Above: Anointing of David– II Samuel 2:4

The OT and NT have been exploring the theme, “We Want a King,” by looking at scriptures from 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings.  Check out these pictures above.  Is anointing like being called or set apart?  What do you think?  Can you relate either of these pictures and scriptures to other examples of call, anointing, or being chosen by God?  Choose an example of another call from scripture and note any similarities between your choice and one of these anointments of either Saul or David.  Post your findings as a comment to this post on Mr. Linney’s website.

Anointing of Saul

King Solomon

When Eugene Ionesco writes about dreams and anguish as uniting forces in our lives, he is speaking more broadly about memory.  In some cases a collective memory of suffering and anguish are a uniting force.  For groups that are tortured or enslaved, it is their anguish that unites them.  What other groups are bonded by collective suffering?

Ionesco also writes, ” The light of memory, or rather the light that memory lends to things, is the palest of all.  I am not quite sure whether I am dreaming or remembering, whether I have lived my life or dreamed it.  Just as dreams do, memory makes me profoundly aware.” 

Are there some dreams or memories that should be forgotten?  At least for a while if not permanently?  Others should certainly be held on to forever.  To forget them is to in some way lose our humanity.

How do you remember your greatest achievements? How do you remember your greatest failures? Are all these memories strictly self-generated or do they somehow have a corporate life with those who share in them?

I remember a canoeing trip when I was thirteen years old.  It all culminated in the last rapid, the Nantahala Falls.  To go back there now to that whitewater, as I have done many times since, the Falls are never as big as they were on that hot July afternoon in what must have been 1988.  Jeff and I were each 75 lbs. soaking wet and we muscled around a big Green Bluehole–a 16 foot whitewater canoe that probably weighed 80 pounds by itself.  We managed a 360 in the top hole which means that above the bottom drop we managed to turn our canoe in a full circle before going down the falls. We peeled out of truckstop, a massive eddy on river left and headed toward the center of the river with me in the stern controlling the 45 degree angle to the right. When we flopped down over the top hole, Jeff laid down one of his brilliant draw strokes and with that magnificent stroke and the force of the water we had hit the top hole as an eddy and quickly prepared to peel out before getting side surfed in the turbulence of the top hole. I exposed the bow to the quick moving down stream water and before we knew we were heading back down stream and over the falls. Meggan and Brian, our counselors, and the other paddlers on our trip cheered over the loud pounding of the frothy water. We were heroes.

I’ve not written of this story ever, nor thought of it in several years. If not for memory, it would be all but gone, as though it never happened. I can remember it more clearly because it did not happen separate from community. The cheerers on that trip would have retold that story when we returned to camp that evening. They would have even encouraged Jeff and I to retell the story. If it happened alone, I’m not sure I could recall it in the same way. Not to say that significant occurrences do not happen alone, but they are quite different than experiences that others witness and share in. Thanks to memory and the dream of a special moment in a young boy’s life, I can recall it as easily as I can breathe. Thank you memory. Thank you Eagle’s Nest Camp.

Paul is not complimentary in all of his letters, but to the church at Philippi his words are filled with compassion.  What have the Philippians done to deserve such praise from their leader?

 

 The picture above interprets Isaiah 61:10-11.  I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Old Testament students are early into their reading of Isaiah.  God calls Isaiah in the 6th chapter and he does it with some very cool images like tongs of fire.  We are learning that God extends both an arm of judgment and an arm that gathers up God’s sheep and cuddles these lambs.  The image for us is like one who would nurture a baby lamb, or a puppy, or a baby brother.  God does not hold us out at arm’s length even though we are dirty and unworthy of God’s close embrace.

We are up and running in the 3rd and final trimester of the 2007-08 school year at Durham Nativity School.  This week we are jumping in with both feet into some new and exciting subject areas.  The sixth graders will study Population Dynamics and the Book of Isaiah.  The 7th graders are engaging Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.  The 8th graders are studying connections among Evolution, Chemistry, and Cellular Biology.  We will also begin some in-depth work in Christian literature.  It should be an exciting trimester if each student brings his best work every day.  Let’s have some fun gentlemen!

The New Testament class will be studying some of Paul’s letters.  Check out the serious and contemplative Paul below:

From: http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt187.html

“This somber portrait by Rembrandt (1606-1669) shows Paul in a deeply reflective mood and stresses the apostle’s consciousness of the enormous burden he bears–the task of communicating his unique vision of Christ to the Gentiles.  In his letters, Paul expresses a wide variety of emotions–joy, anger, bitter sarcasm–but Rembrandt captures here the sense of melancholy and isolation that typcially characterizes this great missionary.”  Description above is from p.307, The New Testament: A Student’s Edition, ed. by Stephen L. Harris, McGraw-Hill, 2002.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.-Rule of Life King had a certain way of acting in the world and he expected those who demonstrated during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to behave in a certain manner.  He modeled this concept of a Rule of Life after Saint Benedict’s Rule of Life for the monastic order that Benedict founded, the Benedictines, which understood that Brothers who pray together and share their life with one another are doing the work of Christ. Here was Martin Luther King’s Rule of Life for every demonstrator before they could participate: Ø    Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.Ø    Remember always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.Ø    Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.Ø    Pray daily to be used by God in order that all might be free.Ø    Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all might be free.Ø    Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.Ø    Seek to perform regular service for others and the world.Ø    Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, and heart.Ø    Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.Ø    Follow the directions of the movement and the captains of a demonstration. 

Do you have a Rule of Life? 

What are the most important rules that you follow in your daily life?  Be as specific as possible.

What else might you include in a Rule of Life?  Name at least three possible things you could add to your Rule of Life?