Backwards Theology
“Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god.” Habakkuk 1:11 NASB
Whose strength – Let’s have a little fun today. The assumed root of the word koho (“whose strength) is khh, that is, a Kaf followed by two Chets. This is the assumed root because it never occurs in the root form anywhere in Scripture. The only word that does occur is the one in this verse, namely, koho, a noun that occurs 126 times. In Paleo Hebrew, this would be a picture of an open hand followed by two fences. That suggests some interesting ideas. The open hand is about provision but two fences seem to imply that the provision is protected by a double barrier. Good if you are on the inside, but not so comforting if you are on the outside. Whatever provision might be offered by this open hand, you will be required to hurdle two formidable barriers to get it. In fact, if the Kaf is about what is allowed, those who are represented by this word require twice the effort or twice the homage before you reap the benefits. Might I suggest that reaping these benefits is impossible? Why? Because you only have the human capacity to scale one fence. That will take all you’ve got. And yet, the demand is for double what you can do. You will always come up short. As the prophet notes, the promised benefit will never arrive. These men will sweep through and pass on, and you will be left on the outside of the inner fence.
What sort of men believe that khh is their god? Actually, men like us. The Greek concept of Man is centered in self-reliance. In fact, Greek “freedom” is the capacity to fulfill my desires without the encumbrance of others. What sort of man is that? One who exists on the basis of his own strength. Of course, strength comes in many colors. Money, status, sexual prowess, raw power, cunning, savvy: these are but a few of the idolized virtues of the “strength society.” Flaunt what you’ve got. Make others envious. Grab what you can. And remember, it’s a “zero-sum” game. Yes, the ideal Greek society includes the provision of restrictions on individuals for the sake of the group, but that is a concession to political life, not the ideal. The ideal is the noble savage, the Gauguin man in control of himself and his world, devoid of the pedestrian concerns of the intelligentsia, at home with ruthlessness toward life, forcing the universe to give up its treasures into his hand. Ah, if only. But then, of course, all the rest of the world would have to serve me! There is only room enough for one at the top of the pyramid.
And that is the fatal fallacy of power. Khh was never Man’s to begin with. “In the beginning, God created.” Man is a derivative being. He may be a designated vice-regent, but he lives only on borrowed wind. The ruach of his breath does not belong to him. Those whose gods are strength, in whatever form it happens to take, are doomed to the inescapable reality of extinction. No man is eternal. Life is a privilege on loan from Another. The man who believes that strength is his god is ultimately fenced out, not in, by two insurmountable barriers: borrowed breath and borrowed time.
Topical Index: khh, strength, Habakkuk 1:11, power, noble savage
Love! Elegant!
“Borrowed breath and borrowed time”. Funny how we perceive time as our enemy when we are on the outside of the fence. Rest, or, when we are at peace inside time, such as on the Sabbath (where time itself works FOR us) only happens on the inside of the fence. People stay in the rat race and in a fight against time when they think that time is against them. (Perception is a funny thing, based as it is on what we are believing.) I have begun to realize that the space between those breaths, which is a rest, too (sounds like a music score – LOL) is also only possible when we have made our peace with both time and breath.
About those breaths. I was thinking yesterday a good deal about the relationship between asking and the sin of ingratitude. Generally, what I do not ask for, I do not say “thank you” for,, either. When I am commanded to pray for my daily bread, I am being shown the place where everything I need I must be asked for, and therefore must be acknowledged by my gratitude. In fact, where I cannot even supply for myself the breath in my own body, everything good thing, from breath on, is being supplied for me by the Father of lights, Who is the source of all, but ASKING is where I open my hand – and heart – to receive. Good stuff, like breath, is like answers: the answers are all around us, but if we are not asking the questions (thanks, Skip), they do us no good. If I ask for my daily breath, like my daily bread, to come only from my Father’s hand, then saying “thank you” – gratitude – from that open heart is where that breath, like time, becomes mine, and starts working for me instead of against me. Asking is the action that puts me on the inside of those fences. This is just basic good manners – the manners of heaven. (Apparently manners must be serious business there!)
To attempt to start from the place where I am the supreme being is to pit myself against the two things I need most: time and my own breath, for I know I can supply neither. From that place, I fight a losing battle every day in a vain attempt to figure out how to ‘supply’ both to myself, which is a serious illusion. This is madness on the outside of those two barriers to my attempted despotism, when I could have just had a V8 – I do mean when I could have just remembered to say “please” and “thank you”!
Rightly so, Laurita! Good manners is heavenly bound.
To ask is one thing, to demand is another. To ask is more a request; to demand is like an obligation owed/ owing. To some, that is, than it seems like no expression of gratitude is required.
Shalom!
Of Borrowed Breath and Borrowed Time
I sing the almighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the LORD, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through His Word, and then pronounced them good.
LORD, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.
There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.
May we conclude “life (itself) is a gift?” “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
And everywhere that we may go, — He (our EmmanuEl) is with us there.
[May we then..]
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, and bless His Name.
For the LORD is good.
His loving-kindness endures forever, His faithfulness [is] to all generations.
[Therefore] ~ I will bless the LORD at all times, —His praise shall continually be in my mouth ~
~ The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore ~
~ Blessed is the people of whom this is true; — blessed is the people whose God is the LORD! ~