God Whistles

I finished reading the biography of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is titled, Rowan’s Rule; the author is Rupert Shortt (correct spelling) [425 pgs]. The head of the largest Protestant communion in the world, Williams is also one of the most important Protestant theologians on the planet.

In his little book, Tokens of Trust, Williams lays out his basic thought. I especially like his discussion of the nature of God’s involvement with the creation. Instead of picturing God as ‘a being’ existing apart from the world, he speaks of God as a kind of electric current that runs through everything in the creation. As the poet said, "The world is charged with the grandeur of God."

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I ran upon an interesting verse the other day: Zechariah 10.8. God speaks and says, "I will whistle and gather them together." The Hebrew word for 'whistle' is eshrekah. In some other passages it is translated 'hiss.' But most English translations of this Zechariah verse use 'whistle.' Has God ever whistled at you? His whistle is a uniting signal. Perhaps we each ought to listen carefully for that divine whistle. It's calling us together.

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I have never studied the Apocrypha closely, though I have read most of the books. But the last few days the Benedictine Daily Prayer book has featured readings from the Book of Wisdom, and I've been uplifted by the readings. The Book of Wisdom was written about 100 years before Christ by a Jewish author living in Alexandria, Egypt. It was written in Greek. So, it partakes of Greek thought and categories as well as the Hebrew tradition. There is indeed a lot of wisdom in this Apocryphal book.


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I've been thinking lately about the word 'confidence.' It is sometimes used as a synonym for 'faith.' Instead of asking, Do you have faith in God? or, Do you believe in God?--the question might be put this way: Do you have confidence in God? Or more generally, what do you have ultimate confidence in?


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Here is another little question: What is the difference in having faith and having an opinion?


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Really enjoyed the movie "True Grit." The acting, the weird style of dialogue, and even the violence (in this context) were delightful.


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I've been using the Hebrew alphabet as an aid to meditation.


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Biblical retirement

I took early retirement at age 62 so that we could move to the deep South and use more sun screen and learn a new accent. Well, actually it was so that we could be close to our granddaughter and daughter and be part of their lives. We are happy we made that decision.

Shortly after my retirement some of my clergy colleagues threw me a retirement party with good food and beverages. At one point a pastor friend of mine asked me (tongue-in-cheek) if I could actually retire in good conscience since there is no Biblical reference or support for retirement. I didn’t have a Biblical answer at the time. I simply said something like, “I don’t care what the Bible says, I’m retiring.” 

Well. Now I have Biblical support. As I was reading The Presbyterian Outlook magazine the other day an article quoted a Bible verse about retirement! It’s in the Book of Numbers, which makes sense because when you start thinking about retirement you have to deal with a lot of numbers—numbers which are never high enough. 

This verse in Numbers is sort of a reference to clergy retirement too; it doesn’t reference priests, but Levites. (Remember the priest and the Levite that pass by on the other side of the road in the parable of the Good Samaritan?) The Levites were an order of ministry in ancient Israel. Whereas the priests were more like pastors, the Levites were sort of ‘lay clergy’ (analogous in some ways to Elders in the Presbyterian Church). They assisted the priests and handled sacred objects, and also functioned as a music ministry. And here is what the Bible says:

The Lord said to Moses, “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”

(Numbers 8:23-26, NIV)

         

So, there you have it. By retiring I have done a Bible-approved thing. Of course there is no one-to-one correspondence between the culture of ancient Israel and our North American 21^st century culture. But the principle of retirement seems to be present way back there in the Torah.

Now, I actually don’t need a Biblical proof text to feel good about retirement. I was simply intrigued to find ‘retirement’ mentioned in Scripture. 

In all the political arguments today about the economy, the possibility of raising the retirement age above 65 is discussed. It will inevitably happen. The tragedy is that poorer people who have the more physically demanding jobs are the ones who need to retire earlier. The poor always get left behind. Wouldn’t it be a more just world if garbage collectors could retire at age 55 with full benefits, and CEOs had to continue to age 70 to receive full benefits? But that ain’t going to happen. The world is ruled by the wealthy. Even the Democrats get their election funding from the wealthy, and therefore, tend to give them the listening ear rather than the poor. As Bill Moyers points out in his new book, we are ruled by an oligarchy—a small group of people who hold bag of money. 

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