Life Signs!

ghaH DichDaq taH rur a Sor planted Sum the streams vo' bIQ
He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water Psalm 1:3a

podcast version

yInroHmey yIHotlh! Scan for life signs!

Anyone familiar with space exploration - particularly as practiced by the United Federation of Planets - knows that this a primary task when discovering a new world or a derelict ship. Facing the unknown, the quest for yInroH, life signs, is job number one.

Even today we see this. The first landers on Mars included automated chemical labs to detect Martian life. Most think this first attempt failed, though there are some who think life was found back in 1976. And now, the ships orbiting and the robots prowling on the red planet continue looking for life signs, especially in the form of water. Simple H20 that covers three quarters of our planet makes life possible on Earth - and it may well be so elsewhere.

What about you? If you are scanned for "life signs," what will be found? "Barren wilderness," "salty flats where no one lives?" That's how the book of Jeremiah describes people "who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17:5 NLT).

In the third verse of Psalm 1, the author leaps from his description of a "blessed" person (doesn't hang out with the evil, dwells on God's word) into pure metaphor:

ghaH DichDaq taH rur a Sor planted Sum the streams vo' bIQ
He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water Psalm 1:3a

This is a good example of how nimbly the Bible can move from simple text into poetry. This picture of the blessed as a Sor, a tree, planted along the water resonates throughout Scripture. Jeremiah seems to quote or reflect these words when we read:

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Jeremiah 17:5-8a NLT

We seek for life signs, for these waters of life in our own existence. Where I live, it is spring at this moment. I'm sitting writing these words outside surrounded by a world that is green and full of life, a reminder of the kind of life everyone wants to experience.

Jesus speaks of this when he said "the water I give... becomes a .. spring within..., giving eternal life." (John 4:14 NLT )

It will be an exciting day when finally a space probe from Earth finds life out there. Maybe it will be on Mars or Titan orbiting Saturn. Perhaps it will be in a pool, or in some deep underground spring - water teaming with life never seen before.

But right now, today, yInroH wIleghlaH, we can see life signs, within ourselves if only we turn to the one who can lead us to the river of life.

Mumble & Mutter!

Daq Daj chut ghaH ja''eghqa'taH jaj je ram.
On his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2b)
podcast version

Okay, I admit it - I talk to myself! (Of course, with a spouse or some other close observer that is the kind of thing that is hard to keep a secret forever. )

I can explain this "talking to myself": it is a useful strategy for pushing things over from short-term memory to the long-term storage. Anyone on the far side of fifty can appreciate this. And it could be worse. I take comfort in something I was once told: "it's okay to talk to yourself - as long as you don't start answering."

"Talking to yourself" is usually taken to mean either you have no audience, or that you're completely cracked. Maybe then it comes as a surprise that Psalm 1 admires just that action - in fact it seemes to be what the Bible admonishes us to do.

Turn to Psalm 1:2 and you'll learn that the blessed person:

ja''eghqa'taH jaj je ram - meditates day and night on God's law

The Hebrew word used here for meditate is "hagah," to murmur - the sense here is to review, rehearse, recite, and remember God's words by saying them over and over to oneself.

Originally 'meditate', not being a common word in the World English Bible (hardly more than a dozen times) was not included in the Klingon Language Version. Since working on these studies, I've added it, using the word "ja''eghqa'" to carry the meaning. "ja'," to report, "'egh," -to-oneself, and "-qa'," again: ja''eghqa': report-again-to-oneself, meditate.

By example, we're told in this psalm that it is vital to "ja''eghqa'" - repeat to oneself - God's word continually.

This is practical advice. Whether a grocery list or God's commandments - repeating the words fixes them in one's mind for easy retrieval. And why would we want to do that? Psalm 119 says it well:

jIH ghaj hidden lij mu' Daq wIj tIq, vetlh jIH might ghobe' yem Daq SoH
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

This is bedrock: if you want to see the foundations for a life that is ghurtaH Quch 'ej, blessed and happy, you'll find it following this example: continually, recite, repeat, remember - ja''eghqa' God's words, till they become the touchstone by which you can measure and evaluate your life.

In college, I learned about this from a group called the Navigators, who are big proponents of memorizing scripture and meditating on it - they promote ja''eghqa' - though not by that name.

Try it yourself: find a good verse of scripture that speaks to you. Review and review it, till you know it backwards and forwards - I've found you gain more than just knowledge of a few lines of text. Instead you have a resource for your own reflection, ammunition for your own life of prayer. With a vocabulary rooted in the Word, and regular reflection on it, you may experience what is promised in the book of Joshua:

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
Joshua 1:8

Delightful Law.

'ach Daj tIv ghaH Daq joH'a' chut.
but his delight is in Yahweh's law
psalm 1:2a
podcast version

Delight. Think for a moment about what gives you delight. Family? Travel? Sports? Chocolate? From deep to trivial, what delights us is as varied as we individuals are. Now, Psalm 1, when it turns from what the happy, the blessed person DOESN'T do, to what they DO do - maybe it comes as a bit of a surprise, when being blessed is tied to finding DELIGHT in LAW.

Law, to me, probably to most people who aren't lawyers - is NOT a subject that quickens the pulse. Yet, in Psalm 1 when we turn to what the blessed DO, we read:

Daj tIv ghaH Daq joH'a' chut - his delight is in Yahweh's law

Part of me rebels at this: "Law? Happiness is bound up in rules and regulations? No, thanks!"

But, wait - this isn't law in the abstract, or in any city, state or national sense. This is joH'a' chut - God's law. This law is charged with a personal quality, a relationship. The specific Hebrew word used here may be a familiar one: Torah. Occurring over 200 times in the Hebrew scriptures, "torah," is commonly used to refer to the "books of Moses," (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) but carries a much broader idea of God's instruction to his people. The word torah comes from a root, yarah, that means "to throw," the notion being to "throw out one's hand" to point something out, to instruct.

One writer says, "This shows that the end of the Law lay beyond the mere obedience to such and such rules, that end being instruction in the knowledge of God.., and guidance in living as the children of such a God as He revealed Himself to be. " [ISBE]

Part of my problem facing the word "law" here comes from perceiving it as dry words and nothing more. Yes, chut or "torah" encompasses law, as in legal rules, certainly, but also teaching - those things the Lord wants us to be doing. More than rules, this law draws in the whole living testimony of Scripture, set down as a way for us, and, as St. Paul says: " profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness," (2Tim 3:16). What is God pointing out NOW? Where is his hand directing me, TODAY?

Think of it this way: Your walk through life is a path with twists and turns. At times a tough uphill journey, sometimes a breakneck run. Without a companion, someone who can help you along the way, you are likely to get lost, or worse. When we see joH'a' chut, God's law, as the hand of one who walks alongside us in our journey through life, then we'll realize that this path can be an adventure, one where we won't take a wrong turn, nor miss any of the delightful things there are to enjoy along the way.

Don't STAND For It!

podcast version

ghurtaH ghaH the loD 'Iv ta'be' ... Qam Daq the way vo' yemwI'pu', ghobe' ba' Daq the seat vo' scoffers;
Blessed is the man who doesn't ...stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; Psalm 1:1b
Ever heard this old joke? "Teacher, should I get in trouble for something I didn't do?" "No, of course not." "Good. I didn't do my homework."

Nice try, but I don't think any real teacher would fall for it. And, it is true - we can get in trouble, not only for what we DO but for what we fail to do.

Psalm 1 shows us what it takes to be a person who is blessed. The author starts by telling us an action to avoid: "following evil advice." But he continues by warning us away from, well something that sounds like "doing nothing." Just being stuck amongst "the wrong crowd." Not DOing anything in particular - just hanging out.

Don't Qam (stand) among sinners, the psalmist says. Why not? Didn't Jesus eat and drink with sinners? The problem isn't meeting or moving among them, the problem is staying put. Yes - Jesus associates with sinners (and don't forget - that means you and me) because, as he says: the puqloD vo' loD ghoSta' Daq nej je Daq toD vetlh nuq ghaHta' lost. ("the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10).

In Psalm 1, the warning is getting used to the scoffer - accepting sin as "just the way things are."

Every language contains puns, wordplay that lets you take similar words, or words with multiple meanings to make a point. Klingon is no exception. We can use that to summarize some of this Psalm's advice.

The word for "to emit odor," He' , and "course or route" He are virtually the same. So you might sum up the warning of Psalm 1:1 with:

mIgh HeDaq bIQamchugh vaj mIgh He' DalIjchu'
that is:
if you stand in the evil road (mIgh He), then you will will surely forget the evil smell (mIgh He')
It is easier than we think to get used to things. Staying put, among things we believe in our hearts are wrong may make us lose the perspective we need. The perspective that will make us act in the way that will make us truly Quch - blessed.

And the Psalms have something to say about that, too. We'll move on to the source of that perspective in the next verse of Psalm 1 - stay tuned.

Don't Walk!

ghurtaH ghaH the loD 'Iv ta'be' yIt Daq the qeS vo' the mIgh
Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked

podcast version

ghurtaH ghaH the loD/ Blessed is the man

"Bless" is one of those "Bible" words that might seem simple. Bless you! What a blessing! I was blessed. Yet when pressed to define it, it turns out to be a fairly complex bundle rolled up into one simple syllable.

Psalm 1 presents us with a description - maybe a prescription for what it is to be blessed.

There are multiple words in Hebrew, Greek and Latin that are all translated into English as "bless" or "blessed." Now, because the KLV is developed as a relexification (one Klingon term for one English word) of the World English Bible, the text winds up flattening that meaning into a single word: ghurtaH, : on-going increase, that is an increase or benefit to one's material or spiritual riches. In this case, the Hebrew word used in Psalm 1, ashri, means "happy," a translation you will find being used in many modern translations. Eventually that meaning may replace ghurtaH in the KLV, and you'll see the word Quch (happy) used : Quch ghaH the loD.

But what makes a person blessed? ghurtaH or Quch - fortunate or happy - how does one achieve that? This is what Psalm 1 tells us - and it begins by telling us what NOT to do: DON'T WALK.

How obedient are you to those stop lights when they signal walk/don't walk? I was nicknamed "safety frog" by my kids when they were little, since I am such a stickler on safety issues: seat belts, rocket launches and, yes even stop lights. Yet still I get impatient - and sometimes I might dash out and take advantage of a lull in the traffic. But I know those lights have a purpose, and if you blithely ignore them, well, you will be neither ghurtaH or Quch - fortunate or happy.

Iv ta'be' yIt Daq the qeS vo' the mIgh
who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked

This is the first of three negatives the psalmist gives us on the way to explain what makes a person blessed. It makes me think of a verse in Proverbs (actually two verses - it gets repeated):

There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. (Proverbs 14:12 | 16:25 NLT)

I like that description - "a path ... that seems right" : Sometimes doing what you KNOW is wrong IS very tempting. You might want to dash across against the light - and suffer the consequences "it ends in death."

The Bible is realistic: you can't avoid hearing the "counsel of the wicked," whether a classmate telling you how to cheat on a test, or a politician appealing to our personal greed - you aren't at fault for HEARING them.The problem is when we take that first step - when we no longer listen, but begin to walk in their counsel.

As the saying goes "it's no sin to be tempted," the trick is letting it end there. Psalm 1 has much more to say, both what NOT to do, and what we SHOULD do - we'll see more about this in upcoming podcasts. But this is the start, saying NO to qeS vo mIgh (the advice of the wicked). Being Quch, happy, in our life with the Lord begins here. As James reminds us :

".. resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)

So - join the resistance. We've just begin to fight.