It was my birthday yesterday... 48, I think...I don't keep as close track as I used to.
Thanks to everyone who sent along their well wishes!!
Although this particular number is not a birthday of any special significance I did get the one gift I was specifically hoping to receive.
I got a book.
Not just any book mind you.
THIS book has been out of print for years.
There are still copies around ranging in price from fifty to well over three hundred dollars.
Is it some ancient tome containing the wisdom of the ages?
The collected works of some obscure philosophical author?
Some erudite historical commentary?
Nope.
The book, for which I had been hoping, is Sir MacHinery by Tom McGowan published in 1970.
It is right around 150 pages, probably a fourth or fifth grade reading level, and one of my favorite books of all time.
I can trace my love of Authurian lore, my penchant for all things Tolkien, my fascination with fantasy and science fiction, all of them... back to the original reading of this one book as a kid.
(It even fueled, no doubt, my admiration and obsession with all things Scottish!!)
It was an amazing juxtaposition to find myself back in those pages last night. Transported back to Strathgow and the castle atop Auld Clootie. To be reading at 48 what I first read at 9 or 10 with the same fascination and anticipation.
No flimsy paperback, dime store novel this but a well bound, hard backed, built to last companion. Pages yellowed with age but no less crisp then when the book was first bound. Reading slowly through the first five or six chapters was like a reunion with a long lost friend. (MANY thanks to my wife who found a copy that is in GREAT shape.)
What stories have impacted you over the years?
What are the tales that have become milestones or directional guides along the road?
When was the last time you revisited one of them?
Takes it from the voice of experience, from one who has seen yet another year "bite the dust", it is well worth unpacking one of those auld stories, putting youself back in the mindset of discovery and younger days, and sitting down to revisit an old friend.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The eyes of faith are prejudiced
I grew up in a Christian, church-attending, bible-believing home.
Yes, I believe that stuff.
At some point around my mid-twenties I started to think that the central tenants of Christianity were so rationally sound that it would be reasonable for ANYONE to believe if they just had someone to explain it to them clearly.
While I still believe, here in my forties, that there is a "rational soundness" there I have come to understand that my upbringing, my early immersion in the stories of the Bible, has created a faith based bias in me. I am prejudiced.
By way of simple example, imagine someone with NO knowledge of the Bible or Christian belief reading this tidbit:
2Kings 6
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
Yes, I believe that stuff.
At some point around my mid-twenties I started to think that the central tenants of Christianity were so rationally sound that it would be reasonable for ANYONE to believe if they just had someone to explain it to them clearly.
While I still believe, here in my forties, that there is a "rational soundness" there I have come to understand that my upbringing, my early immersion in the stories of the Bible, has created a faith based bias in me. I am prejudiced.
By way of simple example, imagine someone with NO knowledge of the Bible or Christian belief reading this tidbit:
2Kings 6
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"
"I will," Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Or this childhood favorite:
Jonah 1
15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
I, of course, accept these stories at face value. I feel no sense of rational discomfort over them...and I confess that may put me in the minority, even amongst "believers".
But I think it is important to remember, when having conversations with folks who don't share my particular prejudice...the prejudice of faith, that there are pieces of the story that defy rational explanation.
At the end of the day it won't be rational argument that convinces people. It will be lives lived, love expressed, and credence given to those who don't share my biased view of things.
Monday, June 29, 2009
"See you later" auntie...
My wife's aunt, Marlene Hanson passed away in May just six days shy of her 75th birthday.
"Auntie" was an amazing lady in so many ways that it would be hard to describe her love, generosity, and care in anything shy of several chapters.
We celebrated her memorial service last weekend in southern California.
I'm not sure I could have remembered her name the first few years Lib and I were married. She was always just...Auntie. (Auntie as in the light switch position: "On-tee"...NOT as in the tiny picnic pest: "Ant-ee")
Auntie's kitchen was the first place I met Libby's family and her home instantly became associated with my in-law's clan.
She never visited us without wanting to help decorate or landscape or extend her gifts of hospitality to our home.
She LOVED taking people out to eat and DISLIKED letting them pay.
She will be dearly missed by all of us until we have the chance to meet again in heaven.
Aside from the obvious grief at missing our dear Auntie I was struck by something unexpected as we spent time with family and friends last weekend. I had probably been to her house less than a dozen times in 18 years of marriage to Libby so it seemed odd that I should feel such a sense of attachment to her home but I was sad to drive away from it for what may be the last time.
I think it may be that I always knew I had a "safe place" there and now my world has one less safe place.
Oh we still have family in southern Ca., and we'll still have many reasons to visit, but not to visit Glendale. No reason to visit the house on the hill.
I think I perhaps knew, without knowing, that if I found myself anywhere within a tank of gas of Auntie's, or anywhere in southern Ca and in need, there was a place I could go where I would be welcomed and cared for and...safe.
Again, it isn't that those places don't exist...there are a number of them in somewhat close proximity...but there is now one less.
When my mom moved to Oregon from the house we grew all grew up in in Sunnyvale we lost that location...but we gained a location up north. Sad to see the house go but excited for mom's new adventure. But this is different. This time the person and the place are gone.
It makes me wonder what part this "geographical component" plays in many of our relationships. Maybe I'm just getting old but I don't like having one less friend and one less safe place in the world.
Could it be that her gift of hospitality was so strong that we not only miss the person, but the influence of her gift on the body, or in this case the family, as well? And that her home was an embodiment of her gift?
That has a familiar ring to it. I think I have felt THAT before.
We do know that Auntie has gone ahead of us to get her garden ready so that she can have us all over when we get to heaven. Maybe, until then, we need to step up our own gifts, and in particular our own hospitality, to make up for her being gone.
"Auntie" was an amazing lady in so many ways that it would be hard to describe her love, generosity, and care in anything shy of several chapters.
We celebrated her memorial service last weekend in southern California.
I'm not sure I could have remembered her name the first few years Lib and I were married. She was always just...Auntie. (Auntie as in the light switch position: "On-tee"...NOT as in the tiny picnic pest: "Ant-ee")
Auntie's kitchen was the first place I met Libby's family and her home instantly became associated with my in-law's clan.
She never visited us without wanting to help decorate or landscape or extend her gifts of hospitality to our home.
She LOVED taking people out to eat and DISLIKED letting them pay.
She will be dearly missed by all of us until we have the chance to meet again in heaven.
Aside from the obvious grief at missing our dear Auntie I was struck by something unexpected as we spent time with family and friends last weekend. I had probably been to her house less than a dozen times in 18 years of marriage to Libby so it seemed odd that I should feel such a sense of attachment to her home but I was sad to drive away from it for what may be the last time.
I think it may be that I always knew I had a "safe place" there and now my world has one less safe place.
Oh we still have family in southern Ca., and we'll still have many reasons to visit, but not to visit Glendale. No reason to visit the house on the hill.
I think I perhaps knew, without knowing, that if I found myself anywhere within a tank of gas of Auntie's, or anywhere in southern Ca and in need, there was a place I could go where I would be welcomed and cared for and...safe.
Again, it isn't that those places don't exist...there are a number of them in somewhat close proximity...but there is now one less.
When my mom moved to Oregon from the house we grew all grew up in in Sunnyvale we lost that location...but we gained a location up north. Sad to see the house go but excited for mom's new adventure. But this is different. This time the person and the place are gone.
It makes me wonder what part this "geographical component" plays in many of our relationships. Maybe I'm just getting old but I don't like having one less friend and one less safe place in the world.
Could it be that her gift of hospitality was so strong that we not only miss the person, but the influence of her gift on the body, or in this case the family, as well? And that her home was an embodiment of her gift?
That has a familiar ring to it. I think I have felt THAT before.
We do know that Auntie has gone ahead of us to get her garden ready so that she can have us all over when we get to heaven. Maybe, until then, we need to step up our own gifts, and in particular our own hospitality, to make up for her being gone.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
First triathlon of the summer!
Back in 2006 I had my first experience running a triathlon...I find it humorous as I write that because a LOT of people call it "running" a triathlon when really that is only one of the stages, albeit the most painful...and this past Sunday I stepped back into that world.
The Broomfield MiniHaha is a great "first timers" race. The swim is 300M (12 laps), the bike is 11 miles and the run is 2 miles. In 2006 my time 1:15:09, good enough for 18th in may age division. I was hoping to break the hour mark this year.
The swim in this event is in a pool which means folks are grouped in heats by estimated swim times. I had submitted a 6 minute time but my fastest training swim was more like 5:20. You typically will have as many as five people in your heat, in your lane, so as you get ready to enter the pool everyone compares times to determine how to best order the group. My group decided I should go first...which is good. You run the least chance of having to have to pass people that way.
I got started in the swim and glanced at the clock when I finished my first 50M. I came in at 40 seconds which was faster than I wanted to go. (You run the risk of wiping out all of your energy in the swim just to pick up 40 or 50 seconds when the next leg, the bike, offers the best chance to cut down your time by multiple minutes.) I managed to slow my pace a bit over the remaining laps, even allowing another racer to pass me at the wall once, and exited the pool at 5 minutes 30 seconds...about what I had hoped for although I probably could have finished in about 4:50.
I felt good as I made the jog out to T1. (For those new to the sport T1 is "transition one" where you go from swimming to putting on shoes, shirt, helmet etc for the bike leg.) I got out fairly well, not sure how well as this event doesn't use timing devices that give you split times, but I felt good getting on the bike. I started passing people almost immediately.
The bike leg makes a couple turns going slightly down hill then starts into about a mile and a half climb of varying steepness. I was cranking! I had exited the pool near the front of my own heat and I was passing people from the previous heat most of whom had had at least a five minute head start on me. I got to the top of the hill feeling good and flew down the back side of the 5.5 mile loop.
Coming around the loop the second time I was feeling good and VERY glad to be done with the hill climb as I crested and started down. On the first downhill section I set my sites on a guy ahead of me in a bright green bike jersey on a pretty expensive looking bike.
I got past him faster than I thought I would but I had to slow down as I came up on a sharp right turn with a slower biker in front of me.
That gave him the chance to get me back on the second downhill section.
"I knew you'd be back." I said, as I looked at him coming up on my outside.
I fell in behind him for a short stretch but then my competetive nature took over and I decided to kick up the speed and go by him.
To make a long story short I passed multiple people on both laps and probably maintained close to a 19-20mph average over the 11 miles. I was feeling REALLY good.
Of course then came the run...
I got in and out of T2 pretty quickly, change of shoes, ditch the helmet, throw on a visor and go.
I was even moving decently without the usual hobble that you get when you first get off the bike.
But I knew right away this was going to be painful.
My doctor had already advised me a year earlier that my knee was bad enough that I ought not to run at all. I had talked him into agreeing that I WAS going to run but that I would train for it the least. My knee felt fair to midlin as I made my way...slowly...through the first mile. I remember clearly thinking that I did not feel nearly as winded as I thought I would but that my legs seemed to be lead weights.
At the mid point of the run is the one water station so I grabbed a cup and walked briefly while I drank it....another place I might have saved 15-30 seconds had I kept up my slow jog...I managed to keep my self moving without walking for the remainder of the run.
With less than 100 yards to go I heard someone coming up behind me.
"Let's go specialized (my bike is a Specialized) you had me!"
I tried to keep pace with "green jersey" but there was no way.
I knew I had caught up to him from way behind on the bike so I figured my overall time would be better than his anyway...SO NYA NYA NYA!!!
I did find enough gas in the tank to "sprint" up the last 30 yards or so into the finish...
1:02:45
I missed my goal by less than three minutes!!!
I was both elated and bummed at the same time. Elated to have finished...it is quite a rush if you've never done a tri...and bummed to have come so close. (I did help a wee bit to have my time be good enough to finish in the top ten of my age group.)
Because of the way the pool heats had worked out I was able to get back to the pool in time to cheer on my buddy Scott who was doing his first triathlon ever. It's fun to be done and then get to cheer on a friend through transitions and finishing.
So now, after a couple days of recovery, we're ready to start training for the next one in August which, in turn, will lead to another in September. If you're ready to give it a go let me know and we'll help you get started. There is nothing quite like competing in a finishing a triathlon.
Yes, I know, you're worried about the swim. Everyone is. But it can be done.
You just have to be willing to tri.
The Broomfield MiniHaha is a great "first timers" race. The swim is 300M (12 laps), the bike is 11 miles and the run is 2 miles. In 2006 my time 1:15:09, good enough for 18th in may age division. I was hoping to break the hour mark this year.
The swim in this event is in a pool which means folks are grouped in heats by estimated swim times. I had submitted a 6 minute time but my fastest training swim was more like 5:20. You typically will have as many as five people in your heat, in your lane, so as you get ready to enter the pool everyone compares times to determine how to best order the group. My group decided I should go first...which is good. You run the least chance of having to have to pass people that way.
I got started in the swim and glanced at the clock when I finished my first 50M. I came in at 40 seconds which was faster than I wanted to go. (You run the risk of wiping out all of your energy in the swim just to pick up 40 or 50 seconds when the next leg, the bike, offers the best chance to cut down your time by multiple minutes.) I managed to slow my pace a bit over the remaining laps, even allowing another racer to pass me at the wall once, and exited the pool at 5 minutes 30 seconds...about what I had hoped for although I probably could have finished in about 4:50.
I felt good as I made the jog out to T1. (For those new to the sport T1 is "transition one" where you go from swimming to putting on shoes, shirt, helmet etc for the bike leg.) I got out fairly well, not sure how well as this event doesn't use timing devices that give you split times, but I felt good getting on the bike. I started passing people almost immediately.
The bike leg makes a couple turns going slightly down hill then starts into about a mile and a half climb of varying steepness. I was cranking! I had exited the pool near the front of my own heat and I was passing people from the previous heat most of whom had had at least a five minute head start on me. I got to the top of the hill feeling good and flew down the back side of the 5.5 mile loop.
Coming around the loop the second time I was feeling good and VERY glad to be done with the hill climb as I crested and started down. On the first downhill section I set my sites on a guy ahead of me in a bright green bike jersey on a pretty expensive looking bike.
I got past him faster than I thought I would but I had to slow down as I came up on a sharp right turn with a slower biker in front of me.
That gave him the chance to get me back on the second downhill section.
"I knew you'd be back." I said, as I looked at him coming up on my outside.
I fell in behind him for a short stretch but then my competetive nature took over and I decided to kick up the speed and go by him.
To make a long story short I passed multiple people on both laps and probably maintained close to a 19-20mph average over the 11 miles. I was feeling REALLY good.
Of course then came the run...
I got in and out of T2 pretty quickly, change of shoes, ditch the helmet, throw on a visor and go.
I was even moving decently without the usual hobble that you get when you first get off the bike.
But I knew right away this was going to be painful.
My doctor had already advised me a year earlier that my knee was bad enough that I ought not to run at all. I had talked him into agreeing that I WAS going to run but that I would train for it the least. My knee felt fair to midlin as I made my way...slowly...through the first mile. I remember clearly thinking that I did not feel nearly as winded as I thought I would but that my legs seemed to be lead weights.
At the mid point of the run is the one water station so I grabbed a cup and walked briefly while I drank it....another place I might have saved 15-30 seconds had I kept up my slow jog...I managed to keep my self moving without walking for the remainder of the run.
With less than 100 yards to go I heard someone coming up behind me.
"Let's go specialized (my bike is a Specialized) you had me!"
I tried to keep pace with "green jersey" but there was no way.
I knew I had caught up to him from way behind on the bike so I figured my overall time would be better than his anyway...SO NYA NYA NYA!!!
I did find enough gas in the tank to "sprint" up the last 30 yards or so into the finish...
1:02:45
I missed my goal by less than three minutes!!!
I was both elated and bummed at the same time. Elated to have finished...it is quite a rush if you've never done a tri...and bummed to have come so close. (I did help a wee bit to have my time be good enough to finish in the top ten of my age group.)
Because of the way the pool heats had worked out I was able to get back to the pool in time to cheer on my buddy Scott who was doing his first triathlon ever. It's fun to be done and then get to cheer on a friend through transitions and finishing.
So now, after a couple days of recovery, we're ready to start training for the next one in August which, in turn, will lead to another in September. If you're ready to give it a go let me know and we'll help you get started. There is nothing quite like competing in a finishing a triathlon.
Yes, I know, you're worried about the swim. Everyone is. But it can be done.
You just have to be willing to tri.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Solomon's Reign
If you were to look around at various commentaries on the monarchies of David and Solomon you would start to recognize comments like: "David's reign was like the noon of Israel's day and with Solomon the sun began to set."
I'm sure that they're making comment on the fact that Solomon was lead astray later in life by the religious practices of his foreign wives AND that the kingdom starts to crumble pretty rapidly after him.
But let's look at some simple facts:
1. The nation was in a bit of a mess starting after Joshua's generation that didn't have much chance at resolution until Saul took the throne.
2. Saul's reign was fraught with mishap even as they tried to consolidate their territory.
3. Most of David's reign is characterized by ongoing warfare...one of the reasons he is disqualified from building the temple.
4. As far as Solomon's reign goes scripture tells us his kingdom was not firmly established in his grasp until someone around his fourth year on the throne...after he had finished his fathers business. (see: http://cre8ive-yyyguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/solomon-ascending.html )
5. We're told that Solomon starts the temple in his fourth year...somewhere in that time, or just preceding it, he is married to his "true love" the woman who is the object of the Song of Solomon.
6. It takes seven years to build the temple and fourteen to build his palace...so his construction is finished sometime around his twentieth year on the throne.
Is this the point where we get to take a breath?
We're told that God "appears to Solomon a second time" after he had finished his building projects:
1 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The LORD said to him:
"I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
I'm sure that they're making comment on the fact that Solomon was lead astray later in life by the religious practices of his foreign wives AND that the kingdom starts to crumble pretty rapidly after him.
But let's look at some simple facts:
1. The nation was in a bit of a mess starting after Joshua's generation that didn't have much chance at resolution until Saul took the throne.
2. Saul's reign was fraught with mishap even as they tried to consolidate their territory.
3. Most of David's reign is characterized by ongoing warfare...one of the reasons he is disqualified from building the temple.
4. As far as Solomon's reign goes scripture tells us his kingdom was not firmly established in his grasp until someone around his fourth year on the throne...after he had finished his fathers business. (see: http://cre8ive-yyyguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/solomon-ascending.html )
5. We're told that Solomon starts the temple in his fourth year...somewhere in that time, or just preceding it, he is married to his "true love" the woman who is the object of the Song of Solomon.
6. It takes seven years to build the temple and fourteen to build his palace...so his construction is finished sometime around his twentieth year on the throne.
Is this the point where we get to take a breath?
We're told that God "appears to Solomon a second time" after he had finished his building projects:
1 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The LORD said to him:
"I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4 "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
6 "But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' 9 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.' "
...and because we've read the story before we know that this WILL happen.
On the one hand I find it incredibly discouraging that these guys who have been given wisdom and promises of generations of rulers and direct conversation with God could fail so quickly...indeed as quickly and as often as I seem to fail.
I confess I am discouraged by how quickly Israel crumbles as a nation once the kingdom is established.
But I suppose that rather than being a testament to failure it becomes a picture of how incredibly important the work of grace and Christ's sacrifice truly is in bringing us into relationship with God. The law, viewed from almost any perspective, is a failure when it comes to restoring relationship. Legalism, rules, regulations...failure.
Without Christ, without restored and right relationship, it is impossible to follow God.
That pretty much sums up Moses through Solomon, at least as I see it today.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Solomon ascending
1 Kings 2:15 - 3:28
As David's life is coming to a close he faces one last rebellious son. Adonijah aligns himself with Joab, incessant schemer and military commander, and Abiathar, the priest. Were told that he hires fifty men to run before his chariot...the same marketing campaign used by his older brother Absalom...and invites the royal officials and his various brothers to a feast in an attempt to portray himself as David's successor.
In a brilliant counter-move worthy of Hollywood David trots out Benaiah, military commander and captain of his personal bodyguard, Zadok the priest, AND Nathan the prophet...one-uping Adonijah's posse...and publicly cements Solomon's position as King.
This causes a bit of a stir amongst Adonijah's followers but as we'll see he doesn't give up easily.
Adonijah submits to Solomon's authority at first but then comes to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, with a seemingly innocent request:
"As you know, he said, "the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord. Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me." "You may make it", she said. "So he continued, "Please ask King Solomon - he will not refuse you- togive me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
(1Kings 2:15-17)
Abishag was the "beautiful virgin" that was brought in at the end of David's life to keep him warm and perhaps raise his spirits but scripture is clear that he did not sleep with her.
According to Jewish tradition Adonijah's request, to be given the King's concubine as wife...one with whom the king had not slept, would have provided him with a new level of royal legitimacy from which he could have attempted yet another coup!
Bathsheba brings this request to Solomon, in the throne room, no doubt in front of a host of royal courtiers in another adept strategic move...making the request in such a manner exposes Adonijah as someone continuing to scheme after the throne.
Solomon's reaction is swift a decisive. He removes the threat rather than allowing it to fester in secret. But this isn't his only move.
David's "final words" to Solomon include several requests that the son deal with some of the father's unfinished business. (1Kings 2:5-9) David hints that his son should do away with possible threats from Joab, the scheming commander who has shed innocent blood time and time again against the king's commands, and Shimei who cursed David and his household as they fled from Absalom.
Solomon dispatches Benaiah as executioner in each of these three cases Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei over the course of about a three year period. And it is at this point, following the thrid of three executions, that scripture says:
The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon's hands.
(1Kings 2:46)
I find it interesting that David was not allowed to build God's temple because he was had "shed much blood on the earth" in God's sight. And yet Solomon's reign, Solomon whom God has chosen to be the builder of His temple, is established after three acts of bloodshed.
Is it just a quantity thing? David spilled a LOT but Solomon merely ordered the spilling of some?
That seems arbitrary.
Is it a justice thing? Solomon somehow only ordered the execution of those who deserved death?
Have to be careful there since God obviously blessed David's reign.
I think where I land on it is that the three instances of blood shed that bring about the beginning of Solomon's rule are all attributed to his finishing his father's business. Whether for personal or political reasons David had not dealt with these individuals in his time, passing that duty on to his son. Solomon, as king, dispenses God's justice but is not marked as being a man who has shed too much blood because he is carrying out his father's duties. Once he has finished the work of his father David his kingdom is "firmly established".
(If you understand baseball at all it is a lot like a relief pitcher coming into the game midway through. The starting pitcher owns responsibility for runners that are on base when the new guy comes in to the game.)
This is another one of those stories that takes up just a chapter or two in the text but from which it would be easy to craft a feature length film.
No doubt Solomon, and even Benaiah, will be amongst the fella's who have a long waiting list or people waiting to do interviews with them in heaven. Reserve your time now. The lines will be long but we'll have all the time we need.
As David's life is coming to a close he faces one last rebellious son. Adonijah aligns himself with Joab, incessant schemer and military commander, and Abiathar, the priest. Were told that he hires fifty men to run before his chariot...the same marketing campaign used by his older brother Absalom...and invites the royal officials and his various brothers to a feast in an attempt to portray himself as David's successor.
In a brilliant counter-move worthy of Hollywood David trots out Benaiah, military commander and captain of his personal bodyguard, Zadok the priest, AND Nathan the prophet...one-uping Adonijah's posse...and publicly cements Solomon's position as King.
This causes a bit of a stir amongst Adonijah's followers but as we'll see he doesn't give up easily.
Adonijah submits to Solomon's authority at first but then comes to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, with a seemingly innocent request:
"As you know, he said, "the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord. Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me." "You may make it", she said. "So he continued, "Please ask King Solomon - he will not refuse you- togive me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
(1Kings 2:15-17)
Abishag was the "beautiful virgin" that was brought in at the end of David's life to keep him warm and perhaps raise his spirits but scripture is clear that he did not sleep with her.
According to Jewish tradition Adonijah's request, to be given the King's concubine as wife...one with whom the king had not slept, would have provided him with a new level of royal legitimacy from which he could have attempted yet another coup!
Bathsheba brings this request to Solomon, in the throne room, no doubt in front of a host of royal courtiers in another adept strategic move...making the request in such a manner exposes Adonijah as someone continuing to scheme after the throne.
Solomon's reaction is swift a decisive. He removes the threat rather than allowing it to fester in secret. But this isn't his only move.
David's "final words" to Solomon include several requests that the son deal with some of the father's unfinished business. (1Kings 2:5-9) David hints that his son should do away with possible threats from Joab, the scheming commander who has shed innocent blood time and time again against the king's commands, and Shimei who cursed David and his household as they fled from Absalom.
Solomon dispatches Benaiah as executioner in each of these three cases Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei over the course of about a three year period. And it is at this point, following the thrid of three executions, that scripture says:
The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon's hands.
(1Kings 2:46)
I find it interesting that David was not allowed to build God's temple because he was had "shed much blood on the earth" in God's sight. And yet Solomon's reign, Solomon whom God has chosen to be the builder of His temple, is established after three acts of bloodshed.
Is it just a quantity thing? David spilled a LOT but Solomon merely ordered the spilling of some?
That seems arbitrary.
Is it a justice thing? Solomon somehow only ordered the execution of those who deserved death?
Have to be careful there since God obviously blessed David's reign.
I think where I land on it is that the three instances of blood shed that bring about the beginning of Solomon's rule are all attributed to his finishing his father's business. Whether for personal or political reasons David had not dealt with these individuals in his time, passing that duty on to his son. Solomon, as king, dispenses God's justice but is not marked as being a man who has shed too much blood because he is carrying out his father's duties. Once he has finished the work of his father David his kingdom is "firmly established".
(If you understand baseball at all it is a lot like a relief pitcher coming into the game midway through. The starting pitcher owns responsibility for runners that are on base when the new guy comes in to the game.)
This is another one of those stories that takes up just a chapter or two in the text but from which it would be easy to craft a feature length film.
No doubt Solomon, and even Benaiah, will be amongst the fella's who have a long waiting list or people waiting to do interviews with them in heaven. Reserve your time now. The lines will be long but we'll have all the time we need.
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Life of King David
I need to get back to posting more regularly and as I read of the end of David's life this morning it felt like a milestone too significant to pass without comment.
When we first meet him he is overlooked by his father. When Samuel invites Jesse and sons to a feast and subsequently asks if Jesse has brought all of his sons we get:
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
That, along with other glimpses into his early home life, makes me wonder if David was seen as the runt of the litter. The good looking, poetic sheep tender of little substance and lesser value.
Through an interesting series of circumstances David finds himself at court. Knowing he has been anointed but not pressing the issue. His battle with Goliath, as I have pointed at previously, comes AFTER some time at court. But it is this event that thrusts him into the limelight and begins the animosity from Saul.
He is thrust into a life in the wilderness where God teaches him what it is to be a leader of men, preparing him to be king. How interesting that his preparation happens out there rather than in the palaces of kings.
His "rule" in marked in stark contrast to Saul's.
One of the hallmarks of David's time in the wilderness is his repeated command to his men that they must not take Saul's life, even when it appears God has given it to them, because he is "the Lord's anointed." All the while Saul is pursuing David, who IS "the Lord's anointed", in order to take his life.
As David comes into his own we see that he has a bit of an eye for the ladies. In the case of Abigail (1Sam 35:29) he waits until she is "available" but he manipulates the situation when it comes to Bathsheba (2Sam 11:16).
He is by no means perfect but through it all he is referred to as a "man after God's own heart"...which I love because it lets ME off the hook in terms of trying to perform at some sort of religiously perfect level.
We find him to be a loving father although one who has trouble ruling his own household.
I wonder if his inability to confront his sons rebellions...Absalom and and Adonijah...stems from the way his father treated him as a boy?
He appears to be quite politically adept, confronting when it is needed (outside of his family), and allowing things to go unaddressed when the time is not right. In this regard I find his interaction with Joab interesting. He obviously knows when Joab has crossed the line but chooses not to do anything...leaving that finally to his son Solomon.
Although he is one of the "heroes" of the bible I see him as a kind of "everyman" or perhaps better said as the kind of man that we can easily aspire to...a God-fearing warrior-poet who is far from perfect, willing to confess his own shortcomings, and strong enough to step up to the plate and do something about them from time to time.
I must confess I am sad to "see him go"...I almost want to suspend the journey through the bible here and go back and read "his-story" again.
When we first meet him he is overlooked by his father. When Samuel invites Jesse and sons to a feast and subsequently asks if Jesse has brought all of his sons we get:
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
That, along with other glimpses into his early home life, makes me wonder if David was seen as the runt of the litter. The good looking, poetic sheep tender of little substance and lesser value.
Through an interesting series of circumstances David finds himself at court. Knowing he has been anointed but not pressing the issue. His battle with Goliath, as I have pointed at previously, comes AFTER some time at court. But it is this event that thrusts him into the limelight and begins the animosity from Saul.
He is thrust into a life in the wilderness where God teaches him what it is to be a leader of men, preparing him to be king. How interesting that his preparation happens out there rather than in the palaces of kings.
His "rule" in marked in stark contrast to Saul's.
One of the hallmarks of David's time in the wilderness is his repeated command to his men that they must not take Saul's life, even when it appears God has given it to them, because he is "the Lord's anointed." All the while Saul is pursuing David, who IS "the Lord's anointed", in order to take his life.
As David comes into his own we see that he has a bit of an eye for the ladies. In the case of Abigail (1Sam 35:29) he waits until she is "available" but he manipulates the situation when it comes to Bathsheba (2Sam 11:16).
He is by no means perfect but through it all he is referred to as a "man after God's own heart"...which I love because it lets ME off the hook in terms of trying to perform at some sort of religiously perfect level.
We find him to be a loving father although one who has trouble ruling his own household.
I wonder if his inability to confront his sons rebellions...Absalom and and Adonijah...stems from the way his father treated him as a boy?
He appears to be quite politically adept, confronting when it is needed (outside of his family), and allowing things to go unaddressed when the time is not right. In this regard I find his interaction with Joab interesting. He obviously knows when Joab has crossed the line but chooses not to do anything...leaving that finally to his son Solomon.
Although he is one of the "heroes" of the bible I see him as a kind of "everyman" or perhaps better said as the kind of man that we can easily aspire to...a God-fearing warrior-poet who is far from perfect, willing to confess his own shortcomings, and strong enough to step up to the plate and do something about them from time to time.
I must confess I am sad to "see him go"...I almost want to suspend the journey through the bible here and go back and read "his-story" again.
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