I lOVE this one!! I'm not exactly sure why I like this reading so much, but it really intrigues me. There is Jacob, in the dark, alone. You could assume he's thinking about his his life, what he'd done to his brother many years prior.
In a nutshell - Jacob and his brother are VERY different, and each of the parents has their favorite son. His brother Essau is very out-doorsy, a rough & tough (tattoos and piercing perhaps, leather wearing man of few words) whose supposed to inherit the birthrght from the father. Jacob is the book worm type, not interested in outdoor activities or anything that involves physical abilities. Jacob's mother conspires with him to steal the birthright from her oldest son Essau (Some of these bible families can can have more dysfunction and drama than Soap Opera families!) from his dying father. After the deed is done, his mother tells him he has to leave or his brother will kill him for what he's done! So off he goes into the world, leaving this very disfunctional family behind him. And he has some other adventures. He get's married... to two women... sisters. And eventually becomes very prosperous.
For whatever reason, he feels it's time to make right with his brother, so he packs up everything he owns (animals, household goods, everything), and everyone (wives, children, servants) and heads out to meet his brother. He has no idea how his brother will receive him (or not receive him, as the case may be). He stops at this place by a river. On the other side of the river starts his brother's lands. Now what to do? He sends off his animals first. Then his servants. His wives and children cross the river last.
Why would you think he'd want to send his animals to his brother first... then his servants... then his family... then send himself? It may be that if his brother is still very angry about what happened... he'd want to take it out on someone. That's what the animals are for. And if he's STILL angry, he might take it out on his servants (who are next)... and if THAT'S not enough... there is always Jacobs wives and children coming after the servants. So once Jacob himself comes across the river to meet Essau, Essau's anger could be satisfied enough that he would not kill Jacob.
So everyone's been sent across, and there is Jacob alone... with nothing to do but think about what he's done, and the ramifications of his life up to that point. And it's dark. Then an "angel"(?) comes and begins to wrestle with him. He asks the angel to bless him. He's fighting to be blessed. All night they fight! And he's just about to win when the angel does something with his hip, dislocates it or something - we don't know exactly, but it is very painful. But he ends up pinning the angel anyway.
Then the angel asks a rather obvious question... "What's your name?" He responds... "My name is Jacob". Then the angel says... "From now on your name is Israel, because you have struggled with the divine and have prevailed!" As if struggling with God is a GOOD thing?! Fascinating!
Then HE changes the name of the place he was at, and the name he calls it means something to the effect of- I have seen God face-to-face and have lived. But the interesting thing is, in the ancient Jewish tradition... a human being cannot see God face to face and LIVE. God's power is is too much for a human to tolerate. Yet he believes he's seen God face to face!
From there he limps off to meet his brother... a profundly changed man! And the encounter with his brother is very positive.
In the bible a name change reflects a deeper change in the person. So why... why... did he struggle with and angel (as if he struggled with God) in the first place... and on top of this his name is changed. In the bible, it's GOD the one that changes peoples names. Abrahm to Abraham, Saul to Paul...
***He's alone, in the dark, quite literally struggling with something... holy. So let me ask you... Could he have been struggling with his own demons so to speak? How can demons be "holy"? There is a tradition that says that sometimes when God wants to us to face something in our lives; to grow, to be better people, etc., or response to this can be pain, or struggle, or refusal at first. Because of our initial reaction to God's call... we may perceive it as NEGATIVE.. not as an Angel, but as a Devil. Is God evil.... no. God's desire for us is always for our good. Yet sometimes we're not interested in God's good for us. We Don't want to grow... So in that frame of mind, we might see something Holy as an evil -- to us.
Is this a classic example of a person coming to grips with their own short-comings, their past actions, their negative choices... struggling with them in a real and earthy way... and not letting this go until he can see the sun rising on it... and getting blessed from the struggle?
What came from this struggle? A renewed relationship with his brother, whom he'd really cheated!
What came from this struggle? A new Jacob! A healthier Jacob!
What came from this struggle? A blessed Jacob!
Is this a metaphor for the classic struggle we're all to make... to face our pasts, our unhealthy choices? What else do you all see in this?
Pastor Chad
1 comment:
I should have mentioned up front that this is one of the readings for this Sunday.
I believe life is sacred. And the more we move towards health, the more sacred it is. At least the more sacred it might seem as we travel the path. When we make conscious choices for health, when we foster positive mental habits (whether it be for discipline in life or limiting unhealthy thoughts) we uncover the sacred in life more and more.
But it seems that part of "uncovering the sacred" in life also has to do with Facing the Demon (or Angel, as the case may be -- We're still going to struggle and fight... and maybe get wounded as jacob did)
Karl Jung, the father of a particular form of psychoanalysis, wrote many years ago... "Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering". Redemption takes work! Maybe the story of Jacob has to do with Redemption and/or Salvation!
I like the idea that the word "Salvation" has to do with Healing ("Salve" etc.) Theologically a case could be made that "Salvation" as a place or a condition of life, is connected to emotional, psychological, and spiritual health. The healthier we are, the more in a state of Salvation?
However, it takes work to get there. We must struggle and fight sometimes, but it's a struggle worth fighting. Remember the scene in one of the earlier Star Wars movies where Luke is on the planet with Yoda getting the Jedi training? He has to enter the cave and fight his biggest enemy. He enters tentatively. Slowly. Who's he going to face? What will his enemy look like? Soon he sees what looks like Darth Vader preparing to fight him. And they fight, light sabers moving and twirling around. At some point in the struggle, the face mask of the Darth Vader character is torn off. And the face inside the is Luke's. So symbolic of the internal discipline required to stay on the path.
It can certainly be painful, but in some respect the struggle, the conflict with self, NEEDS to happen so we can do the hard work of growing.
I think this is where the Jungian quote comes in. I wonder if he's saying we NEED to face our demons (or Angels) that we NEED to do the hard work of facing our darker sides so that we can become HEALTHIER... and I'd add closer to salvation!
Did Bill W. know this kind of thing when he and his partner came up with the precursor to the 12 steps? Here are a few of the steps today:
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
We all have something (or somethings) we need to really look at and address, that which if we did address, we'd actually be healthier. I think Scott Peck said the bravest people are those that enter psychotherapy in order to address that which is holding them back.
And in the end... the more we face... as difficult as it may be... the more we're blessed??
C-
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