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orthodoxydaily · 4 years ago

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Saints&Reading: Thu. Jan., 14, 2020

Commemorated on January 1_ by the new calendar

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea Cappadocia (379)

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea Cappadocia, "belongs not to the Church of Caesarea alone, nor merely to his own time, nor to his own kinsmen was he merely of benefit, but rather to all lands and cities worldwide, and to all people he brought and yet brings benefit, and for Christians he always was and will be a teacher most salvific", – thus spoke the contemporary of Saint Basil, – Sainted Amphylokhios, Bishop of Iconium (+ 344, Comm. 23 November). Saint Basil was born in about the year 330 at Caesarea, the administrative centre of Cappadocia. He was of illustrious lineage, famed for its eminence and wealth, and giftedly zealous for the Christian faith. The grandfather and grandmother of the saint on his father's side, during the time of persecution under Diocletian, had to hide themselves away in the forests of Pontum for a space of seven years. The mother of Saint Basil – Saint Emilia (Emily), was the daughter of a martyr. The father of Saint Basil was also named Basil: he was a lawyer and reknown rhetorician and lived constantly at Caesarea.

Into the family of this elder Basil ten children were born – five sons and five daughters. Of these, five were later enumerated to the ranks of the Saints: Basil the Great; Macrina (Comm. 19 July) – was an exemplar of ascetic life, and exerted strong influence on the life and character of Saint Basil the Great; Gregory, afterwards Bishop of Nyssa (Comm. 10 January); Peter, Bishop of Sebasteia (Comm. 9 January); and Righteous Theozua – a deaconess (Comm. 10 January). Saint Basil spent the first years of his life on an estate belonging to his parents at the River Irisa, where he was raised under the supervision of his mother Emilia and grandmother Macrina. They were women of great refinement, preserving in memory the tradition of an earlier sainted-hierarch of Cappadocia – Sainted Gregory Thaumatougos (Wonderworker) (+ c. 266-270, Comm. 17 November). Basil received his initial education under the supervision of his father, and then he studied under the finest teachers in Caesarea Cappadocia, and it was here that he made the acquaintance of Sainted Gregory the Theologian (Bogoslov, i.e. title of Saint Gregory Nazianzus; Comm. 25 January and 30 January). Later on, Basil transferred to school at Constantinople, where he listened to eminent orators and philosophers. For the finishing touches to his education Saint Basil set off to Athens – a centre of classical enlightenment. After a four or five year stay at Athens, Basil the Great had mastered all the available disciplines: "He so thoroughly studied everything, more than others are wont to study a single subject, each science he studied to its very totality, as though he would study naught else". Philosopher, philologist, orator, jurist, naturalist, possessing profound knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and medicine, – "this was a ship, loaded down full of learning, to the extent allowed of by human nature". At Athens a close friendship developed between Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzus), which continued throughout all their life. Later on, in an eulogy to Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian speaks with delight about this period: "Various hopes guided us and in deed inevitably – in learning... Two paths opened up before us: the one – to our sacred temples and the teachers therein; the other – towards preceptors of disciplines beyond". In about the year 357 Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where for a certain while he devoted himself to rhetoric. But soon, refusing offers from Caesarea citizens wanting to entrust him with the education of their offspring, Saint Basil entered upon the path of ascetic life. After the death of her husband, Basil's mother together with her eldest daughter Macrina and several maid-servants withdrew to the family estate at Irisa and there began to lead an ascetic life. Basil, however, having accepted Baptism from the bishop of Caesarea Dianios, was ordained a reader. As an expounder of the Sacred Scriptures, he at first read them to the people. Later on, "wanting to acquire a guide to the knowledge of truth", the saint undertook a journey into Egypt, Syria and Palestine, – to the great Christian ascetics dwelling there. Upon returning to Cappadocia, he decided to do likewise. Having given his wealth to the needy, Saint Basil settled on the opposite side of the river not far from his mother Emilia and sister Macrina, gathering around him monks living in common community. Through his letters, Basil the great attracted to the wilderness monastery his good friend Gregory the Theologian. Saints Basil and Gregory asceticised amidst strict abstinence in their hovel, without roof and without fireplace, and the food was very humble. They themselves heaved the stones, planted and watered the trees, and carried heavy loads. Their hands were constantly calloused from the hard work. For clothing Basil the great had only chiton-tunic and monastic mantle; the hairshirt he wore only at night, so that it would not be obvious. In their solitude, Saints Basil and Gregory occupied themselves in an intense study of Holy Scripture with manuscript guidances from the most ancient commentators, and in parts Origen also, – from all whose works they compiled an anthology – a Philokalia (Dobrotoliubie). And also at this time at the request of the monks, Basil the Great wrote down a collection of rules for virtuous life. By his preachings and by his example Saint Basil the Great assisted in the spiritual perfecting of Christians in Cappadocia and Pontus; and many indeed turned to him. Monasteries were organised for men and for women, in which places Basil sought to unite the coenobitic (koine-bios or life in common) lifestyle with that of the solitary hermit. During the reign of Constantius (337-361) the heretical false-teachings of Arius spread about, and the Church summoned both its saints into service. Saint Basil returned to Caesarea. In the year 362 he was ordained deacon by the bishop of Antioch, Meletios; later on, in 364 he was ordained to the dignity of priest by the bishop of Caesarea, Eusebios. "But seeing, – as Gregory the Theologian relates, – that everyone exceedingly praised and honoured Basil for his wisdom and reverence, Eusebios, through human weakness, succumbed to jealousy of him, and began to show dislike for him". The monks rose up in defense of saint Basil. To avoid causing Church discord, Basil withdrew to his own monastery and concerned himself with the organisation of monasteries. With the coming to power of the emperor Valens (364-378), who was a resolute adherent of Arianism, there began for Orthodoxy the onset of a time of troubles – "the onset of the great struggle". Saint Basil then hastily returned to Caesarea at the call of bishop Eusebios. In the words of Gregory the Theologian, he was for bishop Eusebios "a good advisor, a righteous representative, an expounder of the Word of God, a staff for the aged, a faithful support in matters internal, and an activist in matter external". From this time church governance passed over to Basil, though he was subordinate to the hierarch. He preached daily, and often twice so – in the morning and in the evening. And during this time Saint Basil compiled the order of his Liturgy; he wrote a work "Discourse on the Six Days" and another in 16 Chapters on the Prophet Isaiah, yet another on the Psalms, and also a second compilation of monastic rules. Saint Basil wrote also Three Books "Against Eunomios", an Arian teacher who with the help of Aristotelian concepts had presented the Arian dogmatics in learnedly philosophic form, converting the Christian teaching into a logical scheme of rationalist concepts. Saint Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activity of Basil the Great during this period, points to "the caring for the destitute and the taking in of strangers, the supervision of virgins, written and unwritten monastic rule for the monasticising, the arrangement of prayers (Liturgy), the felicitous arrangement of altars and other things". Upon the death of the bishop of Caesarea Eusebios, Saint Basil in the year 370 was elevated onto his cathedra-chair. As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great was the newest in rank of 50 bishops in eleven provinces. Sainted Athanasias the great (Comm. 2 May), with joy and with thanks to God welcomed the bestowing of Cappadocia with such a bishop as Basil, famed for his reverence, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning, and his efforts for the welfare of Church peace and unity. In the empire of Valens the external government belonged to the Arians, who held several various opinions on questions of the Divinity of the Son of God and hence were divided into several factions. And to these dogmatic disputes were connected questions about the Holy Spirit. In his books "Against Eunomios", Saint Basil the Great taught about the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and Its Oneness together with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, for a full explanation of the Orthodox teaching on this question, – at the request of the Bishop of Iconium Saint Amphylokhios, Saint Basil wrote his book "About the Holy Spirit". The generally sorry state of affairs for the Caesarea bishop was made even worse by various circumstances: Cappadocia was divided in two under the re-arrangement of governance of provincial districts. Then too at Antioch a schism occurred, occasioned by the ordination of a second bishop. There was the negative and haughty attitude of Western bishops to the attempts to draw them into the struggle with the Arians. And there was also the departure over to the Arian side by Eustathios of Sebasteia, with whom Basil had been connected by close friendship. Amidst the constant perils Saint Basil gave encouragement to the Orthodox, affirmed them in the faith, summoning them to bravery and endurance. The holy bishop wrote numerous letters to the Churches, to bishops, to clergy and to individuals. Overcoming the heretics "by the weapon of his mouth, and by the arrows of his letters", as an untiring champion of Orthodoxy, Saint Basil all his life gave challenge to the hostility and the every which way possible intrigues of the Arian heretics. The emperor Valens, mercilessly dispatching into exile any bishops that displeased him, and having implanted Arianism into other Asia Minor provinces, suddenly appeared in Cappadocia for precisely this purpose. He sent off to Saint Basil the prefect Modestus, who began to threaten the saint with ruin, banishment, beatings and even death by execution. "All this, – replied Basil, – for me means nothing, since one cannot be deprived of possessions that one does not have, beyond some old worn-out clothing and some books, which comprises the entirety of my wealth. For me it would not be exile, since I am bound to no particular place, and this place in which I now dwell is not mine, and indeed any place whither I be cast shalt be mine. Better it is to say: everywhere is the place of God, whither be naught stranger nor new-comer (Ps. 38 [39]: 13). And what tortures can ye do me? – I am so weak, that merely but the very first blow will be felt. Death for me would be an act of kindness: it wilt bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live and do labour, and to Whom moreover I do strive". The official was bewildered by such an answer. "Perhaps, – continued the saint, – thou hast never had encounter with a bishop; otherwise, without doubt, thou wouldst have heard suchlike words. In all else we are meek, the most humble of all, and not only afront the mighty, but also afront all, since such is prescribed for us by the law. But when it is a matter concerning God and they make bold to rise up against Him, then we – being mindful of naught else, think only of Him alone, and then fire, sword, wild beasts and chains, the rending of the body, would sooner hold satisfaction for us, than to be afraid". Reporting to Valens on the not to be intimidated Saint Basil, Modestus said: "Emperor, we stand defeated by a leader of the Church". Basil the Great again showed firmness and in front of the very person of the emperor himself and his retinue produced such a strong impression on Valens, that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians demanding the exile of Basil. "On the day of Theophany, amidst an innumerable multitude of the people, Valens entered the church and mixed in amidst the throng, in order to give the appearance of being in unity with the Church. When began the singing of psalmody in the church, it was like thunder to his hearing. The emperor beheld a sea of people, and in the altar and all around was splendour; in front of all was Basil, acknowledging neither by gesture nor by glance, as though in church was occurred aught else, than that everything was intent only on God and the altar-table, and the clergy thereat in awe and reverence". Saint Basil almost daily celebrated Divine-services. He was particularly concerned about the strict fulfilling of the canons of the Church, and kept attentive watch, so that only worthy individuals should enter into the clergy. He incessantly made the rounds of his own church, lest anywhere there be an infraction of Church discipline, and setting aright any unseemliness. At Caesarea Saint Basil built two monasteries, a men's and a women's, with a church in honour of 40 Martyrs whose relics were buried there. On the example of monks, the metropolitan clergy of the saint , – even deacons and priests lived in remarkable poverty, to toil and lead lives chaste and virtuous. For his clergy Saint Basil got an exemption from taxes. All his personal wealth and the income-proceeds from his church he used for the benefit of the destitute; in every centre of his diocese he built a poor-house; at Caesarea – an home for wanderers and the homeless. Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, efforts at abstinence, the concerns and sorrows of pastoral service early sapped the strength of the saint. Saint Basil died on 1 January 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death, the saint gave blessing to Saint Gregory the Theologian to enter upon the Constantinople cathedra-chair. Upon the repose of Saint Basil, the Church immediately began to celebrate his memory. Saint Amphylokhios, Bishop of Iconium (+ 394), in his eulogy to Sainted Basil the Great, said: "It is neither without a reason nor by chance that holy Basil hath taken leave from the body and had repose from the world unto God on the day of the Circumcision of Jesus, celebrated betwixt the day of the Nativity and the day of the Baptism of Christ. Wherefore this most blessed one, preaching and praising the Nativity and Baptism of Christ, extolling spiritual circumcision, himself forsaking the flesh, doth ascend to Christ now especially on the sacred day of remembrance of the Circumcision of Christ. Therefore also let be established on this present day annually to honour the memory of Basil the Great festally and solemnly".

St Basil Wisdom: “Love of God is not something that can be taught. We did not learn from someone else how to rejoice in light or want to live, or to love our parents or guardians. It is the same – perhaps even more so – with our love for God: it does not come by another’s teaching.”

― St. Basil the Great

“What then will you answer the Judge? You gorgeously array your walls, but do not clothe your fellow human being; you adorn horses, but turn away from the shameful plight of your brother or sister; you allow grain to rot in your barns, but do not feed those who are starving; you hide gold in the earth, but ignore the oppressed!” ― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that everywhere, wherever you may be, the least plant may bring to you the clear remembrance of the Creator. If you see the grass of the fields, think of human nature, and remember the comparison of the wise Isaiah. “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” ― Basil the Great, The Hexameron: With Extended Notes

Luke 2:20-21, 40-52 ( The circumcision we celebrates today )

20Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. 21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. 41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." 49 And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. 51Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Colossians 2:8-12 (Circumcision)

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

#orthodox #orthodoxchristianity #ancientchristianity #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #gospel #sacredtexts #wisdom

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azspot · 5 years ago

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More conservative Christians tend to orient their theology around Jesus—his death and resurrection, which made salvation possible for those who believe. Rohr thinks that this focus is misplaced. The universe has existed for thirteen billion years; it couldn’t be, he argues, that God’s loving, salvific relationship with creation began only two thousand years ago, when the historical baby Jesus was placed in the musty hay of a manger, and that it only became widely knowable to humanity around six hundred years ago, when the printing press was invented and Bibles began being mass-produced.

Richard Rohr Reorders the Universe

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errantabbot · 5 years ago

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Not All That’s Old Need Become New

I’ve had the really interesting fortune of serving as a priest in a culturally Buddhist context, to Asian Buddhist communities over the past six years. Throughout that time I have noticed my presence move from novel to ordinary; where my dharma talks and leading of ceremonies were once but respectfully received in the way one might receive any guest, I’ve reached the critical juncture of being able to be both critical and critically engaged.

One of the big things I have taken away from this experience is to not just accept forms and traditions as they are, unexamined. While undoubtedly there has been much left out of the transmission of Buddhism from East to West, in my opinion the Dharma itself has remained firmly in tact.

There is a trend among Western dharma practitioners (including myself) to go back to mining Asian forms and norms, as if something critical has been missed, and for the most part it hasn’t. Sure we have inherited simplified liturgy, and lesser bits of the literal magic that can be found in the omitted ceremonial, and I believe that the reasons for this are more complex than simple linguistic barriers. Most of the reformers that decided to live and teach in the west substantially were not only masters of wisdom, but too of form and ceremonial that they consciously decided to trim.

A few weeks ago I was giving a dharma talk with a translator, as per the usual, when a member of the congregation abruptly began crying and then shouting in Vietnamese and English. Something I said hit a nerve, and she began asking me about mourning and grief and how to deal with the death of a child. In the past many of my colleagues had offered ceremonies and given her esoteric practice forms to engage, alongside the instruction that under no circumstances should she cry to mourn the loss, lest she upset the spirit of her daughter and said spirit not be able to move peacefully into another rebirth. It should be no surprise that this instruction did but cause more and more pain until the pressure exploded rather uncharacteristically.

Primarily Asian or so-called “ethnic” Buddhist temples are suffering similar attrition to the Western church, namely that the number of community members dying and disengaging are no match for the number remaining or coming anew, and very few young people remain engaged in temple life in anyway. Of course, there are multiple reasons for this, however, the most common I can find is a drifting away from the Dharma of Shakyamuni, while stressing magic and metaphysics that simply have no transformative power in the life and minds of average practitioners, save draining them of the financial resources typically required for such considerations and services.

It saddens me to see so many practitioners chasing holy grails, and superfluous bells and whistles, that ultimately serve to distract from the very real, and profoundly simple work of engaging reality as it is, and uncovering in experience the raw nature of mind. Objectively, not all of the more esoteric practice forms point to this type of practice and realization, and a great many don’t even attempt to. Not everything old, or premodern is sagely and positively holistic, and much of it is simply distracting.

The desacralization of modernity and post-modernity is less a result of the sciences peeling back of the layers of the unknown, and more about our collective inability to respond to this reality with genuinely meaningful forms of delivering practitioners to the salvific shore of relationship with unknowing itself, at the deepest levels of our being, which remains unthreatened by furthered material knowing, and awareness of the common psychological patterns that humans have perennially interpreted and poeticized in myriad ways throughout time.

Poetry and metaphor are beautiful tools for stepping into eternity, they are not however, eternity itself. While many clergy and practitioners are masters of the tools of the trade, they’re rather unaccomplished in the trade itself, and therefore have trouble leading people to the wonder at the heart of art and being itself, for admiring the hairs on their paintbrushes, and the potential of what they might do.

~Sunyananda

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creepingsharia · 6 years ago

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Michigan: New mosque in former Lutheran church...a not-so-open ‘open house’

An update on this Michigan church about to become yet another mosque in the rapidly Islamization of Sterling Heights.

Source: New Michigan mosque: A not-so-open ‘open house’? – LeoHohmann.com

By HELEN ABOUSAMRA

On a dreary, rainy Sunday in Southeast Michigan, my husband and I decided, after attending church in Troy, that we would drive over to nearby Sterling Heights where the former St. Mark Lutheran Church is being converted into a Sunni mosque.

A group of Pakistanis had circulated flyers in the community advertising an “Open House” from 12-6 p.m. on July 22. We thought we’d take them up on it.

Upon turning into the long driveway that led to the church, we were greeted by a rather lonely-looking, tiny house that seemed out of place, as if it were set down as an afterthought. There were no trees or shrubs adorning it. We learned later that this will be the new home of the mosque’s imam. The church building itself was about 80 feet beyond it.

Only six cars dotted the parking lot. We sat for a few minutes hoping more would arrive. We prayed, asking the Lord to give us His wisdom.

If this was an open door, we hoped to speak to a few of the Muslims regarding not only their plans for the church buildings but perhaps engage them in an honest theological conversation. I placed my beloved pocket New Testament in my purse just in case, and we ventured past a group of five kufi and thobe-wearing Pakistanis speaking with what appeared to be a Muslim man who was not wearing the garb.

When we entered the building, I noticed a tall, non-Muslim American standing at a wooden counter poring over hand-drawn configurations of the property. He was the Realtor, and he eagerly and excitedly told us the specifics of the property itself. The existing developed property is 460 feet, and there’s an additional 900 feet of dense woods behind the parking lot. The lot itself is narrow yet deep. Right next door, to the east, is a large Romanian Pentecostal Church. I wondered what the folks in that church thought of their soon-to-be new neighbors, or if they were even aware of them.

Next to the Realtor’s stack of papers and drawings, I saw a large quantity of pristine open-house invitation postcards, like the one below:

I’m guessing they wanted monetary donations not just a “Hi, welcome to the neighborhood” speech.

While we spoke with the Realtor, three Muslim men (there were no women present) made a beeline for us. Their hollow eyes said, “You’re not Muslim …Why are you here?”

We answered their unspoken question with, “A friend of a friend received one of your open-house invitations and since we were in the area we thought we’d stop by and ask what your plans are for the property.”

They responded that they were “converting this church to a mosque.”

“Where do you attend now?” I asked them.

Two of the men said they are members of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit [IAGD] in Rochester Hills. The third did not answer.

“There are several mosques here in Sterling Heights,” the man in the navy thobe said with a big grin, and he proudly gave the locations of them, including a Shia mosque that has yet to celebrate a ground-breaking.

“We live near the IAGD in Rochester Hills,” my husband told them, “and that’s not far from the Ahmadyya mosque.”

“We do not accept them,” they all chimed. “They believe there are prophets after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

“May I ask you a question?” I asked the talkative, younger man dressed in drab olive-green. “I have a friend who is Shia, and she insists her Quran is a different translation from the Sunni Quran. Is that correct?”

They all looked at each other, then replied nearly in unison with, “Oh, no!”

“There is only one Quran and it can never be changed and has never been changed,” said the man who earlier flashed the big grin.

“I have memorized the entire Quran!” declared the 50-something man dressed in a beautifully embroidered light-gray thobe. Instinctively, his chest puffed out.

Knowing that such a feat has significant salvific merit for Muslims, I gave him a nod, then addressed them all, “And just exactly where are your Quranic manuscripts, you know, like the early manuscripts of the Quran? Where are they?”

The youngest one straightened his back and said, “The Quran is perfectly preserved.”

“OK,” I said, “But I didn’t ask you that. I’m asking you where are the manuscripts that you could actually hold in your hands and read?”

They all stood stone-faced.

“Did you know,” I continued, “that there are thousands upon thousands of early Old Testament and New Testament manuscripts that have been copied so accurately with such meticulous care that they have little if any variation over centuries of being copied, and that if you wanted to, you could actually see them and hold those in your hands?”

The youngest one in drab olive-green turned on his heel and walked into the sanctuary.

The man in the navy thobe reaffirmed that there had never been any changes to the Quran, “even down to a letter marking.”

“If all the Qurans were destroyed, the entire Quran could be perfectly reconstructed because billions of Muslims have it all memorized,” the guy in gray added.

“Billions?” I thought but didn’t challenge him.

He continued, “This can be done because we have it in our hearts.”

These thoughts flashed like lightning through my brain: I wonder if all our Bibles were destroyed, could my church get together and rewrite the entire Old and New Testament, or even just the New Testament? And how would I do at that task?

My questions about Quranic authenticity remained unanswered. Afterwards I regretted not asking the follow-up question, “If you don’t have thousands of manuscripts to compare, then how do you know that the Quran has never been changed?”

We know in fact that the Quran has been changed many times, that there are only six manuscripts intact today and those are late, and that a final standardized copy of the Quran was not forthcoming until 1924. Sadly, Muslims believe what they’re told and do not investigate.

After this exchange, the conversation went flat, and I wandered into the church auditorium while my husband talked with the Realtor, who had suddenly appeared again in the very small lobby where we were standing.

The sanctuary was small too, approximately 40 by 80 feet. The floor was shiny beige linoleum. The walls were cinder block, painted off-white. A large wooden cross hung on the wall behind the pulpit area. I noticed that the pulpit was missing. There were two sections of pews. I could tell many of the pews had been removed, no doubt from the previous occupants, because there was a large empty space behind them. On a side wall in the empty space hung a large white board on which a picture of the bowed head of a crucified, crown of thorns-wearing man was drawn in all red. Written beside the picture were multiple Arabic words. I got my cell phone, took a picture of it and sent it to an Arabic-speaking friend who later informed me that the words said, “Allah” over and over again.

One tall, white-bearded man dressed in a bright cranberry-colored thobe sat statue-like in a back pew with his knees nearly in the air looking pensively toward the cross in the front of the auditorium. He won’t have to worry about being in an uncomfortable pew, I thought. All pews will be removed during renovation.

A group of about 10 pre-teen and young teenage boys, all dressed in kufi and thobe, were in the back pew of the other section, across from the old man. They were chatting slightly loudly and were restless as most boys are at that age and were obviously curious when they saw me, especially when I took my picture. I’m a mother to four boys – men now – and I have a special love in my heart for that age.

What will the future hold for these kids? I thought.

I sauntered up to them and as I approached they became even more animated. “How are you all doing today?!” I asked loudly with a big smile, trying to look each of them in the eye. They all put their heads down simultaneously. The old man turned and gave me a frown.

I returned back to my husband who had just finished speaking with the Realtor. It was then I looked down the short hallway beside the auditorium and noticed around 12 boxes of pizza on a side counter next to the back door of the church. I remember thinking this surely was not like any “Open House” we would hold in our Western culture.

Where were the tables of goodies, coffee, tea and punch, and where were the warm, friendly faces of the happy ladies serving them?

Where were the visitor cards?

Where was the, “Thanks so much for coming out on such a rainy day!” and “We hope to see you visit us again!” and “Here’s an information packet about us” that one would expect from a church open house?

We walked out the glass double-doors and immediately were met by two men, one very short and the other quite tall. I smiled at them as my husband told them why we came.

“Hi! What’s your name?” I inquired of the shorter one.

“My name is Muhammad, and I am the imam here.” he said. I don’t know why I asked, but I pressed for his last name.

“It’s Islam.�� he answered. I remember thinking that was an incredible name; was he telling me the truth? I had no reason to doubt him, but I still did. He was decidedly unfriendly. His eyes seemed cold and dead and looked totally vacant.

My husband asked what the plans were for the property. Muhammad told us that all necessary changes would occur to the property to turn it into a mosque. We knew that meant removing all pews, all traces of crosses and anything else that smacked of Christianity.

“Do you have future plans for a day school here? Or even a college someday?” my husband questioned.

“Oh, no,” he said, “Nothing like that. We will have Sunday School here to teach the children and young people all about Islam.”

“Will you be building residences on the undeveloped portion of the property?” my husband asked. Muhammad gave a vague, nearly inaudible response and didn’t say yes or no to the question.

The taller man was older, sported a longish white beard and wore an ornate kufi. His light red thobe seemed too short for his frame. He volunteered that he attended the IAGD when he heard we lived in Rochester Hills and that his name was Abdul. He seemed much more open to speaking with us.

I decided to ask what would seem to him to be dumb questions.

“I’m curious about something in Islam. Would you say that you believe that Muhammad never sinned?” I asked, looking at him intently.

Abdul seemed to not understand my question, so I asked a different way, “I mean, would you say he was perfect and never did anything wrong?”

He gave a slight jerk with his head and answered with a definite, “No! Muhammad could not do anything that was wrong. Everything he did was willed by Allah.

“OK, so you are telling me that Muhammad was perfect, therefore sinless, which would then make him equal with Allah?”

He lowered his gaze at me and narrowed his eyes, “You mean God,” he corrected me.

“Well, no, Allah; Allah is your god, right?”

“No, you mean to say God.” he answered. I was later informed that the problem here was that I uttered the name “Allah” and that as an infidel this was punishable by death under Shariah Law.

Read it all. Then watch this.

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#Creeping Sharia #islam #law #Legal #Life #Media #Muslim #News #Politics #Random #Religion #Sharia #travel #mosque

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incarnationsf · 4 years ago

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Gentile Gifts for the Jewish Messiah

Gospel Reading

By the Rev. Darren Miner

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Today, we officially celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas Day and the tenth day of the Christmas season, and we unofficially celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. I say, “unofficially,” for while Wednesday is the actual feast day, the Gospel readings are, in fact, identical. So, in a way, today’s Gospel reading serves as a preview of coming attractions, like a movie trailer.

The Epiphany is an ancient Christian feast day, even older than Christmas. Like Christmas, it is a feast of the Incarnation. But the Epiphany differs from Christmas in that it has a narrower focus. While Christmas Day celebrates the coming of the Incarnate God into the world, the Epiphany celebrates the appearance of the Incarnate God to the Gentiles.

The Gospel reading for today is that well-known story of the Magi. The story is too well-known, in fact, for we think that we know more than we really do! We think that there are precisely three Magi, despite the fact that the Bible never specifies their number. We think that the Magi are really foreign kings, despite there being no mention of this in the Scriptures. We think that we know their names—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—information St. Matthew never provides. And we even think that we know better than the Gospel about where the event took place. For the Gospel says that the Magi visited the Holy Family in a house, whereas every nativity scene in the world shows the Magi headed for a stable.

So what do we really, really know? Just this…some unknown number of Magi, Zoroastrian priests from Persia, travel in search of a great king whose birth has been foretold in the heavens. But astrology gets them only so far. When they get to Jerusalem, they must consult with Jewish religious scholars to determine what only divine revelation can tell them, the exact location of the Messiah’s birth.

Herod, who fears for his throne, hopes to dupe the Magi into revealing the Messiah, so that Herod can have him killed. So he has his priests and scribes assist the Magi by giving them the name of the town where the Messiah is to be born, Bethlehem of Judea. The Magi start out for Bethlehem, following that same miraculous star that first guided them to Jerusalem. (Now why they needed a star to lead them the last six miles to Bethlehem, I don’t know. But then again, I get lost driving across town without GPS!)

Now this wandering star has puzzled rational minds for the last couple of centuries. Scientists have tried to prove that the wandering star was really a comet or a planetary conjunction. But in my opinion, all such scientific speculation is in vain. For the Gospel is clearly talking about a miracle, not a natural event.

The Magi bring three gifts to the baby Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Odd gifts to bring a little baby, don’t you think? I would have thought that diapers, a warm blanket, and a proper crib would have been more useful. Now there are two possible explanations for these strange gifts: 1) men are notoriously bad shoppers, or 2) the gifts are the fulfilment of prophecy. The correct answer is #2: the gifts have a prophetic meaning. According to tradition, the gift of gold symbolized that the child would be a king; frankincense, that he would be a priest; and myrrh, which was a burial spice, that he was destined to die a prophet’s death.

While scientists debate about the wandering star, biblical scholars argue about whether any part of this story can possibly be historical fact. I will leave them to their debate. It matters little to me, one way or the other. For the point of this captivating story is to express a theological truth, not a historical one. And that theological truth is just this: the Jewish Messiah was sent to save non-Jews, as well as Jews. And for most of us here today, that is life-changing news indeed.

Let me conclude with a final thought about gifts. The Magi left their homeland and traveled a thousand miles to bring gifts to the Jewish Messiah. We don’t know exactly why. Perhaps they had somehow divined that, through the infant Jesus, salvation had been gifted to the nations of the world—for that is, in fact, what had happened! But one thing is clear: they responded to this salvific event with the most precious gifts that they could give in return. With this in mind, I leave you with two questions to ponder this New Year: How far are you willing to travel to honor the Savior of the Nations, Jesus Christ? And what precious gifts of gratitude will you bring him?

Amen.

#christmas #epiphany #magi #gold #frankinsence #myrrh #salvation of the Gentiles #gifts for Jesus #Jesus #sermon #theology #Christianity #episcopal church #episcopal #episcopalian #The Episcopal Church #anglican #Anglican Communion #AnglicanChurch

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rebgarof · 5 years ago

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via R.B. >>> “Rohr wakes around 5:45 a.m. each day and spends an hour praying wordlessly. “I’m trying to find my way to yes,” he told me, adding that he often wakes up in a state of no.”

“More conservative Christians tend to orient their theology around Jesus—his death and resurrection, which made salvation possible for those who believe. Rohr thinks that this focus is misplaced. The universe has existed for thirteen billion years; it couldn’t be, he argues, that God’s loving, salvific relationship with creation began only two thousand years ago, when the historical baby Jesus was placed in the musty hay of a manger, and that it only became widely knowable to humanity around six hundred years ago, when the printing press was invented and Bibles began being mass-produced. Instead, in his most recent book, “The Universal Christ,” which came out last year, Rohr argues that the spirit of Christ is not the same as the person of Jesus. Christ—essentially, God’s love for the world—has existed since the beginning of time, suffuses everything in creation, and has been present in all cultures and civilizations. Jesus is an incarnation of that spirit, and following him is our “best shortcut” to accessing it. But this spirit can also be found through the practices of other religions, like Buddhist meditation, or through communing with nature. Rohr has arrived at this conclusion through what he sees as an orthodox Franciscan reading of scripture. “This is not heresy, universalism, or a cheap version of Unitarianism,” he writes. “This is the Cosmic Christ, who always was, who became incarnate in time, and who is still being revealed.”“

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romantasyrabbittrail · 8 years ago

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What I would love to see out of a redemption arc in Episode VIII and IX

I think I may have mentioned in my introductory post that I’m a mother of a large family. Six kids, five of them boys. And my little boys love Kylo Ren. I mean really love him. This morning on the way to church my five year old was insisting that his Kylo Tsum Tsum come with him and ride in his pocket.

So I realize that at least one reason that I would love to see a redemption arc is how amazing would it be for a badass villain to redeem himself and become just as badass for the forces of good? Because I think it would be really cool for my children, especially my little boys who love Kylo Ren and Darth Vader to see the cool bad guy become a cool good guy. I don’t want them to see evil as cool. Snoke is evil. Snoke is not cool. I want them to see that all of the things that make Vader and Kylo cool, all of that power, can be directed to something better than the tyrannical whims of creepy old dudes.

But the other reason I would love a redemption arc is because of the possibilities for romantic Reylo. Yes, Rey could experience sexual attraction even to an unredeemed Kylo, and I love a lot of the fanfics that explore that, but outright love of the lasting sort has to be based on mutual understanding and respect. I can’t see that without a redemption arc for Kylo/Ben.

But what I find really cool, and I hope happens, and I hope doesn’t get screwed up, is the possibility for the one of the best examples of a positive vision of romance since The Incredibles.

Stay with me here.

The Incredibles is one of the best movies about marriage ever. You have an amazing romance between two super-powered people. Neither needs the other. Elastigirl didn’t need a husband to provide for her. Mr. Incredible was probably perfectly able to take care of himself, or at least use restaurants and drycleaners. Look at their mottoes. Mr Incredible says it repeatedly: “I work alone.” Elastigirl is a strong confident woman who can save the world without help, thank you very much.

But then the avalanche of lawsuits drives the pair into living out their “secret identities as their only identities” and it fits them like a badly cut suit. Helen Parr was never meant to be a housewife. Bob Parr was never meant to be a wage slave in Cubeville. More importantly, neither was ever meant to live an utterly separate life from the other. Helen would not have been any happier if she had a “meaningful career”. She and Bob had met and fell in love as super heroes. They both were meant to battle evil. But neither had come to terms with what it meant to do so as husband and wife.

Enter a whole lotta plot. It takes most of the movie for them to figure out that their family is more than the sum of their parts. The complementarity that has been clear to the audience from the beginning finally starts to become apparent to the Parrs as they reach the climax of the story.

Bob is preparing to fight Syndrome and the Omnidroid. He tries to keep Helen and the kids out of the fight. Helen is justifiably upset.

Elastigirl: While what? I watch helplessly from the sidelines? I don't think so.

Mr. Incredible: I'm asking you to wait with the kids.

Elastigirl: And I'm telling you, not a chance. You're my husband, I'm with you - for better or worse.

Mr. Incredible: I have to do this alone.

Elastigirl: What is this to you? Playtime?

Mr. Incredible: No.

Elastigirl: So you can be Mr. Incredible again?

Mr. Incredible: No!

Elastigirl: Then what? What is it?

Mr. Incredible: I'm not...

Elastigirl: Not what?

Mr. Incredible: Not... I'm not strong enough.

Elastigirl: Strong enough? And this will make you stronger?

Mr. Incredible: Yes. No!

Elastigirl: That's what this is? Some sort of work out?

And then Bob responds with unexpected vulnerability.

And this is the lovely moment where Helen replies that if they work together, he won’t have to be strong enough to face losing her.

This is what marriage is supposed to be. Two people with different but complementary strengths forming a union where they work together toward a common goal. It’s amazing that an animated film got marriage right where so many live action films can’t even come close.

Back to Rey and Kylo/Ben.

I love the idea of romantic Reylo because it has the potential to have a dynamic as good as Bob and Helen Parr. They’re both super-powered. They have a remarkable degree of complementarity in their talents (at least from the little we’ve gleaned on EA game leaks and inference from Rey’s latent abilities). Tell me they would be awesome to see battling together on the same team. And that only happens if there’s a redemption arc.

Eros is powerful thing, but it generally isn’t lauded for its salvific qualities. If Ben is brought back from the dark side and finds balance, its going to be through the compassion and vulnerability of something deeper. Don’t get me wrong, I want the attraction as well, but the friendship (philia), the affection (storge), the selfless love (agape) also need to be there. So whatever would be present would actually be a much better, fuller romance than the previous Star Wars romances.

Look at Anidala. I love them. I really do. But they were a trainwreck. There was mutual attraction aplenty, and some real affection, but there was no common ground on which to form friendship. (Quick clarification: friends share common interests. Familial relationships can survive on long acquaintance, and this is why we still love some friends even after we lose common interests. They have become like family, who we love even when we don’t like them.)

Han and Leia were a different kind of trainwreck. Again, mutual attraction. And so long as they had the Rebellion, they had common ground. But the end of the war brought that common ground to an end. Leia put the Republic before everything, including her family. Han was home more than he would have been otherwise, but he was still away a lot. They just didn’t have a common life. And Ben suffers for that. Neither parent is really there for him when he needs it.

Reylo could be something really different. Not just a romance, but a romance between equals who understand each other completely, and who are united by common talents in a common cause. They could be like Mr Incredible and Elastigirl, working better as a couple than they could as individuals, and better as a family then they could as a couple. Because with their common history of isolation, neither would want their children to have absentee parents. Working a “family business” as magic space knights might actually be a possibility where self-actualization is not achieved at the detriment of family but instead enhances the family.

Am I being too optimistic? Probably. But if Pixar can pull it off, I see no reason why LucasFilm couldn’t.

But there you are. Why I really want a redemption arc to be part of the endgame. Because I want my little boys to see a cool bad guy turn into an equally cool good guy and see that it’s not the evil that’s awesome, it’s the power that is so much better when it’s in service to something worthy. Because I don’t want Rey to be stuck in the role of striking down the bad guy (at least, not the relatable bad guy) when she could be showing that real power doesn’t come from a magic sword, but from compassion and courage, qualities that aren’t restricted to magic space knights. And because if romantic Reylo is a thing, it could be the most positive and balanced relationship I’ve seen on screen since The Incredibles. The potential is there. I’m hoping those involved in creating this see that same potential.

#the incredibles #reylo #ben solo #kylo ren #rey

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maydays-medbay · 9 months ago

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Okay I saw this meme of dynamics with the characters wearing different pajamas. Now I need you to show us what the Six would wear of they needed pajamas.

P.C. Why do I feel that Halcyon sleeps naked 😩

Okay, so, we're going to assume we're talking human/college au here for simplicity's sake. I'm also mostly making these up as I go so who knows, might be subject to change Turncoat would probably sleep either naked or in like really fluffy/thicker clothes since he's kind of small and loses heat easily. Halcyon would probably sleep in just underwear (but go off, I can see the alternative) Serrous would absolutely sleep fully clothed. Like, dude seems to be the type to fall asleep in jeans and a T-shirt. Does not give a fuck

Also, definitely uses the military method for sleeping. Guaranteed

Paradigm would sleep in something comfortable, maybe something more on the lavish side if they're feeling fancy. Normally it's a breathable t-shirt and underwear though Reaver would also sleep in something comfortable, like a loose tank top, preferably on the thinner side. His size means he overheats easily, so he prefers to sleep in something thin and uses blankets if necessary. And finally we have Vyrox. Xe would absolutely take things seriously with xyr sleep schedule. I mean the absolute pinnacle of *beauty sleep*. I'm talking lavish nightgowns and those extravagant fabrics that are way out of the normal person's budget complete with a full ass routine. If it's not followed, they're super pissy the next morning.

#katthekatt #friend stuff #tw suggestive #kind of?#gonna tag it just in case #transformers oc #the salvific six #humanformers #college au

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of-ruins-and-rubble · 2 years ago

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Intro + Rules

My Main account is @maydays-medbay

All posts will be tagged with IC response or OOC response for better organization

Below the cut will include information about the OCs related to this blog, and it will also have a list of every prompt currently open on the blog. This will hopefully make this blog easier to navigate :>

IDW is the continuity in which these characters are based off of, but I don't believe that the Ruination Corps. is so heavily tied to it that they couldn't be in other continuities as well.

If you would like, you could always mix in more than one character into an ask. For example, how one character would respond to a question for another character. You could also end up having two interacting depending on what you send. Or not! It's up to you what you want to ask my characters lol

This will be edited from time to time, and all updates will be stated at the top of this post.

[Character Info + Prompt list below]

Characters

Paradigm | Cannibal, Mnemosurgeon, Two-Faced Vitriol | They/Them, He/Him

Comprised of two individual bots, Jekyll and Hyde, and has two sparks in their frame

Both Jekyll and Hyde, when referred to individually, use He/Him pronouns

Hyde is the dominant of the two, more often being in control of the body and their motor functions

Hyde is cunning and overall an extremely manipulative individual, while Jekyll is more brutish and headstrong

They lead the Ruination Corps. alongside 5 other bots, though they are the overall "supreme" leader

Here are some images of what they look like: [X, Ref sheet] [X, Right]

Halcyon | Tactician, Chemist, Lurker in the Dark | They/He/It

One of the Salvific Six

Their tongue turns into a needle that they use to inject others with a variety of their dark concoctions, or suck fluids from objects

Has no optics on its face, though he does have sensors there...not to say that they don't have optics somewhere on their frame

Jaw can split open to grip onto things when using his needle

Here are some images of what they look like: [X, most recent] [X, Bottom Left] [X, Shows the needle appendage best]

Vyrox | Surveillance Officer, Analyst, Creator of Malware | Xe/Xem, Ey/Em, Any (Enby Pref)

Member of the Salvific Six, often considered Paradigm's Right Hand

Has an built-in system that lets em look through cameras and other surveillance devices- including comm units and other things of the like

Enjoys creating viruses that xe can use against other bots

Xe aren't afraid to get their hands dirty if ey have a duty that upholds the cause

Traitors will face Vyrox whether they like it or not, xe don't miss anything going on within xyr ranks

[Eir design needs to be reworked, so there are no references for em as of right now]

Turncoat | Infiltrator, Spy, Betrayer of All | He/Him

Salvific Six member

Turncoat is a shifter, able to morph his body structure into that of another bot relative to his size

Semi-Close with another Salvific six member named Reaver

Not known for his ability to keep relationships

Often does work for Vyrox as an informant. He's the least seen member after Vyrox since he's often adorning another bot's identity and off on work

Decent surgical knowledge thanks to his time posing as other bots within the field of medicine

Both an informant and an assassin

[There are no references for Turncoat as of now]

Reaver | Bodyguard, Brawler, Keeper of Tyranny | He/Him

Largest member of the Salvific Six

Has six arms, the smallest of which are called his tertiaries. They are able to be folded up and stored when he doesn't want to use them

Smooth voice and surprisingly outgoing for a member of the Salvific Six

Often wonders what his worth is to the Ruination Corps. and feels as though he's only appreciated for his size and strength

Morally Grey

[No current references for this character are available]

Serrous | Executioner, Render of Flesh | He/Him

Second largest member of the Salvific Six

Covered in saws. Arms, legs, torso, back- you name it. There's a saw there

No face, instead there's a maw of rotating blades, pincers, and- you guessed it- saws

Super quiet and collected. Often uses gestures instead of words

His brain module isn't actually in his head. Where is it? You'll never know :)

[No refs available]

Current Ask Games

Webkinz Themed Prompts [X, The questions here are pretty cool]

#rp blog #transformers rp blog #transformers #maccadam #Halcyon #Paradigm #Vyrox #Serrous #Reaver #Turncoat #The Ruination Corps.#The Salvific Six

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ruminativerabbi · 8 years ago

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Yom Yerushalayim 2107

I surprised myself this last Wednesday with the degree of emotion I found myself bringing to Yom Yerushalayim this year, the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, then felt surprised by the fact that I felt surprised at all.

It would not, after all, be a stretch to refer to the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem by Israeli troops on June 7, 1967, as the most momentous event in Jewish history since the founding of the state itself in 1948. (Jerusalem Day—Yom Yerushalayim in Hebrew—is observed on the anniversary of that day according to the Hebrew calendar, the 28th day of the month of Iyar, which fell this last Wednesday even though anniversary according to the secular calendar is still a few weeks off.) Nor, for once, does it seem exaggerated to speak about the reunification of the city in salvific, perhaps even messianic, terms: the restoration of the city, riven in two by war, to something akin to the psalmist’s vision of Jerusalem as a “unified city of tightly-knit together precincts” felt then and still feels to me now not merely like a great military victory, which it surely was as well, but as much—and perhaps even more so—like a hurdle successfully leapt over on the way to the great redemptive moment that Torah teaches will come to all humankind at the end of days. I’m not sure I can remember precisely how the ninth-grader I was then processed the events of June 1967 as they unfolded. But I am completely certain about how they feel to me a half-century later, as I look back on the Six Day War and contemplate its larger meaning.

Regular readers of my weekly letters and blog posts know that I have written at length in other many other places about my relationship to Jerusalem, sometimes focusing on my first trip there the year before the Six Day War when I was only thirteen years old (click here), sometimes about the experience of our oldest child being born in Jerusalem (click here), sometimes on the experience of acquiring a home in Jerusalem (click here), sometimes about the question of American foreign policy with respect to the status of Jerusalem (click here), and sometimes about the United Nations and its hate-filled, perverse, and deeply anti-Semitic stance with respect to the Holy City (click here or here.) In all those pieces, however, I tried to capture some aspect of my deep emotional commitment not only to the poetic idea of Jerusalem as the city of God that functions as the nexus point between heaven and earth, but to the actual city of golden stone that has existed physically and fully really at the epicenter of Jewish history since the days of King David more than three thousand years ago. Nor do I feel any need to choose between the two approaches: I am drawn to the city both as a theological concept suggestive of the deepest and most moving ideas about the world and the place of Israel among the nations and to the actual, physical city in which we are summertime residents and very happy property owners.

It’s interesting, now that I think of it, that the name Jerusalem does not appear in the Torah, where the city is invariably referenced slightly (or more than slightly) mysteriously as “the place in which God has chosen to cause the divine name to dwell.” Text historians have their own explanation for that strange detail of the biblical text, but for me it is part of a larger set of ideas regarding the nature of holiness itself.

Moses, the national hero par excellence and a man of unparalleled holiness, too is left unnamed in the Torah. The name Moses, after all, was given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter because his life was saved when he was drawn from the river, and the word for “drawn” sounds a bit like the Hebrew version of Moses’ name. But, of course, Pharaoh’s daughter would have spoken Egyptian, not Hebrew, so presumably our biblical tale is a kind of Hebrew-language retelling of how Moses got whatever his Egyptian name was, presumably one that sounded like the Egyptian word for “drawn.” But in either event his parents must have given him a name when he was born, months before he was deposited into the Nile in a basket or drawn from the river to safety. Surely that was his “real” name, the one his parents gave him…and yet it is nowhere recorded in Scripture. So in a very real sense Moses too has no name.

Nor does the Land of Israel. Other lands are named freely: the Land of Egypt, the Land of Goshen, the Land of the Philistines, the Land of Moab, and more. The pre-Israelite version of the land has a name too, of course: it is always referenced as the Land of Canaan. But the Canaanites are destined quickly to pass from the scene…and the land’s future name, “the Land of Israel,” is not mentioned in the Torah at all. The phrase, it is true, appears elsewhere in Scripture (although in fewer than a dozen places). But in the Torah the land is only referenced either by its soon-to-be-former name or by one of a handful of handy circumlocutions: the land that God promised to your ancestors, the land that God shall cause you to inherit, the land that God is granting you as your eternal patrimony, the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But nowhere in the Torah do we learn what the Land of Canaan will be called once the Canaanites vanish from the scene of history! So the Holy Land, surely the holiest of lands, too has no name…or at least not one in the simple sense that Laos and Ecuador do.

Even the great desert sanctuary to which the Torah devotes so many endless columns of relentless detail—and which houses not only the sanctum called “the Holy Place” but also the inmost sanctum called the Holy of Holies (that is, the holiest of holy places)—too has no name, not really: it is referenced merely as a mishkan, a slightly obscure term that denotes the resting- or dwelling-place of something or someone. And so the great sanctuary is called the mishkan of God, the mishkan of God’s glory, the mishkan of the testimony (i.e., of the tablets of the law that were preserved in the inmost sanctum), the mishkan of the Tent of Meeting (i.e., the tent that functioned within the holy precincts as its most sacred space), etc. But other than being reference as the dwelling of God or the resting place of some specific thing…it too has no “real” name at all.

In its own premodern way, Scripture nods to the almost ineffable sanctity of certain things by leaving then unnamed. The idea is clear enough—that, since human language is rooted in human experience and the quality of holiness derives from a realm completely outside the boundaries of the human experience, the most honest thing anyone can say about anything truly suffused with holiness would be to say nothing at all, a point made most famously of all by the author of the 65th psalm, who opened his poem with the bald assertion that, with respect to God, the Holy One of Israel, “the only [true] praise is silence itself.”

And so it is with Jerusalem itself, now and for many centuries named and called by its name, but still characterized by an aura of innate holiness that can surely be felt and vaguely described, but never fully defined.

I was, as I never seem to tire of relating, a boy when I first entered Jerusalem. To say I was naïve and untried in the ways of the world is to say almost nothing at all. I was, in every sense, a junior high schooler (this was the summer before ninth grade, almost a year before the Six Day War). I had only the rudimentary Hebrew of a Hebrew School student and no knowledge at all, let alone any sort of sophisticated understanding, of Jewish history or Jewish philosophy. I was me, obviously. But I was still a golem in every meaningful way, something akin to the block of marble in which David was imprisoned until Michelangelo set him free by chipping away the part that didn’t look like David. I was in there somewhere! (How can I not have been?) I obviously had no idea what the future would or could bring, but at that stage I wasn’t even sure what I wanted it to bring. But something in the place spoke to me even then, even without me being able to understand even a fraction of what it might have had to say. As I stood at the Mandelbaum Gate and attempted to take some snapshots with my Instamatic of the Old City’s walls looming tall behind the Jordanian soldiers glaring at me from just beyond the barricade, I felt a kind of kinship with the past and the future…and with the history and destiny of the people Israel and the Land of Israel that stays with me still.

A half-century plus a year has passed since I stood in that place. A year later, the Mandelbaum Gate came down and the city was freed from Jordanian occupation. Six years later, in 1973, I arrived back in Jerusalem, this time as a counselor on an AZYF teen trip to Israel, and it was then that I entered Jerusalem—or at least Old Jerusalem—for the first time. In a real sense, I haven’t ever left. The notion that Jerusalem is or ever could be anything other than the eternal capital city of the Jewish people doesn’t mean that we cannot or shouldn’t share it with others who too find holiness in its sacred precincts. But no accommodation to any sort of political reality can affect the bond between the Jewish people and its eternal capital city, a bond that exists not only outside of time, but also outside of language. The psalmist composed a simple prayer, and it is those words that have been in my mind all week. Shaalu shalom yerushalayim yish’layu ohavayikh, he wrote, addressing himself to the House of Israel: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem so that those who love the city may too only know tranquility.” That is our prayer too, of course, and this as well: May God grant that Jerusalem always be the capital of a strong, proud Israel, and may the city itself soon serve as the House of Prayer for all peoples of which the prophet wrote all those many centuries ago.

#Yom Yerushalayim #Jerusalem Day #Six Day War #Jerusalem 1967

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