Is This Downton Abbey or the Old Testament?
Plus: A cross-continental collab for your Good Friday & How I'd act as a bird
Hello! Hope you’re well. I’m short on time today, but here’s a quick summary of the latest:
Good Friday Collaboration
About 10 days ago, a musician friend from Ireland reached out to see if I’d be interested in making something with him. He’d written a song about the Garden of Gethsemane and asked if I’d be up for doing some writing around it and helping to create something that could help people reflect on Jesus’ death during this week leading up to Easter.
The song was beautiful and I jumped at the chance to put something together.
I’m thrilled at the outcome (shed tears, in fact, the first time I watched), and I’m happy to share it with you in hopes that it leads you to a moment of meditation that leads you closer to Christ.
Here’s “The Garden”:
So Much Drama
Today’s new episode of Holy Ghost Stories tells a story that’s full of sibling rivalry, faked identity, and the twisted beginnings of the Israelite nation.
No, it’s not the story of Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright. But you’re right—the above description fits nicely.
No, it’s not the story of Joseph’s angry brothers faking his death. But you’re right—the above description fits nicely.
It’s the story of sisters Rachel and Leah, and how they ended up married to the same man at the same time.
Have you noticed how, as soon as we get to Abraham, the book of Genesis starts to feel like the movie Groundhog Day? History repeating itself within this family again and again…
But alas—that’s how families often work, isn’t it? Dysfunction handed down like an heirloom. 😕
Bits and Bobs
This story in Scripture was soap opera-y enough to have me emotionally taxed from spending days on end inside it. Eesh.
I’m embarrassed to say that before creating this episode, I’d never exercised much emotional empathy for anyone in this story but Jacob. Considering things from Leah’s persepctive, and from Rachel’s, was helpful and heartbreaking. I can’t imagine the lingering trauma Laban caused for each of them.
The mandrakes! What a strange moment in the story. Scholars disagree as to whether the original text identifies the mandrake plant as we know it, but there seems to be decent evidence to indicate that mandragora officinarum is, in fact, the plant little Reuben brought to Leah. There is, however, scant evidence that the root screamed, Harry Potter style, when removed from the soil.
In case it’s been a moment since you’e seen a mandrake, here you go:
It’s fascinating how much good storytelling the author of Genesis does by simply telling us the meaning of the names Leah and Rachel give to their children.
Leah is famously described in the text as having “weak,” or “delicate” eyes. John H. Walton contends that “delicate” is the better translation here, the author intending to indicate that her eyes had a delicate kind of beauty. I’ve gone with the word “diaphanous” in the episode.
I think it’s really cool that Rachel was a shepherd. And I love that the text, as if to counter any “Well, she was probably just on sheep duty that day because Laban was short staffed,” says explicitly, “Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd.” We talk a lot about how David would have had to courageously protect his sheep from predators, running off lions and whatnot—let’s give Rachel some props, too, shall we? Perhaps she was killer with a sling as well.
At one point in this episode I threw in an Easter egg, describing a person with the exact words I used to describe that same person in a prior episode. 10 points if you catch it.
Yet again, this is a story that takes place outside of the territory of Israel. I’m amazed at how many of these Old Testament narratives happen somewhere other than the promised land. Gotta be some meaning there…
I do hope you’re blessed by this episode. Here’s “The Forebear, the Bait, and the Switch.”
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Audible | Web
4 Cool Things
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On - I know, I know. You’ve been thinking, “When are they going to revisit that early ‘10s treasure and create a feature length film? Well it’s finally happened, my friend.
Museum of Endangered Sounds - An online compendium of tech sounds in danger of fading from memory. The Nokia ringtone, Speak & Spell, and the Game Boy Tetris music got me.
Virtual Tours - Guided walking tours of all sorts of places around the world. Cool. (Thanks, Mahalie!)
FPV Drone Magic - If you’re wondering how I’d act if I was suddenly transformed into a bird (I know—mind reader), I’d fly to Madeira and do exactly this.
That’s the latest! Be sure to check out “The Forebear, the Bait, and the Switch” and share it if it blesses you.
Gratefully,
Justin
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**Want to team up with me to tell the stories of the Old Testament in new ways?