Genesis Notes: Intimidation

GENESIS 3:1-3
To me a serpent is a serpent is a snake. But that is not the case in Genesis. I knew the serpent had a way with words but I never considered that part of his power of persuasion might have been a fearsome appearance or the fact that he directly bypassed the chain of command to strike at a weak link.

A 17th-century carved depiction of the serpent in the Book of Genesis,
Stokesay Castle, taken by Nick Hubbard

The serpent is "that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." He is described as a great red dragon, with seven crowned heads and ten horns. In the heavenly vision from Revelation, the crowns and horns represent his tremendous power-he is a creature that strikes fear and dread into the souls of mere men. There are several treacherous or intimidating elements in this scene. To begin with, the serpent’s appearance is frightening. Even if he did not appear as the dragon of Revelation, it was certainly not as a common snake. In Hebrew the same word is used for serpent and dragon. It was a frightening figure in Hebrew thought. If you can’t imagine a dragon, picture a coiled rattlesnake, ready to strike.

Apart from his appearance, the serpent’s presence is intimidating: where did this creature come from? He also is treacherous in his words: he contradicts the only source of knowledge Adam and Eve have, the Creator they know as Father who has been nothing but good to them. And he is intimidating in his method: the snake, as one of the beasts, is presumably under Adam’s dominion. Yet here he is presenting himself as a creature with superior knowledge and information. Not only that, he completely by-passes Adam, who was in charge of the garden, speaking instead to Eve. He appears to be no respecter of authority-a usurper, in fact. Suddenly, things are not as they had seemed.

Genesis Part 1: God and His Creation

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Look What Mom Made Me!

A good mother knows what her child loves. In this case favorite books and my beloved podcast. And I've got a good mother! Of course!

Well Said: God's Perfect Vision of the Heart of a Man

God does not choose the way of open confrontation or aggressive polemics: his ultimate triumph springs from his wisdom, from his intimate knowledge of what lies at the bottom of things, from his perfect vision of what is contained in the heart of a man, which is what will determine the end of that man. And we ourselves, who are that man, will be saved only insofar as we begin to participate little by little, thanks to grace, in the vision of love and justice that God has of things. This is the only way of making our heart, sinful like Herod's, and our existence, destined for death like Herod's, migrate to that dimension where the life of God becomes our own sanctity and where the eternity of God becomes our own immortality.

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word

Worth a Thousand Words: Portrait of the Artist's Mother

Portrait of the Artist's Mother (Rose Paxton), 1902, William McGregor Paxton

Well Said: What Am I in Search Of?

What am I in search of? The only worthwhile search is one that opens us out to realities not produced by the self. Why search at all if all one seeks is a confirmation of age-old internal prejudices? If one searches for Christ—the Truth, the Light, the Beauty—in the world or in heaven "in order to destroy him", not to adore him and love him, but manipulate and conform him to our desires, it would have been better to have remained at the level of an idiocy that does not search at all. Not every search is laudable.

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis,
Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word

The Third Most Important Day of the Year! My Birthday!

I say this every year, but that's just because it is always true. First is Easter, then is Christmas, then is ... my birthday!

Some people ignore their birthdays or don't want much fuss made. Not me. Everyone in the household knows it too. (To be fair, they all regard their birthdays to be the third most important day of the year.)

You notice that only Jesus trumps this day for me ... so then imagine the place He holds to overcome a lifetime of "most important day of the year" before I became Christian.

Hannah showed the proper spirit years ago when she was filling out a job application on Sunday and asked me what the date was. Then she answered her own question with, "Oh, wait. It must be the 22nd because I know Wednesday is the 25th." Yep, just like Christmas. All other dates are figured around this one.

Tom and I tried a French bistro last week for our anniversary. I liked it so much that we're going back again for this celebration. No birthday cake this year. I'd been thinking of making a Chocolate Mint Cake but there it would be just too heavy after French food. So we'll enjoy the restaurant's offerings which are, of course, perfect followups to French cuisine. Dark Chocolate Mousse, Profiteroles, Creme Brulee... mmmmm.

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It is also the Venerable Bede's saint day which is also very cool. What better connection than someone who is always linked with books, reading, and writing?

Also, just last week I picked up a tip from him which has proven invaluable to get me to follow through on the Daily Examen every night. "Prayer is a discipline." Oh, yeah. I always feel as if it should just flow naturally and if I'm not in the mood, well, you know ... God will forgive me. No — this is like exercise. Do it whether you feel like it or not.

You will never read a better death than that of the Venerable Bede.

On the Tuesday before Ascension Day he was decidedly worse : a swelling appeared in his feet. Nevertheless he continued to dictate cheerfully, begging his scribe to write quickly, for he did not know how long he might last, or when it might please his Maker to take him. That night he lay awake, giving thanks alway. The next morning he urged the brethren to finish writing what they had begun, and when that was done, at nine o'clock, they walked in procession with the relics of the Saints the origin of our "perambulation day," according to the custom of the time. One stayed with him while the others were thus engaged, and after a time reminded him that there was still a chapter to finish, would it weary him to be consulted about it?" Get out your pen and ink," was Bede's reply, " and write fast, it is no trouble to me."

[...]

Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth," Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath.

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Also I love the fact that this is also St. (Padre) Pio's birthday. I still remember the sense of joy and light-heartedness that I received while reading a biography of him. It was a photo of him with his head thrown back laughing that first made me notice him. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to..."

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

Well Said: Making Progress by Love

Faith is love that believes. Hope is love that expects. Adoration is love that worships. Prayer is love that petitions. Mercy is love that pardons. Charity is love that sacrifices itself. Mortification is love that immolates self. We can make more progress in one year by love than we could in ten through fear.

Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

via A Year with Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi

Worth a Thousand Words: Crystal Cherries

Crystal Cherries, James Neil Hollingsworth

Genesis Notes: The Creation of the Garden

Marie Beloux-Hodieux, Still Life with Basket of Flowers
via French Painters

GENESIS 2:8-17
Again, reading the information imparted by details makes me understand that I have not slowed down or given enough thought in the past to exactly what was being communicated. Did I notice that Adam was to till the land? Yes. Did I ever think about the implications of that statement? Of course not but perhaps this is my wake-up call to do a little more thinking when reading the Bible. There is a connection between this ancient story and the details of our every day lives that is undeniable. Except where noted otherwise, all excerpts come from Genesis Part 1: God and His Creation.

SENSUOUS BEAUTY
The garden was full of trees pleasing to the sight and taste. In other words, not only was man provided with what he needed, but he was also surrounded by sensuous beauty. The presence of unutterable beauty in the place where God meets man continued in the worship of Israel. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered in gold and heavenly sculptures (see Ex. 25:10-22). The vestments of the High Priest were studded with gems so that when he went into the Holy of Holies on behalf of the people, he was arrayed in "beauty and glory" (see Ex. 28:40). The Church's tradition of exquisite beauty in her architecture and art continue what we see here in Genesis. God intends for man to experience beauty in His presence. As St. Thomas Aquinas taught, man's senses are ordered to beauty.

TREE OF LIFE
The "tree of life" grew fruit that imparted life. Something man ate would enable him to live forever (see Gen. 3:22). It is the first occasion of a natural element signifying and making present a grace from God, immortality. We call these "sacraments." Understanding this scene prepares us to understand what Jesus said to His disciples in John 6:51: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever."

The Complete Bible Handbook gives a fascinating overview of the symbolism of the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life, or the Cosmic Tree, is a symbol common in many ancient religions. In Judaism it is associated with the almond tree; the almond was used as the pattern for the cups, capitals, and flowers of the menorah. In the Bible it appears not only in the Adam and Eve story, but in the New Testament. The cross is associated with the tree of Life, mentioned again in Revelation (22:2). The Tree of Life stood at the center of the world (the Garden of Eden), and Christ's Crucifixion is said to have happened at the center of the world. The two trees of Eden (Life and Knowledge) are also reflected in ancient Babylonian religion -- the Tree of Truth and the Tree of Life, which stood at the eastern entry to the Babylonian heaven.

WORK
Mankind was not created simply to enjoy creation but to take care of it and work it, to make it productive. In the Garden, work was not a curse before the Fall. Sharing in God's work is one way in which we live in His image. At this point in Genesis, according to the Catechism, "work is not yet a burden, but rather the collaboration [co-labor-ation] of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible creation." (378)

FORESHADOWING
The need to keep or "guard" the garden makes one ask, "against what?" After all, this is Paradise, is it not? And haven't we just seen that God called all creation "very good?" This is a detail that should leave us on alert.

LEARNING THROUGH EXPERIENCE
Adam's not finding a suitable helper among the animals is for his own benefit. He will know from his own experience that while he is like the beasts of the field in many ways, he is different and set apart from them. What he needs in his helper is one equal to himself. Notice here that this kind of knowledge is something Adam reaches through his own experience. It is different from the knowledge that is revealed to him by God. God told him what to eat and what not to eat in the garden. It wasn't left up to him. Man's knowledge in the Garden was of two types: one was revealed knowledge and the other was knowledge obtained through experience and reason.

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler by Mark Riebling

Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler 

by Mark Riebling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When the pope arose the next morning, he had made up his mind. He would engage the German military resistance and encourage a conservative counterrevolution. He would serve as secret foreign agent for the resistance—presenting and guaranteeing its plans to the British. He would partner with the generals not just to stop the war, but to eliminate Nazism by removing Hitler.

Right after WWII, the Soviets began a misinformation campaign claiming Pope Pius XII supported the Nazi regime. Jewish praise and testimony squashed that early effort, but it has been popping up ever since, from various anti-Catholic sources. Many historians have defended the pope but somehow what grabs the headlines is always the sensational anti-Catholicism which keeps rearing its head.

Church of Spies ably defends Pope Pius with an action-packed story and over 100 pages of footnotes and sources from recently uncovered documents.  Let's say right up front that author Mark Riebling is not a Catholic, in fact is a fallen-away Catholic, so he's speaking from a purely historical standpoint which I appreciate. He's got no axe to grind other than reporting history properly.

We learn that Pope Pius provided an incomparable network for passing information from deep within the German government to Britain and America. Simultaneously, the information gatherers became conspirators who vowed to take action themselves. With the pope's approval.

As a reader, the best part is that this reads like a spy thriller, from the beginning where the pope has the Papal Library wired with the best surveillance technology of the time to the end where we see conspirators stage a daring prison break in the Alps. In between, there were Jesuits with guns, double agents, incriminating notes swallowed,  escapes across rooftops, notes passed through prison laundries, and much more. This is all intercut with Hitler's real time actions which lends context and immediacy to the story.

I also found it very uplifting. Whether Catholic or not (Dietrich Bonhoeffer was among their number), these men were willing to sacrifice themselves to save others and stop evil. Some of the examples in the personal stories have inspired me since I read them. Church of Spies is a story that resonates in our own time as well as providing us with heroes for WWII.

They had found many compromising documents in the army safe at Zossen. Müller might as well consider himself a dead man.

Müller said evenly that he could accept that. Death meant "just a passage from this life to the next," Sonderegger later quoted him as saying. Sonderegger asked Müller whether he prayed. Müller said he did. Did he pray for the SS, too? Sonderegger asked. Müller said yes, he prayed for his enemies most of all.

Sonderegger fell quiet for a moment. Then, saying he would return "in three minutes," he put a sheet of paper on the table. ...

This book should lay to rest any questions of Pius XXII being "Hitler's Pope." Hitler knew to fear the Church's opposition. Now the story has been thoroughly and thrillingly told. The record is finally set straight.

It would make an exhilarating mini-series! C'mon Amazon ... Netflix ... HBO ... even regular network TV!

Well Said: Always and Instinctively Turning to God

Here [Robert Bellarmine] inspires readers with a reflection on verse one of Psalm 91, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High":

Notice that what is said is not "he who trusts" ... but "he who dwells." This is to convince us that we are not to fly to the divine protection as men do to a tree or a doorway when it rains, but rather as little boys who run to their father's arms when anything frightens them. They know that they have mother and father there who would gladly give their hearts' blood to protect them.

But people who seek refuge from rain under a tree, have a good look round first. It is only when no better shelter is available that they run willy-nilly to the tree. Why is it that some men implore divine assistance without receiving it, and seem to put their trust in God without being protected by him? The reason is that they do not really dwell in the aid of the Most High, or take shelter under the providence of God as in their Father's house. They rather make sporadic dashes to it in time of trouble, as they do to a tree when there is a sudden shower. It is therefore very necessary for us to get into the way of always and instinctively turning to God.

Saint Robert Bellarmine

via Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi

Worth a Thousand Words: Sumerian Book

Sumerian language cuneiform script clay tablet, 2400–2200 BC

Genesis Notes: Covenant and Being Human

The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole (c. 1828)

GENESIS 2:1-7
The second chapter of Genesis focuses on humans. We get to see that they are not simply another kind of animal but have a special relationship with God. Catholic Scripture Study shows how economically this is revealed to those who know the "code".

His intention for His creation was always that it would exist with Him as His family. How do we know this? One clue appears right away in Genesis 2, but in order to recognize it, we have to understand a feature of a Hebrew word. The word translated as "seven" in our English text is the Hebrew word (sheba) for "oath-sharing." When men in ancient times came together to form a relationship in which they would treat each other as family, they swore an oath to seal the agreement. In Hebrew, "to swear an oath" means literally "to seven oneself." This kind of agreement is called a "covenant." In contrast to a contract, in which there is an exchange of property, in a covenant there is an exchange of persons: "I am yours, you are mine." ...

In Hebrew, ... would almost sound like God finished His work and rested on the "oath" day, and blessed the "oath" day and hallowed it. Perhaps a play on words, perhaps coincidence. But it is probable that to the ancient Hebrews who read this, the number seven would suggest God forming a covenant, or swearing an oath that established a family relationship with all the elements of creation. In blessing and hallowing it, He is setting apart or sanctifying creation. This bestows a kind of animation on what is inanimate. For example, in Gen. 2:4, the text reads, "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created." The word "generations" usually refers to living things. Likewise, this idea should prepare us for passages like Ps. 148, in which the heavens and the deep, sun and stars, snow and hills, sea monsters and cattle-ALL creation sings out in praise to the Lord Who created them. All creation is filled with God's life and is part of His household.

Genesis Part I: God and His Creation

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Well Said: Public Silence and Secret Action

Though Pius acted discreetly, he did not hide Hitler's attack plan under the proverbial bushel basket. During the second week of January 1940, a general fear gripped Western diplomats in rome as the pope's aides warned them of the German offensive, which Hitler had just rescheduled for the 14th. On the 10th, a Vatican prelate warned the Belgian ambassador at the Holy See, Adrien Nieuwenhuys, that the Germans would soon attack in the West. ...

Pius had in fact already shared the warning, while shielding the source. On 9 January, Cardinal Maglione directed the papal agent in Brussels, Monsignor Clemente Micara, to warn the Belgians about a coming German attack. Six days later, Maglione sent a similar message to his agent in The Hague, Monsignor Paolo Giobbe, asking him to warn the Dutch.

That same month, Pius made a veiled feint toward public protest. He wrote new details on Polish atrocities into Radio Vatican bulletins. But when Polish clergy protested that the broadcasts worsened the persecutions, Pius recommitted to public silence and secret action.

Mark Riebling, Church of Spies

This isn't making great bedtime reading because it is complex enough to require more attention than I can give in a sleepy state. However, it is endlessly fascinating watching the interwoven strands of this previously unknown story of attempts to stop Hitler.

Well Said: Moved by the Seasons, Moved by the Inklings

Humans change when they reflect upon the same truths year after year. Given the unique experiences of the year and their prior experiences with those truths, the ideas morph and take on new significance. Just as repeated activity allows someone to master an action; so also repeated reflection forms a person’s thought processes and heart. Via habituation, people are transformed. The church calendar’s intention is to help Christians meditate on Christ’s life, enabling them to consciously put on virtue and put off vice as they move through the cycle year by year. Its intention is transformation. …

Like the church calendar, I too am moved through the seasons, but they are seasons directed by the thoughts of the Inklings. I move from wrestling with doctrinal conundrums to wondering at the beauty contained within Christianity. Repeated consideration of the Inkling’s curriculum changed me. I found myself understanding my problems and successes through their ideas and stories.

Leilani Mueller, Arriving Where We Started, The Curator

Of course, I know intellectually that I am formed by what I read repeatedly. And what I reread has changed over the years. So who am I formed by now? Years ago I'd have laughed at the idea I'd love and reread Tolkien, Dickens, C.S. Lewis ... and certainly never Dante's Divine Comedy. Yet here I am being formed by them.

It's when the realization moves from intellectual to slapping me in the face that I wake up for an instant to the extent that reading transforms me.

Just the other day I was dealing with a particularly humbling realization and Jack Aubrey from Patrick O'Brian's seafaring series popped into my head. The insights I gained were grounding and, now that I think of it in this context, formational. I am seven books into the 20-book series. Though I am not rereading ... yet ... my slow listening to Patrick Tull's narration is slowly and surely sinking in and helping change me.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Jetty at Feste near Moss

Hans Gude (1825-1903), The Jetty at Feste near Moss
via Arts Everyday Living

This is another one which can be better appreciated by clicking on it to see the details in a larger format.

Double the Number of Books You Read — Without Speed Reading

Anyone who drops by here regularly knows that I am a book nut.

So I'm always surprised to hear that some people read a book a month or, even worse, one or two books a year. I've been blessed to be a naturally fast reader who loves books. But even I have found myself fighting in the last year to shove away distractions that cut into my reading time.

All that is to say that I was thrilled to see Brandon Vogt has developed video course for doubling the number of books you read, without speed reading.

I know he loves reading and I trust him to teach well. Find out more at Read More Books Now, which has a nice summary of all his points. The free offer is open for a week.

What We've Been Watching: Flower Girls, Trains, and ... Zombies

The Station Agent

★★★½

A sweet and quirky film about a dwarf, a refreshment stand operator, and a reclusive artist connecting with one another at an abandoned train station in rural New Jersey.

We watched this highly acclaimed film fairly soon after it originally was released and were not impressed. So slow, so obvious, nothing happens.

However, we were very different movie viewers then than we are now. So we took another run at it and liked it much better. The themes of community, loneliness, and normalcy are nicely interwoven and the acting is quite good. I especially liked the fact that the most outgoing, talkative, friendly person also was very lonely. And that is what makes the ending scene so perfect.

Rose wrote a review of this at Double Exposure which I recommend reading.

Pontypool 

★★★★★

When disc jockey Grant Mazzy reports to his basement radio station in the Canadian town of Pontypool, he thinks it's just another day at work. But when he hears reports of a virus that turns people into zombies, Mazzy barricades himself in the radio booth and tries to figure out a way to warn his listeners about the virus and its unlikely mode of transmission.

Genius. Sheer genius. This has been called the thinking man's zombie movie and I can't argue with that. Not that there isn't blood. Because of all those zombies.  But any violence was well telegraphed so I could look away. There are a couple of problems with the third act, but nothing that I couldn't live with. (haha)

3:10 to Yuma (1957) 

★★★★

Dave Evans (Van Heflin), a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade (Glenn Ford), a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.


Glenn Ford, you wicked devil, you! I didn't know you had such a subtle, serpent-like performance in you. Well done!

This was a fascinating encounter between two men who have chosen the opposite ways to approach life. Both have regrets, both wrestle with how to live — all in the context of this lean Western.

I know Roger Ebert said that the 2007 remake was better but I'm hard put to see how.

UPDATE: Having seen someone here say this ending is happy and the new one is not was a worrying sign. So I went to Wikipedia for a more indepth "new Yuma" plot summary. Holy moly, I suppose the skeleton of this movie is there but, in typical modern style, it looks as if it gained about 50 pounds and dyed its hair. No thanks. I'll stick with this one.

My Fair Lady

★★★★

A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

As with many older films, I thought I remembered everything. Rewatching it for a movie discussion group I realized I'd forgotten just how wonderful Hepburn's acting is, how much Harrison makes us love someone who is horribly selfish, and the sharp, sparkling satire of the whole piece.

I certainly hadn't recalled that Eliza is the one who begins the experiment by asking the professor for lessons. Her will is just as strong as his, though it isn't exhibited in as many ways. I did remember the songs and costumes and basic plot, all of which were as wonderful as I recalled.

Worth a Thousand Words: Reading of the 1861 Manifesto

Grigoriy Myasoyedov, Reading of the 1861 Manifesto

Click through to appreciate the details in a larger format. I discovered this artist at Lines and Colors.

Well Said: What Pius XII Did Not Say and What Choices He Made

Judging Pius by what he did not say, one could only damn him. With images of piles of skeletal corpses before his eyes; with women and young children compelled, by torture, to kill each other; with millions of innocents caged like criminals, butchered like cattle, and burned like trash—he should have spoken out. He had this duty, not only as pontiff, but as a person. After his first encyclical, he did reissue general distinctions between race-hatred and Christian love. Yet with the ethical coin of the Church, Pius proved frugal; toward what he privately termed “Satanic forces,” he showed public moderation; where no conscience could stay neutral, the Church seemed to be. During the world’s greatest moral crisis, its greatest moral leader seemed at a loss for words.

But the Vatican did not work by words alone. By 20 October, when Pius put his name to Summi Pontficatus, he was enmeshed in a war behind the war. Those who later explored the maze of his policies, without a clue to his secret actions, wondered why he seemed so hostile toward Nazism, and then fell so silent. But when his secret acts are mapped, and made to overlay his public words, a stark correlation emerges. The last day during the war when Pius publicly said the word “Jew” is also, in fact, the first day history can document his choice to help kill Adolf Hitler.

Mark Riebling, Church of Spies

This book is fascinating.