You say want a "Revelation"

This past Tuesday (February 8th) the St. Mark's Men's Bible Study Group resumed. We are studying The Book of Revelation. We are using an authorized Roman Catholic study by the Little Rock Scripture Study group in partnership with (RC publisher) Liturgical Press.

The study uses the New Collegeville Bible Commentary for The Book of Revelation (NT Vol. 12) by Catherine A. Cory. She is an associate professor in the theology department, at the University of Saint Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. There is also a "Study Guide" booklet by LRSS that merely contains a series of questions for each unit.  The course also includes a corresponding lecture for each unit. The lectures are available separately either in audio or video. Being a RC product, everything is available for purchase.

Our group consists of 5-6 men (although all the men of the parish are invited). We meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:30-9 p.m.  I think the ones who attend are great. There is a diversity of ages and backgrounds.

The format is:

• opening prayer;
• general discussion;
• discussion of the study guide questions;
• view the lecture (10-15 minutes);
• short discussion of lecture;
• closing prayer and petitions.

The book of Revelation is a fascinating part of the Bible and the New Testament.  In preparation for this study, I read Revelation once through starting in December and then read numerous articles about Revelation. There is a lot of material available on this subject. And there are a lot of ways to interpret Revelation. A lot!

Treasure Island

In an earlier post, I noted that I really enjoyed the 1950 Disney movie version of Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND. I recently finished watching the 1934 version by Victor Fleming. This version was in B&W and is reportedly more in line with the book.

At first, I didn't care for it because I was mentally comparing it to the thoroughly enjoyable Disney version. However, by the end of movie, the story had captured me and I was (again) drawn to the Long John Silver character. I think the viewer's relationship to the Long John Silver character is the key to the movie/story.

There is a certain ambiguity about Long John Silver. We are not sure if he is on the level or is pulling the wool over our eyes in order to get what he wants. In the end, the Jim Hawkins character acts with mercy and affection toward Long John Silver. I think that this is how we all hope that God treats us when it comes time for judgment.

I also listened to a radio play version of the story from the Lux Radio Theater of the Air (1951) starring James Mason (as LJS), Nigel Bruce, and Bobby Driscoll (both from the Disney version). Very good.

The movies and radio play have initiated my desire to read the book. I went to my local library but to my surprise, they didn't have any good copies. They just had 2 copies of a 1956 (!) edition, some beat up paperbacks, and some large print children's versions. I searched Amazon to see what is available and stopped in at some bookstores to get an idea of what's available. I have not found a definitive edition: good illustrations and accompanying essays. My next step is to see what editions are available from other libraries and use the inter-library service to borrow a good edition. I'll keep you posted.

Liquidation

My son, Richard, loves to play Monopoly. I like to play it too but because it takes so long, I often have to pass on the opportunity to play. Or maybe it is because everywhere I turn, especially at work (and church) people are so interested in finances.

Anyway, since there was so much snow on Saturday (February 5th), it was a good day to be inside and play Monopoly.  Since Lynn went out, it was just Richard and me. Perhaps she passed up the opportunity because Richard usually wins. His winning ways were honed by reading a book (that I originally bought) that revealed the secrets to success (at Monopoly).

My strategy was simple: prevent Richard from obtaining all the properties of one color, and especially Boardwalk/Park Place.  This approach was going well and Richard was begging me to make a deal. Finally, I made my fatal mistake and gave in. I thought he only had 1 green property and traded him my 1 green property for cash plus a property that I needed. However, I failed to realize that he actually already had 2 of the 3 green properties. Once I realized this, I knew my days were numbered.

While I was collecting rent in the tens of dollars, Richard was putting up houses, then hotels on the green properties. I managed to survive my first stop on one of these by mortgaging virtually everything.  But it was inevitable that I would land on exactly the same property again. That was it. I had to liquidate and the game was over. Richard was the winner again!

Addendum:  From where I was sitting, I could look out the dining room window (from Lynn's 3rd floor apartment) and see a dozen or so yellow clad figures shoveling snow off the flat roof of the Armory Building a block away. They were working the entire time we played Monopoly.