My father used to be very keen that we called him "Daddy", which I felt was very childish, and didn’t want to do. He got very cross if we called him "Dad". He told us that we could refer to him as "Pop", or "Daddy", but not "Dad".
So, the question now arises as to what name we give ourselves with our baby. I like "Papa", particularly if the child is girl – but the long suffering wife is not pleased with the idea. I don’t like "Pops", not at all. "Daddy" makes me squirm. I have never been a fan of a child calling their parents by their first name; I think we have enough friends in our lives, that it is worth distinguishing our parents as something different. Interestingly, in Judaism, part of the “outworking” of the command to honour your mother and father results in a ban from addressing your parents by their first name even after their death.
"Father" is very formal, so I am fighting my corner for "Dad". "Dadda" maybe for a young child? My wife is likely to be a "Mummy"...but I just don’t feel like I am a “Daddy” type...maybe it is a hang up from childhood...but I would be interested to hear others take on it...what do your children call you? Did you make a conscious decision on it?
Showing posts with label Judaism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judaism. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Friday, 25 July 2008
The Ordinal
I've picked up at a charity shop for the princely sum of £1.50 a copy of “The Ordinal” inscribed to ‘Glyn, Lord Bishop of Swansea and Brecon’.
A bit of digging has identified the owner of the book as William Glyn Hughes Simon (1903-1972) who after being Bishop of Swansea and Brecon became Bishop of Llandaff and then the Archbishop of Wales for 3 years before his retirement in 1971 and death in 1972.
Perhaps this should not impress me, but owning a book that was once owned by the Archbishop of Wales seems to me to be something very special indeed. Within Judaism the prohibition against destroying the name of God means that a page containing God’s name can not simply be thrown away, it must be treated with respect and so when requiring disposal it will be buried. We talk about some churches as having an atmosphere about them, as places with walls that have been soaked in prayers. For me, without getting to mystical, books have much of the same characteristics. A prayer book, a book of liturgy, a Bible once owned by a devout person are, for me, incredible things.
With the introduction of a new prayer book in Reform Judaism, the question arose as to what to do with the old books? After much discussion it was agreed to use them as insulation for a school. The idea that, as they study, the children will be surrounded by the books, albeit in the walls, that a generation have used to call upon God, is, for me, a very special image. I find such thought and profound concern for respecting the things of God very humbling.
Back to the Ordinal; for those who don’t know, the ordinal is the liturgy, (the words used) when ordaining a Deacon, Priest, or Bishop. The standard Ordinal comes from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which was a revision of the 1552 text. Since then, new orders of service have been introduced, with the Alternative Service Book (1980) and then Common Worship. Despite these updates, the 1662 text is still “on the statute book” as it were. I hadn’t intended this to be a history lesson – especially not such a dull one, so back to my point, or rather getting to my point.
Reading the text from the Ordinal I am just astounded by the strength and weight of the liturgy, and it brought me back to the current disputes within the church:
“From all blindness of heart; from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all inheritableness, Good Lord, Deliver us.
From fornication, and all other deadly sin; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, Good Lord deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, God Lord deliver us.”
As the church faces schism, separation, and in-fighting, I can only hope that these prayers will ring in the ears of all of us involved.
Yours as always,
The Broken Man
A bit of digging has identified the owner of the book as William Glyn Hughes Simon (1903-1972) who after being Bishop of Swansea and Brecon became Bishop of Llandaff and then the Archbishop of Wales for 3 years before his retirement in 1971 and death in 1972.
Perhaps this should not impress me, but owning a book that was once owned by the Archbishop of Wales seems to me to be something very special indeed. Within Judaism the prohibition against destroying the name of God means that a page containing God’s name can not simply be thrown away, it must be treated with respect and so when requiring disposal it will be buried. We talk about some churches as having an atmosphere about them, as places with walls that have been soaked in prayers. For me, without getting to mystical, books have much of the same characteristics. A prayer book, a book of liturgy, a Bible once owned by a devout person are, for me, incredible things.
With the introduction of a new prayer book in Reform Judaism, the question arose as to what to do with the old books? After much discussion it was agreed to use them as insulation for a school. The idea that, as they study, the children will be surrounded by the books, albeit in the walls, that a generation have used to call upon God, is, for me, a very special image. I find such thought and profound concern for respecting the things of God very humbling.
Back to the Ordinal; for those who don’t know, the ordinal is the liturgy, (the words used) when ordaining a Deacon, Priest, or Bishop. The standard Ordinal comes from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which was a revision of the 1552 text. Since then, new orders of service have been introduced, with the Alternative Service Book (1980) and then Common Worship. Despite these updates, the 1662 text is still “on the statute book” as it were. I hadn’t intended this to be a history lesson – especially not such a dull one, so back to my point, or rather getting to my point.
Reading the text from the Ordinal I am just astounded by the strength and weight of the liturgy, and it brought me back to the current disputes within the church:
“From all blindness of heart; from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all inheritableness, Good Lord, Deliver us.
From fornication, and all other deadly sin; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, Good Lord deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, God Lord deliver us.”
As the church faces schism, separation, and in-fighting, I can only hope that these prayers will ring in the ears of all of us involved.
Yours as always,
The Broken Man
Monday, 30 June 2008
Degree
I just got my marks back on my last two essays for my Master’s Degree. I should explain, I guess, that I have never been a great academic; I left school somewhat prematurely as a result of my involvement in drugs, and was not able to get a place at another school, or get accepted into collage. Some three or four years ago I started studying Judaism in earnest and it's relationship to Christianity, and then came across a Masters Degree in the topic. I applied and much to my amazement was accepted on the strength of a short essay I submitted. Foolishly I decided to start the course by doing two modules simultaneously and drowned. The night before the essays were due in I contacted the course director and asked to be withdrawn. With some coaxing I withdrew from one module, and sat up all night to finish the two essays for the other module – the result being marks of 56 and 70. I was ecstatic to have passed my first two essays, and what’s more to have achieved a distinction in one of them.
Since then I have been trying desperately to achieve grades that will allow me to get a distinction for my degree over all – unfortunately without success. My next module scored 70, a distinction but no help in moving up my grade. I have just received my results from this year's work. 71. To achieve a distinction now I need to get a 76 on my next module, and it's on a topic I feel far more uncertain of than the last modules. In honesty, I am completely gutted. I don’t know what else I could have done to improve on the last modules I submitted, I felt I had done all I could and feel that I have failed.
My long suffering wife has pointed out that getting a Masters Degree at all is an achievement, particularly as I don’t have a degree, A-levels, or GCSE’s but I feel that I have let myself down. The cost of doing the course is huge, the cost of books is staggering, and I have failed to achieve what I should be able to.
To make things worse the next module will be done while also doing the first year of a degree in theology – and while working full time with a baby on the way. After the first year on the theology degree I will be transferred to the Masters Degree on the basis that by then I should have finished my current Masters – to do that I also have to have completed my dissertation – something I am struggling to do. I am drowning in sources, and struggling to get the texts I need. This is not helped by the fact that I haven't yet got a supervisor, as to engage them I need to pay the fees for the final part of my Masters, something I am unable to do right now. To complicate things further, some of the texts I need to access are only available in Hebrew and I have no gift for languages.
I should be happy – I should be pleased about the results I have got – but I remain, as always,
The Broken Man.
Since then I have been trying desperately to achieve grades that will allow me to get a distinction for my degree over all – unfortunately without success. My next module scored 70, a distinction but no help in moving up my grade. I have just received my results from this year's work. 71. To achieve a distinction now I need to get a 76 on my next module, and it's on a topic I feel far more uncertain of than the last modules. In honesty, I am completely gutted. I don’t know what else I could have done to improve on the last modules I submitted, I felt I had done all I could and feel that I have failed.
My long suffering wife has pointed out that getting a Masters Degree at all is an achievement, particularly as I don’t have a degree, A-levels, or GCSE’s but I feel that I have let myself down. The cost of doing the course is huge, the cost of books is staggering, and I have failed to achieve what I should be able to.
To make things worse the next module will be done while also doing the first year of a degree in theology – and while working full time with a baby on the way. After the first year on the theology degree I will be transferred to the Masters Degree on the basis that by then I should have finished my current Masters – to do that I also have to have completed my dissertation – something I am struggling to do. I am drowning in sources, and struggling to get the texts I need. This is not helped by the fact that I haven't yet got a supervisor, as to engage them I need to pay the fees for the final part of my Masters, something I am unable to do right now. To complicate things further, some of the texts I need to access are only available in Hebrew and I have no gift for languages.
I should be happy – I should be pleased about the results I have got – but I remain, as always,
The Broken Man.
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