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Archive for June, 2008

seeking Cyrus’ signature: Ezra 4-6

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

It seems nothing can be done in the Persian-administered province of Beyond-the-River without the signature of a far-off king. Letters go back and forth in the project of securing Persian support for this or that version of a future for what had been Judah before Nebuchadnezzer’s tolerance for its nonconformist people ebbed. (more…)

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high volume unclarity: Ezra 1-3

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Disappointment frequently dogs the story of the Jewish Commonwealth that was founded by the returnees from Babylonian captivity. The exilic prophets—at least those whose legacy found its way into the canonical vision of a people reborn against the strong currents of history—were better at cultivating expectation than at managing it. So the same narrative that crystallizes the unlikely rebirth of a Jewish people that should have faded into the historical mist under the strong hand of their Babylonian captors ends up hoping for more than Return produces. (more…)

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sweetness follows: R.E.M, Automatic for the People

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on June 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Can it be 16 years since this brooding, sinister, insightful CD, opening memorably as it did with the softly sung lyrics to `Drive’?:

Smashed!
Cracked!
Bushwacked!
Tie another one to the rack.
Baby ….

Hey!
Kids!
Rock and roll!
Nobody tells you where to go!

What if I ride?
What if you walk?
What if you rock around the clock?
Tick … Tock … Tick … Tock …

(more…)

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sinister: 2 Chronicles 31-33

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Few kings are as highly regarded by Israel’s historians and chroniclers as Hezekiah. His rule falls upon Judah like a long, sunny day when storms have been and others are forecast.

Not only does this monarch preside over an unprecedented surge of generosity towards the temple and its officials. He also pushes forward a systematic religious reformation and experiences a remarkable liberation from the previously unvanquished Assyrian armies. In each case, the man occupies the Chronicler’s pages like a latter-day David without the vices. (more…)

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a complex identity: John 18

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The gospels approach Jesus’ identity in narrative and oblique fashion rather than in systematic assertions that a reader can bullet-point, store, and pull out of the drawer on demand. It took the emerging Church centuries to define the Christian understanding of God in terms that would command philosophical assent. The biblical materials fueled that endeavor but display a marked nonchalance about it.

When Jesus was confronted by his eventual arrestors in Gethesemane, the Fourth Gospel narrates an encounter that probes at Jesus’ complex identity. Jesus asks those who confront him, ‘Whom do you seek?’ (more…)

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turning: 2 Chronicles 23-25

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The two histories of Israel focus upon the kings of Judah and Israel, lending special attention to questions of royal conduct. Did this or that king do what is just and right in the sight of YHWH? Or did he not?

The verdicts pronounced on this score are concise. No doubt each one summarizes in a simple sentence moral complexities whose nuance and detail would fill libraries. (more…)

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feeling blue: Donald W. Stokes, The Bluebird Book. The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (A Stokes Backyard Nature Book)

Posted in fauna, reseña, tagged , on June 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The Stokes bird books major in the sheer delight of discovering the bird in question. The 1991 Stokes Bluebird Book carries this tradition forward without missing a step.

The book’s three sections explore ‘The Birds’, ‘Attracting Bluebirds’, and ‘Bluebird Behavior’. The first section introduces this captivating bird by way of poetry and observations made about it, mostly when the species was more plentiful than it is today. The Stokes then present the ‘Eastern’, ‘Mountain’, and ‘Western Bluebird’ varieties. (more…)

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lethal deafness: 2 Chronicles 23-25

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 6, 2008| Leave a Comment »

It seems at first odd that a history of Israel that reserves an exalted space for good-hearted monarchs should clear a circle also for the rogue prophet who strides into the king’s courts to denounce his behavior. This scenario represents the narrative version of the more abstract declaration that Israel must not have kings like those of all the other nations.

Israel, and then the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, are summoned to a new kind of kingship whereby the royal figure maintains a respectful subservience to YHWH’s instruction, whether this is delivered in the ‘law of Moses’ or by the words of a prophet. The dynamic this establishes sets up some of the more dramatic moments of the Bible’s twin histories of Israel. (more…)

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leaning and seeking (II): 2 Chronicles 16-18

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Asa’s own political machinations come under the disapproving gaze of the prophet Hanani, who again takes up the language of leaning or relying. By persuading the king of Aram to open a northern front against the Asa’s Israelite nemesis, the Judahite king successfully wards off pressure from that quarter.

Yet YHWH’s prophet, for all the apparent success of this stratagem, is not amused. (more…)

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leaning and seeking (I): 2 Chronicles 13-15

Posted in textures, tagged , , on June 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The story of the Judahite kings Abijah and Asa is perforated with observations about two human endeavors towards YHWH: leaning upon him and seeking him.

Neither one of these activities is transparent to the modern reader. (more…)

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