Surrounded!

SoH search pa' wIj path je wIj lying bIng, je 'oH acquainted tlhej Hoch wIj Hemey.

You search out my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.

(click for podcast version)



You don't need to be a Klingon to be alarmed by the cry "you're surrounded!" Of course, at such a time a warrior WILL prepare for a siege and a noble, last stand.

But the words CAN be good news - for to be surrounded - by your own support troops, or by one's own sturdy fortress is GOOD thing, a cause for hope, and not fear. And that is what the psalmist brings us in this verse, the third of Psalm 139.

This verse continues the explorations of how God watches over and knows all about us. It begins with the declaration that "you search out my path and my lying down."

You'll note that I didn't translate "search" into Klingon. Not because there isn't a word (it's "nej") but because "search" is not common in the WEB translation (when I wrote my simple re-lexifying translator I only did words that were used 100 times or more). I may add it soon - but it's worth noting here, because there are more ways to translate word here, the Hebrew zarah. The KJV uses words like cast away, compass, disperse, fan, scatter (away), spread, strew, and winnow. That translation uses the term "compass" as in en-compass, or surround, which is what prompted me to consider the plight of being surrounded.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

Considering zarah, I find of interest the meaning "to winnow" - to separate the good from the bad. God, we hear, does just that. Whether still or in motion, he searches us out, he surrounds us, and draws forth - just as the farmer does with grain - the good from the useless.

Reflecting on the notion of "being surrounded," the 19th century preacher Spurgeon gives us some interesting reflections. Quoting Matthew Pool he notes:

Thou compassest my path. This is a metaphor either from huntsmen watching all the motions and lurking places of wild beasts, that they may catch them; or from soldiers besieging their enemies in a city, and setting round about them. --Matthew Pool.

This does not precede an attack, but a care that purifies us, as Spurgeon notes elsewhere:

I am shut up within the wall of thy being; I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge. Waking or sleeping I am still observed of thee. I may leave thy path, but you never leave mine. I may sleep and forget thee, but thou dost never slumber, nor fall into oblivion concerning thy creature. The original (Hebrew zarah) signifies not only surrounding, but winnowing and sifting. The Lord judges our active life and our quiet life; he discriminates our action and our repose, and marks that in them which is good and also that which is evil. There is chaff in all our wheat, and the Lord divides them with unerring precision.

For many Christians, this season, the season of Lent is a time to search, and seek for God. A time to reflect and find reconciliation. What a gift to know that we do not face such a time in isolation - We are Surrounded!

Surrounded by watchful care,
Surrounded by a discerning God,
Surrounded by love.

Flight Plan

SoH Sov wIj sitting bIng je wIj rising Dung. SoH perceive wIj thoughts vo' afar.
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:2

(click for podcast)

It's easier than you may think to get into space. True, missions to the planets and beyond are pretty costly. Still, there are ways to hitch a ride - and you don't even need Ford Prefect's electonic thumb. For years, I've managed to join missions to Mars, to a comet - even to Pluto, thanks to NASA and others who have been including micro chips and DVDs that take your name along for the ride (you just have to submit your name to their website when the mission is being prepared!).

Closer to home, there is a form of citizen space exploration that is avalilable at a surprisingly low cost: Near Space Exploration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_space) - mounting payloads by weather balloon to the very edges of space. Right now the magazine Make is working on their project to do just this. Another group, the Treasure Valley Near Space Program, has done this as well with a number of successful launches. At a fraction of the cost of a rocket, it is a tangible way to explore the shores of this new ocean.

Yet - there is a cost. Multi-millions of dollars, or hundreds - missions to space cost more than money and resources. They cost the care and planning that it takes to accomplish them. Take a look at the NASA, ESA - or the MAKE websites to get an idea of the care and planning that go into every successful space flight.

SoH Sov wIj sitting bIng je wIj rising Dung. SoH perceive wIj thoughts vo' afar.
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:2

Now, I know the psalmist was not really considering space flight - but this verse parallels what must happen for every expedition to space. Whether to Mars, the ISS or to the fringes of space - these words describe the phases of a meaningful flight.

You know my sitting down and my rising up - there has to be a plan. A launch - and a landing - mark the endpoints of the journey, the "sitting down," since that is what you do, before and after your trip. And the rising up, the flight is planned as well - whether by rocket or lighter-than-air vehicle, every journey includes knowing the "rising up," where you intend to go. Every detail matters - delay in launch may mean a postponement of weeks (or more) to have success in a mission.

You perceive my thoughts from afar. For the journey to mean something you need reports - telemetry, radio transmissions - that give value to the whole enterprise. When you - or your spacecraft travel into space - you want to know what happens.

As far fetched as it sounds - describing a LIFE as a space mission - consider this:

God's investment, his concern for you are described in this verse - and in a sense describes our mission - our journey, through life. It is a journey that God cares about a great deal. We are not disposable, like a missle launched only for its destruction. No, God has for us a complete flight plan in mind, from launch to landing. And He's watching - not like some nosey snoop, but because he loves you, he wants you to reach the goal safely. When we hear You perceive my thoughts from afar - we realize that our worries, our fears - our PRAYERS - have his complete attention, they do not waft away to nowhere - he hears them all.


Whether or not you are much of a traveler - right now you are on a journey. The good news, the great and VERY good news is - you aren't going solo. God indeed is with you every moment.

SoH Sov wIj sitting bIng je wIj rising Dung. SoH perceive wIj thoughts vo' afar.
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:2

KNOWN!

joH'a', SoH ghaj searched jIH, je SoH Sov jIH.
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1

(click for podcast version)

As we've considered in earlier studies - Klingons are known to treasure secrecy. Their "secrecy proverbs" enshrine this caution with lines like this:

jIjatlhpa' jatlh Hovmey.
"The stars will talk before I will."

So, it may not be a word of comfort for them to hear the beginning of Psalm 139, translated in the NLT as

O LORD, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me. (NLT)

What Klingon would want to be under such thorough surveillance?

The Hebrew word for knowledge - to know - here is yada, one we've seen before. It's easy to translate into Klingon - the word is Sov, both a verb, to know and the noun "knowledge." Appearing over 800 times in the Bible, yada can express a great deal more than mere factual knowledge. For God to KNOW us implies an intimate relationship - a knowledge so deep that we indeed have no secrets whatsoever! Who would want that?

The Life Application Bible notes:

Sometimes we don’t let people get to know us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won’t like. But God already knows everything about us, even to the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), and still he accepts and loves us. God is with us through every situation, in every trial—protecting, loving, guiding. He knows and loves us completely.

On our planet we also value secrecy, at least, privacy. Driven by fears of fraud and identity theft we don't wish our personal information to be known. For example, complex rules and laws are established to secure the confidentiality of our personal medical details. And yet... At that moment you find yourself in the Emergency Room - you want that doctor who sees you to KNOW everything. At that instant you want there to be no secrets - for, in order to help you the doctor and nurses need to know you and your needs.

That is why this verse is such a comfort. As Charles Spurgeon observes:

[This is ] A cheering thought for sinners. If God knew them not perfectly, how could he have prepared a perfect salvation for them? A comfortable truth for saints. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

joH'a', SoH ghaj searched jIH, je SoH Sov jIH.
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1

Give thanks! God knows you. Better than your best friend, better than yout closest relative - he REALLY knows you - and no matter what - he loves you.

Have Mercy!

yImev lon the vum vo' lIj ghaj ghopmey
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands Psalm 138:8c

(click for podcast)

With these words we draw to the end of Psalm 138 - and are given a prayer - one that echoes the cry of believers throughout the centuries. It may sound desperate - prayer often is - but at heart it is a cry for help, and a pledge of faith - we are indeed the work of God's hands, and it is because of that we can come with confidence to ask his help.

Across the years, the language of prayer unites believers - for believers cannot help but pray. It is their duty, their privilege and their lifeline - an intimate connection to God. This, the mystery of prayer, is at the core of the life of faith. It is a mystery, because we can find wonderful promises, interwoven through the testimony of scripture which has great examples of prayers - answered and not. Believers know - from personal experience and the lives of saints through the ages - that we cannot treat prayer as magic, or mechanical. Yet we still pray.

I've noted before how Biblical language has transcended time and culture - the words Amen and Hallelujah, of Hebrew origin, are examples of words that have become part of languages and cultures far from their origin - words that are integral to the faith of believers. In addition to those words, we can find others. This cry from David "Don’t forsake the works of your own hands" brings to mind the cry of the blind men who called out to Jesus: ghaj pung Daq maH, puqloD vo' David! - Son of David, have mercy on us. (Matthew 9:27)

That cry mercy - eleison in Greek - is the heart of the Kyrie Eleison - Lord have mercy, a simple prayer in which again we have Biblical words - the Greek for Lord have Mercy - that have moved out and been included transliterated into more languages, beginning with the Latin liturgy (so much so that many think they are Latin words). And that cry for mercy, that tiny kernel of prayer, give us a wonderful starting place to join in prayer.

For many, this simple prayer has crystalized in the devotion called "The Jesus Prayer", as Wikipedia notes:

The Jesus Prayer, also called the Prayer of the Heart by some Church Fathers, is a short, formulaic prayer often uttered repeatedly. It has been widely used, taught and discussed throughout the history of Eastern Christianity. The exact words of the prayer have varied from the most simple possible involving the name "Jesus," such as "Lord have mercy," to the more common extended form: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer

Another writer adds:

The history of the Jesus Prayer goes back, as far as we know, to the early sixth century, with Diadochos, who taught that repetition of the prayer leads to inner stillness. Even earlier John Cassian recommended this type of prayer. In the fourth century Egypt, in Nitria, short "arrow" prayers were practiced.
Abba Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words. It is enough to hold out your hands and say, "Lord, according to your desire and your wisdom, have mercy." If pressed in the struggle, say, "Lord, save me!" or say, "Lord." He knows what is best for us, and will have mercy upon us.

http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Albert-Rossi/Articles/Saying-the-Jesus-Prayer.html/

At this time of year Christians are in a season called Lent. The name comes from the same root as lengthen - for at this time the days are lengthening. In this time we join together to contemplate Jesus and his death on the cross. Many seek to reinvigorate their life of prayer - calling to mind Paul's command to "pray without ceasing!" IF you're looking for a way to do that, I'd commend this practice - the simple beginning "Lord have mercy," and encourage you to mine the rich treasures of scripture for your vocabulary - I can't count the number of times that I've come back again and again to the words of the Bible for my prayer language. I encourage you to give it a try!

yImev lon the vum vo' lIj ghaj ghopmey
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands Psalm 138:8c

Kyrie eleison,
Lord, have mercy.

reH - room to play!

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

(click for podcast)


There is a joyful collision in languages - the sort of puns that - by accident or not - give us a pause to think about meaning. One I've noted before is worth thinking of again here - two Klingon words - the adverbial "reH", and the verb "reH."

Both are spelled exactly the same - and we don't know of any connection between their meanings, but... it is worth thinking about what kind of intersection they might have. reH means either "always" (and I've used it as such to mean "forever" in the KLV, as in this passage) OR it means "play," as in "to play a game."

While it's hard to defend this as meaningful overlap, it is worth considering - for the joy we find in "play," that delight that lets us forget the pressures of our day to day concerns is an echo of eternity, the joy that God intends for his people.

I like to think of the confidence that David expresses in this verse "the LORD will fulfill that which concerns me" - despite fears or worries, David looks forward to God's care, and then he goes on to say on what he bases that confidence

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

Spurgeon comments on this portion of the verse:

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever. ... The first clause of the verse is the assurance of faith, and this second one reaches to the full assurance of understanding. God's work in us will abide unto perfection because God's mercy towards us thus abideth.

So many of our resources -whether personal, or national or global, are limited. Yet God's resources have NO limit. And the greatest of these is his hesed - his loving kindness - his faithfulness. It means that God will see our needs through to the end. The Hebrew term "olam" that is here translated forever, or reH, means something like "the vanishing point" - that distance that is beyond all distance - beyond the farthest horizon.

My family plays an odd game called Kubb - hard to describe, it consists of throwing batons of wood at blocks of wood to knock them down. (It's Swedish - though you could picture it as a sort of Klingon enterprise). As you might imagine you can't play it just anywhere - you need enough room, enough space. When you want to play, you are happy to find a park or field with enough room.

I rejoice with David in God's loving kindness - which unlike our human love it has no boundaries - it lasts FOREVER. In such a roomy love, a love that can take me in, even at my most unlovable - there is space to play, to live, to love in God's company - forever!

lIj muSHa'taH pung, joH'a', SIQtaH reH.

Your loving kindness, O LORD, endures forever.

Horizons!

(click for podcast)

joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

Have you ever experienced "pre-nostalgia?" That's what I call it when you longingly remember a future... that never happened. It's summed up in the forthcoming book "Where's My Jetpack?" 'A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived.'

I think such wistful thoughts when I remember the (now-demolished) exhibit at Disney's Epcot, Horizons - that took you on a tour of the future, replete with space colonies, desert farming and under-sea cities. You can experience this feeling too - choose the right SF book from the fifties, and you'll be disappointed that you didn't graduate from a high school on the moon or Mars.

Yet - if you look at things again, you have plenty of things in this world - routine images (near live) from Mars and the outer planets - not to mention satellite communications - things that would have astounded and delighted space cadets of yesterday. We haven't got robots everywhere, but we have computers embedded in just about every kind of appliance possible. Home access to massive libraries of text and video. Our disappointment over lost tomorrows ought not to dilute our gratitude for the today we have.

joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

This verse brings us back to our future with confidence. Not a confidence in fictional tomorrows that may or may not come to pass, but a confidence in the future God will faithfully bring us to.

The LORD will fulfill....

The word "fulfill" here is rare - it only occurs about 5 times in the Bible. "gamar" is a primitive root meaning to end (in the sense of completion or failure): and is translated in the KJV as cease, come to an end, fail, perfect, perform. The sense understood here is "to perfect," to complete. I've used the Klingon word "rIn" be accomplished, finished.

There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic. In a world wracked with war, disease, poverty or any number of problems, it is difficult to look forward with confidence. But this isn't new. David too, struggled with problems, with war, with family strife - but he could still have confidence in the outcome, that "The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me." This is a faith in the future, not of false optimism, but knowledge that God can be trusted. This is the kind of faith that made Job - in the midst of crushing loss -cry out

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. (Job 19:25)

It's a mistake to bank on the glossy optimism of dated science fiction stories, but it is equally a mistake to let pessimism take over - to despair, to give up. We can still plan, we can still hope - not depending on our success, but committing ourselves to continue on with the work we've been given.

There is a story ascribed to different people, from ancient Rabbis to Martin Luther. I found a version on the jcdisciples.org website that goes something like this:

When asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther replied, "I would plant a tree." What kind of an answer is that? Why plant a tree when the world is ending tomorrow? It sounds so futile, a total waste of time and energy. Isn't there something more important he could find to do? ... But with his answer, Luther demonstrates a better understanding of the words of Jesus and of Paul than many of us have today. Our knowledge of Christ's promised return ought not spur us to play waiting or guessing games with times and dates. Our job is not to look for signs; our job is to be about the work of the kingdom. Luther's answer, "I'd plant a tree", is in effect "I would continue on with my business just as I do today." (http://www.jcdisciples.org/sermons/trudytannen2.html)

No - I won't hold my breath waiting for the jet pack - or a vacation on Mars. On the other hand, it doesn't mean I won't work with the tools and gifts I have at hand to - if not accomplish those goals, to help find ways where the future can be a brighter place. I may not succeed - but that isn't my job - after all,

joH'a' DichDaq rIn vetlh nuq SaHta' jIH
The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me Psalm 138:a

In Hand!

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

(click for podcast)

It is fortunate that Klingons are so good looking. That is, the remarkable similarities between humans and Klingons help a great deal in translating from human idioms to Klingon. At least, although we are ignorant of much of Klingon culture, we can assume that at least some of our idioms can be mapped across cultures.

In particular, thanks to the similarity between human and Klingon forms, we can hope that a passage like this one - that depends on idioms regarding "the hand" are not too difficult to render in tlhIngan Hol. It seems reasonable that Klingons would understand how "the hand" carries a variety of ideas: for example "in good hands," "right hand man," "laying on of hands," "short handed," or "even-handed."

Imagine instead a non-corporeal energy creature, or a changeling with malleable shape and features - what would they make of this confident assertion about God's care?

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

ghop - hand, is a word that can very directly, and literally translate the Hebrew "yad," what Webster calls: the extremity of the arm, consisting of the palm and fingers, connected with the arm at the wrist; the part with which we hold and use any instrument.

Now the word used in the beginning of this clause, "yad," occurs over 1400 times in the Bible (and is translated as hand over a 1000) is not the only noun used. The second part of the verse translates as "right hand" "yamiyn" - and means the right hand or side of a person or other object (as the stronger and more dexterous). The idea is to strengthen the promised power of God's hand - not just his hand, but his RIGHT hand, the strongest one.

We don't have details on the Klingons regarding right versus left - the strength and preference of one over another, so an emphasis on strength makes more sense in explaining this - in fact, I think a Klingon would like how the NLT version does just that:

you will preserve me against the anger of my enemies.
You will clench your fist against my angry enemies!
Your power will save me. Psalm 138:7b NLT

While the hand suggests power and ability - it also holds the promise of care, of connection, of intimacy. If you've ever joined a prayer circle - holding hands with other believers, you may have experienced that intimacy, the way fellowship unites believers. Not every hand is strong - but linked together we can, as the writer of Hebrews said:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. Heb 10:24,25 NLT

And God's hand reaches out to hold us, and strengthen us, and it's a hand that is permanently linked to us. I treasure the promise from Isaiah, to the those in Jerusalem who faced exile and were afraid of being forgotten:

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on my hand. Isaiah 49:16 NLT

If you're like me, that strikes a chord. I can't count the number of times I've used my ghop, my hand as an impromptu notepad. Jotting a quick word or letter to jog my memory in the one memo pad that will always be "at hand." God's like that too. Except it isn't picking up a gallon of milk on the way home that he is recording - it's YOU. The word for "written" is more like "carve" - think of a tattoo - a mark that won't EVER wash off. God has no intention of abandoning or forgetting his people.

SoH DichDaq stretch vo' lIj ghop Daq the QeHpu' vo' wIj jaghpu'. lIj nIH ghop DichDaq toD jIH.

You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. Psalm 138:7b

Rejoice - you are in good hands.

Revived!

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a

(click for podcast)

Travel to the stars involves tremendous distances - so vast that without FTL drives, like the warp drive of the Enterprise, it would take centuries to reach the nearest star. Since we know of no science (yet) to achieve warp speeds, we have to consider other ways to get to the stars.

One solution is the sleeper ship - described in the Star Trek Encyclopedia as:

"a relatively slow interstellar spacecraft that used suspended animation to allow passengers and crew to hibernate during the flight."

In such a ship, the travellers would travel in cold sleep for years - to be awakened - REVIVED at journey's end.

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a

Revival - a rekindling of life, is something we too need - not just for traveling to another star, but as we, day by day face the troubles of life. We need for God to RETURN us to life.

In Psalm 138:7 the word here for "revive" is the Hebrew chayah meaning

"to live," "cause to live," used of restoration to life (Ge 45:27; Jg 15:19, etc.); of rebuilding (Ne 4:2); of restoration to well-being (Ps 85:6 (the Revised Version (British and American) "quicken"); Ps 138:7; Isa 57:15; Ho 6:2; 14:7); of the LORD's gracious work for His people (ISBE)

It's a word that appears over 200 times in the Bible. As translated in the KJV, it's the only word for "revive" or "revived." The Latin translation of this psalm uses "vivificábis" - to bring back to life. How would we put that in Klingon?

For the idea of "life" expressed by chayah we could map to the Klingon "yIn" - "life," or "to live." To carry the idea of "revive" I've added the suffix -moH (cause) and -qa' (again) for yInmoHqa', cause again to live, that is, revive.

We journey together through a world filled with problems - and David doesn't suggest God will evacuate us FROM these troubles - no, we'll walk "in the midst of trouble." But we can count on God for new life - revival - life to renew us when we are faint.

"Revive" occurs in the Greek scriptures as the translation of anazao, "to live again," but the ISBE notes another Greek word, in 1 Macc 13:7 we have "And the spirit of the people revived,"

anazopureo, "to stir or kindle up as a fire." The same word for revival is used in 2Ti 1:6:

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. (2 Tim 1:6 NLT).

Now, this is the kind of revival we need - I need. We must listen to Paul's reminder to Timothy to stir up, to REVIVE, the faith we have, and renew the gifts God has given us. For this we need to turn to God in trust and hope.

You see - while it isn't likely that we're going to get on board a sleeper ship en route to Alpha Centauri anytime soon - we may very well be sleeping within the ship of faith, and from THAT we need to be awakened. I like what the ISBE notes about such things:

In view of the frequent modern use of "revive" and "revival," it is worthy of notice that it is to Timothy himself the exhortation is addressed. We too often merely pray for "revivals," forgetting that it is for us to "stir into flame" the gift of the Spirit which we have already received of God. It is ours from Him, but we let it lie dormant, as a slumbering ember merely.

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a

Yoyo Theology

vaD 'a' joH'a' ghaH jen, yet ghaH looks after the lowly; 'ach the proud, ghaH SovtaH vo' afar.

Psalms 138:6 For though th LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; But the proud, he knows from afar.

(click for podcast)

I received a weapon as a gift this last holiday season - an ancient and honorable weapon, used for thousands of years - just the sort of gift to delight a Klingon!

Except... I have to admit, on doing a little more research, what I have isn't REALLY a weapon. But, it is a really cool yoyo! I called it a weapon, because legend has it (probably coming from the public relations for one yoyo manufacturer) that the yoyo was at one time a weapon. This might be based on the fact the modern yoyo came from the Philippines - and there are stories of hunters in the Philippines in the 16th century using sharp rocks with strings attached to kill prey from trees.

Weapon or not, the yoyo is a fun toy - one that illustrates the reversal of the principle "what goes up must come down," and it is a reversal of that nature this verse from Psalm 138 speaks of.

vaD 'a' joH'a' ghaH jen, yet ghaH looks after the lowly; 'ach the proud, ghaH SovtaH vo' afar.

Psalms 138:6 For though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; But the proud, he knows from afar.

God pays attention - to those who have been brought low; he is distant, remote, from those who are smug, and think themselves secure in this life. I've often said my ungrammatical KLV gives one a start for doing a real translation - here's a try, recasting the KLV into somewhat more grammatical Klingon, you might have:


joH'a' jen, 'ach mIpHa'wI'pu' leghtaH
mIywI'pu'vo' HoptaH

literally: God be-high, but not-rich-ones he-watches,
from-bragging-ones he-is-remote

N: joH'a': God
V: jen: be high
&: 'ach: but, nevertheless, even so, however
N: mIpHa'wI'pu': (pl) one/thing which is/doesnot be rich
V: leghtaH: on-going see
N: mIywI'pu'vo': from(pl) one/thing which is/does brag
V: HoptaH: on-going be remote, far



This is a principle throughout scripture - how God upends our order of who is mighty, and who is powerless. Peter quotes Proverbs when he notes:

God sets himself against the proud,
but he shows favor to the humble. NLT 1 Peter 5:5 (Prov. 3:34)

Just as a yoyo reverses course, this verse from Psalm 138 speaks of a reversal, the attention God gives to the lowly, and the humbling of the mighty. Peter continues in his letter:

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. 1 Peter 5:6 NLT

To attract God's attention - to get his notice, we don't need to be great, or rich, or powerful. Watch television and you will expect wealth and accomplishment are all that matter. But the Bible again and again reminds us, God does not count such things as what matters. Through the prophet Micah he reminds us:

No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NLT

It's true - what goes up DOES come down. Great wealth, wonderful possessions - all are temporary; they won't last. But the wonderful message is that "what goes down, can come up," when we "walk humbly with our God," he will indeed raise us up! Rejoice!

Glory!

HIja', chaH DichDaq bom vo' the Hemey vo' joH'a'; vaD Dun ghaH joH'a' batlh.
Psalms 138:5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD; For great is the LORD's glory.

(click for podcast)

Glory. There are 20 words (13 Hebrew and 7 Greek) that the KJV translates as "glory". The Hebrew used in this verse is kabowd, properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness. In the KJV it is translated as glorious(-ly), glory, honour. Glory in this sense, is something that MATTERS, something of substance - it has weight. We see kabowd close to 200 times in scripture - it is the most common of the Biblical words used for glory.

The English "glory" comes from the Latin glorior, and means to exult with joy; to rejoice - this is the word the Vulgate uses to translate this Psalm. Glory is then something to celebrate, to delight in.

What word would fit for a Klingon?

In all the records of Captain Kirk's exploits on the Enterprise, the first time we meet Klingons, it turns out that an expected war is prevented by a benevolent alien race. Discussing this outcome with Commandor Kor, Kirk notes:

Well, Commander, I guess that takes care of the war. Obviously, the Organians aren't going to let us fight."
"A pity, Captain. It would have been glorious!"

Not a surprising response for a Klingon. But we watch war unfold in our day, on this planet, and as we see the horrors of death and destruction, we do not share the apparent Klingon enthusiasm for battle. But I'd suggest the Klingon attitude is not really bloodthirst, or to enjoy war itself, but the glory of victory, the honor of behaving well in difficult circumstances.

HIja', chaH DichDaq bom vo' the Hemey vo' joH'a'; vaD Dun ghaH joH'a' batlh.
Psalms 138:5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD; For great is the LORD's glory.

Now, there is no known word for "glory" in Klingon - so we don't know what Commander Kor might have said in Klingon. We know words like victory (yay), succeed, (Qap), and success (Qapla') - but the word I've chosen for this vers is batlh, honor - a concept, a goal that defines Klingon behavior and ideals. To behave with honor is to live a glorious life.

This verse celebrates the joy of what God has done, how he works in our world - looking to a day when all rulers will celebrate his triumph over evil.

Paul wrote of glory, and struggle in life:

All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. (2 Cor 4:15, NLT)

We watch, we wait for, we anticipate God's victory in this world - this is the glory we will celebrate.

As the Life Application Bible notes:

Our troubles should not diminish our faith or disillusion us. We should realize that there is a purpose in our suffering. Problems and human limitations have several benefits: (1) They remind us of Christ’s suffering for us; (2) they keep us from pride; (3) they cause us to look beyond this brief life; (4) they give us opportunities to prove our faith to others; and (5) they give God the opportunity to demonstrate his power. See your troubles as opportunities!

Note, that this doesn't mean our problems go away. Glory comes through our lives, not by God erasing struggle, but empowering us within it. As Paul wrote in Romans:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us (Romans 8:18 NLT)

HIja', chaH DichDaq bom vo' the Hemey vo' joH'a'; vaD Dun ghaH joH'a' batlh.
Psalms 138:5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD; For great is the LORD's glory.

There is a glory that will come - now we see only glimmers of it in the glory, the victories that God grants. We have a battle, a struggle to live with batlh, with honor, as God gives us grace to Qap, to succeed. Look to him for the victory - vaD Dun ghaH joH'a' batlh - For great is the Lord's glory!

Hov leng!

ghorgh chaH leghta' the Hov, chaH rejoiced tlhej exceedingly Dun Quch.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

(click for podcast)

This time of year - the first week of January, marks a special celebration for western Christians, one that might be called the original star trek - or Hov leng, in Klingon: I refer to the feast of Epiphany.

At this time, January 6th, we celebrate the journey of the wisemen - the magii - who followed a star to worship the infant Jesus. This underscores a vital message of Scripture - namely that God's word, his promises are for EVERYONE. This is the same message we find in the fourth verse of Psalm 138:

Hoch the joHpu' vo' the tera' DichDaq nob SoH tlho', joH'a', vaD chaH ghaj Qoyta' the mu'mey vo' lIj nuj.

All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, O LORD,
For they have heard the words of your mouth. Psalm 138:4

Just as Melchizedek honored Abraham, and the Queen of Sheba did Solomon, and the Magii, Jesus - the Biblical history's proclamation is that what God offers is not to meant for any specific family or nation, but for EVERYONE.

Sadly, it is not hard to find examples of communities of faith that seem to miss this, whose roster seem practically to come from the same family. Yet the Bible reminds us, God's family, that his hope and promises, are for everyone. As Paul wrote to Timothy, telling him to pray for Kings and rulers in authority:

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who desires ALL PEOPLE to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3,4

We can't wait for the Kings, the magii to come - we need through our words and deeds to share the Good news - to show that, across the universe, God's word needs to be heard to bring life.

Hoch the joHpu' vo' the tera' DichDaq nob SoH tlho', joH'a', vaD chaH ghaj Qoyta' the mu'mey vo' lIj nuj.

All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, O LORD,
For they have heard the words of your mouth. Psalm 138:4

Hallelujah!

Go Solar!

SoH encouraged jIH tlhej HoS Daq wIj qa'.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.

(click for podcast)

Here's the problem with space travel - everything you carry requires more fuel to propel it. AND that fuel is one MORE thing to carry. Which requires more fuel to propel it..

If you have a one-ton rocket in orbit, and you want to take it to, say Venus, it would take at least 3 tons of fuel. If you needed to add tanks to hold that fuel, well, there you have more mass to propel, and it will need fuel for every bit of mass added. It gets complicated, and it is necessary to come up with elegant - sometimes complex - solutions to reduce mass of a ship.

Now - imagine for a moment that you could propel your ship without fuel. Once in orbit, you'll add no more mass to your payload - even if this magic cost you time in the journey, it would be worth it, since you could have a regular shuttle carrying supplies back and forth to your destination - say an outpost on Mars or station around Venus.

This isn't a fantasy, at least not if you use what is called a solar sail to power your spacecraft (http://www.solarsails.info/index.html)

Solar sails (also called light sails, especially when they use light sources other than the Sun) are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors. Radiation pressure is small and decreases by the square of the distance from the sun, but unlike rockets, solar sails require no fuel. Although the thrust is small, it continues as long as the sun shines and the sail is deployed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Once built a sail propelled ship requires no fuel but the sun to move. And, unlike terrestrial winds - there is no "weather" - the wind is steady and reliable

SoH encouraged jIH tlhej HoS Daq wIj qa'.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.

David encourages us in this psalm by assuring that, in answer to prayer, God will give strength. The Hebrew word is oz and appears over 90 times in the Bible. From a word that means strength in various applications, it is translated in the KJV as boldness, loud, might, power, strength, strong.

This is a good match for the Klingon word,HoS, which is both a verb (to be strong) and noun (strength, energy, power). Strength is a valued factor in Klingon life - it is one of the four ideals of behavior (accuracy, straightforwardness, and aggressiveness are the others.).

And God's promised strength is a powerful theme in Scripture as well. Though some may see prayer as nothing but a sanctified Santa's wish list - the promise of scripture is the power to get through our trials.

St. Paul reminds us in Philippians

jIH laH ta' Hoch Dochmey vegh Christ, 'Iv strengthens jIH
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Phil 4:13

David tells us in Psalm 28

joH'a' ghaH wIj HoS je wIj yoD. wIj tIq ghajtaH trusted Daq ghaH, je jIH 'oH helped. vaj wIj tIq greatly rejoices. tlhej wIj bom jIH DichDaq tlho' ghaH.

The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him. Psalm 28:17

How this strengh works may be a mystery - as St. Paul found when, despite prayer he was not healed, but assured by God:

" wIj grace ghaH sufficient vaD SoH, vaD wIj HoS ghaH chenmoHta' perfect Daq weakness."

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9)

Remember the solar sail? That fantastic contraption that promises to reduce the cost of travel through our solar system? It is based on the premise that the ship doesn't need to contain all the power it needs to travel - it opens up and takes advantage of the sun's power.

For our travels through life, prayer is like that sail, opening up our lives to God's power to move through the orbits of our lives. When we presume that our lives, our achievements are completely dependant on the our own abilities, we are in the predicament of the space traveler who must carefully measure each ounce every gram of cargo and carry fuel and more fuel to reach our goal.

SoH encouraged jIH tlhej HoS Daq wIj qa'.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.

The Bible reminds us that we don't stand alone, that God is ready to help us, give us power to reach our goals. Turn today in prayer, for the HoS, the power that you need.

This Day

Daq the jaj vetlh jIH ja', SoH jangta' jIH.
In the day that I called, you answered me. Psalm 138:3a

(click for podcast)

Travel to Mars has some advantages. For one, the time to get there (with our current technology it'll take months - over half a year in most cases) means you'll have no jet lag whatsoever. Once you land, it will be no trick to adjust - your "day." will be almost the same as at home (if you're from earth) - it's 25 hours long.

Compare that to Mercury (59 days), Venus at 243 or pluto at 6.4. Our closest destination, the moon gives you a day that is 27.3 days long!

On the other hand, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have days that whiz by at 10, 10, 18 and 18 hours respectively.

Daq the jaj vetlh jIH ja', SoH jangta' jIH.
In the day that I called, you answered me. Psalm 138:3a

Across our solar system - and the galaxies, no doubt - the length of a "day" (yom in Hebrew, and jaj in Klingon) is variable. So too, in the Bible, as I saw looking at the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia entry on "Day."

It sometimes means the time from daylight till dark. Day also means a period of 24 hours, or the time from sunset to sunset. It can also mean "a specific time" as in Psalm 20 where we read "May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble."

It is used figuratively also in Joh 9:4, when Jesus says "I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day," where "while it is day" means "while I have opportunity to work, as daytime is the time for work."

We must also bear in mind that with God time is not reckoned as with us, as Psalm 90 notes,

For a thousand years in your sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, As a watch in the night. (Ps 90:4)

Daq the jaj vetlh jIH ja', SoH jangta' jIH.
In the day that I called, you answered me. Psalm 138:3a

The sense here is "now" - that is, as the Message translation puts it:

"The moment I called out, you stepped in"

We don't have to wait - God WILL answer, not tomorrow, but DaHjaj - TODAY - when we pray.

As humans follow our robotic emmisaries at Mars, Sattun and heading out to Pluto, we are reminded of a fact of life for space travellers - distance equals time. That is, the farther a spacecraft goes, the longer we have to wait to hear what is happening, the longer we have to wait for it to respond to our calls. Every 18 million kilometers, or 11 million miles equals one more minute of time that it will take a signal to reach a space ship.

When we consider the implications of this verse from psalm 138, we find that David - though he probably knew nothing of space travel - is reminding us that God is NOT far off, that he is very close, for he responds immediately. We DON'T have to wait. Though our answer may not always be our desire, we can be assured God hears - and better, yet he responds. He is not in some light years distant heaven.

And this, of course, is the message of this holiday season - Im Anu El, WITH us is God.

Right now. This Day. He hears - call to him today!

Daq the jaj vetlh jIH ja', SoH jangta' jIH.
In the day that I called, you answered me. Psalm 138:3a

A Klingon Christmas?? (repodcast)

" batlh Daq joH'a' Daq the highest, Daq tera' roj, QaQ DichDaq toward Hoch."

"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward all." Luke 2:14

click here for podcast

Picture this: Some December, oh, a few years from now, you find yourself wandering down a corridor in the Klingon section of Deep Space 9. Late at night, the lights are low and you hear a noise - a lot of noise! Spilling out into the hall is a crowd of boisterous tlhInganpu'. These Klingons are coming from the Klingon multifaith lalDan pa' (chapel). Of course! They just finished their Christmas Midnight service and they're off to celebrate. AND... they're heading your way.

What do you do? More importantly, what do you say?

• nuqneh?
  
  
• nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'?
  
  
• QISmaS petIv!
  
  
• toDwI'ma' qoS yItiv!
  

Well, of course the answer depends on many things, for one, whether you celebrate Christmas (many don't - even the early Christians were far more focussed on Easter as their celebration. Historically there have been times that Christians adamantly opposed the festivities). You might just call out the angels's song from Luke's gospel: "batlh Daq joH'a' Daq the highest" "glory to God in the highest." (though, by the time you're on such a space station, I hope you'll have a more grammatical translation than the Klingon Language Version - but it's a start.)

nuqneh?

This is the all purpose Klingon greeting - "what do you want," literally. That's an okay thing to say when meeting Klingons, though not quite in the spirit of the occasion.


nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'?

That would be fine - IF you're looking for the bathroom - otherwise, it might not make the best impression. While we're at it, one more "nuq" phrase - even more useful - is "nuqjatlh." It's the Klingon "hunh?" and means "what did you say?"

QISmaS petIv!

This gets more in the spirit of the celebration. The first word QISmaS is an attempt to transliterate "Christmas" into a Klingon spelling. After all, we don't translate "Christmas" into English - it's a word composed of Greek and Latin parts. It seems reasonable for Klingons to adopt this term to denote the celebration. The second word, petIv, is an imperative "all-of-you-enjoy-it!" You may decide to soften this with "botIvjaj" "may-you-enjoy-it" - or if you celebrate Christmas too, you could say QISmaS wItIvjaj "may we enjoy Christmas!"

toDwI'ma' qoS yItIv!

This is a phrase to indicate you, too, celebrate Jesus's birth. Literally "our-saviour's-birthday you-enjoy-it." Note here I said "yItIv," which is the singular "you" command "enjoy". You could also, as I noted earlier, say petIv or botIvjaj.


So - what would you choose to say? It's perhaps a fanciful question - after all I haven't quite built my spaceship to go off to Deep Space Nine. But it isn't hard to find people of many tongues celebrating this holiday. Nor is it hard to find places on the internet that provide Christmas greetings in every language from Afrikaans (een plesierige kerfees) to Yugoslavian (Cestitamo Bozic). As Christmas approaches this Advent - why not take a moment to learn a new way to call out with holiday cheer, so with the angels you too can say:

" batlh Daq joH'a' Daq the highest, Daq tera' roj, QaQ DichDaq toward Hoch."

"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward all." Luke 2:14

Name and Word

vaD SoH ghaj exalted lIj pong je lIj mu' Dung Hoch.
For you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. Psalm 138:2c KLV,WEB

(click for podcast)

When you zero in on narrow fragments of scripture, virtual slivers of text, there is always a chance you'll be looking at a phrase that is so terse, the meaning may be hard to find. That's the case in this enigmatic statement from Psalm 138 - what does it mean, to declare God has exalted his name and word above all?

Breaking it down to the literal Hebrew isn't necessarily a quick solution: ki hagadaloth al kol shemcha omertkah, literally for you-magnified on all-of name-of-you saying-of-you. To get further we need to turn the community of believers.

Community - in the sense of, "how do other translators understand these words?" When we come up against a passage that doesn't seem clear, we do well to remember that we aren't the first to consider these words. For centuries, believers have wrestled with the text and sought to bring out the meaning. Here are some of the efforts in English:

• KJV: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
• RSV: for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word.
• BBE: for you have made your word greater than all your name
• DOUAY: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all
• NASB: For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
• MESSAGE: Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word.
• CEV: You were true to your word/ and made yourself more famous/ than ever before.
• (which adds the note: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.)
• NIV: for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

These all move towards a meaning that highlights the power of God's name, and how closely it is tied to his word. And there, for HuchwIj (my money), is the meat of this passage - God's word is backed by something - his name. Just like when you sign a contract, or a credit slip - you are putting yourself YOUR NAME behind your promise.

Revelation God speaks - is integral to the Biblical faith. There is joy, challenge, confession and forgiveness, and salvation from sin - the whole message of the Bible - and we know, we understand it because of this word, this comprehensible message that has been communicated to us. It has power in our lives because it is backed by God's name.

The term here "word" is not the more literal term - dabar - most frequently used Hebrew for "word." Rather it is a noun derived from the verb - omer - to say. This is a dynamic expression, not just "word" but sayings (jatlhtaHghachmey in Klingon) Of course, the automated process that generates the KLV just maps all occurences of "word" to the single Klingon word, mu'.

As I reviewed this short passage from Psalm 138, one translation, the NLT, really captured it, for me:

for your promises are backed / by all the honor of your name.

Now Klingons, who are very conscious of names, and honor would be able to understand THAT!

This time of year, one of my favorite devotional practices is to reflect on the prophecies that Christians see fulfilled in the life of Jesus. In the Greek scriptures we find Jesus himself, as well as his apostles, making clear that the whole arc of Jesus's life was promised beforehand in the days of the prophets. When I first caught on, it was breathtaking - "You mean, it was all there, centuries before the first Christmas? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Then I came across the book "Science Speaks," by Peter Stoner. This book put it in mathematical terms. Examining Messianic prophecies, Stoner layed down odds for each one being fulfilled in one man; multiplied together he demonstrated that the odds that ANYONE could fulfill these promises were incredible; the fact that they WERE fulfilled in Jesus pointed to something about this Man. (Note: Stoner's book is no longer in print. However it IS available online at his grandson's website: http://geocities.com//stonerdon/science_speaks.html. Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" is another excellent source of similar material).

Now that isn't a proof that can *force* anyone to believe: after all, any one day in MY life has a series of random events. Taken together, the sequence of one day in my life can be JUST as mathematically unlikely as Christ's fulfilling the Biblical promises.

But, what it suggests is that "something is up". History, and in particular, the history of Jesus's life and ministry appears, against all odds, to have been written in advance. It does not prove God "did it," but it offers a hint, a suggestion that there is an intelligence behind history, that this story is in fact HIS story. If you're interested in this, you can download a simple Windows program I wrote (http://star.mrklingon.org) to consider, and explore the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus's life.

Believers can see, in the birth and ministry of Jesus, just what it means when God absolutely backs his promises! What would you do, to have a friend like that, whose every word you could trust?

for your promises are backed / by all the honor of your name.

Give thanks! God is letting you know - you've got a friend like that - now.

What is Your Name?

[jIH] nob tlho' Daq lIj pong vaD lIj muSHa'taH pung je vaD lIj vIt

[I] give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth Psalm 138:2b

(click for podcast)

Should you be fortunate enough to meet a Klingon, one of the first things you may wish to do is do is exchange names. Here's how you'd do that - to ASK for a name, you could say:

nuq 'oH ponglIj'e' - what is your name?

To REPLY, you can say:
Joel 'oH pongwIj'e' (at least, that's what you'd say if your name was Joel.)

The operative word here is the Klingon word pong, name. As in English, it can also be a verb, as in to NAME something. The Hebrew word here for name is "shem."

In our time we take names for granted - though I think moderns are beginning to return to the Biblical idea of the centrality of names. There was a time when the power of a name, as understood by ancients, seemed almost superstitious or magical, as if a name could contain power to conjure.

But in an era where identity theft is all too real a threat, we begin to appreciate the significance of a NAME. It is far more than a label, it is how we operate in the world of cyberspace, as we work and buy and sell around the world. Today there are legions of people in computer security who do little else but fight to preserve the integrity of people's names and the control of their identity. Names matter.

And here we listen as the psalmist direct his gratitude, not "to God" but, "to his name":

nob tlho' Daq lIj pong vaD lIj muSHa'taH pung je vaD lIj vIt

give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth Psalm 138:2b

God's name was treated with tremendous reverence - there is a Jewish practice to NOT pronounce the Hebrew term, but substitute "adonai," Lord, in its place. That's why you see many English translations with LORD in all upper case, to represents the VERY carefully used name, made up of the four Hebrew letters. yod heh vav heh. In addition, applying the Hebrew definite article ha- to shem gives "HASHEM, which means "the name." Traditional Jews use the name "Hashem" instead of "God" to show their respect to God by not taking his name lightly and only using the proper name God in prayers.

This carefully protected name is not a thing to be used lightly - so to say we direct thanks to his NAME is indeed to be sending that thanks to God, in the most intimate way possible.

For what does this passage give thanks? God's loving kindness and truth. This calls to mind the trust of Psalm 117, where we hear the same two attributes (the same Hebrew words, Hesed and Emeth) extolled:

For his loving kindness is great toward us. The LORD's truth endures forever. (Psalm 117:2 WEB) (note: WEB uses "faithfulness" but the word is emeth, truth.)

God's name, his identity is a bedrock - something more reliable and faithful than our closest relative or dearest friend. The reliability of his creation, the truth of his promises are what we depend on - they are in a sense, his identity and name. Of course we ought to give thanks for this - it is with wonder and joy that we can turn to him. Malachi tells us God says:

I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. (Mal 3:6 NLT)

His reliability gives us hope.

It is true that everyone in this world does not prosper, yet though we may have ups and downs in our fortunes - God's world continues. The laws of nature that bring seedtime and harvest, sunshine and stars continue. And when we do prosper it gives us a chance to participate in the blesings God gives, as the Apostle Paul reminds us :

Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let's do what is good toward all... (Gal 6:9-10 WEB)

Give thanks! God, the name above all names is there, to call on in prayer as we turn to him with our requests, and to thank for all that he has give us. Rejoice!

These Little Ones (St. Nicholas Day re-run)

'ach vaj 'oH ghaH ghobe' the DichDaq vo' lIj vav 'Iv ghaH Daq chal vetlh wa' vo' Dochvammey mach ones should chIlqu'.
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

(click for podcast)

If you're a pastor, and looking for a way to quickly be driven out of your parish - I can't think of a better controversy to raise than.... a discussion about Santa Claus. I fear at times that the deepest beliefs of the Bible could be question without the kind of difficulties a preacher would meet if they weighed in on the reality of Kris Kringle.

Nor am I brave enough to tread on this legend - though I wonder what a Klingon would make of some of the stories? The Klingon dispostion toward things military lend to a tendency to be (shall we say?) paranoid. Imagine how they'd feel about a silent intruder who routinely slips in past all defenses to surprise the inhabitants! Motivated by generosity or not - I expect a Klingon hearing of such stealth would be more alarmed than happy.

But - maybe if they were introduced to the real Santa Claus - St Nicholas:

St. Nicholas, lover of the poor and patron saint of children, is a model of how Christians are meant to live. As priest and bishop, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life and ministry. His concern for children and others in need or danger expressed a love for God which points toward Jesus, the source of true caring and compassion. Embracing St. Nicholas customs can help recover the true center of Christmas—the birth of Jesus.

Understanding St. Nicholas as the original and true holiday gift-giver also helps shift focus to giving rather than getting, compassion rather than consumption, need rather than greed. This can help restore balance to increasingly materialistic and stress-filled Advent and Christmas seasons.

St. Nicholas is beloved throughout the world and continues to be revered in Christian tradition, especially as protector and patron of children in the West and as Wonderworker in the East. The St. Nicholas Center aims to bring Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians together in common purpose—to help people understand and appreciate the original St. Nicholas, the only real Santa Claus.
[http://www.stnicholascenter.orgI encourage you to visit the site to learn more]

As a people - Klingons are depicted as fierce warriors - potent enemies in battle. But anyone who reads at all far in the lore of Star Trek will know how fiercely they honor and guard their family - they know the value of protecting children. They'd likely be impressed by the stories - some quite fantastic - of St. Nick's rescue of children. Or how he protected the honor of dowry-less girls by secretly presenting them with gifts of gold coins.

In the Bible Jesus says these words, used in the readings for the commemoration of St. Nicholas:

'ach vaj 'oH ghaH ghobe' the DichDaq vo' lIj vav 'Iv ghaH Daq chal vetlh wa' vo' Dochvammey mach ones should chIlqu'.
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

The mach - little - ones matter. Not just to a saint like Nicholas, but to God. In this season we have many opportunities to be generous. What can we do to protect the neediest among us?

Bowing!

jIH DichDaq bow bIng toward lIj le' lalDan qach
I will bow down toward your holy temple Psalm 138:2

(click for podcast)

Here's a word we don't know yet in Klingon: bow.

Webster notes this verb, in English has a range of meaning from the simple "To bend" to "bend the body in token of respect or civility," all the way to "to depress; to crush; to subdue."

It isn't surprising to find this lack. There are many nouns and verbs that are yet to be revealed to us. And, after all, can you imagine a Klingon BOWING?

The closest word I find in the lexicon is the word, to kneel: "tor." This doesn't necessarily have positive connotations, either, hearing the Klingon expression:

QamvIS Hegh qaq law' torvIS yIn qaq puS.
Better to die on our feet than live on our knees.
[The Klingon Way p.95]

(torvIS yIn, translated as "live on our knees" is literally "to live while kneeling").

Here's the thing - though we have words in human language for "bow," and a variety of positive cultural associations (respect, honor, reverence), it does not always come easily to us, for to bow, especially as used here in scripture, is to WORSHIP, to humble ouselves before God.

The Hebrew word here is shachar, used over 150 times in the Bible. Translated as "worship" in the KJV of this passage, it literally means to depress, prostrate oneself - especially before a superior. The NLT captures the literal meaning with the intent by translating this phrase "I bow before your holy Temple as I worship."

Worship, means to acknowledge a superior's worth, their worth-ship, above all others. This is vital to our lives as believers, and we humans find it just as difficult as may Klingons. We are not God - and we have to go beyond the intellectual assent [as James writes "Do you still think it's enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror!" James 2:19] and humble ourselves before him before we move forward in a fruitful spiritual life.

Why don't Klingons have the word bow?

In linguistics, the Sapir--Whorf (no relation to the Klingon) hypothesis states that there is a systematic relationship between the grammatical categories of the language a person speaks and how that person both understands the world and behaves in it.

{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_hypothesis)

That is, a society without a word for "snow" doesn't know what it is, and a society without "to bow" in their dictionary may not be able to turn in humble prayer to a Creator. This is an attractive theory, but in this case the lack of this word is probably just our ignorance - the warlike Klingons DO, after all, have the word "peace." We'll have to wait a while to see if the absence is significan.

Rather we do well to consider what our spiritual vocabulary includes, especially to find if we've taken into our hearts the aspect of worship that leads US to bow to the Lord. Are we able to kneel before our Maker and praise him, and appeal to him for his aid? This goes light years beyond physical posture, for there are many acceptable ways to turn to God in prayer. After all prayer in the Bible is portrayed in a variety of physical positions (standing, kneeling, lieing prostrate) and faith communities all have a variety of practices. (http://www.kencollins.com/pray-20.htm) The value is in finding the posture that "reflects the content of the prayer, so that you pray with your body as you pray with your spirit." As Ken Collins writes:

Not only is it impossible for us to separate the spiritual from the physical during our life in the body, it is heretical for us to try. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to us in the flesh, thereby sanctifying the physical matter that He created, redeeming not just our souls, but also our bodies. He promised us a resurrection, not just some ethereal spiritual home. So if we separate the spirit from the body, we are not just making an impractical academic distinction, we are denying the significance of the Incarnation and of the Resurrection on the Last Day.

http://www.kencollins.com/pray-21.htm

jIH DichDaq bow bIng toward lIj le' lalDan qach
I will bow down toward your holy temple Psalm 138:2

This psalm gives us an invitation to stop, and turn away from all the immediate fuss and worries that surround us, and turn towards God. When we do that, and bow in worship we'll find we'll find the key to spiritual refreshment - praise God!

We Are Not Alone!

qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.
Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1b

(click for podcast)

We are not alone. That is the promise of Scripture, as well as the conclusion of at least some of the scientists who conduct the search for life beyond our planet. Granted these conclusions are from vastly different realms, but together they provide a comfort, as well as a challenge to believers.

qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.
Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1b

This psalm protrays us as NOT ALONE, as it considers our praise "qaSpa' the Qunpu'" "before the gods." The word here for gods, is the Hebrew elohim - a plural form that USUALLY is translated as "God" - that is, the almighty. But in some passages (we saw this recently in Psalm 8) context leads it to be translated as "gods". The Life Application Bible notes:

"Before the gods" may mean in the presence of subordinate heavenly beings (angels), or, more likely, it may be a statement ridiculing the kings or gods of the pagan nations. God is supreme in the whole earth.

I should note that The Klingon word used here is Qunpu' - the plural for Qun, the Klingon word for a god or deity. This is not the word we usually use (joH'a') to indicate the one Almighty - that's partly a historical accident, since joH'a' had come into wide usage before there was a known term, Qun, in Klingon for deities. As I've used it, Qun, is a generic, small "g" god - joH'a' is the one supreme god - the great Lord over all.

qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.
Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1b

This means we need to realize that, even we pray and praise God by ourselves - we are NOT alone. Our relationship to God is never a solitary one. As we live out our life of faith we are witnesses before the world, before angels and humans, and perhaps even before extraterrestrials - we are never truly alone.

In addition, we have promises of Divine presence as well, and there, the realization we are not alone can be a comfort. We do well to reflect on God's promises of his abiding presence. From God's words in Genesis to Jacob yIlegh, jIH 'oH tlhej SoH / "Behold, I am with you to Christ's in Revelation yIlegh" jIH Qam Daq the lojmIt je knock / Behold, I stand at the door and knock." This is a great comfort, and such words are good resouces to commit to memory - I've found such words are a powerful reminder, a joy to reflect on in dark moments.

But what OF the scientists who claim 'we are not alone?' There is a wide range of opinion on whether we will find aliens as we explore the heavens. Estimating the probabilities and recognizing the vast distances make it clear that ascertaining whether or where there are aliens is a difficult task.

There is, in fact, a formula, called the Drake Equation, after its author, Frank Drake. Plugging in a number of variables and estimates allows us to calculculate the number of alien civilizations that might exist. It is an interesting way to consider the problem - I've even written a program to run the calculations. So far, most of the input is highly speculative, leading to a wide spectrum of opinion - from NO other races, to a sky riddled with star empires.

This may not be a comfort - some may imagine the notion - if ever proved - would diminish our place in creation. I don't agree - any more than finding one more unknown people group reduces the significance of humanity.

As much as I'd be delighted with our finally exchanging greetings with others in the cosmos - it wouldn't change what we already know - we AREN'T alone. Scripture already makes clear that we stand NOW before God, before angels and all of creation. It is in such company that we are called to worship, to praise, to delight and give thanks for all God has done.

qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.
Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1b

Whole Hearted!

jIH DichDaq nob SoH tlho' tlhej wIj Hoch tIq. qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.

I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1

(click for podcast)

Have you heard of a disorder called "Continuous Partial Attention?" This is a term coined by technologist Linda Stone to describe the way we are SO wired and connected that we wind up with "two people doing six things, devoting only partial attention to each one." It's supposed to be a new problem, and I can see why it seems particularly modern, as I head off to my daily bus commute with an iPod, pager, cell phone and more. But I wonder - I suspect (as is often the case) the gloss of new bells and whistles makes us blind to the fact the it isn't such a new problem.

Two thousand years ago, the apostle James warned believers about this,

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8

It should be no surprise (at least if you've read the Bible's words "there is nothing new under the sun") that double-minded-ness is hardly a new problem. It may be assisted by technology, but the root of the problem is a failure to attend to what matters. When we let ourselves drift from one thing to another (and I know this problem from personal experience - I'm preaching to myself perhaps more than anyone here), we are as James says "like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed."

While James addresses this problem from the negative side, the psalmist here gives us a positive example, and directs our attention to something that can unite our hearts: nobtaH tlhob - giving thanks:

jIH DichDaq nob SoH tlho' tlhej wIj Hoch tIq. qaSpa' the Qunpu', jIH DichDaq bom praises Daq SoH.

I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. Psalm 138:1

For another name for "double-minded" is to be "half-hearted." The psalm gives us an example of a far more fruitful path, to be WHOLE-hearted, to give our all.. and to what? To thanks!

On the sector of the planet where I live, this is a time for a special holiday - Thanksgiving - which is not tied to any one faith, but united in the simple task of giving thanks. Not limited to only for those who have plenty, but also, we WITH plenty are urged and given opportunities to dig down deep and give to the less fortunate, in order to give them something for which to BE thankful.

David Fagerberg wrote: "The test of all happiness is gratitude," [GK] Chesterton wrote, and many of us have flunked that test. "Children are grateful when Santa Claus puts in their stockings gifts of toys or sweets. Could I not be grateful to Santa Claus when he put in my stockings the gift of two miraculous legs?" We feel no wonder at ordinary things; it is no wonder that ordinary things disappoint us. (FT March 2000: The Essential Chesterton, http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0003/opinion/fagerberg.html)

Are you as easily distracted as I am? Between books and podcasts and news - my attention is so easily driven to and fro, so that my Hoch tIq - my whole heart - is divided down to dust. I need to find a focus, and complete attention, to give thanks.

Let us all pray we find our hearts united in thanks, thanks to the great God who so freely blesses and shares love with everyone.