1. Is. 6:1-8, Ps. 104:22-35
   
2. The Isaiah passage brings to light an important feature of discussion of div inity: holiness. See David Willis. Notes on the Holiness of God, or the standard, Rudolph Otto’s book, The Idea of the Holy. In our time what does holiness mean in terms of separation for a purpose?
   
3. In a related vein, how do you see the lips being touched, maybe purified by a coal from an altar. Which altar?  This could be a great place to discuss how we use our lips, or how we do not speak of God at all.
   
4. It brings up the related issue of transcendence, when we are in an immanent period.
   
5. Theg clean/unclean idea is well discussed by the anthropologist Mary Douglas.
   
6. To get a handle on it, perhaps we could speak of boundaries.
   
7. The seraphim may well have been more fearsome than we imagine. Think of the bronze serpent with wings.
   
8. 40 Glory ahs a sense of presence for me, but it also has a sense of gravity, weightiness, splendor as would befit the divine.
   
9. For Trinity Sunday, this is an image of a God who breaks all of our boundaries, a God who cannot be boxed in by our mental or emotional containers.
   
10. Here I am, send me. Is it always a good sing when someone is anxious to be a speaker fo rGod?

 

 

 

Psalm 29

1. Some scholars see a link to Canaanite patterns of prayer reflected in this psalm. This shows the boldness of Hebrew worship as it was willing to use other models to proclaim a prayer.
   
2. On the other hand, it shifts the image of Baal’s contest with the waters; they are mere instruments at god’s power.
   
3. The storm language also resonates with the storm at Sinai before the giving of the 10 commandments.
   
4. I assume the heavenly beings are more than angels. It reminds me of Ps. 89 or Job 1 where god is pictured as the CEO of lesser divinities.
   
5. One could use this to talk about storms in life.
   
6. One could speak of the trinity of relation with God, each other, and with nature.
   
7. Older pastors recall that Biblical studies drew a sharp contrast against linking God and nature. In an ecological age, this has changed.