Watching the Snow

I am sitting in my kitchen looking at the three foot drift of snow that has covered my patio. There's a chance I may be looking at more snow before the winter is over. As I stated in previous blogs, I am not a scientist. I don't know if this snow is a result of global warming or a new ice age. I am sure that we are destroying our world (don't blame me, I'm trying to help by driving a hybrid). What if we took the Ten Commandments seriously. What would happen to our environment if every Saturday, no one drove a car and turned off most of their electricity?

Next, I am reading a book by Mark Smith, professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University. In it, he claims that chapter one of Genesis, the first creation story, was written in the 6th century BCE by priestly scribes. It presents a model of God that is based on priestly ritual, so that the universe becomes a divine shrine, and God is the officiating priest. This differs from the monarchic view of God as the divine warrior, a theme more common in the Ancient Near East (see my article in Leshem Shamayim a few years back). Dr. Smith will be speaking to our seniors next week, and I hope there is time to ask him a few questions about his ideas.

Now that Iran is back with its enriching of uranium, and envoys from the US government are in the Middle East, are we preparing for an Israeli or US military strike against Iran?

Lastly, politics as usual, or rather very unusal. Health care reform seems to be dead. Wall Street is being infused with tremendous sums of money to pay their bonuses. The Republicans are claiming to be the populist party while the Democrats favor big business. With mid-term elections in 2010 coming up, can Obama and the Democrats have done such a lousy job that Republicans will come back into power? Interesting times.

Enjoy the snow, and I'll see my students again in March.