First Daughter

Tuesday morning sitting in the comfortable outside waiting area at GreasePro on 77 just beyond Tanya's Garden in Lynn Haven. The indoor waiting room is also comfortable, but the frantic screaming music over the speaker system is even more obnoxious inside than out. Well, I suppose I could've turned off my ears.

Here to have Kristen's Volvo detailed, which it hasn't had done in two and a half years now, since I first took it over, so badly needed wash and detail before turning it over to TJCC for Charlotte to drive. They're coming over from Tallahassee the end of next week.

Cars in my ownership don't get wasted, they get driven first by whoever is the primary first driver, then in due course turned over to whoever needs a car. I've not always kept track of what happens after a car leaves our oversight; maybe at finally being totally used up they're parked in the back yard and left to sink into the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, rust to dust, that's our way here in the South.

This Volvo XC60 we bought new in Atlanta for Kristen in February 2013 after the Saturn she was driving was tailgated and slammed into the car in front of it, on an Atlanta freeway during rush hour traffic; scaring the living beeHAYsoos out of me. USAA totaled the Saturn and I replaced it with what was, to my mind at the Time, the safest car in the Universe.

It's decently maintained and well worn, will turn over 116,000 miles on its way to Tallahassee next week. The car is serving satisfactorily: first Kristen for ten years, then me for two and a half years, now on to its next driver, especially as we age on into passenger status.

All of which leads me into my slightly studied and contemplated topic for this morning: our first reading for the upcoming Sunday, which is one of the principal feast days of our church year, Trinity Sunday.

The reading is from Proverbs 8, the first four verses are Wisdom the speaker's introduction of herself, then down to verses that relate to Genesis 1:1f, and to the Logos prelude of Gospel John, about her place in the beginning of creation.

Boy is the dryer a noisy blast as cars and trucks complete their roll through the car wash, could compete with Mike Dickey's F-15. At least it's better than the music blaring over the speaker system inside and out. To a rising nonagenarian, outside is better. 80°F wind SW 9 mph, gusts to13 mph, it's nice out here under the outside canopy.

Watching all the teenager team members working here, I guess that explains the music. I remember our music when I was their age, and it was good for dancing cheek to cheek. This music is good for screaming "I CAN'T HEAR YOU" but it's this generation's music and I guess they like it as much as we liked ours seventy years ago, eh?

"Whenever we kiss I worry and wonder." "Your cheatin' heart will tell on you." "When you are in love it's the loveliest night of the year." "We were sailing along on Moonlight Bay."

Anyway, the reading from Proverbs 8. Wisdom, KhokMAH in the Hebrew original, Sophia in the LXX Greek, is a feminine noun (remember the Istanbul/Constantinople church Hagia Sophia - - Holy Sophia). She, Sophia, does not claim to be eternally begotten: our Christian theology lends that only to Logos the Word that was incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, to us the long expected Jewish Messiah (Greek, Christos, Christ). Rather, Sophia, speaking in the Bible that we accept as divinely inspired holy scripture, therefore true (Pilate: What is Truth?). Sophia, Wisdom, claims to have been the first thing God created; even before the heavens and the Big Bang.

And then poetically, Why? From the very beginning, created as God's playmate. So, then work it out: (1) God the Father; (2) Logos, God the Word, eternally begotten of the Father; (3) God the Holy Spirit, who, my seminary theology professor said, is the love between the Father and the Son - - loosed on Earth for us at Pentecost; and now (4) Sophia, Wisdom, though created not begotten, God's first daughter and the Apple of his eye (any father with daughters does not need to have this explained).

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Sophia the First Daughter, Wisdom, is the sensible one, the Bible says that we are to listen to her, heed her.

In human terms I visualize the first Son and the first Daughter playing together - - as she says of the Father, I was daily his delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

But that's only part of a loving family. What about the children's Mother, the Father's wife? In poetic theology there has to be a Mother, eh? In some ways, this reminds me of JRR Tolkien's Legendarium, a complete, full-storied history of Middle Earth, every place, every character, every character's family and genealogy. The story needs that: if there is a Father with Son and Daughter, there is/was a Mother. A bit of exploration reveals that She was Asherah. Why has she vanished, or why was she banished? Perhaps because YHWH is a jealous God? It's a question and discussion problem for adult Sunday school, and I'm long retired from that!

But all the same, here's a bit from AI, and then Sunday's reading follows.

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In the ancient Near East, Asherah, a goddess, was a frequent companion and even considered a consort to Yahweh, the Israelite God. This relationship, as evidenced in inscriptions and biblical texts, presents a complex picture of the evolution of religious beliefs in the region.

Elaboration:

Asherah's Role:

Asherah was a prominent deity in the pantheon of the ancient Near East, often associated with fertility, motherhood, and creation. She held a significant place in the religious practices of the time, even in Israel.

Yahweh and Asherah:

While the Hebrew Bible generally emphasizes the unique divinity of Yahweh, evidence suggests that Asherah was recognized as a partner, and sometimes even a consort, of Yahweh in some circles. This is particularly evident in inscriptions from sites like Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom.

Decline and Rejection:

Over time, as Yahwism became more dominant and monotheistic, the worship of Asherah, including her association with Yahweh, was increasingly discouraged and even condemned in the Hebrew Bible.

Biblical References:

The Hebrew Bible includes roughly 40 references to Asherah, though the tone towards her varies. Some texts portray her as a figure to be revered, while others denounce her worship as idolatry.

Evolution of Beliefs:

The relationship between Asherah and Yahweh reflects the evolving religious landscape of ancient Israel, where syncretism and the blending of beliefs with other cultures played a role.

Archaeological Evidence:

Archaeological findings provide further insight into the recognition of Asherah as a companion of Yahweh. Inscriptions from sites like Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom mention Yahweh and his Asherah.

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Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

The Gifts of Wisdom [חָכְמָ֥ה khok-MAH σοφίαν soPHIan]

Does not wisdom call
and understanding raise her voice?

On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

“To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all who live.

Wisdom’s Part in Creation

“The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.

Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,

when he had not yet made earth and fields
or the world’s first bits of soil.

When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

then I was beside him, like a master worker,
and I was daily his delight,
playing before him always,

playing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

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May the beautiful June day bring you happiness, or memories of happiness and love. And may you find Bible contemplation as delightful as I do. And may the God of Love hover over you all your years.

RSF&PTL

T89&c