Earth and Sky

Sunset at Mauna Kea - also known as Mauna Wākea

One of the oldest known Greek poets Hesiod tells the story of Gaia and Uranus (Mother Earth and Father Sky), how they gave birth to the whole Greek pantheon and thus indirectly begat the entire Universe. That is actually the original meaning of the word Cosmology - a story about the birth of world.
    Similar stories are known from around the world. On the very opposite side of the world, in Hawai'ian mythology I am familiar with a similar Polynesian myth about Papa (mother Earth) and Wākea (father Sky) and how they originated the birth of a habitable world, individual islands, human culture and even started famous royal families.
    As surprising as it might sound, the Bible also contains interesting traces of a similar story. These cosmogony stories are never really dominant in official religion, they live in the background of people’s worldview. In the biblical tradition this story got overshadowed with the “official” creation story (in six days) and possibly it even got censored for its unorthodox content. But it is still present, and most visibly in the context of the creation story. Just like Greek or Polynesian mythologies the Bible mentions a “Genealogy of Earth and Sky.” (Gen 2:4) And that is something you might not know about the Bible.

As we begin this Sunday a three month long series of Celestial Theology, we will start by looking closer at this genealogy of Earth and Sky and draw encouragement, joy and inspiration from their almost forgotten, yet powerful message.

Scandal!

In stark words Jesus warned his audience against “scandalizing” little children (Matthew 18:6).
What did Jesus mean by “scandal”?

1) In our modern usage scandal is defined as “a disgraceful or highly disagreeable action, a public disgrace”. And to scandalize is “to shock or horrify by something considered immoral or grossly improper.”

2) Biblical dictionaries and biblical translations have a tendency to spiritualize and theologize and thus scandal is often rendered as “temptation to sin”, “enticement to sin or to apostasy”, sometimes also a “stumbling block.”

3) The original meaning of σκάνδαλον (SKANDALON) in the ancient Greek was “a snare”. It was derived from a verb for springing after being tripped. But scandal became more generally “any kind of a trap or even an obstacle on a road.” 

Until recently, when asked what might Jesus mean by scandalizing children, I would look among the first two modern definitions (secular or theological). Then we, unfortunately, heard about the US government literally catching, trapping and caging little children, while separating them from their natural care-givers. This is the SCANDAL! By this action our government joins a dark and horrid company and as Jesus’ followers we must not be silent.