Sunday, October 06, 2024

Still, Still with Thee

264 Still, Still with Thee

1 Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
   When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
   Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
   Dawns the sweet consciousness I am with Thee.

2 Alone with Thee amid the mystic shadows,
   The solemn hush of nature newly born;
   Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
   In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

3 Still, still with Thee! as to each newborn morning
   A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,
   So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,
   Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.

4 When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
   Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;
   Sweet the repose beneath Thy wings o'ershading,
   But sweeter still, to wake and find Thee there.

5 So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,
   When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;
   O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,
   Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.
                         Harriet B. Stowe
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Yes, that Harriett (Beecher) Stowe, the one who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. According to the biography linked above, she wrote about 30 books, plus numerous pamphlets and more than a few hymns.

That being said, I don't recall ever singing this one. And it isn't a terribly common hymn, only occurring in around 350 hymnals. It is her most popular hymn.
</idle musing>

Friday, October 04, 2024

Things and power

In this premodern, enchanted universe, it was also assumed that power resided in things, which is precisely why things like relics or the Host could be invested with spiritual power. As a result, “in the enchanted world, the line between personal agency and impersonal force was not at all clearly drawn” (p. 32). There is a kind of blurring of boundaries so that it is not only personal agents that have causal power (p. 35). Things can do stuff.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 29 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
And what makes you think that they don't? It's a widespread belief, rearing its head in the Bible and throughout the ancient world. There's a marvelous book on it, sadly now out of print, that I've excerpted from in the past: Barbara Nevling Porter, ed., What Is a God?

The world is an enchanted place, if only we would take off our materialistic glasses (I mean philosophically materialistic—that the physically visible world is all there is). The mystics know that, and the two-thirds world knows it. But we've lost touch with it. And that's what this book is all about…

Just an
</idle musing>

Thursday, October 03, 2024

It's the story

Taylor seems to recognize that we are “narrative animals”: we define who we are, and what we ought to do, on the basis of what story we see ourselves in.—James K. A. SmithHow (Not) to Be Secular, 25

<idle musing>
Today we begin a new book. For years I've been meaning to read Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, but the shear size of it was offputting to me. So, I decided I would do a no-no: I'm reading a distillation of it.

The goal is to learn enough about the book to motivate me to finally pick it up and read it. But at almost 900 pages—well that's a major time commitment!
</idle musing>

Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Complete collapse

Broadly speaking, the collapse of the Assyrian Empire was one of the most sudden and absolute in history: some provinces were already in a state of profound crisis while others retained a measure of vitality, but Assyria itself suffered a vertical crash. The most densely urbanized and populated region, the great cities, and the infrastructure of irrigation were all transformed into a desert. The process common to other empires, which after their collapse survive as “commonwealths”— that is, as cultural, linguistic and religious communities—does not apply to Assyria.—Mario Liverani, Assyria: The Imperial Mission, 258

<idle musing>
That's it for this book. It really is a great book, but it didn't lend itself well to extractions. I highly recommend it for understanding how empires, not just the Assyrian one, work.

Not sure what I'll be excerpting from next. I've been reading Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular as well as Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah. Oh, and at the local bookstore, I picked up a used copy of Malcolm Gladwell, What the Dog Saw, but that doesn't lend itself well to excerpting, so it probably won't show up here.

As if that weren't enough, I checked out of the library the third book of the Wingfeather Saga. I read the first two way back in 2020 during Covid on the recommendation of a friend. Delightful books, but I got sidetracked and am only now coming back to finish the series. And, I'm editing a few books. Most of the summer was spent editing the forthcoming Eerdmans NICOT volume on Daniel 1–6. It's a monster at around 400K words! Between that and the garden, it's been a pretty busy summer. But, with the garden winding down, I'm looking forward to more reading time. We'll see how that works out : )
</idle musing>

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

The word games we play to look good…

In the imagination of the western world, there is now a tidy distinction between the “Asiatic” empires—still definable as such, because they remain territorial, compact, bellicose, aggressive, despotic, and fundamentalist—and the western ones, which are not considered true empires because they are flexible, delocalized, peaceful, secular, progressive, enlightened, commercial, and now financial. The term “empire” is reserved for those we do not like, our adversaries, and nobody would apply it to themselves or take pride in such a label. While empires in the first category can be described as “empires of evil,” there is no corresponding expression denoting “good empires” to describe those in the second category. The “holy war,” the jihad, is a threat to humanity, but a Crusade is merely a figure of speech. Perhaps nothing expresses this duality better than the original “Star Wars” trilogy (produced between 1977 and 1983, during the Cold War), in which the empire is evil, aggressive, and impenetrable, and its soldiers are faceless and armored like ancient warriors—while “we” are a confederation, a flexible and vibrant international alliance that fights for good and for the salvation of humanity. Moreover, post-imperialistic historiography stresses intercultural phenomena such as assimilation and emulation, rather than those associated with conquest pure and simple.—Mario Liverani, Assyria: The Imperial Mission, 253

Tozer for Tuesday

People do not like the word “mystery,” but it is a good Bible word, and it is a word we ought to learn to live with. For the world—everything round about us—is shrouded in mystery.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 180

Be Thou My Vision

256 Be Thou My Vision

1. Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
   Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
   Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
   Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

2. Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
   I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
   Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
   Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

3. Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
   Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
   Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
   High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

4. High King of Heaven, my victory won,
   May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
   Heart of my own heart, whate’er befall,
   Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
                         Ancient Irish
                         Trans. by Mary E. Byrne
                         Versed by Eleanor H. Hull
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
This is one of my favorite hymns, so I was very surprised to see that it only occurs in a little more than 150 hymnals. The Methodist hymnal also excised the third verse:

3. Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
   Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
   Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
   Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
We know nothing about the versifier, sadly, and precious little about the translator. Apparently, this is the only thing she translated.
</idle musing>

Monday, September 30, 2024

Thought for the day

Orwell’s observation clearly expresses the fundamental intentions and modalities of political communication. “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”George Orwell, A Collection of Essays (Doubleday, 1954), 177. Quoted in Assyria: The Imperial Mission, 242.

Jesus, My Strength, My Hope

253 Jesus, My Strength, My Hope

1 Jesus, my strength, my hope,
   On Thee I cast my care,
   With humble confidence look up,
   And know Thou hear’st my prayer.
   Give me on Thee to wait,
   Till I can all things do;
   On Thee, almighty to create,
   Almighty to renew.

2 I want a sober mind,
   A self-renouncing will,
   That tramples down and casts behind
   The baits of pleasing ill;
   A soul inured to pain,
   To hardship, grief, and loss,
   Bold to take up, firm to sustain,
   The consecrated cross.

3 I want a godly fear,
   A quick-discerning eye,
   That looks to Thee when sin is near,
   And bids the tempter fly;
   A spirit still prepared,
   And armed with jealous care,
   Forever standing on its guard,
   And watching unto prayer.

4 I want a true regard,
   A single, steady aim,
   Unmoved by threatening or reward,
   To Thee and Thy great name;
   A jealous, just concern
   For thine, immortal praise;
   A pure desire that all my learn
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Cyberhymnal.org adds the following verses:

4. I want a heart to pray,
   To pray and never cease,
   Never to murmur at Thy stay,
   Or wish my sufferings less.
   This blessing, above all,
   Always to pray, I want,
   Out of the deep on Thee to call,
   And never, never faint.

6. I rest upon Thy Word;
   The promise is for me;
   My comfort and salvation, Lord,
   Shall surely come from Thee.
   But let me still abide,
   Nor from my hope remove,
   Till Thou my patient spirit guide
   Into Thy perfect love.

7. I want with all my heart
   Thy pleasure to fulfill,
   To know myself, and what Thou art,
   And what Thy perfect will.
   I want I know not what,
   I want my wants to see,
   I want—alas! what want I not,
   When Thou art not in me?

</idle musing>

Friday, September 27, 2024

Cynical? Maybe…

The slogan “Exporting Democracy” summarizes the political mission of American imperialism during the presidency of Bush the elder. This slogan justifies political-military intervention against regimes that do not govern through a parliamentary structure. A preference for democracy over absolutism or “despotism” (seen as a relic of the past) is self-evident in the post-Enlightenment West but is by no means easily transposed to the Orient, where autocratic governments are not imposed from above; such governments are instead supported by much of the population, and tentative steps towards democratization are either taken in the name of religion (as at the end of the Pahlavi monarchy in Iran) or prompted by the armed forces (as in Kemalist Turkey). Moreover, the formula of “exportation” is itself strongly associated with its commercial origins and connotations and leads unfailingly to the idea that financial interests and commercial profits inform the American mission.—Mario Liverani, Assyria: The Imperial Mission, 157

Awake, My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve

249 Awake, My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve

1 Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve,
   And press with vigor on;
   A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
   And an immortal crown.
   And an immortal crown.

2 A cloud of witnesses around
   Hold thee in full survey;
   Forget the steps already trod,
   And onward urge thy way.
   And onward urge thy way.

3 'Tis God's all-animating voice
   That calls thee from on high;
   'Tis His own hand presents the prize
   To thine aspiring eye.
   To thine aspiring eye.

4 Blest Savior, introduced by Thee,
   Have I my race begun;
   And crowned with victory at Thy feet
   I'll lay my honors down.
   I'll lay my honors down.
                         Philip Doddridge
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Although I don't recall ever singing this hymn, it appears to be quite popular, occurring in over a thousand hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

4 That prize, with peerless glories bright,
   Which shall new lustre boast
   When victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems
   Shall blend in common dust.
</idle musing>