'Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.'

Genesis 28

'10 But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran. 11 And when he had come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place. 12 And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it. 13 And the Lord leaning upon the ladder saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: The land, wherein you sleep, I will give to you and to your seed. 14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth: you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and your seed, all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. 15 And I will be your keeper wherever you go, and will bring you back into this land: neither will I leave you, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said. 16 And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.'

I'm halfway through listening to a thrilling podcast from 'Encounter', called 'Black Fire on White Fire', which is about biblical Hebrew and the intertwining of it's patterns through Judaic thought.

'Thrilling?' I hear you say, with one eyebrow raised.

Thrilling, yes, because of the distinction it makes regarding the use of language in a Christianity vs Judaism dichotomy - framed roughly as syllogistic versus dialogic approaches to 'The Word of God'. Syllogisms contain their own logical flow, a directional end is indicated, and in Christianity this is shaped by the J-man, nailed and drooping on the cross in John 19:30, uttering 'it is finished'. The messenger who (is conflated as) the message has been, and gone. The revealed truth, described as the transformation of the crucifixion in Christianity, has but one task to complete -thy will be done. Language is merely the means used to describe the all-important content, of one sandal wearer's life.

Judaism is contrasted with this - in Judaism, language is not only the vehicle, language is the transformation. In one way to me this looks like a step backward, where developmentally, it looks a little like belief or holiness is a little more closely and directly invested in the revelation that emerges from the words.

But, in the words of David Patterson from an interview in the podcast, 'In Judaism, where there's revelation, there's a question, and the question put to the first human being is 'Where are you?'.

So, another view is that the little bit of holiness, or belief, that is invested in the living translations of the text allow the text to sprout a few more leaves of possibility, to draw an awkward analogy. There's a little more openness to the co-emergence that happens when an old story is redefined in a language that morphs and changes with the people who grow and use it.

By extension I could get all carried away and propose that maybe this serves as a cue to keep our human minds a little more open as well. Twill be good to listen to the rest of the podcast, yea verily:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/encounter/stories/2009/2743723.htm

I think close inspection of both the transformative movement and the utopian obsession is well warranted, and feels to me to be somewhat overdue.

From whence arises this fascination with teleology and salvation? If it's an ancient vestige of a primitive mind, how come both, dressed up in different ways in our postmodern era, are still so 'at hand'?

I love the Genesis line in the title. That's something to wake up to, everyday, for sure.