Laetatus sum

Psalm 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ I rejoiced with those who said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
² Our feet are standing
    in your gates, Jerusalem.

³ Jerusalem is built like a city
    that is closely compacted together.
⁴ That is where the tribes go up—
    the tribes of the Lord—
to praise the name of the Lord
    according to the statute given to Israel.
⁵ There stand the thrones for judgment,
    the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
    “May those who love you be secure.
⁷ May there be peace within your walls
    and security within your citadels.”
⁸ For the sake of my family and friends,
    I will say, “Peace be within you.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
    I will seek your prosperity.

Friends, I'll be away for a few weeks visiting the Bible Lands with my beautiful family.  I'll see you on our return.  Take care.  I'll miss you.

Tussie-mussies

I've written about these little spring bunches before.  That's the problem with house and home type blogs - what gives you pleasure one spring time is likely to give you the same joy the next.  So it is with these little tussie-mussies.

Their alternative name is nosegay, and if you could breathe the sweet fragrance of my little posy you would smell rose and freesia and the spicy scent of coriander.  Such a gentle, peaceful treat.

Flowers have a language of their own, and it is this bright and particular language that we would teach our readers. How charmingly a young gentleman can speak to a young lady, and with what eloquent silence in this delightful language. How delicately she can respond, the beautiful little flowers telling her tale in perfumed words; what a delicate story the myrtle or the rose tells! How unhappy that which basil, or yellow rose reveals, while ivy is the most faithful of all.

Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social information and Treasury of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge by Nugent Robinson and Peter Fenlon Collier, 1882.

Traditionally, the flowers in a tussie-mussie were chosen for the message they would convey to the recipient. Amongst Victorians, the term posy itself meant 'a brief sentiment', and that's before you even began reading the meanings on the individual flowers.

 In my posy, roses mean love. I don't know the meaning behind any of the others, but love is good enough on its own to me.

Floriography is so interesting, don't you think?

A broad sweep of history

This course of historical reading is valued exceedingly by young people as affording a knowledge of the past that bears upon and illuminates the present.

Charlotte Mason A Philosophy of Education p 177

As we approach the end of AO6, we draw to the close of our first chronological history cycle.  In the past six or so years we have made a broad sweep of World History, a concomitant broad sweep of British and then Australian History, and a third broad sweep of Church History.  And to what value? Our sweep was broad, but as a consequence, it was also shallow. Superficial, even.

As we look back through our books, there are certain events that we remember - Boadicea, King Alfred learning to read - and burning the cakes, Canute and those waves, Thomas à Becket in the Cathedral, John and the Magna Carta, the Battle of Bannockburn, and the War of the Roses. We remember some of the Godly men and women from the pages of Trial and Triumph - Patrick, Francis of Assisi, Peter Waldo and the Waldensians, William Tyndale, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, the Two Margarets, Jonathan Edwards and the Chinese Christians during the Boxer Rebellion. We recall James Cook and Matthew Flinders, Governor Macquarie, Burke and Wills, Carolyn Chisholm, Ned Kelly, John Flynn, John Batman and that list - blankets, tomahawks, mirrors, eyeglasses, flour, scissors, beads.

Sadly, though, there are many, many more that remain just names.  Who was Bernard of Clairvaux?  Elizabeth of Hungary? John Huss?  David Brainerd? Why was Ethelred unready? What did Henry I do? Who was John Lackland? Which Henry was which? Was that James a good guy or a bad one? Who locked the two boys in the Tower? Where did Major Thomas Mitchell explore?  Who was Edward Eyre? There is just so much that we've forgotten.

Does that make our learning worthless?  Was the past six years of history just a waste of time?

When you read the introduction to Our Island Story, the 'spine' of AO history through the primary years, you find that the author's purpose in writing the book was to tell the story of the island that is Britain. Our Aussie book, The History of Australia describes itself as 'the story of this new country within an ancient land. Trial and Triumph calls itself a history of the church, but also a 'family history', the stories of the trials and triumphs of many...in our family of faith.

History is a collective memory.  It teaches us who we were, and how we came to be. It teaches us about the world around us. Our historical story defines our sense of national identity. It informs our attitude to ourselves, and that might be pride or shame, or sometimes both.  I believe that it is true that German students today continue to have counselling in schools to help them deal with the atrocities that their country committed during the Second World War. (Contrast this with Japan.) History teaches us how we come to be who we are.  It explains why I am more similar to the English than to Americans.  It teaches me how and why my country developed as it did.  It teaches us why my church is closer to the Presbyterian church than to the Roman Catholic, and why they are more similar to the Orthodox churches than mine is.

When I studied Australian History in school a million years ago, this broad sweep of superficial history had been replaced by an in depth look at three or four disconnected unit type themes.  During my final year we studied the Time Between the Wars, the Gold Rush, and Land Settlement.  When I finished school - and achieved an 'A' for history, I knew nothing about the exploration of Australia, nothing about the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government, and nothing much about anything in between. I had learned nothing about the things that make me who I am. It has taken AO, and its broad sweep to teach me all of that.

When I hear mums on the AO forum saying that they're replacing this chronological narrative with in depth studies on one or two areas - concentrating on American history, say, or replacing Trial and Triumph with an intensive study of two or three great men, I want to yell NO!  Isolated packets of knowledge do not do the same thing at all.  They don't tell the story.  The story is the superficial sweep of time.  It is the accumulation of lots of events that tells the tale.  It is the story of mankind.  It is the story of your country. It is the study of your church.  It is the story of you.

This doesn't mean we can't focus on two or three great men in addition to our story.  In the past years we've read biographies of Athanasius, Luther, Knox and Calvin.  We read about Captain Cook and Matthew Flinders and Burke and Wills and Ned Kelly.  We read books on Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I, of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  All this reading adds to our knowledge.    Miss Mason tells us that it' amplifies and illustrates' history, and helps children 'individualise their heroes'. (Vol 6 p 174) It brings a period of history to life. All this extra learning is good, but it isn't history.  History is a story.

The broad sweep of history is not perfect, and all history has a bias, and the bias I choose is to present Australia in a positive light.  When I study history with my daughter, I want to show her that Australia is a great country, but that it is not perfect.  I want her to form an opinion about our treatment of Aborigines.  I want her to understand the sacrifices people made so that we can have a 40 hour week (ostensibly) and have a day off on Saturday.  I want her to realise that it is only through the actions of some pretty great people that she will have a right as a woman to vote.  When we study church history, I want her to realise that these great people were mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers, and that they are the people that have made Christ's church what we see today.

I am glad that in coming years we have an opportunity to cover the pageant of history a second time.  That we will be reintroduced to our old friends, and that we will relearn about people we have forgotten.  Maybe in another six years we will be able to tell you about Bernard of Clairvaux.  Elizabeth of Hungary, and John Huss.  Or maybe not.  At any rate, we will have a far better idea of who we are, and why we live like we do.

It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts. We may not be able to recall this or that circumstance, but, 'the imagination is warmed'; we know that there is a great deal to be said on both sides of every question and are saved from crudities in opinion and rashness in action. The present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has gone before.

Charlotte Mason A Philosophy of Education p 178

Welcome Stranger!

Jemimah and I spent the night in Geelong last night, and instead of heading straight home, we decided to take the scenic route through scenery like this:

And this:

Eventually, our meandering route took us through a district known as the Golden Triangle which has produced more gold nuggets than any other in Australia. The corners of the Triangle are formed by Tarnagulla and Dunolly and Moliagul, and the latter is a tiny township with an even greater claim to fame as the home to the discovery of the world's largest gold nugget, the Welcome Stranger back in 1869.

My very favourite part of the story occurs a couple of days after John Deason and Richard Oates discovered the nugget somewhere near where Jemimah is standing in the photo above, and only an inch below the surface. After hiding the nugget until fewer people were around, the two men had finally prised it clear of the earth with a crowbar, and transported it home on the back of a bullock dray on the night of Friday 5th of February.

With a need to keep the nugget a secret all weekend while the banks were closed to avoid theft, the two men buried the nugget under the hearth and kept a fire burning on top of it. On Monday, the men decided to tell their friends of their discovery. They held a big party, and hid the nugget under a cloth at the end of the table. Midway through the night there was a great reveal, at which time the nugget was shown in all its magnificent glory. Imagine being at that party. What an amazing surprise! Bit hard to better that one, eh?

The 78 kg 'Welcome Stranger', still the world's largest-known gold nugget, was hidden under Mrs Deason's skirt, and taken to Dunolly with the men and the partygoers as guards. There, it had to be broken on an anvil before it could fit onto the bank's scales. At the time it was worth £10 000. That equates to between $3-4 million today! Within a few days of the discovery, the world's largest nugget was broken up, melted down and loaded aboard ship en route to England.

The miners were so keen to get the Welcome Stranger to safety that they even forgot to take photographs. How were their wives going to blog without photographs, I ask you? Anyhow, the photo below was taken several weeks later with a piece of quartz in place of the gold.

So there you are. Australian History brought alive. What a great way to learn. Isn't it a fantastic story?

 

On old science books

Nearly forty years ago a lady asked me to lend her some good introduction to the study of nature. I lent her a work which had been the delight of my own childhood; but she promptly returned it with a note to the effect that she could not allow her children to read it, for it was antiquated and not up to modern requirements; it stated that herring schools approach Europe from the North, whereas it had lately been discovered that they come from the South (or vice versa- I do not at this moment remember which theory was held thirty-five years ago and which twenty years before that); and, she added, there is so much that children must learn nowadays that they must not waste their time learning theories already exploded. A scientific man to whom I showed the letter remarked impatiently that the writer evidently had no idea what she was about; for, he said, what is most necessary for the children to learn is not what is the last new theory about where herrings are hatched, but how to extract the truth from a series of impressions and statements, each of which is only partially true. In this utterance we have, I think, the key to the most essential element in a truly scientific method of study; and the case is worth analyzing, for it illustrates the grave error, the cunningly hidden pitfall into which the advanced section of the educational profession fell in passing from the ancient ideal of an education based on classics to the modern ideal of an education based on science.

Mary Everest Boole. The Parents' Review Volume 9, 1898, p 597

Do you agree? Should we search for the latest books containing the most recent scientific facts and knowledge, or is there value in using old and outdated texts containing 'theories already exploded'? Or do we need both? What say you?

Jewish folksongs

A while ago I asked for suggestions of kid friendly Israeli/Jewish folksongs or Psalms and you all came up with some wonderful suggestions, both in the comments and by email.  Here, belatedly, is the list.  There are some great ones here.  Enjoy.



Hineh lo Yanoum

"Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."

Psalm 121:14



Hevenu Shalom Aleichem

 "We brought peace"



Hineh Ma Tov

"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"

Psalm 133:1

Hine mah tov
Behold how good

uMah-Nayim
and how pleasing

shevet achim gam yachad
if brothers could sit together in unity



Zum Gali Gali



And a second version of Zum Gali Gali.

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz
Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz
Hashalom lema'an ha'amin
Ha'amin lema'an hashalom

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali.

Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers
Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers
Peace shall be for all the world
All the world shall be for peace

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali.



Haikvah - The Israeli National Anthem.

Kol od balēvav pənima,
Nep̄eš yəhudi homiya,
Ulp̄aʾatē mizraḥ qadima,
Ayin leṣiyon ṣoviya;

Od lo avda tiqvatēnu,
Hatiqva bat šənot alpayim,
Liyot am ḥop̄ši bəʾarṣēnu,
Ereṣ-ṣiyon virušalayim.


As long as in the heart, within,

A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion.

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.




Dayenu

(Apparently this is a Messianic version of the song. It's pretty, though!) If anyone can help with translation/transliteration, I'd love it!



Chiribim Chiribom

Chiribim chiribom
Chiribim-bom
bim-bom bim-bom-bom
Chiribim chiribom
chiribim-bom
bim-bom-bom
Chiri biri biri biri
biri biri biri biri
Chiri biri biri
biri bim-bom-bom
Chiri biri biri
biri chiri biri bom
Chiribim-bom
bim-bom-bom
bim-bom

Lomir zingen kinderlekh
a zemerl tsuzamen
A nigndl a freylekhn
mit vertelekh
vos gramen
Di mame kokht
a lokshnsup
mit kashe un
di kneydlekh
Kumt der yontev
dir in feld
mir spiln in zikh
in dreyd-lekh

Chiribim chiribom...

Amol iz indzer rebenyu
gegangen inter veygn
Mitamol heybt on tsu
plyukhen ongisn a regn
Shrayt der rebe
tsu der khmare
Her uf gisn vaser
Zenen-ale khsidim
trukn aroys
Ot der rebe iz
aroys a naser

Chiribim chiribom...

Men zugt atsind
in stetl
Khelem lebn
nor naronim
Oyb mir zaynen
shoyn klug
gevorn mir
a sheynem ponim
Di khelmer
lakhn fun di
nakht celokhes
di gazlonim
Un zogt zhe ver
es narish iz
dan zaynen mir
khakhomim

Chiribim chiribom...

Let us sing, children, a little song together,
A little melody, a happy one, with words that rhyme.
Mame cooks a noodle soup with kasha and with kneidlekh,
And when Purim comes, we’ll play dreidels

Chiribim, Chiribom . . .

Once our dear Rabbi was going down the road
All of a sudden it started to storm and the rain poured down.
Yells the Rabbi to the storm to stop this pouring water
All the Chassidim came out dry, but the Rabbi is drenched.

Chiribim, Chiribom . . .



Hava Nagila

Let us rejoice, let us rejoice
Let us rejoice and be glad
Repeat

Let us sing, let us sing
Let us sing and be glad

Awaken, awaken brethren
Awaken brethren with a cheerful heart.



Tumbalalaika

Shteyt a bokher, un er trakht (also shteyt un trakht)
Trakht un trakht a gantse nakht
Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen
Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen

Chorus

Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, shpil balalaika
Tumbalalaika (also Shpil balalaika), freylekh zol zayn

Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn,
Vos ken vaksn, vaksn on regn?
Vos ken brenen un nit oyfhern?
Vos ken benken, veynen on trern?

Narisher bokher, was darfst du fregn?
A shteyn ken vaksn, waksn on regn.
Libe ken brenen un nit oyfhern.
A harts ken benken, veynen on trern.

Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz?
Vos iz flinker fun a moyz?
Vos iz tifer fun a kval?
Vos iz biter, biterer vi gal?

A koymen iz hekher fun a hoyz.
A kats iz flinker fun a moyz.
Di toyre iz tifer fun a kval.
Der toyt iz biter, biterer vi gal.


A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks a whole night
Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not to shame

Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be happy


Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain?
What can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?

Foolish lad, why do you have to ask?
A stone can grow, grow without rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without tears

What is higher than a house?
What is swifter than a mouse?
What is deeper than a well?
What is bitter, more bitter than gall
?
A chimney is higher than a house
A cat is swifter than a mouse
The Torah is deeper than a well
Death is bitter, more bitter than gall

Other suggestions in English:







Aren't there some absolutely wonderful songs here?  Thank you everyone who helped.

Have fun singing them, but beware - they're really catchy!!

Can biology make sense?

About 150 years ago, I graduated from Melbourne University with an Honours Degree in Human Genetics.  My thesis had been in the area of Copper Metabolism and Menkes Disease research, and when I leaf now through its pages I realise what a huge amount I've forgotten.  My, I was so clever back then!

My degree in the early 80s (isn't that 150 years ago?) included such subjects as Principles of Genetics; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Population Genetics; Genes and Genomes; Human and Medical Genetics; Genes, Organisation and Function; Genetic Analysis; and Protein Structure and Function, as well as Chemistry, Mathematics, Statistics, Physiology, Psychology.  The course also offered a subject called Evolutionary Genetics, a single term third year  unit that I chose not to study, given that I am a Creationist, and all that stuff.  It wasn't a problem - I completed my undergraduate degree well enough to be accepted into the Honours programme, and the rest is history.

If I chose to do genetics now, my life wouldn't be so easy.  You can't even choose to major in genetics at my alma mater, The University of Melbourne, without taking Genetics and the Evolution of Life in first year, while in third year you'll study Evolution and the Human Condition, and Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, amongst other things.  Being a Christian Geneticist in 1981 was a little bit difficult.  In 2013, it appears almost impossible.

During the past few weeks I've been bringing myself up to speed with the latest advances in this fascinating field.  The genetics of my university days is practically antediluvian - not a single gene had been isolated back in 1981; the entire human genome has been mapped since then.  IVF, revolutionary in 1978 with the birth of Louise Brown - who is now 35 - is now a routine, albeit still very expensive, procedure.  Gene Therapy, then a dream, is now very close, especially in Parkinson's disease and cystic fibrosis. Genetic Engineering and the alteration of genetic material are possible, and genetically modified food is a reality.

What I've been reading makes me realise that modern day genetic studies present a real and significant challenge to to Christians attempting to accommodate new scientific knowledge to biblical teaching.  Which is something we should all want to do.

Take for example, Sam Kean's new book, The Violinist's Thumb.  If you've read The Disappearing Spoon, you will know that Kean is a skilled writer of fascinatingly entertaining living science books, and The Violinist's Thumb is no exception.  The thing is, though, that the book is not just a summary of the genetics I learned in University and any subsequent advances.  Rather, the blurb on the back tells us that the book 'untangles the secrets of our genetic code, explaining how genetics has shaped our past and how DNA will determine humankind's future.'  Sam Kean's book is based on Theodosius Dobzhansky's premise that nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution, and he takes much time and many pages to explain just how our DNA shows that we evolved from the primeval slime, and how and why.  Although The Violinist's Thumb is definitely an informative and fascinating book, it is not one I would recommend to young Christians until they are confident of their own beliefs.

At the same time as I've been reading The Violinist's Thumb, I've also been reading Francis Collins' The Language of God.  Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading geneticists.  He is also a Christian.  In The Language of God, Collins explains how he reconciles his faith with science.  Collins believes that Evolution is part of God's Creation process, and he asserts that fundamentalist Creationism forces believers to choose either their faith or science, but not both. To be honest, I haven't found Collins' book easy reading either, since he also challenges many of my beliefs, in a different way from Sam Kean, but in an equally insidious way.  For the first time in my life I found myself reconsidering many foundational beliefs that I had been quite comfortable with before.

Last week I neared the end of  The Violinist's Thumb, and on page 373 I came across my friend Francis Collins.  He's described - and sort of ridiculed -  like this:

Francis Collins took over the (Human Genome Project) after Watson's resignation, albeit over the objection of some scientists.  Collins had done fundamental genetics work at the University of Michigan; he'd found the DNA responsible for cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease and had consulted on the Lincoln DNA project.  He was also fervently Christian and some regarded him as 'ideologically unsound'. (After receiving the consortium job officer, Collins spent an afternoon praying in a chapel seeking Jesus's guidance.  Jesus said go for it.) 

(In Collins' book, he explains the same situation by saying that during those hours in the chapel a peace settled over him and a few days later he accepted the offer. He specifically states that he did not 'hear' God speak. Our Lord certainly did not tell him, "Go for it!")

It occurred to me when I read this passage that Francis Collins should be a real hero for young Christians. Regardless of whether his beliefs are the same as mine or not, I have absolutely no doubt that he is a Christian.  His faith has given him significant grief, and has most definitely affected his career in a negative way. Have a look at this article written by Sam Harris in The New York Times on the occasion of Collins appointment as Director of the American National Institutes of Health. In this, and in an expanded article on his website, Sam Harris questions Collins' appointment:

Francis Collins is an accomplished scientist and a man who is sincere in his beliefs. And that is precisely what makes me so uncomfortable about his nomination. Must we really entrust the future of biomedical research in the United States to a man who sincerely believes that a scientific understanding of human nature is impossible?

Of course, Sam Harris fails to understand the point - the link between moral behaviour and genetics can be explained by Christians.  One explanation is here, if you want to read it.  The issue is greater than this, though, since Harris is almost implying that Christians can't be good scientists. Not even one with such 'liberal' views as Francis Collins.  Where does that leave those of us who believe in Creation - young or old earth, or Intelligent Design? Are we just dismissed as fools and crazy things?

When I read Theodosius Dobzhansky's quote on FaceBook this past week, it was followed by a long list of comments by irate Christians defending our faith.  What I'm betting many of them were not aware of, though, is that Dobzhansky was not an atheist - he was a Russian Orthodox Christian.  Dobzhansky was a geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and like Collins, was highly critical of anti-evolution creationism. In 1973 Dobzhansky wrote an essay entitled Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution. Here are a couple of quotes from that essay:

I am a creationist and an evolutionist. Evolution is God's, or Nature's method of creation. Creation is not an event that happened in 4004 BC; it is a process that began some 10 billion years ago and is still under way.

Does the evolutionary doctrine clash with religious faith? It does not. It is a blunder to mistake the Holy Scriptures for elementary textbooks of astronomy, geology, biology, and anthropology. Only if symbols are construed to mean what they are not intended to mean can there arise imaginary, insoluble conflicts. ...the blunder leads to blasphemy: the Creator is accused of systematic deceitfulness.

What I am coming to realise as I muddle my way through the genome and evolutionary biology is that there is no topic more divisive amongst Christians, none more likely to raise the hackles.  Christians parents need to think very carefully about their own position on these subjects, but they also need to recognise that they are not salvation issues.  Many of our Christian brothers and sisters will believe very differently from us, and their opinions do need to be respected. Our children may reach a different conclusion to us on this topic, and still be firm in their faith.

Modern day scientific knowledge can be challenge to Christianity, but the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  We must not dismiss all science as dangerous and unreliable.  If we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, then we do believe that eventually we will find science to be compatible with what is contained within the pages of our Bibles. Science and faith must overlap eventually, and one day we will discover just how that will pan out.  Beware, though, it may be in quite different in appearance than what we are expecting now. Take care not to end up with egg on your face.

I will have Jemimah read both of these books, but not until Year 11 or 12.  By then, she will know what she believes, and it will be wonderful to discuss the way science is now... or then.  I wonder what we will discover in the next 6 years!  If you're looking for a book to read with your younger kids, you may enjoy Who made the Moon by Sigmund Brouwer.  My muddled thoughts about this book are here. I read it as a read aloud with Jemimah and her Daddy in AO6.  Jemimah remains a young earth creationist.  Her Daddy is not so sure.  Her Mummy is just confused.  As you can tell.

I have written a few posts now about this topic and those like it, as I work on AO's Living Science project.  I'm sorry if you're finding me repetitive.  I promise that usual programming will resume shortly, but thank you to those of you who are still listening and helping me grapple here.  I really appreciate it. I have also now finished both of these books, and I'm now reading The Monk in the Garden. Maybe it'll be a bit less controversial.  Maybe.

Integrating the Bible with history

Last year we saw this tablet at the Melbourne Museum's terrific exhibition showcasing the wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia.  If you are cleverer than I am, and can read it, you will know that the tablet is part of a narrative of the main events of the years 605-595 BC, and tells of Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC, the deportation of Jehoiachin and his family, and the beginning of the Babylonian exile. 2 Chron 36:9,10 and 2 Kings 24:15-17

I felt quite emotional when I saw the tablet and recognised it as actual archaeological evidence for this major Biblical event.  Christians, of course, believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God, and that God himself maintains the integrity and accuracy of his word through the work of the Holy Spirit.  As such, we believe that its historical accounts are flawlessly accurate, and so it should not be surprising to find archaeological evidence confirming the events recorded in his Word, but it was pretty cool all the same.

Despite this inerrancy, it is really difficult to chronologically calibrate early Biblical history.  Some Christians use genealogies, others generations of forty years.  Still others look at the reigns of kings.  Some believe in continuous lists; others allow overlap or omissions.  Attempts, therefore, to date Moses and the Exodus, the birth of Abraham, Noah's Flood and the actual date of Creation have proved controversial.  As a consequence, in my family, we choose not to attempt to date these events when compiling Books af Centuries and timelines.  It is just too easy to make a mistake.

All such controversy over the dates of the Babylonian exile disappears, however, when you have evidence like that contained on this little stone tablet.  The exile happened in 597 BC.  It did.  It has been substantiated by archaeological evidence, and importantly, that evidence fits with the evidence contained in Scripture.  It is easy to add it to timelines with confidence (and so we did!)

We also made a decision to introduce the Bible as history during this time period into our school history, given that the history was so much easier to reconcile with Biblical events.   The credibility of Scripture is certainly a multifaceted issue, and dating the early Bible is really difficult, but the events of the exile are easier to substantiate than earlier periods.

And so this is what we did...

The events of the exile occur between Chapters XXXIII and XXXIV of H. A Guerber's The Story of the Greeks, which is read in AO6, and this year of Ancient History was the perfect chance to integrate Biblical History with our basic history spine.  During this term we read Bible as a history source, integrating the passages of Scripture where they fitted in our readings. As an introduction, we read the Bible texts of the exile during Week 16 of AO6.  (You can find a summary of our readings at the end if you want them.)

Daniel 1 tells of the taking of Daniel and other members of Judah's elite into captivity in 605 BC. 2 Chronicles 36 describes the taking of Jehoiakim in 597 BC.  Three months and ten days later the events narrated in the tablet occur, as told in 2 Chronicles 36 and 2 Kings 24. Finally, after a siege lasting about one and a half years, Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed in 596 BC.  We read in 2 Kings 25 that most of the people were taken to Babylon, along with the articles from the temple.  Only the poorest people remained.

He (Nebuchadnezzar) carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”

2 Chron 36:20-23 NIV

The decrees of Cyrus the Great allowing the people of Judah to return home, occurred in the first year of his reign.  He was later defeated and killed by Sythians, and Sythia was taken over by Darius, The Great King.  We learn about The Great King in detail in Chapter XL of The Story of the Greeks. This is the Darius mentioned in Chapter 6 of Ezra (but not the Darius the Mede of Daniel, which is why we don't read Daniel 9, because it confuses small people.), and so this is a great time to read this fascinating historical book. There are 10 Chapters of Ezra.  We read two per day during Week 17 in Term II.

Darius is killed, and succeeded by his Son, Xerxes.  We read about that in Chapter XLVII. Xerxes, otherwise known as Ahasuerus, is the husband of Hadassah...otherwise known as Esther.  We read about her in Week 18.

Xerxes, in turn, is succeeded by his son, Artaxerxes, whom we are introduced to at the end of Chapter LV. It is Artaxerxes who commissions Ezra to take charge of the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Jewish nation, and we read that decree in Ezra 7:13-28.  Later, in Artaxerxes' 20th year, Nehemiah, his cupbearer, hears from his brother that Jerusalem remains without walls and returns to restore them.  We read the first of 13 Chapters of Nehemiah during Week 19.

The history of God’s people in the Old Testament closes at the end of the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. God’s people have returned to  their homeland. The temple has been rebuilt, and worship has been restored.  It would be 400 more years before our Saviour would come into the world, and the New Testament would begin.  And we read about that in AO6 Term III!

We found our integration of history in Term II fascinating, and we learned a great deal. Below, in summary, are the Bible passages we read.  It is my hope that some of you might find them useful too.

Week 16: The Exile: 605-597 BC

Day 1: Daniel Chapter 1
Day 2: 2 Kings 24
Day 3: 2 Chronicles36
Day 4: Jeremiah 25: 1-14
Day 5: Jeremiah 29: 1-23

Week 17: Return from Exile with Zerubbabel : 536 BC

Day 1: Ezra 1,2 (Search for interesting info in the list of names.)
Day 2: Ezra 3,4
Day 3: Ezra 5,6
Day 4: Ezra 7,8
Day 5: Ezra 9,10

Week 18: Those who remain in Persia  497 B.C to 466 BC

Day 1: Esther 1,2
Day 2: Esther 3,4
Day 3: Esther 5,6
Day 4: Esther 7,8
Day 5: Esther 9,10

Week 19: Nehemiah returns with additional exiles  444 BC

Day 1: Nehemiah 1,2
Day 2:Nehemiah 3,4
Day 3:Nehemiah 5,6:1-14
Day 4:Nehemiah 6:15-8:18
Day 5:Nehemiah 9,10

Week 20

Day 1: Nehemiah 11,12
Day 2: Nehemiah 13

Leopard orchid

 

Jemimah and I were entranced by this tiny yellow native orchid during our wander through The Basin Picnic Area near St Arnaud today. I think it's a Leopard Orchid, Diuris pardina, but if you know better, please do let us know.

 

I can't believe how close we were to missing it just because we were lazy. I'd caught the flash of yellow, but I figured that it was a scraggly wattle or the much more common Gorse Bitter Pea, Daviesia ulicifolia, and I almost didn't go over to have a look. I'm so glad we did.

 

Last time we were at The Basin for nature study, Jemimah was 6 years old. You can see how cute she was here, if you want.

The change of seasons

This morning I exchanged the winter obi covering the altar table in the front hall, with its scene of birds and snow, for this one scattered with pretty pastel spring blooms. So serene.

We rotate our home's interiors based on the Japanese aesthetic concept called shun - seasonality. When a new season arrives - according to the weather, not the calendar - we change our seasonal displays and our decorations - cushions, throws, candles. It is rare that these occur at the same time, but this year the weather gained ten degrees on the first of September. Lovely.

Along with the change in our interiors, so is there a change in the rhythm of our days. Jemimah packed her morning books into a bag this morning and headed out to the hammock with the dog and a long glass of iced water. Gone are the days of snuggling under her blankets to read - de rigueur only a week or so ago. She'll read our there for an hour or so, and then come back inside for a piece of fruit and a narration, and a bit of table work. Perhaps this afternoon we'll head out to the recliners on the deck while I read Ben Hur aloud. I'd like that.

I've learned that its not worth spending too long over-scheduling our days. We have a list to get through by the end of each day, week, and term, but the order will change not only with the season, but also with our mood, or simply on a whim. A day like today simply screams 'come outside'. Postponing that nature walk simply because its not on the schedule until Thursday seems counterintuitive, somehow.

Adjusting our days like this seems sort of peaceful. It allows time for a morning perigrination around the garden, coffee in hand, to inspect the abundant spring growth. It lets us discover new birds like the Blue-faced Honeyeater we spotted this morning and then learn more about them in our field guide. A Charlotte Mason education allows plenty of time for these rabbit trails, because it encourages learning all the time, not just in school hours, and those school hours can be done in a morning - or an afternoon, as you choose, but don't take up both. There is still time for living.

Today there are little reminders of spring all around my home. Camellias, freesias, orchids. They make me feel really happy. And the best bit? It will be spring tomorrow as well. And every day for the next three months. And then it will be summer. And you know something? I love summer too, and the long evenings,and the holidays and Christmas. Plus, I have a lovely collection of summer obis to enjoy on the altar table in the front hall.

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21 NIV