Musings about Faith

(Pr. Duncan wrote this in response to a question about the understanding of prayer is for a Christian believer): First of all, how we think of prayer is directly related to our understanding of God. If we see God as a "Santa Claus" or a Vending Machine or a Master Puppeteer or a distant omniscient God then it will affect how we shape our prayer life. I am not being flip. The fact is that way too many have such very limited and one dimensional unde rstandings of God / Jesus. But God transcends all of our imagination and part of the challenge is for us to discard our way too simple ways of understanding who God is and open our minds to embrace a God that is way beyond our comprehension but still accessible through Jesus, the one who is God incarnate. Another important thing to keep in mind is that we modern Christians tend to be very cerebral about our faith and our prayer. For many of us it is all about thought or thinking and often too rarely about action. In the ancien...

This past Sunday the lesson appointed was the Parable of the "Good Samaritan" from Luke 10. In my sermon I went through some of the basics, first about Parables in General: 1. They are all Parables of the Kingdom of God - they reflect God's Kingdom, which is why so many of them are about radical forgiveness, acceptance and grace. 2. They are about God - they are not morality tales for us. 3. They are an invitation for those of us who have been baptized and have been called to be citizen's of the Kingdom. How are we to live? How are we to relate to others - well, A man had two sons..." "A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho..." I also pointed out in my sermon that the Parables tend to be "pretty in your face" and radical. This is why the man who shows mercy is a despised Samaritan. Maybe Jesus, if he were telling this story today, would lift up an immigrant from Central America or a refugee. Does that offend you? Well, it should and it...

What is healing?   Why do we do a “healing” liturgy on the 5 th Sunday of the month?   Are we offering “cure?”   No, God has given us the gift of medical science to help us find cures. So then what is the “healing” that our liturgy offers us from God through Christ? It is easy to mix up those two words – healing and cure.   Our culture tends to understand “healing” as “cure,” and “cure” as “healing.”   Cure and healing are interchangeable in our society.   We go to the doctor for a cure in hopes that we will be healed of whatever ails us.   We come to church and experience a liturgy of healing in hopes that this will aid in providing a cure.   But are they the same thing?   No, in the Bible they are not the same thing at all.   They may be related, but they are two separate things.   Here then is a statement that sums up the biblical view of healing and cure: First, One can be cured without experiencing healing and 2 nd , One can ...

Day #2 - the official tour did not begin until the afternoon so in the morning I toured alone and walked from the hotel to the Hagia Sofia, at the time it was built it was the largest church in all of Christendom. Later after the city fell in 1453 it was converted to a Mosque. Today it is a museum. I did not go in. That will be tomorrow. But I also saw the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, German Fountain, Suiliman’s Harem, and the Grand Bazaar. In the afternoon I met up with the tour and we took a boat ride on the Bosphorus. Istanbul is divided by the river. On one side is the new city (after 1453) in Asia and the other side is the old city of Byzantium in Europe. Dinner soon and then to bed. Tomorrow we go inside Hagia Sophia and then we fly to Antalya. Below is the Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom (behind this building is a smaller church/mosque name Hagia Eirene - Holy Peace) For some reason this site won’t let me add captions so photo 4: On the river Bosphorus looking towards Hagia Sophia,...

I have arrived. It was a long day. But despite the flight to Frankfurt being delayed which gave me only 30 minutes to catch the flight to Istanbul both me and my luggag arrived safely. I got to the hotel without trouble took a nap, hooked up with the tour leader and his wife for dinner and now I am ready for a nice sleep. Here are a couple photos.... More later... Flying over the Rhein river looking for Rheinmaidens: The remains of a Byzantine Victory gate built by Theodocius I:

So, the adventure begins! I am at Lambert airport waiting for my flight to Toronto, which is the first leg of my trip to Istanbul. Once I arrive in Istanbul, Turkey I will join a tour led by the archeologist Dr Carl Rasmussen who is a specialist in geography of the ancient world. The tour will include Ephesus, Colossae, Corinth, Philippi, Delphi, Athens and lots of other places. I will try to post pictures regularly along with commentary!! But for today I am traveling. Here is information about the leader of our tour: Carl Rasmussen, PhD 5470 Free Photos and Commentary at: www.HolyLandPhotos.org Twice Weekly Blog :  https://holylandphotos.wordpress.com/ Occasional Twitter : @go2Carl

Below are a list of operas based on Old Testament stories (certainly not exhaustive) with some comments about the librettos and how they relate to the Biblical texts.  I will add pictures and links as I can. "David et Jonathas" - Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1688) – French This opera by Charpentier begins with the Witch of Endor (Prologue) – I Samuel 28:3-25 Then the opera begins by moving back in time. The basic narrative is pieced together from chapter 14 of I Samuel until Jonathan and his father Saul are killed (I Samuel 31 and II Samuel chapter 1 for David’s reaction). The libretto picks and chooses. Also the libretto has turned the Commander Joab (Joadab) into the bad guy. In the text Joab is the go-to guy to get violent and nasty things done, but he is not the one who initiates many of these things. Mostly in the Biblical narrative he does David's dirty work. Also, in the Biblical text Saul is pronounced as a failure long before Jonathan is even introduced...