Monthly Archives: January 2013

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Elea Lee's avataretiology

Mark 3:11-19,27 (NIV)
Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was. [13] Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. [14] He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach [15] and to have authority to drive out demons. [16] These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); [17] James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); [18] Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. [27] In fact, no one can enter a strong…

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Daemons, spirits oracles and messengers

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We have lost our history of words. The word demon comes from Latin which comes from Greek which is linked to Hebrew concepts of spirits, messengers, idols, and gods.

Socrates wrote about having a guiding spirit which counseled him. Plato discussed these spirit entities with a secular focus.

We moderns are uncomfortable with the idea–an invisible world of possibly invasive personalities?

The English translation of the Bible draws clear lines between angels (malak messenger) and demon (daemon spirit, idol).

Do we think that in our material world these have dissipated like a primordial mist?

Or are they still there? Trapped unless we listen? Perhaps we need to revisit Socrates and look closely at the way evil moves in the world. And good as well, depending on the power of the voices in our heads?

Preparing for the zombie apocalypse through Bible study?!

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Mark 3:10-12 (NIV)
For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. [11] Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

First we see people with problems just like ours pressing toward him. He can heal them. So far sounds good…

Then things get weird.

Whenever the evil spirits saw him? What evil spirits? Whose eyes? When Mark says,

they fell down before him

it seems clear they are inhabiting bodies. Huh. Already in Mark we see demons in church and at public events, now they pop up at flash mob.

How did they get where they were? Where were they headed? How did they feel about Jesus?

Jesus was the penicillin for their infection. They couldn’t have been fond of him, but their reaction is worth noting–they bowed and acknowledged his deity.

They did not have a choice. He was God.

There is a time in his story where they might have thought he had been beaten–the Cross.

But even then in the mystery of death spent for us, I think they knew. That he alone could not be beaten.

Mark, the Gospel

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Mark 2:21-22 (NIV)
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. [22] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

Pretend you were in a secret club.
The rules weren’t secret.
The membership was deceptively open.
But it was still a secret club.
Because it was a club for losers, villains, fools and children….
And only the last group would make it, their faces smudged with joy and perhaps some finger paint.
They would come bursting through the gates of heaven
Laughing
Unconcerned about whether they had conquered Europe or won at scrabble

Never, never forget. This parable is a test. Always a test of love.

Losing Sleep

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The Dragon and the Nanny Goat did not take long to realize that this baby was going to be a game-changer.

The Mama Dragon’s already blood-shot eyes had a weary quality about them as she woke frequently to feed her hungry little charge. He ate constantly! She got nothing done!. What would she do without Nanny?! Nanny came by each days and fed the little one while mama rested, concocting nourishing soups for Mama and either nursing him herself or feeding him through a clever milk-skin pouch.

Whenever Dragon bemoaned her loss of freedom and flight time, Nanny gently shook her head and tutted–oh, dearie, they are but babes for the blink of an eye. You must snuggle them good and feed them up, because before we know it this little fella will be a strapping man with a man’s voice and a man’s armor.

Or she would just coo over his dumpling cheeks, his beautiful round little knees and dimpled smile.

The Author Begins…

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C’mon, said Cowboy, our favorite show, Truck Pull and Lobster Dance is on.
Honey barely heard him. She was transfixed by the illustrations in the odd little book. It was not immediately apparent who was writing the book or who was the intended audience, other than that both appeared to be parents or adoptive parents of some sort.

The prose swung between terse and floral. One page had a step by step guide to nursing and the next had a lullaby about a mother rocking her child during a storm.

Sometimes it did not seem like either the author or the reader was assumed to be human. There were, after all, ornate illustrations of a dragon in a floral apron with a fat little baby in her stubby forearms. His stubby forearms?

And sometimes the dragon was visited by a nanny goat.

All very strange….

Treasure in the snow

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Cowboy and Honey Bunch trudged through the snow. They had a couple bags of groceries nestled in their arms. HB was still quite rotund with child and chafing for a delivery process that would be a bit more challenging than cable tv.

A bit of gold glinted in the driven snow. Cowboy pulled at the corner of a gilded manuscript. It said Nurturing Sunshine in ornate calligraphy on its cover.

Hey! This looks valuable, he said. I wonder if it got lost or stolen from the university library? Or maybe the Jesuits, mused Honey.

I bet it is valuable. They said together. Jinx! Shouted Honey. Cowboy squinted at her with annoyance until she laughingly said his name. Strange that the big rules of the universe were made to be broken, but jinx was sacrosanct.

Something about the book drew Honey. She knew they needed money, but she did not want to let this book go right away. It looked magical.

It’s so cold, she pouted. I want to go home. Let’s read it first, we can take it to E-Z Cash later.

Cowboy grudgingly agreed.

When they got home and began to unthaw Honey Bunch gingerly opened. The book. It’s lettering was ornate and there were a lot of cherub-y illustrations but the book seemed to be a book of lists interspersed with stories. The stories had intricate little illustrations. The lists seemed surprisingly bossy.