Sword in the Fire

St. Ephrem's The Pearl 3:5 Who would give a pearl to the daughter of the poor? For when it hangs on her, it becomes her not. Gain without price that faith, all of which becomes all the limbs of men. But for no gold would a lady exchange her pearl. It were a great disgrace  If thou shouldst throw thy pearl away into the mire for nought! In the pearl of time Let us behold that of eternity; For it is in the purse, or in the seal, or in the treasury. Within the gate there are other gates with their locks and keys. Thy pearl hath the High One sealed up as taking account of all.

Othniel, the first judge, presents an uneventful story, at least compared with later judges Gideon and Samson, especially considering his backstory in the previous chapters.  With family like Caleb , and the support of his wife Achsah , the anticipation of greatness disappears in a whisper. Yet, he is faithful, he delivers, he rescues his people from the bondage of their idolatry.   Othniel may not have an impressive story, but a phrase, stinging with truth, is injected into the account, describing the heart of his people, the book's people, even our people--"they forgot the Lord."   Could anything be a more damning accusation?  God has delivered their forbears from the greatest power of the ancient by drowning the king and his army in the same waters that were their way of escape; He rescued them from thirst and starvation by pouring water from rocks and raining bread from heaven; He marched them into their Promised Land, parting waters once again, giving them v...

The Forge 1.4.12 Several years ago, while working on the Orthodox Study Bible project, I met Stephen Holley.  Since then he has been ordained a deacon as well as writes and speaks on Marital and Pre-Marital topics.  He has finally entered the blogging fray.  Here is the link to this new blog:   Deacon Stephen Muses , and I have also added it as a link on my blogroll.   I love Ancient Faith Radio.  I spend so much time in my, it has become a constant companion.  I recently discovered Fr. Thomas Hopko's reflections on the liturgy called  Worship in Spirit and Truth , and I am working my way through the series.  These are excellent reflections on the Bible and Liturgy.   Here's another book recommendation, The  Gospel According to Moses,  , by Evangelical author Athol Dickson.  This recounts his friendship with a devout Jew, and how this relationship deepened his understanding of the Old Testament, and surprisingly wi...

2012 is here, and according to some (the Mayans), it may be our last.  Just like any apocalyptic, wait for the crazies to start coming out of the woodwork near the 4th quarter of this year.   2011 was the year I resurrected the blog, and committed to be consistent.  My book was published, and hopefully it will do well enough for another shot.   Much of what I write is based on what I get to teach in our Adult Sunday School class, but every once in a while I venture off the reservation for reflections, rants, and ramblings.   Thank you to Ad Orientem and St. James Kids for adding me to your blogroll, it brought me more new readers than I could have found on mine own.   Here are the top ten most popular posts for the year: 1.   Track 4: Unexpected Victory   This keeps showing up near the top and is a surprise every month.  Just like number 2 in the list, it is part of the series on the reflection of the 9 Biblical ...

St. Ephrem's The Pearl 3:4 There are in the sea diverse fish of many cubits, And with all their greatness they are very small; But by thy littleness the crown is made great, Like as the Son, by whose littleness Adam was made great. For the head is thy crown intended: For the eye thy beauty, For the ear thy goodliness. Come up from the sea, thou neighbour to the dry land, And come and sojourn by the [seat of] hearing. Let the ear love the word of life as it loveth thee! In the ear is the word, And without it is the pearl. Let it as being warned by thee, By thee get wisdom, and be warned by the word of truth. Be thou its mirror: The beauty of the Word in thine own beauty shall it see: In thee it shall learn how precious is the Word on High! The ear is the leaf: The flesh is the tree, And thou in the midst of it are a fruit of light, And to the womb that brings forth Light, Thou art a type that points. Thee He used as a parable of that kingdom, O pearl! ...

The Old Testament is a huge book and as a teacher I am constantly looking for tips and tricks to help the layperson sort all these pieces together.  It covers 2000+ years of recorded history, and is written by at least 40 different people.  Sometimes you need mental pegs to hold all the material.  Without a knowledge of the OT, it really makes the New Testament more confusing.   One resource I have used again and again is 10 keys dates to help put everything into context.  You can fit everything into this historical framework.   2000  Abraham 1500  Exodus 1000  David/Solomon/Division 720    Israel Falls to Assyria 600    Judah Falls to Babylon 530    Exiles Return 300    Greek Rule 160    Maccabees 60      Roman Rule 4BC    Birth of Christ Granted, most of these dates are rounded off, but it sure makes it easie...

If you have any money left over from Christmas, then here's a book suggestion.   Fr. Andrew Damick's Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy .  It's an excellent summary of the every conceivable variation of Christianity and other world religions in comparison with Orthodoxy.  It is well-written and you don't need a seminary education to understand. I would easily recommend this book to any high-school or college student trying to understand their faith.   Have you heard the theory about the date of Christmas?  That Christians co-opted a pagan festival for their own purposes.  Here's a great article questioning that popular notion:   Calculating Christmas Even if we did adopt a pagan celebration, this article  artistically says "So What", and proclaims that " Christmas means that the unconquerable god of the Romans just got conquered. A pagan Roman holiday just got stuffed with more Christianity than a December Turkey stuffed with spiced bread crumbs." ...