Friday, September 28, 2007 at 2:02am
Wind and waves
Column: Interesting Times
A great calm; how did he do it? What did Jesus say when, on a ship in the midst of a storm, he rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39)? Who was he talking to when he said, "Peace, be still" and the wind ceased? In the midst of hurricanes, wars, rumors of wars, "Peace, be still" is the heart's cry.
Peace, and a great calm, were the hallmarks of the impending birth of Jesus. Peace and a great calm resonated not only at that moment in the ship when his fellow travelers woke him from a sleep: "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we are going to drown?" but from the moment of his human birth. It is as if all senses were silenced and Soul/God alone spoke. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-12 sets the tone that resonates to all people through all time. Peace is the promise.
The priceless demonstrations of Jesus' ministry, if we believe in him the Master says, are to be repeated and surpassed by each of us in our time (John 14:12).
So where do we start if we need to calm the storms of our lives or the world? Who can calm Iraq?
Genesis posits: "When God began to create heaven and earth — the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water — God said, 'Let there be Light; and there was light'" (Tanakh). The Hebrew contains in the first sentence elements of Creation as unified — the Hebrew poetic with Creation ever-appearing — God is the Creator, and there is no Creation without God. It's the starting point.
The Psalmist picked up the theme of God as sweeping over the water, saying: "It was You who drove back the sea with Your might, who smashed the heads of the monsters in the waters; it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan, who left him as food for the creatures of the wilderness" (74:13-14 JPS edition). Some interpreters suggest that Leviathan is a symbol of humankind in opposition to God, claiming that it and beasts mentioned in the books of Daniel and Revelation should be interpreted as metaphors. The word "Leviathan" to the ancient Jews became synonymous with that which warred against God's kingdom (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, 1985, SP Publications Inc.). The Voice of God speaks of the tongue of Leviathan to Job in Chapter 41 of that book. "Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?' And, "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment" (Job 41:1, 31). That is not peace.
Peace, that native and original condition of man, the peace that Jesus was enjoying napping in the ship while the others aboard were experiencing wind and waves, fear and self-pity, is the lawful order of Creation. The wind and the sea obey the laws of Creation, and that which disrupts God's kingdom must be silent. Not just silent but actually unable to speak. "Peace, or siwpavw (transliterated "see-o-pah'-o") in the Greek lexicon is defined as: to be silent, hold one's peace, used of one's silence because dumb and, metaphor: of a calm, quiet sea." Parallel versions of this account of Jesus and the great calm are also found in Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25, where "the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"
The turbulent tempest, perhaps the seeming evidence of opposition to God characterized by the Leviathan that seemingly dwells in the deep, hidden from plain view but stirring up trouble, was stilled. The need to do the same goes on today.
— — —
Lynne Bundesen is the author of five books on religion and was adjunct professor at the Boston Theological Institute under a Templeton Science and Religion Grant. She is currently the spiritual expert for the physical and spiritual health website of Dr. Andrew Weil. Her book "The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture" was just published. Her email address is {email lynnebundesen@hotmail.com}lynnebundesen@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Lynne Bundesen.
Peace, and a great calm, were the hallmarks of the impending birth of Jesus. Peace and a great calm resonated not only at that moment in the ship when his fellow travelers woke him from a sleep: "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we are going to drown?" but from the moment of his human birth. It is as if all senses were silenced and Soul/God alone spoke. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-12 sets the tone that resonates to all people through all time. Peace is the promise.
The priceless demonstrations of Jesus' ministry, if we believe in him the Master says, are to be repeated and surpassed by each of us in our time (John 14:12).
So where do we start if we need to calm the storms of our lives or the world? Who can calm Iraq?
Genesis posits: "When God began to create heaven and earth — the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water — God said, 'Let there be Light; and there was light'" (Tanakh). The Hebrew contains in the first sentence elements of Creation as unified — the Hebrew poetic with Creation ever-appearing — God is the Creator, and there is no Creation without God. It's the starting point.
The Psalmist picked up the theme of God as sweeping over the water, saying: "It was You who drove back the sea with Your might, who smashed the heads of the monsters in the waters; it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan, who left him as food for the creatures of the wilderness" (74:13-14 JPS edition). Some interpreters suggest that Leviathan is a symbol of humankind in opposition to God, claiming that it and beasts mentioned in the books of Daniel and Revelation should be interpreted as metaphors. The word "Leviathan" to the ancient Jews became synonymous with that which warred against God's kingdom (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, 1985, SP Publications Inc.). The Voice of God speaks of the tongue of Leviathan to Job in Chapter 41 of that book. "Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?' And, "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment" (Job 41:1, 31). That is not peace.
Peace, that native and original condition of man, the peace that Jesus was enjoying napping in the ship while the others aboard were experiencing wind and waves, fear and self-pity, is the lawful order of Creation. The wind and the sea obey the laws of Creation, and that which disrupts God's kingdom must be silent. Not just silent but actually unable to speak. "Peace, or siwpavw (transliterated "see-o-pah'-o") in the Greek lexicon is defined as: to be silent, hold one's peace, used of one's silence because dumb and, metaphor: of a calm, quiet sea." Parallel versions of this account of Jesus and the great calm are also found in Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25, where "the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"
The turbulent tempest, perhaps the seeming evidence of opposition to God characterized by the Leviathan that seemingly dwells in the deep, hidden from plain view but stirring up trouble, was stilled. The need to do the same goes on today.
— — —
Lynne Bundesen is the author of five books on religion and was adjunct professor at the Boston Theological Institute under a Templeton Science and Religion Grant. She is currently the spiritual expert for the physical and spiritual health website of Dr. Andrew Weil. Her book "The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture" was just published. Her email address is {email lynnebundesen@hotmail.com}lynnebundesen@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Lynne Bundesen.