tsunami dreams: Biblical interpretation

Here is a new angle on the tsunami dreams – since the majority of visitors to this website are still looking up this topic (warning long post)

Dreams were seen as an important means of symbolic communication from God, in the Bible. Dream interpretation was an accepted activity and the most famous dream interpreter in the Bible was of course, Joseph. He had many dreams, made famous by popular musicals but none of them actually involved tsunamis or waves.

The word “tsunami” doesn’t occur in the Bible, but there are quite a few passages about waves. So to help people interpret their tsunami dreams I have listed the main Bible passages which talk about strong, powerful waves. There are a few main themes

- God stirring up the huge waves (Old Testament)

- God calming the waves (OT)

- The story of Jonah: who disobeys a command from God, who then sends massive waves against him and Jonah ends up being hurled into the sea. He then prays to God and is rescued via a large fish!

- And in the New Testament, Jesus naturally calms a storm on the water.  There are a few verses comparing people to waves, which suggests immaturity / infancy, or lack of belief, or worse.

I guess it depends on the individual which, if any of these are relevant! Here are the Bible passages.

Waves in the Bible

Psalm 42: 7

Deep calls to deep, in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

Psalm 65: 5-7

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.

Psalm 93: 2-4

Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea the LORD on high is mighty.

Psalm 107: 23

Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

Isaiah 51:14-16

The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar the LORD Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ “

Jeremiah 5:21-23

Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.

Jeremiah 31:34-36

No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar the LORD Almighty is his name: “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the LORD, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.”

Jeremiah 51:41-43

The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.

Jonah’s Prayer (Jonah 2)

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: ”In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’

…. And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 8)

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Unity in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4: 1-17)

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

James 1:5-7

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

Jude 1:12-14

These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

today’s sermon: giving

This blog is getting very preachy, so why stop now?

This is my very own sermon about “giving”. You know, like those encouraging speeches that are given prior to passing around the collection plate (or credit card form) in the mega-churches. Here is my version of the giving speech.

First Bible verse:

“Give to anyone who asks, and if they take what belongs to you, do not demand it back” – Luke 6:30. This leads into the universal golden rule “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This suggests that giving should follow a request rather than just occur in a willy nilly fashion, making it somehow easier to decide who or when to give something.

Things we can give to others:

- time

- money

- praise

- care

- energy

- possessions

- hospitality

The list is probably endless, think of anything you have ever been given or given to someone else.

Next Bible verse:

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” – Luke 12: 48

Then put the two things together. Think of something you have been blessed with or given abundantly in your life. Maybe you are someone who has been loved extravagantly, or received a lot of praise for something, or you are just filthy rich. You might have been cared for through a long illness, or someone has just given you all their baby clothes. Anything.

The point is, maybe the thing you have been given, you are also expected to give to others. Hand it on down the chain, that sort of thing.

Whatever you are rich in, maybe it’s praise and accolades, maybe it’s love, money, caring or even time. Find someone who has less than you have – and give them that.

how to find your mission in life

So this is not original, but comes from famous book “What Colour is Your Parachute” – Richard Bolles.

The final chapter is a spiritual perspective on finding your “mission” in life with an emphasis on Who provides the mission. Fascinating stuff. He presents the mission side of things in three stages which are really intriguing. So I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Your First Mission
Your first mission on earth is to “seek to stand, hour by hour, in the conscious presence of God, the One from whom your Mission is derived”

2. Your Second Mission
The second mission is “to do what you can, moment by moment, day by day and step by step, to make the world a better place, following the leading and guidance of God’s Spirit within you and around you”

3. Your Third Mission
a) To exercise the Talent which you particularly came to earth to use – your greatest gift, which you most delight to use
b) In the place(s) or setting(s) which God has caused to appeal to you the most
c) And for those purposes which God most needs to have done in the world.

The first two Missions are shared by everyone. Which means if you haven’t found the third mission yet, you still have something to get on with. No need to sit around twiddling your thumbs because we all have two missions to do without a lot of soul searching.

I like this theory and I’m going to give it a go. He also emphasises that there is an essential process of self examination that needs to be done before embarking on a career search.

what would Jesus do for Christmas?

Let’s face it, no one sticks a giant inflatable Jesus on the front of their house for the Christmas season. No sir, it’s just Santa and the reindeers, some mistletoe, maybe the occasional angel. No one even puts a baby on there to suggest that someone was being born on the day in question.

Not that I really want to sound like one of those boring preachy people who drone on about the “commercialisation of Christmas” ad nauseam and advocate against any kind of fun-having behaviours. I’m all for fun and celebration, wine etc, as I’m sure was Jesus himself.

But I really think it’s worth asking the question. What would He do, if He was to drop into our century for Christmas. Firstly, he would not be in the shopping mall. Actually, if he was to go to a shopping mall, look at the Christmas trees and decorations and listen to some hideous Christmas carols, I’m sure Jesus would be outraged (or quietly contemptuous). What’s more, he’s got his name attached to this dreadful festival which I’m sure was never intended. He might overturn a few tables. Yell at a few moneychangers. I’m sure His encounter with the shopping lunacy would not be pretty.

After that, he might start changing some water into wine for a real celebration somewhere. But he’d be unlikely to restrict this to “just the family”. He’d simply round up everyone who was willing and crowd them onto a large hill probably. He’d then supply loaves and fishes all round and the aforementioned wine. There would be a massive crowd, all listening to some profound wisdoms and eating and drinking. No presents. Not a single Playstation to be seen. We wouldn’t have tedious party hats and plastic favours and dreadful fruit cake. No having to listen to Aunt Whoosie drone on for four hours, because she’d get lost in the crowd and have so many people to bore.

Some of us might get the idea. We might be sitting at our family lunch, opening the zillionth tie or bath gel from our relatives and gaze in surprise at the huge party on the hill. We might invent an excuse “walking off the dinner” to wander over there. Grab some fish and a cup of wine. Chat to the local homeless guy, who thinks it’s Christmas. Sit down with the lonely, the dispossessed and the refugees, sharing the simple feast. Hang out with our friends.

In addition to the feast, Jesus might perform a miracle or two, just to test if we were concentrating. He might cure some illnesses or eradicate a couple of demons. He would possibly create a new parable just for the occasion.

I think it would be fun, if Jesus was here for Christmas.

technologies of faith

OK here’s another PhD idea for when I’m 40. Examine the “technologies” of the major religious faiths ie prayer and meditation, psychology from the Bible and the Buddha. Compare to psychological therapies.

Invent a form of cognitive therapy based on Jesus’ teachings.

the illusion of money

Really scraping around for an original thought today but I finally got there at 10pm!

Right, well, how does it go again?

Money is an illusion that distracts us from the true value of things. That’s why it’s dangerous. The camel and the eye of the needle etc.

When making decisions remove the money element. If choosing between options imagine that all the options are financially the same, then it’s easier to reach the right conclusion.

It works both ways: sometimes you have to spend more and sometimes less. It’s great to be frugal, not buying things you don’t need and there’s a certain freedom that comes from living with less. However frugality can also lead to hoarding and miser syndrome. It’s also good to be able to let go of the money – either spend a lot on something you really love or give it away to someone who really needs it.

If starting a new business, think about the product you are selling – will it benefit people? Is there a need? Will you enjoy doing this business? Don’t think dollars. Of course it’s very hard not to think dollars in this sense, but think about what you’re actually doing – first.

thanatophobia

Here at the white elephant, we are not afraid to tackle the big issues… It’s almost my bedtime here and I am just scraping in with a post on the second day of NaBloPoMo.

So what is thanatophobia? It’s defined as a fear of one’s own death and is apparently very common. Why is it interesting? Because there are so many layers to it.

Firstly, thanatophobia is a form of anxiety. It’s a phobia, which is classed as anxiety. It comes with physical anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath, increased heart rate, muscle tension, nausea, dizziness etc etc. It can be associated with panic attacks. It’s a fear of something which is at once inevitable but also quite unlikely at any given moment in time. The person is afraid of something which they know is definitely going to happen, but they have no way of knowing when.

Thanatophobia also has an existential, even theological component. If someone is afraid of death, what do they fear? The actual fear must relate to the person’s beliefs about death. What do they think is going to happen to them when they die and why is it so frightening.

Here’s a range of possible beliefs about death:
- nothing happens, you cease to exist (materialist view)
- you may go to heaven or hell, depending on some kind of judgment of your actions in this life (Judeo-Christian view)
- reincarnation (Hindu, Buddhist)
- some people believe in ghosts, or spirits of the dead who somehow just float around the earthly plane making a nuisance of themselves

For those who believe the first option, a fear of death is not very rational. After all if you don’t exist, what does it matter? You won’t be suffering. For Christians, and similar viewpoints, a fear of death could be related to some kind of guilt. You feel you have done wrong and you are going to hell. In that case all that is required is to repent and you’ll be forgiven – easy.

Those who believe in reincarnation may be afraid of their own karma. They may have done wrong and fear a horrible next life. It’s understandable. It’s also understandable for those who believe in spirits or ghosts to feel afraid. Who would want to be floating around forever, feeling cold and scaring people?

I get the feeling that most people with this fear haven’t quite worked out their own beliefs yet. They may be searching, and the fear could be a healthy sign that they are moving towards some kind of spiritual growth.

Some writers (like Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Victor Frankl and also in the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) emphasise the need to confront one’s own mortality in order to grow or really be able to live well. Death is a necessary step on the road to rebirth in a number of ways, some of which are symbolic. There’s a cycle.

Fear of death could also be related to other problems. It could be due to narcissism (fear of one’s own nonexistence) or fear of the unknown. It could also be related to a death-wish as sometimes we fear what we really desire.

I don’t have thanatophobia and I’m frankly quite unconcerned about the whole thing. I don’t fear death and I don’t pretend to know what is going to happen to me there. I have some kind of faith that tells me it will be OK. But I find the whole thing very interesting.

too many books

I don’t know what goads are, but does anyone think there are too many books in the world?

The other day I bought “The Authoritative Guide to Self-help Resources” written by psychologists. With great excitement I perused the 400+ pages of true gems of literature. Surely this would be useful for work, I even went to the library to check out some of the titles. After a while I was overcome by a great weariness. What was I doing there, exactly? I didn’t know.

Going to the library is often stressful because there are too many books. I’ll never read all of them and I don’t know where to begin. I have 11 month old twins, and reading one chapter of one book is a great achievement. Even with all the time in the world (as when I was pregnant) I still couldn’t read everything.

It’s a bit like life, really. There are too many options. How do you narrow them down? There is a lot of stuff I have to do but still more things I’d like to do, so I write lists. I spend 5 minutes on one item and then a baby calls, a month passes and I’ve lost the list.

I don’t blame the babies or the lack of time. It was still the same in the old days, when there was plenty of time. Different things, people take over and it’s hard to prioritise.

Too many books, too many ideas, too many people?

The Conclusion of the Matter
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. – Ecclesiastes 12: 9-14

Heaven and hell

I just stole this from someone’s website, here’s the link

There was a man who died and was being taken to heaven by angels. But first, they wanted to show him hell (just for the hell of it I guess).

The angels then took him to a place where there was a great bowl, so great that it was as big as a lake. The bowl was filled with a nutritious stew. All the way around the sides of this bowl were people. Emaciated, starving, miserable people. These people had spoons to eat the stew with, that were long enough to reach it from the shore (about 12 feet). The trouble was, while they could scoop up the stew into the spoon, they could not get it into their mouths because the spoons were so long the stew would fall off before they could get it to their mouths. So here were all these pathetic people, suffering and moaning in agony, constantly trying to eat the food that was abundantly in front of them – all in vain. Next, the angels took the man to heaven. To his surprise, he saw the same scene! There it was, a giant lake-like bowl of the same stew, surrounded by people with 12 foot long spoons. Yet something was different here – all these people were smiling, happy, and healthy looking!

“Why? What is the difference here that these people are happy and well fed?”, the man said to the angels.

They replied, “Have you not eyes to see?”. The man looked more carefully, and observed that one person would scoop up the stew, and bring it to the mouth of another. Then someone else would scoop up stew and feed it to the other.

The angels smiled and said, “Here the people feed each other. Here are the people that learned the way of Love.”

the golden rule book of relationships

Here’s an idea for a self-help book. The problem with sticking all my ideas up on a blog, is that theoretically anyone could come along and steal one of them. However I guess it’s quite easy to come up with ideas and another thing to put them into practice, so if anyone does write these incredibly clever books, good luck to them!

Anyway, this book would be based on “The Golden Rule” I could start with a description of the various religious scriptures that contain the golden rule (ie Christianity, Islam, confucianism etc) with calligraphy even!

Then an introductory chapter on my interpretation of what the golden rule means and how to apply this to relationships and life.

Then I could have subsequent chapters on, oh anything really. Perhaps a section for community & friendship, another for intimate relationships, one for children etc.

Oh, for those who may not know, the Golden Rule is basically “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or “love your neighbour as yourself”.

I would also include a section on loving yourself as it appears to me that it’s included in the Biblical version, but no one talks about it really.