Programming Code and Gospel Motif

An odd combination for sure. I guess that because these are my two worlds right now --- tracing Markan motifs that climax in Jesus' death, and immersing myself in the various coding languages of the internet --- I've begun to see parallels between how the two of these things operate. Both seem to ebb and flow like well-written classical music. Just yesterday I was listening to CBC Radio 2, whose host was playing John William's score from "Return of the Jedi". I found the flow of the music so interesting. Elements of the highly recognizable themes of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are introduced and pulled back, repeated, reinforced, interwoven, and finally brought to a climax that makes goosebumps suddenly form. There is foreshadowing and echoing and finally full-blown revelation.

I have found that Gospel motifs work like this too, as the author introduces a theme, develops it slowly, and in the case of motifs leading to Jesus' death, brings them to such a head that they can hardly be ignored. Maybe an analogy to Visual Basic programming is a bit of a stretch (and I don't know if I understand it well enough yet to give a very helpful explanation), but here too, the first module contains a sub-routine that points forward to the next module containing the actual commands referenced in the first module. The second module's sub-routine might include a reference which propels the program to the third module, and so on. With each move forward, the program always returns to the beginning to find its instruction, forming a continuous cycle of forward and backward movement until the program fulfills its mission and the program ends.

If nothing else, thinking about similarities between code syntax and narrative development helps to keep coding interesting. (And I think I'm beginning to understand how Dr. Karen H. Jobes of Wheaton College made a transition from computer science to exegesis...)