Planning to read the whole Bible this year

The beginning of the new year, despite my annoyance with how cliché New Year's resolutions are, seems like a good time to begin fulfilling my desire to read through the whole Bible again. I've read it through in the past and have continued to read/hear parts of the Bible regularly, but it has been a long time since I've been systematic about it. I feel thus like I've been losing some of my Bible knowledge, which from the perspective of being a Christian is sad. Furthermore, as a Biblical scholar and one who wants to do biblical theology well, it's actually a significant hinderance. Thus it feels like it's time to pick up my English Bible and start spending more time with it.

But how? Once upon a time I had a New Living Translation Two-Year Bible, and that worked well. I really appreciated that each day had a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. But I have since misplaced it (I remember lending it out?), and I also wonder if I don't prefer the slightly more haphazard reading plan style from my earlier years (start at the beginning, read a few chapters most days and stop when I'm finished). The current plan is a mixture of both. I did some googling and found an outline of a classic Bible reading plan, which starts in Genesis and Luke 5 with a Psalm or Proverb along side of that. I've put bookmarks/papers in three parts of my Bible. Written on the bookmarks is how much I should have read by day 7, 14, 21, 28 so that I can finish in a year. Every day I try to read at least one chapter and some days more, and I can choose from NT, OT and/or Psalms.

Already I've noticed that I've appreciated reading it. If you'd asked me whether Luke had a version of the beautitudes, I would have probably have said yes - but I hadn't realized how different they were (e.g., Luke 6:21 - "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh."). Even more different is the present of woes/curses following the blessings. 
I'd also forgotten the story of Abram rescuing Lot and helping out the king of Sodom, as found in Gen 14. Abram is such a familiar figure that I was surprised that I was capable of forgetting parts of his story. I had remembered the visit of the high priest Melchizidek but had forgotten in which context it occurred, not entirely surprisingly as his presence in this story does seem a bit random. 

Hopefully I'll post more things that surprise me as I continue to read and fall in love more with the Bible.

The end of an era

As I was last year in Canada over Christmas and New Year's, at home with family and coping with the death of my mother, one would expect that this greatly overshadowed my holidays this year. And it did, although not entirely as might be expected. Advent was indeed a time of remembering and sadness. It was a time for longing for an end to sickness and death, including the pain that many of us have felt on account of the death of my mother.

At the same time, the arrival of Christmas was a time of thankfulness for me. Christmas is a feast of joy and hope - and a celebration that Christ has come and is coming again and the world will be new, which means no more suffering and death! At the same time, I was also thankful that this was no longer the first Christmas without her. It was strange, but we - especially my family back in Canada - have made it through a year of holidays without her, and it her absence has become much less overwhelming.

As the New Year came, I was thankful that this year was not accompanied by having part of my world/life be turned upside down. After several years of being away, I also got to spend New Years back in the midst of the crazy fireworks of Amsterdam - after getting to end the year with a service in chapel. I've also had time and energy to think and hope for next year, but also reflect on this past year. With a year having past since my mother's death, it feels like the end of an era. We still miss her. Her presence in the family, her love for us, her being there for each of us and doing her best to bring us together - these things are all gone. But we are getting used to them, and I expect this year to be less hard, especially for my father.

At the same time, when I look back I am thankful for the good I have seen this year. We have been family for each other. We have all gotten to know my father better and be surprised by what we are capable of, especially my dad. I am also thankful that my has made it through this very hard year - something last year he'd hoped for and had a hard time imagining how it could be good. And yet, seeing how much Dad is involved in his relationship with his grandchildren and many others - in the church and with family - I cannot help but see that this year, in its own strange way, has also been at times good, for which I am thankful.

A Christmas Prayer

Last Christmas Eve, in the midst of my grief and the preparations to go home to family, I was able to attend the Christmas Eve service of the local Anglican Church (Christ Church). The blessing given as we were leaving was one that has stuck with me, and I pass it on here as my Christmas wish for others:

"May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the wise men,
the obedience of Joseph and Mary,
and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always."

taken from a website from the Church of England.

My Calvin Seminary Th.M. thesis - more than 5 years late

During my visit to family and SBL in November, I also made a very important stop in Grand Rapids. I was finally able to defend my thesis for the Master of Theology degree.The defense went well, and I only have to make a few corrections before submitting it to the Calvin College librarian. I'm hoping/planning on having it done within a few weeks, so I can finally finish this project that is already five years late!

When I started this blog almost 7 years ago, I was taking classes for my Master of Theology Degree (and incidentally finishing up the last of my Master of Divinity classes). I did much of the research for my Th.M thesis in the summer of 2006, while I was also trying to get ready to move to Amsterdam. Not surprisingly, I didn't get it done, and I continued doing research while working for my M.A. degree here at the Vrije Universiteit. At the same time that I began writing my Th.M. thesis, I was also beginning to write my M.A. thesis. Lent of 2007, however, was dedicated solely to my Th.M. thesis. The entries on my blog for March of that year are coloured by that. A few days after Easter, I handed in the final version of the thesis only to find out a week or so later that my thesis had not been accepted. It was too short (at 75 pages double-spaced) and inadequately defended. However, I needed to work on finishing the M.A. thesis so it got postponed to another time. The MA thesis took longer than expected, and I signed up for an extra class in teaching, and so it would be the summer of 2008 before I looked at it again. And then there was my work on the database at the VU and not being sure of how to sort through the problems I couldn't defend well in 2006, and progress was haphazard when and if it occurred.

However, this past summer was the end of my final extension for handing it in - and I spent quite a bit of time this past winter and spring quietly working on it with the goal of finishing off what I'd started. Time and more research had also helped me sort out some of the things I was uncertain of earlier. At the end of July, I handed in the corrected thesis, a product I was much happier with than what I'd originally wrote, even as I'm not entirely sure what I should do with it (besides making the required corrections and handing it in). The thesis itself ended up being about 150 pages. Even though it's double-spaced, it's closer to dissertation length than master's thesis length. Having spent so much extra time on it, it is not surprising that it is much longer - I did, after all, want to show that the extra time was worth it (although fewer words and done earlier was more ideal)!

The best part of having finished the thesis is the sense of joy and satisfaction in finishing a project that felt like it would never have an end, a feeling I often have with my Ph.D. dissertation. Furthermore, since I could finish this mini-dissertation after all the work and delays, why should I doubt that I can finish the full dissertation, which I've done even more and better research on?

Advent in the darkest time of the year

Here in the Netherlands, it doesn't get light until about 8 in the morning, and it gets dark before 5 in the evening. The Christmas lights and the Advent star make the evenings somewhat lighter - reminding us that the darkness is not all encompassing. Yet, it is still sometimes hard to get out of bed in the morning and gratefully greet a new day amidst a world that feels too cold and too dark.

It is also dark because of the time of the year. Last year my mother's sickness coloured all of Advent. Her passing right before Christmas only confirmed my longing for a world where there was more light - a world of healing and health. This year, the tragedy at the school in Connecticut has irrevocably coloured Advent. The darkness of sickness, brokennes, sin and evil, and death have come crashing into our remembering and longing for Jesus' birth.

It is in the midst of all the darkness that we as Christians long most for Jesus' coming. Not only his coming as a baby which marked the light at the begin of the tunnele (the coming of the kingdom on the earth), but also his return when there will be no more pain and sadness and death. As Christians, we have this hope in the midst of all the darkness. As the first chapter of the book of John says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (NIV, emphasis mine, via biblegateway.com)

"Should I write you down as homeless or as a tourist?"

This evening I covered the receptionist duties at Kruispost, where volunteers provide non-emergency health care to people here who have no health insurance. Within Amsterdam, this is probably the most well-known aspect of the community of Oudezijds 100. Within the community itself, however, this is one of the most unknown aspects of the whole community, as the volunteers for the Kruispost come generally from different circles outside of the community.

A wide range of nationalities visit the Kruispost, and they come for many different reasons. Most are uninsured and many are in Amsterdam illegally. We ask names, birthdates, addresses, and country of origin. We don't ask how they've come to be here, how long they've been here, or how long they hope to stay; choosing instead to allow them to remain somewhat safely anonymous. We simply ask how we can help and ask for a donation to help cover the costs of overhead (the receptionists and doctors are all volunteers).

We don't generally turn anyone away, as long as they are not agressive or violent. We do, however, give people a hard time if they are insured (shouldn't they be finding and visiting their own family doctor and have it be paid through their insurance?). Or if they don't live in Amsterdam. Technically, everyone - even those who are uninsured and/or illegal - has the right to medical help (see paspoortamsterdam.nl.). The problem is that many doctors and/or hospitals still refuse help because of the nuisance of the paperwork. And so people come to us because they know we will help them, even though technically we're supposed to be only for those in Amsterdam.

And thus the question: "should I write you down as homeless or as a tourist?" to confirm that people are part of the Amsterdam region. This evening it was directed at a man around my age who'd neglected to give an address. Tourist seemed a popular option this evening - and this visitor also seemed happy with this choice and gave a European country to confirm. Unfortunately, when the doctor spoke to him in the language of that country, the visitor didn't understand him. Turns out that the European country was simply one of the many stops along the journey. To claim to be a tourist was highly optimistic - but better than the options I hadn't given him, like refugee or illegal. Instead, the choice of tourist spoke of a hope for a better, normaler life. Thankfully the Kruispost helps people be able to receive normal every day medical care and thus is hopefully part of allowing people to have more of that normal, better life.

The Vluchtkerk and everything happening there is hopefully also part of the journey of allowing people to be welcome here.

The view from my window today

The following was the view from my window at 8.45 this morning: the Oude Kerk covered in snow.

I'm not the only who enjoys this view, as you can see by these pictures below (from a few days ago at the same time):

The extra cat is the neighbour kitten. He comes and hangs out with my cat while his owners - the girls downstairs - are at school.