Christmas 2015 Greeting & Poem

Divine Incarnation

Divine Incarnation

you come to every nation,

from Syrian refugees,

to the homeless who freeze.

Divine Incarnation

you come to every nation,

to lovingly give them peace,

and by making wars cease.

Divine Incarnation

you come to every nation,

not only now at Christmas,

since each today is blessed.

Divine Incarnation

you come to every nation,

you created galaxies,

yet in flesh came to be.

Divine Incarnation

you come to every nation,

you in the stranger or friend,

serving you to the end.

-24/12/2015 © Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Police-A brief book review

Police

Author: Jo Nesbø

Publisher: Toronto: Vintage Canada Edition, 2014

518 pages, paperback

CDN $19.95

A short review by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Jo Nesbø, is a gifted, Norwegian crime novel writer. This is one in a series of crime sleuth investigator, Harry Hole novels. Hole is very much the unorthodox, unpredictable, solver of crimes. He reminds one a bit of the old Pink Panther movies in this respect, and like the Pink Panther hero, Hole is often despised and envied by his colleagues and superiors since they cannot understand or seem to copy his methods, which prove to be more successful than theirs.

   In this page-turner tour-de-force, Nesbø keeps his readers captivated by the multi-layered, extremely complex, and brilliantly crafted plot—actually series of plots. Just when the reader thinks Hole and his colleagues are about to catch the perpetrator and solve the crimes, another surprising plot is born and off we go on another adventure. 

   Police, among other things, tells the story of Harry Hole being shot and nearly dead, then recovering, and then taking up a job of teaching new police recruits. Along the way, there are many twists and turns in Hole’s life and work and relationships. Eventually he becomes involved in trying to solve the murder of several police officers because the others assigned to the case keep running into dead ends. 

   In the midst of it all Nesbø describes the corrupt politics and sociopathic behaviours within the police force. 

   I’m not going to give away the grand finale; but I will say that Hole eventually ends up being kind of a Christ figure in that he saves a colleague who regards Hole as his enemy; and Hole also ends up getting married in a church; even though he is next-to-impossible to live with.  

     

Reformation Sunday 2015

Tomorrow we Lutherans—and perhaps other denominations—celebrate

Reformation Sunday. Here is some food for thought from our hero, Martin Luther: On humour and joy: “If I am not allowed to laugh in heaven I don't want to go there.”

   On justification by grace through faith: “Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.”

   Perhaps it was Luther’s steadfast conviction regarding the latter quote that he could affirm the former one.  

The benefits of napping

Did you know that napping is a healthy thing to do? According to an article in the Scientific American, which presents details of research done on napping at Brock University in Ontario, the answer is yes, taking a nap is healthy, even making us smarter, under certain circumstances. Read the whole article here. Then, go ahead and take that nap for a healthier functioning mind.

The Green Prince-A Brief Review

Last night I watched the 2014 Sundance award-winning documentary film, The Green Prince. The title refers to Palestinian-born Mosab Hassan Yousef, he was given this title by the Israeli secret service-Bet Shin because the Hamas-Palestinian flag is green, and Mosab is the son of one of Hamas’ founding leaders, Sheikh Hassan Yousef.

   The film consists essentially of three people Mosab and his dad, as well as Israeli Bet Shin member Gonen Ben-Yitzhak, who recruited Mosab to become an informer for the Israelis.  

   The film is documentary style, so takes the form of mainly monologues with interspersed footage of photos and videos of the events being described by Mosab and Gonen.

   Since Mosab became a kind of “gatekeeper” for his dad, he was trusted by the Hamas inner circle and was therefore able to share very important intelligence information with the Israelis. As a result of his espionage activities, he was instrumental in preventing many Hamas suicide bombings and assassinations, thus saving many Jewish lives.

   Eventually, Mosab’s life was in danger, and he was given asylum in the USA, after the testimony of Gonen before US authorities.

   In the monologues of Mosab, one comes to appreciate and empathize with the moral-ethical and spiritual issues and dilemmas he had to live with on a daily basis, as well as the consequences of becoming a Bet Shin informer against his own father, which ironically, saved his father’s life without his father even being aware of it.

   Mosab came to realize that Hamas’ methods and ideology were corrupt and evil and eventually left the Muslim faith to become a Christian. He has written a book of his experiences called Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue and Unthinkable Choices. For more information on the book, The Green Prince, etc., visit Mosab’s website here.    

This day in music history

This day, August 1, 1971, in music history, marks the Benefit Concert to help the people of Bangladesh, which was primarily organised by my favourite Beatle, George Harrison. Here's a very brief video with a few remarks from Harrison and other musicians. I think this was one of the best pop-rock-folk music concerts ever because these most accomplished musicians shared their talents in the service of suffering human beings in a desperate situation.  

Book Review: Abraham Joshua Heschel: Exploring His Life and Thought

Abraham Joshua Heschel: Exploring His Life and Thought

Author: Edited by John C. Merkle

Publisher: New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., A Division of Macmillan, Inc. & Collier Macmillan Publishers-London

171 pages, including index, Hardcover

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

This festschrift of sorts is comprised of several essays written by Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars, who in some way knew Abraham Joshua Heschel and were inspired by his life and work.

   It is divided into four parts: Part One: Remembering Abraham Joshua Heschel; Part Two: Heschel As Biblical Theologian; Part Three: Heschel As Philosopher And Poet; and Part Four: Heschel As Social Critic And Ecumenist.

   In the opening essay by Samuel H. Dresner, “Heschel the Man,” Dresner suggests that Heschel appealed to and was respected by all three monotheistic faiths, as well as: Blacks, the aged, the “Six Million” who perished in the Shoah, and the Russian Jews.

   Dresner regards Heschel as a prophet, a shalem—i.e. a complete, whole person, and a zaddik—i.e. a Hasidic master.

   Citing Heschel’s The Insecurity of Freedom: Essays on Human Existence, Dresner includes gems like this on Heschel’s critique of religion: “Religion has declined,” he told religious leaders, “not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid….When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.” (p. 23)

   In Ursula M. Niebuhr’s essay, “Notes on a Friendship Abraham Joshua Heschel and Reinhold Niebuhr,” she includes this thought-provoking quote, which Heschel had written in his important book, The Prophets: “Prophecy is a sham unless it is experienced as a word of God swooping down on man (sic) and converting him (sic) into a prophet.” (p. 40) Another quote Niebuhr includes from Heschel’s God In Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism on awe: “Awe enables us…to sense in small things the beginnings of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple.” (p. 41) Such an understanding of awe reminds this reviewer of how many Christians view the Incarnation.

   In Bernhard W. Anderson’s essay, “Coexistence With God Heschel’s Exposition of Biblical Theology,” he includes a couple of amazing quotes epitomizing Heschel’s gift as a creative scholar and poet. As Heschel puts it, speaking out of and to the Jewish community, “every one of us has stood at the foot of Sinai” in the presence of the Holy God who speaks and calls for us to answer. “Only in moments when we are able to share in the spirit of awe that fills the world are we able to understand what happened to Israel at Sinai.” (p. 52)

   The Bible he says, is “holiness in words, that is, these human words are the vehicles that God uses to establish relations with a people. It is as if God took these Hebrew words and breathed into them of His power, and the words became a live wire charged with His spirit. To this very day they are hyphens between heaven and earth.” (p. 54) As a reviewer somewhat biased towards hyphens, this definitely resonates. “The Bible,” he says, “is not a book to be read but a drama in which to participate.” In this drama, it is God who takes the initiative. (p. 54) Many Christians would also agree with Heschel here.

   In each of the other essays, the authors in their own unique way, pay tribute to Heschel by sharing stories, anecdotes, insights, etc., on how Heschel influenced them; how much they appreciated his friendship; and how his academic works inspired their own scholarship; and how his faith was a manifestation in acts of loving kindness, which inspired and motivated others to go and do likewise; in response to the awe, mystery, beauty and love of God’s grace.