sunday medley
Loving prayer today for those in Texas who are experiencing and suffering the worst that Life can bring, the death of a child. Psalm 116:15 (GNB), "How painful it is to Adonai when one of his people dies" as God grieves in agony with them.
Officiating the funeral of a child who had committed suicide years ago, I heard someone utter the ultimate blasphemy, "It was the will of God, we have to accept it. Everything that happens is the will of God." In our worst nightmare, the deaths of parents' little girls who drowned in the Texas flood cannot have been the will of our loving God. It is Evil in the Nature of Things, even if humans call it an Act of God, God did not do this. Baruch ata, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haOlam, shehecheyanu, Blessed are you, Adonai our God, who gives life. You do not harm the children of men.
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Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue. -Robert King Merton, sociologist (4 Jul 1910-2003)
Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα
"We believe in one God Father Almighty"
AI Overview
The Nicene Creed in Greek – Mr. Greek Geek
The original Nicene Creed, adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, was written in Koine Greek. The first line, "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth," is rendered in Greek as: "Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς".
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Πιστεύω, I faith, (with faith as a verb) or Πιστεύομεν, We faith, it makes a difference, doesn't it. "I faith" speaks for me personally, which, honestly and frankly, I don't really want it to do, and which at least our branch of the Church left behind by shifting to "We believe" in the mid-20th century liturgical reform (although the "I believe" form is still optional in Rite One liturgy, though I've never been there when a congregation used it).
Reading through them recently, I noticed that the Episcopal Church's Rite Four liturgies, which are available online, do return to the "I believe" form of the Nicene Creed, and they also drop the Filioque by which the Western Church added "and the Son" to the line about the Holy Spirit back before about 1000 A.D. EOW, our Enriching Our Worship liturgy, also drops the Filioque.
But shall it be "We believe" or "I believe" to assert the Nicene Creed. At the Jesuit silent retreats that I've been immersed in, the Nicene Creed said, "I believe," which, Πιστεύω is the true original wording. It's meant to be personal for each person who recites it. I prefer it to assert the faith of the community rather than either to pin me down, or to make a liar of me, (i) knowing the Creed's violent, bloody history as I do, and (ii) with my Stevejobian determination not to get caught up in dogma that is the result to other people's thinking: Friedrich Schleiermacher, a prominent Christian theologian, objected to the Nicene Creed on the basis that it asserts things about God that are beyond human knowing.
Returning to R K Merton, I am not a scientist, but I am a Skeptic - - the strongest element of my Faith. Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Faith is not Certainty, but hopeful expectation.
How many Times will I say and say this again and again before I'm certain of it. My hope this morning is that the Episcopal Church will not correctly return to the "I believe" form of the Nicene Creed in my lifeTime. Episcopalians, myself included, do not give a rat's axe about the theology of who the Holy Spirit proceeds from, but we will notice if we are required to make πίστις, which is "Faith, Belief, Trust" personal instead of communal.
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Linda and I are home, having made church at eight o'clock instead of ten-thirty this morning. Ginny's sermon is A+ superior and I'm intending to tune in this afternoon and catch it again online. Right now I'm sipping a glass of "Winking Owl" - - Aldi's best Syrah. A bit fresh tasting but nothing sharp about it; for a $4 bottle of wine, it's smooth and very nice.
Sunday dinner, after nap, will be a lettuce salad with salmon sprinkled on top, a stir of Linda's most excellent ranch dressing.
Shehecheyanu, who gives life, bless you, Adonai.
T89&c