Bucolic demagoguery

When psalmist sings “The LORD is my shepherd” he makes a powerful political statement.
     Only modern people without understanding of ancient context could take it as an opening sentence of a funerary dirge or pietistic outpouring of faith. Everyone in the Ancient Near East was well educated in what I would call a "bucolic demagoguery". 
     Images, metaphors and vocabulary of shepherding were as old as first domesticated animals and always contained strong overtones of power and domination. The excesses of power were only mildly controlled by pointing to the self-interest of shepherds to keep a healthy flock.

• In Sumerian epic, when Gilgamesh (a legendary Sumerian hero) behaves like a tyrant, he is reminded by his subjects, he should act like a shepherd. Gudea of Lagash (3rd millennium) is called “shepherd who leads the people with a good and steady hand.” Lipit-Ishtar (early 2nd millennium) is called “humble shepherd of Nippur.” Hammurabi of Babylon called himself a “shepherd appointed by Enlil”. Many Neo-Assyrian kings liked to portrait themselves as shepherds. In Egypt from Middle kingdom on, kings were called “herdsmen of all men” Amenhotep III is called “The good shepherd, protecting all people” Seti I “the good shepherd, who keeps his soldiers alive.” Merneptah calls himself “ruler, who shepherds you”. In Homer Agamemnon is called “shepherd of the host.”

Ancient Near Eastern kings and supreme rulers simply loved to call themselves shepherds and used that image for legitimation of their power. Their subjects, when their situation became unbearable, timidly reminded their rulers that they should behave like shepherd and protect their subjects.  
      If the psalmist sings “The LORD is my shepherd” he makes a powerful theocratic statement which contained strong anti-imperial and anti-monarchic edge.
      Many biblical parables and metaphors of shepherds (Cf. Ezechiel 34) criticize rulers for their abuse of power and lack of care for their subjects. Similarly, the synoptical parable of the lost sheep is an implicit political criticism of those, who allowed it to happen, and it contrasts the realm of God with the contemporary political arrangements.
       And when Jesus of the gospel of John says “I am the good shepherd” we hear Johanine community making a very powerful theocratic ideological statement. 
       The one who criticized neglectful shepherds of his day and sought hope in theocracy (kingdom of God), is here declared the Shepherd, ergo the King (ergo God).
Jesus himself (the historical person) might be quite surprised! (But that would be another chapter.)

Earth Day Walk

This Sunday we celebrate Earth Day, and we will talk about walking, journeying and hiking. Several weeks ago I preached (and wrote on this blog) about Highways and Byways. We investigated the difference between arrogant imperial highway systems and human-sized paths created by local people. We also observed how different road systems mirror different ways of life. Empires are built and sustained by an arrogant ideology often called “our way of life”.
    This Sunday we will learn from Jesus how to leave the imperial ways of life behind and choose and enjoy alternative paths of living. We can start with the very simple act of walking. Walking is a joyful and healthy act of defiance and protest. In our world it is a true prophetic alternative mode of being. In a car, we cannot hear birds singing. We cannot smell the fresh-cut-grass. We cannot see the morning dew on flowers. We cannot feel the fresh breeze in our face. We cannot touch a butterfly (we wash them off the windshield.)
    This alternative living starts even before we make the first step on our way. We need to return WALKING to our vocabulary and thinking. Imperial bureaucrats love words like TRANSPORTATION. Believe it or not, recently I even saw the monster-phrase FOOT-TRANSPORTATION. I prefer just to WALK. I hate being called PEDESTRIAN. If walkers are called pedestrians, drivers should be called "vehicularists" or even better, "motorheads".
    Thankfully we live in the most walkable (or if you wish walking-friendly) city in the entire United States. We might have the ability to walk, but we often live as if we were trying to compensate for walking, so we live our lives as if we were driving, flying, or piloting our lives as supersonic jets. In our city we can walk, now we need to re-learn a walking, slower pace ethos. Indeed walking is a joyful, alternative pace of living. This Sunday we will observe Jesus walk, and try to learn from him an alternative way of living.

Sunday of Theological Inquiry

Quasimodo Sunday (or more properly Quasimodogeniti)
    This is the traditional name for the Second Sunday of Easter. This strange name is derived from the opening words in medieval Latin: 1 Peter 2:2 “Be like new-born babies and desire genuine rational milk, which will help you to grow up in salvation!” (Quasi modo geniti infantes rationale sine dolo lac concupiscite ut in eo crescatis in salutem)
    On this First Sunday after Easter we will read the story of Thomas (John 20:19-29). Far from being unbelieving, Thomas became the first theologian, asking questions about faith, guarding himself from superstition and prejudice (wishful thinking), yet eager to learn and to understand. We will attempt to penetrate the Gospel of Thomas and to uncover Jesus’ parable unrecorded in the Bible. A similar similitude from the 2 Corinthians as well as the parable from the Gospel of Philip will help us crack this ancient yet lively conundrum of the Logion 97.
    We will stay true to the theological legacy of this Sunday. Even the affirmation of faith will be phrased in the mode of Apophatism. That is the traditional theological way in which faith is being expressed by declaring what we do not believe:
    We do not believe God wants us to stop searching, asking and learning.
    We do not believe God speaks only in church lingo and through stilted rituals.
    We do not believe God approves what people have done to the world.
    We do not believe God organizes the death of anyone even God’s own son.
    We do not believe God wills hunger and poverty for any of God’s children.
    We do not believe God approves abuse, torture and war for any reasons.
    We do not believe God cannot remould and reshape us and our broken world.

A slide from a lecture on Gnosticism.

I grew up in glass-making part of Czech Republic. My maternal grandfather worked in the glass factory, he used to shape wooden molds for the glass-blowers. I still remember vividly my high-school summer jobs in a glass factory, especially the smell of burned beeswax used for lubrication. 

Easter Galilean Beach Barbecue

Just forget for a moment about Easter Sunday morning in Jerusalem, forget about the empty tomb, forget the vocabulary and doctrine of resurrection! All of these are quite late developments. Theological scholarship is certain that the earliest Easter stories about meeting Jesus after he was crucified originated not in Jerusalem; the oldest accounts with the deepest roots came from Galilee.
       The disciples were hit hard by the loss of their beloved leader. They were hit hard by their own betrayal and cowardice. But at the bottom of their deepest despair something happened. 
       First they did not have words for it; they did not know how to talk about it with each other, not to mention with the outside word. Only later they would start to call it resurrection. Only later they would find the powerful symbol of the empty tomb. Only later they would attempt to record, systematize and organize their thoughts and experiences. But something powerful had happened. My professor of the New Testament Dr. Petr Pokorný in his book "The genesis of Christology" calls it The Decisive Impulse. At first the disciples were crushed by despair, and then they became filled with joy. At first they were overwhelmed by fear, and then they found new confidence. Their leader was executed in Jerusalem, and then they met him in Galilee. Something powerful had happened to them, and they started to search for words and ways to share their experience, they searched for stories and metaphors to talk about their transforming experience. 
       Interestingly, the decisive impulse was closely intertwined with communal meals, just as it was during Jesus’ earthly life, the overwhelming majority of Easter stories are connected with eating. Since the earliest transformative experiences originated in Galilee, this Easter Sunday gospel reading will take us to the Galilean beach with a barbecue for the resurrection picnic.

This graphics is based on the ancient mosaic
from the Church of the Multiplication

Underground in Jerusalem

    When Jesus came to Jerusalem he knew he was in hostile territory during the proverbially dangerous season of the Easter/Passover holidays. By that time, he and his companions were well trained in avoiding capture. They had been running from religious and military authorities for quite a while, crisscrossing the Lake of Galilee, intentionally crossing administrative and national borders.
    Their arrival in Jerusalem was also well planned with prearranged signs, designated messengers, secret passwords, and highly symbolical means of transport (Mark 11:1-3).
    I still remember these methods from the time when I grew up under totalitarian regime. Some of our church and political activities were illegal. So we did not stay at any one address (where we could be picked up by police), we backpacked in the mountains. Private conversations and meetings were always done in the parks or in the gardens and on the move. (A minister friend once found a listening device in his living room chandelier.)
    Why did I call Maundy service on our Easter flyer “Clandestine Supper”? Here is why: Jesus sent two disciples with instruction, Go to the town and when you see a man with a jar of water (easy to get right, there were hardly any other men carrying water since this was traditional work for women) follow him and see which house he enters. Then give this message to the owner: “Teacher says: ‘Where is the room for me and my students to eat the Easter meal?’”  A very clever arrangement! They simply followed a stranger. For an outside observer it would have been almost impossible to know why and where they went. And the meeting room might not have been in the house they entered; that is just a simplistic conjecture based on clumsy language. This whole passage reads as though it was taken from an espionage textbook.*
    I simply do not buy that Jesus intentionally went to Jerusalem to be crucified. He was not a naive Galilean pumpkin, nor even worse, an omniscient divine narcissist with masochistic twitch. All of that got generated later by pious churchly philosophizing. Jesus took some serious risks. He knew it and he did his best to limit unnecessary dangerous situations. Yet he was certainly prepared for probable and tragic outcome, he knew the risks.
    Join us this Maundy Thursday at this Clandestine Supper. Jesus’ thoughtfulness, his courage, his vision, and his hope are breathtaking and they still inspire.
*Truth be said, it is difficult to know whether this vivid account dates from the time of Jesus or whether it reflects later experience of the Markan Church under persecution, in any case the latest date would be about 70 C.E.      

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And for the Good Friday Service six clergy from our church have researched, discussed and prepared since January.
Why was  Jesus declared a sinner and crucified? How is the label of sin almost universally used to suppress dissent and enforce political, cultural and religious conformity? Why was Jesus called sinner and what truly constitutes sin? On the Good Friday service we will be looking into the dark corners of the human religious psyche, but also hopefully noticing some bright glimmers. 

Open-Ended Prayer

How do we Protestants close the Lord’s Prayer? With a doxology of course!

   For thine is the kingdom,

   and the power,

   and the glory,

   forever.

   Amen.

The problem is that, in this respect, the Catholics have been right all along, and the Reformation got it wrong. This doxology was never part of the original prayer. The “traditional” doxology first appeared several centuries later! Here is the list of some similar doxologies. Some are very old, some quite recent. Interestingly, the oldest example, which predates even the Hebrew Bible by many centuries, is probably the closest to our current traditional doxology.

Closing Petition from Rapiu Psalm	1 Chronicles 29:11	Lord’s Prayer Doxology from Didache
Cuneiform text from Ugarit  around 1200 B.C.E.	Hellenistic period cca 4th  Century B.C.E.	Early 2nd Century C.E.
May your strength, your help, your power, your rule, your splendor, be in the midst of Ugarit, for all the days of Sun and Moon, for all the years of El.	Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.	For your is the power and glory, forever.
Traditional Doxology of the Lord’s Prayer	Alternative Doxology of the Lord’s Prayer
Eastern (Antiochian) tradition from 4th Century	Medieval Greek manuscript
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.	For your is the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.

.

We know for certain that the traditional doxology or any other doxology was never part of the original Biblical text of the Gospel of Matthew. We can also be quite certain that Jesus never taught his disciples any such doxology with this prayer, even though such doxologies traditionally belonged at the end of similar prayers. Thus I am convinced that Jesus left this part of his prayer intentionally out. His prayer was intentionally open-ended and unfinished. People felt this tension and started to fill it with words, which they soon started to solemnize and codify. This Sunday we will try to uncover, understand and start practicing Jesus’ original intention behind the missing doxology, behind his radical, avant-garde, open-ended prayer ...

Poetry of coincidences and social nets

       Ivan Blatný was a young promising Czech writer and poet. Then, in 1948, the Communists took over power and he escaped to England. Uprooted from his home, language, family and friends, he was completely lost, and he experienced recurring episodes of disorientation. The British National Health Services sent him first to a psychiatric hospital and then to a sanatorium. By the time he got to that sanatorium, no one around him knew that he was a published poet (although in another language).
His constant scribbling on any piece of paper he could lay his hands on was seen as part of his peculiar eccentricity. Many decades later, one of the nurses payed attention to his scribbles. Ivan was rediscovered as a literary figure. After many years spent in the sanatorium he remained there until his death, but he was able to publish two more excellent collections of highly interesting code-switching poetry (part Czech, part English).
       When I came to Rutgers, there had been a homeless man sleeping regularly on the church steps. He was very shy. Not many people noticed him and even fewer managed to speak more than a sentence with him. He would come quite late and get up early and would always sleep right by the door. The custodial staff kept an eye on him, helped several times to store his stuff, and they protected him a few times. Our good-hearted accountant, Tina, gave him some warm clothing and one winter she bought him a sturdy sleeping bag. He did not take it right away, waiting for several months. He really was very shy. Once or twice, when it was bitterly cold, we had to call #311 for shelter responders, we were worried he might freeze on our steps.
       Over the last summer an elder of our church started to bring him breakfast and established and built up trust and a relationship. Thus we learned quite a surprising story. His name was Mirumil (Not his real name, although also Slavic), and he was originally from the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia at that time). He escaped to America shortly after the Russian troops crushed political hopes during the Prague Spring of 1968. At that time he studied mathematics at the university. Here in NYC he got by by taking some menial jobs. Uprooted, without family, or any close community or friends, something happened. He lost his documents, job and home and ended up on the street.
       When I started to write about it, the church elder expressed it very nicely: “In reaching out and doing small things, we can individually make real differences in other people's lives. The first morning I brought Mirumil breakfast, I had just learned that my uncle had passed away after a battle with cancer. Events like this make you focus on what is truly important -- life is short and we have value through serving others and doing God's work... we have the power to take actions which can have real impact.”  
       In the autumn we celebrated Mirumil's 65th birthday. Our elder prepared a delicious honey cake. And while we ate it, we learned more helpful details. Mirumil was born in a small city in Moravia. I knew that place, because my best friend grew up there. Mirumil’s high school teacher, who inspired him to study mathematics, was my friend’s school headmaster. With a little bit of internet searching I was able to find out and communicate with the city registry office and soon we got a copy of Mirumil’s birth certificate. By that time he also agreed to go to a shelter without risking another winter on our steps. Meanwhile the elder initiated the process toward the recovery of his SSN and his immigration card. As soon as he had all the documents, we hoped to help him find some more permanent accommodations and work.
       As uncommon as it might look, Mirumil’s American part of the story is unfortunately quite normal on several counts. As my friend Laura, who has been professionally serving and helping homeless people for many years, reminded me: 1) Wherever safety is found, that becomes ‘home’ (Rutgers Steps), 2) It takes months to develop trust and trust can only come with patience and kindness and no demands. 3) when trust is developed, there is always a thread of connection (in this case a skein) 4) It takes 6-10 people to house one individual who has been living on the streets.
       And this observation clarifies why I intentionally built this column on the juxtaposition of stories of Ivan and Mirumil; they are similar, and they are different. Thankfully both have positive outcomes. But I still wonder: How is it possible that an episode of disorientation and vulnerability (Ivan’s case was actually medically more serious!) could have such diametrically different solutions?
       Society becomes compassionate and humane in two complementary ways: by being composed of many dedicated and compassionate individuals, but also by putting in place adequate government-guaranteed social safety nets. As a person coming from abroad who still can claim a certain“outside” perspective, I have been always deeply moved and impressed by the American spirit of volunteerism, individual compassion and help. Similarly I have often been surprised and even shocked by how little attention is given to systemic social and medical matters.
       Those two aspects are like two legs of our society: without training and using both of them simultaneously, our society cannot run or walk, it can only hop and hope. When I recently heard some presidential candidates seriously proposing to a innumerable claque that the social services should be built only on volunteer basis and available only to citizens, I realised that we might be hopping and hoping for a long time.
       I sincerely wish that Rutgers will be a place where we learn to walk, run, skip, jump and launch ourselves into a positive future for all people, and especially those in greatest need of our compassion. 
This was written in spring 2012
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THE STORY CONTINUES
On Monday, the 2nd of December 2013, I received a check with a donation for our church. It was a personal check from Mirumil! I can hardly describe my emotions as I wrote him a thank-you card. 
Mirumil now has a permanent resident card and got his SSN back. We keep in touch as he stays in WSFSSH transitional home at Valley Lodge waiting, any moment now, for his permanent home!
Thank you to Dermonte, Tina, Nancy, Laura, Lili and many others!
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THE STORY CONTINUES FURTHER
On Thursday, the 20th of March 2014 Mirumil moved to his apartment in Euclid Hall, right on the Broadway and 86th Street - one of the WSFSSH houses. Today (Saturday 22) I brought him some basic homewars for an improvised homewarning party. Welcome home, Mirumil!