Sonja and I shared our first "real" romantic moment last night (even though it was over the phone). I called her around 8:30, and I sat out on my front porch and she sat in the swing by her driveway, and we talked as the sun slowly set, glowing red with orange stripes. The first star came out, and Sonja said it was Venus, not really a star. She became all excited; "We're looking at the same thing and we're an hour away!" I said, "Venus is the Greek goddess of love." She said, so sweet, "Oh, how romantic!" Once she said that, a shooting star--the second I've ever seen in my life--flew overhead. "I just saw a shooting star!" I exclaimed. She burst, "Are you serious? That's so cool!" "The romance just gets better and better," I said. When the first star came out, right over the crescent moon (God's thumbnail, according to her), she said, "Do you see it?" I said, "Yep." She suggested, "Let's wish upon a star together." So we both made a quiet wish and repeated it over and over in our heads. Finally, she said, "That was so neat." Ah... Ams says, "Oh, you guys are one of those cheesy couples." Hah, I guess.

One of the books I'm reading for my Old Testament Poetry class is Philip Yancey's "Disappointment with God." It is a lot more exciting than the other two books (a research book on the psalms and a book on wisdom). I am nearly one-third done with the book, and Yancey's treatment of the Old Testament borders on wretched innovation and sublime brilliance. I cannot get it out of my mind! He has systematically gone through the entire breadth of the Old Testament--from the dawn of creation, the breathtaking display of GOD creating creatures in His image, to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian hoardes. In all of this, his refrain echoes loud and clear: "GOD is a wounded parent, a betrayed lover, who suffers alongside His people, and despite all His miracles and great shows of power, is unable to draw them to His heart." It is a tragic story of a parent whose beloved child gives him the finger and curses his name; it is the painful existence of a GOD whose most precious lover has abandoned Him, and is not only opening her legs to countless men, but paying them to use and abuse her. The agony of GOD felt through the Old Testament radiates more grief and agony than any human can ever imagine.