Christmas Newsletter, Page 1

And here's a clickable link to the article I wrote for a thoughtful Muslim magazine ...

Christmas Newsletter, Page 2

And, here are clickable links to the web sites mentioned:

• My professional web site.
  
• Blogging my way through the
  Turkish New Testament.
  

Fall newsletter, page 2

Everything is Illuminated

I spent two memorable weeks in Ukraine in June 1992. So, this movie about a Jewish lad seeking his devastated roots reminded me of a memorable landscape and people. Most of the dialogue was in English, with a seasoning of subtitled Russian. It was fun to recognize an occasional word.

The filmmakers effectively used light as a metaphor. Much of the film was hilarious, despite the grim subject matter. The driver feigned blindness, but that wasn't a problem, since he had his demented "Seeing Eye Bitch."

Beautiful people, beautiful country, and a grim legacy that continues to affect the present, with sorrow and with redemption.

Jack MacDevitt -- The Devil's Eye

The Devil's Eye is constructed as a mystery, and holds the interest of the reader from beginning to end. This retired customs official knows the mindset of bureaucrats who consider their own careers to be of supreme importance, and are criminally indifferent to the consequences of their venal actions. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, the Romans didn't crucify Jesus between two thieves to humiliate him. It just happened to be crucifixion day, and there were only three slots available.
MacDevitt excels, however, in creating believable landscapes and backdrops for his stories. Imagine a planet so far out on the edge of the galaxy that its night sky contains precisely one star ...

(I know, I have a dissertation to organize and launch -- but our library suddenly offered books by my favorite novelists simultaneously -- Orson Card, Jack MacDevitt, Michael Flynn, Gregory Benford -- and even a posthumously published novel by the all-time grand master Arthur C. Clarke.)

Soulless faith

In Turkish, the -s_z suffix means "without." If you like black coffee, no milk, you ask for "Sütsüz kahve, lütfen." No sugar? That would be şekersiz. Today's thought from İncil is from Yacub (James) 2:26:

Ruhsuz beden nasil ölüyse, eylemsiz iman da ölüdür.

Ruh is, I believe, a cognate with the Hebrew word for spirit. That's what it means, anyhow. As a body (beden) sans spirit is dead, even so faith sans works is dead.

Which means -- for those of us who live in terms of our faith, it is way too easy to slip into a fantasy world. If we are not acting on what we believe, we are amusing ourselves within the playgrounds of our imaginations. You may have seen the movie A Beautiful Mind. The protagonist took vacations into a parallel universe, wherein he was at the center of a global conspiracy, and the world depended on what he did next. He was also schizophrenic.

May God have mercy upon us.
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And in other news, I just finished Orson Scott Card's Ender in Exile. A reasonably good read -- but the unremitting snarkiness of the dialogue does tend to get old pretty quick. All the characters sound like mouthy brats, alas.

Inappropriate suspician (James 1:6-9)

Hello again, fans and friends. Sorry to be away so long -- winding up course work while working full time soaked up a considerable amount of attention. Now, thank God, I "only" have a dissertation to complete -- and then, loans to pay off!

I was reading the first chapter of James (Yakub'un mektubu) this morning. Verse 6 (and a few after) especially impressed me:

Yalnız hiç kuşku duymadan, imanla istesin. Çünkü kuşku duyan kisi rüzgarın sürükleyip savurduğu deniz dalgasına benzer. Tüm yaşamında böyle deüişken, karasız olan adam Rab'den bir şey alacaüın, ummasşn.

Key words this morning -- kuşku duyan.

• Kuşku -- suspician, doubt.
• Kuşkusuz -- doubtlessly, beyond suspician.
• Kuşku duymak -- to feel suspicious.

When we approach God in prayer, we must do so in faith. The natural thing, alas, is to feel suspicious of our God's motivations and reasons. After all, the serpent began undermining Eve's faith by questioning God's good intentions, and suggesting that the Almighty was stingy, withholding good things from mankind. How do we know that God has our best interests at heart, and is not just using us as pawns in some cosmic chess game?[1]

That's the adventure of faith -- coming to terms with an invisible, but very present, deity. Asking boldly, assuming, on the basis of what we know, of what has been revealed, that our requests will be heard, and answered in the best possible way.


[1] parenthentically -- this is the cosmology in F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series. Take the God of the Bible out of the picture, stir in an amoral "force" (complete with, or competing with, a dark side!) and you get horror, not hope.

City of Ember -- strongly recommend

Walden Media, the folks who brought us the Narnia movies, recently released another family movie, City of Ember. The star of the show, other than Bill Murray as the venal villain, was the set -- a convincing portrayal of a deteriorating, claustrophobic and isolated underground city. Biblically-literate folks will be reminded of first-century AD Israel, a culture that had reached its expiration date, and failed to grasp the entire reason for its existence.

Excellent plot, especially for anyone who distrusts pretentious, overweening, and over-reaching human governments. The star mole scenes might be frightening for younger children, but our 10 year old took them in stride.

We'll probably buy the video when it comes available, early January, as a contribution to a firm that is trying to do worthy things in the arts. Christian billionaire Philip Anschluss got tired of listening to complaints about Hollywood, and decided to light a candle, rather than fruitlessly curse the darkness.

(parenthetically -- incandescent bulbs can last nearly forever, if you make the filaments thick enough. They generate less light, however, and that has a brownish "ember" tint ...)

For the Son came not into the world to condemn the world ...

When a Muslim finishes reading through the Qu'ran, tradition calls for an array of special prayers to mark the occasion. He gives thanks that he lived long enough to complete that task, he prays for the welfare of all the other Muslims in the world.

We learned this from the Turkish couple we adopted, when they heard that I'd just finished reading Incil. This time through, I started on July 18, 2007, at a time when several other big events were in progress. I'd just started working at IBM, and Vicky served notice at her place of employment.

And we do have much to be grateful for. Interesting work, with good people. Sufficient income to keep the family decently. Ongoing educational progress -- I completed my course work at Regent U. with an incredibly stressful, intimidating class in statistical research. The bike touring season is underway, with my sporadic participation. This year, although I signed up for the 100 mile option on the AIDS fundraising ride, it was a warm, windy day and home looked irresistably tempting at the Sedwick Road rest stop, mile 65, a few blocks from a warm shower and soft waterbed.

We spent a vacation week in San Jose, lavishly hosted and feted by Dori and David. We returned the favor in part by videotaping a dear friend of theirs who was doing SCA activities, fencing with all challengers. It's a clean, lovely, and wealthy city. Dori and David can walk to work and school through the golden air of coastal California. The Golden Gate Bridge is spectacular, the cable cars are still truckin' more than a century after their introduction, and Chinatown has an ambiance all its own.

This last Memorial Day weekend, the Smedley family reunion pulled together all but one of the kids, and all but two of the grandkids. Many of us ate too much. The "Triplets of Smedleyville" (Beth, Lara, and Alexis) acted as though only a few days, rather than several years, had intervened since their last congress. John and Katherine provided entertainment for the kids, with a badminton set. Mackinzie, the Alaskan belle, merged easily with the crowd of cousins. At one point, a circle of ten were playing cards. The only non-players were toddler Michael and babe-in-arms Emily.

Well, it's time to call it a day.

Kaybolan oğul benzetmesi (Lost son parable)

People consecrate scholarly careers to single works of literature. As Ray Bradbury pointed out, the classics have pores. Texture. Depth. You can revisit them time after time, and walk away with fresh insights, fresh perspectives. I'm reading The Tale of Two Cities to Beth and Laura, and noting again the masterful use of foreshadowing Dickens used to pull the story along. Some things you just don't notice the first or second time through.

How much more is this the case with the ultimate work of literature. You can read a familiar story dozens, or hundreds, of times, and still encounter surprises. Especially if you struggle through it in a new, and unfamiliar, language.

We call it "the parable of the prodigal (wasteful) son." My İncil gives it the title of today's post -- the parable of the lost son. Speaking as a first-born son, I'd suggest The parable of the spiteful big brother.

İsa addressed this parable, after all, to the Pharisees who objected to the company he kept. Yes, it tells us of the love of a Father who rejoices when lost children are found. However, it also provides keen insights into the psychology of those who object to redemption.

Today's key phrase: "Bak, bunca yıl senin için köle gibi çalıştım ... "

"Now look, how many years did I work for you like a slave ... "

Do we begin to see where an attitude adjustment is called for? How does a slave work? He focuses on his own job, does what he is told to do, and is indifferent to the big picture. Think "union mentality." Surly to bed, surly to rise. The slave wants to do as little as possible, then knock off for the day.

A son, however, is supposed to see the big picture. He is growing into partnership with a gracious Father who says, "Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours." A son views the Father's realm as his own to care for, cultivate, and protect. Yes, "this is my Father's world." On the other hand, "God so loved the world ..." that He redeems us to care for it.

Well, on to today's reading. It's time to revisit one of our Lord's most enigmatic parables, the Kurnaz kâhya, the crooked manager.