Perfectionism is often a curse and does interfere with the ability to be spontaneous. Not long ago, I forgot the draft of notes for a classroom lecture and was unable to spontaneously remember the opening section of that draft. So, I opened my lecture with a question to the students--a level of critical thinking they were not prepped for. Novice teaching mistake.
But in the minutes of silence I was aware of anxiety, awkwardness, and waiting. How often can you hear the breathing of a person across the room? Is the awkwardness of being in silence a reflection of our anxiety in feeling the unspoken connection between other human beings?
In my Christian reflection of what I have called 'sonic theology' (based on Hindu theology categories), I have relied on texts I recently read on Hinduism "cosmic vibration" or OM and meditation practices to consider how silence makes us aware of our current place and our relationships to all creation. Minutes can feel like hours, but eventually one finds in silence there is something very much alive.
19 February 2010
12 February 2010
Rahab the Woman and the Monster
I came across an interesting textual concern as I was prepping for both my book of Joshua class and my Belmont prophetic lit class. Come to think of it, the chances of this seem pretty slim... but I was in Second Isaiah (ch. 40-55) and came across the name Rahab. Rahab in Isaiah? hmm. I was reading, translating, exegeting Joshua 2 which is Rahab's story just a couple hours earlier. She is a zona--a prostitute--who rescues two Hebrew spies and prematurely confirms success in the conquest of Canaan. So...what is Rahab doing in Isaiah? Commentaries do not even mention this odd recurrence of the word "rahab." There are two different contexts for this female name. First, in chapter 30, Rahab is the name for Israel's long time opponent Egypt. In chapter 51, Rahab is a great sea monster--a monster of chaos--that YHWH will overcome. This reference is also in Psalms and Job. Rahab the monster is connected with the infamous sea monster Leviathan. Is Rahab Leviathan's consort? No detail is given in the texts or in other sources.
Who is this woman Rahab? A great pillar of faith to be later included in the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth? Or something more unpredictable, more dangerous? For all Rahab's praise from Dtr History, one of the spies still wants reassurance that Rahab will not betray them or their cause at Jericho. I doubt my professors who think it is just happenstance Rahab shows up in Isaiah and Wisdom lit. I think Joshua 2 uses Rahab to speak great faith to Israel, but the author is also unsure of her. Whether the author of Joshua was aware of this other Rahab, it depends on when we think the book was written (an argument for another post). What readers of the existing canon can see as a removed and literary audience is the use of female metaphors and characters to represent 'heroic deception,' sinful modes of life (i.e. in prostitution as apostasy), and adding chaotic complications to patriarchal order. There is something dangerous and "fringe" about Rahab's existence in Israel as the Canaanite prostitute from the hole in the wall in Jericho. She represents the chaos of the enemy yet is persuaded by the greatness of YHWH. As an agent of the Other (Canaanites), she must be overcome for Israel to take their promised land. It is a testament to the greatness of YHWH that Rahab recognizes YHWH's power and forthcoming victory. But, there is a lingering theological problem. The spies in Joshua 2 forgot their Dtr theology and granted her asylum. Is she the beginning of the fall of Israel's residence in "the Promised Land?" Is her presence among other surviving Conquest victims as sinister as a great monster waiting in the darkness?
Who is this woman Rahab? A great pillar of faith to be later included in the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth? Or something more unpredictable, more dangerous? For all Rahab's praise from Dtr History, one of the spies still wants reassurance that Rahab will not betray them or their cause at Jericho. I doubt my professors who think it is just happenstance Rahab shows up in Isaiah and Wisdom lit. I think Joshua 2 uses Rahab to speak great faith to Israel, but the author is also unsure of her. Whether the author of Joshua was aware of this other Rahab, it depends on when we think the book was written (an argument for another post). What readers of the existing canon can see as a removed and literary audience is the use of female metaphors and characters to represent 'heroic deception,' sinful modes of life (i.e. in prostitution as apostasy), and adding chaotic complications to patriarchal order. There is something dangerous and "fringe" about Rahab's existence in Israel as the Canaanite prostitute from the hole in the wall in Jericho. She represents the chaos of the enemy yet is persuaded by the greatness of YHWH. As an agent of the Other (Canaanites), she must be overcome for Israel to take their promised land. It is a testament to the greatness of YHWH that Rahab recognizes YHWH's power and forthcoming victory. But, there is a lingering theological problem. The spies in Joshua 2 forgot their Dtr theology and granted her asylum. Is she the beginning of the fall of Israel's residence in "the Promised Land?" Is her presence among other surviving Conquest victims as sinister as a great monster waiting in the darkness?
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