Back to Work

I started my new (old) job today - back to surgical teching. It’s definitely not my passion, but it’ll pay the bills better than anything else I can think up at the moment. Now I’m just going to have to figure out how to get some reading finished after work.

Socrates’ Defense

I’ve just finished reading the first of Plato’s dialogues in the collected works edition that I mentioned yesterday. I must say, “Very interesting.” I didn’t realize just how interesting it would be. Maybe the “dry philosophical parts” come in later. I’ve run into a couple of issues I could use some help on, so if you have any thoughts, I crave your commentations.

First, a Summary

This dialogue deals with the trial of Socrates. He’s been accused by the Athenians of being an atheist and of corrupting the Athenian youth. The dialogue doesn’t begin with the case against him, but with his defense. He lays out the reasons, both past and present, why these charges have been brought against him, and gives reasons why they are not based on truth. At one point he questions his main accuser, Meletus. He goes on to argue that far from doing harm to Athens, he has actually been of invaluable service to its citizens by prodding them towards truth and goodness. I love the following quotations (sorry they are kind of long):

… Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honor, and give no attention or thought to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul?
     And if any of you disputes this and professes to care about these things, I shall not at once let him go or leave him. No, I shall question him and examine him and test him; and if it appears that in spite of his profession he has made no real progress toward goodness, I shall reprove him for neglecting what is of supreme importance, and giving his attention to trivialities. I shall do this to everyone that I meet, young or old, foreigner or fellow citizen, but especially to you, my fellow citizens, inasmuch as you are closer to me in kinship. This, I do assure you, is what my God commands, and it is my belief that no greater good has ever befallen you in this city than my service to my God. For I spend all my time going about trying to persuade you, young and old, to make your first and chief concern not for your bodies nor for your possessions, but for the highest welfare of your souls, proclaiming as I go, Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the state.

And this gem:

… For this reason, gentlemen, so far from pleading on my own behalf, as might be supposed, I am really pleading on yours, to save you from misusing the gift of God by condemning me. If you put me to death, you will not easily find anyone to take my place. It is literally true, even if it sounds rather comical, that God has specially appointed me to this city, as though it were a large thoroughbred horse which because of its great size is inclined to be lazy and needs the stimulation of some stinging fly. It seems to me that God has attached me to this city to perform the office of such a fly, and all day long I never cease to settle here, there, and everywhere, rousing, persuading, reproving every one of you. You will not easily find another like me, gentlemen, and if you take my advice you will spare my life. I suspect, however, that before long you will awake from your drowsing, and in your annoyance you will [...] finish me off with a single slap, and then you will go on sleeping till the end of your days, unless God in his care for you sends someone to take my place.

However, the jury finds him guilty. In the sentencing phase, he is given the opportunity to suggest his own sentence. His response: “Well, what is appropriate for a poor man who is a public benefactor and who requires leisure for giving you moral encouragement? Nothing could be more appropriate for such a person than free maintenance at the state’s expense.” (You’ve got to love his boldness.) The jury has different ideas, however, and sentences him to death. But Socrates goes on to state how he does not fear death and it will actually be a great benefit to him, at worst like a dreamless sleep and at best like a conversation with all of the great heroes of the past.

Now, the Questions

First, since I don’t know classical Greek, I’m entirely dependent upon the translator for what he’s given me here. This one is Hugh Tredennick in 1954. (Incidentally, he’s given some great words like “effrontery”). Anyway, what I’m mostly wondering is how to take Socrates’ use of the term “God.” I don’t think the Greeks were monotheists, so I’m a bit confused by this. At other points in the dialogue, he even seems to acknowledge other deities. What was Socrates’ view of God? Is the translator smuggling in the majuscule title of God from Christianity? Or is that something that is there in Socrates.

The second question somewhat pertains to this as well. I quoted several sections above because I thought they really captured some great thoughts. The first is about not placing wealth above a pursuit for truth. (That is certainly a message needed in modern America.) The second is about prodding our neighbors from their sleep. I can see some distinctly Christian applications for both of these statements. But to what extent am I taking these out of context to make Christian applications from them? Is that something that is okay to do? Or is it just as wrong as when people take the Bible out of context? I guess I could use some pointers on how to appropriate non-Christian writers to make Christian points.

Comments about these questions, or the quotations, or anything else are very welcome.

Plato

So I finally did it. I bought Plato’s collected works. I realized yesterday that I’ve been reading about Plato for some time—mostly summaries and introductions in larger books—but I’ve never actually read Plato. So, I tried at the public library yesterday to find some of his dialogues, but their entire philosophy section consisted of two (small) introductory summary-style books. I was very disappointed. So when I got the Borders 40% off coupon in my email this morning, it seemed obvious what I needed to do.

Summer Reading List

One reason I’m not taking classes for the Summer term is because I have so much I want to read to get ready for classes in the Fall. For some reason, I feel like I’m so far behind where I need to be. So here are (some of) the books on my Summer Reading List. If I can make some progress in these, maybe I’ll add a few more.

Oh, and there is always the reviewing I need to do for the next Hebrew class I’ll have. (So I moved my coffee maker into my bedroom… you know… so I can get an early start on it all.) The way I figure it, the more work I do now, the easier time of it I’ll have in class later, and (hopefully) I’ll also get more out of it. That’s really the main goal.

A Little Haywire

When daylight savings time came in late March all the clocks here at school went a little haywire. Most of them just had the wrong time on them, but it wasn’t just an hour off; these were really wrong. If it was supposed to be 12:30 in the afternoon, the clock said something like 9:45. I have no idea how they got like that.

But the truly bizarre one was in the classroom where I had Hebrew. Most minutes it would just stay frozen at the top of an hour. But every three or four minutes it would run through an entire hour in a minute. I saw people take three or four glances at it when it first started happening, and their mouths would drop. It was rather comical.

Anyway, I mention it because it seems a metaphor for the semester just finished.

I’m faced now with a summer “off” — although I have more to do than I can possibly get done. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the subjects I’ve just finished. And I would like to go back and reread all of the books and notes and really grind the stuff into my brain. I just realized yesterday that all of the subjects I just finished are not primarily content/informational classes; they are how-to type classes. So that means if I don’t practice the how-to part it will atrophy quickly.

But at the same time I want to start getting ready for the semester coming up in the Fall. I have some great classes and (hopefully) some great professors. It should be interesting. And I think I’ll get so much more out of them if I’m a little more prepared than I was before this past one.

Then there are some other things that I just want to get read over the summer for my own edification and enjoyment. How do I mix all that in? Sounds like I’m going to have to make some priorities and try to stay on top of things. I’ll write more if I can fi

It should be interesting all the same. Hopefully I’ll find some time to write about something sometime.

Sojourn Membership Class: Week One

We had our first membership class at church last week, and it was really, really helpful. We covered a lot of material, but it isn’t really hard to sum it up: the gospel. The gospel is the central focus. It’s central in our own lives. It’s central to community. And it’s central to ministry.

This diagram presents the message in a way I’d never seen before:

And it basically covers the three essential areas of content in the gospel:

1. God is holy, absolutely separate from evil.
2. People are not.
3. The cross is the bridge between the depth of our sin and the height of God’s holiness.

When we first become Christians, we are at the point of the diagram. We understand the basics of those three truths. But… and this is the really helpful part for me …as we continue in our faith, our understanding of God’s holiness increases and our sense of our own depravity deepens. In our experience we see the gap grow wider and wider.

What should happen when this disparity becomes more clear is a magnification of the cross and the work of Christ in the eyes of the believer. The power of the cross grows in our understanding and we give more glory to Jesus for what he’s accomplished for us. So the gospel is not something that we get down when we become Christians and then outgrow. It is central to the everyday walk of faith.

Half-Life

Well, today I’ve reached my Mosesian half-life.¹

That’s probably exaggerating a bit. Modern medical technology is making the average life span ever longer. But on the other hand, we are never guaranteed another day or even minute.

It’s strange to think about all the same. By one measure, my life is half over. Aren’t I supposed to be having a crisis now? I said this to a friend the other day and his reply was, “You are. You quit your job and came back to school.” If that’s so, well, it’s kind of tame, isn’t it. No Harley or leather jacket or tattoo or anything. Oh well. Such is me.

There are many regrets, of course. How could there not be when I sin like I do? But I’m not dwelling on them. Mostly today I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s kindness and mercy to me despite all of those things. I’ve been praying for the coming years: that God would help me shake off the burdens and redeem the years I’ve lost and make me fruitful as his follower (to the praise of His glory).

The following song really sums up how I feel right now. It both looks forward to the end and aims for what might be accomplished in the interim. It’s very others-focused. [listen]

The Invisible Choir by Kris Delmhorst

lyrics adapted from: George Eliot, “The Choir Invisible“

Oh may I join that invisible choir
I want to join that invisible choir
Made of those sweet immortal voices
That lift our hearts up higher

I want to live after I die
I want to live after I die
I want to make a bit of beauty
And leave a little light behind

Or be the balm to someone’s sadness, the song for someone’s gladness,
A cup of strength to someone in their fight
Or maybe sweeten an existence, inspire a persistence,
Or breathe the breath that makes the spark of love burn bright

Oh may I reach the heaven most high
I want to reach that heaven most high
And be a little star a shining
In someone’s darkest night

———————————

¹Psalm 90: A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust
    and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
    by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
    yet their span is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!
(English Standard Version)