writing - sometimes invisible
the writing on the wall - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall in the royal palace. The King's face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.”
And Daniel interpreted: “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. These words mean: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
[the Book of Daniel]
This story demonstrates why cottages are important. And the moral of this story is that our history, beliefs, mythology are still fascinating to children, if for nothing other than that the children can see how humankind suffers from repetition compulsion... and perhaps do something about it because we keep being "found wanting".
the writing on the wall - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall in the royal palace. The King's face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.”
And Daniel interpreted: “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. These words mean: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
[the Book of Daniel]
This story demonstrates why cottages are important. And the moral of this story is that our history, beliefs, mythology are still fascinating to children, if for nothing other than that the children can see how humankind suffers from repetition compulsion... and perhaps do something about it because we keep being "found wanting".