“Mishna As A Culture-Code” [Reflections on Mishna Translation - Darby - General (series); Clotaire Rapaille: The Culture Code, NY, Broadway Books: 2006 )]
It wasn’t ’till the YouTube guys
Explained Chap-one, I realized
The Mishna is their culture’s code,
Explained, laid out, that newbies know –The way life’s done within their group –
Laid down, evolved, like flavored soup;
“I get it!” was my quick reply –
How nice they say, where boundaries lie –For those adhering to their tribe;
We all have codes – helps us survive
Within the life’s rough-and-tumble space –
“How life’s done here” – A guide, in case –We need to learn; refresh our mind;
Resolve disputes; in pages find
How complex issues can resolve,
For good of all who are involved.All cultures are complex and deep,
With “Codes” for sub-parts, meeting needs
In ways passed on – quite slow to change,
As situations rearrange.So how does that translate to us?
I hunch (at this point), all our fuss
And bother – which all cultures have –
Can be enriched – cross-cultured salve.Admixed within their culture-code
I hunch we’ll find a mother-load
Of nuggets mixed within the ore,
Which might enrich our treasure store.So, thank You, Father-God above
For this rich classic, book of love,
Passed on for many thousand years,
Amidst their times of joy and tears.Please open up my heart and hands
To hear, reflect, and understand
Through hermeneutic-view today,
The contexts, cases, subtle ways –They found to work around, resolve,
Conundrums – all the while involved
In covenant-relationship
With God, who seeks to guide our steps.Enrich this journey, first time through,
That insights here in context new,
Might flow into my life and mind,
And insight bring where I am blind.Thanks Holy Spirit for this.
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