Mercy Ships Adventure 3

Disclaimer: While the next few weeks I will be chronicling my time aboard the Africa Mercy, the views and opinions expressed therein are my own and are not affiliated with Mercy Ships.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved." (1 Corinthians 10:31-33 ESV)

Well, as of yesterday I have been on the ship for a week. I meant to update yesterday, but after working, fabric shopping, and then working some more, I was too exhausted to do anything but crash at the end of the day. And my work isn't really over yet - I served breakfast this morning and will serving dinner tonight as well. Tomorrow, thankfully, I get a much-needed off day.

I am back in food service, which admittedly I thought I had left behind me. It feels a little strange, to be honest. I think many times I imagined working on the mission field (which I kind of am) as more. More exciting, more difficult, more glorious, etc. And it has been an adventure. But also it kind of feels like back when I used to work at Chick-fil-A. I have done a lot of meditating on my role here on the ship. The purpose of the ship is to provide medical care, education, and ministry to people who otherwise might not have access to it. Those are the jobs of the doctors, nurses, and chaplains on board. It's a boat, and so we have sailors. It's not always safe, and so we have a security team. Everyone has an important job.

The crew with me in the dining room and the kitchen? We make sure that everyone gets fed. My bunkmate and the team in housekeeping make sure that the place stays clean and safe. The teachers make sure that those children brought on board by their families receive a quality education. There are a myriad other jobs that I hadn't really thought of as important, and yet they are vital to the ultimate purpose of the ship. All of us in these more menial jobs serve those who serve. Like a stage crew, we work behind the scenes, serving the ship by serving the doctors, nurses, chaplains, etc a good meal when they need it. And so I pray I can continue to serve to the glory of God.

Unlike when I worked at Chick-fil-A, I feel like my service here is appreciated by the "customers." Many of the long-term crew started out in the Dining Room. Many people thank me for their meal. And we all live in very close quarters, so I feel like it is almost 100% necessary that we all get along.

As we are about to sail for the Canary Islands, the ship is emptying. Our day crew has stopped working. Many of the medical staff has gone home, or goes home today. Still others will join in with housekeeping, in the dining room, etc so they have something to do while we sail. There are ladies leaving that I already know I will miss, even though I have only known them a few days really. I am so grateful for the openness and friendship that has been offered me so far, and I hope to provide the same kind of openness and friendship to those few coming to join the ship.

His Daughter or His Fiancée: What Makes an Accurate English Translation of the Bible

Note: A lot of people wanted to read this paper, so I decided to post it after it was graded so that plagiarism software wouldn't pick it up. Before you read you should know that the KJV we are familiar with today is not the original KJV but a revised version.

“But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry” (Authorized King James Version, 1 Cor. 7:36).

While the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, very few Americans have a mastery of these ancient languages sufficient for reading the original text. The average American requires a translation of the Bible in English in order to read, study, and interpret. This means that “the person reading the Bible only in English is at the mercy of the translator(s),” (Fee and Stuart 33). Therefore, the translator has to make interpretive and stylistic decisions based on his or her own knowledge of language and intent.

The King James Version of the Bible (KJV) was born out of a desire to standardize the English Bible. Several English versions existed by the 1600’s, but some were only in pieces and the Catholic and Puritan populations used different versions. King James himself took a special interest in Biblical translation, stating that “none of the existing English versions was translated well” (Metzger 71). Interestingly, he particularly disliked the Geneva Bible (completed 1560), which was full of Calvinist theological notes along with Biblical text. Calvinism promotes and emphasizes the sovereignty of God, which could undermine the king’s authority as the head of the Anglican Church. Consequently, KJV translator Richard Bancroft made the rule “No marginal notes at all” except in cases where the Hebrew or Greek could not be fully expressed in the English text (Tomlin 133). In fact, there is little theological leaning at all in the text of the KJV, and the translators show no interest in “a driving prior understanding of the gospel,” which was the driving force behind both the Geneva Bible and Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible (Tomlin 133).

Luther’s German translation of the Bible, completed in 1534, was another heavily influential text to come out of the Renaissance. His translation is unique for its colloquial use of German, and he criticized previous German versions for being inaccessible to the common people. “I must let the literal words go and try to learn how the German says that which the Hebrew expresses” Luther writes in his Word and Sacrament I (Tomlin 127). In contrast, the KJV is not written in colloquial English of its time period, since its translators were valued more for their mastery of the ancient languages than English. Also, the translators were required to work from the Bishops’ Bible, an earlier English version used in the Anglican church, and so the archaic language from that version was preserved (Tomlin 135).

What the KJV lacked in theological leaning and colloquialism, it made up for in errors. On a smaller scale, simple printer error sometimes spelled theological disaster for print editions of this Bible. Notably, one edition was printed (now referred to as the “Wicked Bible”) which omitted the word “not” from the seventh of the ten commandments, so that it read “Thou shalt commit adultery” (Lewis 38). On a large scale, King James’ translators were ordered to work from contemporary sources such as the Bishops’ Bible, the Great Bible, Tyndale’s Bible, and others, instead of from older and more original Hebrew and Greek texts (Metzger 71). Greek and Hebrew texts were scarce in England in the early 1600’s, and what was available was far from original. The translators of the KJV simply did not have the resources available to contemporary theologians. They were working from a copy of a copy of a copy which means the final product is bound to be less than perfect, as anyone who has received a fax can attest.

Because of this, there are many words and phrases found (or not found) in the King James Bible that can change meanings of verses and biblical truths. For example, the KJV adds “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever” to the end of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 (Lewis 43). While there is nothing inherently wrong with the passage, it is not found in the most reliable older Greek versions of Matthew that are used for translation today (Wilkins 1832), and so it is not present in more contemporary versions of the Bible, such as the English Standard Version (completed in 2001). There are other, smaller additions and subtractions as well. For instance, the KJV adds the word “him” to 1 John 4:19, which makes it read “We love him because he first loved us” (emphasis added). Omitting the “him,” which is not found in contemporary translations (Lewis 43), changes the meaning of the verse drastically. Suddenly the “we” is loving in general, presumably the other inhabitants of the world, instead of directing love to just “him,” Jesus. These alterations to scripture add up to make the KJV one of the most flawed versions of the Bible. It is for this reason that Bible scholars Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart recommend not using the KJV (or its direct descendent, the New King James Version) for regular reading and study (Fee and Stuart 40).

In addition to its transcription and translation errors, the language of the KJV was quickly left behind by the evolving English language. Words used in the KJV fell out of use or became ambiguous, such as “gat,” “brigandine,” “trow,” and others. It was 1870, however, before there was a strong enough motion for a complete revision of the KJV. The Upper House of the Convocation of Canterbury began the project in February of 1870 with a committee that was representative of several denominations in the United Kingdom: Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, and others. In July of the same year, the committee invited American scholars to participate, but there was a definite lack of communication between the two countries. Out of this movement grew the Revised Version (RV) completed in 1885 and the American Standard Version (ASV) completed in 1901 (Lewis 72). The two committees strove to preserve the language of the KJV, which meant that, when possible, the committees did not change language that would still have been understood by their contemporary readers. Still, it added up to almost 37,000 changes to the text.

Such changes are made evident in the verse cited above, 1 Corinthians 7:36. In the RV, it reads “But if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward his virgin daughter, if she be past the flower of her age, and if need so requireth, let him do what he will; he sinneth not: let them marry.” This verse comes from a section where the apostle Paul is discussing the pros and cons of being unmarried and married for Christians. The Corinthians to whom the book was written had apparently assumed that unmarried women should remain single, so that they could fully serve God. Paul agrees, but allows for marriage in this verse, since it is also part of God’s plan (Fee and Stuart 329). In the KJV and in the RV, the responsibility falls squarely on the man instead of the virgin when it comes to whether or not their behavior is sinful. The language would have sounded archaic to the audiences of 1885, with the -eth ending even added to the word “require,” but some clarifying changes to the text have been made. The relationship of the man and the virgin in this verse may have become ambiguous. What does the “his virgin” of the 1611 KJV mean? What is the nature of the relationship? In the RV, the word “daughter” has been added, clarifying that the translators thought this verse concerns the relationship between a man and his daughter if she wishes to marry. Also, the word “uncomely” from the KJV has been changed to “unseemly,” which indicates a change in meaning for the word “uncomely.” In the late 1800’s, it was more likely that “comely” referred to whether or not something was attractive, while “unseemly” referred to inappropriate behavior. Thus, changing the word to “unseemly” is more accurate to the meaning of the text. A woman should marry if she is lead to do so. In the ASV, produced at the same time, the text of this verse is mostly the same as that of the RV, except an “and” has been inserted so that the verse reads “...if she be past the flower of her age, and if need so requireth…” which makes the verse sound more like a list. If all of the conditions are met: a man feels he is doing his daughter wrong, she is an adult, and if she needs, then she might marry.

The Bible in English has come a long way since the KJV of 1611. While that standardized version ordered by King James is still of extreme literary value for its beautiful language and heavy influence on the English language, it is less theologically valuable than the more accurate versions of today. In fact, scholars Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart recommend not studying the New King James Version (NKJV, completed 1975) at all, since it contains all the error of the KJV without the “marvelous expression of the English Language” (Fee and Stuart 40). This does not mean that it is wrong to study the KJV if the reader prefers the archaic language and is used to it, but it does mean that the reader must use caution when using the KJV to interpret a theological problem and keep in mind that the translators simply did not have the translation resources that are available to scholars today.

While it took around 250 years for a significant update to the English Bible after the King James Version (a testament to its value), it took until 1965 for another call for a significant update to the Bible. That was when translation started for the New International Version (NIV). Over the next few years, a committee of over 100 members met to translate a new version of the Bible. There were representatives from many different denominations of Christians, all of whom agreed on the authority of the Bible as God’s word, and when one book was finished it was sent from one group to another for revision. Now, the scholars, theologians, and translators had access to much older Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic texts, not least of which were the Dead Sea Scrolls, unearthed 1946-1955 (Wise 5). These new sources were hundreds or even thousands of years older than any source of biblical translation in the past, and so provided vast new insight into the Bible. This new information was invaluable to the translators of the NIV, as they could provide a much more accurate translation of the Scriptures than the KJV. However, like Martin Luther, the translators of the NIV wanted to provide a more colloquial version of the Bible that was easy to read and study while still remaining theologically correct (Barker xii). The NIV continues to be one of the most used versions of the Bible today.

“If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning” (The New International Version, 1 Cor 7:36). The meaning of this verse has completely changed in the NIV. Now, the ambiguity of the individuals’ relationship is gone - instead of a “daughter” the word “virgin” is interpreted as the man’s fiancée. Why the change? In light of the older texts and re-examining the context of the verse (the surrounding verses all have to do with singleness and marriage, not parental relationships), this verse has been changed to better reflect the message that the apostle Paul wanted to convey. If the Corinthians were concerned about marrying or remaining single and whether one was better than the other for serving God, it makes more sense that the focus of this verse, which allows marriage, would be towards individuals of marrying age and not their parents. Still, the focus of this verse is on the man - whether or not he is the one sinning. This could have to do with the patriarchal society to which Paul was writing, where men held the power of marriage and divorce. Also, the language has been updated to something much more understandable to a contemporary reader, with no archaic language other than perhaps the word “ought.”

The English Standard Version (ESV, completed 2001), is another popular contemporary version of the Bible. Like the NIV, a team of over a hundred translators worked towards the ESV, working carefully from original texts as well as the Tyndale Bible, the KJV, and the RSV. The ESV, unlike the NIV, strives to be as literal as possible while retaining English sentence structure, following a “word-for-word” policy rather than “thought-by-thought” (ESV Study Bible 19). Because of this, the text reads very academically, which can be tricky to some readers. In the ESV, the verse reads “If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry - it is no sin” (The English Standard Version, 1 Cor 7:36). Word for word, there are some significant changes from the NIV. Now the word “virgin” has been replaced with “betrothed,” a more accurate translation of the original Greek. The phrase about the woman being “past her prime” is gone too, becoming “if his passions are strong” instead. Frank S. Thielman, the Bible scholar who annotated 1 Corinthians for the ESV Study Bible, points to the Greek word hyperkamos as the source of the confusion. In referencing a woman, this word can mean “past her prime,” but Thielman argues that this is not consistent with the other verses in the section of Scripture, and that this word also translates as “strong passion.” This passion does not have to belong only to the man - a note on the ESV points out that the “his” in this case could also mean “her” passion. Verses 2, 3, and 9 of the same chapter discuss the temptation of sexual passion, and it would be strange if Paul only approved of marriage if a woman was past her prime. Therefore, Thielman concludes, this reference to the man’s passion is a more literal translation of the passage (Thielman 2201). With “let him do as he wishes,” it remains clear that the power of marriage rests with the man, but the marriage itself becomes “them,” pointing to more of a partnership. The “it is no sin” refers now to the couple, and not just the man. A much more full version of Paul’s message has come through, while still being understandable to contemporary readers.

It would be remiss not to include in this analysis a mention of two very important colloquial translations of the Bible in English, both from the 20th Century. The New Living Translation (NLT, completed 1996, revised 2007) and the Message (completed 1997). These two translations are “thought-for-thought” translations, unlike the ESV. The NLT had a team of 90 translators working on the text, with intent to translate the Bible accurately while also rendering it easy to understand to the average reader and is currently the second most popular version of the English Bible (“About the New Living Translation”). It is recommended for readers of all ages and for readers whose second language is English, but there is a caution against using this translation solely for study since it is not as accurate as a word-for-word translation (Rhodes 152). In the NLT, the Corinthians verse reads “But if a man thinks that he’s treating his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin” (The New Living Translation, 1 Cor 7:36). This version translates “virgin” straight to “fiancée” without stopping at “betrothed” along the way, but like the ESV it translates hyperkamos as the man’s passion instead of the woman’s age. This translation uses the contraction “he’s,” unlike the other translations examined thus far. This verse is suddenly more accessible to the contemporary reader and less academically rendered than it is in the ESV, and so it parallels the values of Martin Luther’s 1534 translation of the Bible.

Similarly, the Message translation was created to make the Bible accessible to the average reader, but it is different than the NLT in that it was translated by only one person, Eugene Peterson (with the help a small committee of scholarly consultants). This adds a certain personality to the text, but it means that the reader is locked into one man’s interpretation of the Bible. Also, there are no verse numbers this translation, to allow for less distracted reading (Peterson 10). In the Message version, the Corinthian verse reads “If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to serve God as a ‘single,’ and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead and marry. It’s no sin; it’s not even a ‘step down’ from celibacy, as some say” (The Message, 1 Cor 7:36). Peterson places the focus of this verse squarely on the man, but does not indicate that the man and woman in this verse have a romantic relationship to start with. He also expands on the verse, bringing context from other parts of the chapter by reminding readers that some of the Corinthians have said that celibacy is better, spiritually, than marriage. This version is an expansion of “thought-for-thought” translation, almost paraphrasing the verse instead, which can be helpful for study but is recommended for use alongside a more literal translation as it is “clearly in the idiom of the 1990’s” (Wegner 389).

As the English language continues to change, it must follow that translations of the Bible will change with it. In the myriad English translations available, it is important to find one that is easy for the reader to understand while also as accurate as possible based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts now available. It might also be prudent to read two contrasting versions of the Bible, in order to gain a fuller understanding of the text. Regardless, English Bible translation will hopefully continue to improve as the spread of information persists.

Works Cited

"About the New Living Translation." Tyndale.com. Web. Accessed 03 May 2017. <https://www.tyndale.com/nlt>.

Barker, Kenneth L., and Donald W. Burdick. "Preface to the New International Version." Preface. The NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible, 1986. Xii. Print.

The Bible. Authorized King James Version. Simon and Schuster: New York, 1951. Print.

The ESV Study Bible. Ed. Dennis, Lane T. et al. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2008. Print.

Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014. Print.

Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.

Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2013. Print.

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues, Being the Version Set Forth A.D. 1611, Compared with the Most Ancient Authorities and Revised A.D. 1881-1885. Fort Worth, TX: Star Bible Publications, 1929. Print.

Lewis, Jack P. The English Bible from KJV to NIV. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991. Print.

The NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible, 1986. Print.

Peterson, Eugene H. The Message. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2004. Print.

Rhodes, Ron. The Complete Guide to Bible Translations. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2009. Print.

Thielman, Frank S. “1 Corinthians.” The ESV Study Bible. Ed. Dennis, Lane T. et al. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2008. Print.

Tomlin, Graham. “Luther’s Approach to Bible Translation and the KJV.” The King James Version at 400: Assessing its Genius as Bible Translation and its Literary Influence. Ed. Burke, David G., et al. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013. Print.

Wegner, Paul D. The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004. Print.

Wilkins, Michael J. “The Gospel According to Matthew.” The ESV Study Bible. Ed. Dennis, Lane T. et al. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2008. Print.

Wise, Michael Owen, Martin G. Abegg, and Edward M. Cook. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. 1st ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. Print.

Mercy Ship Adventure 2 - Language Barriers Suck

Disclaimer: While the next few week I will be chronicling my time aboard the Africa Mercy, the views and opinions expressed therein are my own and are not affiliated with Mercy Ships.

Well I am three days, a ship tour, a general staff orientation (which included lots of ways I might die on and off the ship and how to prevent most of them), a dining room staff orientation, and a pile of paperwork into my stay on the Africa Mercy. I have learned a lot about the ship and about life on board and where stuff is which is important. My roommates are all very sweet, particularly my bunkmate who is from Switzerland, and the atmosphere on board is generally welcoming. When I've expressed interest in something, like wanting to come back as a teacher once I have my degree or how I have barista training (there is a little coffee shop on board), there is always someone to point me in the direction of someone I can talk to about it.

The main frustrations I have so far are with myself, and with the American school system. There are folks on this ship from around forty different countries - the main language spoke on board is English but the second language is French, followed by German, from what I've observed. It is amazing getting to talk to and interact with so many different people, but I really wish I were better at communicating with them. I wish that there had been an opportunity for me to learn French earlier in my life, when my brain would have been more responsive to learning a new language. And I wish when I did start learning French in college, I had had a way to practice more so that I would be more fluent today. I say that my frustration is with the American school system because most school programs are not built for fluently learning a language, when many other countries emphasize becoming fluent in English as well as another language. I read an article for one of my classes this past semester that argued for bilingual education because if one had a school where some of the children entering were fluent in one language (Spanish, in this instance), and other children were fluent in another (i.e. English), there is no reason why at the end of the school year that all the students shouldn't be fluent in both languages, helping each other along. The only thing lacking is the support of a school system which is mostly run by old white people. Most of the issues I have run into have been because of a language barrier, and I wish at least once every hour that I had had more language training.

The one thing I never like about starting a new job is that I always feel like when I arrive I am dropping into a well-oiled machine that functions perfectly well without me. Even if they do need the extra help or are shortstaffed, they typically have learned to work without me before I get there, and it is hard to find my place. Like, I have worked in restaurants before, so in theory I know how it works, but I don't know how this particular dining room functions, where everything is, what order in which we do things. It is extra frustrating because my immediate supervisors and I each speak different languages. One is German, and knows some English and French, one is French, and knows less English, and I know just enough French to be dangerous (you wouldn't believe how many times over the past few days I have said the words "je ne comprends pas" or "je comprends un peu le français" emphasis on UN PEU). Plus I am here to replace the day crew, the local beninois the ship hires to work during the day, and they have not left yet, so there are many hands who already know their jobs and what to do, and many people speaking French around me when I don't understand most of it. Back to the school system, I really feel sorry for kids who enter school not speaking English and are expected to keep up with their classmates with little or no help. If I am struggling this much in a non-academic setting, I can only imagine what it's like in school. However, I am picking some things up, like today I learned that (at least here) "salade" can refer to the whole salad or to just the lettuce itself.

I probably put too much pressure on myself. I know in my head that I will be here for an entire month and this is only my second day, but I feel like much would be easier if I knew more  French. The preparing I did beforehand was helpful but definitely not enough.

On a more positive note, National Geographic apparently just finished a docuseries on the Africa Mercy. We got to watch the last episode last night. I am not sure when it will air in the US, but I will let you know if I hear anything. It is great is you want to know more and get kind of a backstage look at what goes on in the ship. This is such a great organization and ministry, and I am so thankful that God brought me here, if only for this month. There are already faces that I will miss when they leave next week, and there are still new folks arriving. I got a new roommate, also from Switzerland, the day after I arrived, and we are getting another new roommate sometime this week. My cabin can hold ten girls, but I think we are at seven. And we have our own bathrooms, which is nice, so we don't have to share with the other people on our hall.

God is doing great things with this ship. I don't get to see most of them, since I'm never in the hospital, but I'm glad I can do something to support them. If you are praying for me in particular, please pray that I can have peace in finding my place here. Also, definitely pray for the ship itself, as we are going to set sail in the next week or two. If you are interested, I have a list of particular patients that need healing, as we are about to leave the country and leave them.

Thank you!

Mercy Ship Adventure 1 - Getting to the Africa Mercy

Disclaimer: While the next few week I will be chronicling my time aboard the Africa Mercy, the views and opinions expressed therein are my own and are not affiliated with Mercy Ships.

Wow, you guys.

So I promised a few people that I would keep a blog while I was here, and it's a good excuse to go off by myself and write, and I haven't blogged in a while, so here goes.

From the start, this journey has been an exercise in trusting God, which is something that I will freely admit to struggling with regularly. I am a very independent person and so I find it difficult to trust an intangible Being the way that I should. This whole journey has showed me how much I really cannot control things in my own life, no matter how well I plan them out, and also that God has everything in control, and will work all things out according to his plan (even if his plan includes making my uncomfortable, which it probably does).

I first heard about Mercy Ships a few years back, when I lived in Columbus and a couple of their representatives came to speak at Crosspointe, where I attended church. At the time, I thought they were an excellent ministry and organization (still do!) but I did not see what it had to do with me. After all, I could never go into the medical field. And the other thing I remember the representatives mentioning was that they needed teachers. I didn't think I would ever be a teacher, so I figured that did not apply to me either. So I was interested but thought I could never be useful to this particular ministry.

Oops.

Then I moved to Missouri and started my MSEd to teach. Then I discovered Mercy Ships has a "Future Application" option, where I could go ahead and submit my application even though I wasn't ready to go. This turned into an email conversation with one of the organization representatives where she asked if I was available for a short-term trip during the summer or sometime before I finished my degree. They apparently need folks in all kinds of capacities, from Kitchen and Dining Room staff to Housekeeping to Photographers plus the doctors and nurses and therapists and I couldn't even begin to remember all of them. So I put in an application for a short-term position in February, and here it is the 20th of May and here I am sitting midships.

Raising money for this was stressful, but God has blessed my friends and family and church generously and has blessed me with their generosity. Planning this trip and working on my graduate degree and working part time the last half of the semester was super stressful but I managed to get all of my assignments done on time and God provided some healthy outlets for that stress and some very relaxing and comforting time with my family and friends in Georgia so that I only had a slight #yolo attitude going into my finals. Ordinarily, I am such a plan-aheader that I wouldn't even think of applying for a big trip like this only three months in advance. And yet here I am.

This is my first time traveling overseas alone. Last time I did it, I was with a group and so just followed the group leader around. This time, I was my own leader. I was unable to check in early online for my flights, which was stressful. Then, one of my flights got completely canceled after spending three hours on the tarmac, and so that caused me to miss all of my subsequent flights, Air Brussels rebooked me onto an Ethiopian set of flights to Benin (so now I had to travel through Ethiopia instead of through Belgium), and I spent a night barely sleeping in the Washington Dulles airport. But I made some friends along the way. A PhD student from Benin (who attends school in Wisconsin I think) was traveling back to Benin with his mother, and so we all three went through the cancelling and rebooking experiencing and had the same Ethiopian Air flights (they ended up coming with me through customs when we arrived which was super helpful because my French is not as good as it should be). It turns out that Ethiopian Air offered really fantastic service, and the thirteen-hour flight from DC to Addis Ababa had enough open seating that I had an empty seat next to me (as opposed to the French guy who was squishing me on the Air Brussels flight). And I finally watched Hidden Figures on that flight, which was awesome!

I made it to Benin by myself, after all of these things I had planned for having gone wrong. I was picked up immediately in the pouring rain by a very nice lady from the UK and, even though we got soaked along the way, made it to the ship one day late.

I am all checked in and settled into a berth that houses ten girls, though not all the bunks are filled. Feeling overwhelmed over lots of introductions in an unfamiliar place (my official tour won't be until Monday), I ate dinner alone. Then one of my roommates came over and started talking to me, and when I confessed I was feeling tired and overwhelmed, she showed me the best places in the ship to get alone and quiet time. And just now, I jumped into a scrabble game that was very exciting with a lot of ladies who have now invited me to go to the beach with them tomorrow.

I am feeling great! But also very tired. Thank you for your continued prayers for me on this journey. I start officially working on Monday!

The Sovereignty of God Does Not Negate His Love - Or, Why I'm A Calvinist

I’ve been to a variety of churches in my lifetime – Methodist, Southern Baptist, Reformed Baptist, Non-denom with Pentecostal leanings, Non-denom with Presbyterian (Reformed) leanings. Some I’ve left because of a family move, others because in my spiritual walk I had outgrown or come to disagree with the theology. In addition to being churched all my life, I also attended a Christian high school that required Bible theology and biblical history courses. Currently I attend a Methodist church after having moved halfway across the country; most recently having attended the Non-denom with Presbyterian leanings (although last I heard they had joined the Southern Baptist Association). Naturally, with this variation in churches, there has been variation in theological teaching, which is mostly well and good. There are some things that just aren’t stated explicitly in the Bible, to God’s glory as we continually search to be understand him better. It was inevitable that eventually I would hear a sermon I disagreed with, as many of us do in our lifetimes, especially going from a Reformed church to a Non-Reformed. That is to say, the United Methodist Church was founded under the Arminian beliefs of John Wesley.

I knew the church I am attending would disagree with me on that, as I count myself a Calvinist. But, as this particular sermon progressed, I found the Calvinistic view was misrepresented to the congregation. Bias I was expecting – if I were to write a sermon discussing the Sovereignty of God vs the Love of God, I would be biased towards the Calvinist belief. I have no problem with bias. However, I was twitching in my seat as I heard the teachings of John Calvin oversimplified and glossed over (as I might be accused of doing to the Arminian teaching, let’s be honest). So I would like to shift the focus from the debate itself and instead present Calvinism in more detail so that the belief might be better understood. The Sovereignty and Transcendence of God does not negate the Love and Intimacy God provides for us.

For context, let’s take a brief overview of the Calvinism vs Arminianism debate. Many people I know are familiar with the term Calvinism, while Arminianism is heard less frequently but perhaps more widely taught. In extremely and overly simplified terms of both beliefs, the debate could be called Predestination vs Free Will: the idea that God chooses whom he will save ahead of time vs the idea that it is the individual that chooses whether or not they will be saved. These two views exist on the same plane in a scale: one can be extremely Calvinistic and say that no matter how hard an individual tries, they cannot hope to get into heaven unless God wills it, and therefore the thing to do is to pray for deliverance from hell instead of a heart change (this view caused many of the societal problems discussed in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter). On the far other end of the scale, an extreme Arminianist might believe that God doesn’t know everything and simply reacts to how humans shape things, rather than being in control of them himself. There are dangers on both ends of the spectrum, but fortunately most Christians fall somewhere in between. For example, I had a youth leader who, when asked, said he was both Arminian and Calvinist – he believed that we got the choice, but God already knew the choice ahead of time and had planned for it already. My mother’s favorite way of explaining her beliefs is that God is like the director of a play – he controls the script and the actions, but gives the actors the choice on how to play their parts (this may seem insignificant, but anyone familiar with the Theatre knows that just one single actor delivering their lines from one performance to another can change an entire show).

The key word to Calvinism is predestination. This concept can be found in Romans 8, specifically verses 28-30. Many people are familiar with 8:28, as it is often printed on sympathy cards, graduation presents, coffee mugs, and various other paraphernalia. Rarely is it followed by the succeeding verses, which are harder to swallow than all things working out in our favor. The English Standard Version of the Bible reads: 

“28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

The New International Version, the King James Version, and the Catholic Public Domain Version all use the term “predestined” or a variant such as “predestinated”. Even translations of the Bible that don’t use the word explicitly, such as the New Living Translation, state that “God knew his people in advance” (NLT) or in The Message “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning” (MSG).

Predestination can be a frightening concept. People don’t like to think that they aren’t in control of their own lives or their own faith. But believing in predestination is so much more than saying that we don’t get a choice in the matter. It is but a facet of God’s omnipotent sovereignty, which is central to the Bible and also central to Calvin’s teaching. Of course we know that God is powerful enough to have created the entire universe and all that is in it, which shows his omnipotence. But he didn’t stop there – he continued and continues to rule his creation, which is his sovereignty.

We see in the Psalms “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (115:3) and God is actively involved with his creation (104:27-30). In the book of Job, God not only has authority over whether or not Satan is allowed to inflict suffering on Job, but gives specific limitations as to where the infliction is to end (Job 1:8-12, 2:3-6). God has not only created the universe, but continues to be involved with every tiny aspect of it, down to the “birds of the air” (Matthew 6:26) and the very number of hairs on a person’s head (Matthew 10:30). Not only is God sovereign over all creation, but he is active and involved with its operation.

To John Calvin, predestination naturally follows God’s omnipotence and sovereignty. He rejected the deistic idea that God created the world and then stood back and let it spin without him. Instead, in Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, he states that 

“After learning that there is a Creator, it must forthwith infer that he is also a Governor and Preserver, and that, not by producing a kind of general motion in the machine of the globe as well as in each of its parts, but by a special providence sustaining, cherishing, superintending, all the things which he has made, to the very minutest, even to a sparrow” (Book 1 Chap. 16 Sec. 1). 

How could a God who lovingly created the universe not be involved in its every aspect? Calvin quotes Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being,” and Job says that “In his hands is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind,” (Job 12:10). This act of God in determining every aspect of creation is called his Providence.

Calvin maintained that if one believed God is omnipotent and omniscient, one must believe that he has therefore planned ahead and decided whom he shall save. Further, Calvin wrote that, while man has a drive to do good and God has gifted humans with reason an intelligence (Book 2 Chap. 1 Sec. 1), humans cannot pursue ultimate good – God’s glory – on their own.

We often hear (in church or otherwise) of the original sin that caused Adam, Eve, and subsequently the entire human race to fall. John Calvin rejected the idea that this first sin of mankind was more than simple “sensual intemperance” or seeking to please oneself by giving into temptation. Instead, he discusses this sin as being completely heinous. It’s not that Adam was given one single tree of fruit and told not to eat of it, like putting a candy bar in front of a child and telling them to resist. Genesis tells us that the garden was full of many trees – in fact Eden was full of “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (2:9). God provided as much food as they could want and even immortality in exchange for one simple command to obey – to not touch the tree of the knowledge of good an evil. God asked for obedience, trust in his wisdom, and submission to his command.

But, Calvin says, in his divine Providence, God created man with the free will to choose whether or not to obey. When Adam rejected God’s command, it was an act that “withdrew authority from the Maker,” was “foul insult to God,” “monstrous impiety,” and even a crime to shake off the allegiance of God.

“Never would Adam have dared to show any repugnance to the command of God if he had not been incredulous as to his word. The strongest curb to keep all his affections under due restraint, would have been the belief that nothing was better than to cultivate righteousness by obeying the commands of God, and that the highest possible felicity was to be loved by him. Man, therefore, when carried away by the blasphemies of Satan, did his very utmost to annihilate the whole glory of God.” (Book 2 Chap. 2 Sec. 4)

Adam’s sin was not that he and Eve sought to please only themselves like petulant children; the sin was believing in their own wisdom over that of God their Creator, and in doing so they destroyed their own souls.

After a sin so heinous, it is no surprise that the whole of creation was corrupted. Anyone who has been in a church for any length of time is probably familiar with Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Even non-Christians use the phrase “no one is perfect” – it is universally acknowledged that something is wrong with humans. Humans cannot be perfect. All have sinned. Romans 5:12 tells us that “sin came into the world through one man, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. John Calvin, drawing from the teachings of St. Augustine, states that “we are not corrupted by acquired wickedness, but bring an innate corruption from the very womb” (Book 2 Chap. 2 Sec. 5) and thus all carry original sin. While we were created with Free Will, how can such depraved and sinful creatures even contemplate turning to God, after proudly despising his wisdom for our own? All are guilty of spurning the command of God, of annihilating his glory. Job laments “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one” (Job 14:4).

Only in Christ can a person make the choice to become clean again. It is Christ who determines what will be brought high and what will be despised in the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). Calvin argued that the idea of choosing righteousness for ourselves in our own strength is “leaning on a reed which immediately gives way” (Book 2 Chap. 2 Sec. 1). He draws from Jesus in John 12, who quotes  Isaiah in verse 40, “Therefore they could not believe…He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them” (John 12:39-40). It’s uncomfortable to think about: the will of God determining who is saved and who is not, rather than humans’ own power. “For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience they many will be made righteous…so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:19, 21).

The idea that human beings have no control over their own salvation is a frightening one, and it is understandable that many reject this idea. In fact, one misconception of Calvinism is that one might pray and seek God earnestly, and still not be admitted in God’s Kingdom if God doesn’t allow it, which is frankly terrifying. This is not what Calvin teaches. Rather, he argues, Faith in God is a gift itself from the Holy Spirit (Book 3 Chap. 2 Sec. 1), and each Christian is gifted with a measure of faith “God keeps us modest…that every teacher, however excellent, may still be disposed to learn” (Book 3 Chap. 2 Sec. 4). “Christ confers upon us, and we obtain by faith, both free reconciliation and newness of life” (Book 3 Chap. 3 Sec. 1).

God is omnipotent and sovereign, but that does not mean that he does not love his creation. In fact, how much more loving is he who, after we rejected him from birth, makes it possible for us to come to him and gives us salvation? And not only does God make salvation possible, he sent his son, part of himself, to live among us and be completely holy and die the brutal death of a criminal so that we could be saved - not only from sin and the devil, but from our own corrupt nature.

Still, Calvinism often stirs up questions. Many would ask “If God has selected beforehand those who are going to be saved, what is the point of missions and the Great Commission? What is the point of proselytizing?” Calvin answers that question in the first book of his Institutes, using the sun as an example (Book 1 Chap. 16 Sec. 2). The sun is the tool which God uses to light the earth. It is not necessary for the lighting of the earth, as light was created before the sun (Genesis 1:3 – the first day. The sun was not created until verse 14, the fourth day), and God could have lit the earth just fine without it. He continues to control it, as we see in Joshua 10. In the same way, God has chosen to use us, his Christians, to accomplish his mission on the earth to his glory, though he has no need of us. How much love he must have for us, to not only choose to save those who have rejected him, but also to do his work in the earth?

So, God’s sovereignty and omnipotence is just as much a part of his nature as his love. In fact, considering his omnipotence and sovereignty, is not his love that much more powerful?

But let us not forget that one’s stance on Calvinism does not determine salvation. Did I disagree with the sermon? Yes. Did I believe that Calvinism was misrepresented in a way that was accidentally misleading? Yes. Will I stop going to that church? No I will not. Because, while my opinion and the opinion of the church leadership might be different, I still know in my heart that this church is where God wants me to be. They are incredibly active in their community through many different outlets, and truly have a heart for bringing the message of the gospel to all that they encounter. They are intelligent and learned, and there is much I can continue to learn, even if I disagree sometimes. Who am I to say that I am perfect in my faith?

I think it says a lot about the pastor that, after the above sermon, when I went up to speak to him, he immediately went, “I knew you would have something to say.” And we laughed :)

All Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Throughout this post I have cited The Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin, published first in 1536. Translated by Henry Beveridge, published in 1845.
 A SUPER HELPFUL RESOURCE FOR ALL THINGS THEOLOGY is the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at ccel.org, where this text and many others written by church leaders of all sorts of denominations may be accessed and downloaded for free!

 

 

Two Voices - A Poem

Voice 1
Come my child, it's time to leave
Let me take you from darkness and need
Let me lead you towards the light
Stay no more in this dark night

Voice 2
God, oh God, why have you left me?
To wallow in pain and in misery
I know the answer, please just go
Leave me here in my sorrow

I am not worthy to see your face
I belong here in the darkest place
I'm sure you've got other things to do
Other people to see more worthy of you

Voice 1
My child, my child, take my hands
These scars match yours, please understand
I bled and I died so you would see me
I bled and I died so you could be free

Free from this darkness and all this pain
Free to walk in the light again
You've already chosen to seek my face
You know you will see me in the heavenly place

Voice 2
You see? That's just it. I know what to do
Why focus on me when others need you?
Voice 1
Yes this is true, others need me as well
Know this, dear one, ALL will be well

Voice 2
But how can you say that? See where I've fallen
I'm sure I'm not worthy to call in
Among all your saints, so stately and pure
I haven't done great works, that's for sure

So why do I deserve life everlasting?
You know I stink at prayer and fasting
Just leave me alone, here in the mire
There's no way I'll be purified by fire

I'm too dirty and scar-ridden to always seek you
I always want something other than truth
I wish I could seek you with all of my heart
But God sometimes I just can't even start

Voice 1
My child, my child, have you forgotten?
You speak to the creator of all, who brought in
The sun and the moon, the earth and all time
If I want you my child, then you will be mine

For my love is as deep and wide as the sea
You'll never need anything when you love me
So take my hands, fight through the pain
I'll carry you till you stand on your feet again.

The Ugly Girl - A Short Story

The ugly girl crumples to the floor, and with a slight moan pulls herself into a kneeling position. Blinded by the light in the room – or perhaps, the light that is the room – she hangs her head, hoping that the curtain of her matted dark hair will keep the burning light from paining her eyes. The dark curtain helps, but some streaks of light come through and sting her skin. She imagines she can smell burning hair where the light tries to get through, but she knows the smell isn’t there. Nothing about that light is really destructive.

There is silence. Another smell reaches her nostrils – but this one is real, not imagined. It is the stink of the rags she wears. They are the traditional clothing worn by those across the Border, and she has been wearing them so long that she had thought she was used to the smell. However, in this room of light, the odor seems particularly pungent.

As the stink grows stronger, she realizes she is blushing. She is embarrassed here. For – whether she can see him or not – the King is in this room. She is kneeling in front of him, dressed in these filthy, bloody rags that stink to high heaven.

She thinks, to high heaven is not so much an expression here as a fact.

Suddenly her body tenses, and instinctively she slumps, as if trying to shrink into the ground. The King is about to speak.

“Kiera.”

One word. That is all.

The filthy girl on the floor remains still. Something is familiar about that name. But it is something she has forgotten. Or has tried to forget.

“Kiera,” the King says again, more insistent. She knows she must respond.

“That – that is not what I am called,” she whispers, barely moving her lips.

“I understand.” The King’s voice is equally as quiet, and she hears it as if he were kneeling right in front of her. “But that is not the name that I – through your mother – gave you.”

The dirty girl flinches. She doesn’t want to think about her mother.

“Akkiza,” she says. “I am called Akkiza.”

“You know I will not name you that which the steward of the Dark Land has called you. To me, you are Kiera.”

She winces again, and remains silent. She knows it’s useless to argue with the King. Deep down, she knows that he is always right.

“Tell me,” the King speaks again, “Tell me what those in the Dark Lands have whispered to you.”

Again, the dirty girl flinches. It is a command she cannot ignore.

“He says – he says he is the king of the Dark Land,” she whispers, “Though few acknowledge him there. They – we – don’t seem to know that we do as he says with whatever we do. Some of us had even forgotten he existed.”

Silence ensues. The dirty – now nameless – girl picks at a scab on her wrist. It had been a rather nasty gash, but had faded into the mess of the rest of the bruises.
Suddenly a pair of hands enters her view. They are perfect hands, giving off the light that fills the room. But there is one blemish on each of them. Just below the wrists of the perfect hands, she sees ugly black scars that match the color of some of her wounds.

The otherwise perfect hands take hers, to prevent her from picking at the scab. Despite herself, the girl sighs in relief. For wherever the perfect hands of the King touch her, her stinging skin is soothed.

“Why did you wander from your home?” the King asks, keeping her hands.

The dirty girl ducks her head further. Tears sting her eyes and a sob tears its way out of her throat. She knows that she need not answer, that the King knew anyway.

Still, her mind goes back to that first time. The first time she had glimpsed the Border of the Dark Lands, where her father had disappeared to, and longed to cross it and enter. Despite its sinister appearance, something about it lured her there. Perhaps it was the laughter she could hear amongst the screams. Perhaps it was the discordant music that had hurt her ears.

She had wandered there on several occasions. Each time she visited, she explored deeper and deeper into the darkness. She never found her father, but she found plenty else. The people there were so different from her, and yet so like her. The things they had given her, the ways they had touched her, the smells and the wildness and the very air she breathed had lured her farther and farther from her home and her mother. It was intoxicating.

The time before this last time she had actually been brought before the steward of the Dark Land, who called himself the king. Though he made her uncomfortable, he had spoken to her soothingly and kindly. She had wanted to stay forever in this land that she had found, the land that was so different from her own. Here she didn’t have to wait for anything, she could take it. Here nothing had value, she could do as she wished. Here she didn’t have to answer to her mother, or father, or even the King. The dark king told her that she could do whatever she wished, and she had seen several times that it was true.

But there was one condition for her staying forever. The test was different for everyone, he said, but it was only one simple task. And once she completed that she would be free to do as she wished forever.

Only too eager to comply, she had run back across the Border immediately.

The object that she had stolen, she still holds cradled to her chest. For it is a fragile package, and she knows she must handle it carefully in order to get it back to the king – steward – of the Dark Lands. The guards hadn’t even taken it from her when they had brought her to the King’s palace.

“You know he is no true king,” the King speaks again. He still holds her hands in his.

“How can he not be?” the dirty girl snarls back, surprising herself with her vehemence. “Everyone over there does what they want, all the time. He’s ruled there since the beginning of time, he–”
“That is a lie.”

The room shakes with the power of the King’s statement. Of course it is true. The King never lies.

The filthy girl falls silent again. She doesn’t understand why the King asks her these questions, if he knows everything already.

“The steward of the Dark Land has not always been in his position. I merely placed him there for my own purposes. He still answers to me.”

This confused the girl on the floor. She hasn’t noticed yet that her hair has disentangled itself, though it still hangs in a curtain over her face. The light doesn’t sting as much either.

“But no one over there follow your rules,” the girl says. “He has done away with every one of your laws.”

“He has not. He twists them for his own purposes, and covers them, and hides them, but he cannot do away with them completely.”

Suddenly there are shouts from outside the room of light. After the sounds of a scuffle, the steward of the Dark Land bursts into the room, holding a brand-new black umbrella in front of him to block the light. Of course, it helps little.

Looking at him now, the girl on the floor notices something different. In the darkness, the steward had seemed handsome and appealing. Now, however, he’s uglier than she is. And looking down at herself, she realizes that this is saying a lot.

“Why did you come here?” the King asks calmly.

“Unlike your precious pets, like the one cowering under you here, you did not give me the ability to speak to you without coming into your presence directly,” the ugly steward snarls.

“That is a lie.” Again, the room shakes with the truth of the King’s declaration. “I am everywhere, including the land I have given you temporarily. You may speak at any time and any place.”

The King’s words affect the ugly steward more than they do the ugly girl.  He trembles behind his black umbrella, and seems to shrink.

“That one is mine,” he snarls finally. “She even took it for me. Just like everyone else, she took it.”

“You are wrong,” the King says, “She may have thought of it. But what she tried to steal, she returned.”

“You know, for someone who supposedly tells the truth all the time, you really are doing a bad job of it!” the steward shrieks. “She didn’t bring it back of her own accord! Your angels brought her back.”

“I’m sure that if she knew that you would destroy it, as you’ve attempted to with every other that’s been brought to you, she wouldn’t have brought it to you.” The King has an amused lilt to his voice that stuns the ugly girl. She realizes he is laughing.

“Besides,” the King continues, “No one has taken it from her. She still holds it.”
The steward fell silent, fuming.

The ugly girl sniffs the air. There is a foul reek – much stronger than her own – coming from the steward. Instinctively, she cowers towards the King, momentarily forgetting that she, too, smells.

But the King doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, his hands finally leave hers, and she hears him stand to face the steward.

“I will deal with you fully at the appointed time,” the King says to the steward, causing the room to shake again. “In the meantime, return to your land. You are no longer needed here.”

Unable to withstand the force behind the King’s words, the steward flees the room, shrieking at the guards to stay away from him.

The ugly girl and the King are alone again.

“To answer your question,” the King says, though the girl hasn’t spoken, “No one who yet belongs to the steward in the Dark Land is out of my reach. I was able to find you when you were half way to his castle with your parcel, and my army rescues the people I have chosen from his clutches every day.”

Hoping her movements don’t rub filth into the floor, the ugly girl tries to sink lower into the floor and clutches the parcel closer to herself. It is stained and as dirty as she now. She is ashamed of it and tries to hide it from the King.

“Kiera,” the King speaks again, “Don’t hide yourself from me.”

The girl is surprised to hear that this is not a command. Tears make streaks through the grime on her face as she curls herself into a ball around the stolen object. Why would he want it back now? It looks almost nothing like what it used to look like, thanks to her shenanigans in the Dark Land.

Then an image comes to her head. It is of her final trek, on her way to the steward’s palace. She is running, for some reason, clutching the stolen parcel close. But for the first time the people of the Dark Land are not welcoming. Several try to stop her. One man in particular cries out to her to turn around. But she doesn’t listen. She keeps running, eager to make for herself a new life here.

The image is dissipated as a hand touches her head. Immediately peace flows through her, and she knows it is the King.

“My child,” he says quietly, “You noticed the scars on my hands earlier. Those were for you. Everything that you carry now, I have carried a thousandfold and more. I suffered through the death the people of the Dark Land put me through, so that you wouldn’t have to. Kiera, you are healed, and you are saved. I only ask that you give it back.”

The girl looks up at the King’s face for the first time. A scar runs across his brow, marring the otherwise perfect image. He smiles lovingly, and her heart is filled with warmth.

Removing his hand from her head, the King reaches out a hand to her. She takes it, and stands. He holds out his pierced hand a second time, and slowly she hands back the stolen parcel – her life. As soon as it touches his hand, the stains disappear and its surface becomes completely clear, polished to reflect the light of the King.

But briefly, Kiera sees herself in the reflection. She sees that she is beautiful.