Balaam and his Donkey

So. I have just finished 'Numbers', no small task, and can smell the finish line... of the Pentateuch. Clearly I'm no Alicia, who has already torn her way through 'Esther', but I'm doing what I can, chugging along day by day.

Down to business. 'Numbers' is by no means as dry as the title suggests. In fact, my favorite biblical story thus far takes place in Numbers 22.22, Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel. In short, some surprisingly pleasant author slipped in an Aesop's Fable halfway through Numbers 22. Balaam, who we learn is an unknown prophet who converses with god as easily as does Moses, is riding his donkey to Moab when his donkey sees an angel with a drawn sword in the middle of the road. The donkey veers from the road and is struck by Balaam so that it turns back to the road. Again the donkey tries to escape from the angel and again Balaam strikes the animal. This happens a third time until finally, it lays down under Balaam.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and it said to Balaam, "what have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!" But the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?" And he said, "No."

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he waw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face. The angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live."

What moral are we to take from this? According to the all knowing textual critics at wikipedia, the entire episode is designed to mock Balaam. But maybe it is a deeper message concerning the sin of assumption. Balaam assumed his donkey was misbehaving and in response he punished the animal. If he had taken the time to examine his donkey's past and see that this behavior was out of the ordinary, Balaam would not have made an 'ass' (so funny) out of himself and beat the donkey for saving his life.

In addition to this tale, an actual Book of Balaam text was found in Deir Alla, Jordan in 1967. Check out this link

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a014.html

P.Q. At The Clavier?

After doing some research about "P.Q. at the Clavier" I now know that Wallace Stevens has created an ambiguous scene, in which the reader is being exposed to a musical piece/concerto on the surface and the biblical story of Susannah beneath it. Or maybe it's the other way around.

As far as my analytical skills can take me right now, that's it. But, as a student who appreciates poetry I can make a list of instinctive emotions/thoughts this poem brings forth to me:

• Beauty
• Lust
• Forbidden
• Longing
• Melodic Chaos
• Each Moment's Infinitenes
• Nature
• Background Music
• Death
• Praise

Who are these "red-eyed elders" and why are they spying on the naked Susannah? It is obvious this poem is hugely influenced by the theme of 'lust', made apparent by the lines,

The basses of their beings throb

In witching chords, and their thin blood

Pulse pizzicati of Hosanna.

As this poem progresses, it is accompanied by background music, such as the "Pulse pizzicati of Hosanna." The definition of Pizzicati is a method of playing bowed instruments by plucking the strings with the fingers rather than using the bow. In this case, I imagine a group of dirty, aroused old men, hiding behind a rock or tree as they watch the beautiful Susannah bathe naked, and all the while, the plucking of a cello sounds out as if to set the stage for whatever is yet to come.

reflecting on Leviticus

Leviticus is complete. Though it was a literary slice of wheat toast, I'm sure I will remember this book in years to come. This is most likely due to the smothered feeling I was left with upon my exposure to the overwhelming amount of rules.

Though I am not actively religious, I have been raised Roman Catholic and attended CCD (church class) from a young age. I believe this aspect of my background has left me with some subconscious tendencies towards caring what the bible says, and though the bible, especially the Pentateuch, was written a few thousand years ago and cannot possibly be conformed into modern day life, I find myself critiquing my own life in comparison with the many rules in Leviticus.

After 24 chapters of God's ordained rules for his followers, we the reader, reach a moment of refreshment. This is Leviticus 25, "The Year of Jubilee". It is here that God, takes a step back, holsters his wagging finger, and reminds his followers that every fifty years starting on July 10, they are to be good to one another and support each other.

This is one of the first times God has used positive influence rather than negative threats in the Bible... It is unfortunate that this was ordained only only twice every century.

Concerning Bodily Discharges

I had no idea until I reached the magical chapter of Leviticus 15, that God ordained to his followers how they are to conduct themselves concerning bodily discharges. How naive I was thirty minutes ago when I assumed my bodily discharges were strictly my business. They are God's business and he reminds us over and over that we humans are foul, unclean creatures in need of CONSTANT cleansing.

After having read The Slave and seeing the perspective of an orthodox Jewish lifestyle lived in accordance with the Old Testament, I wonder how any person could possibly have satisfied EVERY rule commanded of them. If mankind lived in accordance with the bible, sheep would be an extinct species. Every hiccup, cough, and cleansing ceremony calls for a gruesome display of slaughtered lamb and splattered blood. Are our natural biological processes not more clean and pure than the constant blood sacrifices demanded of us?

I must be honest and straightforward. I've killed chipmunks before. Not out of any necessity, but because the little bastards kept hopping about when I had an air rifle in my hands. So I shot them, out of the carnal instinct to take another creature's life because I can. After the bloody episode I felt disgusted and ashamed and I quietly wished them peace and asked their forgiveness. On the opposite end of the spectrum, hardly do I ever feel more cleansed and invigorated than after a bodily discharge... These discharges are literally biology's cleansing ceremony, in which they naturally conclude with a feeling of satisfaction.

So as I sit here and scrutinize the Bible, I guess what I am really trying to say is that our bodies are more holy and self cleansing than the bloody sacrifices in which they are supposed to partake.

Cheers

p.s. In case it was unclear what bodily discharges constitute:

for males; pooping, urinating, ejaculating

for female; pooping, urinating, menstruating