Blue Cord

I have been having a SciFi filled couple of weeks. It started two weeks ago when my kids spent several days with me. Duncan got interested in watching Star Trek: Enterprise with me. The SciFi channel runs four episodes every Monday night. I had missed the final season because I was in Lithuania, so I have been catching up. Duncan loved the show, so I decided to show him some of the original Star Trek episodes.

Although I have all of the original episodes on VHS, they are all in storage (as were most of my belongings while we were in Lithuania — I still haven’t gotten them out). So, we went to Blockbuster. They did not have the original TV series in the store, but I got Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. My son loved it. And, because we had joined the Blockbuster on-line rental program, we get three DVDs at a time through the mail.

When the kids are not here, I am using the time to catch up on a few other series. Battlestar Galactica (the new series) came out while I was in Lithuania, so I have not seen it. I am currently in the middle of the second season, and I have to say that I am impressed. And because I never saw the original Battlestar Galactica when I was a kid, I am getting all of those episodes through the mail as well. I have made very good use of the two week free trial of Blockbuster on-line rentals.

I have also stumbled on the remastered Star Trek episodes as well. Again, this is something I missed while out of the country, but I caught my first episode tonight. It was “The Omega Glory,” where we get to hear Kirk’s very dramatic reading of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

For those who don’t know, Paramount has remastered all of the original Star Trek episodes. The color is better, and they have removed scratches and stains on the film. That part I think it great. What I am not so sure about is the fact that they have replaced all of the external shots of the ship and planets with computer generated models. Although I enjoy seeing new views of the Enterprise, there is something about messing with the originals that seems sacrilegious somehow.

I am pleased, though, that my son has started watching Star Trek. Watching the original episodes for the past few weeks has reminded me how truly wonderful that show was. It has also reminded me why Kirk was my hero as a boy and still is my hero now that I am an adult.

Several of the episodes I have watched so far have been ones dealing with the issue of struggle. Repeatedly, Star Trek had episodes where humans would find paradise but discover that life without any challenges is problematic.¹ There is a great quote at the end of This Side of Paradise. McCoy says that this is the second time that humanity had been thrown out of Eden, and Kirk responds, “No, this time we walked out on our own.” Kirk goes on to say:

“Maybe we weren’t meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle. Claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can’t stroll to the music of the lutes. We must march to the sound of drums.”

That last bit of martial imagery aside, it is an interesting idea, especially in light of the Gospel. Humanity seeks for paradise, but Jesus comes as a suffering savior. Humans crave the easy life, but Christ tells us to take up our cross and follow him. Paradise, even the paradise of salvation, comes only through suffering and struggle.

1. The episodes I have seen lately on this topic are This Side of Paradise and Return of the Archons. [back]

I thought I would alert my readers to a sizable change in my life.

Since the time that I graduated with my Ph.D. in 2001, I have not found a permanent position in biblical studies.  I have done adjunct teaching and once filled in for a semester for someone on sabbatical.  My longest position was in Lithuania, and that job did not come with a salary.  So far, I have not made a very good living as a biblical scholar.

Currently I am living in Massachusetts.  My wife and I have separated.  She has determined that she wants to live near her parents here, so I need to remain in the area to be near my kids.  The likelihood of me being able to find a position in biblical studies in the area is slim.  Although Massachusetts has a lot of universities, the chance of a full-time position coming open in one is low, and if one does come open I will only be one of a large number of applicants.  Even if I were to get the job, it would probably not start until Fall 2008 at this point.

So, I am transitioning to a new career, at least temporarily.  I have done web design from time to time for the past ten years, usually for churches and other non-profits.  Because I enjoy web design and development, I started a program in graphic and web design today at Clark University’s College of Professional and Continuing Education.  It is an eight month program with classes meeting for four hours each day.  The rest of the time I will be working as a part-time cashier at The Home Depot.  I also have a few contract jobs as a web designer.

For those of you who are worried wondering, this does not mean I will stop writing this blog.  Right now this blog is about my only connection to biblical scholarship, so I plan to keep blogging, especially because I enjoy it too much to stop.  My blogging has been a little slower for the past two month while I have been trying to deal with a number of issues concerning career and family, but I should be back to full speed soon.

In the meantime, if any one needs a freelance web designer, let me know.  The template for this blog was written by someone else, but I have modified it heavily.  I also wrote a Joomla template to match this one, and I use that on non-blog portion of this site.  You can also see my work at the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars site, which I also did.

It is difficult not to be doing biblical scholarship full time, and the situation with my marriage has made things even more difficult.  I would appreciate any prayers that my readers might offer up on my behalf.

I received the Augsburg Fortress fall catalog in the mail a few days ago. On the cover is a book I am quite interested in reading. It is entitled Defeating Depression. It is written by Howard Stone, a pastoral counselor and professor emeritus at Texas Christian University.

One of the things that intrigues me about the book is the fact that Stone himself suffers from depression. I am hoping that as a pastoral counselor he will deal with not only the psychological issues but also the theological ones.

I have struggled with chronic depression for the past ten years. Unlike high blood pressure or cholesterol, which you may have but not notice, depression is something of which you are constantly aware. It is something that I have to fight against on a moment-by-moment basis.

The reason I hope Stone will address it theologically is because my battle with depression has had an impact on my theological anthropology. It has been a struggle not to allow such an all-encompassing condition to define who I am. In addition, I have had to deal with questions concerning how depression affects my self-understanding and how I relate to others. What does it mean to be a Christian whose mind is constantly malfunctioning? What does constant irritability intersect with the command to love others? Having wrestled with these questions myself, I would love to see how someone else with theological training has dealt with depression.

In some ways, I feel like the Gerasene demoniac:

No one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones (Mark 5:3-5).

I long for the day when I can get to v.15, so people can come and find me sitting in my right mind.¹

1. Please note I am not saying that I am always howling and bruising myself. It is merely metaphorical. But certainly no medication has been able to shackle this disease. [back]

Shortly after posting the note asking for prayers for Brevard Childs, I got word that he had passed away around 2:00 pm this afternoon. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family, just a few minutes after they removed life support.

Childs will be remembered as a giant in the field of Old Testament studies. He is best known for his canonical approach to the Scriptures, an approach that fundamentally changed the way some scholars approach the field. His critique of biblical theology in the 1970s led to a revitalization of that area of study, while his An Introduction to the Old Testament as Christian Scripture was a remarkable exercise in what he thought an introduction should be.

All of this and more will be said of Childs in the coming weeks as the field eulogizes him. But I wanted to take a moment to share some memories of him from when I was a student. I had the honor of taking two courses from him: Hebrew Reading of Psalms and Isaiah as Christian Scripture. The first I took as a first year seminary student. I remember sitting in the class hunched over my BHS and BDB, scared to death that Childs would call on me.

Childs was a very soft spoken man. Listening to him lecture always sounded to me like hearing Winnie the Pooh wax poetic on the wonders of the pi’el imperfect. He was an amazingly kind and gentle man, although he never could remember my name. After I took the Psalms class, the registrar sent him a note asking for my grade. Childs replied with a hand written note, stating that he couldn’t remember if I had dropped the class or not, but he suggested that perhaps I had taken the class under a different name.

In Isaiah as Christian Scripture, I got to interact most directly with his canonical approach to Scripture. Although I loved the new questions he was asking of the text, I never quite accepted completely the answers he gave. This, of course, is not the time to be debating such matters. But whether your agreed with him or not, Childs broad knowledge was unmistakable. He could quote at will from Luther and Calvin, and for a biblical scholar he knew entirely too much Barth for my taste. Of course, Childs knew Barth, and it was rumored at school that Childs had met his future wife in Barth’s living room. ¹

Childs’s impact on the field was truly monumental, and I know many voices in the coming weeks will say so. I merely wanted to add my own personal note at his passing to offer my gratitude for the profound impact he had on my own understanding of the Old Testament as Christian Scriptures.

1. I never knew whether this rumor was correct or not. [back]

From Steve Cook’s blog:

For about a week I’ve known that one of my beloved mentors from Yale Grad School, Brevard Childs has been critically ill in hospital in Connecticut, but he is a great and private man and I’ve been very reluctant to post on it. At this point Bard’s condition is ever more life threatening, and so I, and his other students and friends I’m sure, earnestly request your prayers. He collapsed about a week ago, the night before he and his wife Ann were were planning to leave for their summer place in Chautauqua. He has undergone at least two difficult surgeries and is now not conscious and in danger of renal failure. His family is with him, as I am in my prayers.

Childs was one of my professors as well, and I would like to join Steve is requesting prayers for not only one of the great scholars of our day but also for one of the most gentle men I have ever known.