Mr. Holland’s Week
On Monday, August 18, 2003,
a New York Times editor wrote
the following headline
for a book review:
Bending Over Backward
for a Well-Known Lout.
The word “lout” here refers to
author John O’Hara, who often
wrote about his native Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, August 21, 2003,
the Pennsylvania Lottery
midday number was
162.
For some other occurrences of this number,
see my entries of August 19, written
in honor of the birthday of
Jill St. John.
The “three days” remark referred to above
is from another St. John (2:19), allegedly
the author of an account of the last days
of one Jesus of Nazareth.
Those who share Mel Gibson’s
taste for religious drama may
savor the following dialogue:
|
Dramatis Personae:
Narrator: Those who had been healed did not join in with the throng at Jesus’ crucifixion who cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” ….
Voice of Doom: It was a different story for the guilty ones who had fled from the presence of Jesus. Group 1: The priests and rulers never forgot the feeling of guilt they felt that moment in the temple. Group 2: The Holy Spirit flashed into their minds the prophets’ writings concerning Christ. Would they yield to this conviction? Voice of Doom: Nope! They would have to repent first! They would not admit that they were wrong! They knew that they were dead wrong. But they would not repent of it! And because Jesus had discerned their thoughts, they hated Him. With hate in their hearts they slowly returned to the temple. Voice of Hope: They could not believe their eyes when they saw the people being healed and praising God! These guilty ones were convicted that in Jesus the prophecies of the Messiah were fulfilled. As much as they hated Jesus, they could not free themselves from the thought that He might be a prophet sent by God to restore the sacredness of the temple. Voice of Doom: So they asked Him a stupid question! “What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do what you did?” Voice of Jesus: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will build it again.” Voice of Doom: Those guys couldn’t believe it! |
Philosophers ponder the idea of identity:
what it is to give something a name
on Monday
and have it respond to that name
on Friday….
— Bernard Holland, The New York Times,
Monday, May 20, 1996
“Ask a stupid question…”
For further details, see