Home Sick

I am home today with M, who came first as a guest but is now acting as my nurse. I am laid low by a vicious cold, and plan to spend the rest of the day reading. I’m currently working through more of Paradise Lost, Matt 17, Joshua 6, Iliad 4, and Barnaby Rudge. (A book I’m tempted to call Barnaby Fudge, probably from Cornelius Fudge in Harry Potter.) I am off teaching this week (hence M’s visit) but in the midst of Holy Week preparations at CPC. The Palm Sunday sermon passage was from Matthew 21,

“ Εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών
Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι
     πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον
     καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου.

"Say to the daughter of Zion,'Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
   and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

from which were elucidated the following points: That 1) Matthew was convinced Jesus was in fact riding two donkeys, and that 2) the donkey being a nursing mother, this was surely a sign of nonviolence. I often get the impression that liberal Christianity considers itself too well educated to get on with the Evangelicals. This sort of sermon would seem to show it is too illiterate. First, there is the whole muddle of failing to realize this is a quoted prophesy from Zechariah. Second, there is an utter ignorance of the poetic device of parallelism. Suggesting that this passage means two asses is like suggesting that Isaiah’s prophecy “for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” indicates two infants. The Old Testament poets are full of parallelism; they use it as the English poets use rhyme. It is, as C.S. Lewis remarked, a very happy chance that the Hebrew poets used a technique that would translate to all languages. Or at least, we might now remark, to all people who read language. The remaining absurdities, being mistakes in Greek, are a little easier to excuse; that kai translates as either “and” or “even,” thus easing the semantic burden of translating two donkeys; or at least two riding donkeys.

Other highlights from this week include B’s second bridal shower, wherein many boys and the Haydenbaby attended the cleanup. (Primarily eating)

-Officially agreeing to move to Washington Street. We will need a name for our new home once we leave St. Vivian’s…perhaps Washington Square?

-Attending a Westside Brass Quintet Recital and the RWC Wind Ensemble concert (in which J played.