07/25/2026
Reflections on Dean Kate’s Devotion July 25, 2026
🔗 https://youtu.be/wNzvYFG66kY?is=Ar-ca5G2umDcPkKE
📖 In Joshua 23, Joshua is old and prepares to leave his people with final words of guidance. Dean Kate describes this moment as a kind of verbal will. Like Moses before him, Joshua reminds the Israelites that they have been given a good land, but they must remain faithful to God and carefully observe the teachings Moses handed down.
Joshua warns them not to worship other gods, intermarry with surrounding peoples, or allow outside influences to turn their hearts away from God. Dean Kate explains that, on a spiritual level, these words still have meaning for us. The command to have no other gods challenges us to examine the idols we create today, including wealth, fame, status, power, and anything else that takes the place of what is truly holy.
Yet Joshua’s words also raise a difficult question. The Israelites lived among people whose customs, religions, and ways of life were different from their own. Dean Kate asks how we are to remain faithful to God while also learning from the religious and cultural experiences of others.
Faithfulness does not require fear, hostility, or isolation. We can stay rooted in God while listening with humility, recognizing beauty in other cultures, and allowing encounters with others to deepen our understanding of the human family.
🎨 The Oinochoe
An oinochoe was an ancient Greek pitcher used to pour wine from a larger mixing bowl into individual drinking cups. Its curved handle and distinctive trefoil shaped mouth allowed the server to pour carefully during meals, religious ceremonies, and the symposion, a formal gathering centered on conversation, music, poetry, and wine.
These pitchers were also admired as works of art. Potters shaped them with great skill, while painters decorated them with gods, warriors, animals, plants, and scenes from daily life. Designs borrowed from neighboring cultures reveal how artistic ideas traveled throughout the ancient Mediterranean.
An oinochoe could communicate wealth and social standing. Fine examples were purchased by prosperous families, exchanged as diplomatic gifts, dedicated at religious sites, and placed in tombs. Greek merchants carried them to distant communities, where local leaders valued them both for their beauty and for the customs they represented.
The widespread use of these pitchers shows that ancient societies were connected through hospitality, ritual, art, and commerce. A simple vessel for pouring wine became a meeting place of cultures and a reminder that people have long recognized and treasured beauty created beyond their own communities.
✨ Joshua calls us to keep God at the center of our lives, while the oinochoe reminds us that faithfulness and openness can exist together as we learn from the beauty and wisdom of others.
