March 11, 2020 - DST Switch and the Difference Between One and Two Dots in God's Written Word

The topic this Wednesday evening in Lent was Environmental Justice. Since last Sunday, the Daylight Savings Time switch took place. For me, the difference between this service and last Wednesday's was night and day. This service started in daylight rather than the dark and lasted until twilight. I was aware of the light tonight and how it highlighted the world around those gathered. The traffic noise was more noticeable and as well as Mt Hood outside the window.

We sang O Lord Hear My Prayer, Be Still And Know, Christ Our Peace, and Jesus Remember Me. Today this music didn't pull me out of the silence, the contemplation or the Reflection. 

The first reading was from Genesis 1:26-30. The first verse interested me.  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

In particular the word dominion grabbed my attention. Most modern Christian translations of the Bible follow the common teaching that the word yiredu comes from the root word radah which means dominion, or to subdue,  to rule over, to tread upon (like in a winepress). I read a bit more about the root word and found the word could be translated as yarad.

Seven hundred years after the birth of Christ apparently the Masoretes put a chireq (one dot) under the Resh making this the root word radah which means to subdue.  Had a tsere (two dots) been written under the Resh they would have the root word yarad which means to come down or lower oneself.  The original inspired Word of God had no dots. Using the root word yarad (to lower oneself) rather than radah (to rule over) helped me understand Environmental Justice may have had a longer history than I originally thought. In the original Hebrew the word starts with a Yod which is a picture of a heavenly messenger or yarad which means to lower oneself and not a Resh which means to rule over.

Because Christianity followed in their own way and not the way of their Jewish heritage Christianity throughout the last 2,000 years, with notable exceptions like St. Francis of Assisi, missed out on a special blessing and spiritual experience. Reading the biography of St. Francis of Assisi is revealing. He would go to the woods to worship God with the animals. It is said that the animals wild and tame would approach him.  Not because of St. Francis but because they wanted to be near their Creator that St. Francis worshiped.  That is why St. Francis of Assisi is pictured with a bird on his shoulder and a wolf by his side.  A story goes that a town was being attacked by a wolf and the town leaders came to St. Francis knowing his affinity for animals and asked if he could help. St. Francis went to the wolf and had a little conversation with the wolf and then reported to the town leaders that the wolf was just hungry and if they would feed him he would not attack.  Thus, the town sort of adopted this wolf as a result of St. Francis’s conversation or yiredu with the wolf.

This feels like a better translation to follow in the search for ways to protect our environment and the planet overall.

The other reading was Mark 4:26-29. This is known as the Parable of the Growing Seed. I thought of the growth of the plants as the working of God’s Word in individual hearts. The fact that the crop grows without the farmer’s intervention means that God can accomplish any purpose even when we are absent or unaware of what is happening. The goal is the ripened grain. At the proper time, the Word will bring forth its fruit, and the Lord of the harvest.

This helps relieve what could have been a crippling anxiety that God has left Environmental Justice up to humankind alone. Both of these readings helped me understand this Genesis reading anew. And as far as my Lenten journey I am now thinking of the truth of creation together with God, individual, tribal and all creature identities.