after all

Here's my new found love thanks to my friend Rodney:

U2 Connections: Eugene Peterson

Here is an article I enjoyed reading since U2 has been a favorite band of mine since 1980 and Eugene Peterson is such an amazing scholar and teacher of Scripture!!

U2 Connections : Eugene Peterson

www.@U2.com

by Angela Pancella

[photo: Eugene Peterson}

What can I give back to God for the blessings he's poured out on me? I'll lift high the cup of salvation -- A toast to God! I'll pray in the name of God; I'll complete what I promised God I'd do, And I'll do it together with his people.

Sound familiar? Bono recited these lines, or some variation on them, before "Where the Streets Have No Name" throughout the Elevation tour. U2-watchers online quickly traced them to Psalm 116. You'd be hard-pressed to find an expression like "a toast to God!" in the Bible on the family bookshelf, however. Most fans, if they gave the matter any thought, probably assumed Bono had done a little creative paraphrasing. Bono putting an ear-catching spin on Biblical passages is, after all, nothing new. (He once described Jesus summing the law into "Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself," then saying "That's what I'm about! That's my Greatest Hits!") But just like all those uncredited lyrics from other people's songs that end up sung during U2 concerts, this translation of Psalm 116 was not a Bono original. It is the work of Eugene Peterson, poet, Professor Emeritus at Regent College in Vancouver, and for 35 years a pastor.

Does the name sound familiar? Bono's been dropping that line for the last several years, even mentioning that he'd been reading Peterson's translation of the New Testament to his dying father. However, the fact that he swiped Peterson's Psalm 116 for the introduction to Streets hasn't come up.

Peterson's complete American English translation of the Christian Scriptures, The Message Bible, hits bookshelves in July. In the promotional materials heralding this, a story is told of Peterson and U2: "Once, while teaching in Vancouver, some of Peterson's students became very excited because Bono of the rock band U2 said The Message was the most important book he'd read in his whole life. The students thought this a great triumph. Eugene didn't recognize either Bono or U2."

So when interviewing Peterson for @U2 (a project which went through most communications media: I emailed the questions to NavPress, publisher of The Message, and they mailed me the answers Peterson faxed back to them), I asked first if he had learned any more about the band. "Yes, I am familiar with Bono and U-2 [sic]. A year or so ago (maybe less) their chaplain/pastor who was traveling with them at the time, called and asked me to come to Chicago to meet them. I wasn't able to get away at the time but I had a lovely conversation with him. And many of my younger friends and ex-students keep me posted on the latest from U-2. When the Rolling Stones [sic] interview with them came out a few months ago, I got clippings sent to me from all over the world!"

(Presumably he's referring here to the Rolling Stone interview in December of 2001, where Bono was asked about his favorite reading materials: "...there's a translation of Scriptures -- the New Testament and the Books of Wisdom -- that this guy Eugene Peterson has undertaken. It has been a great strength to me. He's a poet and a scholar, and he's brought the text back to the tone in which the books were written.")

What did he think about having a quote from his work recited, uncredited, in front of 20,000 concertgoers at a time?

"My reaction? Pleased, very pleased. Bono is singing to the very people I did this work for. I feel that we are allies in this. He is helping get me and The Message into the company of the very people Jesus spent much of his time with."

The seed for The Message was planted during his pastoral work, Peterson says in a press release. He was trying to get across the fire and wild words of Paul's letter to the Galatians in a Bible study class, but his parishioners were paying more attention to the pot of coffee in the church basement. "It was just awful. They'd fill up their coffee cups and stir in sugar and cream and look at their cups and they weren't getting it. It was just really bad. I went home after the third week and said to my wife that I was going to teach them Greek. If they could read it in Greek they would get it, they'd understand what a revolutionary text it is and couldn't just keep living in their ruts. She agreed that would empty the class out fast."

Instead, Peterson translated Galatians himself. In the interview with @U2 he explains his approach to this and other books of the Bible: "The largest influence on the work of The Message, after the Greek and Hebrew text itself, was 35 years working as a pastor, listening, listening, listening to people, trying to get these original texts in their idiom, their imaginations, the way they talked. I always felt I was on the border of two countries where they spoke different languages -- the bible language and the American language. I kept asking myself, if Isaiah or John were writing what they wrote for these people I am living with, how would they say it?"

Here's an example of that approach, from the sixth chapter of Galatians: "Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

All of Paul's letters have this vibrancy in Peterson's translation. How did working these (which, being letters, have a built-in immediacy) into contemporary language compare to working on the other books, with their variety of moods and tones?

"Paul is an extravagant, inventive poet. His syntax is sometimes wild. It's an adventure to enter into his imagination and get the same sounds and meanings in American. The gospels were very different, much more difficult because there is a simplicity and directness that is a real challenge to get across into American English. By the time I got to the Old Testament I was prepared for the variations in style and the long stretches of poetry."

It would be interesting to find out from Bono just why he has been so impressed by this translation. Peterson can't speak to that, but he can talk about reactions from people in similar circumstance to Bono's. "When I started this, I really had in mind people who had never read the Bible before," he says. "What took me by surprise and continues to please me is how many speak or write to me as 'having read the Bible all my life and now, finally, I get it.'"

Bono's familiarity with the Bible is evident through his lyrics, but he doesn't seem to have been calcified by custom into the "my Bible is the only Bible" syndrome. This can happen when someone is brought up to read the Bible, or certain passages, so many times that the word choices of a given translation are confused with the Holy Writ itself. Bono's unusual religious upbringing and allergic reaction to fundamentalism may have helped keep him from thinking that Jesus spoke in, say, King James English. A similar trap, which I confess colors my ability to fully appreciate The Message Bible, opens up because most translations have been made in the best and most literary writing possible. One can come to love the language so much, the meaning becomes secondary. For example, there is a passage in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews which is rendered in exquisite prose in "my" Bible:

"You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them..."

The Message Bible's take on the same words seems flat by comparison:
"Unlike your ancestors, you didn't come to Mount Sinai -- all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble -- to hear God speak."

When asked, Peterson says he has received very few complaints that he tinkered with well-loved language. "I was prepared for an all-out assault but I have received very little opposition or criticism. Maybe there has been a shift in our population from a bible reading people who know their bibles well and have no reason to want something different, to a non-bible reading country with a huge population of people who go to U-2 concerts who didn't know that anything like this bible even existed. And when they learn about it they are ready to read."

(For more information about The Message Bible, visit www.messagebible.com.)

You're The Reason I Sing

If you asked me what image would appear in my mind every time I thought about my Grandpa it would look something like this:

There he'd be across the table from me, in his kitchen, with those big Russian, Polish - Ukrainian pirogi ears. His leather bound watch on his left hand and he'd be fiddling around with his place setting. He had that clock radio to the left of him on a little shelf where he'd sing along to songs like "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime".

The music of the Great Depression is what he listened to. How the music touched him. I noticed that part. It was always so obvious to me that the music was such a big part of him. He played this concertina or otherwise known as a "squeeze-box" while he would hold a harmonica in his mouth with his teeth. I would sit there amazed. I was truly intrigued by his musical abilities because if you saw him you'd never think this guy was interested in music to the degree of where he could "make" it.

It makes sense to me more and more that he is the reason the music is in me. How I love music. How I love to make it. How I love to play it. How I love to listen to it. How it calms me. How it lifts me. How it breaks me. How it moves me to places that nothing else can.

Today it makes sense that he is the reason for music in my life because today that man, my Grandpa, passed away and for some reason it seems more evident to me now than ever before. He was the only Grandpa I had. I never knew my other Grandfather. But this one took care of that just fine. This one made me laugh. This one let me screw up and then gave me 20 bucks. This one made me laugh a lot. This one took me to my first movie theater experiences (King Kong - Jeff Bridges, Paradise Alley - Sylvester Stallone, Moonraker - Roger Moore). This one helped me buy my first car that leaked a quart of oil every 50 miles - but he didn't hold that against me he just helped me get it - he just let me make the mistake and still was my Grandpa with no strings attached and no "I told you so". This one let me try a cigarette when I was like 9. This one shared a beer with me in his car(while driving!). This one put me on his knee and would say "bumpety-bump-bumpety-bump". This one made me laugh.

There was this song that he whistled all the time. I mean all the time. It drove people nuts in his neighborhood because they heard it all the time. I heard it all the time and I find myself whistling it on occasion for absolutely no reason other than it grew into me because he shared it. Last year I asked him what song that was that he has been whistling for 60 years. This is what I loved about him. He looked at me and then sang it to me word for word as if he was talking to me. The song is called "Cathedral in the Pines". Just a simple song about a young couple getting married.

That's what I love though! That ability to share a song you love as if it's, without a doubt, a part of the conversation. I want to do that to my kids more and more. Just sing to them. Just give the music away.

He promised me that he'd give me that concertina when his time was nearing the end. Sure enough he sent it with my Dad to me a few months ago. It began to settle into me a little that my Grandpa was starting his goodbyes if you will.

Just three days ago I went to see him because he refused anymore preventative treatments and was ready to die at 91 years of age. I just held his face and he held mine. And I just told him how great of a Grandpa he was to me. He let me pray for him(which is a huge deal).

Then last night I stayed up and learned a couple of his favorite songs and sang them in my living room for quite a while.

There is this song by U2 that was written when Bono's Dad passed away. It's a father-son song for sure and there are so many parts to that song that ring true with my Grandpa. I just want to sing out from the depths of my heart to him those words that Bono bellows out:
"Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone...
It's you when I look in the mirror
It's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own...
...Can you hear me when I sing
You're the reason I sing..."

So, today I am sad. Today I hurt. But today I know the reason I sing more than I did yesterday.

I think I'm gonna drown myself in some U2 and Bing Crosby tonight for quite a while.

Don't Miss It!

[to the left is a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. being arrested for "loitering"]

I've heard so many Christians remark on the outcome of the election with a concern about how Barak Obama's administration will affect the abortion issue/economy/war. I truly understand the concern but I would like to go on to say DON'T MISS WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE!!!

I watched Barak's acceptance speech with incredible joy and excitement(McCain's speech was just as heart-wrenching and great!). History in the making!

I watched the Reverend Jesse Jackson weep. I wondered what was going on in his mind and heart. I don't care what anyone says about Jesse Jackson because this is a man who watched his inspiration and mentor get gunned down some 40 years ago. Jesse Jackson watched Martin Luther King, Jr. give his life in the name of love.

I dropped a tear or two when I saw an African-American family that's headed for the White House walk out on that stage in Grant Park, downtown Chicago.

They stated that the issue of race wasn't part of this election but it certainly came to the surface when the nation clearly chose it's next president and a ripple of emotion most certainly made it's way across a nation that has hundreds of years of hurt and immense suffering to still heal from.

Did you watch the exuberance and emotional responses of the African-American communities? Or did you miss it?

Did you set down your political stance and stop to think for just a second that something as powerful as the abolishment of slavery took place on Tuesday evening, November 4, 2008?

When I was in high school I was part of a U.S. History team that ended up being involved in a nation wide competition involving the history and knowledge of the Constitution, the Amendments and the Declaration of Independence. Each of us was responsible for a certain section and for the investigating of it.

My specific assignment was to be able to answer the value of a black man as a voter after slavery was abolished and when free black men could vote. Their value was 1/5 of a vote. They were worth 1/5 of what a white man was worth.

We went to the Supreme Court of Ohio to compete. No one knew when you would be called up to answer your part before the Supreme Court Justices. I remember so well when it was my turn to speak. At that time it was 1987. I remember that moment because the Supreme Court Justice that I had to face was black. I remember I had to explain to a black Supreme Court Justice, as I stood in his court a young white Catholic male, the reasoning behind the 1/5 voter value of a black man. It was perhaps one of the most humbling experiences of my life because I cannot comprehend what it is like to be devalued because of skin color and that is it.

Seriously stand back and look at the scope and magnificence of this. An African American is going to be the next President. An African American family will occupy the White House in our lifetime. After hundreds of years of opposition, dehumanization, and devaluing we now witness great hope in the healing of immense racial divisions around the world.

So be encouraged that after 400 years of Africans clinging on to the right to be seen as equal they now give to a nation in need through the highest office available. If after 400 years of fighting opposition through sacrifice after sacrifice has proven change is most certainly possible and injustices are not inevitable then perhaps the Christian church of the United States will begin to realize that after 35 years of fighting against legal abortions they should take some lessons on how to stand up for what is right instead of expecting it to change by just voting every 4 years and expecting one person to handle the grunt work.

A great day has come and if you are white and can only see this as an economic issue or an abortion issue then my friend I would ask "how much of your political view have you shared with the African American community face-to-face and not just with your white friends via the internet?"

A great day has come. Don't miss it.

Just Sharing Some Fun