What do these phrases have in common?
must wash his clothes, one male goat, uttered his oracle, bathe with water
These are the statistically improbable phrases that Amazon found in the Bible. They analyze how many times a phrase occurs in a particular book, compared to the rest of the books they have looked at. I would have expected something about worshipping the Lord, but from a mathematical point of view, the distinctive feature of the bible is one male goat.
I thought it would be fun to look at some other famous books and find their statistically improbably phrases (SIPs). Here is a test just for fun. Read the following lists, and guess what book they come from:
A) selfish attachments, three gunas, selfless action, supreme goal, karma yoga, selfless service
B) spunk water
C) cilice belt, lame saint, seeded womb, lettered dials, corporal mortification, rosewood box, sacred feminine, royal bloodline, stone cylinder, sweater pocket
D) green eggs
E) lemon verbena sachet, ter mek, right hyah, dey din, iron rampart, free darkies, dar ain, slanting green eyes, whut dey, pie wagon, barbecue tomorrow, bandage rolling, gwine ter, dat chile, carriage block, flapped the reins, weary load, ter git, cape jessamine, look lak, got ter, come ter
F) slop arm, reconstructed pioneer settlement, thump rod, relay barrel, thump barrel, middle sill, proof vial, two end logs, churn jar, cut lap joints, plug stick, heater box, dovetail notches, shaving horse, fer dinner, white whiskey, cap arm, fifty gallon barrel, steam moves, pure corn, wall logs
G) defeating temptation, life purpose statement, real fellowship, five purposes, fulfill your mission, local fellowship, your spiritual gifts, your shape
H) bookstall keeper, merry old gentleman, replied the girl, fat gentleman, latter gentleman
Now that you’ve tried to guess, here are the books that those phrases were from:
A) Bhagavad Gita
B) The adventures of Tom Sawyer
C) The Da Vinci Code
D) Green eggs and ham
E) Gone with the wind
F) The Foxfire Book : Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by theSigns, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
G) The purpose driven life.
H) Oliver Twist
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
just an excuse for a picture
Sunset walk at Buena Vista
Well, I wanted to try out the picture functionality, so this is just an excuse for a picture! But I'll tell you the story anyway.
Imagine a late afternoon walk in Costa Rica. Walking through the forest we were delighted to come across a family of howler monkeys. We weren't sure why the guide was urging us along, until suddenly the monkeys expressed their displeasure physically by peeing on us.
We were still laughing when suddenly the guide gestured us to stay back, and swung his tripod around to use as staff in front of him. He was dancing back and forth and we couldn't really see what was wrong. Once the path was cleared he confessed that there had been a very dangerous poisonous snake.
And a few steps further and we came out into this clearing, where we watched the sunset. It was especially sweet after the excitement of the hike
He can hear!
On Palm Sunday we visited the Nursing Home, to hold a special worship service and give out palms to the residents.
We also circulated through the building to give palms to the staff. There was a festive atmosphere -- by the time we left, the wheelchairs, counters and medication carts all seemed to sport a palm frond.
But the most exciting thing happened at the end. 'S' was trying to talk to a gentleman who was deaf, and they were both frustrated by the difficulty in communicating, and so she put her hand on his ear, and prayed that God would heal him. As she continued to talk to him, he cried out
"what did you do to me? I can hear!"
He was still partially deaf -- but was excited at the hearing that had been restored. And with tears in his eyes, he proclaimed
"it's a miracle."
We also circulated through the building to give palms to the staff. There was a festive atmosphere -- by the time we left, the wheelchairs, counters and medication carts all seemed to sport a palm frond.
But the most exciting thing happened at the end. 'S' was trying to talk to a gentleman who was deaf, and they were both frustrated by the difficulty in communicating, and so she put her hand on his ear, and prayed that God would heal him. As she continued to talk to him, he cried out
"what did you do to me? I can hear!"
He was still partially deaf -- but was excited at the hearing that had been restored. And with tears in his eyes, he proclaimed
"it's a miracle."
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Syncretism
We've been studying the prophets in VLI, and syncretism is a recurrent theme. The funny thing about syncretism is that the farther away you are the easier it is to see. But seeing it in our own culture is much harder, and seeing it in ourselves is the hardest yet.
I avoid horoscopes, but enjoy opening up Chinese fortune cookies and reading what is inside. In fact, for a long while I had a fortune taped to my computer monitor. It simply stated "someone is speaking well of you", and I had neatly written on it "speak louder". But if someone were to challenge me on why the cookies are OK and the horoscopes are not, I wouldn't have a good answer.
I heard an amusing line on the news this morning. The context was the brouhaha over the dress code for fire-fighters marching in today's St Patrick's Day parade. The particular issue was over the prohibition of wearing green beanies with their uniforms, apparently because the department is trying to regain respect after some scandals where fire-fighters engaged in various alcohol and sex escapades while on duty. Therefore the green beanie ban. I'm not clear on why they thought that would help, but maybe I'm naive. Anyway, the punchline was a heartfelt quote by a gentleman who publically proclaimed that the green beanie ban was "an offense to the faith". While I think the ban is silly, I don't quite see how it will tear down Christianity.
And then there was a friend who was upset at the behavior of fellow believers and who emotionally announced: "I'm just looking for the gospel. The gospel of Johnny Cash and Elvis".
I avoid horoscopes, but enjoy opening up Chinese fortune cookies and reading what is inside. In fact, for a long while I had a fortune taped to my computer monitor. It simply stated "someone is speaking well of you", and I had neatly written on it "speak louder". But if someone were to challenge me on why the cookies are OK and the horoscopes are not, I wouldn't have a good answer.
I heard an amusing line on the news this morning. The context was the brouhaha over the dress code for fire-fighters marching in today's St Patrick's Day parade. The particular issue was over the prohibition of wearing green beanies with their uniforms, apparently because the department is trying to regain respect after some scandals where fire-fighters engaged in various alcohol and sex escapades while on duty. Therefore the green beanie ban. I'm not clear on why they thought that would help, but maybe I'm naive. Anyway, the punchline was a heartfelt quote by a gentleman who publically proclaimed that the green beanie ban was "an offense to the faith". While I think the ban is silly, I don't quite see how it will tear down Christianity.
And then there was a friend who was upset at the behavior of fellow believers and who emotionally announced: "I'm just looking for the gospel. The gospel of Johnny Cash and Elvis".
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Cross cultural life milestones
When you share the same culture with someone, it's easy to know how to respond to life milestones. But it's more complicated when they have a different culture. So I try to just respond naturally and hope it's ok. I'm always wondering how I can show the love of Jesus to my co-workers, and I'm afraid that I'll inadvertently do something rude.
Last week, 'R's wife had a baby. I was looking for 'S', so I marched into their shared office, and 'R' announced the news. He has a bit of an accent, so he had to say it 3 times before I understood. Then, in his effort to communicate he gestured to some Indian pastries on the counter and said 'that is why this'. I assumed they were to share so I picked one and took a bite. I have found that whenever I taste Indian food, my Indian colleagues stare at me intently. But this makes it hard to know whether they are staring because I am doing something wrong. Frankly, I'm still not sure whether the silver coating was intended to be eaten or not. It didn't really taste like a food product. To distract us all from the half pastry I was still holding in my hand, I asked what his daughter's name was. It was unfamiliar to me, so I asked what it meant and he told me it was the name of a goddess. I was overwhelmed with sadness for this little girl whose very sense of self would be connected with this goddess, but I didn't know what to say. So I finally just murmured that it was a pretty name.
And then there was 'P'. He came up to me, beaming, and announced that he was getting married. I congratulated him and reminded him that he had already told me. But after a bit of a confused interchange, I finally realized that he was differentiating between the fact that he had gotten engaged in February, but now he actually had a wedding date scheduled, for May. I was totally touched by the fact that he made a point of saying that I am the 2nd person in the U.S. that he had told, ahead of all his compatriots. He feels a connection to me. He is hungry to be wise, so I tell him stories about Biblical wisdom. He liked hearing about Solomon, for example.
I was still trying to figure out if it was an arranged marriage, but I wasn't sure if it was polite to ask. So I said, "have you known her a long time, or only just now". His answer was "not just now, I have been engaged since February". So I'm still confused. Then he mentioned that he is already feeling the responsibility that will come when he is a married man. He explained that in his country, you are expected to stay married and not get divorced, so it is a bigger responsibility than it is in the US. I was saddened to realize that he assumes the US is a Christian country, and assumes that fidelity is not a Christian value.
He will only be here for another 2 weeks, and then he returns to India. I need wisdom and discernment to be able to communicate to him something of the love of God.
Last week, 'R's wife had a baby. I was looking for 'S', so I marched into their shared office, and 'R' announced the news. He has a bit of an accent, so he had to say it 3 times before I understood. Then, in his effort to communicate he gestured to some Indian pastries on the counter and said 'that is why this'. I assumed they were to share so I picked one and took a bite. I have found that whenever I taste Indian food, my Indian colleagues stare at me intently. But this makes it hard to know whether they are staring because I am doing something wrong. Frankly, I'm still not sure whether the silver coating was intended to be eaten or not. It didn't really taste like a food product. To distract us all from the half pastry I was still holding in my hand, I asked what his daughter's name was. It was unfamiliar to me, so I asked what it meant and he told me it was the name of a goddess. I was overwhelmed with sadness for this little girl whose very sense of self would be connected with this goddess, but I didn't know what to say. So I finally just murmured that it was a pretty name.
And then there was 'P'. He came up to me, beaming, and announced that he was getting married. I congratulated him and reminded him that he had already told me. But after a bit of a confused interchange, I finally realized that he was differentiating between the fact that he had gotten engaged in February, but now he actually had a wedding date scheduled, for May. I was totally touched by the fact that he made a point of saying that I am the 2nd person in the U.S. that he had told, ahead of all his compatriots. He feels a connection to me. He is hungry to be wise, so I tell him stories about Biblical wisdom. He liked hearing about Solomon, for example.
I was still trying to figure out if it was an arranged marriage, but I wasn't sure if it was polite to ask. So I said, "have you known her a long time, or only just now". His answer was "not just now, I have been engaged since February". So I'm still confused. Then he mentioned that he is already feeling the responsibility that will come when he is a married man. He explained that in his country, you are expected to stay married and not get divorced, so it is a bigger responsibility than it is in the US. I was saddened to realize that he assumes the US is a Christian country, and assumes that fidelity is not a Christian value.
He will only be here for another 2 weeks, and then he returns to India. I need wisdom and discernment to be able to communicate to him something of the love of God.