Email Link
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
These have been fascinating, intriguing, and challenging days – it has been hard for me to know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. And so I have been uncharacteristically silent. I have not said much about the Occupy Wall Street Movement. I have not said much about the political debates in our country, nor have I said much about the political and social events in the world. My last blog was posted on November 14, 2011 – that is an eternity for the blogging community.
It is February and I am in my Mary Oliver poetic mode:
When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
And so I am growing my hair out (won’t cut my hair for the year) and I promise to write more frequently. I am back. I hope. And this is what The Fullness is all about. Soon, I will wade into the conversation about taxes, our call to be generous, the challenge of prophetic living, what it means to speak truth to power, how we may hear truth together, and what it means for us to live in love. So stay tuned.
Here is a gift from Rumi:
O you who've gone on pilgrimage -
where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved!
Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor,
he is next to your wall -
You, erring in the desert -
what air of love is this?
If you'd see the Beloved's
form without any form -
You are the house, the master,
You are the Kaaba, you! . . .
Where is a bunch of roses,
if you would be this garden?
Where, one soul's pearly essence
when you're the Sea of God?
That's true - and yet your troubles
may turn to treasures rich -
How sad that you yourself veil
the treasure that is yours!
Blessings.
Careful examination of the Bible shows that the spiritual life is all about what we “see” and how our sight/vision/eyes/looking leads us to the proclamation and doing of good. In the first chapter of Genesis, there is mention over and over again that “God saw… “ God saw that what he had done was good, and this “seeing” leads God to create more “good.” In the Gospels, Jesus calls those who would follow him to “see” – to leave intentional blindness; and even unconscious blindness behind – and act in justice, righteousness and love. Notice all the healing of the blind and the central places they hold in revealing the Gospel’s themes. Notice the indictment leveled against those who see the suffering of others and walk away. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, see who sees and who sees and does not see and who sees and acts and who sees and turns away. I hope you see what I mean.
Penn State. A twenty eight year old man witnesses a crime being committed. He witnesses a very young boy being sodomized by one of the coaches at Penn State. He sees the crime being committed against a young and vulnerable boy and he does not intervene to stop the crime. Even though I do not know the complexity of what went through the witness’ heart and mind and soul (and only the witness knows this), he was wrong not to intervene and stop the evil and he was wrong not to have called the police. Then there are all the officials of Penn State who saw and must have seen a lot of activities that warranted interventions and calling the police.
Penn State is right to fire the president and the coach. Penn State was wrong not to have acted earlier. To see evil at its pinnacle and not do justice is unfathomable. Evil at this level does not just deserve reporting, but actions to stop it must always be the highest priority. Reporting the evil, protecting the abused and stopping the evil as quickly as possible is the good action required. Period.
Witnessing the Occupy Wall Street Movement reminds me of our collective responsibility to see the injustice of our financial systems and to speak out and act, in a manner that ensures a more equitable world.
Witnessing the Occupy Wall Street Movement reminds me to act on behalf of those who are saddled with debt, saddled with rents rising without reason, and made more vulnerable by the greed of some.
Seeing the faces of the Occupy Wall Street Movement will give us a whole different response than the negative media portrayals would suggest. The young are there, the old are there, the middle class are there, the wealthy are there, folks from different faith backgrounds are there; and the desire for a just world is fully on display.
Justice delayed is justice denied, Martin Luther King Jr. once said. May each of us have the courage to act on the part of the vulnerable, poor, and needy when we see actions that abuse, disenfranchise and deprive others. May our actions when we see evil lead more quickly to a world where we join God in seeing and proclaiming the GOOD.
When God of old came down from heaven,
in power and wrath he came;
before his feet the clouds were riven,
half darkness and half flame:
But when he came the second time,
he came in power and love;
softer than gale at morning prime
hovered his holy Dove. --John Keble, 1827
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." —John 1:14
“Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped...” – Philippians 2: 6
Almost everybody is talking about the Occupiers on Wall Street. Usually, when everybody is talking about something, I resist talking about it. However, after waiting and praying I do want to share a few words.
God is the Original Occupier. God occupies the world, though not all people acknowledge that fact. However, we as spiritual people, we as Christians, maintain and believe that God occupies and seeks to occupy every facet of life as we know it. Therefore, God has occupied Wall Street long before we acknowledged it. God has been in the Zuccotti Park and has always been on Wall Street. If we ignore the requirements of God that we love our neighbor as ourselves, it is not God’s fault that we experience the absence of God. Let it be clear, that all the desires for justice, liberation, fair wages, end to financial abuses, end to policies dictated by the powerful, end to all forms of oppression – God has been walking around with a sign since the beginning of creation and the sign reads: “Adam and Eve, Human Beings, why do you keep disobeying me and eating of the fruit?”
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
In Exodus 20: 2-3, God begins the outline of the Ten Commandments by stating and staking an identity built on liberation from oppression: I am Yahweh who brought you out of slavery have no other God but me. To have God occupy our heart, mind, and soul is to move away from anything that causes oppression. Did you know that Jesus spoke more about money than he did about sex and many other things? Why? Because we do a lot of harm to ourselves, each other and our relationship with God by how we use, hoard, and operate with money. Idolatry is the greatest sin and human beings love to have money instead of God. Money rivals God and that is why God shows up and occupies Wall Street all the time. God will never leave Wall Street alone.
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
Do you remember this parable, Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30? A rich person comes to Jesus seeking life and Jesus tells the person to go and sell all that the person possesses and give the money to the poor – allow God to occupy the places in your life where your wealth and power now occupy. The person gets depressed at the answer given by Jesus and walks away sad. Imagine that the whole of Wall Street said to Jesus, “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” Imagine the whole United States of America said to Jesus, “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” Imagine if all the churches asked the same questions. It is for this reason Jesus occupies Wall Street and the main financial capitals of the world.
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
God occupies the lives of those who are poor, disenfranchised, unemployed and overwhelmed by the financial challenges in life. The reading of the Exodus story and the liberation of the people from Israel speak clearly about God’s desire to occupy a place where people do not feel oppressed by the rich and powerful embodied by Pharaoh and Egypt. And then there are those words from Mary: “He has pulled down the wealthy and exalted the lowly. The rich sent away empty, while filling the hungry with good things” (Luke 1: 52-53).
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
God occupies the life of the poor, God cares for the poor, and God loves the poor and seeks to bring them good news. Luke has Jesus define his ministry in these terms and invites us to see that Jesus finds meaning in the Torah through an understanding of “occupation”: Jesus stood up to read and what occupied his eyes were the words that occupied the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord occupies me and anoints me to bring good news to the poor”.
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
God occupies the struggles of women in patriarchal societies. God occupies the struggles of minority groups in racist societies. There stand many things in our systems of government and distribution of wealth and attitudes towards work and the poor that do not reflect what we understand or believe about God. The greatest commandment that God occupies (best) is to love God and love each other with all our mind, heart, and strength.
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
Since the Occupiers have come to the park; I have visited them most almost every day and mingled and taken pictures; I have listened to their stories, I have moved among them, I have watched their meditation circles, heard their outcries, read their signs and taken pictures to paste on my Facebook page. They have organized themselves well and have begun to gain clarity around their message(s). Personally, I do not think that a movement or a group needs to be super-organized or even organized in its first two months. I have faith that with the passage of time, those who have started the protests and the occupation will continue to articulate a message and a series of action.
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
The messages of the Occupiers say a lot about what they want and what they desire for this country and the world. I make it my duty to pay attention to a hundred signs each day – only five of every hundred are signs that are offensive and I could not imagine seeing God/Jesus walking around with them. I could see God holding a sign saying, “We are the 99%”. God desires to occupy a world where we all have a voice, place, and a sense of truly belonging. God occupies the 99% and the 1% and seeks to lead them to each other in compassion, love and economic justice. “Rich people should share” and “Tax the rich more” might strike some as inflammatory or class warfare, but I think I could see Jesus carrying these signs (actually I did).
Recently, I saw one sign that read: “Occupy your heart, Occupy your soul. Occupy Wall Street.” That is what God seeks to do. Won’t you help God Occupy the World that is so loved by God?
In God’s occupation there is always a deeper call to truth, justice, peace and a desire for the other what we desire for ourselves.
Nine Night is a Jamaican mourning tradition, a wake of sorts, where family, friends, and even enemies come together to mark, mourn, celebrate and pay attention to death.
Jamaicans, especially of an older generation, remember the importance of Nine Night in acceptance of death. After the death of a loved one (and the tradition varies, in a very Jamaican way, from house to house and region to region and generation to generation) one observes nine nights of mourning. One of the things I love about Jamaica is this: nine nights can be celebrated in nine minutes or may take nine days. Then there are some who believe the nine days begin on the day the person dies, and those who believe that the proper start is the day the person is buried. However, whenever, and no matter how long, the important thing is that death requires a time of coming together, a time of reflection and a time of learning.
Nine Nights demands that those who participate know they are there because someone has died. Death summoned them and death will claim them one day. Once, death gets acknowledged, what comes next is the question, why did the person die? We mark the lives of the dead and wrestle with whether they died a holy or unnatural or expected or sudden or evil death. Did the dead die too early?
We have had and will always have many questions around and about the events of 9/11. We have many questions for and about God? Where was God? Which God? Whose God? Who defines God? Who acts in God's name? How does God save? What did God see and feel and think on 9/11? How does God respond today? What does God expect of us? Where does God want us to go? How does God want us to live in our diversity?
We have had and will always have many questions around and about the events of 9/11. We have many questions for and about our fellow human beings? What kind of person commits such a heinous action? What is the perfect way; ok the right way, to respond to such evil? How do we live again after such evil? How do we love each other's culture and religion? What motivated the heroism and generosity of so many?
Then there are questions about the nature of tragedy, loss, pain and death? Is human life the same everywhere? Do we value every life to the point where every death or act of genocide draws from our human hearts an equal response? Do friends and family mourn equally? How long shall we mourn? How does one recover from evil and insanity? How do people live after dying a horrifying death?
Then there are questions about justice and war. What is justice? What is mercy? What is revenge? What is forgiveness? When do we fight? Does it make sense to turn the other cheek? Do we really need to love our enemies?
Then there are hard questions. What went wrong? How did we miss the clues? Did that really happen? How much do we spend on and in wars? What does it mean not to kill? Are there questions we dare not ask? What motivated the terrorists to do what they did? What will the future hold?
Many Nine Nights have playing, dancing, discussions, arguments, merrymaking, food, and prayer. Nine Night celebrations show families and friends willing to grapple with the experience of death. If anything, these celebrations show that the effects of death require a long time to heal and to recover. Questions will continue for nine days, ninety days, ninety years, 900 years, 9,000 years -- nine eternities, really.
Moses, the one drawn from water like all of humanity, while tending the flock saw a flame of fire. Moses tending the flock represents the whole of humanity at work or on their way to work; and it is no accident that while attending to his work, he sees a bush on fire.
The bush was blazing but not consumed: in truth, there is an everlasting nature to all of what we look at as humans. All that human beings behold, be it good or bad, burns without being consumed. Like Moses, human beings turn towards what attracts, fascinates, or intrigues them. Notice how we turn to the good, the true, and the beautiful; and notice how we turn to Hollywood, to pleasure, to drugs, to sin, and to all that glitters. Moses' action of turning reveals a lot about human nature, because he turns to the burning bush even before he knew that it had a divine origin. Moses turns to the bush before he knew its connection to the God of the Hebrew people.
From the bush comes a voice declaring: "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground... I have observed the misery of my people..."
Wow. From the burning bush come many observations and proclamations: there is a distance that humans have to keep, there is mystery, there is a holy ground on which they stand; there is an acknowledgment of suffering, there is a promise of deliverance and there is a naming of God.
We fast forward from the burning bush to the burning towers of September 11, 2001.
Many like Moses were tending the flock out in the varied wilderness of their work life. Many remember blue skies and bright sun.
Those who saw the first plane stood in amazement and wonder: was it an accident? Those who watched on television were just as transfixed in wonder and disbelief. Did I just see what I saw? That was amazing, did it really just happen?
Like Moses, many people drew closer until the reality of the second plane and the danger of the situation caused them to take off their shoes and flee. Amazing how like Moses, many took their shoes off and fled (yes, I do believe Moses probably first fled from the burning).
The bush that burned without being consumed: unending reviewing and showing and retelling and reviewing of the day's events. The burning bush got repeated in the burning towers.
Today, ten years later; I believe that what came out of the burning bush with Moses offers us some guidelines about how we can heal and move forward.
Where the WTC towers once stood will forever be holy ground and all who come close to those sixteen acres will always have to take their shoes off, be it spiritually, physically, or mentally. Then after Moses hears the declaration that where he stands is holy ground, he also hears that GOD has observed the suffering of the people. From the burning towers, rang out great evidence of the suffering of God's people. We must question and note the suffering that existed in the heart and life of the terrorists. What misery they must have locked themselves in to allow them to cause so much misery to others. I believe that God observed their misery and observed the misery of all those who worked and died in the towers.
As Moses continued to pay attention to the burning bush; he hears God's promise of deliverance and hears God's promise of liberation and justice. Evil will never conquer the good that burns in the human soul.
Today, we observe the events that happened ten years ago and they should lead us to live lives that lead to the liberation from sin and evil. The most important lesson for us to learn from 9/11 is how to liberate humanity from all that is evil.
We know that the events of 9/11/2001 will never leave our consciousness as a state, a nation, and as a world. So in a way, the bush keeps burning without being consumed. It is for this reason, it is important that we remember to love. Everyone who observes this day is being called to be a Moses, to become Moses, to stand and know that God is the "I AM" and we are called to live in such a way that our hearts burn with the truth that we are made to "be" together in justice and peace.
Pastoral Suggestions:
Read Never Said a Mumbalin Word: Meditations on the Spirituals
Read Exodus 3: 1-15
Stand before your most vivid thought or memory of 9/11 and see what God might be teaching you.
Increasingly, I appreciate this passage from Scripture: "For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has gone by, or a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:4).
The tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, and I am more aware of how ten years for some is like yesterday, while for others it feels like a thousand years ago. Also I am increasingly more aware how deep and wide range the emotions, thoughts, and views that people have towards 9/11.
Without hesitation, I condemn the terrorist acts that lead to the destruction of the WTC towers, the acts of terror in Pennsylvania and on the Pentagon. The wounding, killing, and suffering of that day will always stand as a mortal evil. All the evil acts on that day can never be justified. Nothing that the USA or any human being or any belief system did warranted such an act of terror.
September 11, 2001 rightly holds its place as a day when humanity's evil and the madness of Muslim terrorist fanatics wreaked havoc on the soul of the USA and attacked the heart of all that is good in humanity.
We rightly mark this 10th anniversary to remember both the horrors of that day and the accompanying human spirit that united many hearts, minds and souls to do good and seek peace and do justice. An unspeakable horror happened that day. Likewise, immeasurable heroism, bottomless love and innumerable acts of kindness/healing happened that day too.
And so we remember that day and we pray that God's reign of peace will come and dry the tears from our eyes and comfort us and inspire to keep doing what is right in God's sight. We remember, as Christians, the words of Jesus that speak about suffering, love of enemies, and forever being children of peace and bearers of good news.
Let us approach this day with prayer. Prayer still stands as the best pastoral response to every situation.
We pray for those who were injured, all the first responders, and all the people who witnessed the horrors of that day.
We pray for those who died. We pray that they may rest in peace. We acknowledge that Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Christians, sinners, agnostics, atheists, saints, and people of all faith and goodwill died that day.
We pray for all those who have died subsequently because of 9/11. We pray for the Americans, Afghans, the Iraqis, people who worked for the UN, people from other nations who served and work in Afghanistan and Iraq -- we pray for all these deaths, remembering that we are all children of God.
We pray that the wars on behalf of 9/11 will end and solidarity and hope will flourish.
We pray for those who are now spiritually, emotionally, and mentally dead because of 9/11.
We pray we may remember that acts of genocide and terrorism happen daily in the lives of many of our brothers and sisters.
We pray that we may know that a broken heart has the tremendous opportunity to love.
We pray that we may be drum majors for peace, justice, hope, and peace.
We pray that people of all religions and countries will work harder for justice, love, respect, and peace.
We pray that we may love.
We pray that we may never lose our faith in that which is true, good and beautiful.
We pray that our faith may make us righteous and be a source of healing for us and the nation and the world.
Pastoral Food For Thought; "Can suffering become life-giving rather than death-dealing? Could America's suffering in the wake of September 11 have yielded outcomes other than violence multiplied? We don't need to become dewy-eyed dreamers to answer that question with a "yes." The experience of our own lives proves it." --Parker Palmer
Pastoral Suggestions:
Say the Prayer of St. Francis daily up to 9/11 and beyond.
Read anything by Parker Palmer.
Read "Never Said a Mumbalin Word: Meditations on the Spirituals"
The word parable survives in our imagination and usage today primarily because it was Jesus’ favorite way of teaching. On so many levels, this showed the wisdom of Jesus. The nature and genius of parables manifests in the way it touches each person differently. The best parable will convert some, make some more stubborn, bring healing, bring confusion, bring clarity, bring change, bring hope and leave some in despair. A perfect parable leaves interminably discussions and an objective observer (if there is any such thing) will be left wondering if the parties who experienced the parable all heard the same story. I say all this to say this, one good thing about a parable is that it hits every human being differently.
For me, Hurricane Irene stands as a classic parable told by none other than Mother Nature. When Mother Nature tells a story, we human beings better listen carefully; we human beings better remember that each person hears it differently and experiences it differently. Mother Nature has been telling us parables since the beginning of time. Since we all have mothers; and some of us with many siblings, we know that there are many times we do not listen to our mother. One child will obey every word, one child will obey every other word, one child will obey fifty percent of the time; and then there is the special child who disobeys everything. Global Warming stands as one of the narratives human beings tell by observing Mother Nature. Pay attention, some believe in global warming, some deny global warming and some just keep on doing what they are doing. Many believe that the changes in our weather system comes from our misuse of the natural resources, our rampant abuse of the environment and the deaf ears we turn to Mother Nature.
Hurricane Irene received its name on August 20, while still only a tropical storm in the eastern Caribbean (my homeland Jamaica was spared this time). By August 22, it had become the first hurricane of the season/year. Hurricane Irene reached its highest story telling at 130 mph, hitting North Carolina at about 87 mph, and hitting the Northeast at about 60 mph. Again, those who heard the stories of the wind and water and lost lives, and housing, and property and livelihood know in their depths the destructive power of the wind, rain and ocean waters.
My prayers and love and blessings and tears go out to all who experienced the terrible effects of this earthquake. The power of Hurricane Irene’s parable is that even in the most dangerous moments there were people out surfing, jogging, taking pictures, reporting, making love, being tender, screaming at each other, practicing random acts of kindness, packing, sleeping, laughing, crying, checking in on each other, praying for each other and hoping for the best. One Hurricane Irene and a million different responses: Amazing.
As I write, at this moment, many are dealing with the serious flooding and getting back to residences and viewing damages. Many are weeping as I write. Many do not know how to put their life back together. Many mourn the loss of loved ones and many will; because after the news cameras go away, many will die from the stress of all that happened.
Though Hurricane Irene was not as bad as we had expected (and I hear my mother’s voice, “Thank God, it could have been worse!”); I acknowledge that for many it was the WORST (and could not get any worse) experience of their lives.
Looking out from my window Monday, August 29, 2011, it is hard to believe the stories I had heard about the parable, Hurricane Irene. There were winds; there was rain, but not much devastation from my experience (my experience). I thank God (and that is a parable in itself) that my family is safe; I bend the knee of my heart and pray for those who lost family members and property.
Yes, indeed, the Parable of Hurricane Irene has a lot to teach us, if we are willing to listen. I am tempted to point out a few lessons, but parables are like jokes, if you start explaining them, then they have failed. Parables are stories and events we live and talk about for years to come. How would Jesus tell this parable? How would you? What parable does Mother Nature continue to tell?
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. Langston Hughes…
Posted a few lines from this poem on my FB page (Thursday, August 4)… Many in our country face the hard task of figuring out how to survive. People come through my office, and the stories they share make me tremble for days. When a person has been job hunting for two months, seven months, a year, two months; when they cannot pay the rent, when they have kids in school, when they have exhausted all hope, I feel super inadequate and it rips me on the inside. I wish I could give them all the money they want, I wish I could find them a job, I wish…, I wish…, I wish… Sometimes I pray with them, and sometimes as I bow my head in prayer, I keep it bowed, because I am afraid to see the desperation in their eyes.
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
There are more and more people with bare wallet, hearts, mind and soul. People are overworked, stressed and badly paid; and there are those who have no work, are stressed and facing the termination of unemployment. There must be a better way….
Then there is the news that the profits in Corporate America has doubled, tripled… Hey, don’t get me wrong (I am Jamaican, I give it to you upfront…), I love the rich (I love everybody), I don’t envy them, I am glad people are making profits, I wish I were rich, wish I were making the big bucks (yes, I said it). However, this is where I jump off the bandwagon, how is it that these churches and corporate institutions resist sharing more of their profits? Corporate America is not hiring at a rate that matches even a small percentage of their profits.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
I think it is important to see that corporate America is as much a reflection of many Americans and the American Church. Churches seem to turn a blind eye to “sell all we have and give the money to the poor” or we are unwilling to challenge the powerful or model a certain action that shows our commitment to the poor in more substantive ways. Recent news articles claim that the burnout rate among clergy is the highest in recent times and actually, for the first time, is on the top of the list of “tough/undesirable” jobs. When the Latin America churches advocated a “preferential option for the poor,” many Roman Catholic and Christian leaders denounced this position. Okay, if the churches cannot have a preferential option for the poor, you know we are in deep trouble or …
You see it is a crime for institutions to double the work load for institutions as a way of balancing the books and maintaining profits. I meet them all the time: the overworked employees who would quit if they could or take another offer if they could. Those are the eyes that haunt me the most: the people who are forced to work more and more hours – they are like slaves who have no choices; and they cannot even think of missing a day or telling the boss they are overworked. Lord, have mercy…
Another report today shows how the “rich” are spending more than ever on luxury items…
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
I don’t know when things will get better, but I know they will. I don’t know when people will find work, but I hope they will.
Keep climbing, keep sharing and giving, keep hoping and keep on keeping on….
Pause for a moment to think about Washington, DC and all this talk about the debt ceiling. In Washington, I see human beings behaving badly. However, there is something that makes me smile in all this. In the midst of all the posturing and denial of truth and the evasion of responsibilities (especially to the poor and those most in need, Christian concerns…) I see God at work. As the debates and meetings and posturing continue we begin to see an UNMASKING of the political system. This for me is a gift from God. When citizens see clearly who their representatives are, this can be nothing more than the working of God’s will and plan. Seriously, this is how I am capable to see the way I was encouraged to see as a Jesuit: in all things we find and see the presence and working of God for good.
So I see the reign of God at work in Washington, DC right now. No matter how sinful and ridiculous and hateful we get, we cannot shut out the presence of God…
In one of my posts, I was bold enough to say: The reign of God is Amy. I believe that profoundly. Amy manifested to me God’s presence in a way the Church failed to do (let the reader know that when I say Church, I include myself, chief of sinners).
Only twenty seven years of age; she was young and gifted and troubled. For me, her attempts to connect to the world through her music made me love her even more. She connected others. Of course, she had problems and of course, I will not make her a role model. Let the reader be clear, I am not canonizing Amy; however, I do believe she will become even more of an instrument for healing for many others.
She first caught my attention when I heard her song about not going to Rehab. I remember thinking she expressed the sentiments of so many. Jesus wants me to sell all my money and give the money to the poor; I say, no, no, no. Jesus wants me to love my enemies; I say, no, no, no. Jesus wants me to make the world a better place by giving myself fully to the reign of God; I say, no, no, no.
Thankfully, some of us seek the help we need to get better. Thankfully, some of us make the huge step and free ourselves, though help and prayer, from our many addictions.
Unfortunately, many of us don’t have the courage to change. Unfortunately, many of us remain stuck.
What then of God? God loves us while we are still sinners. The wideness in God’s mercy touches us and offers us a Yes, Yes, Yes.
Maybe Amy’s death will serve as a sort of resurrection for many who are trapped in destructive lifestyles. Maybe her death will cause some to go to rehab. Maybe her death will help us help someone. Maybe her death will help us understand addictions. Maybe her death will help us understand the reign of God.
Amy, RIP. I miss you already. I know that the God I serve in Christ has a place of love and rest and freedom from addiction prepared for you.
Hey, Amy, God is now your Rehab. I hear Jesus saying, “To what shall I compare the kingdom/reign/presence of God? It is like Amy Winehouse…”
There is a discourse that is championing a certain kind of perfection. Almost seems that this movement is championing the “be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect…”
Then there is the discourse that trembles at the thought that personal freedoms are being taken away throughout our country. They could be championing the “we have a right to have personal freedoms…”
There are those who are calling for more austerity and will have to point that call at the rich, the strong, and the powerful pretty soon.
Then there are those who are advocates for keeping social programs; they will have to match their words by giving more in thought, word, deed and resources.
Government officials and church leaders will have to take a pay cut or/and make public the extent of their generosity.
Soon one will have to take vows for everything… one will need to prove one’s integrity.
Soon, there will be more nervous breakdowns, because few can match the new elevated standards: welcome home Willy Loman…
And there are those who are becoming so wealthy in seconds, even in these times.
There are those who slip into more precarious financial situations by the second – they outnumber the preceding group by millions.
There is a more violent class warfare approaching (those who are ethical and generous versus the selfish and disrespectful).
Many will seek to rid us all of the shadow…
There will be need for a new prophet who will not condone evil, but will encourage people to repent and turn to God. This person will be unrelenting in urgency and compassion and love.
Many will seek…
There will be those who will bend all Scriptures to suit their needs and many will be lost (going to the left and right: sheep and goats).
There will be those who will bend all Scriptures to suit their needs and many will be lost (conservatives will fear liberals, and liberals will fear conservatives and there will be radicals in each camp: goats and sheep).
And the clown will sleep with the theologian.
And the scientist will embrace the poet.
Stadiums will empty into the churches.
Churches will lose their sheep to technology…
People will pray and prey and prey and pray; both sides will need a little of each…
There will be darkness and there will be light
There will be losses and gains and gains and losses
And there will be Life and there will be Death
And there will be silence and loud noises
There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth
There will be laughter and dancing and feasting and celebrations ever after…
And there will be hate and there will be love…
And there will be wars, suffering, misunderstanding, killings and murders, sin and wrong…
Always good, always truth, beauty, peace, hope and faith
Always love. Feed love…
Everything depends on what you feed.
The one you feed.
Author: Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones
Created: February 19, 2009
Using poetry, music, scripture and current events, we will explore in an interactive kind of a way the spiritual path of life...