Across the Sea of Stars (rebroadcast)

(I'm travelling for work - so here's a repodcast from 2006)

vaj wIj tIq ghaH Quchqu', je wIj jat rejoices. wIj porgh DIchDaq je
yIn Daq safety.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall
also dwell in safety. Psalm 16:9

(click for podcast)

Here's news of interest, especially if you've been working on building a starship. In recent weeks, at the American Association for the Advancement of science, researchers published a short list of ten "habstars," stars "where intelligent civilizations might lurk or they can try to actually spot planets like our own in habitable zones..."

The stars - as close as 4.5 light years away are targets for scientists who are developing ways to study extrasolar planets - it's an exciting prospect and an incredible challenge.

Now when we consider what it might mean to communicate with people around such stars - or travel to them - the challenge may seem impossible. That's because there's no known way to travel at the speed of light - let alone faster. So messages or vessels would take decades - probably centuries to travel back and forth. How could we hope to have a meaningful relationship with such worlds?

How? I've got a Klingon word to answer that: qay'be'! No problem! We've been doing it.. well, for centuries.

One of the delights of Bible study - besides the core delight, of enjoying the Word of God - is the way such study brings us into communication with people centuries apart from our time. And even though the communication might seem one way, we still enter into a conversation with believers more than a thousand years ago.

In this verse from Psalm 16 we find these words:

vaj wIj tIq ghaH Quchqu', je wIj jat rejoices. wIj porgh DIchDaq je
yIn Daq safety.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall
also dwell in safety. Psalm 16:9

Now - if you check the King James, or the Jewish Publication translation, you'll see that for "my tongue rejoices" they have "my glory rejoiceth." That isn't surprising - the Hebrew word chabod, glory, is what we find in the Hebrew, not "loshen," tongue. However.... here's where we start having a conversation with believers across the ages.

How was this understood - how does "glory" rejoice? It's an odd sounding idea, and when we look back we discover that in the ancient Greek translation, the Septuagint DIDN'T say glory - it said "tongue." Not only that, in the book of Acts, the apostle Peter, quotes this Psalm and he said, probably quoting from the Septuagint, "my tongue was glad." The Vulgate, the Latin translation, follows this as well.

So when we consider this verse, we have an opportunity to "discuss" across the sea of time - just as we might across the sea of stars with our interstellar neighbors. We can't engage in an immediate conversation, but we can listen to them and weigh their understanding of the passage as we translate it, not only into words, but into our lives.

Modern translations like the New International Version, the New Living Translation and the World English Bible have followed the Septuagint and others in using the word "tongue," some noting the difference in notes.

The progression: "my heart is glad/ my tongue rejoices" echoes for me, the words of Psalm 107 "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so" - that is, when we experience God's saving love - don't keep it secret! TELL someone - much like the Sunday School Song "If you're happy and you know it/ then your face will really show it!" Perhaps this is where the "glory" or "tongue" become synonyms - whether in speech or the joy we express, we rejoice in what God has done!

The Bible is an ancient book - written across centuries. and by people long gone. Yet as we read these words, and enter into a dialog across the ages, God gives us insight, gives us promise and gives us hope.

Eye Sees

The lamp vo' the porgh ghaH the mIn. chugh vaj lIj mIn ghaH wab, lIj Hoch porgh DichDaq taH teblu'ta' vo' wov.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. (Matthew 6:22)

(click for podcast)

The word here for eye is the Greek word "opthalmos" - a root word that ought to be familiar from eye-related medical words like ophthalmology or ophthalmologist. The Klingon word is the simple "mIn," But of course there is more here in Jesus words than the literal eye, I like the way the Message translation recasts this verse from Matthew's gospel:

Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.

These words from Jesus give me pause, and make me ask what is it that opens my eyes in wonder? What is it that fills me with delight? Well, there are many things.

If you're like me, you perhaps collect pictures - you'd see that the walls of my workspace are littered with family photos and pictures from vacations - it is always great to see reminders of those I love, and good times.

Recently I've let my gaze turn further out, as I've been drinking in the sights across the solar system thanks to a program called WorldWind from NASA. It's a great program that collects the vast quantities of images from interplanetary explorations and lets you wander across Venus, Mars, Mercury, the Moon - even the Earth. Your computer becomes a virtual spaceship. And, since WorldWind actually taps into NASA databases online, it has a wealth of imagery. Short of a personal spacecraft, it is one of the best ways to play space traveling tourist.

More than just pretty pictures, this exploration fills me with awe and joy as I marvel at the rich creation God has spread out before us. This enjoyment is a wonderful gift, something that can and ought to make us cry out in thanks to our creator. In the same way the pictures of my loved ones, and treasured memories, reminds me of the ways God has blessed me.

For, we have a decision to make in how we respond to the world - if we are open to the joy God offers, we can be filled with light, and take hold of the inheritance he offers to all his children. Jesus continues though:

If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! (Matt. 6:23 MSG).

What sort of life do you want? Filled with light, or a dank, dark cellar? We live in a world that presents us with a continuous barrage of bad news. This is, of course, no surprise - the Bible is clear that in a fallen world, there is much that needs to be set right - that is the message of Scriptures. Not just the bad news, but the power God has exerted to restore his creation.

The lamp vo' the porgh ghaH the mIn. chugh vaj lIj mIn ghaH wab, lIj Hoch porgh DichDaq taH teblu'ta' vo' wov.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. (Matthew 6:22)

Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.

choDev!

legh chugh pa' ghaH vay' mIgh way Daq jIH,
je Dev jIH Daq the everlasting way.
See if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.Psalms 139:24

(click for podcast)

Do Klingons ask for directions? We know they have words that would help. For example lugh, Quv, 'ev, tIng and chan.

• lurgh the word for direction (spatial)
  
• Quv coordinates
• 'ev northwestward, area to the northwest (320 degrees on terran 360 degree compass counted clockwise with 0 at north)
  
• tIng southwestward, area toward the southwest (approx 220 degrees on terran 360 degree compass counting clockwise with 0 at north)
  
• chan eastward, area toward the east (90 degrees on Terran 360 degree compass with north as 0 and degrees counted clockwise)
  

You'll notice that, instead of four directions, north, south, east and west, they have three. This isn't surprising if you picture the three pointed star associated with Klingons. It probably follows from the fact that their ancient mathematical systems are based on the number three. I've written programs to explore that kind of math, even constructed a primitive Klingon computer to work with such numbers - it's a fascinating subject if you have an interest in different number systems.

No matter - having the vocabulary for geography and directions isn't enough. After all, in English, we have quite a few words for directions - yet everyone knows someone who is resolute in refusing to "stop and ask for directions," even when hopelessly lost - why would Klingons be any different?

legh chugh pa' ghaH vay' mIgh way Daq jIH,
je Dev jIH Daq the everlasting way.
See if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.Psalms 139:24

We need to ask for directions.


Scripture is woven through with this message - we need to find our way.

As the Apostle John notes:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8

The good news is that God wants to set us upon the right path! John makes that clear when he says,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

At the end of Psalm 139 we find the psalmist knows this too, as he says:

See if there is any wicked way in me (Psalms 139:24a)

We NEED directions. We need God to search out the migh, the evil that has stained our lives.

The Good news is that the story continues from there. We CAN be set on the right path, as this verse calls on God:

And lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalms 139:24b)

nachah, the Hebrew word for "lead" here in the KLV is translated by "Dev," to lead, the same root I've used for shepherd or leader, DevwI'. This same Hebrew word is found in the familiar Twenty-third Psalm:

"he leadeth <nachah> me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Righteousness - the RIGHT way - is what God desires we follow. And it's this path for which we NEED to ask directions.

What a joy it is to realize that God is there to lead us, to guide us in that way. Don't be afraid to ask!