Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 48

Messiah Described

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David 

and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice 

and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. 

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” 

(Isa 9:6-7)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

In the Jewish tradition, a messiah is someone anointed with oil as a priest, prophet, or king. The first reference in the Old Testament to anointing arises with regard to Aaron being anointed priest (Exod 28:41), but in Elijah’s swain song he is instructed to anoint both a king and a prophet: “And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.” (1 Kgs 19:16) The term, messiah, is itself used only twice in the Gospel of John where it is immediate translated into the Greek term, Christ (John 1:41, 4:25).

Descriptions of the Messiah are lengthiest and most frequent in the Book of Isaiah, which is widely quoted during Advent and in Christmas carols and readings. Consider Isaiah 9:6-7 cited above or this description of the Messiah’s origins, described by Pass and Nietert (2023, 250) as the sevenfold spirits of God:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” (Isa 11:1-4)

Jesse is the father of King David (1 Sam 16:1). Isaiah writes from 739 BC to 681 BC, which implies that his prophesy of the suffering servant is centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ (Lindsey 1985, 17) during “the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” (Isa 1:1) Isaiah died, according to tradition, being sawed in two (Heb 11:37).

Servant Songs

While Isaiah describes the Messiah in many passages, the most famous have to do with his servant songs. Lindsey (1985) outlines four particular passages as these servant songs: 

The Call (Isa 42:1-9), The Commission (Isa 49:1-13), the Commitment (Isa 50:4-11), and the Career (Isa 52:13-53:12).

In the first servant song, the servant is empowered with three tasks: 1. effecting a new covenant for Israel, 2. being a light to the nations, and 3. delivering the spiritually blind (Lindsey 1985, 53, 55, 69). Lindsey (1985, 35) notes that: “Yahweh proves that He controls history by demonstrating his ability to prophesy.”

The second servant song reinforces the first but does not forget Israel. Lindsey (1985, 77) writes: 

“Yahweh’s called and gifted Servant is rejected at first by His own people Israel, but in a future day of grace He will ultimately succeed not only in fulfilling an expanded mission to bring salvation to the Gentiles but also in restoring Israel both to the land (physically and politically) and to Yahweh (spiritually).”

The third servant song “amplifies the suffering and patient endurance of the Servant.” (Lindsey 1985, 79) Isaiah writes: “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” (Isa 50:6)

Lindsey (1985, 97) sees the fourth servant song as the most important text in the Old Testament. A key verse is: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isa 53:5) This is a clear statement of the atonement.

Messiah as Redeemer

Few will forget the description of God more generally in Isaiah’s call: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isa 6:1) Yet it is the call of the Nation of Israel that I pinned on my office wall during my darkest days: 

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.” (Isa 43:1-4)

While this passage summarizes the history of the Nation of Israel, allegorically it refers to all of God’s elect and also defines the role of the Messiah as a redeemer of Israel. Other summaries (e.g. Ps 103, Act 7) are not nearly so hopeful.

Mention of the redeemer, which is defined in Leviticus 25:23-33, is nowhere more frequently cited than in Isaiah⁠1, who describes God himself as the redeemer. Isaiah is not alone in picturing God a redeemer. Consider the prayer: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps 19:14) Or Job 19:25: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19:25).

While redemption has to do with buying back property that has been sold or captives lost in battle to an enemy, atonement is a legal term that has to do with cleansing from sin: The priest “shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.” (Lev 16:16) The holiness of the people is—so speak—redeemed through a blood offering. Christ’s death on the cross both redeemed us from sin and atoned (or expiated) for that sin. This distinction exists in scripture, but is lost on us because for Christians the sacrificial system ended with the cross.

References

Lindsey, E. Duane. 1985. The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah. Chicago: Moody Press.

Pass, Denise and Michelle Nietert. 2022. Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life. Nashville: Random House.

Footnotes

1 Lev 25:25, Ruth 3:9,12, 4:1, 3, 6, 8,14, Job 19:25, Ps 19:14, 78:35, Prov 23:11, Isa 41:14, 43:14, 44:6, 24, 47:4, 48:17, 49:7, 26, 54:5, 8, 59:20, 60:16, 63:16, Jer 50:34, Acts 7:35

Messiah Described

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

 

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Pass and Nietert Focus on Mindset

Denise Pass and Michelle Nietert. 2022. Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life. Nashville: Random House.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

One of the take-aways from working in psychiatrics was advice that Sister Maureen gave me at Providence Hospital. Psychiatric patients ruminate. Try to get them to substitute a short prayer, like the Jesus prayer, for this negative self-talk.

Introduction

In Make Up Your Mind, Denise Pass and Michelle Nietert take this advice a step further. They write: “Having a healthy mindset is the key to a victorious life…Mindsets develop from thoughts and spiritual strongholds that we allow to supersede God’s word.” (13-14) They go on to say: “Rather than being a victim of our mindsets, we can drill down and keep asking questions until we discover why we are trapped in unproductive thought patterns.” (20).

They show that a surprising number of scripture passages focus on reforming our mindsets. For example, Proverbs 4:23 advises: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

This book centers the reader on God and on defeating the more common self-sabotage. While this may sound simple, life expectancy in the United States has been falling for preventable reasons, like suicide, drug overdoses, and refusing vaccination. If most trips to the emergency department at your local hospital could have been prevented, why aren’t they? Negative mindsets de-center our lives and lead us where we do not want to go.

Background and Organization

Denise Pass is an author and PhD student a Liberty University. Michelle Nietert is an author and licensed counselor.

They write in twelve chapters:

Why are You Here?
The Angry Mindset—Battling Bitterness and Unforgiveness
The Anxious Mindset—Battling Fear and Worry, Restoring Peace
The Depressive Mindset—Battling Discouragement and Disillusionment
The Discontented Mindset—Battling Comparison and Pride
The Doubtful Mindset—Battling Unbelief and Hopelessness
The Helpless Mindset—Battling Apathy and Weakness
The Hurried Mindset—Battling Overcommitment and Margin
The Lonely Mindset—Battling Grief and Isolation
The Scarcity Mindset—Battling Covetousness and Lust
The Victim Mindset—Battling Insecurity and Rejection
The Mind of Christ (11-12)

These chapters are preceded by Endorsements, Dedication, Acknowledgments, and Introduction. They are followed by endnotes.

In each chapter the division of labor between the authors is well-defined. Pass wrote the chapters while Nietert added observations in the section called the Counselor’s Corner.

Motivations—Why are You Here?

A negative mindset is an “unproductive thought pattern” (20) that serves as a default when we think about things. Elijah is a case in point. After defeating the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, he cowards from fear at threats from Queen Jezebel. Elijah runs away and hides in a cave. God ministers to him, but asks: “Why are you here?” (1 Kgs 19:13; 22-24). The next thing we hear about is God asking Elijah to anoint his replacement—a negative mindset defeated one of God’s most glorious prophets (1 Kgs 19:16).

Pass  asks: what triggers our negative mindsets? (25) The triggers are voluminous—peer pressure, self-focus, personality predispositions, negativity (26-28). Pass and Nietert advise us to know ourselves, build critical thinking skills, adopt a biblical worldview, and self-examination (29-31).

Habits of the Mind

Pass offers a three-step template for reforming your mindset:

Recognize the mindset.
Repent of the sin involved in the mindset.
Return to the mind of Christ (243).

The key verse is: “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor 2:16) The mind of Christ is, of course, available to us through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:10).

A more detailed description of the mind of Christ is given in the Book of Isaiah:

“And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” (Isa. 11:2-5 ESV)

Pass describes these attributes as the sevenfold Spirit of God (250).

Assessment

In their book, Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life, Denise Pass and Michelle Nietert walk us through an exhaustive list of negative mindsets that can afflict your faith and keep you from living a full life in Christ. They employ numerous examples from their own life experiences and from scripture, and write in an accessible style.

Footnotes

https://denisepass.com.

https://michellenietert.com.

https://makeupyourmind.today.

Pass and Nietert Focus on Mindset
Also see:
Hilt Explains Tropes 
Books, Films, and Ministry
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

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Mission: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 11, 2024

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on The Mission. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Mission: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 11, 2024
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

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Mission Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Beloved Lord Jesus,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you worked to reunify the nation of Israel and to save us from our sins. Be ever near.

Forgive our myopia—our preoccupation with the minutia of our own private lives and unwillingness to consider those around us. Be ever near.

Thank you for the gift of your life and ministry among us that we might be reconciled with our families, friends, and neighbors, and reconciled with you. Be ever near.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, teach us to love the things that you love.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Mission Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

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The Mission

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, 

because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; 

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, 

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, 

and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 

(Isa 61:1-2)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Gospel of Matthew offers at least three visions of Jesus’ mission. The first is theological, as prophesied and encompassed in his name. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21). The second is more political: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt 15:24). Both visions require a deep understanding of the Old Testament. A third vision is captured in the citation above. Jesus’ affinity for Isaiah 61 shows up in his call sermon (Luke 4) and his paraphrase of the same in the Beatitudes (Matt 5).

The Atonement

The mission content of Jesus’ name is hidden in translation. The name Jesus is a Greek translation of Joshua that arises because Greek has no SH sound to transliterate the Hebrew.

Joshua’ call is informative: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.” (Josh 1:2) While Joshua led the people of Israel out of the desert into the Promised Land. Jesus leads his people out of bondage to sin into heaven (Murray 1996, 157-158).

The idea of the atonement of Christ is best developed in the Servant Songs of the Book of Isaiah. Duane Lindsey (1985, 4) writes: “Jesus summarized his mission by affirming that ‘even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He sees the servant empowered with three tasks: 1. effecting a new covenant for Israel, 2. being a light to the nations, and 3. delivering the spiritually blind (Lindsey 1985, 53, 55, 69). These three tasks would not necessarily appeal to an ethnic Jew because the special relationship between God and Israel would no longer be exclusive.

Jesus’ own affinity for the Book of Isaiah is evident in his reading of Isaiah 61 in his call sermon (Luke 4) and his paraphrase of the same in the Beatitudes (Matt 5).

Woman at the Well

Jesus’ meeting with the woman at the Jacob’s well in Sychar (John 4:4-30) was not accidental for at least three reasons. Taken together, these reasons point to the objective of reunifying the Nation of Israel.

First, Sychar is in Samaria, which most Jews avoided. Jews routinely went out of their way to walk around Samaria when traveling north to Galilee from Judea. In order for Jesus to unite the Kingdom of David again, Samaria and Judah must be reconciled. Casting a favorable light on Samaritans also shows up in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and in Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-17).

Second, Sychar was where Dineh, daughter of Jacob, was raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen 34:2). Dineh’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, tricked Shechem and all the men of his city into being circumcised, presumably to marry Dinah, then killed them all while they convalesced. Because of this evil act (and Reuben’s sin in sleeping with one of Jacob’s wives, Gen 35:22), Jacob later blessed Judah to lead the family (Gen 49:1-10). King David and Jesus were both of the tribe of Judah.

Jesus’ meeting with the woman at the well serves as a mirror image of the story of Dineh. Instead of an unrighteous man raping an innocent woman, a righteous man heals an unrighteous woman. The importance of this symbolic act is perhaps why Jesus revealed his messiahship (John 4:25-26) and the nature of true worship to the woman:

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) It is ironic that Jesus’ first evangelist would be a woman of Samaria, if reunification were not an important objective (John 4:29).

Third, King Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, planned to be coronated at Shechem, but because of an unwise decision about taxation, the Northern Kingdom revolted under the leadership of Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:1). Jesus describes his mission as “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt 15:24) While many viewed Israel as consisting only of the old nation of Judah, the United Kingdom of Israel under King David and his son, Solomon, consisted of both the Northern Kingdom (ten tribes, also known as Samaria and Israel) and Southern kingdom (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin). 

Jeroboam worried that if the people continued traveling to Jerusalem to worship, they would return to King Rehoboam, so he cast two golden calves. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan (1 Kgs 12:27-29). This act was later referred to as the Sin of Jeroboam. The Samaritan religion he founded continues to exist today.

In healing the woman at the well, Jesus effectively exorcized two national curses: The rape of Dineh and the division of Israel. For us, these stories appear as a template for pastoral care under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but for his immediate audience Jesus was uniting the lost sheep of Israel (Matt 15:24).

References

Lindsey, E. Duane. 1985. The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah. Chicago: Moody Press.

Murray, Andrew. 1996. The Holiest of All. Update Version. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House.

The Mission

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

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Weiland Weighs and Clarifies Characters

 

Katie M. Weiland. 2023. Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond. Pen for a Sword Publishing.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Over the years I have noticed that what passes as writer’s blockage normally means that one has not done enough research. Writing, especially fiction writing, is a highly analytical activity. Characters, locations, and plots all provide numerous opportunities for refinement and further research. Thus, when I begin editing my work, I frequently break it up with reading books on the craft of writing.

Introduction

Katie M. Weiland’s book, Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond is a how-to book that moves beyond the hero’s journey character arc to focus on six primary character arcs: The maiden, the hero, the Queen, the Kind, the Cone, and the Mage. Her deep dive into character arcs includes articulating the two negative shadow archetypes of each primary arc and explores the antagonists most frequently associated with each (back cover). She also outlines six flat archetypes that support the primary character arcs.

Most appropriately Weiland’s first lengthy citation is from C.G. Jung, who developed a classification of personality types widely used today in counseling: There are as many archetypes as there are typical situations in life. Endless repetition has engraved these experiences into out psychic constitution.” Weiland contribution to the writing craft is the offer a classification system for character arcs that adds color to a palette usually limited to black and white.

Why employ character arcs like tropes in your writing? Once you recognize the character arc that your story is using it is easier to identify the boundaries on edges that are more typically too squishy to be obvious or interesting.

Background and Organization

Katie Weiland is a native of Western Nebraska, writing instructor, and author focused on historical and speculative fiction.

Weiland writes twenty-nine chapters divided into five parts:

1.    The Six Life Arcs (1-7)

2.    The Twelve Shadow Archetypes (8-14)

3.    The Six Flat or Resting Archetypes (15-21)

4.    The Twelve Archetypical Antagonists (22-28)

5.    Practical Application of Archetypal Characters (v-viii).

These five parts are preceded by an introduction and followed by two appendices.

Life in Three Acts

An important insight that Weiland offers is to divide life into three thirty-year acts and to assign her archetypal character arcs to these three acts (28-30).

As a coming-of-age story, the hero’s arc and the parallel maiden arc are assigned to this first act. These positive arcs are thematically they engaged in individualization—separating themselves from their parents.

Once they have proven themselves in their journeys, the hero and the maiden mature in the next thirty years into the King and Queen arcs that focus not on proving themselves but on learning to integrate their adult powers in relationships.

In the final thirty years, the King and Queen adult power begins to wane and they must come to grips with death (transcendence).

Much like life itself, our characters confront different issues at different acts.

Shadow Arcs

Although each act in life has its themes, objectives are sometimes delayed or not met at all. Weiland articulates negative shadow arcs that capture the key stumbling blocks that arise when objectives are delayed or never achieved. These negative arcs are either passive or aggressive, which implies a total of twelve negative arcs.

The hero arc can fail if the protagonist either shows cowardice or becomes a bully. Likewise, the parallel maiden arc can fail if the protagonist becomes either a damsel (a victim) or a vixen (a villain). Variations on the typical arcs can arise when the protagonist realizes their failure and gets back on track or starts out strong but backslides when obstacles arise (130-131).

I am reminded here of the film High Noon (1952) where sheriff’s deputy Harvey Pell at first supports the sheriff in preparing for the return of the criminal gang, but then runs off—an example of a change in arc: cowardice in the face of obstacles. Such variants add real depth to a story because they reflect our life experience better than a more linear plot.

A Flat Archetype

Not all characters evolve during a story. Some provide structure and a context for the arc of other characters.

An iconic flat character is James Bond. Bond is the consummate protector—we all want our police to be competent, powerful, and unflappable, like James Bond. We want criminals to hear the music and change their behavior.

Weiland writes: “The protagonist uses an understanding of the story’s central thematic truth to catalyze change arcs in the supporting characters.” (201)

Archetypal Antagonists

Each of the archetypes have archetypal antagonists (or antagonistic forces) that appear routinely in many stories. The maiden arc often is combined with authority and predator antagonists that attempt to restrain or enslave them. Likewise, the hero arc is often combined with dragons and sick kings that incite them to accept the journey set before them (272). Antagonists and antagonist forces are often deeply thematic and can be both internal and external (273-274).

Assessment

Katie M. Weiland’s Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyondis a book that fiction writers will want to read and absorb. Classification systems are enormously helpful in defining relationships that are otherwise ethereal and difficult to pin down. This makes them important to understand and even memorize because they provide a vocabulary with which to identify, discuss, and describe characters, their motivations, and their progress through time.

Footnotes

https://www.HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com. https://www.kmweiland.com

Weiland Weighs and Clarifies Characters
Also see:
Hilt Explains Tropes 
Books, Films, and Ministry
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

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Healing: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 4, 2024

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on healing. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Healing: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 4, 2024
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

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Transcendence Healing Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty and Loving Father,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you see beyond our horizons and have the power to love, heal, and protect in ways that we should emulate. Give us hearts like yours.

Forgive our unwillingness to love, heal, and protect those around us. Give us eyes that see, ears that hear, and hands that heal.

Thank you for the example of Jesus of Nazareth, whose willingness to break through the prejudices and limited vision of his time was followed by his actions. May we grow more like him with each passing day.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, be with us, inspire us, and extend us that your church may grow to encompass all in need.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Transcendence Healing Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Carver_Feb24 , Signup

 

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Healing

Then Saul said to his servants, 

Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, 

that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, 

Behold, there is a medium at En-dor. 

(1 Sam 28:7)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The claim that God has on your life is a direct consequence of his transcendence that affects life and ministry in how we respond. Our perception of this transcendence follows from our experience of the numinous. Spiritual dreams and visions may not be everyday experiences, but their occurrences are not rare and even when negative they point beyond themselves to God. The key point in dealing with extraordinary events is not to become enamored with them or write them off, but to use scripture to interpret their meaning.

The Patient

An example of an extraordinary event and response arose during my hospital ministry when I was asked to visit with a bedridden, eighty-year-old woman. She was lonely having been cut off from her family. After several visits, one day I learned why.

The woman explained that she was frequently visited by her dead mother who advised her not to trust her siblings and she broke off all contact with them. Because she claimed to be a good Baptist, I told that the Bible forbids speaking with the dead (Lev 19, 20). Entering her world, I advised” “If your mother comes to you again, ask her—what are you doing here: the dead are not supposed to visit with the living.” Remember what happened to King Saul (1 Sam 28). My witness upset the women, who complained to the social worker. I was advised not to offer advice and simply to offer a comforting presence, the usual practice of chaplains.

In going over this patient visit, I realized that three responses are typically given to this situation, depending on your worldview:

1. For the materialist lacking any view of transcendence, this woman is hallucinating (a symptom of both Alzheimer’s disease and psychosis) and should be referred for psychiatric evaluation (APA 1994, 309).
2. For the Christian limited to small-t transcendence, this woman is in pain and should not have her pain extended through advice—just offer a comforting presence.
3. For the pastor open to large-T transcendence, the woman’s pain is less important than the cause of that pain—she was preyed upon by a malevolent spirit dispensing hurtful advice while masquerading as her dead mother.

The malevolent nature of this spirit was obvious from Jesus’ teaching: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44)

In this example, the attitude about transcendence is an attribute of your worldview that directly affects how you approach ministry.

Healing

The above example is useful because it occurred in a hospital context. Jesus was the first medical missionary and his first healing in the Gospel of Mark was an exorcism (Mark 1:23-27). If Jesus is the Son of God and he believes in demons, why do we laugh them off?

Francis MacNutt (2006, 130), who was a priest and is credited with starting the Charismatic Movement within the Catholic Church, spoke about four types of healing: Repentance of sin (spiritual healing), emotional or relational healing, physical healing, and deliverance (healing from spiritual oppression). The transmission of ministry into healing can take many paths, but the most obvious one was through the relief of stress. Stress undermines the body’s immune system leaving one vulnerable to any opportunistic disease (Goleman 2006, 164-185).

Patients whose stress is relieved will likely experience better physical outcomes—real healing, although the healing is nonspecific relative to any particular opportunistic disease. It is common that someone who experienced trauma to develop physical ailments, like cancer, an infection, or pneuma the following year. In my own case, the year after our family was traumatized by a difficult work reorganization and a child born with a life-threatening birth-defect, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

Note that in our case the cause of my wife’s anxiety was external to her person—my job situation, not hers; my son’s medical condition, not hers. The anxiety was transmitted through the family system to my wife (e.g. Friedman 1985, 21). Resolution of the anxiety and healing would have needed to deal with the cause, which is not the usual scope for individual counseling. Pastors have the unique advantage of being able to minister to the family system as a whole.

Our Times

The potential for healing right now is substantial. During my hospital ministry, I spent a lot of time in the emergency department and noted that about half my patients were there for preventable reasons—drug treatment, obesity related issues, attempted suicide, and so on. In relating this observation to the chief surgeon one afternoon, he amended my observation—it’s more like three-quarters of the patients. If most of these ailments are preventable, why haven’t they been prevented?

At least part of the answer is that the four types of healing articulated by MacNutt simply are being neglected—relievable stress is not being relieved. Because preventable problems, like declining life expectancy, declining fertility, and declining standards of life, are a theme in our generation, the need to attend to healing—to look up and see—should be a priority in ministry.

References

American Psychiatric Association (APA). 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Washington DC.

Friedman, Edwin H. 1985. Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue. New York:  Gilford Press.

Goleman, Daniel. 2006. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.

MacNutt, Francis 2009. Healing (Orig Pub 1974). Notre Dame:  Ave Maria Press.

Practical Transcendence

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

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Hilt Defines Romance Tropes

Jennifer Hilt. 2023. The Trope Thesaurus: Romance. Independently Published.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Fiction writing is surprisingly analytical. Edits focus on analysis of character arcs, plot, description, and a host of other issues that come up along the way. The linear progress that characterizes nonfiction writing is nowhere to be found, because fiction readers love a good surprise and obsess about interesting insights, stylistic forms, and turns of phrase. For this reason, my edits are often punctuated by periodic pouring over new and interesting writing books.

Introduction

Jennifer Hilt’s The Trope Thesaurus: Romance begins with this statement of purpose: “My goal is to share with you the ways to build romances that keep reads from wandering off to check their phones or surf over to NetFlex.” (3) As I worked through this book, my temptation was not so much to less to jump into NetFlex as to pull up my own manuscript and jump into editing. Still, Hilt’s review of screenplays illustrating her tropes and analyses helped me immensely in absorbing her points and being able to grasp them.

Definitions

Hilt defines a trope as “a commonly understood idea that requires no explanation for the reader.” (13). Tropes differ from clichés and stereotypes because they are not derogatory and they are “fixed ideas that resist manipulation.” (14) Tropes focus on relationships and circumstances that promote relationships, such as “tortured hero/heroine, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers.”

A romance “is a story that concludes with the main characters’ relationship as Happily Ever After (HEA), or Happily Ever After for Now (HEAFN), or Happy for Now (HEN).” (11) Background and Structure Jennifer Hilt studied linguistics as an undergraduate and English literature in graduate school. She has written two dozen books in fantasy and paranormal romance genre. Hilt writes in three parts: Introduction, a list of tropes, and how to use the tropes. The introduction provides definitions. The list of tropes defines sixty tropes and discusses them in terms of screenplays that illustrate their use. The how-to section defines a six-step outline for romance and applies it to ten romance sub-genres. The six steps outline for romance are: 1. Give main characters at least three personality tropes. 2. Give significant story relationships at least three change tropes. 3. Give each main character a meaningful and measurable goal. 4. Give each main character a motivation for why they are pursuing their goal. 5. Give each main character a conflict that frustrates their main goal. 6. Develop your characters and setting with world-building details (151-152). Hilt places special emphasis in her writing on: Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts (9). The first five tropes that she lists are: Across the tracks, age difference, alphahole, amnesia, and arranged marriages (iii-iv). Probably the most surprising classification was to cite Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as an example of a reverse-harem.

Assessment

Jennifer Hilt. 2023. The Trope Thesaurus: Romance is an accessible and useful resource for fiction writers. The usefulness of Hilt’s work became obvious to me in dealing with the “German tea party” problem where characters are too polite (dankeschön, bitteschön; dankeschön, bitteschön…) getting along without conflict. Characters need to have precisely defined goals that can be frustrated. Well-defined tropes likewise sharpen the corners on personality and plot, reducing squishy character and plot elements. The effect is like replacing adverbs with strong verbs.

References

Jennifer Hilt. 2021. The Trope Thesaurus: Trope Your Way to a Stronger Story. Independently Published. (Review).

Hilt Defines Romance Tropes
Also see:
Hilt Explains Tropes 
Books, Films, and Ministry
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

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