Mirabile Visu

Rachel and I walked about 20 miles during our long weekend together in Washington D. C. Our final adventure, before my flight home, took us to the Washington National Cathedral (the Episcopal Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul).

The Space Window on the south aisle of the National Cathedral contains a piece of lunar rock that was presented to the Cathedral by the astronauts of Apollo XI

The Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA) currently threatens to rip itself apart over the issues of homosexuality and women's ordination. The 2003 confirmation of a non-celibate homosexual bishop brought feelings about the liberalizing influences within the denomination to a head.

The introduction of Liberal Protestantism ... complicated the nature of Anglican diversity, for Liberal Protestants did not value the historic instruments of Anglican unity. They did not believe many of the items in the historic creeds, did not consider the ecumenical councils binding, and held to an understanding of Scripture that was at odds with the way that Evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics, and even Broad Church Anglicans had affirmed its primacy. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it became commonplace for Liberal Anglicans to reject belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ (William Sanday), the deity of Christ (The Myth of God Incarnate), and even the existence of God (the Sea of Faith Movement). — William G. Witt

The current controversies within ECUSA are a clanging contrast to the sublime beauty of their National Cathedral:

Washington National Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world and the second largest in the United States. (St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is the largest church in the world and Saint John’s in New York City is the largest cathedral in the United States.)...The exterior of the Cathedral is almost the length of two football fields....The principal building material of the cathedral is Indiana limestone, chosen because it is superior for both construction and carving....The Cathedral is a solid masonry structure, the limestone blocks are laid one on top of the other with mortar between them. The flying buttresses are also solid stone and they help hold up the walls by bracing them....The Cathedral weighs 150,000 tons. The average piece of stone weighs 300 pounds. The heaviest stone in the Cathedral is the 5.5-ton boss over the west balcony.

Begun in 1907 and completed in 1990, the National Cathedral was built to stand for a thousand years. Rachel and I entered at the crypt level and saw engraved inscriptions dedicating this amazing building to the glory of God. Yes, God prefers obedience to sacrifice (1Sa 15.22), and one could disdain this architectural wonder as a diversion of an immense amount of money that could have been "given to the poor" (cf. Mat 26.9). However, the Cathedral is a fait accompli, its builders intended it for God's glory, and I encourage everyone to visit it and let the God of beauty minister to you there.

Bethlehem Chapel, crypt level, National Cathedral, November 5, 2006.

When Rachel and I ascended to the Cathedral nave, the sky-rocketing space took my breath away.

• The Cathedral nave, from the marble floor to the vaulting, is ten stories high.
• The Cathedral’s center tower is as tall as a thirty-story building.
• The central tower is 676 feet above sea level, making its top the highest point in the District of Columbia.

Here's the main altar:

And here's one of the famous Rose Windows, the West Rose Window:

• There are 215 stained glass windows in the Cathedral.
• The north rose window is the Cathedral’s largest stained glass window at 26 feet in diameter.
• More than 10,500 pieces of stained glass make up the west rose window.

The phenomenon of beauty is one reason I believe in the existence of God. In spite of the ECUSA's troubles, and my disinclination to encourage big church buildings, the National Cathedral lifted my heart and mind to the heavens.

A Day At The Museum

Like Alex in Everything Is Illuminated, I didn't always appreciate history. Perhaps unlike Alex, though, I always craved meaning and purpose. In time I came to appreciate the fact that with a greater apprehension of history comes a deeper sense of meaning and a clearer sense of purpose.

Ergo, museums draw me. And of course there are no museums like the Smithsonian complex in Washington D. C. After our jaw-dropping tour of the In The Beginning exhibit at the Sackler Gallery (see previous post), Rachel and I tried to take in as many of the Smithsonian galleries as we possibly could. Having once collected butterflies, I quite enjoyed the insect gallery at the Museum of Natural History. I found the ornithology display rather Hitchcockian, but appreciated it nonetheless. It's always a pleasure to see a T-Rex of course, along with various fossil R.O.U.S's.

Having read Spindler's Man in the Ice, I found the display dedicated to that 5,300-year-old Neolithic hunter a wonderful shrine to the mystery of his life and death. I was also intrigued by a nearby display of a man of antiquity "taming a goat." I had no idea that taming a goat took so long, but the gentleman in the display obviously would not give up!
Because of my work, I'm most interested in the Ancient Near East exhibits. Mummified cats don't have much to do with my areas of specialty, but cats have never gotten over their deification in antiquity, have they? The attitude that "humans are just household staff/furniture" shows right through the sarcophagus of this specimen. I know a couple of his/her descendants who have definitely inherited the regal disdain for mere humans; they let me know by leaving a "present" on top of my suitcase.

Also, though I don't know much about Egyptian heiroglyphics, I recognize a rock star swinging a mic stand when I see one:
Okay, I'll get serious. My interest in artifacts of the ANE and of the Mediterranean world has to do with their potential to illuminate biblical texts.

Cistophoros (or cistophorus, cistophor), a silver coin first issued in the Kingdom of Pergamon (Pergamum) in the 2nd Century B.C., meaning "chest bearer", relating to the cista mystica, the serpent-entwined chest or basket of the Dionysian Mysteries, that originally appeared on it. It was a type of tetradrachm worth 3 denarii in Roman times.

For example, this tedrachm from Pergamum (Pergamos) features the Aescuplapian serpents worshipped in that city. Pergamum worshipped the serpent in connection with Dionysias (Bacchus), as a fertility symbol and a god of healing. (Hislop claims that serpent worship was brought to Pergamum from Babylon in the time of Darius.) Since Pergamum was the capital of the region (and cultural center) until AD 133, it may have been this serpent worship that prompted Christ's words to the Pergamum Christians (in Revelation 2.13): "I know where you live -- where Satan has his throne."

Speaking of Babylon, I was excited to see this pottery sculpture of a Babylonian man in the Smithsonian's ANE display:
Notice the conical crown and hat-like brim of the turban, the shoulder length hair and trimmed beard, the necklace and pendant, and full-length robe. It's because of artifacts like these that we can visualize how people of the Arabian peninsula looked in the time of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar!

I know that it's fashionable among Darwinists and other skeptics Bible these days, but this much is certain: unlike more recently originated "holy books," the Bible, Old Testament and New, originated in a real cultural and historical matrix. The Smithsonian even displays a signet ring attributed to "Jotham, son the Judaean king Uzziah, who 'built Elath and restored it to Judah.'" (2Chron 26.2). The ring was "found in the third level of Tell el-Kheleifeh...The inscription reads 'belonging to Jotham.'...The seal indicates Jotham's function as an official of Elath, whose approval was needed on various economic transactions."

The Bible is not a book of fairy tales that occurred in a remote but unspecified time (long, long ago) in a mythical place (far, far away). It is primarily a history book, anchored by specific names, dates and cultural allusions to well known geographical and historical settings. Anyone can verify this by spending a day at the museum. Whether or not one accepts the supernatural elements in the biblical stories, the Bible's authors intended it to be read as a report of historical events.

Give Me A '63 Lincoln

I recently perused several dozen anti-Taliban cartoons and pictorial spoofs on the internet ... and I was not amused. Half the cartoons were obscene, most of them were hate-blinded and almost all advocated dealing with the Taliban (and terrorists-in-general) by a simple application of overwhelming force (e.g., nuking the entire country of Afghanistan into a lakebed). I suppose that by now some of the cartoonists have realized that Taliban totalitarianism and Islamic jihadism is not a problem that can be bombed into oblivion, but I was appalled by the ignorance and stupidity displayed by these American artists. Mind you, I hate terrorism and despotism, and I love political cartoons. I am not opposed to the use of military force and I profoundly respect and support our U. S. troops wherever they are deployed. However, I detest the delusion that a people's ideology can be changed by force and epithets.

I salute those who recognize that an ideological enemy must be respected and understood before it can be defeated. I congratulate those who condemn the perpetrators of evil, but who do not confuse those perpetrators with their dissenters of the same nation, race or religion.

Sunset photo of the Lincoln Memorial by Kaaren Graciano

I pray for myself and my fellow Americans, that we would rediscover the nobility that our forefathers demonstrated in the face of war. And that if possible, our nobility would not come at the high price they paid for theirs. God, give us the grace to "overcome evil with good" (Rom 12.21).

Salute To The American Soldier

Photo by Kaaren Graciano, Arlington, VA, September 2006

You have carpeted beaches with your bodies so your fellows could wrest island hills from the imperialist aggressor. You have liberated death camps so skeletal survivors could be "born again." You have fought unpopular wars against fanatical foes, but have always done your duty and never decided that the price of honor was too high. You have insured, at high cost, that Saddam will never again remunerate the families of suicide bombers. For this and infinitely more, I salute you, I thank you.

This photo and the one above it, by Roderick.
The Viet Nam Memorial, Washington D. C., Nov 2006

In The Beginning

Part of the Smithsonian Castle.

Rachel and I agreed to prioritize some of the Smithsonian museums on our walks, as there was a spectacular display of biblical manuscripts, called "In The Beginning" at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The display included fragment samples from the Cairo Genizah, and manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library and much more. Never again in my life do I expect to see so many examples of the world's most important biblical manuscripts all under one roof. The good news is that you can see the display online at:

In The Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1,000

Upscale and Downhill In Rosslyn

The apartment bldg. in Rosslyn where Rachel lives. Photo by Kaaren Graciano.

As one of my first adventures in the Washington D. C. metropolis, I walked the neighborhood where Rachel lives, the Rosslyn district of Arlington. Any neighborhood that has public (commissioned) art is pretty classy in my book. Within a few block's of Rachel's apartment I found "Cupid's Garden" and "Chicago Titan":
(No, I don't know what Mr. Chicago is doing in Arlington, VA, but I can see why he hasn't shaved.)

I enjoyed walking the canyon-like parts of Wilson Street. The buildings climb skyward a few more stories than in my home neighborhood.
And then there's the Metro. It's just like the London Underground (The Tube), and makes zipping around greater D. C. a breeze. As further evidence that Rachel is a true Smarty Pants, she's figured out how to walk downhill both to and from work. She walks downhill in the morning to one Metro station, then after work takes the subway to the Metro station just past her apartment building, and walks downhill home!

Metro Photo by Kaaren Graciano, Sep 2006

The Other Washington

At the beginning of November, I altered my routine again to walk in Washington D. C. I spent a long weekend in our nation's capital visiting our daughter Rachel (affectionately known as Coco). It was the week of her swearing-in at the State Department. I must admit I was busting my buttons with pride as our Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, led Rachel and her fellow officers in their oath of service.

Speaking of Dr. Rice, I must say she spoke with all the intelligence and poise for which she is known in the media. It would be a privilege to work with such a person. I don't envy her the foreign policy challenges she faces, but I wish her God's blessing!

Rachel was hired by the State Dept. and has done her training with 92 fellow classmates, some of whom are shown here posing with Secretary Rice. (The arrow points to Rachel.)
There were 93 embassy and consulate positions open, among which this class of new Foreign Service Officers would be posted. My wife and I are very proud that in spite of the competition, Rachel won her first-choice posting and will spend a two-year tour in Tel Aviv, Israel. (She will study Hebrew full-time in D. C. until leaving for the Middle East in August, 2007.)

While I'm bragging, we were tickled to read in a The New York Times article on "The Foreign Service Exam" by TAMAR LEWIN (December 17, 2006), that the test is "perhaps the nation's leading smarty-pants exam":

THE path to the Foreign Service has always been straight and narrow: the first step is the written test, perhaps the nation's leading smarty-pants exam. Since 1932, hundreds of thousands of applicants have grappled with a half-day of questions on geography, English usage, history, math, economics, culture and more.

"It's like being on a golf course," said Justin Norton, a 26-year-old who flunked the test this year and last, but wants to take it again. "You've got all the sand traps, the water hazards. I remember I didn't understand the question about economies of scale. I remember something about Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. And sometimes even when I knew it, like a question about George Kennan and containment policy, I got it wrong anyway."

It is not an easy exam to study for. The State Department suggests reading a good daily newspaper for a year. There are prep books, and at places with lots of applicants, like the Fletcher School at Tufts University, maybe even a study group. But mostly, people prepare on their own, looking through a world atlas, the Constitution or the word problems they did on the SAT.

Still, the exam gets rid of most applicants. More than three-quarters of the 17,000 to 20,000 who take the exam each year flunk. Even those who pass often remember for years the lacunae in their general knowledge exposed by the test.... (emphasis mine)

Rachel passed the exam on her first try. Not bad for a home-schooled girl whose higher education never included college!

I was intrigued to learn all the different titles that Rachel has as a Foreign Service Officer, including a military rank. She is a vice-consul, a third secretary and a first lieutenant. In view of the New York Times article, we're now addressing Rachel as, "Vice-Consul, Third Secretary, First Lieutenant Smarty Pants Coco."