Why I love non-Christians

I love having friends who aren't Christians.

LOVE IT!!!!!

I have several, and they are each of them amazing people who I wouldn't trade for the world.

I was raised in a very sheltered environment. One that was almost like an oxygen tent for health, yet with downfalls. The older I get the more I see both the positives and the negatives of that atmosphere.

Growing up I never had non-Christian friends. This is not because I shut them out but just because ... I didn't know any. My entire environment was Christian. I am so blessed that my heritage provided such a firm and lasting foundation for me in so many areas, and I wouldn't change all that many things about the way I was raised. But this one area didn't provide me with very much of a capacity to relate to anyone who wasn't a Christian. I've had to learn that on my own in my adult life.

I've worked as a foodserver for the last 12 years. Throughout my life in the service industry, I've had the opportunity to meet so many different kinds of people. I've had problems relating to some of them. They've had problems relating to me. I'd step on toes without knowing I was. I'd come across judgmentally without knowing it. (Yes, some of them had the guts to tell me that.) Mostly there was this wary feeling, probably on both sides, like viewing a tiger in a cage. What are they thinking? What's their world like? Are they going to hate me?

Gradually I've learned that people are people. Every one of us is unique, but we are all human. We're made from the same stuff. Belief structure does not a totally different person make. No one is on the "outside," no one is on the "inside." We learn and live and love together in much the same ways. And you know what?

I love people!

I love them for who they are, not for what they believe. I love them for the genuineness of their hearts, not for some "religious correctness" that Jesus Himself didn't believe in. I love them for being real: for being who they are, and letting me--a member of a highly judgmental class--get close enough to see them. They are beautiful!

Beliefs aren't beautiful. Beliefs are facts. Ideas maybe. Foundational to existing, but not the existence itself. I love talking about ideas and beliefs, theology and ideology, theory and supposition. But I also realize more clearly all the time that these are not the sum total of a human life. And humans are beautiful.

I love non-Christians. And I love that a few of them dare to love me back.

(Dedicated to Molly, Rosa, BJ, and Kat. For daring.)

time for a listen

Ever listen to a love song and hear God singing it? I do!

news

Hello my dear blogland world.

You all have known of the press in my marriage over the last year and a half. I must now tell you that my husband and I are getting divorced.

I know you all have stood by me and supported me; encouraged me with your words, and warmed my heart with your prayers and kindness. For you, I am saddened and sorry that this event has come about. It may be more of a disappointment to you than to me.

I want to reassure you that I am not crushed. I am not heart-broken. I am not disappointed, disillusioned, or jaded. I actually have more peace and joy now than I have had in a long time. I have laughed and smiled more over the past days than in quite some time. My closest friends say they haven't seen me this happy or at peace for many years.

So even though I know you will be sad for me ... I am not sad for myself. My life will be drastically different than I ever imagined, but I am excited for it. I have been given a new outlook on life, and a reassurance that no matter where I go or what I do, I will be taken care of.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement and support. They have meant so much to me.

In the story of my life I have one Lover who can truly give me "forever."
And that story continues to be written ...

Tidbite to the tidbit

After posting what I did on Thursday I got to thinking about the "drunk" thing. I wondered, if it was a translator thing rather than a language thing; if the New Testament would have the same oddities.

Imagine my surprise ... it did.

Before I get into the New Testament, I want to expound a bit more on the Old Testament, and what I said yesterday. I think it's good to be clear on the fact that some words are particularly difficult to translate accurately, especially from Hebrew, because the concepts of those words are so incredibly different from English. It seems sometimes like Hebrew words need phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs to come close at depicting the original intention. However, that being said ... neither the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for "drunk" nor the Greek word used in the New Testament for "drunk" are this way. Both are quite simple and straightforward.

Also, there is also only one word in each language for drunkenness. Many times (as you may remember from my post about seasons, and the three different words translated "time" in each language) there may be more than one word that is translated into the same word in English. Again, the same cannot be said of these words. There is only one word in each language, and they both mean only one thing: drunk, as in to be intoxicated with alcohol. "To drink," referring to any liquid, is a completely different word.

There are four basic variations of the Hebrew root "שכר", depending on what part of speech the root is occupying--noun (2), verb, or adjective--and all directly relate to being drunk. The root, in one of these four forms shows up 58 times in the Old Testament. Out of these 58 times there are 3 verses which are translated something other thank "drunk." (I know I said in the original tidbit post that there were two; well, I found one more.)

[Now as a side study note: I am a fairly exhaustive studier, but there is a limit. I did not search for all 58 references in all 12+ translations that I mentioned earlier. I would certainly be curious about the outcome, but that is more effort than I have at present. I did search this in NASB, KJV, and ESV, those three being the most espoused as accurate translations.]

All of this means that these 3 instances are significant, because there is literally no reason in the language itself to translate this word something other than "drunk." I am inclined to suppose, then that the reason lay not a sincere effort at accurate translation, but rather an agenda that didn't allow for certain thoughts to be conveyed. I have to say that this is the first time in my personal study that I have seen something this pronounced. Something that I would feel confident in going out on a limb on and saying was a deliberate mistranslation.

The first two references I mentioned in my previous post: Genesis 43:34, when Joseph and his brothers got drunk together, and Song of Solomon 5:1, when the bridegroom is directed to get drunk on the love of his wife. The third is Haggai 1:6.

“You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes." [ESV]

This verse is talking about the constant striving of man which feels like it is only after wind. No return on the investment, so to speak. So what is the little phrase cleverly altered here? "You drink, but you never have your fill." And yes, indeed, the Scripture here actually says, "you drink, but don't get drunk." Incidentally, there are two of the 12 BLB translations which do translate this as drunk. NASB (you drink, but not enough to become drunk) and Young's Literal Translation (to drink, and not to drunkenness).

So now on to the New Testament.

As previously mentioned, there is only one word in Greek for the idea of being intoxicated, and only one essential translation of the word. Again, there are variations on the root, based on parts of speech, but the meaning remains the same.

The base root is μέθη: methē, meaning intoxication or drunkenness. There are 15 times this root is used in the New Testament, and 14 of them are translated plainly as "drunk." The 1 time it is not is in John 2:10.

9When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." [NASB]

Did you guess? Yep, the phrase is "when the people have drunk freely." I don't know Greek, so I can't personally translate this, but according to the inherent meaning of the root, this phrase would read more like "when the people are drunk." Meaning, among other things, that the everyone was already drunk when Jesus performed his first miracle.

Do you suspect that the general Christian stigma of not drinking alcohol is one of the sacred cows I'd like to topple? Well, you'd be right. :) Although I don't think I'm on the warpath. But the more I read of Scripture, and the more I study in the original language the more I am convinced that conservative Christianity pulled that one out of it's collective behind.

Any thoughts? Any prickles?

Sacred Cows

... I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!

--Paul
2 Cor 10:1

I must admit, there's a lot about Paul that makes him a very different creature than myself. Some time ago however, when I read this one verse, I thought, Paul was just like me.

I'm much more forthright in my writing than I ever am in person. My fingers can talk much more freely than my mouth can, and somehow a written medium bypasses certain things I cannot bypass any other way. Or ... at least things that I haven't learned how to moderate yet. Consequently, if I get a little 'in your face' in my writing, or perhaps a bit too blunt in my delivery, it's not because I intend to injure you, but rather ... writing gives me a sort-of platform to express the things I feel very passionately about. So through my writing, you all get to see a bit more of the 'passionate' Annie than someone would who only knows me in person.

That being said, I'll just be honest: I have no reverence for sacred cows. "Let sleeping dogs lie" is generally not a maxim I adhere to, and certainly not one I have ever liked. I heard a saying once that said, "The Irish like to rock the boat." Perhaps it's a bit of that, too. At any rate, I see myself as an intellectual explorer. I love breaking through the bonds of 'normal' and discovering what lies in the unknown. The intellectual unknown doesn't scare me at all. In fact, I enjoy it. Questions that seem to make some people very nervous, I pursue with relish.

Someone asked me once if I had ever had a time when I seriously questioned my faith. My response was to say that I question it all the time, and because of that I've never had a 'moment' when I doubted it all. My life is a constant question, ponder, and answer session in my own head. I continuously tackle and re-tackle questions that range from extremely mundane to extremely preponderant virtually all the time. Unless I'm thoroughly convinced of something, you can bet I'm probably analyzing it from all sides. Even if I am thoroughly convinced, I'm probably still analyzing it from all sides.

Sacred cows are thoughts that we accept as truth which in fact have no substance of truth to them at all. They are empty images of things that give us reassurance that we're on a rock--never mind if we really are or not. Golden though they may be, their exalted appearance can offer us nothing. They are an object of our own making--a thought from the grave that we dress up and say lives.

Are all sacred cows worth of toppling? Well, to me yes. :) I have a relish for hurling them to the ground. That being said, however, I know there is a method and a timing to everything, and I will strive to do my best to topple them as tenderly and tactfully as I can, as the Hold Spirit leads. I give you fair warning, however--I'm a warrior at heart, not a diplomat. The fire can rise up in my bones fairly easily.

So ... this may be a season of some passionate toppling of sacred cows. I can't say for sure yet, as I take each day at a time. And I only know what's in my heart, not the Lord's. But just so you know ...

... you've been fairly warned. :)

Tidbits from Hebrew

So many things are rumbling around in my heart today. So many things I could talk about ...

• abuse and violence of the heart
• Genesis and the story of Joseph
• Genesis and the fall of man
• and some other things that I can't place my finger on now

In reading that list, I may sound in a negative frame of mind. But I'm not! Really, I'm not. Melancholy. Emotional perhaps. But not angry in any way. I'm listening to my melodic Pandora station. :)

How about Joseph.

Genesis 43:34 is a very interesting verse.

In the NAS it reads:

He took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

It seems obvious, doesn't it? But in fact, the end is translated incorrectly in this version, and in every version available on blueletterbible.org (a frequent reference site for me).

In Hebrew, this verse reads something like, "And he lifted portions (liftings up) from [before] his face to them, and much was the portion of Benjamin from the portions of all of them: five hands. And they drank and they got drunk with him."

That's really what it says! These words aren't ambiguous either. Rather plain. To drink. To get drunk.

Does it make you wonder? It makes me wonder. It makes me wonder if the gentile translators of the Bible had an agenda (Jewish translations translate this correctly; Judaism itself doesn't have any of the stigmas Christianity has concerning drinking). It makes me wonder how this plays in metaphorically, since many people view Joseph and the details of his life as a foreshadowing of the Messiah. It also makes me wonder what happened in that room that evening. :) The possibilities there are endless.

As a point of note: the word for "drunk" used there is in fact translated as "drunk" in every other usage in the Bible--Noah, Hannah, Uriah the Hittite, and many prophetic passages--with the exception of one other. Song of Solomon 5:1:

I am come into my garden, my sister, [my] spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. [KJV]

"Drink abundantly" is this same word. There are only two versions (out of the 12 English versions available on BLB) who translate this other than "drink abundantly." NAS translates it "imbibe deeply" and ESV translates it, "be drunk."

So what do you think? When was the last time you got drunk?

Hebrew

[Author's Edit: Many THANKS to all of you who have responded! I didn't expect such a unanimous response. :) I appreciate your feedback!]

ATTENTION
This post is a poll. If you are reading these words,I am interested in what you think.

Visitors to my blog generally fall into one of two catagories, according to all of the info I can gather. One category is those of you who know me or have come to know me through various means. The other is those of you who have found my page while looking for information on the Hebrew language.

To be honest, I had no idea that so many people were looking for some of the information I've posted on Biblical Hebrew, and I am still surprised at how many visitors I get just with the minimal information I have given. From attempting to look up information on Hebrew online, I know that online research of the Hebrew language is a very difficult thing to do at times, given that one has to look up transliterated approximations of the word or sound that is being studied. I also am seeing quite clearly that there is a desire, from many people all around the world, to understand the original languages of the Bible. To those of you who are reading because of your interest in Biblical Hebrew, know that I do still study Hebrew, and post from time to time on it still.

My question is this: would it be preferable to you for me to separate my inspirational blog posts from my Hebrew blog posts (which would entail having two separate blog sites), or do you prefer having them all together? I'll post a poll in my sidebar to this effect, so you can either comment here, or poll there. If you do both (poll and comment) please let me know so I have a more accurate judge of those who respond.

Thank you for your readership!