My little Gnudren,
The nights are drawing in and there is more darkness than daylight, so Old Gnu has furnished you with an arrangement of the wonderful little song by Damian Lundy (1944-1996), Walk in the Light. Like the last offering (the Alleluia Sing to Jesus jig – for which Old Gnu did much violin practice) this song will put a spring in your step. He also offers you his first song from the Verbotene Stücke category which for various reasons were suppressed and did not see the light of day.
But did not Jesus himself say that what is hidden will come to light, and what you hear in secret, you should shout from the housetops? Well now Old Gnu is shouting. If you put your ear closer to your PC, phone or iPad you may hear a shout in the distance. (That’s the trouble with these new fangled gadgets, they don’t always deliver what you actually want.) So by way of contrast to walking in the light Old Gnu presents you with a song about that well known Old Testament character, Sanballat, who certainly did not walk in the light. Let him be a warning to us all. Listen to the karaoke version of this song and follow the words which faithfully follow the text of the Bible; and be admonished and edified. (Read all about it in the book of Nehemiah.) Once again I think this is a first. There are no worship songs or hymns about Sanballat in any hymn book that I know of. Yet a more pithy summary of the Bible text in song would be hard to come by. This song also reminds us that if you say you are going to build a wall, then you should get on with it.
Recent references to building walls may throw Nehemiah’s project into a bad light. It all depends on the reason and motive. The walls of Jericho came down and the outcome was the slaughter of the Jericho-ites. After their collapse there certainly wasn’t any more ice-cream on sale. (As an gullible junior Gnu I was once told they were the only ice-cream sellers in the Bible). If that’s what God really wanted, by today’s standards God would be awarded nul points. The Berlin Wall came down with joyfully peaceful results. The West Bank went up in order to maintain security but is it shutting out peace in the long term? The loudly shouted-about wall at Trumpton has not gone up to date. Camberwick Green, from what I remember, was noted for a distinct lack of walls. Even Windy Miller didn’t have a protecting fence around the his windmill, but he miraculously escaped decapitation by timing his entry into his front door which was precariously placed in the path of the rotating sails.
Blessings upon you my little Gnudren; and now Old Gnu must get back to his violin practice.
Cantoris Praesultatoris
Turris, Oppidum Longum Cineres (LA)
I am not sure that the fanatically devoted supporters of Horon Circle Dancing or Sanballat would have taken kindly to the mirth of the Radio 3 announcer. I fear for his safety. Is the said announcer still alive?
I knew about this dance because Radio 3 announcer’s attempts to say ‘we now have an Israeli Hora’, and failing to keep himself from hysterics, are deeply imprinted on my memory.
Dear Mr. Carson, there is no real doubting that Sanballat mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri is the the Sanballat of Nehemiah, since he is identified as a Samaritan. Although some scholars who like splitting hairs would point out that he is called “Sanballat the Horonite” (Nehemiah 2:10) and while we are no longer able to pinpoint the location of Horon precisely, it is likely to be contiguous with Samaria,. The reason why the Elephantine Community in Egypt loved our despised Sanballat is because contrary to Deuteronomy 12:5 and other passages, Sanballat and the Samaritans did not believe Jerusalem was the place only legitimate place one could raise an altar to Jehovah. (That is because the 10 northern tribes split away from the 2 southern tribes and appointed their own kings (read 1 kings 11).) The Elephantine Community also raised an altar to Jehovah in Egypt – a direct contravention of the Law of Moses as found in Deuteronomy 12. Hence Sanballat was one of their heroes. Some may consider it right to go along with Sanballat since he had a broader view of the workings of Jehovah than Nehemiah, who by modern standards would be considered non-inclusive and therefore politically incorrect. But Sanballat should really have been more compassionate to the ‘weaker minded’ Jews. Unfortunately God loves people we disagree with, ( even Methodists) and we should not be antagonistic to those who try to follow God in a different way to us. Did not Jesus say, those who are not against us are for us. The irritation for Sanballat was that while he held sway and influence for some years while the Jews were in exile, when the ‘pesky, Jews returned to Jerusalem he felt his power was threatened and that his authority was in question. If you haven’t gone to sleep by now, I hope this helps. Yours sincerely, Old Gnu.
Mr. Carson, Sir, just one additional thought. “Horon” today is the name given to a group of circle dances that originate from the Black Sea Region in Turkey that some say have very ancient origins. ( I must consult Mrs. Gnu who is quite an authority on Circle
Dances, but unfortunately she is out circle dancing.) There is a very outside chance that Sanballat was a migrant circle dancer who accidentally ended up as a petty governor in the Samaria Area. This sort of thing is not untypical of what happens today. The problem for him was that Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem with the authority of Cyrus the Ruler of the then Medo-Persian Empire and so Nehemiah’s jurisdiction over neighbouring Judah and Jerusalem could not be questioned. There is also a faint chance that Cyrus did not like Horon Circle Dancers.
As Mr Carson observed on facebook, the Gnu is the master of tenuous links and Sanballat is connected to the ‘Alleluia Sing To Jesus’ jig thus:
“The Horon is generally danced by a chain of either men or women and has one of the most characteristic movements which is a fast shoulder shimmy (tremoulo) and a trembling of the entire body and sudden squats [much like the Toronto Blessing] which imitates the movements of a fish called the hamsi (a type of anchovy) as it swims in the sea or struggles in the nets for its life…It is thought the Irish jig and even its modern version, the River Dance, may have its roots from exposure to the Horon Circle Dance.”
How about an Elephantine papyri sequel to redess the balance?
WINDY MILLER! One of my heroes. He understood the work/life balance thing very well. And only needed a wall to lean on when he wanted a rest and to drink cider.
Dear Dr. Mier, I do confess my memory of the whole Camberick Green Corpus is a bit faded but I am minded to revisited it and contemplate it further; for I am certain it will furnish a fruitful field for meditation. I am pleased that some of the material has been digitally restored by the BBC – a very prudent use indeed of our licence fee. You rightly speak of understanding the work life balance. I finally feel I’ve just about got it right: I do no work and devote myself 100% to life. It really feels good! But as yet it hadn’t occurred to me to lean against a wall and drink cider! What could I have been thing about?! Wow! I must make time for this tomorrow….and the day after, and the day after that too. Thank you for this marvellous suggestion prompted by the behaviour of one of the saints of the past. How could I have missed this …?!
Lots of love, Old Gnu x
PS I hope you also have the opportunity one day to try out Old Gnu’s work/life balance. It’s really groovy.