Holy Week is upon us! A week to reflect. A week to remember. A week to give thanks. In my old denomination, we did not celebrate Holy Week. It was not that important. The only thing that was important was to evangelize the town I lived in to make sure we saved as many souls as we could. What a joke! As if we do the saving!!!
Now, I stand in awe of this sacred seven days that run the gamut of emotions. A parade to begin, an empty tomb to end, and victory for humanity! But today is Maundy Thursday. A day when Jesus washes feet, eats supper with his closest friends, and then is betrayed into the reigning government's hands.
On this day, Jesus gave humanity a new calling, a new path, a new way to be God's people in the world. The new mandate Jesus instills in his followers is to love. Not a phony love that says we can love the sinner but hate the sin. That is just a conservative way of keeping the age old boundaries in place! A true love is one of active engagement with and for the beloved. This kind of love beckons us to wash the feet of those people who we think are not worthy of the service. This kind of love asks us to work for peace in places of the world that does not know peace regardless of the political implications. This kind of love compels us to the boarder of countries to give aid to those who have been discarded as undesirable. This kind of love changes the world so that God will desire to live right here with us, through us, and in us.
That is what Jesus showed us, and that is what Jesus calls us to do. The way that we love others is the way that we love God.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Budget Delimma
I am beginning to wonder about the leaders this country sends to Washington D.C. For the longest time, I have thought that the process is busted, broke, bankrupt, but the last few days proved to me that a demon lives in D.C.
Wait a second, a demon? Well, not the kind of demon Hollywood gives us in one of those phony horror flicks, but the kind of demon that causes chaos and leads people away from the path of the carpenter.
The process is busted because a person can have the highest ideals, the greatest morals, be on the side of the angels when he or she is elected to office, but as soon as he or she gets to the hallowed halls of congress, the system corrupts them. For far too long, money, power, and multinational corporations have swayed decisions in the direction of the holders of the money, the keepers of power, and the corporations themselves that the normal, everyday person is left out in the cold.
It is happening again today. If a compromise on the federal budget is not met by 12 am this day, a government shut down will occur. The problem is not really about money either. It is about political ideology. Republicans want to cut money from social programs the extreme political right disagrees with so they can get re-elected! It is more important to get re-elected? I'd think it is more important to keep the government running! Here is the kicker--if we returned to the tax rates of 1961, the government would increase its revenue by $716 billion dollars per year! But that would mean those making over a million dollars a year and the biggest corporations in the country would have to pay their fair share because they haven't. In fact, some of the biggest corporations pay less tax than I do!! That would mean less money in their pockets. Makes one wonder what they worship? God or mammon?
Granted there is waste in Washington. Granted we could trim the fat on a lot of programs. Granted there are people who abuse the system, but does that mean that we have to close the entire program down? No, it means we need to fix it so that it works smoother.
A great question adapted from an old book--What Would Jesus Cut?
Wait a second, a demon? Well, not the kind of demon Hollywood gives us in one of those phony horror flicks, but the kind of demon that causes chaos and leads people away from the path of the carpenter.
The process is busted because a person can have the highest ideals, the greatest morals, be on the side of the angels when he or she is elected to office, but as soon as he or she gets to the hallowed halls of congress, the system corrupts them. For far too long, money, power, and multinational corporations have swayed decisions in the direction of the holders of the money, the keepers of power, and the corporations themselves that the normal, everyday person is left out in the cold.
It is happening again today. If a compromise on the federal budget is not met by 12 am this day, a government shut down will occur. The problem is not really about money either. It is about political ideology. Republicans want to cut money from social programs the extreme political right disagrees with so they can get re-elected! It is more important to get re-elected? I'd think it is more important to keep the government running! Here is the kicker--if we returned to the tax rates of 1961, the government would increase its revenue by $716 billion dollars per year! But that would mean those making over a million dollars a year and the biggest corporations in the country would have to pay their fair share because they haven't. In fact, some of the biggest corporations pay less tax than I do!! That would mean less money in their pockets. Makes one wonder what they worship? God or mammon?
Granted there is waste in Washington. Granted we could trim the fat on a lot of programs. Granted there are people who abuse the system, but does that mean that we have to close the entire program down? No, it means we need to fix it so that it works smoother.
A great question adapted from an old book--What Would Jesus Cut?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Darkness
Well, we have done it again. By we, I mean me and the country I live in. WE have entered another armed conflict. We have bombed another country. We have sent missiles into Libya and now we have others who hate us.
Caesar will destroy this God loved world with bombs and armies and guns before the darkness is gone. We light people are too quiet. We stand by and let the darkness continue. We light people have for too long not spoken up when night people have bombed and killed and maimed. I refuse to this time.
Darkness will not win. Darkness will not survive. A new day is dawning. Will you join me?
Caesar will destroy this God loved world with bombs and armies and guns before the darkness is gone. We light people are too quiet. We stand by and let the darkness continue. We light people have for too long not spoken up when night people have bombed and killed and maimed. I refuse to this time.
Darkness will not win. Darkness will not survive. A new day is dawning. Will you join me?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Andy McKee - Guitar - Drifting - www.candyrat.com
Could this be a way to share the gospel? I think so even if it doesn't come right out and say JESUS!!! God bless
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)