The silvery god

I found this last night in my (light) reading before I went to sleep. It is from the works of Josephus--The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 19, chapter 8.

2 Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to the city Cesarea, which was formerly called Strato's Tower; and there he exhibited shows in honor of Caesar, upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated to make vows for his safety. At which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons, and such as were of dignity through his province. On the second day of which shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, (though not for his good,) that he was a god; and they added, "Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature." Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. But I am bound to accept of what Providence allots, as it pleases God; for we have by no means lived ill, but in a splendid and happy manner." When he said this, his pain was become violent. Accordingly he was carried into the palace, and the rumor went abroad every where, that he would certainly die in a little time. But the multitude presently sat in sackcloth, with their wives and children, after the law of their country, and besought God for the king's recovery. All places were also full of mourning and lamentation. Now the king rested in a high chamber, and as he saw them below lying prostrate on the ground, he could not himself forbear weeping. And when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life, being in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and in the seventh year of his reign...

This was an interesting finding, since it corroborates the Biblical account of the death of Herod in Acts 12:

20And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country.
21And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
22And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

What I set out to say in this entry is that the account by Josephus supports the Biblical account of Herod's death. I was delighted to find that in my reading. Where this story takes me however, is to quite another place, even though there are many things that this story bring to mind. Here is just one of them:

Author and holocaust survivor, Corrie ten Boom, was once feted on a Christian television show similar to the popular program, This is Your Life. As the host told of one story after another of how Corrie bore up under horrible abuse in the camps, and then spent the rest of her life teaching forgiveness, the audience jumped to their feet in applause. Corrie looked a bit bewildered for a moment, then began to smile broadly, looking first at the audience and then up at the ceiling. This went on for the duration of her standing ovation. As she sat down, the host asked her to explain what she was doing, as everyone had noticed her glances and smiles as they clapped. She said something similar to this:
"When people give me flowers and say thank you, I just pass them along to God. He gets the flowers and it makes Him happy--and me happy, that I can give them to Him as a gift. So I was giving the flowers to God."
Her words had a profound impact on me, the 20 years ago that I saw this television show.

I train students how to be therapists. I am the silent face on the other side of the one-way mirror, watching as students stumble, freeze up, blurt out non sequitors, and turn to the mirror mouthing the words "Help!" Some do, although a large number of students have natural ability and good intuition and will make terrific therapists. Every now and then a student comes through who seem to "fancy their lemon drops," (as my British friend says of her lah-de-dah acquaintances) and conduct themselves as deities at whose feet the masses of humanity should bow and with tear-dimmed eyes, hungrily accept the crumbs of their wisdom, without which their starving souls should soon succumb. Oh my goodness...

As I work with these students to get a more realistic view of their role and abilities in such situations, this story of being like a god comes to my mind. In fact, as I work with the students and I see them looking to me as though I'm some sort of omniscient being, I have to stop myself and be sure that I have a realistic view of my role and abilities. I grew up being told that parents stand in the place of God to their children. It's true. But so do lots of other people. We as humans, attribute incredible authority and power to individuals whom we admire or who have certain characteristics. It feels good to be a guru. For some of us, it feels good just to know what we're talking about for a change. But the message is the same: Give God the flowers.