Deep Calls

So do you know --  just off the top of your head -- who I am going to write about? Really, there is only one verse where this man is referred to as " Joseph . . . from Cyprus ", so this is a bit of a trick question. His story ~ or a bit of it ~ is told in the NEW Testament. He is one of my favorite characters in the post-gospels New Testament story:   From Cyprus, a Levite who lived in Jerusalem --- Part of the early church --- Not one of the original 12 apostles --- World traveler . . . ? got it yet? Barnabas. " Barnabas" was a nickname. His given name was Joseph. He was a Levite, from Cyprus. The apostles nicknamed him Barnabas, which we are told in Acts 4, mean "Son of Encouragement".  This translation ... Son of Encouragement is a translator's decision. The literal meaning is : Son of Prophecy .                      ...

OK -- disclaimer time: I am a nerd. Some of you, those who know me, already know that. Yeah, you are right ~ not exactly a news flash! One of my favorite books, Planet Narnia by M. Ward, is a doctoral thesis ~ OK, a BRILLIANTLY written, and quite easily readable doctoral thesis, but yeah...doctoral thesis none the less. I love etymology (that would be the study of a word's history of origin)  ...  like, I look up words for FUN! I like Shakespeare -- watching and reading it. I have read several of the plays in their entirety.You get the idea. I wanted to tell you that so you could be warned and be aware that, actually, you might not want to read this blog.  You can click out now. I will understand perfectly {yeah, not that I would even KNOW} I am going to talk about (as the title already warned you) chiasms and palistrophes. I have included several web addresses at the end that most of you, I know, will not want to go check out. But I wanted to show...

This blog will be notes on things I noticed ~ 1) As I read and re-read --this time -- I am reading Mark through the filter of my mental picture of Mark and Peter traveling, ministering together ~ Mark listening to the story of Jesus from Peter's memories.  I noticed something interesting. From chapter 1 to the middle of chapter 3, Mark calls Peter "Simon" Mark 1:16-18 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:29-31 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.  Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. Mark 1:35-37 Very early in the mo...

I think if the gospel writers were given access to modern technology, Luke might have had a wed-site complete with maps and interactive pictures and links. I think John would have had a blog -- a famous one. Or...maybe he would have done little mini-documentaries.  I suspect that Matthew might have had a blog too...albeit QUITE different than John's. Matthews would have had lots of links to the Old Testament literature. But Mark -- Mark would, I think, have chosen Twitter: short, 'this is what we did today'  entries. He might have linked to a blog, maybe so he could add longer notes when he chose. Mark's gospel is short and quick. No background stories of Jesus' birth, very few parables. It felt to me as I read it in one setting, rather than reading it in bits and stories and chapters, like a head-long rush to the cross and the resurrection. I noticed, and nearly ALL the commentators I referenced noted, the details Mark includes -- details that would have been note...

There are 4 gospels. The four gospels are written by 4 different men who ~ while telling essentially the same story ~ deliver the gospel with different perspective, different emphasis. Two of the writers were disciples who were part of THE 12 : disciples who were named apostles by Jesus during his life and ministry. Two were men who were not disciples. Mark was one of the latter. When I read scripture, while I read the words and the message, while I follow the stories and their purpose and meaning, while I consider the theological implications -- out of the corner of my mind's eye, as it were -- I am seeing the man who wrote that portion. We know all scripture is God-breathed  ~ God "inspired"   { Latin inspīrāre to breathe upon or into , equivalent to in - in -2 + spīrāre to breathe }  Believing this, we know and accept scripture as God's word. So you have God and the person into whom God breathes. For me it is like coffee. To make coffee y...

There are 4 gospels. We know that: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John . We know this ... we all know this. A year ago I taught a high school Bible class where I did a low fly-over of the whole Bible in a year. I LOVE teaching Bible. It makes me think; it makes me come at things that are familiar in new ways, so I see new dimensions and new dynamics and, therein, gain wholly new insights. The students that I taught were particularly challenging, not because they were unruly, or obnoxious, but because they were somewhere on a scale from " I know tinsy-itsy-bitsy tiny bits about the Bible (like LONG forgotten Sunday school lessons) " to {and I mean this literally } " I have never seen or read a Bible in my whole life. " The school where I taught had a student population of about 85 to 90+ % Asian students ~ mostly, a mix of students from China and Korea. Yes this school is here in America. AND...Yes, these students were from China and Korea, as in that is their home and ...

It isn't that I am bored...it isn't ~ really.     but .    .    . I am going to skip to the other side of the book for a while. A conversation with my son-in-law, David, sparked thinking about MARK...the gospel of Mark writer -- MARK. It has been a bit like a metronome: thoughts ticking quietly in the back of my mind. He fascinates me. I do love the book of Mark but it is the story of the writer that has punctuated my thoughts as I do dishes, or make beds or make dinner...during the 'quiet' of busy work. so fair warning ~ the next series of blogs will revolve around my musings on Mark...and perhaps a few other people in and around that story.

So they took that will of "iron"            ... and turned it into "gold" it has been kind of a 'techno-free' week. i spent it going to my daughter's house to lend a hand cuz now she has a daughter. her name is Luthien Naomi Larkin, and they are calling her "Lucy". she is a charmer. Grandparenting is wonderful, by the way -- in case you were wondering. my favorite part of grandparenting is watching my children parenting. my daughter is a champ. She is passionately loving, strong, wise, consistent, kind, giving ~ flat good at it! much much better than i ever was. not only does she have a daughter, she as a son. he is AMAZING! his name is Seth and he will be 3 in just over a month. now when Beth, my daughter, was 3 ~ we already knew she had a will of iron. And...as things go, seems it is a family trait cuz all 4 of my children had wills of iron. Now there are books out there that tell you how to parent and tell you what a str...