Why Is Saul Hiding With the Baggage?

Plus: a Christmas show and Jane Austen's influence on HGS

Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest:

The Christmas Show

Big news! I’m thrilled to let you know that Holy Ghost Stories Live: The Christmas Show is coming to Northwest Arkansas this year. The show will happen in mid December at the incredible Mildred Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista—this is the gorgeous chapel in the woods where we did the Exodus show last Fall. You know—this place:

More soon, but here’s what you need to know now: Tickets will go live alongside the next issue of The Latest. Seats in this venue are quite limited, so keep an eye out and don’t miss grabbing your spot.

We cannot wait to get festive with you.

The End of the Beginning of King Saul

Season 6 resumes with a new episode today! This one’s part two of “The Once and Future Kings”—the fasinating story of Saul’s ascencion to the throne of Israel.

I’ve titled this pair of episodes with a nod to T.H. White’s mid-twentieth century novel(s) about King Arthur and the knights of the round table. (Would that Saul could have been the ruler Arthur was.) As usual, the first part of the title refers to Yahweh—the (unfortunately) ‘once’ King of Israel, soon to be displaced by the human sovereign for which Israel begged.

As I said at the release of the first of these two episodes, I like the Saul I meet in 1 Samuel 8-10. I’ve really enjoyed spending this time with him, and I’ve found myself rooting hard for his success. You’ll hear plenty of happiness and hope in this episode (because it’s there in the text)—but for anyone who knows the rest of the story, it’s all tinged with deep sorrow. Saul will soon choose against Yahweh, falling prey to deep insecurity making enemies of friends.

Maybe you know a person who, like Saul, started well and finished poorly. I do, and that association has made these two episodes unexpectedly emotional for me. May each of us more whole-heartedly embrace Yawheh’s vision for our lives. It’s so much better than the alternative.

BITS AND BOBS

It’s complicated - While Yahweh agrees to infuse the monarchy with His Spirit and blessing, 1 Samuel 8-10 makes abundantly clear Israel’s rejection of divine leadership (“they have rejected Me as their king” [1 Sam 8:7]). In the first scene’s initial moments, I’ve tried to capture this dappled reality:

Samuel’s hand and the flask and the oil cast a shadow, the anointed one’s visage both goldened and grayed.

An exercise in empathy - This story gives us a chance to put ourselves in Yahweh’s place, feeling his emotions as his efforts toward intimacy are spurned. In two quick flashbacks, you’ll hear me reference moments from the story of the Exodus. These moments featured in Episode 8 (“Storm, Rising”) and 10 (“At Last”) of Holy Ghost Stories Season 4.

It’s a poignant thing to imagine His hurt (and a strange thing to imagine that He cares that much about being with us). It’s also beautiful to watch His determination in the face of our reticence.

Saul’s transformation - Twice, the text emphasizes the internal change wrought by Yahweh in Saul after his anointing. Samuel’s words are quite emphatic: “The Spirit of Yahweh will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy […], and you will be changed into a different person.” The same thing happens to David after he’s anointed: “and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David” (1 Sam 16:13). This is fascinating to me for multiple reasons. For one, it’s a clear precursor of the way the Spirit is given to every disciple under the new covenant. It’s also interesting to me that it happens not at the coronation, but (in David’s case, years earlier) at the anointing.

The Oak of Tamor - On his way to be crowned, Saul (according to Samuel’s prophecy) is given gifts under “the oak of Tamor” (1 Sam 10:3). I love when Scripture is specific about certain trees (and it so often is). This one’s interesting (and not just because we get to picture it as an ancient oak)—as I say in the episode,

Many believe that this behemoth is the same oak tree under which Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was buried. It was soon after this that Yahweh told Jacob, “You will become a great nation, [and] kings will be among your descendants.” Yahweh always drawing lines, adding layers.

Pomegranate Milemarkers - I also take the chance in this episode to nod to another HGS episode in which Saul features (if just briefly): Season 3, Episode 5 “The King and the Prince.” The second scene of that episode features a landmark pomegranate tree just outside of Gibeah (1 Sam 14:2), and I’ve called back to that moment by imagining Saul passing the same tree on his way home after his escapades. I’ve quoted from S3E5, in fact, to tighten the allusion.

Season 6 Episode 6, when Saul’s potential is bright:

Saul smiles as he and his servant pass the old pomegranate tree—a familiar landmark in these parts. (Ten, maybe twenty feet tall, the pomegranate is a bush, really, that with the right guidance can learn to be a tree—with the right pruning, can bear an abundance of marvelous fruit.)

Season 3 Episode 5, when Saul’s light is dimming:

Jonathan looks over, perhaps, at his father. Saul’s sitting in the shade of a pomegranate tree. Ten, maybe twenty feet tall, the pomegranate is a bush, really, that with the right guidance can learn to be a tree—with the right pruning, can bear an abundance of marvelous fruit. But left to its own devices…it becomes leggy, unproductive—more thorn than anything else. At the king’s feet, the leaf shadows jerk and jounce, erratic in the breeze. 

Music + Holy Words = Magic - I suspect it’ll be obvious when you listen, but the scene in this episode where the prophets and musicians meet up with Saul is one of my absolute favorites.

When I read 1 Samuel 10:5, I cannot help but think of Holy Ghost Stories (“As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.”) This is not the only time in Scripture that the alchemic interplay of music and words is leveraged—think of Elisha in 2 Kings 3:15-16: “‘But now bring me a harpist.’ While the harpist was playing, the hand of Yahweh came on Elisha and he said, ‘This is what Yahweh says…’”

“Bring me a harpist”—I get it, Elisha. Though I’m usually saying “Bring me a cellist.”

Who says Holy Ghost Stories is only Old Testament? - You’ll hear several New Testament references in this episode, including twice when I describe Saul as “silent as a sheep before its shearers.” This, of course, is an allusion to the Christ prophecy in Is 53:7. I’m pointing to the Christlike potential Saul posessed at the beginning of his reign and failed to live out as time went by—a potential David will exude much more effectively.

Another Christ reference comes when Saul, anointed as monarch and having been given the priestly portion of the sacrifice by Samuel, begins to prophesy with the group outside of Gibeah: “Prophet. Priest. King.” (And at same time, Saul is definitely just a king—he cannot do the work of priests, nor the full work of a prophet. Hints of Jesus, then; but hints, too, of Jesus’ peerless fulfillment of all three roles.)

A very Romans 6 reference comes when, after Saul’s prophetic moment, I describe him as having been “baptized in this encounter with the Divine” and then say that he “turns his eyes toward the high place and rises to walk in newness of life.”

The New Testament is everywhere in the Old Testament, of course—it’s the same God authoring one continuous story of creation and recreation—but in this story about the beginning of the Israelite monarchy, foreshadows of Jesus are everywhere and I can’t help drawing attention to them along the way.

The 3 Women - It seems Yahweh is inviting us to connect the dots between 3 women in this story: Sarah (with a stop at her tomb), Rebekah (with a stop at Deborah’s apparent burial place), and the Bethlehemite concubine from Judges 19 (with the coronation at Mizpah). I’m still putting together all of the pieces, but I think Alistair Roberts is right—this is about iniquity and frailty and grace. Here’s how I say it in the episode:

Three moments punctuated by death and sin—a constellation of memories tracing the shape of a crown. The monarchy they chose instead of Yahweh. The king Yahweh, in his kindness, gave them anyway. 

This is just another example of the ‘puff pastry’ phenomenon I was talking about in this issue of The Latest.

Saul Hiding in the Storage Closet - In the past, I’ve poked fun at a comically reluctant Saul. (“But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of Yahweh, ‘Has the man come here yet?’ And Yahweh said, ‘Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.’” [1 Sam 10:21-22]) In this episode, though, you’ll hear me take a different tack—or at least allow for something other than comedic fear. After spending all this time with Saul, really trying to see him, and considering all of the internal transformation that’s just happened at the hand of Yahweh, the alternate suggestion I offer seemed the most plausible. See what you think.

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I do hope this one blesses you. If you haven’t already listened, here’s the link:

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Holy Ghost Stories + Magnolia Foundation

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to bring Holy Ghost Stories Live to Cookeville, TN for The Magnolia Foundation’s inaugural benefit dinner. Matt Collins and his team are doing beautiful work with parents who’ve experienced the death of a child, and it was a privilege to be a part of this powerful evening.

Many thanks to Mardochée Dade, who provided beautiful accompaniment on cello, and my wife Jennifer, who told her own story of loss and redemption alongside my telling of the unforgettable tale of Mephibosheth. What a joy it is to create these experiences for you guys.

4 Cool Things

The Gift of Prophecy - Don’t walk; run to listen to this sermon from Tyler Staton on how to understand what the Bible describes as “the gift of prophecy.” If you lean cessasionist when it comes to this spiritual gift, a thoughtful interaction with this sermon will challenge you (as it did me) in some powerful ways.

How Jane Austen Shaped Holy Ghost Stories - “In the first chapter of the first book Jane Austen published, she did something that changed fiction forever.” As Pushak points out in this video, Austen’s device would would come to be called “Free Indirect Speech,” and though it seems commonplace now, it was groundbreaking. This act of dipping into the mind of a character while remaining in a third person POV is something I do constantly in Holy Ghost Stories. It enables character development and provokes empathy as you listen to a given story. So thanks, Jane. From all of us.

The Beauty of Inosculation - Inosculation is a naturally occurning phenomenon that happens, as this article from the University of New Hampshire states, “when two individual trees growing in close proximity become morphologically joined.” Inosculated trees are sometimes referred to as “marriage” trees. The term derives from the Latin osculari—“to kiss.”

Ugh. So good.

Fail-a-bration - My friends Brad and Kristi Montague have published a delightful homage to the power of courageous failure. Brad was the mind behind Kid President, and he and Kristi have collaborated on all kinds of lovely work. Back in the early days of Holy Ghost Stories, Brad gave me some last-minute coaching on how to handle my first call with Kendall Ramseur—an act of generous counsel that ended up shaping HGS in profound ways. You should check out Fail-a-bration, and may we all keep stumbling toward victory.

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That’s the latest! Reply and let me know how “The Once and Future Kings (part 2)” struck you—I love hearing your impressions.

Gratefully,
Justin