Image: Royal Replicas, 2019, "Costumes from 'The Crown' Exhibit", Winterthur Museum, 2019
If you are "into" that kind of thing, the traveling exhibit of the costumes used in the PBS series is very interesting. Great attention was paid to creating as exact a replica for the various items of clothing worn by the Queen and other members of the Royal Entourage as possible. Some freedom had to be taken to account for different body sizes. For example, who knew that Princess Margaret was only 5' tall? The woman who played her in the series was about 5' 7" or so. The bottom line is the historical interest that this display arouses.
Queen Elizabeth has been around a long time. It is kind of nice to be reminded that there was a time when a certain elegance was not only demanded but displayed by people in the public eye. The Queen was very aware that when Jacqueline Kennedy was coming with her husband for a royal visit that she had to match the competition. She did.
It was also nice to see how the other folks dressed. I think we all yearn for a taste of the kind of life that would allow us to "dress for dinner" or get on our riding habit and go for a gallop around the estate. Rich folks just don't live like the rest of us.
Now I am not, in the least, jealous of these folks. They are born sinners just like the rest of us and as even a casual reading of history will demonstrate, their acquaintance with elegance did not necessarily translate into being the kind of person we would even like much less want to imitate. Still, there is the appeal of the whole ethos.
Americans are very susceptible, I think, to this kind of yearning. American capitalism has produced the most affluent society the world has ever known, but a certain price has been paid. All too often our affluence has not brought about the kind of sophisticated leisure that translates into cultural progress. We Americans are intolerant of introspective and informed conversation. We think we always have to be "doing something." We have, in large part, even abandoned the traditional family dinner in the sense that we just eat up what's before us without any notice really of the opportunity that a meal provides. If we had cultural institutions like "dressing for dinner" and the polite expectation that everyone was to contribute to the atmosphere and conversation at the event, then a certain depth would obtain in our lives.
I think, at some level, Americans yearn for some of this. What else would explain the cult like devotion to the 'Downton Abbey' series? Why is it that we Americans seemingly care more for the foibles and eccentricities of the Royal Family than do the average Brits themselves? Just bring up Prince Charles in some circles and there will be a rolling of eyes and a shaking of the head that tells you all you need to know of the person's opinion.
Oh well... the funnest things in life are those things which are the most absurd. The maintenance of the Royalty certainly falls into that category. I enjoyed watching "The Crown" and I thought it did a pretty good job of showing us just how trapped is the Queen in her position. She is the titular head over all the English government and royal possessions, yet she cannot do anything in government that might, in any way, convey an opinion about a current political issue. She is told this explicitly and forcefully by the Queen Mother when she became Queen. She is not a Royal Person... She is a Royal Institution.. This to me is absurd. What is pleasurable is that somehow or another she matters.
Queen Elizabeth is a great lady. I don't know what will happen to the Royal Institution when she goes... whatever does happen we know this: that it will be great entertainment for us on this side of the pond.
Joshua 22: Zeal For The Lord
Image: Prospering Before Him, 2019, Winterthur Museum Gardens, De
Joshua 22:4–6 (NKJV) 4 And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
I associate crocus flowers with Spring so it was somewhat of a surprise to round a curve in the path and see an entire hill slope with them abounding with gay profusion. My companion "detail" person informed that there are Fall crocuses (croci?) also. Who knew? But I am glad because I really like those little plants. They spring up, seemingly out of nowhere; they throw their faces to the sun and brighten up the world for the short period of their blossoming season. They are altogether nice.
I don't suppose there are any real good analogies here with the specific chapter of Joshua 22 but I don't know of an image that would, so I just went with the pretty flowers.
It was clear to Joshua and to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manesseh that once they crossed the river Jordan they for all practical purposes would be somewhat cut-off from the rest of Israel. We might think: "It's only a river, what's the big deal" but natural boundaries and as I will give example, even artificial boundaries can isolate a community in its cultural progress. Whereas the other tribes would have relatively easy access to each other for trade, gossip, cultural interchange, etc. the tribes on the Eastern shore would be pretty much dependent just on each other.
It is quite often the case that a major thoroughfare in a big city will do this. On one side of the road there may be a very cohesive community that over the years will become known as, for example, "the Jewish quarter", while on the other side the cultural ethos would be quite different, e.g. "the Irish section." It just happens. The same thing was clearly possible for the banks of the Jordan.
This is why Joshua goes to such great lengths to remind these tribes of their obligations to God and the "law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you." There was a barrier between them and the Tabernacle and it would require greater effort for them to come and sacrifice during the prescribed seasons. They had to pay even greater attention to the reality of "loving the LORD your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Fellowship with other believers, other members of the covenant, is vital for growing in spiritual zeal as Joshua and the LORD were commanding them this day. The more time progressed the more likely it was that zeal for fellowship with the other tribes would diminish and the sense of common heritage, blessed union and special privilege would dampen and perhaps even die.
These tribes face a special challenge and it was one that both sides recognized.
The 2 1/2 tribes certainly thought about it in reverse. As the Jordan served to isolate them so it also served to distance them in the other tribes' point of view. They were "over there." There is an old saying "Out of sight, out of mind" and separation from other believers can foster that. The 2 1/2 tribes built an altar on the West side of the Jordan. It may not have been the wisest course of action because it certainly was open to false interpretation. The purpose of an altar is to offer sacrifices, right? Well, God had commanded that sacrifices only be offered on the altar He had commissioned under the service of the priesthood He had ordained. This altar was easily perceived as a declaration that these tribes were going to have their own, heretical form of religion. They had to hurriedly inform their brothers of their true intention or else fratricide was about to transpire. They did so inform them and all was well.
But their true intention was to remind their brothers in the West that they were indeed brothers because they were united in covenant with the One True God. We can understand their intentions even if we are a bit taken aback by their short-sightedness.
I suppose that we can ponder a few things that this chapter brings to mind.
First we can ponder how passing "time" itself can constitute a river of separation that serves to hinder our sense of community with other believers. Think about how different the modern church is from the apostolic churches. Or, what about the Reformation? Reformation Sunday is coming at the end of October. Think back to the character of those apostolic churches and those of the Reformation. Those congregations, often, were "fired up" for Jesus. They faced uncertain futures with the very real prospect of persecution, hardship, treachery and struggle, yet they rose to the challenge. Certainly the apostolic letters prove that it was not a uniform zeal in all the churches and it was the same in the Reformation, but think how communion with those congregations might serve to strengthen our zeal also.
Second we ought to ponder how our own families and individuals can allow perceived borders to separate us unto our own little worlds. We might even conclude that much of the spiritual complacency existing in the Evangelical community today stems from a lack of real, intimate communion with other believers.
If we, today, are going to heed Joshua's commands to these tribes and grow in our own love and obedience then we must take care not to let such perceived or real borders isolate us from that essential communion with other believers that furnishes the fertile ground for zeal to bloom.
Posted by Gadfly on September 30, 2019 at 10:44 AM in Church, Commentary, Devotional Meditation, Discipleship, Ethics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Reblog (0) | | | |
| Save to del.icio.us