NAMES

Imagine having to name all the different variety of animals, insects, bugs and birds to name a few. Who actually named them? How far back do these names go?  Names have meaning especially in the Bible.  Abraham's name was changed from Abram to Abraham.

(I have sometimes spelled my grand children's names wrong but just imagine if they were called Rabindanarth  or Jyotirindranath, names of real people)

I am reading the story of Abraham from the perspective of a Jewish Rabbi.  His name rabbi Arthur Waskow.  One of the most important teachings of these rabbis was that the Torah was not written in black ink on white parchment but black fire on white fire: the blank spaces,waiting in  every generation to be read anew.

"Teachings for later generations on how to live a life in touch with God utterly different from which the black fire was encoded.  So these stories take on a weight and seriousness even beyond the impact they usually have when read weekly.  Midrash literally means "searching" into the space between the letters, between the words, between the verses for the hidden treasure always to be found there."

(Sometimes the harder you look, the more you start to see things.)

YHWH (the breath of life) made Himself seen to Abraham in the oaks of Mamre.  From this seeing Abraham brought the visitors to his tent, open in all four directions.  Arthur states that God is in the wind that makes the rustling of the leaves in the trees and also God is in the faces of the strangers.  How differently we would treat others is we see the face of God in them.  So when we read this scripture we see the importance of the oak trees, the open tent and the three strangers.  Too often I think we read a story and try to rationalize who the strangers were and what was this visit all about.

 

Ben is not playing soccer.  Friday dad took time out from his walking and it was a cold miserable day.  We drove to White Rock to Choices to to a little shopping and met a friend who walks her dog in the park where dad goes.  He remembered her dog's name but couldn't remember hers.