Bobby’s Seven Sevens
The number Seven appears in scripture many times. For example the Sage tells us there are “six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable in his eyes” (Pr 6.16-19). God rested on the seventh day and blessed it with shalom. For some reason the Bible likes seven. In that spirit I have decided to relate Bobby’s Seven’s . . . the Seven things that are my favorite . . . in appropriate categories.
1) Seven Favorite People
- Jesus
- Pamella
- Rachael
- Talya
- Mom
- Dad
2) Seven Historical (non-biblical) People I would Like to Meet
- Judith (if she was real – bold faith & courage)
- Hektor
- Socrates
- Polycarp
- Eric the Red
- Galileo
- Sojourner Truth
3) Seven Things I Want to Do Before I Die
- Live my lifetime with Pamella
- Watch my girls grow into mighty servants of the King
- Complete the Ph.D
- Go sky diving
- See the Pyramids
- Have great friends
- See Jesus
4) Seven Greatest Non-Biblical Books
- The Iliad/Odyssey (sorry can’t separate them)
- Confessions of Augustine
- The Knights Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Imitation of Christ
- Siderus Nuncius by Galileo
- The Prayer of Manasseh (Tobit or Judith could be here too)
- Lord of the Rings/or Chronicles of Narnia
- Oh, I almost forgot . . . Kingdom Come!! š
5) Seven Things that Attract Me to Pamella
- Her eyes sparkle
- We have great conversations about art, books, organic veggies š
- She is tough as nails … you have to be to run marathons
- I love to hear her sing. One of my favorite times of the week is hear Pamella sing at church call me crazy but I love her voice.
- Pretty Woman (read Song of Songs 4.1-15 or listen to Roy Orbison)
- She is fun. I simply enjoy her presence. She completes me. I know I take her for granted but I really do thank God for bringing us together.
Tobias prayed regarding his beloved bride Sarah on their wedding night this really does sum up my hopes and dreams for this life. I used to dream of being a famous scholar but I have changed my view over the year. Nothing compares with being the husband of Pamella Gayle Valentine. To the prayer …
Blessed are you, O God of our ancestors,
and blessed is your name in all generations forever.
Let the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever.
You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve as a helper and support.
From the two of them the human race has sprung.
You said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;
let us make a helper for him like himself.’
I now am taking this kinswoman of mine, not because of lust, but with sincerity.
Grant that she and I may find mercy and that we may grow old together.”
(Tobit 8.5-7)
6) Seven Favorite Books of the Bible
- Psalms
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Hosea/Deuteronomy
- Matthew
- Luke
- Romans/Ephesians
- (I cheated!)
7) Seven Greatest Movies
- Star Wars (hands down the greatest movie ever made)
- The Shootist
- Gladiator
- Hotel Rwanda
- Lord of the Rings
- Absent Minded Professor
- Revenge of the Sith
Well there you have it! Bobby’s Seven Seven’s. I am sure I could come up with more but these show that I am a very uncomplicated person. Of course there are many others I would love to meet, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, Helen of Troy (they fought a war over her), and many more. I would love to see the cave art of the Lascaux Caves, Easter Island, get lost in the Louve, learn Mayan, be confined to St.Cathrine’s for a month. Feel free to add your Sevens.
Hesed & Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
June 14th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Interesting lists! I’m not sure you’d really appreciate meeting those people. After all, you met me at Pepperdine and didn’t even remember the event! š
June 14th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Great list, Bobby! And fun to read. Thanks for sharing.
I tried to put my blog name but can’t remember my password.
Tina (Moonbeam)
June 14th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Seven favorite musical selections:
“Nessun dorme” from Turandot by Puccini
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
Tchaikovsky’s Opera “Eugene Onegin”
Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21
Bruckner’s “Locus Iste”
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Mozart(?) Requiem
Notice: No Stamps-Baxter
June 14th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Greg, you are probably right. I might only want to meet some of those folks from a safe distance, š
Tina, thanks for stopping by, I am glad you enjoyed my list.
Bob, Stamps-Baxter would not make my top seven . . . or top 20 for that matter. I do enjoy Bach’s Passion of St. Matthew and the Hallelujah Chorus.
SCD
June 14th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
The Shootist over The Searchers? Blasphemy!
With Star Wars I heartily agree, but I’d really have to put any of about a thousand movies above Revenge of the Sith (including either of the other two original SW films).
Fun stuff!
Nick
June 14th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Nick,
I struggled with #7. I was tempted to put Malcolm X because I think Denzel gave an incredible performance, I almost put the “Forbidden Planet” or the “Sound of Music” (yes I like that movie). I almost put Raiders of the Lost Ark or American Graffetti (?). Patton is also a great one. It was tough.
Shalom,
Bobby V
June 14th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
My seven favorite numbers just happen to be:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Well, you can see I have a bit of brain drain just now.
Good lists. I would add as a favorite non-biblical book of mine:
Marcus Aurelius’ The Meditations. It can be read here:
http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
Peace.
June 14th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
Steve “of the making of books there is no end.” I think I had a harder time coming up with the seven greatest books than I did the movies.
I must, sadly, confess I have never read anything more than selections of the Roman Emperor. I will make amends this summer.
Bigs that float to the top for me include Plato’s Apology, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte Darthur, Athanasius’ On the Incarnation of the Word, In Praise of Folly, War and Peace, A Letter from a Birmingham Jail(MLK), and I would throw in the Declaration and Address.
Shalom,
Bobby V
June 15th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Bobby,
Now if you had really been thinking, you could have divided the Bible up like the Hebrews…and been able to get almost everything. š
Law
Prophets
Writings
Gospels
Johanine writings
Pauline writings
Acts
I figure that would land you about 97% of the NT and OT. You know, if you are going to cheat – do it right my brother!
Favorite movies –
– Anything M. Night Shamalan directs
– Patton (Scott is the spitting image of my maternal Grandfather)
– Star Wars
– Schindler’s List
– Sound of Music
– Bourne Identity (Not anything like the book however)
– Hunt for Red October OR The Dirty Dozen
People I would like to meet –
St. Francis
Mother Theresa
Robert E. Lee, Christ
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther
John Wycliffe
If I could add an 8/9th, Polycarp and Anthony would be in there.
June 15th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Interesting stuff. Made me think of some of my own 7’s.
Seven Historical People I’d Like to Meet.
1. Thomas Merton
2. The unnamed mother of 2 Maccabees 7 (incredible image of her beginning in vs. 20, but especially her words in vs. 27f).
3. Plato
4. Esther
5. Soren Keirkegaard
6. Jonathan Edwards
7. Charles Dickens
Seven Favorite Books of the Bible
1. Genesis
2. John
3. Romans
4. Isaiah
5. Psalms
6. Job
7. Ezra
Seven Favorite Movies . . .
1. Glory
2. Brave Heart
3. The Green Mile
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. Million Dollar Baby (best thing ever produced to capture postmodern, existential “mood.”)
6. Lord of the Rings Series
7. Driving Miss Daisy
PS.
Seven Favorite Memories . . .
1. First time I saw my wife.
2. Looking for a wishing rock with my oldest son in a creek in Gatlinburg, TN when he was about 4 yrs. old.
3. The first time I dropped from a 250ft. jump tower at Ft. Benning.
4. My youngest son recently asking if he could lay his head on my chest while we were watching TV, claiming “This is always so comfortable and warm.”
5. A steak smothered with musrooms, followed by a rich, warm liqueur in the middle of nowhere in rual Belgium.
6. Jumping into a “swimming hole” in Carr’s Creek after highschool football practice.
7. The smell, the drenching mist, the roar, the sense of my own smallness while standing at the edge of Victoria Falls.
June 15th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Great lists, Bobby. But how can you possibly leave out Brave Heart or the Godfather (I and II) for top movies?
I would have to add a list for some of the greatest works of fiction, in which I would include Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Hobbit/LOTR, All Quiet on the Western Front, and virtually anything written by Alistair MacLean.
My top seven historical figures would have to include, in no particular order…
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Charlemagne
5. Julius Caesar
6. Winston Churchill
7. Judas Iscariot
I would also like to spend some time with St. Augustine, Henry VIII, Mahatma Ghandi, Moses, David, Sampson, Peter and John.
June 15th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I never saw “The Shootist.” What was that about?
Enjoyed the list. Take care.
June 15th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Enjoyed reading your lists. The more I read you- the more I am impressed. Imagine my delight at seeing one of the Duke’s best, “The Shootist” on your movie list. Cool.
John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Ron “Opie” Howard, Lauren Becall and Paladin- Have Gun will Travel- all together with an incredible, intellegent plot. Doesn’t get much better.
June 15th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Shane, welcome to Stoned-Campbell Disciple. I am delighted to have you come by. I hope you will continue to do so.
You make a good case for the Godfather but Braveheart I might not go for. I might be persuaded to make an exception for the Matrix (which no one has suggested yet . . . I think that was a brilliant movie).
I cannot argue against Lewis or Tolkien . . . have you ever read Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. And I think the most complex work of fiction Lewis ever did was Till We Have Faces which is just magnificient. In truth I would rank it as superior to Chronicles.
On my favorite people I did not want to make it to American. Your selection of Judas is intriging for sure. I recently read his Gospel that set the record straight and he really was a great guy as I understand it!!! (smiles).
Cecil,
Just when I was really beginning to like you, you have to say “I never saw the Shootist. What is that about”!!!!
Beloved. This is shocking to me š
The Shootist is John Wayne at his all time finest. The movie is, if memory serves, his last film ever. It is the only film, if memory serves, that he won an Oscar for. He plays a dying gunslinger by the name of J.B. Brooks. He is dying a slow and painful death. He chooses to go out with his boots on in a blaze of glory. It also has Ron Howard in it.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
June 27th, 2006 at 3:49 am
Bobby, I loved reading your list of 7’s even though I didn’t make your list of 7 favorite people – š
I also loved reading the 14 comments that precede mine. I especially liked Ben’s 7 favorite memories. It made me think about my own list of 7’s. I’m going to make it a family event that I’ll share with you later.
As always, you continue to impress me with your sincere, interesting, and thought provoking blogs.
Cheryl
June 27th, 2006 at 4:04 am
Is it just me, or are there only 6 favorite people listed? I guess you haven’t met me yet. (j/k)
Matrix is absolutely in my top 7. Actually, since everyone else is sounding off, here’s my list of 7 movies:
1) Matrix Trilogy
2) The Star Wars six (I’m one of those crazy people who think since these are Lucas’ babies that episodes 1-3 are in fact canonical)
3) A Time to Kill
4) Independence Day
5) The Passion (I know it presents a narrow view of the passion and atonement, but it was well done and millions of people have seen it who would not generally come and hear us preach just because)
6) Dead Poets Society
7) Lord of the Rings Trilogy
I guess a common thread in these movies is war/death. What does that say about me?
June 27th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Cheryl,
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your spin off of Ben Overby.
Kevin,
Welcome to Stoned-Campbell Disciple. I have visited your site a couple of times and pray for your church planting.
You know what . . . you are right there are only SIX people listed! And you are the first to notice and that includes me!!
BTW, the Matrix is a great one too.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
July 6th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
To show how twisted I am…the movies I would list
1.Good Morning Vietnam
2.Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail
3.Dead Poet’s Society
4.Original Star Wars Trilogy (only 1 movie here)
5.The Forbidden Planet
6.Young Frankenstein
7.Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein