Milestone reached !

I got to wear the tam and hood a few weeks ago. My college loans are in the process of flipping from income to expenses. And, I have published my dissertation as a mass-market paperback.

How to Repair a Broken World uses both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to examine Nutuk. Since my "day job" is technical writing, I read this overlooked masterpiece and The City of God (by 5th century African writer Augustine) as instruction manuals for those who would repair their cultures.

Click on this link to order your copy!

Substantive thoughts (Prov. 21:5)

A substantive is a noun based on an adjective. The quality of being hard is -- hardness, for example. Wet and wetness. Weak and weakness. Other examples are less predictable: high, height. Poor, poverty. Happy, happiness. Other languages employ the same technique of adding a suffix or infix to work that magic. The only word of Afrikaans most people instantly recognize adds their usual syllable -heid to the adjective apart (English equivalent, apart) to create the name of their distinctive social system, apartheid.

In Turkish, the syllable used to convert an adjective into a noun comes in four flavors:

• -lık-
• -lik-
• -luk-
• -lük-

Don't worry, you'll get used to this quirk of the language fairly early in your studies, and see these four varieties as the same. It's called "vowel harmony," and the appropriate syllable depends on the syllable before it.

Another short syllable with a big meaning comes in two flavors, -la- and -le- and means "with, by means of."

And that brings us to today's proverb:

Proverbs 21:5 Çalışkanın tasarıları hep bollukla, Her türlü acelecilik hep yoklukla sonuçlanır.

Çalışkanın is a word you'll soon master if you study the Book of Proverbs in Turkish, since it is one of the virtues most frequently celebrated in this guide for living well: hazar.com informs us that it means diligent. energetic. industrious. sedulous. studious. hard-working.

My goodness, now THIS is fascinating. The Hebrew word translated into English as the hazy, indistinct and generic word thoughts has a more specialized, specific, and focused word in Turkish: tasarı, which means project. plan. scheme. bill. draught. design. proposal. set-up. bill. draft of a proposed law. written proposal. blueprint for action. draft. projection. schema. Now THAT is a cluster of words dear to a technical writer's heart!

And, let's look at the three substantives in this brief aphorism:

• bollukla -- bol = abundant. plentiful. generous. plenty. full. rich. wealthy. loose. hefty. wide. baggy. abounding. affluent. ample. bounteous. bountiful. copious. effusive. exuberant. fecund. flush. handsome. hearty. lavish. liberal. lush. luxuriant. opulent. plenteous.
• acelecilik -- hasty. hustler. impatient. slippy. precipitant. rash. precipitate. precipitous. brash. impetuous. headfirst. headforemost. headlong. precipitate.
• yoklukla -- yokluk = absence. dearth. exiguity. failure. famine. hardship. lack. neediness. non-appearance. non-existence. nonappearance. nonexistence. nudity. penury. poverty. privation. shortage. strait. tightness. want. straits.

Folks, this is why you all need to sit down, and learn another language, starting today. You can read something in English hundreds of times -- then see new facets, fresh insights, when you examine the same text through another frame of reference, another set of eyes.

Diligent people are paying attention to, and thinking carefully about, what they are doing. They have plans, goals with deadlines. They assume, and operate in terms of, the abundance of opportunities. Small investments, over time, turn into vast fortunes. Five loaves and two fishes placed in the hands of our Lord provide a feast for 5,000. Little things, thoughtfully and carefully done, fill life with lavish wealth. Be kind to your wife, day after day, and you can have a livelier love life in your 50s than you did in your 20s.

In American English, the "get-rich-quick scheme" is a widely-understood term for costly swindles. Folks driven by restless dissatisfaction, or desperate circumstances, can get tempted to cut corners, to max out their credit cards buying sure and easy roads to wealth. When their ship does finally come in, they are at the airport.

Ugly brothers (Prov. 18:9)

This looks like a verse worth memorizing:

İşini savsaklayan kişi Yıkıcıya kardeştir.

Let's dissect this word by word:

• İşini -- To his work (İş -- work, occupation, job. -in- 3rd person singular possessive. -i direct object ending)
• savsaklayan -- procrastinating
  
• kişi -- a person
  
• Yıkıcıya -- to a destroyer
  
• kardeştir-- a brother is.

Or, if we visit hazar.com, the longest word is based on the verb savsaklamak, which means, "to put off doing sth continually. to put sb off with an excuse. to neglect sth / to do sth. neglect. to put on the shelf. temporize."

You know what you need to do, and know you'll do it, just as soon as I finish a, b, or c. It takes effort to "seek first the Kingdom of God." As a wise pastor says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." None of us sets out to be a derelict with a stack of things we "coulda, shoulda, woulda, done" rather than satisfying achievement. It just kind of happens, as we let our minds run after one little thing after another. I'm reminded of the Pink Floyd song Time:

Time
(Mason, Waters, Wright, Gilmour) 7:06

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.

Ben Franklin wrote, "A young man could never dream that 20 pounds or 20 years could be squandered. If you value life, value time, because time is the stuff of life."

Or, as the KJV translates this verse, "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. " The Turkish, I think, is more helpful. The essence of sloth is procrastination.

One self-help guru says, repeat this mantra a thousand times a day: DO IT NOW.

A language made for proverbs

Turkish continues to delight, with its knack for compressing big meanings into short words. Such as:

Pr. 15:14 Akıllı yürek bilgi arar, Akılsızın ağzıysa ahmaklıkla beslenir.

Let's compare that to the King James Version of the same verse:

P4. 15:14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

A key word here is akıl, which means "mental. reason. intelligence. discretion. wisdom. mind. memory. opinion. thought. advice. apprehension. brain. head. headpiece. intellect. piece of advice. psyche. senses. wit." (thank you, hazar.com!) To this word we can add the suffix -lı, which means -- having all of the above. Or, the suffix -sız, which means, lacking all of the above. Or, you can combine the original noun with other nouns, to create other vivid descriptive terms:

• akıl hastanesi -- mental hospital
• akıl hastası -- lunatic
  
• akıl defteri -- notebook
  
• akıl hocası -- mentor, spin doctor. (Fans of the Nasrettin Hoca stories recognize that second noun!)
  

Yürek , of course, is heart, and bilgi is knowledge, understanding, skill. The verb aramak means to search for, and the verb beslenmek means "feed. to feed. to be fed. to be nourished. "

One final noun: ahmaklık means "foolishness. idiocy. stupidity. folly. imbecility. tomfoolery."

Now, this is a proverb very helpful for us wired, digital folks, people who work and play and live with computers and the internet. It takes effort, focus, and disciplined attention to pay attention to what is important. However, we find it all too easy to nibble our way astray, "feeding on" things that attract our attention, then lead it around, and around, and around, by the nose, as we skim the superficial surface to factoids, and watch our minutes and days evaporate, with nothing to show for them.

Better than life (Psalm 63)

Psalm 63 has long been one of my favorites. Here, David sings of his passion for God, his delight in God's presence, his desire to spend time in worship. One sentence, vs. 3, is a useful example of how Turkish does comparisons:

3 Senin sevgin yaşamdan iyidir, Bu yüzden dudaklarım seni yüceltir.

• Senin -- Yours (2nd person singular)
  
• sevgin -- your love
  
• yaşamdan -- than life (-dan is the "from" suffix)
  
• iyidir -- it is good,
• Bu -- This
  
• yüzden -- from, because of / reason (-den is the "from" suffix)
  
• dudaklarım -- my lips
  
• seni -- to you
  
• yüceltir -- praised.
  

What is worth more to us than our own lives?

Day and night (Psalm 42)

I enjoy using the e-Sword software provided, free, by Rick Meyers. You can have the Bible on your computer desktop in dozens of different translations, most free, some copyrighted versions for a nominal fee. Little tabs let you select the language of interest. The Parallel feature lets you view several versions simultaneously. This has made it much easier for me to read the Turkish version -- a glance over to the English in the left column helps me puzzle out words that may have drifted out of memory. The compact efficiency of Turkish continues to amaze and delight. Consider, for example, Psalm 42:8 --

8 Gündüz RAB sevgisini gösterir, Gece ilahi söyler, dua ederim Yaşamımın Tanrısı'na.

8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

Let's parse these beautiful words:

• Gündüz -- Daily
  
• RAB -- the LORD
  
• sevgisini -- His love
  
• gösterir, -- sends
  
• Gece -- By night
  
• ilahi söyler, -- singing psalms, hymns
  
• dua ederim -- praying
  
• Yaşamımın -- of my life
  
• Tanrısı'na. -- to the God
  

Waking or sleeping, we are steeped in the care and attention of a loving Creator.

Üzülme -- dealing with foes (Psalm 37)

Jerry Falwell lived a controversial but cheerful life, expiring at his desk at the age of 73. One of his sons, a lawyer, took over Liberty University, the largest Protestant college in the world. The other son, a preacher, inherited the pulpit of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Jerry had a simple recipe for dealing with the many enemies he'd made with his outspoken conservative positions:

• Love them
• Forgive them
• Outlive them

I read a favorite Psalm today, number 37 in the Protestant numbering scheme (Catholics merge Psalms 23 and 24 together). It has an invisible pattern that explains why the focus seems to jump around abruptly -- the Hebrews enjoyed word games, such as acrostics. Each verse in the original language begins with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The key word, showing up time and again, is the second-person imperative negative verb:

Üzülme

OK, so what is it that we are emphatically and repeatedly forbidden to do? Let's look at the dictionary definitions of the root, üzülmek.

feel bad about. feel badly about. bother. bother about. deplore. fret. grieve. languish. regret. rue. sadden. sorrow. trouble. be troubled about. worry. worry oneself. bemoan. deplore. droop. grieve. repine.

I'll append the entire psalm below, but let's look at a few key verses now:

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 3 Sen RAB'be güven, iyilik yap, Ülkede otur, sadakatle çalış.

4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
4 RAB'den zevk al, O senin içindeki istekleri yerine getirecektir.

5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
5 Her şeyi RAB'be bırak, O'na güven, O gerekeni yapar.

Another definition: getirecektir, the third person future form of the verb getirmek -- bring. get. bring along. bring in. carry. bear. convey. fetch. introduce. take into. usher. work up. pose. produce. to fetch. to bring in. to yield. to give. to put forward. to bring forth.

And, here's a few verses for folks wondering what to do about depressed economic conditions:


18 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
18 RAB yetkinlerin her gününü gözetir, Onların mirası sonsuza dek sürecek.

19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
19 Kötü günde utanmayacaklar, Kıtlıkta karınları doyacak.

(Do you notice how much more compact Turkish is than English? Another good reason to study this amazing language -- just to admire how much it is possible to pack into a single word!)

A repeated theme throughout this psalm is the inheritance, the legacy. Jesus quoted verse 11 in his "beatitudes:"

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
11 Ama alçakgönüllüler ülkeyi miras alacak, Derin bir huzurun zevkini tadacak.

And, as promised, here is the entire psalm:

Psa 37:1 Kötülük edenlere kızıp üzülme, Suç işleyenlere özenme!
Psa 37:2 Çünkü onlar ot gibi hemen solacak, Yeşil bitki gibi kuruyup gidecek.
Psa 37:3 Sen RAB'be güven, iyilik yap, Ülkede otur, sadakatle çalış.
Psa 37:4 RAB'den zevk al, O senin içindeki istekleri yerine getirecektir.
Psa 37:5 Her şeyi RAB'be bırak, O'na güven, O gerekeni yapar.
Psa 37:6 O senin doğruluğunu ışık gibi, Hakkını öğle güneşi gibi Aydınlığa çıkarır.
Psa 37:7 RAB'bin önünde sakin dur, sabırla bekle; Kızıp üzülme işi yolunda olanlara, Kötü amaçlarına kavuşanlara.
Psa 37:8 Kızmaktan kaçın, bırak öfkeyi, Üzülme, yalnız kötülüğe sürükler bu seni.
Psa 37:9 Çünkü kötülerin kökü kazınacak, Ama RAB'be umut bağlayanlar ülkeyi miras alacak.
Psa 37:10 Yakında kötünün sonu gelecek, Yerini arasan da bulunmayacak.
Psa 37:11 Ama alçakgönüllüler ülkeyi miras alacak, Derin bir huzurun zevkini tadacak.
Psa 37:12 Kötü insan doğru insana düzen kurar, Diş gıcırdatır.
Psa 37:13 Ama Rab kötüye güler, Çünkü bilir onun sonunun geldiğini.
Psa 37:14 Kılıç çekti kötüler, yaylarını gerdi, Mazlumu, yoksulu yıkmak, Doğru yolda olanları öldürmek için.
Psa 37:15 Ama kılıçları kendi yüreklerine saplanacak, Yayları kırılacak.
Psa 37:16 Doğrunun azıcık varlığı, Pek çok kötünün servetinden iyidir.
Psa 37:17 Çünkü kötülerin gücü kırılacak, Ama doğrulara RAB destek olacak.
Psa 37:18 RAB yetkinlerin her gününü gözetir, Onların mirası sonsuza dek sürecek.
Psa 37:19 Kötü günde utanmayacaklar, Kıtlıkta karınları doyacak.
Psa 37:20 Ama kötüler yıkıma uğrayacak; RAB'bin düşmanları kır çiçekleri gibi kuruyup gidecek, Duman gibi dağılıp yok olacak.
Psa 37:21 Kötüler ödünç alır, geri vermez; Doğrularsa cömertçe verir.
Psa 37:22 RAB'bin kutsadığı insanlar ülkeyi miras alacak, Lanetlediği insanların kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:23 RAB insana sağlam adım attırır, İnsanın yolundan hoşnut olursa.
Psa 37:24 Düşse bile yıkılmaz insan, Çünkü elinden tutan RAB'dir.
Psa 37:25 Gençtim, ömrüm tükendi, Ama hiç görmedim doğru insanın terk edildiğini, Soyunun ekmek dilendiğini.
Psa 37:26 O hep cömertçe ödünç verir, Soyu kutsanır.
Psa 37:27 Kötülükten kaç, iyilik yap; Sonsuz yaşama kavuşursun.
Psa 37:28 Çünkü RAB doğruyu sever, Sadık kullarını terk etmez. Onlar sonsuza dek korunacak, Kötülerinse kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:29 Doğrular ülkeyi miras alacak, Orada sonsuza dek yaşayacak.
Psa 37:30 Doğrunun ağzından bilgelik akar, Dilinden adalet damlar.
Psa 37:31 Tanrısı'nın yasası yüreğindedir, Ayakları kaymaz.
Psa 37:32 Kötü, doğruya pusu kurar, Onu öldürmeye çalışır.
Psa 37:33 Ama RAB onu kötünün eline düşürmez, Yargılanırken mahkûm etmez.
Psa 37:34 RAB'be umut bağla, O'nun yolunu tut, Ülkeyi miras almak üzere seni yükseltecektir. Kötülerin kökünün kazındığını göreceksin.
Psa 37:35 Kötü ve acımasız adamı gördüm, İlk dikildiği toprakta yeşeren ağaç gibi Dal budak salıyordu;
Psa 37:36 Geçip gitti, yok oldu, Aradım, bulunmaz oldu.
Psa 37:37 Yetkin adamı gözle, doğru adama bak, Çünkü yarınlar barışseverindir.
Psa 37:38 Ama başkaldıranların hepsi yok olacak, Kötülerin kökü kazınacak.
Psa 37:39 Doğruların kurtuluşu RAB'den gelir, Sıkıntılı günde onlara kale olur.
Psa 37:40 RAB onlara yardım eder, kurtarır onları, Kötülerin elinden alıp özgür kılar, Çünkü kendisine sığınırlar.

And that is good news for all who yearn to please their Creator!

Tadın da görün (Psalm 32)

A ship in the harbor is safe, the old aphorism asserts, but that is not what ships are made for. A certain amount of trouble is normal in a fallen world. And, for the believer, so, too, is mercy from heaven. According to very old notes that have attached themselves to Psalm 32, David wrote it after one of his many narrow escapes. Let's look at a few verses that are especially relevant to people in trouble, such as economic straits:

Psa 34:8 Tadın da görün, RAB ne iyidir, Ne mutlu O'na sığınan adama!
Psa 34:9 RAB'den korkun, ey O'nun kutsalları, Çünkü O'ndan korkanın eksiği olmaz.
Psa 34:10 Genç aslanlar bile aç ve muhtaç olur; Ama RAB'be yönelenlerden hiçbir iyilik esirgenmez.

Let's look at a few words:

• Tadın da görün -- second person imperative form of the verbs tatmak (to taste) and görmek (to see)
  
• RAB ne iyidir -- The Lord, how good He is
  
• Genç aslanlar bile -- Young lions, even, (C S Lewis fans recognize the singular form of the noun)
  
• aç -- hungry. covetous. empty. unfed. esurient. greedy for. hollow. ravenous. starveling.
• muhtaç -- needy. in need. dependent. beggarly. destitute. indigent. necessitous. straitened. straitened for. hard up. have a weak chest.
• yönelenlerden --
  
• hiçbir iyilik -- not one / good thing
  
• esirgenmez -- will not be stinted, denied, refused
  

As David wrote elsewhere, RAB çobanımdır, Eksiğim olmaz. The Lord / my shepherd is / lack there is not. The two states are incompatible. My hope is that all who read these words of wit will rejoice in the Shepherd, and not accept poverty as normal.

The world is run by tired people (Prov. 6)

Let's look at what Proverbs has to tell us about work and sleep. First, an object lesson about work:

Pro 6:6 Ey tembel kişi, git, karıncalara bak, Onların yaşamından bilgelik öğren.
Pro 6:7 Başkanları, önderleri ya da yöneticileri olmadığı halde,
Pro 6:8 Yazın erzaklarını biriktirirler, Yiyeceklerini toplarlar biçim mevsiminde.

Ants stay busy in summer, when resources are easy to come by, and are ready for hard times. The human temptation is to subsistence -- do just enough to get by during the good times, and truly feel the pinch during bad. In cultures ruled by envy, such as many African tribes, people are afraid of working too hard. Afraid of their neighbor's envy. If a man's crop is doing well, he'll sneak into his field and destroy much of it at night, lest his neighbors accuse him of, and lynch him for, witchcraft. After all, the egalitarian says, it "isn't fair" for one person to have more than another. If a tribe barely stays afloat when times are good, starvation is around the corner.

Now, the opposite of work, sleep:

Pro 6:9 Ne zamana dek yatacaksın, ey tembel kişi? Ne zaman kalkacaksın uykundan?
Pro 6:10 "Biraz kestireyim, biraz uyuklayayım, Ellerimi kavuşturup şöyle bir uyuyayım" demeye kalmadan,
Pro 6:11 Yokluk bir haydut gibi, Yoksulluk bir akıncı gibi gelir üzerine.

Productive people have disciplined sleep patterns. Winston Churchill may have had a brief nap every afternoon, but he also staying up until the wee hours of the morning working night after night.

Time and eternity (Prov. 5, Psalm 23)

The Bible is enthusiastically in favor of marital relations. Prov. 5 starts with admonitions about the non-marital flavor of sex:

Pro 5:1 Oğlum, bilgeliğime dikkat et, Akıllıca sözlerime kulak ver.
Pro 5:2 Böylelikle her zaman sağgörülü olur, Dudaklarınla bilgiyi korursun.
Pro 5:3 Zina eden kadının bal damlar dudaklarından, Ağzı daha yumuşaktır zeytinyağından.
Pro 5:4 Ama sonu pelinotu kadar acı, İki ağızlı kılıç kadar keskindir.

A few words:

• Oğlum -- My son,
  
• bilgeliğime -- to my insight
  
• dikkat et -- be cautioned, alert
  
• Zina eden -- adultery-doing
  
• bal -- honey
  
• pelin -- absinthe, wormwood
  
• sonu -- to the end
  
• İki ağızlı kılıç kadar keskindir -- Two / mouthed, edged / sword / like / it cuts
  

Proverbs can be read as a compilation of texts used to train courtiers and pages for their duties in palaces. Henry Kissinger once said, "Power is an aphrodisiac." Attractive young ladies can be found interning around centers of power. If you value your life, honor, and wealth, flee such temptations!

On the other hand, exuberant delight with one's own spouse should be the norm.

Pro 5:15 Suyu kendi sarnıcından, Kendi kuyunun kaynağından iç.
Pro 5:16 Pınarların sokakları, Akarsuların meydanları mı sulamalı?
Pro 5:17 Yalnız senin olsun onlar, Paylaşma yabancılarla.
Pro 5:18 Çeşmen bereketli olsun Ve gençken evlendiğin karınla mutlu ol.
Pro 5:19 Sevimli bir geyik, zarif bir ceylan gibi, Hep seni doyursun memeleri. Aşkıyla sürekli coş.

People from a desert climate tend to value water.

• Su -- water
• kendi -- own
  
• sarnıcından -- from your cistern
  
• kuyu -- well
  
• kaynağından -- from your source, spring. A power supply is a güç kaynak.
  
• Pınarların -- your fountains, wells, springs
  
• gençken -- time of youth
  
• karınla -- with your wife
  
• mutlu ol -- blessed be
• doyurmak -- appease. content. fill. meet. sate. satiate. satisfy. saturate. suffice. to fill up. to satisfy. to satiate. to saturate.
  

It is amazing how much mileage you can get out of respect, kindness, and affection, faithfully applied over the course of decades. The need for this kind of intimacy is hard-wired into the human anatomy and psyche. A tee-shirt marketed to mothers of large families has the defiant message, "Yes, we know what causes it, and we rather enjoy it." As this chapter points out, exclusivity matters. Man and wife comprise a closed system, a shared germ pool, a paradise of refreshment for one another.

Yet, this is the second-most important relationship of life. True fulfillment comes as we come to terms with our Creator. A favorite Psalm goes thus:

Psa 23:1 RAB çobanımdır, Eksiğim olmaz.
Psa 23:2 Beni yemyeşil çayırlarda yatırır, Sakin suların kıyısına götürür.
Psa 23:3 İçimi tazeler, Adı uğruna bana doğru yollarda öncülük eder.
Psa 23:4 Karanlık ölüm vadisinden geçsem bile, Kötülükten korkmam. Çünkü sen benimlesin. Çomağın, değneğin güven verir bana.
Psa 23:5 Düşmanlarımın önünde bana sofra kurarsın, Başıma yağ sürersin, Kâsem taşıyor.
Psa 23:6 Ömrüm boyunca yalnız iyilik ve sevgi izleyecek beni, Hep RAB'bin evinde oturacağım.

Vs. 1 -- The LORD / my shepherd is, / my poverty / shall not be.
Vs. 3 -- Darkness / of death / in the valley / if I should wander / even, / evil / I shall not fear. / Because / thou (you, singular, intimate) / are with me.

One who has God, has everything. One who has God, plus an affectionate spouse of many years, is truly to be envied.

Speaking of birds ... (Psalm 11)

If you lack wisdom, spend some time in the "wisdom literature" of the Bible, especially Psalms and Proverbs. During eras of the spiritual vigor, people of faith have, traditionally, chanted their way through the Psalms once a month. The Book of Common Prayer has a psalter that is based upon the Bible that King James hated, the Geneva Bible. And, there are 31 chapters in proverbs. A man who needed more common sense would do well to read through that book once a month.

Today, I was reading and enjoying Psalm 11:

Psa 11:1 Ben RAB'be sığınırım, Nasıl dersiniz bana, "Kuş gibi kaç dağlara.
Psa 11:2 Bak, kötüler yaylarını geriyor, Temiz yürekli insanları Karanlıkta vurmak için Oklarını kirişine koyuyor.
Psa 11:3 Temeller yıkılırsa, Ne yapabilir doğru insan?"
Psa 11:4 RAB kutsal tapınağındadır, O'nun tahtı göklerdedir, Bütün insanları görür, Herkesi sınar.
Psa 11:5 RAB doğru insanı sınar, Kötüden, zorbalığı sevenden tiksinir.
Psa 11:6 Kötülerin üzerine kızgın korlar ve kükürt yağdıracak, Paylarına düşen kâse kavurucu rüzgar olacak.
Psa 11:7 Çünkü RAB doğrudur, doğruları sever; Dürüst insanlar O'nun yüzünü görecek.

Let's look at the first verse:

Psa 11:1 Ben RAB'be sığınırım, Nasıl dersiniz bana, "Kuş gibi kaç dağlara.

I / to the Lord / ( fall back upon a thing. take refuge in. take shelter in. refuge. harbor. harbour. nestle. defect. take sanctuary. take to. turn to. ) / How / do you instruct, advise / (to) me / "Bird / like / flee / to the mountains.

"Fugue" is a kind of music wherein one theme chases itself. A "fugue state" is a psychological aberration characterized by a flight from an unpleasant reality. It's not unusual for people in stressful situations to "escape" by way of drug, food, or alcohol abuse. Or, by simply daydreaming, and pretending that things are not so bad after all, since an unknown rich uncle might die today, and leave me as his sole heir.

The message of this psalm, however, is that we have invisible means of support, a God who loves us, cares for us, protects our interests, and can be trusted to set things right.

Let's try again

You want to have a strong finishing kick when running a race. You want to be able to run hard that last lap, even when exhausted, so as to make a good showing in your event.[1] But then what?

A wise man thinks past the fulfillment of a dream.[2] Because, face it, when you finish a big and demanding project, the normal reaction is depression. A gentleman who spent years being captured by German soldiers, and breaking out of their prison camps, reported a sense that all of life was flat when he finally made it home to England. People who work in high-stress occupations, such as air traffic controllers and freight dispatchers, often suffer heart attacks when they take a vacation.

In 1992, I wound up my MS in Communication Studies with a dissertation that is still cited on the first page of a popular google search. A few weeks later, I took a two-week vacation in Ukraine, to observe a society in transition. After several nights of staying up 'til 3:00 am to pack and prepare, I fell asleep on the plane leaving New York around 10:00 pm -- and awoke to full daylight streaming in through the window shortly after midnight. Ukraine is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, but I went through the vacation in a state of excitement that merely postponed the bills. It took more than six months to get back up to speed.

So now, 18+ years later, I've finished my PhD. The last lap took everything I could put into it. My dissertation defense was structured in terms of the patterns of persuasion I'd found in Nutuk and a comparable work, and greatly amused my committee: it sounded like a job interview![3] During that last stretch, I went for 10 weeks without riding my bicycle, gained weight, and kept external commitments to a minimum. As my friends who follow this blog may have noted, I also put less energy into a real source of delight, my Turkish studies. Well, let's look into the Great Book again. Here is a short verse from Proverbs 1:

Pro 1:17 Kuşların gözü önünde ağ sermek boşunadır.

Which being interpreted, reads:

• Kuşların -- Of the bird
  
• gözü -- the eyes
  
• önünde -- in front of
  
• ağ -- the net
  
• sermek -- is spread, draped, lay, spread out
  
• boşunadır -- to no purpose.
  

Evil doers rely on secrecy. Yet, they have less of that than they think. Yes, Solomon warns his sons, it's easy and natural of single young men to clump together in criminal gangs. But they are not as smart as they think they are.

As İsa said in the New Testament, no one gets away with anything. Secrets tend to get revealed -- and we should assume that our furtive, sneaky, "secret" sins will not stay concealed. So, we should be predisposed to face, and repent of, wrongdoing. Nixon was forced out of office for trying to cover up a crime, not for the crime itself.

________________________

[1] I was competing the the two mile run one evening in high school. It was winter, indoor track season, and the track was 220 yards long. That's 1/8 mile, sixteen laps. The umpire lost count, and as I hurled myself at the finish line, he held up a finger -- one more lap.

[2] I had a nightmare in 1995 or 1996. I dreamed that I was joyfully putting the final touches on a dissertation that would bless and encourage thousands of people around the world. This dream was a nightmare because, in that terrible lucidity one sometimes experiences while dreaming, I knew that I was dreaming of, rather than doing, the desired project!

[3] Here is a LINK to the defense, if you are curious.

I Cor. 4 -- you don't know it all

A sense of how little we know should incline us to deal kindly with one another. As Paul told the Corinthians,

1Co 4:5 Bu nedenle, belirlenen zamandan önce hiçbir şeyi yargılamayın. Rab'bin gelişini bekleyin. O, karanlığın gizlediklerini aydınlığa çıkaracak, yüreklerdeki amaçları açığa vuracaktır. O zaman herkes Tanrı'dan payına düşen övgüyü alacaktır.

Let's look at a few words:

• Bu nedenle, -- for this reason,
  
• belirlenen zamandan-- at the time of determination
  
• önce -- before
  
• hiçbir şeyi -- not one thing
  
• yargılamayın -- should you judge.
  
• Rab'bin gelişini bekleyin -- The Lord's coming await.
  
• O, karanlığın gizlediklerini aydınlığa çıkaracak -- He, / out of darkness, / those things which are hidden / to the light / he will bring.
  

Since we do not know who will ultimately greet us in the next life, we should treat all our neighbors as possible fellow citizens of the world to come -- kindly.

I Cor. 3 -- no limits to achievement

"There is no limit to what you can achieve, as long as you don't care who gets the credit." The great tyrants of history viewed themselves as the apex of history, demigods astride the earth. Successful leaders, however, view themselves as agents of something far more important than themselves. The Nazi regime evaporated after the death of Hitler. When Alexander died, his empire quickly split into four squabbling parts. The Turkish Republic, by contrast, has outlived its founding father by nearly a century. Kemal Ataturk was not in business for himself. His team took over his vision, and shepherded through the generations to the present.

Paul had a similar vision of participating in something far bigger than himself:

1Co 3:6 Tohumu ben ektim, Apollos suladı. Ama Tanrı büyüttü.
1Co 3:7 Önemli olan, eken ya da sulayan değil, ekileni büyüten Tanrı'dır.
1Co 3:8 Ekenle sulayanın değeri birdir. Her biri kendi emeğinin karşılığını alacaktır.
1Co 3:9 Biz Tanrı'nın emektaşlarıyız. Sizler de Tanrı'nın tarlası, Tanrı'nın binasısınız.
1Co 3:10 Tanrı'nın bana lütfettiği görev uyarınca bilge bir mimar gibi temel attım, başkaları da bu temel üzerine inşa ediyor. Herkes nasıl inşa ettiğine dikkat etsin.

Let's look at a few words in 3:10:

• bilge -- wise. learned. erudite. omniscient. polymath. profound. sophisticated. wise person. scholar. luminary. owl. sage. sophisticate.
• mimar -- architect. master builder. builder. surveyor.
• gibi -- like, as. (one of those interesting Turkish "post-position" words)
  
• temel -- foundation
  
• attım -- I have laid
  
• dikkat etsin -- let him be careful.
  

Paul had a key role in launching communities of believers in cities throughout the Roman empire. However, he was not alone. Others built upon his work -- and ultimately, God gave the increase. He, like we, was part of something far more important than himself.

I Cor. 2 -- the limits of rhetoric

"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns," wrote American novelist Mario Puzo.

As the recent shakedowns of the American public reveal, "banksters" who are considered "too big to fail" are immunized from the consequences of their own cupidity, their own stupidity, by their partners in government who enrich that tiny handful of plutocrats by impoverishing every American taxpayer. The printing presses are smoking, and for the first time in living memory, the American dollar is dropping towards, or below, parity with the Canadian "loony."[1] As the currency is inflated / debased / debauched, the losers are the thrifty, the people who, through systematic self-denial, accrued savings.

Somehow, the "symbol-handlers" dance rings around the "thing-handlers," time after time. People with verbal skills are both respected, and resented. Winston Churchill's silver-tongued oratory might rally a desperate nation to win a desperate struggle -- but after the war, the weary electorate turns him out of office.[2]

We normally think in words,[3] understand the world around us by the stories we tell ourselves, and are influenced by those who can use words effectively. Knowing how easily we can be misled, we are suspicious of the rhetoricians among us. Congressmen are held in lower repute than used-car salesmen, for example.

In the ancient world, skill in rhetoric was the key to political advancement. People who could teach the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) made good money. However, when Paul spoke to the Corinthians, he deliberately refused to exploit them with fancy language:

1Co 2:1 Kardeşler, Tanrı'yla ilgili bildiriyi duyurmak için size geldiğimde, söz ustalığıyla ya da üstün bilgelikle gelmedim.
1Co 2:2 Aranızdayken, İsa Mesih'ten ve O'nun çarmıha gerilişinden başka hiçbir şey bilmemeye kararlıydım.
1Co 2:3 Size zayıflık ve korku içinde geldim, tir tir titriyordum!
1Co 2:4 Sözüm ve bildirim, insan bilgeliğinin ikna edici sözlerine değil, Ruh'un kanıtlayıcı gücüne dayanıyordu.
1Co 2:5 Öyle ki, imanınız insan bilgeliğine değil, Tanrı gücüne dayansın.

Let's have some fun with a simple Turkish word that can be expanded in a number of delightful ways:

• bilmek -- to know. to be aware. to understand. to learn. to recognize. to assume. to appreciate. ken. savvy
• bilge -- wise. learned. erudite. omniscient. polymath. profound. sophisticated. wise person. scholar. luminary. owl. sage. sophisticate.
• bildiri -- announcement. assertion. bulletin. communique. declaration. handout. manifesto. notice. notification. paper. report. communiqué.
• bildirim -- my announcement. assertion. bulletin. communique. declaration. handout, etc.
• bilgelik -- wisdom. erudition. savoir vivre. sagacity.
• bilgelikle -- characterized by bilgelkik.

A famous line from one of Shakespeare's plays goes, "The lady protesteth overmuch, methinks." When people try too hard to convince us, we "smell a rat." Paul gave his audience the facts -- the King had arrived. He informed his audience about what they needed to do -- pledge allegiance to the King, and enter the royal service. He demonstrated the benefits of the Kingdom, by working a miraculous healing or three. Maybe an exorcism. Then, he left it up to the audience to make up their own minds.

People tend to "own" decisions they reach on their own initiative, and to disown "decisions" they felt pressured into making -- by slick rhetoric, by abusive social pressure, etc.

_____________

[1] A $1 coin, minted in base metal, with a loon -- an aquatic bird -- on the obverse side.

[2] Kemal Atatürk not only led his people to victory against overwhelming odds, but stayed in office long enough afterwards to preserve the fruits of that victory.

[3] An exception that tests this rule is the autistic folks who can say, as Temple Grandin's book title does, I Think In Pictures. She processes the universe of spoken language by imagining it to be a movie.

I Kor. 1 -- the circular firing squad

When my son was a lad, I once had to warn him concerning the younger of two brothers he counted among his friends. The younger boy was a catalyst for trouble. He could direct conversations and interactions in such a way as to embarrass his big brother, and cause the older boy to look bad in the eyes of the adults in the room. He could make intensifying actions and reactions go up the scale, while apparently remaining unaffected himself. Big brother would suddenly find himself humiliated, and not know that had come to pass.

Agatha Christie's final Hercule Perot mystery, Curtains, had such a catalyst as a key element. This party could find and push anyone's hot buttons, and took pleasure in provoking a series of murders.

There is a malevolent spirit on the move, Satan (İblis), the enemy of humanity. Much of his evil work is done by catalyzing fitna or discord among people. A house divided against itself is in danger. Consider the situation in the church at Corinth:

1Co 1:10 Kardeşler, Rabbimiz İsa Mesih'in adıyla yalvarıyorum: Hepiniz uyum içinde olun, aranızda bölünmeler olmadan aynı düşünce ve görüşte birleşin.
1Co 1:11 Kardeşlerim, Kloi'nin ev halkından aranızda çekişmeler olduğunu öğrendim.
1Co 1:12 Şunu demek istiyorum: Her biriniz, "Ben Pavlus yanlısıyım", "Ben Apollos yanlısıyım", "Ben Kefas yanlısıyım" ya da "Ben Mesih yanlısıyım" diyormuş.
1Co 1:13 Mesih bölündü mü? Sizin için çarmıha gerilen Pavlus muydu? Pavlus'un adıyla mı vaftiz* edildiniz?

Apparently, the young community of believers was turning into a "circular firing squad." Instead of community, the group was experiencing factions. Some, probably the more Jewish members, claimed to be on the Kefas (Peter) team. Others followed Apollos, an eloquent, learned, and philosophical believer who still wore the name of a Greek pagan deity. Some claimed to be on Paul's side, and to enjoy the best of both worlds, Jewish and Greek. Finally, others claimed smugly to be above such petty strife, and to belong only to Christ.

How much can we achieve for good if we are united in heart and purpose? We have been given skills and resources that can turn the world into a garden spot, or a desert. The trap of Satan is to provoke dissension, and to thus neutralize the servants of the living God, as they turn their tools against one another rather than to the tasks at hand.

Romans 16 -- it pays to stay connected

Paul mentions 37 or so names in this chapter. Seven are people on his side of the conversation, including the scribe, Tertius, who puts in his $0.02 worth, not knowing that folks would be reading that insertion thousands of years later. One, Phoebe, is the lady deacon who will carry the letter to Rome. Then, there are 28 people who he already knows who live in Rome, a city he's never visited.

It pays to network. Paul had friends in place wherever he wanted to go, and people to stay with. For example, the gentleman who is providing accommodations for him at the moment:

Rom 16:23 Bana ve bütün inanlılar topluluğuna konukseverlik eden Gayus size selam eder. Kent haznedarı Erastus'un ve Kuartus kardeşin size selamları var.

The key word here, konukseverlik, is obviously a compound word, since it jams together front and back vowels in one congenial alliance, to make a point. Konuk = guest, visitor, sojourner. Sever = fondness, affection. Konuksever, accoring to the excellent, and sometimes quaint, dictionary at hazar.com means hospitable, open-doored. A man described as konukseverlik is obviously one whose life is characterized by hospitality. A genial character who loves people, has an open heart, and an open home.

There are people in Rome who have also, in other days and places, enjoyed having Paul as a guest:

Rom 16:13 Rab'bin seçkin kulu olan Rufus'a ve bana da annelik etmiş olan annesine selam edin.

Alexander and Rufus were the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the dark-complexioned farmer who was conscripted to carry the cross of Jesus, when the Romans worried that the condemned might expire ahead of schedule. I like the way Turkish expresses the relationship to the unnamed mother of Rufus: bana da annelik etmiş olan annesine selam edin. To me / also / like a mother / it is said that she was[1] / being / to his mother / peace / be upon.

One last point. Paul enjoyed hospitality, and believed that the faithful of all flavors should be kind to one another. His list of friends includes those with Jewish names, Roman names, Greek names, and barbarian (indigenous people) names. His advice to those he wishes all good things to includes this practical step:

Rom 16:17 Kardeşler, size yalvarırım, aldığınız öğretiye karşı gelerek ayrılıklara ve sapmalara neden olanlara dikkat edin, onlardan sakının.

Notice -- and avoid -- the troublemakers. Every gathering has them. Healthy groups help them find the door.

____________

[1] Turkish has a "narrative / dubatative" tense used for telling stories, or reporting things one has not witnessed first-hand. When you translate a verb containing the tense marker miş or its kin, use some qualifying words like "they say" or "it is said that" or "I heard that..."

Romans 15 -- A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man

As any fan of The Simpsons recognizes, this is the town motto of Springfield, and embiggens is a perfectly cromulent adjective. And it seems to be one of the motivations Paul recommends to his quarrelsome Roman friends:

Rom 15:1 İmanı güçlü olan bizler, kendimizi hoşnut etmeye değil, güçsüzlerin zayıflıklarını yüklenmeye borçluyuz.
Rom 15:2 Her birimiz komşusunu ruhça geliştirmek için komşusunun iyiliğini gözeterek onu hoşnut etsin.
Rom 15:3 Çünkü Mesih bile kendini hoşnut etmeye çalışmadı. Yazılmış olduğu gibi: "Sana edilen hakaretlere ben uğradım."

Let's look at a few key words:

• güçlü -- filled with / characterized by strength. Visit the Turkish version of a computer repair manual, and you'll encounter the phrase güç kaynak -- power supply. Güç seems to be equivalent to the Greek word δυνατοὶ, which is used here as a plural substantive adjective .
  
• güçsüzlerin -- those who are weak. güç - power. süz - lacking. ler - plural. in - are.
  
• komşu -- neighbor.
  
• hoşnut etmek -- to please.
  

There's an old Latin cliche, noblesse oblige. Nobility obligates. Truly great, truly noble, people do not, like Mel Brooks' Men in Tights "wander through the forest looking for fights."

Gentile saints, be kind to your Jewish fellow guests at God's feast. After all, they spread the table, bringing the Word and Messiah of God into the world. Jewish saints, wake up to the fact that you are not God's ultimate project, but a means to His ends.

And it would do us all good to be kind to each other, rather than looking for arguments to win.

Romans 14 -- table manners towards other guests

"Never serve booze at a wedding. Although most of the guests might enjoy it, there will always be one who will get drunk, make a fool of himself, and ruin the party for everyone else."

This bit of advice came to mind as I meditated on today's chapter. Let's look at the first few verses:

Rom 14:1 İmanı zayıf olanı aranıza kabul edin, ama tartışmalı konulara girmeyin.
Rom 14:2 Biri her şeyi yiyebileceğine inanır; imanı zayıf olansa yalnız sebze yer.
Rom 14:3 Her şeyi yiyen, yemeyeni hor görmesin. Her şeyi yemeyen, yiyeni yargılamasın. Çünkü Tanrı onu kabul etmiştir.
Rom 14:4 Sen kimsin ki, başkasının kulunu yargılıyorsun? Kulu haklı çıkaran da haksız çıkaran da efendisidir. Kul haklı çıkacaktır. Çünkü Rab'bin onu haklı çıkarmaya gücü vardır.

Let's look at a few key words:

• kabul edin -- 2nd person imperative form of verb kabul etmek -- to welcome, to receive.
  
• haklı çıkarmak -- another compound verb, like the only Malay word in common English, which is always combined with the English verb "to run."[2] This Turkish compound word, which pops up in the hazar.com dictionary when you enter , means: excuse. justify. vindicate.
  
• haksız çıkarmak -- Obviously, the opposite of haklı çıkarmak. Turks take their çay either şekerli or şekersiz -- with or without sugar.
  
• hak -- condign. right. justice. claim. benefit. authority. dibs. due. franchise. jus. title. warrant. warranty. The Turkish phrase Hak dini (true, etc. religion) is a synonym for Islam.
  

The Scotch-Irish inhabitants of the American Appalachian region are famous for their violent, armed, disputes. A century ago, the Hatfield and McCoy clans became synonymous with the ignorant, savage hill billies who deserved to be swindled out of the mineral wealth they lived atop, but lacked the means -- or the will -- to exploit. Last I heard, 85% of West Virginia is owned or controlled by people who do not live in West Virginia. Sophisticated guests in that part of the world are aware of the vast chasm that exists between West Virginia[3], a state that is a byword for backwardness, and western Virginia, an urbane, civilized, region.

Some historians suggest that the internecine disputes among the mountain people were used as propaganda fodder by outside interests intent on strip mining that state.

Be that as it may, the media image of the feuding mountaineers has a basis in fact. Carl Whorley, a Baptist preacher in Roanoke Virginia, comes from that stock. Two families had been fighting for too many generations. To make piece, the elders of the clan chose a Romeo from one, a Juliet from the other, and ordered them to marry each other. Carl was the son of this peaceful, peace-making union.

The Roman church that Paul wrote to, as we saw in the last few chapters, was characterized by an uneasy state of truce between the two major components: those who had been born Jews, and those who had been born as pagans. It was all too easy for the Jewish-heritage believers to sneer at the indiscriminate way that the former pagans chowed down on whatever fair or foul stuff that was set before them. The pagan-legacy Roman Christians, on the other hand, were astonished at how incapable their kin were of seeing the point, and getting with the program. Jesus had set them free to live, and these clowns still insisted on pouring their lives into pointless pageantry, rituals, and religious games.

Paul warns them -- be kind to each other. Be on your best behavior -- because there is an unseen Host presiding over your lives together. And, ultimately,

Hiçbirimiz kendimiz için yaşamayız, hiçbirimiz de kendimiz için ölmeyiz.

Not a one of us / to ourselves / because / may live, / not a one of us / even / to ourselves / because / may die.

We are temporary guests at an eternal table. It becomes us, since we have been invited to such an incredible party, to get along with each other, and not embarrass our Host.

_____________________

[1] Mnemonic for English speakers: "Kabul is not a welcoming city."

[2] The Malay word, which has two correct spellings, is amok or amuck. To "run amok" is to go violently insane.

[3] What is the state flower of West Virginia? The satellite dish.
What is the usual color of cars in West Virginia? Primer.
How can you tell that you are in the Amish part of West Virginia? You see dead horses on cinder blocks in front of the mobile homes.

Romans 13 -- protective coloration

You need to be careful what you put in writing. For example, if you have wronged someone, and wish to apologize, to try to make things right, do so in person, if at all possible. A written confession can expose you and all you have to legal jeopardy. This reticence and caution applies even more to wired media. A new-hire attending a corporate orientation updated his Facebook account with a contemptuous remark about wasting his time in a boring meeting. He was looking for a new job before that meeting was over.

If you enjoy energetic conversations in public online forums, do not participate under your own name. Choose a screen name, an alias, such as RJR Fan.

And, if you think The Man might be reading your correspondence, a little bribe might be in order. Say something nice about the people in charge. A Pentecostal preacher addressed an audience in Haiti on faith healing. "God can also heal through the hands of dedicated physicians, such as the honorable Doctor Duvalier," he said, speaking of the crazed dictator who then ruled the island. The sermon was being monitored -- and the preacher suddenly found himself with fresh opportunities, new resources, and a wider audience.

Since Paul was writing a newsletter, a missive that would be copied and passed around among many people, it would probably come to the attention of a Roman magistrate at some point, and be examined for subversive content. That, I believe, is one reason for this chapter: a bribe to Nero's team.

Rom 13:1 Herkes, baştaki yönetime bağlı olsun. Çünkü Tanrı'dan olmayan yönetim yoktur. Var olanlar Tanrı tarafından kurulmuştur.
Rom 13:2 Bu nedenle, yönetime karşı direnen, Tanrı buyruğuna karşı gelmiş olur. Karşı gelenler yargılanır.
Rom 13:3 İyilik edenler değil, kötülük edenler yöneticilerden korkmalıdır. Yönetimden korkmamak ister misin, öyleyse iyi olanı yap, yönetimin övgüsünü kazanırsın.
Rom 13:4 Çünkü yönetim, senin iyiliğin için Tanrı'ya hizmet etmektedir. Ama kötü olanı yaparsan, kork! Yönetim, kılıcı boş yere taşımıyor; kötülük yapanın üzerine Tanrı'nın gazabını salan öç alıcı olarak Tanrı'ya hizmet ediyor.
Rom 13:5 Bunun için, yalnız Tanrı'nın gazabı nedeniyle değil, vicdan nedeniyle de yönetime bağlı olmak gerekir.
Rom 13:6 Vergi ödemenizin nedeni de budur. Çünkü yöneticiler Tanrı'nın bu amaç için gayretle çalışan hizmetkârlarıdır.

Let's look at verse 4. The key word is yönetim, which being interpreted means "administration. management. direction. government. oversight. regimen. rule. running. stewardship. superintendency. trusteeship." Ama kötü olanı yaparsan, kork! If / evil / things / if you do, / be afraid!

Christians had additional reasons for loudly shouting, "HEY! We are good, docile, loyal, tax-paying folks who wish the politicians well!" In Acts 18:2, we read about a couple Paul attached himself to who were refugees from Rome:

Act 18:2 Orada Pontus doğumlu, Akvila adında bir Yahudi ile karısı Priskilla'yı buldu. Bunlar, Klavdius'un bütün Yahudiler'in Roma'yı terk etmesi yolundaki buyruğu üzerine, kısa süre önce İtalya'dan gelmişlerdi. Akvila ile Priskilla'nın yanına giden Pavlus, aynı meslekten olduğundan onlarla kalıp çalıştı. Çünkü meslekleri çadırcılıktı.

All of the Jews had been ordered out of Rome, at an earlier point in time. A contemporary pagan historian explains that this was because of "riots concerning the god Chrestus." Time after time, in Paul's ministry, Jewish agitators stirred up mob violence against the gospel. Apparently, it was the message itself which provoked them -- Paul had not had time to get to Rome yet, and already Christians were blamed for making waves.

A generation later, in 112, noted writer Pliny the younger cracked down on this "bad superstition" in his capacity as governor of the Anatolian province of Bithynia. In an effort to be fair, he released any prisoners who formally denied being Christians.

They called upon the gods, and supplicated to your image, which I caused to be brought to me for that purpose, with frankincense and wine; they also cursed Christ; none of which things, it is said, can any of those that are ready Christians be compelled to do.

But what were these curious creatures up to? According to those who claimed to have been Christians --

However, they assured me that the main of their fault, or of their mistake was this:-That they were wont, on a stated day, to meet together before it was light, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a god, alternately; and to oblige themselves by a sacrament [or oath], not to do anything that was ill: but that they would commit no theft, or pilfering, or adultery; that they would not break their promises, or deny what was deposited with them, when it was required back again; after which it was their custom to depart, and to meet again at a common but innocent meal, which they had left off upon that edict which I published at your command, and wherein I had forbidden any such conventicles. These examinations made me think it necessary to inquire by torments what the truth was; which I did of two servant maids, who were called Deaconesses: but still I discovered no more than that they were addicted to a bad and to an extravagant superstition.

Bottom line? God may place us under bad leaders, as a chastisement for our sins against Him. However, even leaders have a standard to meet. See verse 3:

İyilik edenler değil, kötülük edenler yöneticilerden korkmalıdır.

Good things / whose who do / not, / evil things / those who do / from the rulers[1] / it is necessary to fear. A ruler who punishes good people (like us obedient, tax-paying, Christians!) while ignoring evildoers, is not living up to his job description.

________________

[1] Korkmak -- to fear -- is one of those minority of Turkish verbs that expects its direct object to be indicated by the -dan/-den/-tan/-ten suffix. Be sure to pronounce the second k when you notice aloud that a Turkish friend fears dogs -- köpekten korkiniz. If you say "köpekten koriniz," you've just told your new friends that they smell like dogs!