MY PASSION TO UNDERSTANDING GOD’S RELATIONSHIP TO MAN IN TODAY’S DYNAMIC WORLD
I started the preparation process for The Table many years ago when James Brown’s fictional novel ‘The di Vinci Code’ was on the best seller’s list. It was a convoluted work of historical fiction written in the genre of Hollywood sensationalism and made him much money. However, his novel, still unread by me, did raise some questions in my mind. I pondered whether there might be passages in the Old Testament, specifically the liturgical poems comprising Psalms, which could be interpreted differently than generally interpreted and taught. I do not question that the Psalms were divinely inspired, the words of God as written by men and tell of God’s love. But, isn’t it conceivable that perhaps, just perhaps, that these psalmists wrote down their inspirations, not completely understanding what they were writing? How much did the psalmists really comprehend then about God, or even now, as poetry depicts passion, experience, and vision? How many times have you written down the words of a teacher, not necessarily understanding what was being stated, but thinking, I’ll come back to it later and it will make sense to me then?
It is my belief, and I am sure that I am not alone in my thinking, that men, inspired by God, wrote the poetry in the Psalms to fit the times and their stations in life. They have been read over and over by many generations, bringing peace and comfort to those in such need. And each generation had their own learned men who instructed their followers how to interpret them. But all the while, I thought, what passages in the Psalms might be lying dormant, waiting patiently to be deciphered by later generations - sort of a word mystery awaiting its time to be solved - perhaps providing new understanding of God and our relationship to Him.
For with time, different experiences, changing circumstances, and new levels of understanding, it might very well be that our Creator did conceal passages intended to be understood at a later time. It is also a belief of mine that the attempt to understand God should be a living, dynamic process; that the scriptures should be interpreted for current times as long as the basic word remains in volute. But where should this search begin? I of course started with the most famous, most often quoted, the 23rd Psalm. And the reason for that decision was that that Psalm was the first one I learned to read as a child.
I learned to read prior to starting school from an old Biblical picture book containing both pictures and text that my mother had learned from as a child. Yes, I still have the book. My mother translated the pictures into words for me and also taught me to read the connecting words. As I progressed with my reading skills, the pictures were transformed in my brain into text. Example: the word ‘God’ was represented as a cloud. A cloud is something you can’t get your arms around or even define as a cloud’s physical description is relative to the aspect of the viewer and varies with time. You can study the cloud long and hard, have its image firmly fixed in your mind, turn away for a few minutes, and when you look back its form has changed. The image of that mysterious cloud then took on substance in my mind to form the word ‘God.’
The first Psalm I learned to read in this manner from the Old Testament was the 23rd Psalm, written centuries ago before the birth of Christ and attributed to King David. Thus began my reading adventure and enjoyment for the past seventy plus years. For even today, as I read, my mind rapidly conjures up visions, images of what the author was conveying to me with text; sort of a reversal of how I learned to read.
My goal was simply to determine through analysis if any hidden messages existed within the 23rdPsalm. I am not a Biblical scholar and I did not harbor any real thoughts that I would be successful. By degree and profession, I am an electrical engineer trained to think in a logical, formulated manner. Most likely the real reason I focused so on that Psalm is that I soon discovered that I quickly fell asleep at night reciting its passages in my mind; my comfort blanket. Rarely would I get half way through the Psalm before I was asleep. [ASIDE: Perhaps we have been wrong counting sheep jumping over a fence all these years when the sheep we should have been really concentrating on are the sheep in the 23rd Psalm.] My thinking was that if I fell asleep pondering a passage that eventually I would awake with a greater understanding of it in the morning. However, one passage defied my ability to have a clear understanding of its message. It gave me fits.
The passage “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” always seemed incomplete to me. I read the book ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Power of the Twenty-third Psalm’ by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, an expert on the 23rd Psalm in addition to several other books on the same subject seeking an answer. [ASIDE: You may recall that Rabbi Kushner also authored ‘When Bad Things Happen To Good People.’] Basically, all my sources stated that this line alluded to the fact that God was so pleased with David’s conduct with Him that he prepared a huge banquet table laden with food. David then invited his enemies to a feast to demonstrate how well God treated his faithful subjects. Such an act was to convince David’s enemies that they too should embark on the road of righteousness to God. Maybe that was how David thought ‘then,’ but the centuries of discourse since, the ‘now,’ convinced me that this was the mystery passage I sought. What did God intent its meaning to be now?
That one line was the puzzle phrase I had been seeking for the past several years. Was there a better explanation? I then began to focus on that passage prior to sleep praying for further understanding. Then one morning, out of the blue, I awoke with the realization that perhaps it was a table of knowledge, not a banquet table that was encoded in the passage. With that enlightenment, that God, through David, had mysteriously woven this mystery into the passage, a question arose in my mind: Could I write modern poetry similar in format and intent of the Psalm given this discovery to 1) better suit the turbulent times of ‘now;’ and 2) which would better define that ever changing, ever flowing description of God which I still liken to a cloud.
I attempted to restructure the Psalm by analyzing the flow, cutting and pasting lines that I thought would generate a more coherent message. I went down that blind alley only to learn that the framework was perfect. Given that realization, I then embarked on a reinterpretation which would I thought would better suit our times. For when David wrote the Psalm, his people were very much into sheep herding and the description of God as a shepherd who cared for His flock was acceptable and meaningful. It was a relationship that could be readily understood. I also felt that David failed to state that the reader in this arrangement had any responsibility to God, that God was doing all the giving, that the loving was one way. As a consequence of my efforts, I present to you my version of Man’s relationship with God.
THE TABLE
God Is! Para. added 10/24/09
Therefore, I am.
He created me,
And tasked me,
To establish, maintain, and defend
His evolving Kingdom on Earth,
Within a culture of God loving people,
Whose society is united by freedom and equality.
The Lord is my Source.
His Love provides me freedom from want.
He asks only that
As His faithful servant,
That I love Him both
Internally and Externally.
Internally, I keep Him within my soul.
He harmonizes my mind, body, and spirit -
Balances my motivations, decisions, and actions.
Externally - my life interactions -
My Heart mirrors my Soul.
Daily He welcomes me,
As a responsible guest,
Into His beautiful, bountiful Home!
As I experience life, He continuously
Restores my eternal Soul, located within
My subconscious Mind
Within this mortal Body.
He entrusts me with self-will.
My Motivations - My Decisions -
My Actions - As He leads me
On the path of Righteousness,
For His Name sake.
He cautions me, however,
That while He empowered all His subjects
With self-will, that there are those whose
Motivations, Decisions, and Actions,
May serve another Master; that
Their path may not be one of righteousness.
Though I wander through
The myriad canyons of life,
In the shadow of doubt,
My internal unrest is calmed
As He is with me.
I seek His Love to protect me
From external, unrighteous evils
Over which I have no control.
He prepares a
Table of celestial information
Before me, in the presence
Of those who would deny me
Access to His gift of enlightenment.
There has been - are now - will be Para. added 12/25/09
Those who desire to curtail
My freedom to reason;
Attempting to control
My Mind, Body, and Spirit,
I rise above their distortions.
I feast at His table!
He anoints my mind
With celestial knowledge.
Inspired by a freedom of discovery,
-not driven by personal greed or ego-
My contributions to society overflow.
Disease and famine parish.
And so all the days of my life
I cultivate humanity.
Sowing goodness and mercy,
I elevate from guest to resident. Para. Changed 2/15/10
His Kingdom on Earth flourishes,
Future generations perpetuate
Its synergistic continuum and
We shall dwell forever in the
House of the Lord!
Ronald George Houck ©
15 February 2010
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