some words of Ignatius to the Ephesians

  Continuing (earlier post) through the Apostolic Fathers in the beautiful translation by Michael Holmes, I have now come to Ignatius' letters to the churches as he was taken to an expected execution for the sake of Christ. This was most likely during Trajan's (98-117) or possibly Hadrian's reign (117-138). These words, chapters 7-9 of his letter to the Ephesians, are picturesque and powerful in speaking to both the devotional and daily life of the Christian. The entirety is worth reading; but I've highlighted a few spots.

7 For there are some who are accustomed to carrying about the Name maliciously and deceitfully while doing other things unworthy of God. You must avoid them as wild beasts. For they are mad dogs that bite by stealth; you must be on your guard against them, for their bite is hard to heal. 2 There is only one physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

8 Therefore let no one deceive you, just as you are not now deceived, seeing that you belong entirely to God. For when no dissension capable of tormenting you is established among you, then you indeed live God's way. I am a humble sacrifice for you and I dedicate myself to you Ephesians, a church that is famous forever. 2 Those who belong to the flesh cannot do spiritual things, nor can those who are spiritual do fleshly things, just as faith cannot do the things of unfaithfulness, nor unfaithfulness the things of faith. Moreover, even those things that you do according to the flesh are in fact spiritual, for you do everything in Jesus Christ.

9 But I have learned that certain people from elsewhere have passed your way with evil doctrine, but you did not allow them to sow it among you. You covered up your ears in order to avoid receiving the things being sown by them, because you are stones of a temple, prepared beforehand for the building of God the Father, hoisted up to the heights by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, using as a rope the Holy Spirit; your faith is what lifts you up, and love is the way that leads up to God. 2 So you are all participants together in a shared worship, God-bearers and temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holy things, adorned in every respect with the commandments of Jesus Christ. I too celebrate with you, since I have been judged worthy to speak with you through this letter, and to rejoice with you because you love nothing in human life, only God.

Opportunities to become expert learners

 The quote below comes from a lecture I heard last year. I saved it then but am just now getting around to posting it. Especially as a language teacher, it seems more important to me to develop good learners than to pass on specific content. Both are important; both are my job. However, one of them is inherently limited; the other is open-ended.

"Every learner should have the opportunity to become  an expert learner."  ~ Reem Hamodi

the good news in a prayer

Here's a bit more from Clement of Rome. The second bolded portion (verse 4) reminds me very much of the terms Jesus used to declare 'the good news (or gospel) of the kingdom of heaven'. A truly beautiful prayer that reflects a certain universality of the compassion of God towards his people in every condition of need. In this sense, the Gospel offers no comfort to the need-less or sufficient; and yet, every type of human need is of importance to the Primal Source of all creation.

  [Grant us, Lord,]* to hope on your name, which is the primal source of all creation, and open the eyes of our hearts that we may know you, who alone are highest among the high; you are holy, abiding among the holy. You humble the pride of the proud; you destroy the plans of nations; you exalt the humble and humble the exalted; you make rich and make poor; you kill and make alive. You alone are the benefactor of spirits and the God of all flesh, looking into the depths, scanning the works of humans; the helper of those who are in peril, the savior of those in despair; the creator and guardian of every spirit. You multiply the nations upon the earth, and from among all of them you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved servant, through whom you instructed us, sanctified us, honored us. 4 We ask you, Master, to be our helper and protector. Save those among us who are in distress; have mercy on the humble; raise up the fallen; show yourself to those in need; heal the sick; turn back those of your people who wander; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the weak; comfort the discouraged. Let all the nations know that you are the only God, that Jesus Christ is your servant, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.

~~~

 1 Clement 59:3-4 

*the very first 3 words are the editor’s emendation

Morning Grace

Inch Plant

 

  Last year an old friend sent me a copy of The Apostolic Fathers with a note saying how encouraging these ancient writings had been to him. (These writings are some of the oldest Christian writings that have been preserved outside of the New Testament.) On this quiet and beautiful spring morning, I have enjoyed a bit of 1 Clement. He had a a beautiful way with words. Chapter 32:4-33:8...

And so we, having been called through his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety, or works that we have done in holiness of heart, but through faith, by which the Almighty God has justified all who have existed from the beginning; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What then shall we do, brothers? Shall we idly abstain from doing good, and forsake love? May the Master never allow this to happen, at least to us; but let us hasten with earnestness and zeal to accomplish every good work. For the Creator and Master of the universe himself rejoices in his works. For by his infinitely great might he established the heavens, and in his incomprehensible wisdom he set them in order. Likewise he separated the earth from the water surrounding it, and set it firmly upon the sure foundation of his own will; and the living creatures that walk upon it he called into existence by his decree. Having already created the sea and the living creatures in it, he fixed its boundaries by his own power. Above all, as the most excellent and by far the greatest work of his intelligence, with his holy and faultless hands he formed humankind as a representation of his own image. For thus spoke God: "Let us make humankind in our image and likeness. And God created humankind; male and female he created them." So, having finished all these things, he praised them and blessed them and said, "Increase and multiply." We have seen that all the righteous have been adorned with good works. Indeed, the Lord himself, having adorned himself with good works, rejoiced. So, since we have this pattern, let us unhesitatingly conform ourselves to his will; let us with all our strength do the work of righteousness.

  Look at that description of how the Lord acted after the 'good works' which he did in creating the universe: he rejoiced! May we also do good works which give us cause for godly rejoicing!

******

  Other than this section, my favorite section has been his writings about hospitality, especially as seen in the Old Testament. That section is about a page long and can be found here, chapters 9-12.

Kalanchoes

the non-Marco Polo travellers of the Middle Ages

A few years ago, I came across references to Ibn-Batuta, who travelled from Morocco across much of Africa and Asia. In modern day terms, he visited Kenya and Somalia and Egypt and Mauritania and Mali and Niger at different points in his life. He traveled throughout the Middle East and Central Asia; he also took a long journey that took him to India, China, and Indonesia. Naturally, he wrote a book letting others (like us) know that he did all this. This was in the 1300s. His claimed travels are the most of any recorded before the modern era. Have you ever heard of him?

Ibn Batuta

The guy that did Marco Polo in reverse at about the same time... Well, today I came across Rabban bar Sauma, an Eastern Christian  who was a Uygur born in what is now Beijing who traveled across Asia, planning to go to Jerusalem, but eventually was sent as far as Paris, meeting with various European kings along the way. Naturally, he wrote a book telling about his travels. This was in the late 1200s.

 Or, there's Zheng He. The brilliant Chinese admiral who was a Muslim. His sailing took him to Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Arabia, and eastern Africa. He had a translator along who wrote a book. This was the early 1400s.

Look them up; they are incredibly interesting, and there's tons of information about them in one form or another.

2023 Reading (13th annual edition)

  The year 2023 likely equaled 2022 in being basically unprecedented in my life for breadth and extent of reading. The combination of access to a great library system with fabulous inter-library loan opportunities and taking sabbatical time gave both time and space for constant reading, especially early in the year. I have highlighted a few particular recommendations, but the only ones that I would not suggest have been clearly labeled as such. I've weeded out the ones that I didn't care to bring up.

NON-FICTION

Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle - Recommended to me by Andrew Peterson's Adorning the Dark, this is another beautiful reflection on godly work. Like Peterson's book it masquerades as a book on art and faith. Really all work done well seems to be a combination of 'science' and 'art'; writing, or art, is no exception. L'Engle argues that all good art is good religion, bad art is bad religion. A profound book. 

First I checked it out of the library; but about a chapter in, I bought it so that I could mark it up. I read it in parallel with Wrinkle in Time series, including Many Waters and An Acceptable Time, each of which I enjoyed for the first time.

Manana by Justo Gonzalez - a commentary and critique not only of "Western" (actually, "Northern") theology but also of its culture from through a Hispanic lens. This is an older work now but maybe even more insightful because the issues he mentions have in many cases grown clearer over time. (earlier post on the book)

Return of the Prodigal by Henri Nouwen - It'd be hard to express the impact of this book on me. It was beautifully expressive of the Good News of Jesus; it was deeply thought-provoking. When good friends give you good books as gifts, it's always best to read the... but at the right time. This one had to wait for about 4 years, and then it was the right book this past spring. 

Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne a book I definitely intend to complete someday, but I found out I could loan it from Turkey, so I returned it to finish later. As far as I got was riveting! I also found

Mother of Royalty: An Exposition of the Book of Ruth in the Light of the Sources by Yehoshua Bachrach - a post with my thoughts

A Call to Istanbul by Constance Padwick - This is a lovely biography of a Canadian man born and raised in the Ottoman Empire who later returned and led the work of the Bible Society in Turkey and Lebanon. I'd never heard of him, but he lived and loved many of the same places that I do. His love for all people, but especially those of Turkey, was beautiful to read about.

Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now by Brenda Salter McNeil - I previously posted some excerpts from this, and it was a beautiful read, simple in some ways and rich in others.

The Prophecy of Isaiah by Alec Motyer - This has been a great resource as I studied in Isaiah!

Fly by Wire by William Langewiesche a quite good, but not great, book about 'the Miracle on the Hudson' as well as a consideration of a lot of different aspects of the airline business and lifestyle

A Habitual Sight of Him: The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin (edited by Beeke) - This was a really nice little book that is easy to use as a daily devotional (35 readings).

I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, Pollution and the Death of Man by Schaeffer (previous post); The Call of the Minaret by Kenneth Cragg (previous post); The Teacher by Augustine (previous post); Birlikte Yaşam / Life Together by Bonhoeffer; 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership; Troubled by Truth by Kenneth Cragg; The Master: A Life of Jesus by John Pollock; Sacred Companions by David Benner; Jesus' Sermon on the Mount by D. A. Carson

FICTION

Shane by Jack Shaeffer - I enjoy Westerns. This one became an instant favorite. It's well-told; it's got a unique perspective. It was both gripping and left an element of mystery. 

Daddy by Loup Durand - oops, lost a library book!

Harry Potter - One of the joys of fathering is sharing the joy of reading and being shared with. My oldest daughter and I are each making our way through Hogwarts for the very first time. We're doing it together.

A Cast of Stones and sequels by Patrick Carr - I enjoyed it and will eventually re-read it. Sadly my least favorite part was probably the last chapter.

Goodbye Mr. Chip by James Hilton - When I went looking for a short novel about teaching for my Reading Skills I class, this is what I came up with. It had some challenges, but overall we enjoyed it.

Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

The Golden Rendevous by Alistair MacLean - How was there a book by one of my favorite older authors that I had never read?!?! Anyways, it ws typical MacLean; if you've read enough of his works, there was nothing shocking even if there was a bit of variety.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - I couldn't love it, but it was interesting and well-written. It's just not my preferred genre.

Serpent of Moses by Don Hoese - a sequel to an interesting Christian fiction book I read years ago. Another Indiana Jones-style book...

Recommendations from years past: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Who gets to give the gift? & Is that the answer to my prayer?!?

  Romans 1 is quite common passage to hear sermons on; this probably explains why a rather unremarkable connection that I made today seemed remarkable to me. I've heard this passage discussed so many times, but I've never seen it connected to this one part of its larger context, the preceding chapter.

  The New Testament writings are arranged in sets with the narrative portions (the 4 Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles) at the beginning, followed by Paul's letters (largely arranged in descending order of length), and then the letters and writings of the other earliest leaders of the followers of Jesus's way. Due to this arrangement, the first chapter of Romans immediately follows the last chapter of Acts. However, chronologically Romans 1 actually precedes Acts 28 by about 2-3 years.

  In Romans 1, Paul expresses his long-term desire, prayer, and intent to come to Rome to share with the Roman believers and to be shared with by them. He longingly awaits God’s will in the timing of this visit.[1]

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. (Romans 1:9-13, ESV)

   When this passage is combined with the events leading to Paul's actual arrival in Rome, we get a beautiful, difficult, and instructive example of the interweaving of human desire and intent and request with divine design and purpose. Paul's circumstances upon arrival were certainly not the ones he would have proposed for his visit to Rome (see Romans 15).[2]

 Anyways, in the 18 verses of Acts 28 which deal with Paul’s time in Rome, we find that it was the Roman family of Christ who first encouraged Paul! Having arrived after a long-term detention, a journey as prisoner to the Emperor’s tribunal, and a shipwreck, Paul needed encouragement, and it was the Roman ‘brothers’ who provided it by coming out to meet Paul's group (Acts 28:14-15). This seems to initially reverse Paul’s major hope to serve and strengthen the Roman believers. Instead of strengthening and encouraging others, the apostle finds himself being encouraged and strengthened! This is a fabulous reminder that even a 'great spiritual leader' will often need encouragement from 'ordinary believers', even when they don't expect to need it. Paul came primarily expecting to give a spiritual gift, but when he arrived, it was he who needed to receive one. 

   These passages together also give a beautiful view of the way in which divine and human will and desire can work together. They hint again at how our prayers often are answered not by giving us our imagined answers but by giving the divinely-prompted deeper desires which lie at the root of the prayer. Thus, the path to answered prayer and walking willingly in God's will is often much more complex, difficult, and unexpected than our conscious prayers. May our prayers be Spirit-prompted and our reception of them received gladly from the hands of our loving Father.

---

[1] Later, in Romans 15, Paul mentions more details about his desired journey and how he plans to use a visit to Rome as a springboard for a journey to the far West (to Spain).

 In Romans 1, Paul also speaks of proclaiming the Good News to both Jews and Gentiles, those who have already believed and those who have not yet. Both of which are also dealt with in Acts 28.

 

[2] Regardless, based on his attitude toward ministry in Jerusalem (cf Acts 21:1-15), Paul probably wouldn't have changed paths even if he had known these circumstances.

The Drier of Tears

    And [the Lord of hosts] will swallow up on this mountain
        the covering that is cast over all peoples,
        the veil that is spread over all nations.
    He will swallow up death forever;
    and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
        and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
        for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:7–8, ESV)

The exalted title the Sovereign LORD calls attention to the fact that in all the dignity of his divine sovereignty, it is the Lord himself who will attend to our tears, moving from person to person until each eye has been dried. On the disgrace of his people cf. Joshua 5:9 where the rite of circumcision was renewed for the Lord’s people. It symbolized that the days of covenant abeyance were over and that the ‘disgrace of Egypt’ was gone – the disgrace to the Lord’s people of living in slavery, bondage and misery. So also, as long as life in this world endures, there are innumerable ways in which the people of God are under reproach and hindered, by circumstances and sin, from living according to their true dignity. All this will be taken away. The new nature will be given full and glorious expression in an environment where everything conduces to holiness (cf. Phil. 3:20–21). Covenant promise will have become covenant reality.(Motyer, 210, Kindle) 

 ‘The Drier of Tears’, of course, brings the Psalmist’s bottled tears to mind as well as the more well-known reflections of this passage in John’s Revelation. Imagine a loving parent as they comfort a child and wipe away the tears of their hurt child. They do not deny the pain, but they comfort and enter into it. They encourage the child with reasons that things will end okay and that the pain will not conquer. This Sovereign’s attentions are not the ‘be tough’ shushing of an impatient or distant parent to a child genuinely in pain, nor does the Sovereign unnecessarily comfort an emotional or manipulative outburst. 

 Instead the image given here is the Sovereign Lord squatting down before each child taking them in turn and re-opening all those bottled tears which have been stored up, not to re-live the pain but to engage its reality with empathy and bring resolution and full healing. Waiting with each tear till it has been dried, the Sovereign Lord stills and heals the heartbreak of all of His own: each loss, each grief, each pain, each betrayal, every agony of birthing, all the reproach which has been heaped on the child publicly or privately whether by themselves or others, each unfulfilled longing, every scarcely understandable cry of rage, each pang of guilt and insufficiency, every moment of teeth-gritting or of grinning-and-bearing-it, all the despair and disillusionment, in short, all the groaning and mourning and suffering which had been brought on by the curses in this cosmos. All of these heartcries will be engaged, even authenticated, and defanged by the One who values what may have, until that moment, been unseen and unacknowledged by any other in the universe. 

  Within this context, the sorrows of judgment must be mentioned; the tears which were mourned in the Lord’s comprehensive judgment of chapter 24 will also be dried. This One pauses for each tear till the heart that has held it is clear, the eye that it trickled from is dried. At that moment, nothing will be more important than these hurts and this healing. This is a key piece of the great salvation, and it will not be denied! Isaiah insists upon this point (Isa 30:19; 35:10; 51:11; 65:19). May hope in the Drier of Tears, who is also the Remove of Reproach, steady our hearts.

NOTE: There is no destruction of the human emotional capacity here; this is a making well of heartache. In the context (notice Isaiah 26), there is a full range of emotions during and following the ‘healing of sorrows.’ This is about healing and wellness, not simply or superficially about tears; tears are foregrounded as the powerful symbol summarizing the need for comprehensive healing. So, it is about tears; they are vitally important, but they are not ultimate, they will pass at the right time.

my first visit to İznik (ancient Nicaea)

 A few short days after we returned to Istanbul, we slipped away to be with dear friends - the sort you gladly do holidays and vacations with - whom we hadn't seen for a year or two. A friend of a friend offered us all a place to stay in İznik, ancient Nicaea, a city our family'd never been to before. Actually we realized it's been years since our family has visited a new province in Türkiye, so I guess it was about time for that too. This was a great choice!

 One of the most interesting features of Iznik is the lake, which has a sunken basilica in it, which may be where one of the two Councils of Nicaea were held, although they seem a bit small, so it seems unlikely. Anyways, the underwater basilica is worth a look: article here, and I've linked a picture from it. Naturally when we went swimming, we swam over to it though you can't actually swim among it, of course.

 

 Below are some additional pictures that you may enjoy from Iznik; it was a lovely, friendly setting with traditional pottery still being produced, olive groves surrounding our house, and delicious food to supplement the history. There were lots of jokes about retiring their someday.

Storks nesting on a mosque

Seeing the old inner walls

A vine-covered portal in the city wall

the Iznik city wall (inner wall to the right, outer wall on the left hidden by greenery)

items in the museum - glass bowls, a diadem, a clay lamp, jewelry, etc

This inscription (translation in the next picture) looks like it has hearts bracketing the text. Despite the appearance, they seem more likely to be leaves. 

According to the notes, this mini-sarchophagus (ostotek) held the ashes of a cremated person, which is odd since it is clearly marked with a cross, and I have not heard of any Christian tradition that supports cremation, (although a solid biblical basis for this eludes me).

The Iznik Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia) from the outside. (Like that of Istanbul, this building housed a church, became a mosque, then a museum, and is now a mosque again.)

According to the imam who shared some of the building's history, this was the spot where kings were crowned during one period.

The main interior of the Hagia Sofia

remains of frescos in Iznik's Hagia Sofia

fresco in the Iznik Aya Sofia

Real Unity and Humility

So unique and so God-like a thing is real unity on earth, absolute disinterested agreement in heart and motive, that its occurrence is not, and cannot be, anything short of the presence of God Himself. We know the agreement of the Triune God: earthly agreement is its manifestation.

This, then, cuts at the root of all envy, jealousy, petty irritation, personal dislike, contempt, conceit, self-assertiveness.

It is often more a sign of grace and love and humility to say "Amen" to another's prayers than to lead in prayer oneself.

~ Temple Gairdner (cited in Temple Gairdner of Cairo by Constance Padwick, pg 126-127)