply because we do not know the depth of her hardship.

But the harsh circumstances did not make Mary who she was. To paraphrase her son's words, God can make harsh circumstances out of rocks in the ground.

Mary identified with Abraham, the father of faith.

Abraham also faced difficult tasks: waiting so long to receive his first-born, and then his calling to sacrifice him.

Abraham's difficulties did nothing to inform God of Abraham's obedience, but when Abraham trusted that God would bring Isaac back from the dead -though he raised the knife against him- the angel told Abraham, 'Now I know that you fear God' and then later that all nations would be blessed because of his obedience.

Mary praised God for remembering Abraham and showing mercy to his descendants forever.

In saying this, Mary was not refering to the mortal offspring of Abraham. She was refering to those who were descendants of Abraham by sharing in his faith.


During Christmas time it is easy to become so busy, so hurried, that one forgets the things one values the most.

How peculiar for a time when we thank God for giving us what we claim to value the most! (And then to consider the burden He bears to hear His people say that they are doing this very thing in His name ...).

If one wishes to identify with Mary this year, consider the way she identified with the least, the way she praised God for caring about the nobodies, the ragamuffins, the so-called leftovers of society. Consider the way God regards those who have shown Him no regard, considers sinners that God sent His Son to, and how like those sinners we are.

As you meditate on God's providence and His wonderful gift, may your heart rejoice with Mary during this time of celebration and promise.

The Myth Of Narcissus

Many different accounts of the Narcissus story survive.

Some say he was deceived into thinking his reflection was a beautiful woman and drowned after falling into the water.

Others say he intended to end his own life because he discovered how good-looking he was and couldn't handle the guilt of having to reject so many lovers.

The story is retold by preachers (Rick Warren), story-tellers (Max Lucado), and even theologians (Walt Russell) in so-called Christian culture. And they always tell the story in exactly the same way:

Narcissus was a man who liked to think about himself.
People who think of themselves are selfish and utterly doomed.

Perhaps their warning is suffeciently heavy-handed, but lacking in direction ... or perhaps lacking true direction altogether. Consider the command of the apostle:

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Romans 12:3

The Scriptures do not promote selfishness -just as the Apostle commands us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

But rather than calling 'unselfishness' or 'self-less-ness' the highest virtue, Paul exhorts his audience to self-examination and love.

"...think of yourself with sober judgment..."

This is the very person Warren, Lucado, and Russell tell us not to think about.

The differing factor between a pagan thinking of himself in confidence and a believer thinking of himself in the measure of faith God has given him is this: the pagan considers himself in a phony way, but the true believer thinks of himself with sober judgement.

Paul does not command believers to stop thinking about themselves, but to seriously consider their motives, their actions, their mistakes, and the strange and wonderful regard God has for His children in spite of everything.

Are there confident people in the world with high self-esteem? Yes, indeed there are.

Sadly, self-confidence is little more than the facade people put over their self-hatred.

The difference between the pagan and the disciple lies not in the object of their consideration, but the way they think: one in a phony way, and the other in perfect seriousness.

Sober judgment leads to repentence.

If a man is to take into account not only his actions, but also his motives, he will see there is much in his life to repent of and the depravity of all worldly distinctions and approval.

Yet such a man who has lost all worldly love for himself has one element in his favor: that God, the maker of the heavens and the earth who does not tire and knows all things, that this Almighty Being concerns Himself for that single man.

The man who considers his value in such terms in the measure of faith God has given him will be able to accept and regard himself without the pagentry and masks that the children of the world use to esteem themselves.

Praise God, who has given us the strength to love not only theives, prostitutes, and evil-doers, but also sinners such as ourselves, and praise Him for graciously giving us along with His Son all things.

The Young Boy

A Historical Fiction By The Burning Bush

Nicodemus: You place no importance on him then?

Caiaphas: I'm only saying that when he comes he will only be one man.

Nicodemus: Even if he is the awaited son of David?

Caiaphas: Listen to me, Nicodemus, everyone in this delicate time seems to think they possess the answers for Israel, that they know better than all.

Nicodemus: Who is like that?

Caiaphas: Many people, especially the younger generation. They would rather teach us than be taught.

Nicodemus: (laughs) Do they suppose the older will serve the younger?

Caiaphas: Really. Let me prove my point with that one over there (points offstage).

Nicodemus: (nods) Alright.

Caiaphas: Hello, would you care to join our conversation for a minute, young man?

Young Boy: As you wish.

Caiaphas: Is your father around? Would he mind if you talked with us?

Young Boy: I was actually going about His business. He has a lot of confidence in me.

Caiaphas: (looks at Nicodemus as if to ask, 'You see what I mean?') My name is Caiaphas, and this is my associate, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus: We are among the teachers of Israel.

Caiaphas: I was just speaking of my dissertation with Nicodemus here. My claim is that God's administration is like a role. When disaster strikes it is not that He wishes for anyone to face hardship. He simply has a job to do, as does everyone else. This misunderstanding is why the gentiles blaspheme His name.

Nicodemus: What do you think?

Caiaphas: (aside) How serious he looks!

Nicodemus: (aside) Perhaps we have insulted him somehow!

Young Boy: You are mistaken because you do not know the One you are talking about.

Nicodemus: (aside) What authority he speaks with!

Young Boy: When farmers sell their crops, do they sell only to people they like?

Caiaphus: (puzzled) No, they are farmers and they must do what they can to live.

Young Boy: The One who made the heavens and the earth does not want for employment, for He employs Himself in being who He Is. Who can tell Him to do otherwise?

The gentiles blaspheme because they do not know the One who watches over them. They bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them, but the Lord makes His rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Caiaphus: How are they to know the goodness of the Lord in times of hardship?

Young Boy: The Greeks say that those who find trouble are the ones trying to escape from it, but I tell you that everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks finds, and to him who asks the door is opened for him.

Caiaphus: And what of those who do not ask? Surely we owe them an answer.

Young Boy: Would you say the Lord command armies?

Caiaphus: Yes, legions upon legions of angels belong to the Lord of Hosts.

Young Boy: If God commands armies, as you say, then what need does He have for His children to defend Him? Is it not the wicked who stand vulnerable before Him?

The gentiles blaspheme because their hearts are hard and because of the unrighteous who call themselves His. How different it would be if the sons of Israel treated the gentiles in the same way God treats everyone!

Nicodemus: I understand roles well. We are teachers, and we come here to teach. That is how the people relate to us ... they come here expecting a teaching. How does someone relate to a Being who claims simply that He Is?

Young Boy: You ought to speak to Him as someone who takes personal interest in your deeds and in your welfare. You should pray to Him, not as though he were a distant shopkeeper or cleric who only listens because of his job, but as your Father who is in heaven.

Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs on your head are numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Nicodemus: I have never heard a teaching like this in my life.

Woman: Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You. (She carries away the young boy by the hand).

Nicodemus: We should keep our eye on this young man.

Caiaphas: He is truly original -the people will notice. The government will be on his shoulders.

Nicodemus: The gravity with which he speaks ...

Caiaphas: I fear that such an individual would bring the wrath of Rome upon us. We could lose this place, and our places here. It might be better for everyone if we were rid of him.

Nicodemus: If only there was a sign ... a miracle to speak on his behalf.

Caiaphas: We will wait and see how he is received.

Nicodemus: I will keep my eyes on him.

Freud's Repression

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) is perhaps the most easily recognizable name in psychology.

His work founded the school of psychoanalysis. He was noted for his views on such topics as the unconscious mind, the Oedipus complex, sex as a primary motivational force, and ... repression.

What is repression?

Repression is perhaps best described as an inner desire or longing which is pushed into the back of one's mind.

In the act of repression, a person presumably has something powerful and wonderful on their mind. They wish for it, but for whatever reason they feel they cannot have it.

Freud claimed the most common repressed desire was to have sex.

In his view people had a ceaseless longing to have sex, but their mind (i.e. superego) reminded them of things like their reputation, related diseases, getting thrown in jail, and so on.

If this is truly 'repression' one wonders what 'therapy' one can seek to be cured of it. The obvious solutions did not seem to be readily endorsed by Freud.

Perhaps Freud did endorse open sexuality but was too subtle to be remembered that way. Another theory is humans are 'polymorphously perverse' and derive gratification from other seemingly non-sexual pursuits -in which talking about it would be the best therapy. But Freud doesn't seem interested in therapy, only the diagnosis.

Or maybe Freud's efforts became extravagent as a means of concealing a powerful desire he had concealed within him.

Of interest to me was this little-known passage from his meta-narrative, Civilization and Its Discontents:

Once again, only religion can answer the question of the purpose of life. One can hardly be wrong in concluding that the idea of life having a purpose stands and falls with the religious system. We will therefore turn to the less ambitious question of what men themselves show by their behavior to be the purpose and intention of their lives. (p.25)

Freud sounds very certain that the religious life alone yields purpose in life.

One does not need to wonder where Freud finds his evidence because it is clearly in his decisiveness ... a factor easily overlooked by scholars because, well, it is only one man's opinion.

It becomes a significant factor, however, when the question is asked if that man lived by his own opinion or if he concealed it in an act of repression.

If all repression is to be distrusted, then the common behavior of men cannot be trusted as a suffecient guide to finding purpose because, as Freud claims, most people live in a state of repression ... yet, this is where he turns for his understanding of "the purpose and intention of their lives".

Can it be any surprise that his journey to find purpose arrives (after many other places) at "strong feelings of pleasure?" (p. 25)

Understanding the broad direction of people's behavior is not a difficult task -Freud himself openly admits it is less ambitious than finding purpose or living the religious life, both of which require everything from those who are in it.

Freud has asked for something less ambitious than religion, and he writes as though the burden of proof were on him to explain how settling for something else is permissable.

The question of the purpose of human life has been raised countless times; it has never yet received a satisfactory answer and perhaps does not admit one. Some of those who have asked it have added that if it should turn out that life has no purpose, it would lose all value for them. But this threat alters nothing. (p.24)

As an aside, I find it worth some trouble to consider what a satisfactory answer about the purpose of human life would be like. If it were to be like life itself, I would think the answer of its purpose would be very elusive.

Let us set this matter aside for now.

Freud is playing the external card here. He examines those who find value in their own lives and discounts it as a triviality. He laments the failure to find purpose in life, even if some find it to be of value to themselves personally.

I find this peculiar because the psychologist confesses that happiness is itself a very subjective and very inward state.

Happiness, however, is something essentially subjective. (p. 41)

Freud says the question of finding purpose in life has no basis in whether or not one finds value in it, and yet ... he also claims that happiness is subjective, which is to say it is up to the individual to find it or not.

In Freud's way of understanding, a person who has found overflowing happiness has no business telling us about the purpose of life.

My interpretation of this man is far too simplistic to be considered by those in academic circles. To them, my view is probably nothing more than stammering about someone I have failed to read enough.

My interpretation is that this man saw in the religious life -in the purely subjective state of unending happiness- something which he wanted but found far too 'ambitious'.

... Not too ambitious to design, or build, or lift a finger to create, but too ambitious even to believe.

Is it really so hard to believe that the expert of repression struggled with the repression of his greatest hope and dream?

Human beings are opaque, and it is a mark of worthiness for Freud to note that it is impossible to know what goes on inside a person ... whether he is a king, a peasant in the Thirty Years War, or a noted psychologist.

Yet, I find it telling for a person to overlook religion after he has spoken very highly of it. It is a strange but true aspect of humans that we tend to reject the very thing we long for.

Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

The Wise Foolishness

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraclous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
1 Corinthians 1:20-25

In this passage, Paul invites his readers to consider two kinds of people: the student of secular genius and the student of religious doctrine.

The Greek philosphers in Paul's day relied on the weight of their ideas. 'What is Justice? What is Courage? What is the Soul?' These were the answers they looked for.

In a world of pain and sorrow, the Greeks longed for something to transcend the year to year events, fortune and, yes, even history itself!

Imagine, approaching such a person and saying, 'The only solution is a man who lived at such-and-such a time and died on a cross.'

'How foolish!' They might say. Yes, but here we have the foolishness of God.

What can equality and equitability teach a man who fails to see his indebitedness to God?

What burden do thoughts and ideas bear to show their concern for anyone? Do they even lift a finger?

In the same way, the religious scholar is undone by his wisdom.

The Jews were fully aware of God's all powerful rule over the earth. They believed He would send a Messiah to save His people.

Imagine approaching such a person and telling them, 'Yes, it is all as you say, although it must be added that this Messiah -the very one who is foretold to deliver his people- will die a criminal's death on a cross.'

In the Jewish way of viewing it, this was to say God was not powerful enough to fulfill His promises, or maybe He sometimes found injustices to be acceptable, or perhaps He was indifferent to the prayers of His people.

To the Jews, this was a stumbling block ... something that caused people to err.


The word Paul chose to describe the Jewish reaction is 'skandalon', related to our word scandal. Paul claimed that to unbelievers, the gospel seemed scandalous.

The Greek critic of the gospel and the Jewish critic of the gospel were very similar in this regard: both were offended.

As Kierkegaard noted, offense is a form of hidden admiration.

There is a well-remembered phrase from the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet. The Queen hears a woman contend that 'she will never remarry, even if her husband dies', to which the Queen responds, 'The lady protests too much methinks'.

The woman is offended at the suggestion she will remarry, and so, in her shock she extensively defends herself saying she will never remarry. And the Queen, who has conspired in the death of her husband and remarried, is offended with the offence of the woman and protests her protests.

Beneath the veil of offence lies concealed approval.

This covering, this mask, is the doom of those who reject the gospel. Paul notes that it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.

The world has changed little over the years. The resistence it holds against heaven is certainly unwavering.

Like every culture before it, Greek culture has fallen.

Like every temple where God does not dwell, Herod's temple has fallen.

Yet the people of this age trust in their lofty ideas and in their religious appearances.

We send our sons off to college and tell them, 'If you study hard, people will respect you, and you will prosper.' And we tell them, 'If you appear to be religious you will gain the confidence of others and prosper.'

Do we truly desire to stand on such flimsy stones?

The foolishness of God is wiser than all the wisdom of the world. It says, 'Though I may fail to find prosperity in the world, I may still find prosperity in knowing my Jesus and the foolishness which is true wisdom.'

The death Christ died is stronger than all the strength of the world and its wavering alliances. For truly, Christ did not allow even death itself to stand in the way of his obedience and devotion to the Father.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'
1 Corinthians 1:30-31