Review: The Bully Pulpit

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Bully PulpitWow. Biography of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the best of the “muck-raking” investigative journalists all in one book! Doris Kearns Goodwin pulls this off by exploring the interaction of these three in promoting Progressivism in early twentieth century America. What Goodwin highlights in particular, justifying her title, was the skillful use of the “bully pulpit” of the presidency by Theodore Roosevelt, including the close relationships he developed with writers like William Allen White, Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell. By contrast, Taft, with a more judicial temperament, tended to allow his speeches and policies to speak for themselves.

Having read Edmund Morris’s three volume biography of Roosevelt recently, I did not find this book casting much new light on Roosevelt except that it seemed that Goodwin probably took a less favorable view of Roosevelt’s role in the breach of the friendship between him and Taft over the 1912 election where he ran against Taft.

What I found particularly illuminating in this book were the portraits of Taft and of the investigative journalists brought together by Sam McClure. Taft is from my home state and was more or less an unknown to me before this novel. Goodwin’s portrait not only underscores his strengths as a jurist and as an administrator, but also that this is a man whose friendship one would count as precious, as did Roosevelt until the break between them. Taft ably governed the Philippines after America’s victory in its war against Spain, putting down insurgencies and turning over government to the Filipino people, albeit an elite. He always wanted to sit on the Supreme Court more than wanting to be president and considered being named Chief Justice in 1921 the highest honor of his life. That he was elected president was a result as much as anything of Nellie Taft’s ambitions and Roosevelt’s orchestration. Sadly, Nellie was afflicted with stroke ten weeks into her husband’s term of office and never fully enjoyed being First Lady. It was Taft who initiated reconciliation with Roosevelt in 1918, less than a year before Roosevelt died, and he who stood quietly weeping at Roosevelt’s grave.

Equally fascinating was Goodwin’s account of the writers for McClures and Sam McClure himself, who took investigative journalism to a high point that may have been matched but probably not exceeded by others. Ida Tarbell’s work investigating the monopolistic practices of Standard Oil and John D. Rockefeller represented years of careful tracking down of information, interviews with sources on all sides and an effort to achieve a balance of reporting that made the case against Standard Oil all the more convincing. Such reporting served as a valuable adjunct to Roosevelt’s reform efforts, creating the public support that enabled Roosevelt to fight business interests.

Because of the focus on the presidencies of Roosevelt and Taft, other aspects of their lives, and particularly their life after the presidency are covered in a more cursory manner than in a focused biography. But the relationship of presidents with the press is crucial to the effective use of presidential power, and thus, this is a landmark study with continuing relevance.

Review: Paul & Judaism Revisited: A Study of Divine and Human Agency in Salvation

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Paul & JudaismThe New Perspective on Paul espoused by E.P. Sanders, J.D.G. Dunn, and N.T. Wright, each in somewhat distinctive ways, emphasizes the idea of continuity between the Apostle Paul and the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism writers. These theologians oppose the idea that the Old Testament focused on salvation by works of the law while the New Testament teaches salvation by God’s gracious initiative. They propose the idea of “covenantal nomism”, that is that God initiates a covenant relationship with his people and obedience to the law or commands of God follows as a response of covenantal faithfulness to God’s gracious work. The Apostle Paul’s main contention was that under the New Covenant, God has extended that covenant to all peoples and that covenant faithfulness continues to be the appropriate response of recipients of this grace. The “works of the law” to which Paul refers are the “identity markers” of circumcision, and ceremonial and food laws that excluded Gentiles.

My point in this review is not to discuss or debate the New Perspective (which I hope I’ve adequately summarized) but to review Preston Sprinkle’s recent work which takes a finer grained look at the contention of “continuity” between Paul and his various Jewish sources. First of all Sprinkle makes a distinction which he observes in Old Testament scripture between approaches to salvation that emphasize divine versus human agency. The latter he refers to as Deuteronomic and emphasizes that the blessings of the covenant depend on the human agency of keeping the law. The former he refers to asProphetic which emphasizes a perspective he finds in the prophetic literature that emphasizes human inability to keep the law or even come to repentance and the initiative of God to restore Israel apart from these things. The prophetic prospective also emphasizes divinely empowered obedience to the law that comes from heart renewal. Sprinkle would contend that this is in continuity with Paul.

He then explores the Qumran and other post-Old Testament writings, looking at the issues of the work of the Spirit, pessimism about human ability to repent and keep the law, the basis on which people are declared right with God, and the issue of judgment according to works. While he finds some instances of a more Prophetic perspective (particularly in some Qumran hymns, and Pseudo Philo and the Testament of Moses), he finds that most take a Deuteronomic or mixed approach that emphasizes human agency in repentance and observance of the law.

What Sprinkle helpfully does then, is show that the contention of continuity between Paul and Second Temple Jewish sources needs to be nuanced. His extensive survey of this literature, which he often parallels with Paul, makes the discontinuities apparent. What I wonder about however in his use of the distinction between Deuteronomic and Prophetic perspectives is, has he created or sanctioned a discontinuity within the Old Testament canon, and is this warranted? He simply seems to accept and argue this discontinuity, or at least distinction without consideration of the implications thereof.

The great value in this work is its exploration of the Qumran and other Jewish writings of the Second Temple Period in the light of the New Perspective discussion. What he makes clear is much of this literature reflects an “obedience to the law” rather than strictly “covenantal nomism” perspective. These sources do not speak with one voice, and not all are in harmony with Paul.

Unsung Heroes

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"Washington Dulles International Airport main terminal". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Dulles_International_Airport_main_terminal.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Washington_Dulles_International_Airport_main_terminal.jpg

“Washington Dulles International Airport main terminal”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Dulles_International_Airport_main_terminal.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Washington_Dulles_International_Airport_main_terminal.jpg

Isn’t air travel when “weather events” occur fun? I have a whole variant on Sartre’s Hell that involves websites that don’t work, long periods on hold, frenzied rushes through unfamiliar airports, flight cancellations, mechanical difficulties, and more. I won’t bore you with the details of attempting to fly from Columbus to Dallas and back because you probably have stories that may easily top mine.

What I want to highlight are the unsung heroes in my own saga, the people who provided good customer service, who helped at key points along the way–not to deal with the weather and its affects nor to fix malfunctioning planes–but to make a lousy situation a bit more pleasant and to get me to my destination and back. My big regret is that I did not get the names of these heroes, being absorbed in my own travel woes. But I can at least celebrate customer service done right in three instances over as many days.

The first was on Sunday night when I called my airline after my connecting flight to Dallas was cancelled and there were no alternatives online. Because so many others were in the same predicament, the hold times on the phone were long–I waited 80 minutes. The first thing the rep did was acknowledge this and apologize–probably a standard script but still helpful. Then he graciously and quickly solved my problem, booking me on a different airline which actually got me to my meetings sooner than I needed to be! And it was all done right, confirmed on the itinerary I immediately received and the boarding passes I immediately was able to print from the other airline. Only afterward did it occur to me that all the time I’d been on hold, he’d been getting an earful from an avalanche of customers. None of that came through in our conversation.

The second was a small thing but helped make the difference between making and missing a connection. My flight out of Columbus on Monday needed to de-ice, which delayed us. We were met by a gate agent who not only gave me the gate of the connecting flight but gave me clear instructions of how to get from one terminal to another at Hartsfield in the quickest possible fashion. I made my connection with five minutes to spare.

The third was the customer service rep who helped us last night as my returning connection from Dulles to Columbus was cancelled after a two hour wait due to mechanical difficulties. This was at 11:20 pm. Before midnight I not only had an 8:20 am flight booked to Columbus (even with TSA Pre-check!) but also was checked into a comfortable hotel room with meal vouchers for breakfast. He even helped navigate me through Dulles, which I’d never flown through before!

I suspect that most of these folks probably feel under-appreciated by both the traveling public and perhaps by the airlines for which they work. They are not making big bucks and probably have to scrape in their personal lives to make ends meet. But I’d propose that they are very crucial in a world where our best laid plans are subject to weather and mechanical vagaries.

So I want to sing the praises of these unsung (and unnamed) heroes. And in the future, I hope to have the presence of mind to get their names to let their employers know how well they’ve been represented by these people when they are getting us at our worst. And maybe that will serve as a small reminder that customer service really pays.

The Month in Reviews: January 2015

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January was the month of longer-than-usual books. I’m still working my way to the end of The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin. But I still managed to finish an assortment of books ranging from a Tolstoy classic to the first book of an Ohio sci-fi author (John Scalzi). Among the weightier books I reviewed an exploration of the relationship of God to the natural world and a thoughtful re-appraisal of the nature of power. And I reviewed a new book by young activist Ben Lowe that was followed by my first author interview with Ben. So, without further ado, here is my list for January:

1. Doing Good Without Giving Up by Ben Lowe. Lowe, a creation care activist, shares what he has learned about sustaining a life of activisim, particularly when progress is slow and opposition is real. My author interview with Ben is here.

Doing GoodResurrectionSeton2. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy. What happens when you sit on a jury and the defendant is a prostitute whose life was shaped by a careless romantic dalliance resulting in a pregnancy years before. Tolstoy explores the spiritual awakening and deepening of Prince Nekhlyudov as he seeks to make restitution for his wrong.

3. American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth Seton by Joan Barthel. Seton is the first native-born American to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Barthel narrates the tragedy of widowhood that led to conversion, and formation of the first community of women religious in America.

4. The God of Nature: Incarnation and Contemporary Science by Christopher C. Knight. Knight responds to the alternatives of a supernaturalist/naturalist divide by proposing an incarnational naturalism, a position akin to panentheism (all of nature in God).

17293092 (1)Faith and ReasonGod of Nature5. Faith and Reason: Three Views edited by Steve Wilkins. Wilkins and three contributors explore the relationship of faith and reason under the rubrics of faith and philosophy in tension, faith seeking understanding, and the synthesis of reason and faith. Each contributor critiques the other two views yet with a spirit of grace and respect.

6. Playing God by Andy Crouch. The author re-appraises the common view that power is corrupt and corrupting. He considers God’s intention for us as image bearers to use power well to reflect being image bearers, that is “playing God.” He explores both the corrupting effects on power of sin and the redemption of power.

7. Contagious Disciple Making by David Watson and Paul Watson. The authors contend that modelling and teaching obedience to truth discovered in the scriptures and then shared with others resulting in the same obedience is critical to planting Discovery Groups and churches. A very practical book with clear descriptions of practices the authors believe are biblically rooted to build multiplying church plants.

CDMnight trainold mans war8. Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters. This is the fifth in a series of “Vicky Bliss” mysteries involving a Nile voyage, an ingenious and huge theft of antiquities, and a hair-raising chase across Egypt.

9. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Imagine the possibility of human colonies in space defended by an army of seventy five year olds promised rejuvenated bodies. John Perry is one such enlistee and the book explores the surprises Perry will encounter beginning with his own body as well as the unknowns of the cosmos that can kill you before you even recognize the danger. Perhaps the greatest surprise is who he encounters after being rescued as the lone survivor of a military disaster.

I have described myself as a reading omnivore. This list probably gives you a taste of that, ranging from philosophy and theology, to activism, and to mystery and sci-fi thrillers.  I hope there might be something here to pique your interest.

You can now find of all my “The Month in Reviews” posts by clicking on the link with this title at the top of this page, or in the “Categories” list on the left side of my home page. You will find monthly review summaries beginning with February 2014, with links to individual reviews.

 

Books and Brownies 2015

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brownieA cold winter night, brownies, and milk, and good friends sharing about books they’ve enjoyed. A simple idea but one that always yields not only new ideas of books to read but also new bonds with those friends. Last Friday, some graduate students from the Christian Graduate Student Alliance met to do just that. This year, I thought I would include (not verbatim) some notes I took about the books they shared.

Creation Regained by Albert M. Wolters. We often talk about things in terms of good or bad. Wolters suggests we consider what God’s created purpose for those things might be.

Playing God by Andy Crouch. This book applies Wolters suggestion to the idea of power, which can corrupt and be corrupted but actually reflects what it means for us to be in God’s image.

Modern Pheasant Hunting, 2nd Edition by Steve Grooms.  The decline of the pheasant population necessitates more sophisticated hunting techniques. Recommended by a pheasant hunter as the one leisure book he’s read recently in graduate school!

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. The book explores in beautiful writing apartheid in South Africa through the story of two families caught up in tragedy and the efforts of a black pastor to pursue forgiveness and reconciliation.

Catcher in the Rye and Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. Catcher was the first novel in English read by the Japanese student who recommended it. He deeply identified with the title figure. He also particularly loved the short story “At the Dinghy” in Nine Stories.

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss. This Christian fiction from 1869 explores in diary form the basic longing to follow God more deeply while struggling with the tensions of human, sinful nature.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. Each month focuses on a different quality of character that the Bible upholds for women. The woman who recommended it also appreciated Evans discussion of Proverbs 31 in its original Jewish context.

Extraordinary Chickens by Steven Green-Armytage. This is a coffee table book of photographs of the many varieties of chickens showing what an incredible bird (and the closest living relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex). A veterinary student interest in poultry veterinary work recommended this one.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This was a best-seller post-apocalyptic book that is far better than the movie in exploring the scenario of adolescents trained to kill or be killed in the hunger games.

The Academic Job Search Handbook by Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong. This book provides everything a grad student aspiring to jobs in academia needs to pursue the job search including timelines, samples of vitas in various disciplines, how to accept or decline an offer, and more.

The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian. This book was also recommended last year and the woman recommending it this year not only picked up the book as a result of last year’s recommendation by Skyped with a friend from Houston who read it with her.

I loved this last recommendation because it illustrates the joy of sharing books that have touched our lives–they may touch the lives of others as well. Personally, I realized that I’ve never read J.D. Salinger, nor particularly wanted to. My Japanese student friend intrigued me enough that I just may.

Perhaps the list and the stories might motivate you to try a “books and brownies” night some time soon! What books would you add to this list?

Links to earlier Books and Brownies Lists:

2014

2013

Review: Old Man’s War

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old mans war“Growing old isn’t for sissies.” Usually this is the complaint of those who simultaneously battle the bureaucracy that doles out benefits to elders and struggle with a body that served well for decades until reflexes slow, joints ache, teeth crack, and a myriad of other things start going wrong. Meanwhile there are other losses–meaningful work, and sometimes those nearest to one that you’ve shared a life with.

Imagine signing up to be in the infantry at age 75. If enlistment came with the promise of a rejuvenated body and you are facing the battles and losses I’ve described, you might just enlist–even if you’ve no clue what lies ahead. This is the premise of John Scalzi’s first science fiction novel and the first of a four part series based on this premise.

John Perry and his wife Kathy both agreed to sign on at age 65. Only Kathy didn’t make it. At 75, the enlistment age in the Colonial Defense Force, John is inducted, which means leaving Earth never to return. He will fight to defend colonists from Earth on distant planets. And so begins a journey of discovering a cosmos he could never imagine, and that what you can’t imagine could kill you before you knew what hit you.

But the first surprise is a strange and delightful one. Enlistees are not repaired and rejuvenated versions of their former selves, but in fact transferred into new green versions of themselves in the prime of life cloned from their genetic material with significant biological and robotic enhancements including an onboard computer wired into their brains, aptly named BrainPal. Of course these people quickly discover that they are sexual athletes with incredible endurance who are incapable of getting pregnant.

Things get serious quickly enough with a drill sergeant that fits all the stereotypes. Recruits are told that most of them will be dead in two years. Survival depends on recognizing what can kill you before it does, including in one instance an intelligent and malevolent slime. Somehow Perry manages to lead a squadron and gain Ruiz’ reluctant admiration, a recurring pattern as he exercises quick, out of the box thinking in devising a novel firing solution in a battle against the Consu and even manages to be the lone survivor (barely) at Coral when the Rraey succeed at destroying a whole force by being able to pinpoint where ships will appear when they come out of skip drive.

As he loses friends and survives by killing many others he encounters the war weariness and questions faced by every infantryman. But in his near death experience on Coral, he encounters something else when rescued by Special Forces, the mysterious “Ghost Brigades” who fight separately from the rest of the Colonial Defense Force. One of the rescuers has the reconstituted body of his wife Kathy. The intersection of these two lives will determine the outcome of the war with the Rraey, who have become their most dangerous enemy.

In a first novel, John Scalzi manages to combine the exploration of perennial themes such as the Faustian bargains we make to extend our lives, the justifications of war and the toll fighting takes on even the victors. Scalzi portrays the human race’s perpetual propensity to colonize, to take from others, and justify this as defense. He weds this to an imaginative exploration of the implications of biotechnological developments already foreshadowed in university labs. In a plot that literally jumps to parallel universes, Scalzi holds up a mirror that makes us take a look at our own “brave new world.”

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Shoveling Snow

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Clean walks and snow shovelers during a big snow (photo courtesy of Marilyn Trube, used with permission)

Clean walks and snow shovelers during a big snow (photo courtesy of Marilyn Trube, used with permission)

I shoveled snow yesterday morning for the second time this week. Growing up in Youngstown, it would not have been unusual to do this several times a week during the winter.  We got enough “lake effect” snow off of Lake Erie that you could have snow when the wind was blowing right and the temperatures were below freezing.

One of the things that I think went along with the pride of ownership people had was that almost everyone shoveled their walks. Notice in the picture which is from Youngstown, probably from the Thanksgiving snow of 1950, that you can look down a street where every walk was shoveled. If you were an enterprising kid, you could make money shoveling for neighbors. Shoveling snow was the winter counterpart for me to cutting lawns or raking leaves, often for the same people. No snow blowers–just me and a snow shovel.

People actually walked. Letter carriers, paper carriers, and kids to school especially. As many of you noted on a previous post, Youngstown schools rarely closed–and the Catholic schools never! Some people walked to work. Others walked to local stores. Shoveling snow was just part of being a good neighbor.

The other side of this was that anyone, unless they were elderly or sick, who didn’t shovel their snow was considered lazy. If your neighbor didn’t shovel, you assumed something was wrong, and often shoveled their walk. Sooner or later, they would return the favor.

Most of us who grew up in the older parts of the city had the advantage of city lots that were often 35 to 40 feet wide (I live on a corner lot in the suburbs with about 220 feet of sidewalk now). However, because many parts of Youngstown were hilly, you often had a driveway that sloped, and was a priority to shovel if you were to get a car out or in. And because the houses were close together, it became a challenge if there was much snow to figure out where to put it.

Where we are now, people often just wait for the snow to melt. From what I can tell, that seems more true everywhere. In our city, as I understand it, you are “supposed” to clear your walks, but if a slippery spot remains you can be sued if someone falls. However you actually may be less liable if you leave it alone. I can see why many don’t shovel.

Not me. Maybe it’s compulsiveness, but I think it is just the Youngstowner in me. When it snows, I’m not at ease until I get my walks cleared. I guess you can take the boy out of Youngstown, but you can’t take Youngstown out of the boy!

Here’s to few snowfalls and clear sidewalks!

Read all the posts in the Growing Up in Youngstown Series by clicking the “On Youngstown” category link either at the top of this page or in the left column of my home page.

Reading the Bible without a Net

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By George E. Curtis (1830-1910)[2] [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By George E. Curtis (1830-1910)[2] [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I work with graduate students who not only read books but read books and articles about the books, study manuscripts of the book, deconstruct the book, study books in original translations, and more. And I find this is what they want to do with the Bible. They want to get the best commentaries out of the library, understand what the text says and means in the original languages, understand the origins of the text and more.

I have no quibble with this per se’. Having attended seminary and learning something of biblical exegesis (though I by no means consider myself a biblical scholar in the professional sense), I seek to do the same when I’m in a formal teaching setting and have (or make) the time to do this work. Often, this work does contribute to enriching my understanding. I do value learning from those past and present who have worked in the same text and discovering whether my ideas are totally out to lunch.

But I also think that all of this sometimes becomes a “net” that may distract us from developing the “high wire” artistry of reading the scriptures well.  Furthermore, it seems to me that it develops a culture of “the expert” that says that only those who can read in the original languages can unlock the “secret code” of the Bible to us.

What I want to propose is that more fundamental than all this is simply bringing the practices of reading well to the Bible. My experience has been that there are scholars who read the scriptures poorly in spite of their scholarship (as well as those who read it well) and uneducated people who read well. So what goes into reading well:

  • Attentiveness to the text and to the literary art within it. The Bible, like any other book, conveys ideas through story, poetry, discourse and other genres and uses various literary cues to point us to meaning including repeated words, the climax of a story, the ordering of ideas, contrasts and comparisons, and figures of speech. When we read anything attentively, we pay attention to these sorts of things.
  • A willingness to suspend our judgment as far as this is possible while listening to the text and living within the story or poetry or discourse. Often this involves multiple readings and the use of imagination.
  • An awareness of the context of what is written. Outside sources can help, but often the most important contextual clues for any work can be found within the work if we are observant. One thing that is a good practice with any book is to skim first, then read closely. With the Bible, this can be a general skim of the whole to get a sense of the big story, or a skim of the particular book in which one is studying.
  • An openness to the text that involves a willingness to be engaged and transformed by what we encounter. When we are hostile, indifferent, or distrustful, it seems that our assumptions are those of suspicion rather than presuming the best.
  • Christians also believes that God provides illumination as we study scripture (and other things as well). It seems to me that it is not wrong to ask for this and to believe that if God is there, God wants to communicate meaningfully and intelligibly with us.

As I write this, I realize that this kind of reading requires mental effort. It is different from simply allowing a text to wash over me or have someone tell me what it says. I suspect that some of what motivates resorting to the “nets” of original languages and commentaries is that we buy the notion that this is a mysterious book that only experts can understand. I also suspect that sometimes, we are looking for a sure fire short cut to understanding. Actually, to really do the biblical scholarship thing right is itself a long-haul proposition and a little learning here may also be a dangerous thing. I can’t believe how many really bad readings of scripture I’ve heard that were prefaced by “the original Greek says.”

Most scholars of great literature will come back to the idea that whatever else you read, you must read and re-read these great texts and soak yourself in them. They are deep and rich with meaning that doesn’t yield itself to a quick, casual glance. And so it has been with my experience with the Bible. When I began reading it, there was much I didn’t get. But there were compelling stories, especially the various encounters Jesus had with people, poetry that gave voice to my longings for God, and instructions in the letters of Paul, John, and others that made sense.

Many who follow this blog are good readers. You know what it takes to read well. Whether you are a reader of the Bible or not, I hope you will do some reading “without a net”. And if you have the time, definitely use the resources of other scholars to enrich your reading. I just hope you won’t spend all your time in the net!

 

 

Review: Night Train to Memphis

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night trainBoth my wife and I have been great fans of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series of stories. So I was looking forward to dipping into one of the novels in this series but found myself less than engaged.

It’s not the problem of the story. Vicky Bliss, an assistant curator in the Munich National Museum is enlisted as a fill-in lecturer on a Nile cruise because of her crime-solving capabilities. There has been a murder and inklings of a heist of Egyptian antiquities. On the boat she encounters her own partner in adventure, here known as John Tregarth, but who has worked under various aliases as an art thief. He and Vicki have apparently survived numerous scrapes and developed a love interest. This explains the deep shock she experiences when John is accompanied by his mother and his new bride, Mary.

More murders and narrow escapes follow in this mystery as Vicky discovers that the object is nothing less than the theft of the tomb of Tetisheri in its entirety. Some she thinks fowl turn out to be fair, and others who seem fair, end up fowl. One of the fairest ends up the most sinister of all, and Vicky discovers how she has misjudged John. Action moves from the river cruise to a desperate flight across the desert to reach Luxor and Cairo. Vicky’s boss, Schmidt turns up and shows himself unexpectedly resourceful. [The night train to Memphis reflects an unexpected country music motif that runs through the mystery, as well as an actual train trip that was part of the climactic chase]. Yet John, Vicky, and their guide Feisal are up against criminals capable of bringing them to a harrowing end.

While I enjoyed the story, I found the central characters unattractive. Vicky strikes me as both highly capable and yet self-absorbed. John is more the figure one encounters in an espionage novel–living in a land of shades of gray, sometimes caring, sometimes ruthless, and ever the thief. The character I most enjoyed was Schmidt, who anyone would love to have as a friend. Vicky and John stood in sharp contrast, for me, to the admirable and interesting characters of Amelia and Emerson and Ramses in the Amelia Peabody stories.

I should mention that I was starting with number five in the series and I wondered whether this was part of the problem and whether I might have warmed up to these characters more had I followed them from the beginning, which I found important in the Amelia Peabody series. Peters’ story telling ability and the settings of her stories might incline me to pick up the first novel in the series to give these characters one more chance. Who knows, if I get back to number five, this novel, I might have a different take.

No Wine Before Its Time

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By Sujit kumar (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Sujit kumar (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

“We will sell no wine before its time” was a famous tag line from a series of commercials featuring Orson Welles in the 1970s. There were a number of “untimely” occurrences in the wedding at Cana incident where Jesus turns water into wine, which we considered this past Sunday in our pastor’s message on John 2:1-12:

  • The wedding wine was running out, an embarrassment to the bridegroom and his family.
  • When Jesus’s mother tells him about the problem, he responds, “my hour has not yet come.”
  • Mom ignores Jesus’s words and tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says.
  • Jesus tells the servants to fill up six 20-30 gallon containers used for hand washing with clean water and then take some to the banquet master.
  • The banquet master upbraids the bridegroom for his “untimely” saving of the best wine for last.

So what time is it when Jesus does these kinds of things at a wedding? What most impressed me was that turning ceremonial cleansing water to wine is considered the first of seven signs John records to point us to how Jesus will give life to those who put their trust in him. The question is: what is the reality toward which this sign points?

The ceremonial water pointed toward the Jews awareness that they were a people set apart by God and that they were to live this in all of life. Cleanliness really was next to godliness for these people–it represented outwardly what they wanted to be true inwardly–to be a people for God, to worship God in community with all the others who share in this solemn promise called a covenant.

The problem with washing your hands is that you have to do it over and over again–and cleaning up my outsides doesn’t necessarily clean up my insides. And this is the wonder of what Jesus signifies in this sign–that he is the giver of the new wine that replaces the ceremonial water. We drink of him and it transforms us from the inside out.

But wine does something more. As Psalm 104:15 says, “Wine gladdens the heart.” The wine Jesus gives replaces ritual adherence with the joy and celebration of the bridegroom who has come!

There is one other element of “time” to consider here–Jesus’s statement that his hour had not yet come. What’s that all about? It seems that what Jesus is acknowledging to his mother is that it is not yet time for him to die for the sins of the world and that what she is asking will actually put him on the path that ends at the cross. The sign of wine reminds us of the cup we drink in communion that signifies and ushers us into the blood-bought intimacy with God we enjoy.

Rich concluded with a question and statement that I am pondering this week.

The question: Do we drink deeply of Jesus?

The statement: Most often, what we need most of Jesus is Jesus himself.

This challenges me in the busyness of life, and even my “religious” busyness–am I still over at water jugs washing my hands or even fretting about all the things “running out” in my life? Or am I coming with all this to drink deeply of the wine of Jesus? How about you?