Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Luke 12 -- strange arithmatic

Jesus warns his disciples that adversity is in the picture. They can expect to become the targets of ire from high places. Religious and political leaders will take a personal, unfriendly, interest in them. However, they are not to worry. After all, God's arithmetic adds up in their favor:
Luk 12:6 Beş serçe iki meteliğe satılmıyor mu? Ama bunlardan bir teki bile Tanrı katında unutulmuş değildir.
Luk 12:7 Nitekim başınızdaki bütün saçlar bile sayılıdır. Korkmayın, siz birçok serçeden daha değerlisiniz.
Are not five sparrows sold for two tiny coins? Yet God does not forget when one of them falls to the ground. A few Turkish words could use unpacking here:
  • başınızdaki -- those that are on your head
  • bütün -- all
  • saçlar -- hairs
  • bile -- thus
  • sayılıdır -- are numbered. Taken into account. The Greek verb used here, ἠρίθμηνται, is the source of the English word arithmetic.
We can face life with boldness, since the One we serve already has all the bases covered. All the angles work out.

I like the way novelist Mark Halprin describes this reality:

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