My contemplations on Hebrews (with the aid of John Owen - abridged) brought be to the conclusion that thankfulness is a greatly undervalued virtue. It was for this reason that the thousands fell in the wilderness.
Now yesterday i was listening to another of those MP3's (how very thankful I am for my lovely MP3 player - long may it continue to work!!) this time by James Jordan. This was not the first - in the earlier messages I heard I noted that he says some very wacky things (then again, I used to think that home-schooling was very wacky and gradually came to a different opinion....). Last night's message though was potentially revolutionary. I am not guaranteeing that I remembered it all in the right ORDER but the thoughts included:
a) Jesus 1. took bread 2. gave thanks 3. distributed it 4. it was evaluated - this is a pattern which God is pleased with because we see it in Creation
b) God created things - sort of shared them out and evaluated it (it was good).
c) if we make a cake or a loaf of bread we take some stuff out from the rest of the stuff and combine it with other stuff - we ought to be full of thankfulness that we HAVE these things to bless our families with - when we have the finished product we distribute it to our family and HOPE for a favourable evaluation.....

If we continue to live our lives in thankfulness we will not complain, also it would often prove to be a deterant to sin. Jordan's point that one important thing missing in the story of the fall was thanksgiving - imagine A & E stopping, fruit in hand and saying 'we thank you Lord for supplying us with this good fruit....' (or some such) - it just wouldn't have happened would it. These people didn't have minds darkened by sin and they didn't have bad memories - Adam had heard straight from the mouth of God the prohibition on eating from this particular tree.
When we listened to the recording of Paradise Lost I was obliged to go back to the Bible and see whether, as Milton suggests, Eve had got a bit fed up of being with Adam and went off for a day of solitary gardening RESULTING in her not having his protection and advice against sinning. I saw that hte Bible said 'she gave the fruit to her husband who was with her' . This is the position Jordan takes - that is to say, Adam stood by while Eve was decieved - maybe doing the first 'human experiment'. I guess women were always modelled after the same pattern 'ice-cold logic' not generally being the prevailing controlling factor in their actions...... Adam, however, had the necessary information and also other built-in qualities which ought to have made him step forward and intervene. Well, it is interesting to think about although purely theoretical. I think that because of Milton's attitude (though maybe he was just refelcting the prevaling attitude of his age, rather than setting it?) the 'reformed' church has felt quite firmly that WOMEN are the cause of 'all the trouble' - that Adam just had to carry the can because he had the 'misfortune' to be the covenant head..... Too many women in the reformed setting just go along with this as though it were TRUE. Thereby we are less effective as women.

I am made aware (mostly from listening to Jordan!) that the things we understand as we read in the Bible depend very much upon our pre-suppositions. We have to TRY (difficult though it is) to hear / read the Bible plainly, with an understanding of the culture in which it was written. If we start at the beginning and understand all that follows on the basis of what preceded it (rather than begining with the book of John and perhaps chasing up the notes in the margins only....) if we are to truly make progress in understanding and wisdom.
One example regarding culture is (and we know this is the case in Nigeria today where the incidence of twins is VERY high - poss. due to genetic pre-disposition) that TWINS were freaky, an ill omen. Now think about Rebecca. For years she had gone on not having children at the normal time, as she might have been expected to - then along comes big trouble. No ultrasound or sonic aid and only when Rebecca enquired of the Lord did she find out that there were twins in there. Imagine how those around her must have viewed the situation? This was ultra-weird.
Incidentally, reading between the lines, the whole story of Isaac and Rebecca was not exactly a 'happily-ever-after' story - even though it was 'made in heaven'. Think about how both parents knew which twin the Lord was going to favour and Isaac spent most of his life trying to reverse this. Rebecca (maybe because she was more spiritual or submissive to God - or perhaps, rather, because Jacob was her blue-eyed boy) was constantly working against her husband in this most important issue - now you are not going to tell me that this was a household full of peace and harmony, perfectly modelling the relationship between Christ and the Church?!!!!

finally, Jordan pointed out that the Bible was HEARD much more than it was read. Most people, throughout most of the Bible times (and through the world until prob. 200 years ago) could not read. I have observed that children who are not yet able to read have a much better memory. Imagine if this were the case for those who grow into adult-hood still not able to read. Hearing the Bible would be a far more effective way of encountering the Word than we could know, as readers. One criticsism of reading is that it is a solitary activity and therefore hearing is superior (unless, of course, you do it via an MP3 player or walkman plus headphones.....) . Jordan says that you could let words go by before your eyes and not be reading them in any meaningful way - reading aloud would be more effective - but that you cannot be in a room where someone is speaking and not hear them - you can't close your ears. He obviously doesn't know that you can have words go by your ears and not 'hear' them without too much difficulty (some of my children are excellent at this.....).
Well, I hope to continue with more in 'quiet' moments throughout this day. Meanwhile I have a trip to Yately, to collect a canoe for the boys, lined up and the exciting prospect of seeing my bathroom (unchanged for 21 years) being ripped out with a view to a new one being put in. I only hope that Philip does not behave like most builders one hears of - I NEED this bathroom to be back in action in a week or two at the most......