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Acta Theologica
versión On-line ISSN 2309-9089
versión impresa ISSN 1015-8758
Acta theol. vol.31 supl.15 Bloemfontein ene. 2011
Happiness in the Psalms
Gordon McConville
Prof. Gordon McConville, Professor of Old Testament Theology, University of Gloucestershire. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
The article enquires into the nature of happiness or well-being in the Old Testament Psalms. It considers first the Psalms' use of 'happiness' language, then goes on to seek a broader basis for the enquiry in key concepts such as freedom and justice, making some comparisons with Greek ideas. Finally it seeks to build up a picture of the person at the centre of the Psalms, particularly as the one who speaks, chiefly from the perspectives of speech itself, the 'soul', and praise, in the expectation that this may provide a portrait of the fulfilled human being.
Keywords: Happiness; Psalms; Freedom; Justice
Trefwoorde: Blydskap; Psalms; Vryheid; Geregtigheid
The topic is chosen as part of an enquiry into ways in which the Old Testament might contribute to patterns of biblical spirituality. 'Happiness' is related to notions of well-being and fulfilment, which are encountered both in popular culture and modern thinking about spirituality broadly.1 The Psalms, in my view, are an appropriate place in which to focus some biblical interpretation on the subject.2 This appears already from the occurrence in them of the vocabulary of 'happiness'. Indeed, the opening line of the Psalter, 'Happy are those ('arê hā'î) who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers...' (NRSV), suggests that human 'happiness' is a major concern from the outset. Psalm 1 is widely understood to establish the meditation and practice of the Torah as the central theme of the book, and happiness is evidently closely intertwined with this.
This initial observation of a connection between happiness and a right relationship with God can be elaborated on by considering more closely the contexts in which the vocabulary of happiness occurs throughout the book. Clinton McCann has done this for Books 1 and 2 of the Psalms (Psalms 1-41), where he identifies eight 'beatitudes'.3 He finds that 'happiness has to do with the fundamental orientation of the self to God...', and especially highlights God's instruction of the Psalmist (by means of the Torah), together with notes of 'trust' and taking 'refuge' in God (1:2; 2:12; 40:5, cf. Psalms 32-33; McCann (2005:343-44).). Psalm 34, with its beatitude: 'Happy is the one who takes refuge in [the LORD]' (34:9, EV 8), leads into a meditation on the 'goodness' of God, who not only gives long life (v. 13[12]), but who can be trusted to deliver those who fear him from fear itself, as well as all troubles and want (vv. 5-11[4-10]). Finally (in Psalm 34), there is freedom from condemnation ('āām) for those who trust the LORD (34:23[22]). The experience of forgiveness of sin as a cause of blessedness is also the theme of the penitential Psalm 32 (32:1-2).
Psalm 41 sounds a different note, namely 'openness to the needs of others'. Book I, therefore, counsels love of God (Ps 1) and neighbour (Ps 41). This, moreover, constitutes a kind of God-likeness, or imitatio dei (McCann 2005:344-45). Reciprocity between God and the human partner is expressed in the obligation upon the latter to 'do good' (34:15[14]) and be 'righteous' (34:20[19], 22[21]). Psalms 111-12 are corresponding acrostic Psalms which furnish an extended example of this idea of reciprocity. Psalm 111 celebrates God's righteousness, mercy, faithfulness, and the trustworthiness of his 'precepts', and Psalm 112 responds with a portrait of one who delights in God's laws, is righteous, trusting, faithful, and merciful to the needy. This person, moreover, is 'happy' (112:1).4
This kind of account moves towards a description of recognizably Old Testament beliefs and theological ideas, notably: the belief in an orderliness in the universe based in the character of God and his providential good purpose for humanity in creation (Ps 104) - an orderliness that is also beautiful and apprehended with joy;5 the concordance between righteousness and blessing typified (broadly speaking) by Deuteronomy and Proverbs; the belief that God is good (e.g. Psalm 37), in particular, to Israel, because of the biblical narrative of the deliverance of Israel from slavery, its election as God's covenant people (the book of Exodus), and its possession of land and temple (the books of Samuel).
Such an account, however, raises certain questions that take us beyond the simple observation of statements based on terms. McCann is well aware that a systematic correlation of faithful obedience to God and happiness according to ordinary perceptions of this is resisted by the Psalms themselves:
... the shape of human happiness according to the Psalms has nothing to do with the normal definition of happiness or blessedness (one that is even found elsewhere in the Bible) in terms of material prosperity as well as physical security and well-being. (Rather).. happiness has to do with the fundamental orientation of the self to God... (McCann 2005:343).
The problem of experience, which the Psalms, along with other parts of the Old Testament such as Job and Ecclesiastes, address to the theological postulates inscribed in the 'happiness' language, is acute, however, and a satisfying account of 'happiness' needs to address it directly. A further question concerns the particularity of some of the concepts noted above, which becomes problematical in the case of happiness in the disturbing instance of Ps 137:9: 'Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, and dashes them against a rock!' (ESV). Does the 'happiness' of Israel depend on the discomfiture of others, and even on acts of violence? And so our initial circling of the subject rather quickly reveals the need to refine both question and approach.
A rather different approach to McCann's is that of Norman Whybray, in one of the few studies that attempts to describe systematically 'the good life' in the Old Testament. Whybray, in his discussion of the Psalms, aims to uncover 'how the ancient Israelites viewed the good life and the extent to which they believed that they had attained it or that it was within their grasp' (Whybray 2002:142).6 To this end, he addresses the topics: place and security; power; wealth, prosperity and sustenance; health, longevity, death; family; law and justice; wisdom; pleasure and enjoyment; God. His method in practice is to comb the Psalms for evidence of an 'Israelite' view of these matters. For example, he finds that the Psalmists in general do not place a high value on the possession of wealth, but rather think it less important than keeping the commands of Yahweh (Ps 119:14), and that it is characteristic of the righteous to help the poor rather than seek to get rich themselves (112:9). Wealth is often associated with the wicked; conversely the righteous trust in God to provide all they need. On the topic of health and longevity, he observes that Psalmists can praise God for his mercy towards them in view of the fact that they are mortal (Ps 103:13-14), and praise can be offered by the living on the grounds that the dead cannot do so (115:17; Whybray 2002:151).
Here too, a picture is unfolding. On the wealth theme, Whybray concludes: 'All these things speak of the modest aspirations of an agricultural and pastoral people' (Whybray 2002:151). This says much about his purpose, namely to try to describe a certain mindset, attitudes held in common by the Israelites. Undoubtedly, an understanding of theological concepts is an inevitable aspect of an enquiry like this. (A study by Lee, for example, argues plausibly that a belief in God's - faithfulness, steadfast love - underlies the well-known phenomenon in the Psalms of the return to confidence after lament (Lee 2005:224-47)).
Whybray's survey tries to go to the Psalms' characteristic concepts. Like McCann, he sees that happiness depends more on having a good relationship with God than on material well-being, and also that the external trappings of success often belong to the wicked rather than the good. However, the search for characteristic ideas of the Israelites has its own limitations, for it is not clear in what way the Psalms can disclose these. While Whybray is sensitive to the fact that the Psalms express deep human emotions (2002:160), his descriptive 'history of religion' aim obscures the specific contours of the experiences and sentiments displayed in them, and tends to understate their intensity. Here too, the serious perplexities surrounding belief itself tend to be underplayed. I think the theological conundrums posed by the concept of happiness are not sufficiently considered. One of these is the paradox of freedom through obedience to commandment, to which I shall return.
The cases cited indicate the need to consider what is involved in assessing the Psalms' contribution to the notion of human happiness on as broad a canvas as possible. Otto Kaiser has provided one useful vantage-point for this, though he does not address the Psalms as such, in his somewhat philosophical Des Menschen Glück und Gottes Gerechtigkeit (Kaiser 2007). Kaiser examines the Hellenistic biblical literature (mainly The Wisdom of Sirach) against a wider Hellenistic background, with relatively little about the (other) canonical biblical literature. It is surprising, initially, that discussions of 'happiness' as such (Glück) are scarce in this volume.7 The point is instructive for it alerts us to the complexities involved in thinking about the notion in itself, not least its philosophical and cultural entailments. In a sense, Greek philosophy as such may be regarded as a quest for happiness in the face of adversity and in the light of inevitable death. Kaiser chiefly investigates issues of divine determination, human freedom, the notions of harmony and beauty in the cosmos, and the problems of suffering and evil. In the Hellenistic literature he reviews, he finds a concomitance between wisdom, virtue and happiness. Wisdom (and thus happiness) consists in bringing the human will into harmony with a divine providence that by definition meets all human needs (Kaiser 2007:11, 76-77). According to Kaiser, the Stoic cosmic theology postulates a created harmony in all things (logos, 'Vernunft', that is, 'reason'), such that all that happens stems from this 'reason'. This providential harmony is entirely compatible with the virtuous life, so that virtue is inseparable from the 'inner goods' of life.8 Only the wise are happy, because they know they act according to divine 'reason', and being without passion, their happiness cannot be disturbed by external influences.
Another formulation is found in Cicero's account of the 'paradoxes' of the Stoics (Paradoxa Stoicorum), namely that 'the wise alone are free', and freedom is the ultimate good (Kaiser 2007:226-28). The uniting theme of the 'paradoxes' is inner freedom in the face of adversity ('die innere Freiheit des Weisen angesichts der Schläge des Schicksals' (Kaiser 2007:185)).9 Freedom is therefore like virtue, in the sense of being attainable independently of outward circumstance. Kaiser's thesis regarding Sirach is that he has drawn on both the Stoics and the biblical traditions. This is evident in his understanding of 'wisdom' as virtually equivalent to Torah. However, Sirach cannot entirely accept a simple equation of Torah with the Stoic logos, because he distinguishes a general wisdom given by God to all nations and the special wisdom given to Israel in the Torah (Kaiser 2007:49, cf. pp. 108-09). Yet his understanding of freedom in relation to moral responsibility is that such freedom was given to all human beings at creation, which, as Kaiser notes, leads him to be silent about the biblical idea of a 'fall' (Kaiser 2007:40).
The review to this point alerts us to some of the issues involved in investigating the notion of happiness in the Psalms. Sirach parted company with the Stoics at the point of the particularity of God's dealings with Israel. This particularity is bound to enter into any account of the theology of the Psalms. Indeed accounts of happiness in the Psalms themselves tended towards abstract concepts and risked underplaying the singularity of experience, especially of adversity. In what follows I want to consider the way in which the Psalms portray the human person at the centre of the quest for happiness, taking up especially the ideas of freedom, justice, and human destiny.
3.1 Freedom
The Old Testament's concept of freedom is dominated by the redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt. As such it is a deliverance into another kind of service, the service of God. It is not a theoretical notion of personal liberty, therefore, but is rather informed by the belief that human fulfilment comes about in submission to God rather than to tyranny. The story of the exodus even helps construct the character of God in the Old Testament, for He is the one who delivers from tyranny, calls human beings into a life of justice and right relationships, provides them with laws and institutions tending to this end, and enables them to participate in the full life that is his gift. Freedom defined in this way is extended to specific aspects of Israelite life, such as the statutory release of slaves after a period of service, with the intention of enabling them to participate fully in the goods of life, on the grounds that they are full members of Israelite society. The well-known Jubilee laws, periodically restoring land lost through debt to families who originally held it, are another similar case.10 Old Testament law in general has the function of enabling Israelites to live in freedom so understood.11 It follows that, not only is the character of God disclosed in the biblical narrative broadly understood, so is the character of Israel. That is to say, Israel's destiny as a free people is worked out, or rather, they are called to work it out, in their specific life with the God who has met and known them. In this sense a biblical spirituality is inseparable from a biblical ethic, on which Stanley Hauerwas has written:
...the Bible is fundamentally a story of a people's journey with their God. A "biblical ethic" will necessarily be one that portrays life as growth and development (Hauerwas 1984:24).
One way in which the Psalmists meditate on this freedom is in their Torah piety, as is evident in the Psalter's greatest meditation on the Torah, Psalm 119. The theme of freedom does not appear explicitly here, yet is everywhere presupposed. The celebration of the Torah is conducted as a prayer of the Psalmist. The opening verses closely resemble those of Psalm 1, proclaiming a correlation between 'happiness' and obedience to the 'law of the LORD' (vv. 1-2). Personal fulfilment and freedom go hand in hand here. The former is evident in the emotive language that pervades the Psalm. The Psalmist uses a range of vocabulary to express his 'delight' in the commandments, one of its most characteristic motifs ( v. 35; ā'a', vv. 16, 24, 47, 70, 77, 174; śûś, v. 14). He 'treasures' them (, v. 11), 'longs' for them (gāram, v. 20; yā'ab, v. 131), 'loves' them ('āhab, v. 97), 'pants' for them (ā'ap, v. 131). Other volitional terms are prominent too: 'I have sworn an oath...to observe' (v. 106); 'I do not forget' (v. 109); 'I seek you with my whole heart' (v. 10, cf. 145). In this way the Psalmist proclaims his whole being to be satisfied by the commandments.12
This satisfaction is not easily won. The Psalm bespeaks growth, change, maturing. The keeping of Torah requires learning, understanding and discipline, and these are played out in the Psalm against a background of wisdom gained in life-experience. 'How can a young man keep his way pure?' (v. 9) - a beginning of life near the beginning of the Psalm; 'If your law had not been my delight I would have perished in my misery,' (v. 92); 'Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,' (v. 98); 'I understand more than the aged, (v. 100); 'I get understanding,' (v. 104); 'The wicked have laid a snare for me,' (v. 110); 'I hate the double-minded,' (v. 113); 'I have done what is just and right,' (v. 121); 'My eyes fail from watching for your salvation,' (v. 123); 'Let me live that I may praise you,' (v. 175). The Psalm thus climaxes with a prospect of life continuing in worship. In the life of devotion, there is wisdom, salvation and peace.
This personal fulfilment is also predicated on the Psalmist's freedom to choose to obey the commands, since he repeatedly declares intentions which he expects to fulfil. Yet he knows too that his freedom of action is inextricable from his dependence on God. He prays to be taught, to be given understanding, that his heart and eyes might be 'turned' to God's commands (vv. 33-40), and this orientation is also pervasive. An account of the relationship between his declared intentions and his recognized need of God's action in 'turning' him towards the good is not attempted in the Psalm, but it thus fits within a biblical anthropology, which asserts both unqualified human responsibility and radical need of the sovereign God. These occur here as unquestioned dimensions of the satisfied life.13
The Psalm may be invoked in one further respect as testimony to a biblical view of human fulfilment, namely in relation to the Psalm itself as a composition. This Psalm, more than any other, draws attention to itself as an expression of piety. It is literally the a-z of Torah-keeping, incorporating a panoply of the language of command and obedience, which corresponds to its picture of complete devotion. Not only are things being said in it, but something is being done. There is an act of composition, a labour that is advertised by this pièce de résistance, a bravura that says: watch this! The persona being constructed in the Psalms not only keeps God's commandments but ponders them, and here before us is a manifest case and outcome of such pondering. When the Psalmist says: 'With my whole heart I seek you' (v. 10), he is, by the same token, depositing the evidence. Indeed, the act of composition is an exertion of that human freedom and responsibility to honour God in obedience that is consummated in human fulfilment. The thought of the Psalter is embodied here in the act of piety of the person who is everywhere implied.14
3.2 Justice
The topic of justice is also played out in the Psalms in specific human experience. It takes us into one of the controversial areas of Old Testament interpretation. In depicting human fulfilment, parts of the Old Testament are sometimes thought to proclaim a regular or typical connection between commandment-keeping and blessing. The covenantal theology of Deuteronomy, with its vision of an ordered society based on the keeping of Torah, is often characterized as the orthodox or 'official' theology perpetuated by a religious élite, and found in other Old Testament literature such as Proverbs. Over against it is ranged a theology of protest, as in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. Psalm 119 might readily be placed in the first category, because of its insistence on a synthesis of commandment-keeping and 'delight'. This dichotomous view of Old Testament theology, however, is overstated.15 Psalm 119 itself illustrates the point, in those sections of it which evoke conflict in the life of the Psalmist. In vv. 49-56, for example, the 'blessing' declared in the final verse of the section comes in spite of the Psalmist's 'distress', derision by others, and anger at disregard of the Torah by the wicked. Similar trajectories occur in vv. 65-72; 81-88. There are strong elements of Lament in these paragraphs, which attest to the Psalmist's persecution by others and his endurance of bitter experiences (vv. 67-71, 85-87). Indeed, in vv. 67-71 he is only prevented from 'going astray' by a humbling experience which he attributes to God, but is connected with the false accusations of enemies. His delight in the Torah, therefore, implies a more profound understanding of fulfilment than a simplistic equation of legal observance and blessing.
This tendency in the theology of the Psalms finds its strongest expression in Psalm 73. The Psalm begins: 'truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart' (Ps 73:1 MT; so KJV; RSV mg; contra RSV, REB).16 The Psalm addresses the problem of perceived injustice (the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper) in the context of an understanding of God as intent upon working righteousness in the world, and having a particular purpose for Israel in that plan. It is a narrative of an experience. The Psalmist's 'feet had almost stumbled', that is, he had almost lost his faith; (cf. Ps. 119:67-71). He (and others) had been perplexed by the prosperity of the wicked. ('I couldn't understand it', v. 16; 'I was embittered, pricked in heart, stupid, like a brute beast toward you [God]', vv. 21-22). This self-description from a later vantage-point expresses the disjunction in the Psalmist between his mental attitude at this stage and his basic framework of belief. His state of mind was, however, a function of the Psalmist's failure to perceive the true way of things, which he recovered by a renewed vision of God (v. 17) and a reaffirmation of a sense of God being with him (vv. 23-25, 28).17 This entailed the belief that God would do right in the end - possibly post mortem (v. 24).18
What is striking about this Psalm too is the role of the person at its centre. In this respect it is like the Lament psalms, in which typically a Psalmist who is in some kind of distress is led to renewed trust, confidence and praise. Psalm 6 affords a ready example of this, with its definite change of tone at v. 9[E8] - '...the LORD has heard my weeping!' In Psalm 73, as also in Job, the problem of evil or injustice is not treated in a theoretical way, but by means of a personal experience. The Psalmist has been tempted to abandon trust in a God whose desire and purpose is justice; he was envious and angry, emotionally affected by the prosperity of the wicked. The turning-point too comes in a moment of fresh perception, which is not accounted for in a theoretical way, but is a change occasioned by a turn to prayer and encounter with God (v. 17). The psalm is sometimes regarded as a 'Wisdom'-psalm, with its correspondence between wickedness and 'folly' (v. 7), its question whether God knows (v. 11), and its other language of understanding, perception and counsel (vv. 16, 17, 24). The renewed vision of the psalmist, furthermore, is equivalent to 'understanding' (, v. 17). It is therefore an important testimony to the nature of biblical wisdom, rooted as it is in a passionate search for God and truth.
The experiential nature of Psalm 73 raises a further question about the person at the centre of it, namely whether the movement from crisis to confidence is a sort of 'return' to the status quo ante, or whether it implies an advance. (The experience of Job lies in the background to this question, where the restored Job at the end of the book is scarcely the same person encountered at the beginning). There are signs in some Laments of a movement forward. Psalm 73 finishes with the Psalmist's recognition that his chief good is simply to be 'near God'; the expression of renewed confidence includes the unusual 'afterward he will receive me with/to glory/honour' (v. 24 - which is variously interpreted, but which may be one of those hints in the Psalms of a hope for survival after death); and there is at least a new understanding of the precariousness of life without God, however enviable it may look superficially.
Psalm 17 is another Lament with an unusual and controversial finish. The Psalm includes a petition for deliverance from an attack of enemies, possibly in the form of some false accusation. It combines an intense experience of God with a love of righteousness, which overcomes hostility and culminates in a vision of God. The Psalm is rich in imagery of darkness and light, and of vision. The opening prayer asks God to 'see the right' (v. 2); and in the end the Psalmist's new confidence takes the form: 'I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied.' What is involved in this 'beholding the face' of God (v. 15E) is this Psalm's unknown quantity. What has the Psalmist 'wakened' from? Is this satisfaction on awaking to the vision of God something wholly new in his experience? Here too the elusiveness of an evident meaning has led some to think that this is an intimation of immortality. As in Psalm 73, an intense experience, involving an attack on the Psalmist's person (here his integrity) leads through to something that does not look quite like a return to the status quo ante, but a new way of seeing God and the world.
The centrality of the Psalmist to the Psalms has emerged strongly from the foregoing, and is, I think, a key factor in their contribution to the notion of human fulfilment. It is not accidental that the thought of the Psalms is largely carried by a figure who speaks in the first person singular. What sort of construct is the 'I' of the Psalms? Is there a way in which we might access this figure's experience?
This is a different question from those usually posed in relation to the singular speaker in the Psalms, such as the identity of the speaker, whether the king, or some other representative figure,19 or in regard to some typical experience (the form-critical method), as in the return to confidence after lament, where Psalms with first-person speech are often classified as 'individual lament', or 'individual song of thanksgiving'.20 Modern interpretations of the Psalms are often rightly reticent about specifying the individual Psalmist's experience that may lie behind the origin of the Psalm or its use in the worship of a community.21 Even so, this very preoccupation tends to pre-empt any exploration of individuality as such.
I propose instead to consider the figure who appears in the first person singular in the psalms rather as a character in a narrative, and so to examine the ways in which s/he is presented, imagined, addressed (e.g. in Pss 103; 119). This approach is to be distinguished from 'autobiography', the category rejected by Mowinckel.22 The constructed figure I have in mind is no more the subject of an auto/biography than any other narrative figure. However, I am interested in a narrative investigation of what it is to be human, something which is not describable in 'categories' (such as form-criticism's distinctions between the lamenter, the wise, the confident etc.). The person at the centre of the Psalms participates in a story, which is carried by speech, and presupposes his or her presence within a community.
4.1 The speaking person
Therefore this approach places the speaking person at the centre. What picture of the person can we discern in the Psalms? I want to suggest that a picture emerges of a human being in the making, one in the process of attaining wisdom, self-understanding - and thus 'happiness'. We have seen already that this emergent 'happiness' is achieved through the worst kinds of adversities, in trajectories which open on to futures not yet fully known. Furthermore, I think that the Psalms themselves play a part in this: that is, the implied figure is created in part by his or her making and use of the Psalms.
In saying this, I am paying attention to the force of language itself (in certain contexts) to effect change. Walter Brueggemann has made a point like this in relation to the Psalms, drawing on Ricoeur. Referring to what he calls the 'declarative hymns and songs of thanksgiving' (e.g. Ps 124), which celebrate some still-present act of deliverance, he claims that they recognize that
...a newness has been given which is not achieved, not automatic, not derived from the old, but is a genuine newness wrought by gift (Brueggemann 1980:9).23
Brueggemann supports his view by calling on Ricoeur's idea of the dynamic of life as disorientation and re-orientation (Brueggemann 1980:5).24 In this context he invokes Ricoeur's understanding of language as transformative. Ricoeur discusses the power of language to reveal and create. Beyond the words themselves, there is 'discourse', a 'saying' that breaks into 'speaking', which he describes thus:
Saying is what I call the openness, or better the opening-out, of language. You have fathomed that the greatest opening-out belongs to language in celebration (Ricoeur 1974:96).25
The relevance of this notion to the Psalms is clear. The Psalms as acts become part of the answer to the questions they pose. (They are not merely linguistic acts, but acts of worship, often implying commonality and specific context. But perhaps all of this is entailed in Ricoeur's 'language in celebration'). The Psalmist becomes, in some sense, a new person.
4.2 The nepe
In this picture of the person emerging in the context of language and community, it is worth pausing over the Psalmist's own awareness of inwardness. What is involved when the speaker addresses his/her nepe, as in the great hymn Psalm 103 (vv.1-5)? The term nepe is quite widely used in the Psalms as a way of speaking, somehow, of the person's innermost being. The term has a range of potential meanings. Physiologically, it meant 'throat' (Ps 63:6[EV5] [so HALAT 3]; Isa 5:14, of Sheol; Isa 29:8), or 'neck' (Ps 105:18; Jonah 2:6[EV5]; Ps 69:1[EV2]), but it can be 'breath' (Job 41:13 [EV21]), and sometimes simply a person (Gen 36:6; 1 Sam 22:22 - as in 'the ship went down with the loss of 200 souls'); cf. nepe hāyâ, i.e. applied to the life of animals (Gen 1:20, 24); in one famous text 'the blood [of the animal] is the life' (Lev 17:11), and this also applies to humans (Gen 9:5-6 - God will require a reckoning 'for your lifeblood', diměkem lenapōtêkem). HALAT 3 gives further: 'personality'; 'life'; 'soul', 'as seat and bearer of feelings and sensations' (p. 673); and finally 'soul of the dead' (Lev 21:11).
There is no systematic anthropology here, indeed it is not easy always to distinguish between the various proposed meanings just named. In Psalm 63:6[5], for example, nepe is assigned the meaning 'throat' (HALAT), but RSV translates: 'My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat'. The Psalmist's sense of who s/he is does not distinguish soul and body as separate entities. There is wholeness here, but yet the essence of the person is not fully known.
Psalm 103 expresses this powerfully. Here, the speaker and his/her nepe are formally distinct, and this is maintained throughout vv. 1-5. The speaker exhorts his nepe to bless Yahweh; not only his nepe, but also 'wěkol qěrābay,26 'all that is within me' (this 'not only...but also', or 'a what's more b', is in line with recent thinking on line-forms in Hebrew poetry). Physiologically the qěrābay may simply descend deeper into the body than the nepe (= 'throat'), the pairing thus picturing the innermost being in an exploratory way, in what Allen calls a 'total emotional response' (Allen (1983:18). The commingling of the material (physical) and immaterial is striking: Yahweh's 'benefits' (gěmûlāyw) embrace both forgiveness of sin and healing of disease, preservation of life from 'the Pit', standing for an immediate danger, or perhaps some ultimate dereliction, and 'crowning with steadfast love and mercy'. The satisfying with 'good' might be material or spiritual, and the picture is rounded out with a metaphor of renewed youth.27 What is striking is that the 'soul' is finally not distinct from the public person, who sins and needs forgiveness, suffers illness and danger, and hopes for satisfaction and renewing. In view of this portrait, the referent of 'all that is within me' is not something determinate or realized. The language of 'soul' recognizes that there are depths to human being that may not be fully known. But they belong nonetheless to the person who has a visible presence in the ongoing life of a community. The human figure postulated here, by its own language, is 'unfinished'.28
4.3 The person and praise
Equally importantly, this utterance of the self is an utterance of praise. The sense of self is inseparable from the sense of God. This is nowhere clearer in the Psalm than in its orientation to death (vv. 15-16), which again is part of an utterance of praise. The human person will die, but 'the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him'. How does this follow? It means at least that God will go on being faithful to future generations (v. 17), but does it just mean that? It is remarkable that the Psalmist is able to turn from thoughts of his own death to praise of the everlasting God (and here without any hint of an afterlife). In fact, the voice of the worshipper moves on to an invocation of praise that sings of God's cosmic rule, and calls on angels, hosts, (heavenly) ministers and his very works to 'bless' him - finally returning to the opening invocation: 'Bless the LORD, O my soul'. The self takes a humble place in the context of this universe of praise, but here the poet once again calls on himself in his innermost being to join with it, in a finale that expresses immense desire. As the self cannot be separated from its public, historical existence, so it cannot be extricated from participation in universal praise.
One can find these elements - self-interrogation, the inescapability of God, and powerful desire - in many places in the Psalter. Psalm 139 develops a theme of God's knowledge of the Psalmist: God knows him in a way that is 'too wonderful' for him (139:6); it extends to his formation in the womb, 'when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth', and also to his destiny, his whole life, before it even began. This microscopic focus on the Psalmist's life has a counterpoint in another vision of God's inescapable (but benign) universality (vv. 7-12), and yet these two superficially opposite perspectives become one. For the passage on his formation in the womb is immediately followed by: 'How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God. How vast is the sum of them!' And then there is a merging of the Psalmist's mind (at least as he supposes) with the mind of God: 'O that thou wouldst slay the wicked... Do I not hate them that hate thee!' And so we return to the opening theme: 'Search me, O God, and know my heart...! - and lead me in the derek 'ôlām, which may be 'the everlasting way', or 'the ancient way'. In either case, the closing sentiment expresses a desire, and the self is once again placed in a perspective that far transcends his immediate life.29
4.4 The person in the Psalms as a book
In the preceding I have been working on the hypothesis that the book as a whole develops a certain persona, especially in the 'I'-voice, and have drawn on a number of Psalms, of different kinds, from across the book. This supposition has been pursued more systematically in the recent development of a 'canonical' approach to the Psalms. In this approach, the Psalter is treated as a book, a composition which has been brought to its 'final form' by a 'canonical redactor' (this from the general inspiration of B. S. Childs, but a whole literature on the subject has now been spawned).30 Clinton McCann claims, as we saw, that the opening beatitude of Psalm 1 declares that the possibility of happiness, conjoined with righteousness, is the topic of the whole Psalter, and that the unfolding book (a book of five books) works out how this may be so (McCann 2005:340).31
This point has been developed to an extent in studies of sections of the Psalter. Patrick Miller found Psalms 15-24 to be a distinct sub-unit, framed by 'entrance-liturgies' - 'Who shall dwell on thy holy hill/who may ascend the hill of the LORD?' (Ps 15:1; 24:3 - RSV). He then argues that the group of Psalms depicts a righteous figure, one who answers to the questions put in the entrance-liturgies. This figure is the king, who is generally in view in Books 1-2 through the superscriptions, particularly so in Psalm 18, a lament of David closely similar to 2 Samuel 22, and with an extended superscription making the link to his life. The king is specifically the deuteronomic king, that is, portrayed as righteous, and conforming to the Torah, according to the law of the king in Deut 17:14-20 (Miller 1995:127-42).32 One of the observations made in a reading like this is of a progression from the profoundly dark experiences portrayed in Psalms 18:22 to the confidence of Psalm 23 and finally the praise uttered in Psalm 24. Nancy deClaissé Walford puts it like this:
The lamenting king in Psalm 22, who is surrounded by bulls and dogs and evildoers, expresses confidence in Psalm 23 in the LORD as "shepherd-king" who provides for the psalmist's needs - green pastures, still waters, right paths, protection, a secure dwelling place. And in Psalm 24, the king leads the congregation in a celebration of the LORD's sovereignty, justice, kingship and glory' (DeClaissé Walford 2005:151).33
The identification of the speaking person as the king should be qualified with the observation that the king, in this deuteronomic perspective, functions as the 'ideal Israelite'. That is, the representation is not exclusive to the king, but precisely conveys the Israelite, in both history and community. What is interesting here is the construction of a figure across the various Psalms, implying a kind of coherence among the several voices, even though these voices express sharply different sentiments in particular places. Noteworthy too is that the personality in view does not actually have to use the first person singular - which does not occur in Psalm 24 - but only has to speak. The culmination in Psalm 24 may be taken as an expression of praise (implying a leading in praise) by the same person who speaks as 'I' in Psalms 22-23. The utterance of praise becomes part of the construction of the central figure in these Psalms.
There is an analogy to Psalm 24 in the final run of Psalms in the book as a whole, Psalms 146-150, in which the 'I' speaker retreats from view and yet is present in the words and act of praise itself.34 Here at the end of the 'narrative' of the Psalms as a whole are the unrestrained expressions of praise in the final five 'Hallelujah'-Psalms (146-50). In these, there is no more Lament; there is (after 145) no more David, nor memory of Davidic disappointment; there is in this climax virtually only the voice of the worshipper in praise. This is a kind of destination, albeit provisional. If it seems to be something distilled, timeless, remote, pure, it has behind it all the perplexity that this great book unfolds with an honesty as fierce and disturbing as that of Job. The 'I' itself even seems to recede behind the invocation to all creation to 'praise the LORD'. Yet this is the same voice that we followed through all the Lamentation. It is the voice of one who is not to be identified with David or any other individual (even if David is sometimes used as a model, he fades out; things are never quite the same after Ps 89!). The 'I' is simply the human being in God's world. To stretch the thought almost to breaking-point, it is the voice of the one who was utterly abandoned in Psalm 88, just as it is the voice of delight and confidence, often hard-won, in many other places. 'Happy is the man...whose delight is in the law of the LORD' (Ps 1:1-2). By this stage we have seen something of what that might mean. The 'endless Hallelujah' that Psalms 146-50 seem to want to initiate comes from a voice that has endured all that a human being can endure, but has become wise, and now leads the creation in praise, and in so doing, fulfills the mission of the 'adam in Genesis 1.
I have attempted in the foregoing to explore the nature of the person encountered everywhere in the Psalms as the first-person speaker, in answer to the question how that person projects a concept of human 'happiness' or fulfilment. I have suggested that access to the notion of human happiness in the Psalms requires an approach that goes deeper than either signals from 'happiness' terminology or an account of 'Israelite' conceptions of the 'good life'. The topic has to be explored rather in terms of the grand themes of human existence, such as freedom and justice, themes which occur in non-biblical discourses about happiness, but which are reflected in specific ways in the Psalms. The theme of justice in particular allowed the figure of the Psalmist to be portrayed in a maturing that demonstrated a capacity for truth and fullness through and beyond the hardest edges of experience in conflict with belief.
In the formation of the human person, worship plays an inescapable part. The function of the Torah in constructing the character is fundamental, but this notion also has a correspondence in the forming of the Psalms themselves as linguistic and liturgical performances. The Psalms pay close attention to the inner being of the person. This is inseparable from the person's outward life, however, and does not come to full articulation, but is represented as potential, characterized by desire, and as moving towards fullness in the activity of praise. The vocation of the Psalmist, as human person, is expressed, not only in the discourse of individual Psalms, but in the canonical movement of the Psalter, where the individual voice retreats behind an expression of pure praise. The person, tested and mature, participates in a testimony to the still expected fulfilment of the destiny of humanity.
Allen, L.C. 1983. Psalms 101-150. Waco: Word Books. WBC 21. [ Links ]
Broyles, C.C. 1988. The Conflict of Faith and Experience in the Psalms: a Form-Critical and Theological Study. Sheffield: JSOT Press. JSOTSup 52. [ Links ]
Brueggemann, W. 1980. Psalms and the Life of Faith: a Suggested Typology of Function. JSOT 17:3-32. [ Links ]
Brueggemann, W. 1984. The Message of the Psalms: a Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg. [ Links ]
Brueggemann, W. 2002 Spirituality of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Fortress. [ Links ]
Buber, M. 1952. Right and Wrong: an Interpretation of Some Psalms. London: SCM. [ Links ]
Charry, E.T. 2010. God and the Art of Happiness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. [ Links ]
Cloninger, C.R. 2004. Feeling Good; the Science of Well-Being. Oxford/New York: OUP. [ Links ]
Creach, J. 1996. Yahweh as Refuge and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. JSOTSup 217. [ Links ]
Croft, S.J.L. 1987. The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms. Sheffield: JSOT Press. JSOT Sup 44. [ Links ]
Crüsemann, F. 1983. Bewahrung der Freiheit: das Thema des Dekalogs in sozial-geschichtlicher Perspektive. Kaiser: Munich. Kaiser Traktate 78. [ Links ]
Crüsemann, F. 1996. The Torah: Theology and Social History of Old Testament Law. Minneapolis: Fortress. [ Links ]
Declaissé Walford, N. 2005. An Intertextual Reading of Psalms 22, 23 and 24. In: Peter W. Flint and Patrick Miller (eds.), The Book of Psalms (Leiden/Boston: Brill), pp. 139-51. VTSup 99. [ Links ]
Eaton, J. 1976. Kingship and the Psalms. London, SCM. SBT 32. [ Links ]
Eichrodt, W. 1967. Theology of the Old Testament II. London: SCM. [ Links ]
Firth, D.G. 2005. Hear O Lord. A Spirituality of the Psalms. Calver: Cliff College Publishing. [ Links ]
Grant, J.A. 2004. The King as Exemplar: the Function of Deuteronomy's Kingship Law in the Shaping of the Book of Psalms. Atlanta: SBL. [ Links ]
Hauerwas, S. 1984. The Peaceable Kingdom: a Primer in Christian Ethics. London: SCM. [ Links ]
Hossfeld, F. & Enger, E. 2008. Psalmen 101-150. Freiburg: Herder. HThKAT. [ Links ]
Howard, D. 1997. The Structure of Psalms 93-100. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. [ Links ]
Kaiser, O. 2007. Des Menschen Glück und Gottes Gerechtigkeit. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. [ Links ]
Lee, S-H 2005. Lament and the Joy of Salvation in the Lament Psalms. In: Peter W. Flint & P. Miller (eds.), The Book of Psalms (Leiden/Boston: Brill), pp. 224-47. VTSup 99. [ Links ]
Mays, J.L. 1994. Psalms. Atlanta, WJK. Interpretation. [ Links ]
McCann, J.C. Jr 2005. The Shape of Book I of the Psalter and the Shape of Human Happiness. In: W. Flint & P. Miller (eds.), The Book of Psalms (Leiden/Boston: Brill, VTSup 99), pp. 340-48. [ Links ]
Miller, P.D. 1995. Kingship, Torah Obedience, and Prayer. In: K. Seybold & E. Zenger (eds.), Neue Wege der Psalmenforschung (Freiburg: Herder), pp. 127-42. [ Links ]
Ricoeur, P. 1974. The Conflict of Interpretations. Evanston IL: Northwestern University Press. [ Links ]
Seligman, M.E.P. 2004. Authentic Happiness. New York: Free Press (Simon and Schuster). [ Links ]
Seligman, M.E.P. 2011. Flourish. New York: Free Press (Simon and Schuster). [ Links ]
Stuhlmueller, C. 2002. The Spirituality of the Psalms. Collegeville MI: Liturgical Press. [ Links ]
Tate, M.E. 1990. Psalms 51-100. Dallas: Word Books. WBC 20. [ Links ]
Tournier, P. 1968. A Place for You. London: SCM. [ Links ]
Van Leeuwen, R. 1992. Wealth and Poverty: System and Contradiction in Proverbs. Hebrew Studies 33:25-36. [ Links ]
Waaijman, K. 2004. Mystiek in de Psalmen. Baarn: Ten Have. [ Links ]
Waaijman, K. 2002. Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods. Leuven: Peeters. [ Links ]
Whybray, R.N. 2002. The Good Life in the Old Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [ Links ]
Wilson, G.H. 1985. The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. Chico; Scholars Press. SBLDS 76. [ Links ]
1 The current theological interest in happiness is illustrated by Charry (2010). In the wider culture, it is represented by works by Seligman (2004, 2011), who has now adjusted his former focus on 'happiness' to the concept of 'flourishing'.
2 For the Psalms as sources for spirituality generally, see Stuhlmueller (2002), Brueggemann (2002), Waaijman (2004), Firth (2005).
3 They are: Pss 1:1; 2:12; 32:1-2 (2x); 33:12; 34:9; 40:5; 41:2; McCann (2005:340-48). See also Mays (1994:40).
4 Cf. Deut 6.24-25, for a concordance between righteousness and 'good', where 'good' refers to the blessing that comes from every gift of God.
5 Psalm 104 is one of the few biblical texts dealt with by Otto Kaiser (Kaiser 2007), on which see further below. Seeing Egyptian antecedents for it, he finds in it the concept of divine creation and ordering of the universe, which he compares and contrasts with the Stoic concept of 'logos', or 'world-reason'. Both of these informed Sirach, in his view (Kaiser 2007:90-95).
6 The book is posthumous and produced from notes by his students.
7 It is referenced five times in the index, while the other titular term of the book, 'justice' (Gerechtigkeit) appears only three times (including once under 'Gott').
8 'So sind die Tugenden zugleich Mittel zu einem glücklichen Leben und Ziel des glücklichen Lebens, weil sie es vollenden' (Kaiser 2007:14).
9 The six paradoxes are as follows: 1. Only the moral [kalon/das Sittliche] is a good. 2. Virtue is sufficient for happiness. 3. Bad deeds [Verfehlungen] resemble each other, as do good deeds. 4. The fool [Jeder Unverständige] is sick in the mind [geisteskrank]. 5. Only the wise is free, and the fool is a slave. 6. Only the wise is rich (p. 185). These are 'paradoxical' in the sense of running counter to ordinary human values regarding property and aspiration (pp. 185-86).
10 The important texts are Deuteronomy 15 and Leviticus 25.
11 See Crüsemann (1996:215-34); cf. idem (1983).
12 For the emotional intensity of Psalm 119, see also Waaijman (2002:714-15).
13 On the complex relationship between human freedom and constraining factors beyond a person's control, see Hauerwas (1984:35-49). Addressing the question whether persons are really free, he invokes a notion of 'agency', by which we claim we have the power to be 'persons of character' (1984:41).
14 Waaijman also observes the nature of the Psalm as a 'performance', and notes the function of Scripture in the process of the human-divine relationship: 'In the torah the divine-human relationship is incarnated' (2002:713).
15 For an important rejoinder to it, see Van Leeuwen (1992:25-36).
16 See Tate (1990: 228, 233-35); also his reference to Brueggemann (1984:116), and to Buber (1952:35-36), who in different ways recognize the 'Israeliteness' of the sentiments expressed.
17 This passage is noted by Whybray (2002:159).
18 It seems to me that there is an important difference between the Psalms and the philosophers in their approach to death. The Psalmists appear to regard their mortality as an occasion of praise. The philosophers tend to a kind of negation of it, and so to an intense focus on the present.
19 See, for example, Eaton (1976).
20 Craig C. Broyles looks for the causes of the Psalmist's distress, e.g. on Psalms 42-43; Broyles (1988:201, and 179-212 generally). Steven J. L. Croft follows S. Mowinckel, when he argues that the Psalms are not autobiographical but 'liturgies composed for certain categories of person in certain types of situation in the temple cult' (Croft 1987:12 emphasis added)
21 See, for example, the discussion of the setting of Psalm 103 in Allen (1983:20).
22 See n. 20.
23 On the connection between the two forms he cites Gunkel: 'In the alternation between lament and song of thanks there unrolls the whole life of the pious' (1980:10).
24 He notes that the same idea is also used by Paul Tournier (1968:97-111).
25 This is cited in part in Brueggemann (1980:26, n. 37).
26 For the form qerabay, see Allen (1983:18), where he defends the plural, with the meaning 'entrails', on grounds of post-biblical usage.
27 The question of the relationship between 'soul' and 'body' arises in ancient and modern thought. The psychiatrist C. Robert Cloninger distinguishes three approaches in modern thought: skeptics and materialists (Hume); dualists (including Kant and Freud), and 'transcendentalists' (including Hegel), who 'recognize the whole of being and emphasize the role of intuition in human experience'; Cloninger (2004:35). Psyche and soma are not by definition to be understood dualistically, and one must be wary of false contrasts and generalizations. I am most grateful to my colleague Prof. John Cox for pointing me to Cloninger's work.
28 The view adopted here may be distinguished from that which sees the 'soul' as a kind of spiritual potentiality or inner energy of the person; cf. Eichrodt (1967:134-42). Eichrodt writes of '...the practice of the Psalmist in addressing himself as napî, setting his whole being over against himself as a kind of higher ego (Pss. 42.6, 12; 43.5; 62.6; 103.1f., etc.)' (1967:138). And '...in such instances a certain solemnity or special emphasis is in mind' (ibid.). He thinks that in cases where nepe is used to express deep emotion it comes close to 'our concept of "soul"'. However, he also says 'the Hebrew mind was far from conceiving of a soul in the sense of a spiritual alter ego of the physical person' (1967:139). For Eichrodt, the use of nepe is a matter of expressing the inner energy of the person, making statements (of emotion or worship) more intense (ibid.).
29 There are many other possible developments of this line (e.g. Psalms 42-43).
30 See in addition to McCann, Wilson (1985); Hossfeld and Zenger (2008); Creach (1996); Howard (1997).
31 He cites Mays (1994:40); '...the psalm is there to invite us to read and use the entire book as a guide to a blessed life'.
32 Jamie Grant has developed this line of thinking for three sub-groups of psalms, namely Psalms 1-2, 18-21, 118-119 (Grant 2004).
33 She also shows the close textual interconnections between these last three Psalms of the group.
34 In these Psalms without the Davidic superscription, the 'I' is expressed in Psalm 146; in Psalm 147, the speaker includes himself once in 'our LORD', and also addresses Jerusalem-Zion (second-person singular, vv. 12-14); no subject is expressed in Psalms 148-50.


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Or find a doctor at another Johns Hopkins Medicine Member Hospital:
Izlem Izbudak, M.D.
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Languages: English, German, Turkish
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Research Interests: Pediatric neuroradiology
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Dr. Izlem Izbudak is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of Neuroradiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology.
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- Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science
- Associate Professor of Neurology
Departments / Divisions
- Neurology
- Radiology
- Radiology and Radiological Science - Neuroradiology
- MD, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine (1991)
- Ege University School of Medicine / Radiology (1993)
- Tip Fakultesi Gazi Universitesi / Radiology (1997)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Radiology (2006)
Board Certifications
- American Board of Radiology / Diagnostic Radiology (2009)
- American Board of Radiology / Neuroradiology (2013)
Research & Publications
Selected PublicationsView all on Pubmed
- Izbudak I, Chalian M, Hutton N, Baskaran V, Jordan L, Siberry GK, Gailloud P, Agwu AL. "Perinatally HIV-infected youth presenting with acute stroke: progression/evolution of ischemic disease on neuroimaging." J Neuroradiol. 2013 Jul;40(3):172-80.
- Meoded A, Poretti A, Ilica AT, Perez R, Jallo G, Burger PC, Huisman TA, Izbudak I. "Diffusion tensor imaging in a child with hypertrophic olivary degeneration." Cerebellum. 2013 Aug;12(4):469-74.
- Mossa-Basha M, Ilica AT, Maluf F, Karakoç Ö, Izbudak I, Aygün N.
"The many faces of fungal disease of the paranasal sinuses: CT and MRI findings." Diagn Interv Radiol. 2013 May-Jun;19(3):195-200.
- Bosemani T, Izbudak I. "Head and neck emergencies." Semin Roentgenol. 2013 Jan;48(1):4-13. doi: 10.1053/j.ro.2012.09.001.
- Ilica AT, Mossa-Basha M, Maluf F, Izbudak I, Aygun N. "Clinical and radiologic features of fungal diseases of the paranasal sinuses." J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2012 Sep-Oct;36(5):570-6.
Activities & Honors
- Best Poster Presentation, Eighth Annual Nuclear Medicine Meeting, 1996
- Young Investigators Award in SNM, 2004
- NATO Science Fellowship Programme, Cardiovascular MR Imaging, The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, 1996
Professional Activities
- Activity Director, Johns Hopkins Neuroradiology Review, 2013
Patient Ratings & Comments
The Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to physician related questions on the national CG-CAHPS Medical Practice patient experience survey through Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score. Comments are also gathered from our CG-CAHPS Medical Practice Survey through Press Ganey and displayed in their entirety. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.
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text:
Social Security Offices in Blytheville, AR
Social Security Administration
1403 S Division St
Blytheville, AR, 72315
Remember to Bring the Required Documents
Depending on the purpose of your Blytheville Social Security Office visit, you'll most likely need to bring documentation such as:
Coming prepared is essential. Nobody wants to make a trip and wait in line just to have to reschedule! Remember that if you're unsure as to what you'll need to bring to your appointment, call your Social Security Office in Blytheville in advance to double-check!


text:
Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness (signed by author) -- 10% OFF!
Quantity in Basket:
Code: bodybuilding book
Shipping Weight: 0.00 pounds
VEGAN BODYBUILDING AND FITNESS (signed copy) by Robert
Cheeke -- 10% OFF THE
The most comprehensive guide to building your body
on a plant-based diet ever assembled, Vegan
Bodybuilding and Fitness was just released
in April 2010. This book is designed to answer
any question about vegan bodybuilding you could
possibly have. The content
addresses what to eat, how to train, what supplements
to take, and much more. Contains 15 chapters of the
most important components of successful bodybuilding
on a plant-based diet: even how to get sponsored by
companies and make a career out of your bodybuilding
hobby; ways to stay motivated and find meaning in
your actions; lists of do's and don'ts when it comes
to the sport of bodybuilding; lists of products,
services, and equipment that are vegan; meal programs
and training programs; and how to turn your vegan
bodybuilding lifestyle into extremely effective forms
of activism and outreach. (paperback, 317 pages.)


text:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 8, 2013) – InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's largest hotel companies, and SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks (SST), announced today that they have entered into a partnership that names IHG the official hotel partner of SST. IHG will provide lodging at all the venues for the remaining events of the inaugural season of fast paced, high flying Stadium Super Truck action.
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks is a new breed of live off-road racing injecting new life into the stadium truck concept created by legendary racer Mickey Thompson. Series president, Robby Gordon's new vision of racing pits specially engineered 600 horsepower off-road trucks against each other side-by-side on grueling tracks with a non-stop stream of huge jumps, crossovers, and tight corners.
All information including where to purchase your tickets for the 2013 season can be found at http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.


text:
Shaun Hannah
|Head Coach
|13th Season
Now in his 13th year behind the Pioneer bench, Shaun Hannah has led Sacred Heart to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons as head coach, including each of the four seasons the Atlantic Hockey Association has been in existence. Last year, despite a young team affected by heavy losses to graduation, Hannah guided the Pioneers to a top four finish in Atlantic Hockey for the third straight season. After a three game victory in the AHA quarterfinals, the Pioneers qualified for the AHA Final Five for the second straight year. Hannah has built Sacred Heart into a program with national recognition. The Pioneers have picked up victories over several nationally known powers in non-conference play during the last several seasons, including perennial ECAC powers Cornell and RPI. During 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons the Pioneers set school records with 21 wins in each season and earned the number one seed in the AHA playoffs for the first time in school history in 2007. His recruiting ability has shown in the impressive number of players that Hannah has sent on to the professional level. Several players have earned All-Conference recoginition, while some, like Pierre-Luc O'Brien and Alex Parent, were nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, the highest award in college hockey. The highlight of the Pioneers time in Atlantic Hockey was in 2004 when Hannah's squad reached the inaugural Atlantic Hockey Championship game before falling to champion Holy Cross in the title game. Hannah was named the 1999-00 MAAC Coach of the Year after leading the Pioneers. to a 16-win season, an improvement of nine wins over the previous year. Hannah was also among the finalists for the Spencer T. Penrose Award, which is awarded to the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year. Hannah played for Cornell from 1990-94. He was named team captain as a senior for the 1993-94 season. For his hard work over those four years he was awarded the Joe DeLibero/Stan Tsapis Award. Hannah graduated in 1994 with a B.S. in Business Management. Hannah was a member of the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League at the tail end of the 1994-95 season. In 1995-96 he played for the Knoxville Cherokees of the East Coast Hockey League, scoring six goals and 22 assists for 28 points. He also appeared in eight playoff games that season, scoring one goal. A native of Mankota, Saskatchewan, Hannah now resides in Stratford, Connecticut, with his wife Amy and their daughter, Emma (1).


text:
Wilson named Educator of the Year
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 2:00 AM
Pittsburg, KS
A Pittsburg State University faculty member will be honored this month with an award in honor of the man who inspired him to go into education.
Barry Wilson, chairman of the PSU Graphics and Imaging Technologies Department, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Jerry Watson Educator of the Year Award by the Printing and Imaging Association of MidAmerica. He will be recognized on May 9 at the PIA MidAmerica Graphex Awards Gala in Kansas City.
The award is named for Jerry Watson, an award-winning graphics professor at College of the Ozarks, where Wilson received his undergraduate degree. In 1999, during Wilson's senior year, Watson and five others died in a plane crash in southwest Missouri.
Following his death, two awards were named in Watson's honor: an award for graphics students and one for educators. Wilson, a former recipient of the student award, is the first person to receive both honors.
"Jerry Watson was an important mentor for me," Wilson said, "and I never got a chance to say 'thank you.' So, when I learned that I was receiving his award, I was dumbfounded."
Wilson, who received his master's degree from and taught at the University of Central Missouri before coming to PSU, credits Watson with inspiring him to go into education.
"He was the reason I went into teaching," Wilson said. "I knew that if I could influence just one student in the way he influenced me, my entire career would be worth it."
Joe Polanco, PIA MidAmerica president, praised Wilson for his devotion to education.
"We are really pleased that Barry is this year's recipient," Polanco said. "I've been fortunate to know Barry for the past five years and have been pleased with his commitment to students and our industry. He is thought of highly by his peers and well deserving of this recognition."


text:
Undergraduate Degrees, Majors and Concentrations
GEOL1100 - Oceans, Waves & Tides
Summer 2019
This course examines the major physical, chemical, and biological properties of the world's oceans. Processes affecting ocean temperature, salinity, and density are reviewed. Factors controlling the distribution of the world's major ocean currents and those controlling the distribution of marine life in the benthic, pelagic, and estuarine environments are explored. The influence of tides on coastal ecosystems, the shipping industry, and tides as a source of energy, are examined. The environmental consequences of over-fishing, pollution, global warming, and El Nino, among others, are discussed. Principles of scientific inquiry are integrated throughout the course.
3 Credits
Schedule Book for All Active and Available Future Terms, Course starting with GEOL1100
No Courses Found


text:
Circa-Club Members
LogIn to view your
Account, edit your
Personal Profiles and
to send messages to
or receive messages from Club Members
Follow us on Twitter,
receive and interact
with our daily Tweets
- LGBT Global News,
LGBT UK Events,
Circa Special Offers
& Competitions with
great Prizes
Circa-Club hosts monthly LGBT events
- drinks parties and art exhibitions in Central London.
Venue: St Stephens Club (Queens Anne Gate, Westminster, London SW1), an elegant and listed Victorian townhouse overlooking St James's Park with its own secluded private garden. From the discreet nameplate on the door, through to the elegant reception and dining areas, St Stephen's is both a social hub and a cosy retreat which provides excellent service and superb food in a relaxed atmosphere.
Founded in 1870 under the patronage of Benjamin Disraeli, (Earl of Beaconsfield), as a convenient meeting place for Conservative Members of Parliament close to the House, it is a place that has always attracted the great and the good - from Harold Macmillan to Margaret Thatcher.
Our Circa-Club March drinks party will be held on St Stephens Club on Friday 4th March (7-12pm) and, by special arrangement, Circa members and guests can continue the evening on by collecting one of the 50 Guest Passes for yourself and your guests for complimentary admission to Shadow Lounge, 5 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1 (11pm-4am) Europe's No: 1 gay members club.
We are looking forward to our March drinks party, so come and join us and enjoy a complimentary glass of wine on arrival (7pm-8pm).
Drinks will be available in the Bar and the Queenborough Room and supper will be available in The Garden Room. St Stephens Club drinks are: House wine: £4.75 per glass, £15.50 per bottle, Beer: £3.50 Spirits: single £3.50, double £6.00 (inclusive of mixer), Soft drinks: £2.25, Juices: £2.00, Water: £1.00/glass or £0.00 for tap water
The Bar and interconnecting Queenborough Room have lush views over the garden and park beyond. They showcase original features and furnishings, capturing the spirit of the original Victorian townhouse and are the perfect place to enjoy a superb range of cocktails, specially selected spirits, beers and wines by the glass.
St Stephen's is justly renowned for the quality of its food, and their resident Head Chef Alex Wood sources ingredients personally - focusing on choice ingredients from small-scale producers to create a menu inspired by the market and the season.Alex has specially created a selection of dishes for members and guests including: Chilled pea soup with mint £6...Risotto verde, tomato salsa £9...Tagliatelle putanesca £9...Baby artichoke and herb salad, mustard dressing £9...Gravadlax, mustard and dill sauce £10...Risotto verde, tomato salsa £12...Tagliatelle putanesca £12...Club cheeseburger, French fries and salad £12...Free-range corn fed chicken breast £14...Organic salmon £14...Sirloin steak £19 Click here to view the menu choices. An imaginative wine list features classic vintages alongside stars from the New World. Click here to view the drinks/wine/cocktails list
The Garden Room Restaurant is open from 7pm-11pm (last orders 10pm) and has 10 tables of 4. To make a reservation please contact Bernard Moray (General Manager) on 07894 587389
The club's mature walled garden is a private 'oasis' with lawn, terrace and a courtyard area offering glorious views over St James' Park - the perfect place to unwind and enjoy a leisurely drink
On the night you can also enter our LUCKY DRAW for a stunning photograph on canvas. Just pop your business card in the hat on the night. Everyone has an equal chance of winning !! - the photograph on canvas will be on view and available for collection on the night.
Patricia your Host and Co-Hosts – John, Curtis, Jean Francois, Alastair, Jason, Tom and Robin will be meeting and greeting.
Our members and guests are all ages and professions, a great place to network, flirt and make new friends. There is NO admission charge and the drinks prices are very reasonable … the lighting will be low and the atmosphere mellow so enjoy!!
Venue: St Stephens Club
in 34 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster SW1H 9AB
Your advert will be
displayed on every
Circa-Club web page
and viewed by 10,000's
of Professional Gay Men.
Contact Richard Advertising/Sponsorship


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Fedora 9 originally included experimental support for Ext4 and Fedora 11 included Ext4 by default however GRUB in that version did not support Ext4 and hence required a separate boot partition formatted as Ext3 or Ext2. Fedora 12 now includes a updated version of GRUB with Ext4 support. Anaconda, the Fedora installer will permit this as well.
Fedora 9 originally included experimental support for Ext4 and Fedora 11 included Ext4 by default however GRUB in that version did not support Ext4 and hence required a separate boot partition formatted as Ext3 or Ext2. Fedora 12 now includes a updated version of GRUB with Ext4 support. Anaconda, the Fedora installer will permit this as well.
=== NetworkManager with system wide connections and enhanced support for Mobile Broadband ===
=== NetworkManager with system wide connections and enhanced support for Mobile Broadband ===
Revision as of 12:22, 17 August 2009
- 1 Official Announcement
- 2 Filing Bug Reports
- 3 General Information
- 4 Known Issues
- 5 Release Overview
- 6 What's New in Fedora 12 (Constantine) Alpha
- 6.1 Hybrid ISO images - Simple and Easy Live USB's
- 6.2 Optimized performance
- 6.3 Smaller Packages
- 6.4 Thusnelda - Next Generation Open Video Codec
- 6.5 GRUB with Ext4 Support
- 6.6 Dynamically Rotating Wallpapers
- 6.7 NetworkManager with system wide connections and enhanced support for Mobile Broadband
- 6.8 Dracut - New Booting System
- 6.9 Bluetooth Service On Demand
- 6.10 Faster and Smoother Graphical Startup
- 6.11 Spanning Desktop
- 6.12 PulseAudio Enhancements
- 6.13 PackageKit improvements
- 6.14 New Virtualization Features
- 6.17 Firefox 3.5.2
- 6.18 Eclipse and NetBeans Integrated Development Environments
- 6.20 Changes to System Defaults
- 7 Additional Information
Official Announcement
In an ongoing effort to prevent premature kitten death, the Fedora Project is ecstatic to present the availability of Fedora 12 (Constantine) Alpha. Test now, make it better now, keep Constantine on schedule, and protect the kittens in the future.
The Alpha release provides the first opportunity for the wider community to become involved with the testing of rawhide:
- Alpha represents a sanitized snapshot of rawhide, Fedora's development branch, which undergoes rapid changes before becoming the next major release.
- The Alpha should boot on the majority of systems, and provides:
- A look at what new features are to be included in the next release
- A way to provide feedback and bug reports to help ensure that the next release is as good as possible
Fedora 12 features
Some highlights of Fedora 12 Alpha:
For more information:
What to test
Test status is being tracked here:
Check out this page before reporting problems, including looking through the bug trackers as linked on that page.
For a more detailed list of installation tests:
Get the Alpha
The Alpha release is available both through the mirroring system and via bittorrent.
For direct http access to a local mirror:
For a list of mirrors carrying the content and the various protocols they support:
For bittorrent:
Join Fedora
To find ways you can help and participate, visit:
Filing Bug Reports
File bug reports on this Alpha release for directed feedback.
General Information
Known Issues
Refer to the Common_F12_bugs page for a listing of issues commonly found with this release, and any known resolutions. This page is maintained throughout the Fedora 12 development cycle.
Release Overview
As always, Fedora continues to develop and integrate the latest free and open source software. The following sections provide a brief overview of major changes from the last release of Fedora. For more details about other features that are making their way into Rawhide and set for inclusion in Fedora 12, refer to their individual wiki pages that detail feature goals and progress. Also, throughout the release cycle, there are interviews with the developers behind key features giving out the inside story. Features for this release are tracked on the feature list page.
The Purpose of the Alpha Release
This release is an installable, testable version of the code and features being developed for Fedora 12 (Constantine). The software is going to have bugs, problems, and incomplete features. It is not likely to eat your data or parts of your computer, but you should be aware that it could.
You have an important part to play in this release. Either install or run a Fedora Live instance of the Fedora 12 Alpha release, then try using a few applications or activities that are important to you. If it doesn't work, file a bug. This release gives the wider community a set of code to test against as a very important step in the process of making a solid Fedora 12 release. You can make the Fedora 12 release better by testing this release and reporting your findings.
What's New in Fedora 12 (Constantine) Alpha
The following sections document major new features and changes in the Fedora 12 Alpha release.
Hybrid ISO images - Simple and Easy Live USB's
In this release, the Fedora Live CD/DVD images can be converted into a Live USB even simpler than before using just the dd command. Please note, that unlike using the
livecd-iso-to-disk script, this will overwrite the data on the USB device.
dd if=foo.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=8M
Where foo.iso is the name of the Live CD or DVD image and sdX is the name of the USB device. Windows users can use the utility available from here
Fedora continues to offer a more comprehensive Live USB creator that supports additional features including persistent storage and non destructive writing.
Optimized performance
All software packages on 32-bit (x86_32) architecture have been compiled for i686 systems with special optimization for Intel Atom processors used in many netbooks but without losing compatibility for recent hardware.
Smaller Packages
All the software packages in Fedora have been switched from Gzip to the more efficient XZ (LZMA) compression method, to save space on mirrors and reduce download times. Combined with the integrated yum presto (Delta RPM) support introduced in the previous release, users save time, bandwidth and money with smaller and faster updates.
Thusnelda - Next Generation Open Video Codec
In support of Free Culture, the open web and to reduce the hold of proprietary and patent encumbered codecs, Red Hat has been sponsoring improvements on the open Ogg Theora video codec implementation codenamed Thusnelda via Christopher Montgomery (xiphmont), who created the format and work has resulted in drastic improvements to the codec. This release features this next generation codec. All applications using libtheora library including all the Gstreamer applications will automatically and transparently be taking advantage of the improvements.
GRUB with Ext4 Support
Fedora 9 originally included experimental support for Ext4 and Fedora 11 included Ext4 by default however GRUB in that version did not support Ext4 and hence required a separate boot partition formatted as Ext3 or Ext2. Fedora 12 now includes a updated version of GRUB with Ext4 support. Anaconda, the Fedora installer will permit this as well.
Dynamically Rotating Wallpapers
Fedora developers originally introduced dynamically rotate wallpapers in Fedora 8 and pushed this ability to upstream GNOME so that it available for other distributions as well. We are now taking advantage of this feature again this release by including several wallpaper designs proposed and they rotate automatically on regular intervals. The Fedora Design team would like to hear from your feedback on these wallpapers and we will pick one of them to be the default for the general release of Fedora 12.
NetworkManager with system wide connections and enhanced support for Mobile Broadband
NetworkManager can now create and edit system-wide network connections in /etc/sysconfig. NetworkManager has been able to read information about system-wide network connections from /etc/sysconfig for a while. Now we have enabled full read-write support for system connections. The ability to create or modify new system connections will be controlled by PolicyKit policies. Initially, only wired/wireless connections will be supported. Later on, vpn connections will follow. For connections that require secrets, those will be stored in .keys files in /etc/sysconfig.
By providing a database of preconfigured mobile broadband providers, supporting more hardware and permit to scan GSM networks, NetworkManager makes the use of mobile broadband much easier. Your broadband provider will be automatically recognized by NetworkManager and it will make it easy to just plug it your USB device and get you online within minutes.
Dracut - New Booting System
Up until Fedora 10, the boot system (initial ram disk or initrd) used to boot Fedora was monolithic, very distribution specific and didn't provide much flexibility. This will be replaced with Dracut, a initial ram disk with a event based framework designed to be distribution independent. It has been also adopted by the Fedora derived OLPC project's XO operating system. OLPC modules for Dracut is available in the Fedora repository. This replacement is not the default yet in this release but it is intended to be in the general release of Fedora 12. Early feedback and testing is welcome.
Bluetooth Service On Demand
In order to support bluetooth devices, bluetooth background service was started by default in previous versions of Fedora. In this release, bluetooth service is started on demand when needed and automatically stops 30 seconds after last device use instead reducing initial startup time and resources.
Faster and Smoother Graphical Startup
Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) is now enabled by default on Nvidia systems as well through the Nouveau driver. Fedora 10 originally included support for KMS but only for some ATI display cards. In Fedora 11, this was extended to Intel cards as well. This release has extended it further to support Nvidia cards as well.
As as result of this improvement, you will get a faster and smoother graphical boot on (nearly) all systems via the Plymouth graphical boot system developed within Fedora.
Spanning Desktop
In the latest version of Xorg included in this release, if you have a dual monitor setup, your desktop display will span across them instead of using a cloned display by default. This matches the behaviour of other operating systems. More details here
PulseAudio Enhancements
Fedora developers have been made several improvements to the PulseAudio system. More details here. These include the following:
- A New Mixer Logic
- UPnP MediaServer Support
- Hotplug Support Improved
- Surround Sound Support for Event Sounds
PackageKit improvements
PackageKit now has plugins to install from a web browser and from the command line if a user tries a command from a package not yet installed.
New Virtualization Features
KVM and qemu have gained a number of new features in this release. KVM guest memory usage and performance is improved by the addition of KSM and KVM Huge Page Backed Memory. The performance of the qcow2 image format is greatly improved. Support for both SR-IOV and NIC hotplug has been added. Finally, gPXE is now used in place of etherboot for guest PXE booting.
On the libvirt side, APIs have been added for storage management and network interface management. libvirt now also runs qemu processes unprivileged.
A new library (libguestfs) and an interactive tool (guestfish) is now available for accessing and modifying virtual machine disk images.
The GNOME 2.28 development snapshot is part of this release, and is the default environment used in the Fedora Desktop Live image. The Desktop Live image is a downloadable CD you can use to test the new GNOME environment with or without installing it. The image can be written to CD, or to a USB flash disk using these instructions.
Icons in menus and buttons are not shown by default in GNOME 2.28. To get the old, icon-rich appearance back, you can go System->Preferences->Appearance, Interface tab and enable, "Show icons in menus". There is however no menu interface to enable the icons for the buttons. You can set the corresponding GConf keys instead for enabling both the menus and buttons to have icons:
gconftool-2 --type boolean --set /desktop/gnome/interface/buttons_have_icons true gconftool-2 --type boolean --set /desktop/gnome/interface/menus_have_icons true
Gnote is installed by default in GNOME for this release replacing Tomboy. Gnote is a port of Tomboy from Mono to C++ and consumes fewer resources. Gnote is both an applet that can sit in your GNOME panel as well as a individual application you can run within other desktop environments. Fedora Desktop Live CD since the Fedora 10 release has excluded Mono and hence Mono based applications like Tomboy due to lack of space. Gnote will be installed by default in the Live CD as well in this release. Tomboy is still available as a optional alternative. If you are upgrading from the previous release you will not be migrated to Gnote and will continue to have Tomboy. Tomboy users can migrate easily to Gnote as it shares the file format and a plugin is available in Gnote that will automatically import Tomboy notes on first run. Many of the Tomboy plugins have been ported to Gnote. Following plugins are available as part of Gnote
- Bugzilla Links
- Tomboy Importer
- Fixed Width
- Insert Timestamp
- Export to HTML
- Printing Support
- Sticky Notes Importer
- Backlinks
If required, you can copy the notes from Tomboy to Gnote using the following command in your home directory
cp -r .tomboy .gnote
The sticky notes applet is not provided anymore since Gnote provides a better note taking utility and is available by default in this release.
The GNOME sound preferences now supports profile switching.
Empathy replaces Pidgin as the default instant messenger in GNOME. Empathy is better integrated with GNOME and provides audio and video functionality for XMPP/Jabber users with more improvements planned. Empathy supports importing accounts from Pidgin on first run so users can migrate more easily. Users upgrading from a previous release will continue to have Pidgin by default. Pidgin continues to be available in the repository and is actively maintained.
Epiphany in this release is now using the WebKit engine instead of the Gecko engine from Firefox. If you have issues, do report them via bugzilla.
KDE 4.3 is part of this release and is the default environment in the Fedora KDE Desktop Live image. The KDE Desktop Live image is a downloadable CD you can use to test the new KDE environment with or without installing it. The image can be written to a CD, or to a USB flash disk using these instructions.
Firefox 3.5.2
Firefox 3.5 pre-release was included in Fedora 11 (Fedora 11 updates includes Firefox 3.5) and this release now includes the general release with many improvements.
Eclipse and NetBeans Integrated Development Environments
Fedora provides the best support for developers by including the very latest Eclipse 3.5.0 and NetBeans 6.7 integrated development environments.
PHP 5.3.0 is included in this release. Most PHP based web applications should work and others will emit E_DEPRECATED warning that has been disabled for production use. A number of applications have been already fixed upstream including phpmyadmin. Other applications will require changes due to incompatibilities with this new version.
New Packages
- php-pecl-ncurses
NEW sub-packages
- php-intl - php-enchant
NEW extensions
- php-phar (in php-common and php-cli) - php-fileinfo (in php-common) - php-sqlite3 (in php-pdo)
REMOVED sub-packages
- php-dbase (not maintained) - php-mhash (not maintained) - php-ncurses (moved to pecl, see php-pecl-ncurses)
DEAD Packages
- php-pecl-phar - php-pecl-Fileinfo
Changes to System Defaults
For security and performance reasons, iptables rules are no longer applied by default to frames forwarded across linux kernel ethernet bridges. See bug #512206 for more details on the rationale behind this change.
Historically, uids and gids 0-100 are reserved for specific system accounts and allocated via the uidgid file in the setup package. This space has now been exhausted and 0-200 is now reserved. This should not be an issue on most systems because dynamically allocated system accounts are usually allocated downwards from 499. See bug 515779 and bug #511957 for more details.
Additional Information
How to Try Alpha
This release is accompanied by installable live CDs of both the GNOME and KDE desktops. With a Live CD users can perform testing and demonstration without installing any software to the hard disk. As this release is largely targeted at developers and contains many bleeding edge packages, this is the best method for less experienced users who want to get involved with testing. The Live CDs also have an option to install Fedora to the hard disk for the more intrepid users.
The best way to download this release is through BitTorrent -- visit the Fedora torrent server for a listing of available images. Release images can also be downloaded from any of our mirrors. Remember that live images can be used on USB media via the livecd-iso-to-disk utility available in the livecd-tools package on existing Fedora systems. Refer to the USB How-to for more instructions. You can also use Jigdo to download the i386, x86_64, or ppc versions.
Verify Fedora
Fedora does not publish MD5 or SHA1 hashes to verify images since they are not secure enough. Instead we have been using SHA256 since Fedora 11. In Linux, you can use sha256sum command (part of coreutils and installed by default) to verify the Fedora image
sha256sum -c *-CHECKSUM
Windows can use free to download utility HashCalc. More details here
Mac OS X can use the free to download utility hashtab.
Fedora GPG signatures can be verified following the instructions here
Debugging Information And Performance
Fedora kernels have many extensive debugging options during the development cycle that has a negative impact on performance but provides developers with more information automatically or in the case of bug reports. If you are running performance analysis on Rawhide or test releases such as Alpha or Beta, make sure you take this into account.
Fedora 12 Release Schedule And Feature Details
Development continues on Rawhide during and after this release, leading up to the beta and then the final release. The links below provide the release schedule for both the pre-releases and the final release, as well as the wiki pages for tracking the various features planned for inclusion in Fedora 12.