Why didn't I see that before?

posted by [identity profile] revdorothyl.livejournal.com at 01:00pm on 26/03/2004
I bow my head (in a non-idolatrous way) to one whose biblical scholarship surpasses my own! Of course, you're absolutely right about the Psalms as the most direct and personal communications from the fans to the creative PTB.

This sheds new light for me on the whole range of "Lament" Psalms, which so often go into great detail about how "everything sucks now," drawing unfavorable comparisons with the way things USED to be, but almost invariably end up with some "but I'm going to keep watching, anyway, because I just know it's got to improve soon, and sucky as I may think it is right now, nobody else better start bad-mouthing it, 'cause it's still better than the rest of the drek that's on."

And I can't believe how apt your "enthronement" Psalm analogy is! This is beginning to make way too much sense to be just an idle fancy. I sense synchronicity at work, friend.
[parent entry] [link] [parent] [reply]
 

Re: Why didn't I see that before?

posted by [identity profile] cindyamb.livejournal.com at 02:51pm on 26/03/2004
I (at age 37) just got the Psalms. Two weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to make that analogy.

I've always understood why some Psalms were in the canon (like 23), but the inclusion of the ones that accused God of abandonment, and the inclusion of those Psalms of the smite mine enemies 'til the maggots eat their entrails [okay, so that wasn't even a paraphrase, but you get the picture] variety was always beyond me.

Then I started reading The Purpose Driven Life during Lent. In it, Rick Warren's position is that we were created by God, for God's purposes. Have you heard of it? If not, I'll tell more, but in case you have, I'll cut this short. At any rate, worship (one of the five main purposes) is more than just attending church, singing, etc. We're intended for—were created for—friendship with God. Warren cites God's relationship with Adam and Eve (before the fall) as the ideal human relationship to the divine.

The next chapter (I think these were chs 10 & 11) continue on this theme of friendship with God. Warren notes that the people in the Bible singled out as God's friends were honest with him. God allowed Abraham to question and challenge him. He commended Job for his bitter honesty, while reprimanding Job's friends for their fake piety. Moses basically told off God, with the "Hey wait a minute, you lead us out here into the middle of nowhere and now you're going to abandon us, with no one to lead? I don't think so," when God was fed up with the Israelites' behavior.

Warren then made it a point to cite David's many accusations of unfairness, betrayal, and abandonment. Suddenly, the Psalms clicked for me. They're canon, because they're a great example of what we should say to God (i.e. everything). Warren characterizes the Psalms as instruction in how to be candid—honest with God.

Anyhow, it was a minor epiphany for me. I'm not sure about the putting it into practice, but now I understand why so many of the less pleasant and "good" Psalms are in the canon.
[link] [parent] [reply]
 

Re: Why didn't I see that before?

posted by [identity profile] revdorothyl.livejournal.com at 03:18pm on 26/03/2004
I've heard of "The Purpose-Driven Life" (my own parents were reading it in Sunday School earlier this year), but have not yet read it myself. I'd HEARD that it was good, although not always as careful with the biblical quotations as it could be (my parents' Sunday School class is full of retired ministers and religion professors, so you KNOW they ran down every reference to make sure nothing was being quoted out of context, etc. -- and they DID find a few 'goofs', where the author would say something like, "The Bible says, '.......'" -- implying that this is God's word for all time, perhaps -- but the passage cited was a direct quote from Bildad, one of Job's ignorant comforters, whom God castigates for speaking without wisdom and out of turn, and tiny mistakes like that).

However, that epiphany it gave you about the Psalms seems right on, to me. Especially for those of us who've known what it is to be in UNhealthy relationships, where you DON'T dare speak your mind or be honest with the person you supposedly love and trust, realizing that even at their ANGRIEST and most GRIEF-STRICKEN moments, the authors of the Psalms and Job and Jeremiah, etc., had the faith to speak their anger and grievances directly TO God is a life-changing discovery. Even Psalm 22 ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?...") is spoken TO God, clearly implying that the Psalmist still believes God is listening and CARES what he/she thinks and feels.

I wonder if the same thing is true with fan forums? Are there some fandoms where the fans have enough 'faith' in the Powers That Be and their ultimate talent and goodwill to address even their most outraged or tearful feedback TO the PTB? And are there some fandoms where the fans feel so separated from and ignored by the Powers, that no one bothers to even pretend that those in authority are listening, and all complaints are phrased in the 3rd person, griping ABOUT so-and-so rather than TO so-and-so?
[link] [parent] [reply]
 

Re: Why didn't I see that before?

posted by [identity profile] cindyamb.livejournal.com at 04:31am on 29/03/2004
I'd HEARD that it was good, although not always as careful with the biblical quotations as it could be (my parents' Sunday School class is full of retired ministers and religion professors, so you KNOW they ran down every reference to make sure nothing was being quoted out of context, etc. -- and they DID find a few 'goofs', where the author would say something like, "The Bible says, '.......'" -- implying that this is God's word for all time, perhaps -- but the passage cited was a direct quote from Bildad, one of Job's ignorant comforters, whom God castigates for speaking without wisdom and out of turn, and tiny mistakes like that).


The Bible quotes are all end noted, and there's an appendix with the cites. Warren uses something like 15 versions (translations and paraphrases) of The Bible. His rationale for using so many versions is that we are so accustomed to hearing/reading some verses, that we don't think about the words. As I've read chapter of his book, I've written the Bible reference next to the verses (they're italicized and easy to spot in Warren's text) so I can run them all down, when I'm done reading. I haven't noticed anything misused yet, but I'm behind where I should be. Ideally, I would finish reading at Easter, but it's not going to happen.

I wonder if the same thing is true with fan forums? Are there some fandoms where the fans have enough 'faith' in the Powers That Be and their ultimate talent and goodwill to address even their most outraged or tearful feedback TO the PTB? And are there some fandoms where the fans feel so separated from and ignored by the Powers, that no one bothers to even pretend that those in authority are listening, and all complaints are phrased in the 3rd person, griping ABOUT so-and-so rather than TO so-and-so?


Probably. In fact, there are probably sub-communities within individual fora, that act that way. It's a human thing, I think. I'm sure there's a more eloquent and thoughtful way to answer this question, and I'd intended to try to give it, then two of my kids woke.

[link] [parent] [reply]

October

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1
 
 2
 
 3
 
 4
 
 5
 
 6
 
 7
 
8
 
 9
 
 10
 
 11
 
 12
 
 13
 
 14
 
15
 
 16
 
 17
1
 18
 
 19
 
 20
 
 21
 
22
 
 23
 
 24
 
 25
 
 26
 
 27
 
 28
 
29
 
 30
 
 31