Finding a new potential island for our kitchen, my wife called me from the Restore.
Hustling over, I found the $20 ramshackle piece – OSB plywood topping an 8’x2.8’ metal frame with wheels. My wife has an eye for such objects needing redemption.
As I paid for it, a new customer spotted the prize. “I need that for my shop!” Phew, I’d gotten it just in time.
Two sons took the frame to their paint shop to coat it with industrial flat black paint.
A local hardware store sold 8’3”x 23” butcherblock. Needing to cut off 9” to make the 32” wide top I needed, I bought two. But using my table saw, how could I cut the unwieldy second piece straight?
A carpenter friend rescued me. His saw could be set in a track and make a flawless cut. It worked! We glued the two pieces together. Later, we attached it to the top of the frame. Beautiful!
That treasured work surface is used every day for many purposes – especially cooking – taking disparate parts and magically/tastefully uniting them.
A Verbal Connection
Our “island” reminds me of a tongue-twister Greek verb, anakephalaioó. Note, this is a verb not a noun, like our “island” – the “place” where recipes come together. Instead, our complicated verb describes what an enhanced/enriched craftsman does as he/she combines separate parts into vital unity. As important as the island top is, it cannot make a delicious pie. But my wife can.
Note: anakephalaioó goes beyond “ordinary skill” to “superior ability to join together.” “Aná” intensifies what follows. “Aná” is like super-saturating a solution to make it abound.
Next, “kephalaióō” comes from “kephalē,” “head.” The “head” unifies individual parts into a coordinated whole. An “intensified head” powerfully leads formerly divided parts to work together in harmony.
In our world of division with its webs of deceit, too often legitimately we focus on improving places – communities, states, nations. But our word spotlights a LEADER who accomplishes FEATS.
Who has such intensified power?
First, a Jewish Connection
The Hebrew word for “head” is “rosh.” Jews celebrate “rosh” “ha” (“of the”) “shana” (“year”) – the Head of the Year/New Year.
How did Jews mark this day of new beginnings?
Rosh Hashana began the cycle of sowing. During Rosh Hashana Jews reaffirmed to God: “You are our King. We can’t live life without you.” And they repented for slothful/rebellious/trivialized/self-righteous/inconsiderate/foolish ways they had forgotten or contradicted him.
The ram’s horn trumpeted 100 times during a traditional Rosh Hashanah service. The shofar blast called Jews to war. At Rosh Hashana, they warred not against physical enemies – but against their own idolatries. They began their New Year blasting away at their own sinful inner tyrant. What an awkward, humbling priority.
But, they repented in hope. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13) Ten days after Rosh Hashana, they reveled in Yom (Day) Kippur (of Atonement). For those who trusted God, the blood of the Lamb-to-come provided atonement. A long shofar blast trumpeting reconciliation concluded Yom Kippur.
And What About Us?
As we begin our New Year, will our first priority be to war against what separates us from God and neighbor? Who will blow the trumpet to rouse us from our stupor/mutiny/indifference/superficiality?
Ken Meyers trumpeted: “When we are captivated by the way our world thinks, we suffer from a kind of Stockholm Syndrome whereby we admire and serve the interests of our captors.” (Summer 2020, Mars Hill Audio letter)
Holy Spirit, help us seek you and your kingdom first.
Consider trumpeter Mr. Michta, Dean, College of International and Security Studies, Germany. “It is hard to call things by their proper names in a society whose elites insist on calling looters ‘protesters,’ national monuments ‘symbols of racism,’ and the victims of looting the beneficiaries of ‘white privilege.’ The challenge is massive, but it starts with the simple act of calling things by their proper names.”
Holy Spirit, help us speak truly.
Church analyst Marcus Honeysett trumpeted: “Some leaders’ aggressive approaches are designed to actively diminish opposition through wounding, traumatizing, or eliminating people. A useful acronym from the world of psychology and trauma studies is DARVO. The aggressor:
- Denies that anything is wrong;
- Attacks the challenger;
- Reverses Victim and Offender. (p 76, “Powerful Leaders?”)
“The aim is to control structures, bully individuals who pose a threat, and neuter any concerns before they can be aired.” (p. 78)
Holy Spirit, help us recognize schemes of evil and expose them.
Consider Honeysett again: “While Christians have a general duty to be soft-hearted, forgiveness is dependent on repentance. To forgive in the absence of repentance is to validate sinful behavior.” (p. 103)
Holy Spirit, help us call others to repent too. God, we want to turn around and walk with you, living for you.
Seeking Help
Where do we find the spiritual energy for these vital tasks?
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians, using our word, anakephalaioó to trumpet reconciliation.
Ephesians 1:7 “In him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him (anakephalaioó), things in heaven and things on earth.”
Here, Jesus is the “intensified head” who “in the fullness of time” powerfully bonds his formerly disillusioned/ disunited/deceived followers to love God and live/work/love together. He is the Pearl of Great Price.
We love our wonderful workplaces/islands. But Jesus uses his workplace, the cross, to bring former enemies home to Father.
Jesus, as our head, you bring together our deepest longings for unity. We cannot make a culture but you can.
Friends who trust or who will yet trust Jesus, Happy/Redeemed/Forgiven/Graced/Lavished/Wise/Mysterious/Purposeful/Fulfilled/United New Year in Jesus!
Note 1: In 2020, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared Rosh Hashanah a national holiday. This made Ukraine the only country besides Israel where the day is a national holiday.
Note 2: Leviticus 23:24 refers to the festival of the first day of the seventh month as “a memorial of blowing [of horns].” Numbers 29:1 calls the festival “day of blowing [the horn]”.
