" 9 dead in shooting at black church in Charleston, S.C. "
2 recent headlines ..
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much has been said by many on this dread ' disaster '
there needs to be a lot more said
there needs to be a national discussion .. america has some deep cleaning to do, i think
the racial abyss still haunts this land of the free, this nation that subscribes to ' certain unalienable rights ', ' endowed by their Creator ', on ' all men ', ' created equal ' ..
created equal
by the Creator
all
each one
and that, i think, most evident in this ' Christ-haunted South ', to quote a wiseperson
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
..
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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that issue is better handled by the experts and the commenters and the opinionated
my ' issue ' is life
human life
the life that falls into the ' created equal ' slot
as in " let us create humans - in our image, after our likeness " (Genesis 1)
thing is, every human bears the image of God
we are icons
that's where i want to begin on any think along these lines
human life is valuable
it is more valuable than any other form of life as we know it
each human life is that valuable
each human bears the image of God
the muslim life (good place to start)
the aborted life
the in-poverty life
the refugee life
the aryan life
the gay life
the innuit
the enslaved
the homeless
the jew
the black
the prostitute
the addicted
the transgender
the you-insert-here life
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once i settle my mind in that crucible, with that as my substantial ground, i can move out and on
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one of the core issues for me is balance ..
right now the pendulum swings hard to the left
where the horrors of rapacious attitudes and wealthlust activities have left us a planet hard and dry and in decay, dying an accelerating death from the abuse at the hands of us humans ..
and we are progressively horrified at that atrocity
that's a good thing
we so need to tourniquet the bleeding-out, now .. now
reduce the acceleration, urgently
my fear is that we comparatively undermine the value of human life in our angst against such human greed and malicious behaviour
our response to injustice and inequality, unfortunately, often leads to overdo; we swing too far, in this case, dogs and elephants and whales and rhinos and bald eagles and .. end up leading us down a path that comparatively denigrates human life
we need balance, but human life always and ever takes priority
that's the crucible
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when i deny, openly or hiddenly, the inestimable value of another human or another humangroup, i deny me
i deny me as a person, for i am genetically connected at an extremely high level to every other human ..
do your scientific research
read your bible
there is a 99+% sameness between one human and every other human
i deny who i am
i also
deny God
for i am Godimage
you are Godimage
that's the reason God said not to create images to worship
when we do, we undermine the Godimages we are
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the differences in skin colour between humans is a minuscule matter
we, in our pridepower desire for domination of others and other things, whether human or animal or plant, have severely exaggerated those skincolour differences, ranked and rated, exalted and humiliated
we did that
we do that
and yet, somehow .. we deny it
we immediately classify people based on skin colour .. on first look, right off the bat
there is something evil in that
polished, manicured, it has even been a mark of sophistication and nobility
but it is evil regardless
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the response from the injured Charleston community is overwhelmingly ' life '
and that gladdens my heart
i am so very relieved and buoyed by that, particularly in the racial divide that lies in the wake of the numerous white-on-black killings in recent years - broadened racial divide, us immediately running to defense postures, and rationalizing
when what is desperately needed is reconciliation
plain and simple unadorned unpolished unrationalized recolciliation
where we acknowledge the arrogant atrocities against people of colour across the globe, but more pointedly in this nation of freedpeople, including the firsthere redskin (who, by the way, has a much greater appreciation for the sanctity of planetlife as a whole, in stark contrast to the white christianized approach that has laid the world waste, including its oceans and skies)
what is needed so very much in these last days is love
love for humanity
for that group of humans
for that human right there, across the street from me
and that love must begin with me
it must
there is no other place to begin
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we kill people all the time
we kill them with snide remarks and dirty looks and down-the-nose arrogance and quips about getting-a-job or taking-a-bath
we kill our neighbours with our chatter and gossip and badmouthing
we kill our family with despite and contempt
we kill people with our badmindedness and wicked evil intent every day ..
and we don't use guns to do that
we kill them dead in our heart
where Jesus said the real evil is done
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when we run to defending gun rights, we fail
when we run to just war, we fail
when we run to preemptive killing, we fail
when we run to guns in the sanctuary, we fail
we fail because Jesus despised the shame of the cross he was killed on, and he despised the murderous intent that laid him out on that cross
we fail because, of all the people that ever lived, he, creator become human-like-me, deserved that cross the least, that man who never sinned once
we fail because the purest-ever specimen of humanity volunteered his life in place of mine
we fail because every ounce of Jesus' blood bled for human life, each human life
we fail because all he ever did here was restore life, enhance life, hold-up life over against death and destruction, every time, regardless of the perpetrator
we fail
admit it
'cause if i got mouth enough to say i follow that man, and yet i strap on a gun ..
then i need to man-up, and do
as in put-up or shut-up
love, true love, the love of God, is demonstrated in this .. that Jesus Christ lay down his very life for mine
not because i'm good or i deserve life or merit pardon or saved another life
but because i am a human being, and God will not ever abandon humanity, not even one single human created in God's own image and likeness
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you can spin that, i guess
add some bible verses
get some ammunition from one theologian or another ..
but my itsybitsy forwhateveritsworth take on it comes from a Man who said to me "follow me" ..
a Man that spoke the gospel and lived the gospel
that i read of in the Gospels
i'll go his way, i think
and i really don't care much for your opinion on just warfare or killing in self defense or in defense of your family and friends and neighbours ..
i hear that, i get that
actually, that reverberates with me - that is my natural leaning, my tendency
but i learned that God's way is quite different to my way
and i decided that since God is god, and i'm whatever i am, i yield
simple
i yield
i give up, give in, give over myself
.. lock stock and barrel
i will not take another human life, God helping me
i will not
i will not
God helping me
at whatever cost
whatever
i cannot
i know i sit here free and at liberty and say that
i understand that
but i cannot
Jesus won't let me
he said i'm to love my enemy
i am to love my enemy
i'm not sure i know how to do that
but i have to
`|`my goal in life is kenosis, self-emptying, like Jesus
i want to kill me, not anyone else
i want Jesus to be me
i want to be Jesus
" unless you deny who you are in your mind, who you pretend to be, who you think you are, and pick up that cross of crucifixion that was cut and shaped just for you .. you cannot follow me .. "
Jesus said that
and i'm with him
regardless of whoever else is or ain't
i am right there ..
i can't explain or defend or decry to anyone's satisfaction i'm sure
but i know this
that Man said to follow him, and i, with all my heart, am trying the best i can ..
even to laying down my life
so help me God
i can do no less than this
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