Books
New Books
I am working on three books now. One is ready for printing .
Books
Blog
Books
Uncategorized
Confessions of a Priest:
Why am I still trying to publish books, and why am I still studying and thinking about the gospels as if I had to preach again this week. I love the church, my faith is the most important event of my life, but the beliefs that it peddles I find get in the way. We drag behind us 2,000 years of theological baggage. Its time we came clean. I don’t believe the Ascension ever happened. I’ve said it to six men sitting round a table faced by their bibles. Their faces first registered a mix of horror and surprise, then smiles. I asked them if they believed the story of the Ascension of Jesus rising up into the clouds, (Heaven) and disappearing. They sheepishly admitted they did not. We spent the next hour discussing why the story was told and finally understood its genesis. Once we did this we did not need to throw it away. Belief is the enemy of faith, but understanding is its handmaid.
Uncategorized
I have a new review for Book of Sam
Official Review: Book of Sam by Peter D. Snow
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of “Book of Sam” by Peter D. Snow.]
4 out of 4 stars Wow!
Share This Review
Book of Sam by Peter D. Snow recounts the conversations that the author had—over time—with his grandnephew about spirituality, the concept of sin, the over-glorification of science over art, faith, and intellectualism, and the depth of truth in popular religious catchphrases.
The author deals with how we get misled in our quest for discovering our own identity. The trend these days is to barter compliments for personal benefit. This certainly brings to mind what happens even at the level of presidential policy today. The author takes you through some everyday instances that help us see for ourselves how hollow this entire exercise is. As the author shares his experiences, we realize that the original divine presence (aka God) sees us out and all we need to do is to turn around and listen. When this realization hits us, it becomes easier for us to get some relief from the weight of peer pressure, our own injured assumptions, and other people’s judgments. What remains then is a stillness…and a sense of peace.
There are many different aspects to this book; it is a journey leading to finding ourselves, of the importance of silence in many situations, and of how shame and guilt heaped on us by others affect us so greatly that it impacts health irreversibly.
Much of the book is centered around the actual meaning of terms such as the soul and the subconscious. I especially enjoyed reading about that special natural event the author experienced one fine morning that helped him take the reins of his life in his own hands (and which he passes on to us as a meditation practice we can all benefit from). This book teaches us to identify the integrity within ourselves and shows us how being a victim betrays the grace that God has offered us.
I particularly enjoyed the way the author has described how he came to the realization that women around the world are NOT sending out messages to the men by dressing up and wearing pretty accessories. I respect him for coming out with that in a book – I’ve not seen anyone deal with that topic so beautifully before this. Through some short excerpts from the Bible, the author discusses throughout the book about how God is not separate from us—his creations.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Even with some heavy themes, everything it touches upon has a positive tone. Initially, I was concerned that it would involve too much preaching and be depressing overall, but that was not the case. Not one bit. I was also worried that I would get lost with terms from the Bible as I am not familiar with the book—mostly due to the fact that I am a non-Christian. However, the author did well to make most of it clear. I do not feel like I missed out on anything important in the book, despite my ignorance of certain mentions of the gospels and related references.
It is impressive how well written this book is. Even though it jumps between a variety of topics, it is easy to keep track of all of the ideas the author is sharing. He manages to make the content flow, giving you enough time to digest each new idea and suggestion. The way the author writes is very open and relatable.
My rating for Book of Sam is 4 out of 4 stars. It is an excellent combination of a memoir and a self-help book. Not only will spiritual enthusiasts love it, but also those who love heart-warming stores and heartfelt suggestions from someone who cares about making a difference. However, if you have a low threshold for self-help books or religious references, this just might not be for you. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to check out the author’s next book and find out what more he wants to share with his readers next.
Uncategorized
The Sorrows of God. Poem from the trenches of…
More of Woodbine Willy – The Sorrow of God
Studdert Kennedy or Woodbine Willie as the troops called him was a chaplain to the men fighting in the trenches of northern France during WW1. November 11th is coming up soon when we remember its a hundred years since that carnage ushered in the worst century of man’s depravity and violence. as a school boy we were taught to honor the sacrifice for Britain of so many, but when I studied the history I realized the utter pointless waste of all those men of that generation. General officers were incompetent, officers were cold blooded fatalists and the politicians couldn’t lead anywhere except into the hell of modern war and then financial collapse.
The poem was originally published in Rough Rhymes of a Padre (one of two volumes of war-time poems issued in 1914-18 under the pseudonym “Woodbine Willie”); then re-published under Studdert Kennedy’s own name in The Sorrows of God and Other Poems in 1921; and again in Rhymes in 1929, a one-volume re-print of the Rough Rhymes series. (Note plural `Sorrows’ in the book title, but singular in the poem.) In The Sorrows of God and Other Poems 1921 it is one of two items described as `Dialect Poems’. This volume is available online HERE. (I notice that some have reworked this poem in various ways so as to remove the Cockney dialect; but I think they have diminished its impact. So what follows is exactly what Studdert-Kennedy wrote.)
THE SORROW OF GOD
– A SERMON IN A BILLET
YES, I used to believe i’ Jesus Christ,
And I used to go to Church,
But sin’ I left ‘ome and came to France,
I’ve been clean knocked off my perch.
For it seemed orlright at ‘ome, it did,
To believe in a God above
And in Jesus Christ ‘Is only Son,
What died on the Cross through Love.
When I went for a walk o’ a Sunday morn
On a nice fine day in the spring,
I could see the proof o’ the living God
In every living thing.
For ‘ow could the grass and the trees grow up
All along o’ their bloomin’ selves?
Ye might as well believe i’ the fairy tales,
And think they was made by elves.
So I thought as that long-‘aired atheist
Were nubbat a silly sod,
For ‘ow did ‘e ‘count for my Brussels sprouts
If ‘e didn’t believe i’ God?
But it ain’t the same out ‘ere, ye know.
It’s as different as chalk fro’ cheese,
For ‘arf on it’s blood and t’other ‘arf’s mud,
And I’m damned if I really sees
‘Ow the God, who ‘as made such a cruel world,
Can ‘ave Love in ‘Is ‘eart for men,
And be deaf to the cries of the men as dies
And never comes ‘ome again.
Just look at that little boy corporal there,
Such a fine upstanding lad,
Wi’ a will uv ‘is own, and a way uv ‘is own,
And a smile uv ‘is own, ‘e ‘ad.
An hour ago ‘e were bustin’ wi’ life,
Wi’ ‘is actin’ and foolin’ and fun;
‘E were simply the life on us all, ‘e were,
Now look what the blighters ‘a done.
Look at ‘im lyin’ there all uv a ‘eap,
Wi’ the blood soaken over ‘is ‘ead,
Like a beautiful picture spoiled by a fool,
A bundle o’ nothin’ – dead.
And it ain’t only ‘im – there’s a mother at ‘ome,
And ‘e were the pride of ‘er life.
For it’s women as pays in a thousand ways
For the madness o’ this ‘ere strife.
And the lovin’ God ‘E looks down on it all,
On the blood and the mud and the smell.
O God, if it’s true, ‘ow I pities you,
For ye must be livin’ i’ ‘ell.
You must be livin’ i’ ‘ell all day,
And livin’ i’ ‘ell all night.
I’d rather be dead, wiv a ‘ole through my ‘ead,
I would, by a damn long sight,
Than be livin’ wi’ you on your ‘eavenly throne,
Lookin’ down on yon bloody ‘cap
That were once a boy full o’ life and joy,
And ‘earin’ ‘is mother weep.
The sorrows o’ God must be ‘ard to bear
If ‘E really ‘as Love in ‘Is ‘eart,
And the ‘ardest part i’ the world to play
Must surely be God’s part.
And I wonder if that’s what it really means,
That Figure what ‘angs on the Cross.
I remember I seed one t’other day
As I stood wi’ the captain’s ‘oss.
I remember, I thinks, thinks I to mysel’,
It’s a long time since ‘E died,
Yet the world don’t seem much better to-day
Then when ‘E were crucified.
It’s allus the same, as it seems to me,
The weakest must go to the wall,
And whether e’s right, or whether e’s wrong,
It don’t seem to matter at all.
The better ye are and the ‘arder it is,
The ‘arder ye ‘ave to fight,
It’s a cruel ‘ard world for any bloke
What does the thing as is right.
And that’s ‘ow ‘E came to be crucified,
For that’s what ‘E tried to do.
‘E were allus a-tryin’ to do ‘Is best
For the likes o’ me and you.
Well, what if ‘E came to the earth to-day,
Came walkin’ about this trench,
‘Ow ‘Is ‘eart would bleed for the sights ‘E seed,
I’ the mud and the blood and the stench.
And I guess it would finish ‘Im up for good
When ‘E came to this old sap end,
And ‘E seed that bundle o’ nothin’ there,
For ‘E wept at the grave uv ‘Is friend.
And they say ‘E were just the image o’ God.
I wonder if God sheds tears,
I wonder if God can be sorrowin’ still,
And ‘as been all these years.
I wonder if that’s what it really means,
Not only that ‘E once died,
Not only that ‘E came once to the earth
And wept and were crucified?
Not just that ‘E suffered once for all
To save us from our sins,
And then went up to ‘Is throne on ‘igh
To wait till ‘Is ‘eaven begins.
But what if ‘E came to the earth to show,
By the paths o’ pain that ‘E trod,
The blistering flame of eternal shame
That burns in the heart o’ God?
O God, if that’s ‘ow it really is,
Why, bless ye, I understands,
And I feels for you wi’ your thorn-crowned ‘ead
And your ever pierced ‘ands.
But why don’t ye bust the show to bits,
And force us to do your will?
Why ever should God be suffering so
And man be sinning still?
Why don’t ye make your voice ring out,
And drown these cursed guns?
Why don’t ye stand with an outstretched ‘and,
Out there ‘twixt us and the ‘Uns?
Why don’t ye force us to end the war
And fix up a lasting peace?
Why don’t ye will that the world be still
And wars for ever cease?
That’s what I’d do, if I was you,
And I had a lot o’ sons
What squabbled and fought and spoilt their ‘ome,
Same as us boys and the ‘Uns.
And yet, I remember, a lad o’ mine,
‘E’s fightin’ now on the sea,
And ‘e were a thorn in ‘is mother’s side,
And the plague o’ my life to me.
Lord, ‘ow I used to swish that lad
Till ‘e fairly yelped wi’ pain,
But fast as I thrashed one devil out
Another popped in again.
And at last, when ‘e grew up a strappin’ lad,
‘E ups and ‘e says to me,
“My will’s my own and my life’s my own,
And I’m goin’, Dad, to sea.”
And ‘e went, for I ‘adn’t broke ‘is will,
Though God knows ‘ow I tried,
And ‘e never set eyes on my face again
Till the day as ‘is mother died.
Well, maybe that’s ‘ow it is wi’ God,
‘Is sons ‘ave got to be free;
Their wills are their own, and their lives their own,
And that’s ‘ow it ‘as to be.
So the Father God goes sorrowing still
For ‘Is world what ‘as gone to sea,
But ‘E runs up a light on Calvary’s ‘eight
That beckons to you and me.
The beacon light of the sorrow of God
‘As been shinin’ down the years,
A-flashin’ its light through the darkest night
O’ our ‘uman blood and tears.
There’s a sight o’ things what I thought was strange,
As I’m just beginnin’ to see
“Inasmuch as ye did it to one of these
Ye ‘ave done it unto Me.”
So it isn’t just only the crown o’ thorns
What ‘as pierced and torn God’s ‘ead;
‘E knows the feel uv a bullet, too,
And ‘E’s ‘ad ‘Is touch o’ the lead.
And ‘E’s standin’ wi’ me in this ‘ere sap,
And the corporal stands wiv ‘Im,
And the eyes of the laddie is shinin’ bright,
But the eyes of the Christ burn dim.
O’ laddie, I thought as ye’d done for me
And broke my ‘eart wi’ your pain.
I thought as ye’d taught me that God were dead,
But ye’ve brought ‘Im to life again.
And ye’ve taught me more of what God is
Than I ever thought to know,
For I never thought ‘E could come so close
Or that I could love ‘Im so.
For the voice of the Lord, as I ‘ears it now,
Is the voice of my pals what bled,
And the call of my country’s God to me
Is the call of my country’s dead.
Dating gospels
Rules for Reading Parables
How to use a Parable:
These are simple illustrations, sometimes of no more than a single sentence, but at other times running on as a complete story. “You cannot gather figs from thistles.” Is an example of the short parable and the story of the Prodigal Son being of the longer variety. First thing to remember is these parables were meant to be simple illustrations that ordinary people could easily understand. The parable was not meant to confuse or hide the truth. The only people who could not understand them were the clergy. They did not want to understand but rather argue. A contemporary method of teaching was to argue using different points of view and quoting the writings of other men. The discussion on abstruse points of observance of the law might go on for days. After all there was no TV or other distraction. This was not Jesus’ way, after all you can’t argue with a parable.
Each of Jesus’ parables is a simile.
Many of them begin with the words, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” Jesus style is recognizable and after reading a few of them they have a rhythm about them that can be identified as uniquely Jesus of Nazareth. Further these similes only occur in the synoptic gospels, and not the gospel of John. That writer puts in Jesus’ mouth teaching expressed in metaphor rather than simile. That is another story we may eventually get around to telling.
Jesus states the subject of the parable in the first phrase of the parable.
The point of the parable will therefore be about what that person or object does. This might seem obvious, but it is not. Preachers, teachers and eminent theologians have got parables wrong for centuries all because they missed who or what the subject of the parable was. It is very difficult to understand a parable if you begin with the wrong assumptions. The perfect example of this is a parable referred to as that of the Dishonest Steward. For two thousand years the point of this parable has been missed entirely because would be interpreters have concentrated on the figure of the dishonest steward. Jesus tells us in the first line who it is about, “There was a rich man who had a steward.” It is about the rich man, and it is about what he does that matters not the machinations of the grotesque figure of the steward. The same thing happens in the Prodigal Son story, the Sower, the Weeds, Treasure hidden in a field, Pearl of Great Price and several more.
Where is the Parable told
Farming, fishing and everyday life of the laborer belong naturally in the area of Galilee. The Man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, the story of the Good Samaritan belongs in Jerusalem, as does several other parables that belong in the city rather than the countryside. It is very important for us to understand what kind of people were listening to him, and what kind of expertise and experience of the world was common to them. Jesus intentionally involved the people in his teaching method. So the story of the woman making bread no doubt had mouths watering at the thought of new baked bread.
Who was he talking to
This is similar to the last one. Ask who was he talking to and you get some surprising answers. The Prodigal Son story is told to a group of clergy and business entrepreneurs. Their respective behavior is very germane to understanding the dynamics behind that whole section of five parables. Let your imagination loose. It has an important role in thoroughly understanding Jesus’ teaching.
What was the question that set off the discussion that precipitated the parable?
Jesus did not go about dripping parables indiscriminately nor did he do sermon preparation. Each was an illustration to clinch his point made in conversation or discussion. We see this a couple of times, the Lawyer who asks “Who is my neighbor?” is one example. This takes a little patience to figure out. If the parable is about the Kingdom of God then you know the discussion and question that preceded it was about that subject. Reflecting on what the question might have been assists a great deal with narrowing the quest for the parable’s meaning.
What did the subject of the parable do or say
It is in what the subject did or said that the key to the parable resides. The host of the marriage feast tells his servants to go out and bring everyone into the feast. Here is the key. Jesus is saying in effect, everyone is invited, but those who chose not to respond will not get a smell of the banquet.
Jesus often used couplets.
He would use two parables together to build a deeper understanding of a point. For example, the mustard seed grows and grows, and yeast grows and grows in a piece of dough. Take a moment to consider what the dough does to the flour and water and you get a glimmer of what the gospel does inside you. The parables of the mustard seed and yeast in the dough, of the good shepherd and lost coin, the sower and the weeds or tares, treasure in a field and pearl of great price are all examples of couplets that Jesus carefully crafts to illustrate the deeper truths in any question.
Avoid all interpretation
Any time the parables are explained in the gospels, you know you are dealing with someone’s interpretation which they then put into Jesus’ mouth. He never had to explain any parable, for they were meant for the fishermen and farm laborers in front of him that day. Meditating over the parables without the interpretation produces profound understanding, but keep it to yourself till you have made it part of you. Let the parable speak to you.
Dating gospels
The Gospels: by The God who wants to be…
The Gospels Belong to You:
Who owns the gospels? What a strange question. They are just there, there is no copyright and nobody can tell you what you can and cannot do with them. Various translators do have control over their work, but most translations are in the public domain. The churches don’t own the gospel , though every church has its own doctrinal structure dependent on the gospels.
The gospels are meant for you. Many people down the ages have died protecting them, and asserting the right of access to everyone. Now what will you do with them?
The gospels value to you is going to depend on a number of things.
- The gospels are not an empty box in which you can keep your pet ideas and take them out to massage them when you want to. If you are under 85, don’t assume you know what the gospels have to say to you. If you are over 85, then being surprised by the gospels is one thing you can expect.
- The gospels were written 2,000 years ago and the authors were writing for a few people they knew, and who knew them. They did not realize you would be reading their very personal efforts to record what they had seen or heard. So give them a break. They didn’t get it all right all the time, but they were not trying to deceive you
- 2,000 years ago there were no copiers or cloud storage. When you wanted a copy of a gospel someone had to sit down for a number of days and copy it out by hand. After two or three days you then had two copies. There was no point to circulating lies or untruths. What people wrote was deemed by them worth the considerable effort and cost to set it down on very expensive parchment.
- When you pick up your gospel to read, imagine it a totally unknown entity. You are looking at it for the first time again. Even after all these years of studying these four documents I am constantly surprised b y another insight, and often the realization I was mistaken previously. This willingness to be surprised is vital for you if you want to find the true value of what is there before you. You are never done.
- The teaching in the gospels is simple and straightforward. Jesus never played mind games nor messed with people’s heads. He had a lot of trouble with the clergy of his day, but that’s another story. What Jesus of Nazareth had to say was understandable to the fishermen and farm laborers of Galilee. It’s not difficult but neither is it obvious.
- The real problem arose when others felt a need to explain his teaching to those who had not listened to him personally. Early teachers couldn’t help but spin the meaning of a parable or statement to fit their particular issue at hand. Reading their interpretation as words from Jesus’ mouth makes figuring out just what he said extremely difficult. This takes study and commonsense. The disciples’ spin is itself very instructive, and by no means a distraction once you understand the difference between what Jesus said and others’ assumptions or needs.
- What translation should you use? Modern translations are the work of good Greek scholars, historians and theologians. Even so, new insights will dictate changes in future translations. For example the Dead Sea Scrolls are still revealing background information on contemporary practices and beliefs. These nuggets of knowledge will change our understanding a little here or there and affect the next translations published.
Value your gospels, keep them close and leave space in your head for future understanding. You are not done yet.