Beyond Me. Carroll E. Arkema
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are we to understand this? Is Samson just crazed?
Are we to go and do likewise? Violently rage?
Yet a third time it’s written that God’s Spirit rushed upon him,
And with the jawbone of an ass he kills one thousand men.27
VI
Up to this point in his life, he seems a bit entitled;
Demanding that God give him water so that he won’t die.28
It must have been difficult for Samson as for us,
To understand what’s going on here, to not be nonplussed.
Who here’s responsible? Is it God or is it him?
Can he hold God accountable? Or is he on his own?
We imagine Samson wrestling with who he is and why?
What’s the nature of his identity and how is he to live?
If at times God “took him over,” how would that feel?
Perhaps he felt grandiose; but what about free will?
His parents must have told him that before he was born,
They’d been visited by an angel and told they’d have a son.
They’d dedicate him to God if his mother would not stay barren.29
On the one hand he’d feel special; on the other hand bound.
It’s fascinating to read then about Samson’s development;
The way things unfolded is complex and compelling.
He knew he was consecrated, a nazirite set apart:
Couldn’t drink wine nor strong drink, nor ever cut his hair.
Amidst such restrictions, how could he be his own man?
Would he defy prohibitions, or take a compliant stance?
His parents had expectations, as well as did God.
How he became his own person is what the story’s about.
He resisted parental pressure about whom he should marry.
Instead of choosing ‘mongst Israelites, he chose a woman from Timnah.30
In various relationships, Samson’s identity is created;
In relation to Spirit, too, he gradually individuated.
VII
This story about Samson is amazing in its own right;
But that it’s a story used to tell a story, we must not lose sight.
It’s announced in the beginning that God will use this man
To humble the Philistines, who were oppressing the land.31
When we read about this dynamic, it’s easy to resent it.
If this is the way God would have it, isn’t Samson a puppet?
So the story makes us think about what life’s all about:
Do we just make the most of it, live for self, then die out?
Or if we’re open to God’s Spirit and its power in our lives,
Can we then be ourselves without sacrifice?
Do we really have free will, or are we in fact trapped?
Once we’re conscious of God’s call, can we really turn back?
Let’s look again at Samson and how that worked out;
Is there something we can learn from the book of holy writ?
VIII
The back-story of Samson’s birth rings out the tone here:
The way the Lord works, turns everything on its ear.
But before we delve into the details about that,
The preface makes it clear that God’s behind the action.32
God’s actions are not bound within ritual constructions.
The fact that they aren’t, reveals the relativity of such structures.
In a patriarchal society, the story first mentions the husband;
But the thrilling exigency is that God appears to the woman.
“Although you are barren, you will conceive and bear a son.
He’ll begin to deliver Israel from the hands of Philistines.”33
When the woman tells her husband, he finds it hard to believe.
But the patience of the Lord is something to perceive!
Manoah entreats the Lord, praying that the angel return,
Under the pretense that he teach them what they need to learn.
God listened to Manoah: but appears again to the woman!!
We imagine her smiling as she runs to get her husband.
The woman had told her husband that the man was like an angel;
But he seems not to get it: treats him only from a human angle.
Manoah wants to detain him, in accord with hospitality;
Wants to know his name, perhaps for accountability.
Seems he can’t see Transcendence when looking it in the face;
The angel gives many hints, remaining elusively full of grace.
When asked for his name, he says, “Why? It’s too wonderful.”34
Not seduced by praise: “Worship the Lord,” he tells Manoah.
Manoah finally breaks free of his rigid human blindness,
At long last he’s able to see that this is a divine appearance.
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