God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ (Exodus 3:5) Why ‘take off your shoes’ rather than ‘get on your knees’ or ‘bow your head’ or ‘raise your hands’? Taking off your shoes is surely in part an expression of moving out of one place (where shoes…
The language we use both reflects and shapes the way we think about the world. If we want to identify blind spots and find new perspectives to consider, then comparing the way human beings express the same things in different languages is an invaluable resource. Let’s take the days of the week as an example. …
“Lo Hei” is a southern Chinese New Year tradition and the Cantonese pronunciation of the first two characters of 捞起魚生, which means “mixing up the raw fish.” It refers to a sashimi salad that is built up as the host pronounces a series of blessings, before everyone mixes it all together by tossing the ingredients…
The Chinese character 信 comprises the character for “person” (人) and the character for “words” (言). It can represent “words” from a “person”, such as a message, and – by extension – the medium used to carry those words, like a letter; or the person who brings those words, like a messenger; or communication in…
In his book on How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding, Kieran Egan argued that the focus of education should shift from the acquisition of knowledge to the development of understanding. He identified 5 types of understanding: Somatic – our relationship with our immediate environment Mythic – stories of the infinite Romantic – the extremes of…
The first Gospel to be written opens with this announcement: The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God …ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ υἱοῦ θεοῦ … (Mark 1:1) And in Matthew’s Gospel we are told why he was named Jesus (which means “he saves”): … you are to give…
Reflecting on Chris Marchand’s talk about Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas on the tenttheology.com podcast The earliest Christians appear only to have celebrated Christ’s Resurrection (at Passover in the Spring) and his Epiphany (on 6 January). When the 25 December was designated as a celebration of Christ’s birth (presumably to “Christianise” the existing Sol…
In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrased the start of 1 Corinthians 14 as: “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it — because it does.” As I read that this morning, I could not remember ever reading any English translation of 1 Cor 14:1 that said my life depends on…
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”1 Thess 5:16-18 John Stott pointed out that the word translated “give thanks” here also gives us the word “eucharist.” The “eucharist” is not about our understanding or our mood but rather our conscious decision to commune with Jesus.…
A summary of Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age by Richard Beck. We long for enchantment, like hunting for magic eels in a medieval well. We ache for it, and the pain is making us sick. It is not a matter of belief so much as perception; of understanding so…