Re: American Gods

If you’ve not read any Neil Gaiman, you’re missing out.  He tells stories delightfully, blending whimsical fantasy with honest portraits of injured and incomplete human beings.  American Gods follows the story of Shadow, who having been recently released from prison is quickly recruited by a con-man.  Despite his apparent criminality Shadow is an easy character to sympathize with.  Shadow helps American Gods to feel more like a thriller than a fantasy novel.  As Shadow meets gods we meet them too and I was grateful to be introduced to Gaiman’s strange world through a protagonist who started off knowing no more than I did.

At the beginning of the book I had favorite gods, and the idea of these myths walking in real life was exciting.  Gaiman shattered my modern ideas of the old gods by depicting them as they were first imagined: powerful and petty.  The ancient gods of Rome, Ireland, and Africa are human, and as such they are messed up.  They are as likely to be helpful as they are to be cruel; they are caricatures of the humanity, afflicted with the human condition.

American Gods also paints a startling portrait of culture in the United States. Just as old world gods are real in Gaiman’s novel, the new gods of convenience and technology are real as well.  They look silly next to the old gods, but ultimately are not different.  They are no more or less corrupt or corrupting.  They hit closer to home.  I know no one who has ever sacrificed a child to an old god.  We all know of friendships that have been sacrificed to ambition, lust, or selfishness.  These modern gods are real.  In Gaiman’s world, and also in ours, anything that a person worships with time, attention, and energy is a god.

I do want to say that American Gods is for adult audiences; there were points in the novel which vividly depicted monstrous gods of sexuality and of death exacting sacrifice.  Their sacrifice is disturbing.  These scenes were not many, and I they serve the novel's purpose of portraying how we can loose ourselves in devotion to our gods.  I mention it so that you do not read anything you cannot unread.  Overall the book was excellent, but that sort of thing is not for everyone.

            I want to say that Neil Gaiman was incredibly considerate towards Christians, Jews, and Muslims when he absented the Lord from his pantheon of mythical gods and goddesses.  Jesus does not appear; neither does the God of Israel, nor Allah.  A monotheistic God could have introduced problems into the world Gaiman wrote.  Besides the narrative problems God would cause, the books would have offended a lot of people if Gaiman had treated the God(s) of the world’s dominant religions like he treated his trickster gods.  That sort of offensive writing might have sold a lot of books, and I appreciate that Gaiman didn’t exploit that route.  Thanks Neil, if you're reading this.

Challenge:

Ask God to show you if you have served other gods.  Whatever your god has been it cannot satisfy the thirst of your soul.  The gods of this world only steal life.  False gods demand sacrifice, but the true God sacrificed himself.   He loved us while we were still enemies so that we could experience life to its fullest.  Read Romans 5:8-10.  Jesus death meant our forgiveness.  Jesus resurrection meant our adoption.  God is alive. God loves you.  Enjoy.

RE: Acts 7 Expect Persecution. Love Unconditionally.

As a US citizen I enjoy remarkable privilege. The Bill of Rights is all absolutely stellar, and one of my favorite bits is the promise that my government will, at no level and under no circumstances make laws prohibiting or enforcing religious practices. This is an especially precious amendment for me as a protestant and a Lutheran. At one time in Europe a person could be banished, censored, or even executed if they contradicted their government's religion. A lot of people were killed, and it delights me that my government has promised not to do this.

This protection, however, comes at a cost. By baring our government from enforcing or prohibiting any religion, it may not enforce my religion either. In exchange for our freedom from government persecution we surrender all opportunities to spread Christianity through legislation, which is fine with me. I don't think Christianity spreads very well through legislation anyway. The law of God couldn't make men holy (Romans 3:20), so it stands to reason that US law would have hard time of it as well.

I love my religious freedom but it is important, for me and all Christians, to remember that our religious freedom is nice, but will not always be guaranteed. It is a right we're entitled to by the current constitution of our particular country. It is not something God has promised us. Jesus promised we'd endure hardship because of him (John 15:18-21).

I read Acts 7 today, in which Stephen was put on trial and stoned to death for being a Christian. What amazed me was that at no point did Stephen protest his treatment. He blithely accepted his impending murder and the violation of what we now consider to be natural human rights. It was as though he expected the whole thing and was not only unsurprised but amiable, even asking God to forgive his oppressors as Jesus did before him (Luke 23:34).

How do we apply a chapter like this? I've heard that a rather lot of Christians are miffed that their rights are not being protected aggressively enough (Fox News). I've heard Christians complain about not being accepted in the mainstream, the scientific community, or in education.  These complaints would be hilarious when juxtaposed with Jesus promise of persecution if the foul attitudes that produce them were not so harmful. Christians have ample instruction on how to handle persecution and oppression (Matthew 5:39), but in a nation where Christians seem more likely to harass than to experience harassment, I'm dumbfounded that we appear so unsatisfied with our luxurious rights, our enormous majority, and abundant ministerial resources. The Christian church in the world does experience real persecution, but here in the US many of my brothers and sisters don't know enough unbelievers to make persecution plausible.

Challenge:

Stephen, and countless others lay their lives down (Hebrews 11:37-38), loved their murderers, forgave them, and asked God to do the same. They turned the other cheek, and trusted in God instead of retaliating (Romans 12:19). You probably won't be asked to die heroically, but you can live heroically if you live with the unconditional love of Christ. When you are slighted, insulted, or treated rudely because of your faith, it is then that you have the opportunity to love your enemy and pray for them that persecute you (Matthew 5:44).  Do so. Remember how much and how freely you have been forgiven (Luke 7:47), so that you may love as you have been loved (1 John 4:19).  God speed.

RE: Psalm 35 Wherein God Is Asked To Take Sides

Photo By Ivva

In Psalm 35 the Psalmist begs and pleads with God to be on his side. I cannot imagine a more universal desire than to have the God of the universe favour you. I even encounter this desire among agnostics who say that if there is a God they hope he's just, and if he's just he'll be good to them. We all want God to be on our side. There is seldom a war fought by anyone who doesn't believe God to be on their side. In Joshua 5:13-15 Joshua asks the Lord, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” The Lord's reply is cryptic; God is not on a side.

God is love. He loves us with perfect and infinite love, and I'm coming to believe that God even loves us more than we love ourselves, and wants more for us than we want for ourselves. Left to our own, we might ask God to give us wealth and peace, but God gives us greater peace and greater wealth in Christ than our minds can conceive.  Through the Holy Spirit, God gives us more that we can ask or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). God is not on our sinful self-destructive side; but God loves us too much for that.

Challenge:

Who's side are you on?  Is it more your own than it is God's?  Jesus promises that if we seek his kingdom first that he will provide for us (Matthew 6:33).  Take comfort in that word today know that you are free to love generously.

RE: Psalm 32 & Lectio Divina

Photo By: BabaSteve

Lectio Divina

If you’re familiar with Lectio Divina, pick a verse or two from Psalm 32 and enjoy it.  However, if you’re unfamiliar with Lectio Divina, then I'm afraid your life is woefully incomplete.  Don’t worry though; it is easy to learn, and will enrich the rest of your natural life if you use it.  
 

What's Lectio Divina?

Latin for “Divine Reading” Lectio Divina is a Christian practice of meditation that dates back to the third century.

Why Should I Meditate?

If God commanding his people to mediate on his word (Joshua 1:8) isn’t enough motivation for you then go ahead and check out some articles about the benefits of meditation in Psychology Today, MIT News, or The Houston Chronicler.  Meditation is really good for you in almost every conceivable way; as the more has been learned about mediation more and more health experts have been promoting it.  A lot of Christians are wary of meditation because some eastern religions teach meditation.  Some eastern religions also teach compassion, but this would be a very bad reason for us to throw away our long history of compassion.  In fact there is no excuse for a Christian not to practice compassion; God commanded it, and he commands meditation as well (Colossians 3:12).

How Do I Mediate?

Honestly the Wikipedia entry on Lectio Divina is pretty good, but just in case that’s too much history and jargon for you I’ve broken it down for you real simply:

To Practice Lectio Divina:

Prepare

Clear your mind and environment of distractions.  Turn off your music and close your other tabs.  Break deeply and be aware of your thoughts.

Read

Read a verse or two.  I recommend Psalm 32:1 for today.  Read your selection repeatedly, and allow it to fill your thoughts.

Reflect

Turn the verse over in your mind, looking at it from new perspectives.  What does it mean?  What is God saying to you today?

Pray

Pray.  React in prayer to the verse or verse you just read and thought about.  Praise God, make requests, and voice anxieties.  God is listening.

Contemplate

Be still and know the Lord is God.  Be quiet.  God hears your prayers and he answers them.  He loves you very much and is with you.

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter Seven

Martin Luther King Junior's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

It gives me faith in mankind that Martin Luther King Junior was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize within his own lifetime. I was aware that he had won the prize, but I did not know until today that he had lived to receive it. King appears to be full of wisdom and godly words when looked at through the lens of history, but I usually think that his message would not be treated seriously by the politicians of today. I think he would be considered a hopeless idealist and an extremist.

I've had a reservation about King that I've not mentioned until now. King speaks about building an incredible world; he casts a beautiful vision of a new world order. My cynicism and rational Lutheran temperament make me wary of such an ideal vision. I've been told since childhood that I live in a fallen world and that it will always be a fallen world. I know that at the end of days Jesus will gather all his people to himself and there will be no more mourning. I ache with desire for the day when God's kingdom will come. King challenges me to bring God's kingdom of brotherhood, peace, and unconditional love now, and not to wait for the end of days.

Photo By Lel4nd

Regardless of which ideas are appealing or unappealing to me, I ought to appraise King's vision based on the incredible fruit it bore and continues to bear. King changed my country; he changed the world. He has become a beckon of Gospel light that even atheists turn to for guidance and illumination. King believed that God was building his kingdom here on Earth every day. My skepticism doesn't empower me to change the world the way King did. Skepticism holds me back; I see that now, so it is time to leave skepticism behind. Whatever limits exist for God's kingdom on earth are God's business and not mine. There are enough real challenges without me inventing limits for myself and my fellow man. Anything is possible with God (Matthew 19:26), and so long as anything is possible I invite you to join me in building the kingdom of God that King spoke about, a place of brotherhood and unconditional love. Perhaps in our fallen world we cannot achieve perfection, but that's no reason to settle for the status quo. It's time, for me at least, to repent of cynicism and pursue an unrealistic vision for the world. May God's kingdom come on earth.

Thanks Mr. President

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Some time ago I had a friend who liked to complain about the president, and some of the things he managed to blame on the president were incredible. Whether a friend was out of work, insurance was too expensive, or gas prices were too high, you could depend on him for a loud and sarcastic, “Thanks Mr. President!” He blamed the president for at least one problem just about every time I saw him. He made a practice of it. As you might imagine, his diligent negativity got old fast.

Whining about the president is not funny, nor is it clever. It is an annoying, fruitlessly, and patently unchristian behaviour. Please understand me, it is acceptable and even necessary to, at times, speak out against the actions of a politician who you find fault with. We do not owe any earthly leader our silent unconditional submission. Making a practice out of complaining is something outside of godly citizenship.

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Consider the effect of this man's constant interjections of “Thanks Mr. President!” They helped to feed a culture of negativity wherever he went.  He irritated folks who liked the president, and he invited more complaining from folks who shared his views. Imagine if instead of sarcastically thanking some politician at every opportunity, we made a practice of authentically thanking God. After all, it's God's will for us to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). We're even encouraged to give thanks during hardship, which scripture encourages us to endure as loving discipline from God himself (Hebrews 12:7). Paul even encouraged his readers to glory in their suffering because of the character it ultimately produced (Romans 5:3-5). Even if God didn't work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28); Christians would still be expected to respect the authorities (Romans 13:1-7), just as Paul encouraged the early Christians to show respect for the Roman Emperor, who in Paul's day was Nero.

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Challenge:

Take a moment today to thank God for someone negative who brings you down. Whether it's a boss, a co-worker, or someone closer to home, it's God's will that we give thanks in all circumstances. God is enthusiastic to forgive all sin, both yours and theirs. Since you're freely forgiven, pass that forgiveness along to the person who's been dragging you down. You don't have to tell them. It can stay between you and God, but if you don't forgive them then they'll be free to continue to discourage and infuriate you. Enjoy the freedom that forgiveness brings today.

RE: Psalm 31

While at Concordia I had classmates who sometimes felt like they weren't real Christians simply because their faith story was not dramatic. Most of them were baptized as infants, but had heard the exciting testimonies of born again ex-Islamic extremists, recovering alcoholics, and ex-gangsters. They heard the stories of how God had intervened in powerful ways in the lives of extraordinary individuals, and they felt a little jealous because God had only intervened in simple ways in their own short lives. Feeling jealous of the hardships of others is not rational; this is a childish perspective to take on, but I confess that I feel this way myself.

Photo By: Jamesdale10

Psalm 31 evokes this kind of jealousy in me. I am a white, college educated, citizen of the United States of America. If I have suffered at all I have suffered little. I do not know what it is like to see the Lord's love while in a city under siege (31:21), I have never been literally delivered from a pursuing enemy (31:16), I have not known terror on every side (31:13).

When I take a mature look at the psalm I know that it is a blessing to have not experienced the suffering or affliction that the psalmist experienced. I may yet experience it or I may never experience it. That is not important. Our condition, station, and even our experiences are of peripheral importance when we properly focus on the cross. Jesus came so that at the end of days all people might enter a life free of distress, anxiety, or fear. If we suffer we can look to this psalm and know that God is with those who suffer, but even if we don't suffer we can look at this psalm and delight to remember that one man suffered once for all (1 Peter 3:18). Like him we can freely and gladly entrust our lives, our destiny, and our spirits (31:5) to the God that loves us all.

Human Concerns

The logical follow-up to yesterday; written by the only logical person.  Thanks again Beth.

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matt 16:21-23

I love this passage. I hate this passage. It’s been a strange relationship. I’m fascinated about when this happens. Just a couple verses ago, Jesus blessed Peter for speaking his faith boldly. Today, instead of seeing God speaking through Peter, Jesus sees Satan. That’s a pretty drastic change.

Peter can be so spot on one moment, and then out in left field the next. As a kid, I used to think he was stupid. The older I get, the more I see my face reflected in his foolishness. God has called this instance to my mind many, many times. I have a lot of ideas about what God wants. I think many of us do. We tell God that He does things this way, that His justice looks like this and that He wouldn’t do that. We put our ideas for us and for other people in His mouth.
Peter didn’t know that trying to keep his Jesus from death would have kept the world from the overwhelming Grace and Salvation that God had planned from the beginning. We don’t know what we may be trying to keep back by wanting God to do things our way.

Challenge:
What things are you trying to control today? Hand these things over to God, and let His Will be done. He has only the best for you.

RE: The White Man's Burden & Kony 2012

In the weeks since the Kony 2012's viral launch the expression “White Man's Burden” has been thrown around quite a bit. The expression has generally been used badly, so I've written a short guide to help us better understand the expression and where it comes from.

The White Man's Burden is an expression that comes from an 1899 poem of the same name. The poem was written by Ruyard Kipling. If you don't recognize his name he's the same author who brought us The Jungle Book. While the book version didn't contain Disney's famous “I wanna be like you” song, Mowgi's story in the novel and in the film are very similar. The story goes that Mowgli, a feral jungle “half devil and half child” who was raised by wolves finally found redemption once he left the jungle for civilization. If you're not picking up on the symbolism I'll just say that Kipling had some racially biased opinions about who was and was not civilized.

The Jungle Book has a lot in common with The White Man's Burden. Both works depict non-whites as a poor souls in need of a civilizing outside influence. Kipling proposed in The White Man's Burden that it was the responsibility of “civilized” white men to “fix and reform” the “savage” colored peoples of the world; the arrogance of his proposal is astounding. Sadly many people thought Kipling had the right idea and they used their whiteness and alleged moral superiority to excuse the exploitation of Africans, Indians, Native Americans and countless other peoples. C.S. Lewis calls this sort of morally motivated oppression the “worst sort of tyranny.”

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. -C.S. Lewis

So “The White Man's Burden” in a nutshell is the flawed idea that white person's supposed superiority gives them both the responsibility and authority to take leadership and resources away from anyone who is not white. This ideology couples tightly with the tyrannical idea that non-white persons are unfit to govern themselves. “The White Man's Burden” is an abominable propaganda tool that is used to excuse exploitation and oppression. This isn't what I've seen from Invisible Children.

I personally haven't seen this idea represented in Invisible Children's videos or literature. The founders of the organization, and many of it's volunteers, are white. The citizens of Uganda are largely black. As long as Invisible Children isn't attempting to take power or resources away from Ugandans then I don't care in the slightest what color any of them are. The core problem with The White Man's Burden poem is not that it promotes people of one race helping people of another race, its problem is the awful idea that one race can be inherently superior to another.

There need be nothing racist about a white person supporting a program that assists black persons, just as there need be nothing racist about a black person supporting a program that assists white persons. Race may not be an issue. I would take issue with anyone who refused to help their neighbor because of their neighbor's race, and I may even take issue with someone demanding to help their neighbor because of their neighbor's race. Those actions are racially motivated. Invisible Children's work doesn't appear to be racially motivated. They talk about children and they talk about soldiers, but not race. Invisible Children promotes people helping other people; more specifically they promote students helping other students. It is hard for me to see that as racist.

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter Four

I began reading A Call To Conscience with the intention of gleaning wisdom to advance The Orant's Lenten “fast from racism”. In this particular speech Dr. King addressed what he saw as the pivotal issues of racial injustice effecting citizens in the North. Because I am under the impression that racial injustice is no longer legally sanctioned in the United States, I believe these issues to be particularly relevant to today's struggle for racial and social justice.

“Now in the North it’s different in that it [racism] doesn’t have the legal sanction that it has in the South. But it has its subtle and hidden forms and it exists in three areas: in the area of employment discrimination, in the area of housing discrimination, and in the area of de facto segregation in the public schools. And we must come to see that de facto segregation in the North is just as injurious as the actual segregation in the South.” - Dr. King in Detroit 1963

To review, our goal of reading this book is to better recognize and eliminate racism in ourselves. Unless you are an employer or landlord, King's first two issues don't effect you directly. If you are an employer or landlord I admonish you to be just and equitable in your practices, avoiding favoritism of any kind (James 2:9). However the issue of public school segregation is an issue that effects every parent and child in my country.

As a parent, student or taxpayer you are connected to this issue. You and I contribute money each year to a system of education that is tailor made to fit certain demographics, but leaves others out in the cold. A Harvard University study found that schools were more segregated in 2006 than they were in 1991 (read more here at NPR.org). The SAT test, although it is revised regularly, consistently awards black students with lower grades than white students (JBHE.com).

Although the system has real problems, I am convinced that the real solution is to invest in it. The public schools of our communities need our full support, full attention, and full funding. I am convinced that when privileged parents keep their kids out of public schools, they do a disservice to both their children and their communities. If you're a parent who is going to demand excellence from teachers and administration then I want your kid in a public school. If you're a parent that holds your child to a standard of academic excellence then I want your kid in a public school. If you're a parent who cares passionately that your child be raised in the Christian faith then I want your kid in a public school.

If you have the resources to send your children to a private school, or the time to invest in schooling them at home, then you have time and resources that could benefit your kid as they learn side by side with people different from themselves. I attended a parochial school, which means it was a faith-based school that you had to pay in order to go to. Out of my class of thirty five students I had only two black classmates. Although I do not believe the curriculum at my school deliberately encouraged racism, the absence of diversity created an ideal environment for racist ideas to develop and thrive. I labored under some very prejudiced attitudes until my senior year of high school. I believe the de facto segregation represented in my school contributed to those attitudes.

De facto segregation is a real and living remnant of racism in the United States. It exists in virtually every community, and I believe it will continue to do so without widespread intentional intervention.

Parable Of A Mustard Seed - 3rd Thursday In Lent

“He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.'” - Matthew 13:31-32

The kingdom of heaven is just awesome, though it is not a bit what the Israelites expected. It's not what anyone expected, because God's kingdom is as much unlike an earthly kingdom as it is superior to an earthly kingdom. The kingdom of God doesn't move forward with conspicuous revolutions, brave violence, or government change. The kingdom of God moves forward in unearned forgiveness, in undeterred faith, and in unconditional love. Just like a mustard seed, the kingdom of God is not always impressive to look at, but inside it dwell life, comfort and growth unlike anything else the world has ever known.

Challenge: Have you wished and worked for a human kingdom instead of God's kingdom? Lay your ambitions, not matter how great or small before the cross. Knowing you are forgiven and made new, advance the Lord's powerful and unseen kingdom today by loving, forgiving and serving your neighbors.

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter Two

The Birth Of A New Nation introduced me to the story of Kwame Nkrumah (KWAH-me en-KROO-muh), a native of the colony that would become Ghana and a child of two illiterate parents. Nkrumah worked his way to the US; put himself through college working as a dishwasher and a bellhop. He then returned home to lead nonviolent protests which resulted first in his imprisonment and ultimately in the freeing of his nation from British colonialism. I have a new hero.

Powerfully, King praised the righteousness of nonviolent protest, and how it wins hearts instead of battles, though he promised that no oppressor ever voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. King promised that any nonviolent protest must expect some violent opposition. Referencing the story of Israel’s Exodus he observed that when you leave Egypt, you have to face a wilderness. The whole time he kept reminding me of Jesus telling his disciples that following him would mean facing persecution.

King also spoke very critically of the Church of England, and though he pulled no punches he quickly moved past criticism to praise God that inaction on the part of a church can never mean inactivity on God’s part. The following excerpt is long for a quote, but I copied it by hand into my notebook because of how deeply empowering I found it. I hope it empowers you.

“I thought of many things. I thought of the fact that the British Empire exploited India. Think about it! A nation with four hundred million people and the British exploited them so much that out of a population of four hundred million, three hundred and fifty million made an annual income of less than fifty dollars a year. Twenty-five of that had to be used for taxes and the other things of life. I thought about dark Africa, and how the people there, if they can make a hundred dollars a year they are living very well, they think. Two shillings a day—one shilling is fourteen cents, two shillings, twenty-eight cents—that’s a good wage. That’s because of the domination of the British Empire. All of these things came to my mind, and when I stood there in Westminster Abbey with all of its beauty, and I thought about all of the beautiful hymns and anthems that the people would go in there to sing. And yet the Church of England never took a stand against this system. The Church of England sanctioned it The Church of England gave it moral stature. All of the exploitation perpetuated by the British Empire was sanctioned by the Church of England. But something else came to my mind: God comes in the picture even when the Church won’t take a stand. God has injected a principle in this universe. God has said that all men must respect the dignity and worth of all human personality, ‘And if you don’t do that, I will take charge.’ It seems this morning that I can hear God speaking. I can hear him speaking throughout the universe, saying, ‘Be still and know that I am God. And if you don’t stop, if you don’t straighten up, if you don’t stop exploiting people, I’m going to rise up and break the backbone of your power. And your power will be no more!’ . . . . And I say to you this morning, my friends, rise up and know that, as you struggle for justice, you do not struggle alone, but God struggles with you. And He is working every day.” – King, The Birth Of A New Nation 1957

We never labor alone. We can do everything through Christ, who gives us strength (Phil 4:23)

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter One

My friend Billy of The Orant recently asked his readers to join him in a personal effort to give up racism for lent. Knowing that prejudice is a malady of perception and that it is difficult to identify racism in oneself, Billy has posted a book list and asked his readers to each pick a book to reflect on and to let him know how it has challenged their perspectives. I picked, A Call to Conscience which is a collection of Martin Luther King Junior’s pivotal speeches. I’ve only read two of the eleven speeches, but I can see I won’t be able to fit my thoughts on the book into a single reflection, so I’ll be updating as I read through the book.

The first speech in the book was given at the inception of the Civil Right’s Movement. It is the address that King delivered to the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) at the start of the famous bus boycotts initiated by the arrest of Rosa Parks. Throughout the talk King encouraged his audience to stand united, he condemned violence and rumors of violence, and gave thanks to God that he lived in a nation that protected the freedoms of speech and assembly.

I was surprised to find that it was not just inspiring but also fun to read. The emotional interjections of those present at the historic meeting are recorded in the text, which makes it easy to imagine hearing King’s words delivered in a crowded meeting hall that simmered with emotion and energy. If I took one thing away from the MIA speech it is the following exhortation to keep God at the forefront and to be Christian in all our actions:

“May I say to you, my friends, as I come to a close, and just giving some idea of why we are assembled here, that we must keep--and I want to stress this, in all of our doings, in all of our deliberations here this evening and all of the week and while, --whatever we do--, we must keep God in the forefront. (Yeah) Let us be Christian in all of our actions. (That's right) But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. (All right) Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love. (Well)” –King 1955

Pray that we may we ever keep God at the forefront as we seek to correct that which revolts against love.

RE:Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave

Last month I read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave and I am very glad I did. It is a short book of only about 100 pages but is very emotionally intense all the same. It tells in his own words, the story of a man born into bondage, who experienced an oppression unfathomable to my mind. Douglas writes, with gut wrenching honesty, about the corruption brought by slavery to the soul of slave holders, he writes with unparalleled eloquence about the power of literacy to free the human mind, and he writes, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, about the discrepancies between the Christianity of Christ and the Christianity practised in the United States.

If you are unfamiliar with the book I give it my highest recommendation. A first hand account of a man raised as a slave offers marvellous insight into the human condition, the Gospel of Christ, the power of the written word. If you have a sensitive heart and cannot stand to read the whole bloody story I recommend chapter VII for its it's insights on the power of reading, chapter X which contains Fredrick Douglas' pivotal anagnorisis, and also the appendix, which contrasts Christianity and the religion of oppression.

The full text is available on Project Gutenberg.

Or available at Amazon.

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Persecution

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)

One morning while I sat in eighth grade history class, a group of misguided men, desperate to get into heaven, piloted a pair of airplanes into the World Trade Center towers. These men believed it was noble to be killed for their faith and that God would reward them. Instead of living right lives and turning the other cheeks to persecution, these men sought out a death they believed would bring a reward. They threw their lives away to hurt their enemies. Sadly I’ve met Christians with a similar attitude.

Many throw away their witness for the sake of baiting persecution. They brag about how angry people get with them, but being rejected is not the same as being persecuted. To share the rules of God without sharing love will guarantee persecution, but no reward from God. These evangelists speak harshly instead of with loving kindness and respect; they rejoice when their message is rejected flippantly, imagining they’ve earned a better resurrection.

To share Christ must be to share his selfless love. To preach without love is to preach something other than the gospel. If you share God’s word for social status, for self-improvement or to earn a better resurrection, you’ve missed the point. No such person belongs on a soapbox. They belong back at the foot of the cross. Only when pride and ambition have fallen off can such a person share the gospel in all its selfless, unconditional and life changing power.

New Covenant - 1st Tuesday in Lent

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” -Hebrews 10:1

Imagine if you will being an Israelite in slavery in Egypt, and the joy you would feel when finally, after ten plagues and a hike through the red sea, you are free. I don't know that there is a greater parallel for the redemption Jesus bought us than being released from slavery. I sometimes naively feel jealous of people who've experienced both slavery and freedom, and can grasp the greatness of God's gift to us. I was baptised as a a baby, born into the freedom of Christ from the earliest age. It seems non-dramatic to me, but from a big picture perspective my baptism is something that God has been building up to for millennia. The same is true for you. All the trials of Israel, the judges, the law, the captivities and the victories are part of the same story you find yourself in today.

God has written you into an amazing story. The grace you know was prophesied in the old testament. The Bible you read was maintained and protected by countless people of centuries. May you understand and appreciate the privilege that it is to live in this time, when prophecies stand fulfilled and the the Word of God goes out into all corners of the world.

RE: Psalms 19

The authors of the Bible write as though God's goodness and power are so obvious that they're practically written across the sky(v1-6). I do not always agree. I wonder often what God is doing. This questioning of God helps me learn, but questioning provides no release from anxiety. There has never been peace for my heart when I've insisted on figuring God out. Peace has only come to me after I've given up my doubts and fears. Then, once I put myself at God's mercy, I am free to clearly see his goodness and power.

Merry Christmas OR God's Blessings and Rationality

Assume every human is acting in in their own self interest, or at least what they perceive to be their self interest. I find this is a frustrating and disillusioning assumption because it allows kindness and cruelty to be motivated by identical desires and emotions. For example a person may shoplift, soldier, or parent out of a desire to feel powerful. Fathers may abuse or nurture their kids because of a desire for their kids' to not turn out like them. A person who acts in their own self-interest is said to be, rational. Assume Jesus is rational, and consider the following:

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

I believe there are two plausible reasons for a rational Jesus to say such a thing. One painful explanation for his claim, that it is better to give that to receive, is that Jesus was lying. Like many cult leaders Jesus could use his influence over peoples moral beliefs in order to profit from “enlightening” their point of view. It's not so far fetched; people have used Jesus' word to do exactly that for centuries. The scandal of the thing would be a lot of fun to write about, but I'm afraid no one got rich off of the Christian religion until after Christ was dead.

The other explanation I come up with is that Jesus actually believes that giving serves his interests better than receiving. If that is that case then we can assume that he would do everything in his power to give, and that scripture would record little of him receiving. The only instances of Jesus receiving anything that I can recall are times when he took meals from a host, when he took a donkey into Jerusalem, and when the “sinful” woman anointed him with perfume. That's not a lot of receiving when compared to the rest of Jesus' life. Jesus' life was characterized by constant giving, the giving of cures, the giving of food, the giving of dead relatives back to their families, of teachings, blessings, fish, of time, affection, and attention. The best example is the giving of his life on the cross.

If this is how God's son conducted himself on earth, it seems reasonable to conclude that a life of sacrifice is in fact the most profitable way a person can conduct themselves. That may sound like an evil reason for living generously; however, it is sensible that the God who determined the rules of the universe would make virtuous living beneficial if he actually wanted anyone to try it.

Now assume God is, has, and always will act in his own interest; please remember that he knows giving to be more blessed than receiving. God's motivations become clearer. God's action of creating the world, allowing the Fall, delivering Israel from slavery, giving the law of Moses, sending his son, sending his Holy Spirit, and every other divine act recorded and unrecorded is an instance of God giving. God gave Adam his breath, and he gives us his son.

God has created a universe where we, the created beings, have no concrete means of giving to our God. We have nothing that we haven't received (1 Corinthians 4:7). We cannot even work or earn our way into our God's presence or good will. We receive those things as a gift.

When God gives, he doesn't do it so that we can owe him something. God doesn't give gifts to win our favor. God doesn't give to be an example of generosity (although He is a good example). God doesn't give begrudgingly or reluctantly. God gives because it's more blessed to give than to receive.

I don't believe that our relationship to God is at all like that of a beggar or a freeloader. I believe that God wants and likes to give. I believe that God is delighted on levels we cannot comprehend when he gives his gifts to us. Our earth, breaths, longings, passions, arts, food, days, nights, hopes, and selves are his gifts to us, and each gift we receive from him blesses the Lord.

Bless the Lord by enjoying his gifts, material and immaterial, and enjoying deeply the holy blessing that it is to give. Merry freak'n Christmas .