a Word spoken in due season ..

back when it all began
the Expression was there
with God ..
truly, the Expression was God
   everything created was by the word of the Expression of God ..
and the Expression of God became human
and lived among us   ( John 1 )

how on Earth does that work ..
i mean, there's spiritual dimension in human
but .. human dimension in God ?

`|`

and God said " let's make human creatures ..
let's make them in our image, to be like us "

and the resounding reply
" yes! lets! "

and so the confounding event ..
God bent down and drew in the dirt with a finger
and then piled the dirt into a dirty 3D form
   to image Godself ..
stepped back
eyed it
knelt beside the imaged dirt and breathed out the breath of God ..
and the image drew breath
   the breath of Godself
and the image became
   lived
   moved

that's the storytelling in the beginning ..

`|`

later ..
GodExpression split the image agape
   made another Godimage from the first
and God gave the images to each other
to further image God
   rejoining into oneness
   creating other images in their image
      like them
      like God
..

later ..
God said " let's make ourself human
   in their image
   to be like them "

and the resounding reply
" yes! lets! "

and God Expressed as human ..

   God Expressed flesh

      and lived among us

and we could behold Godglory in the person of GodSon

the glory we would expect of an onlychild

filled full with grace 

and truth

   for the true God is filled full of grace

`|`

God

created human 

in God's image

God 

became human

..

God Expressed as human

baby

vulnerable
exposed

needy

defenseless

reliant 

trusting

   just like us

how does Word Express as

flesh ..

limit

relinquish

unbecome

morph

to become

?

likely we will never know

this we do know ..

that baby grew

   in stature

   in wisdom

immersed in reliance on God

and the life of that One

revealed God to us

in a way we likely would never have understood otherwise
.. we don't speak Godlanguage

God showed Godself

perfectly represented in human form

.. and the world has never been the same

his name is Jesus

Emmanu-El

God among us

with us

for us

in us ..

we are privileged beyond measure to know this One

   to finally know what God is like in Godfullness

for the fullness of God dwelt in him

and that fullness consists in

   grace

   truth

the world will never be the same

neither will i

neither will you

allelu-Jah

..

" It used to be that God would occasionally communicate in one way or another with our Jewish Fathers through prophets. But God now speaks to us through a Son, the powerful Utterance of God who not only brought the ages into being but also bears them along.
God has appointed him to be heir of everything.
This Son is the effulgence of God, the outshining of God's glory.
He is the perfect expression of God's substance. " ( Hebrews 1 )
..

the GodWhoIsThere
   the unnameable IAmWhoIAm
   the Ineffable (Heschel)
speaks a Word
   Expresses
in the only language in which we could ever understand God
.. Jesus

Son of Human

" a fitting reply brings joy ..
a word at the right time - how good it is " ( Prov 15:23 )

" at just the right time, God sent the Son into the world, born of a woman .. " ( Gal 4:4 )

praise God

`|`



_______________________________________________

now then ..

how do we live in our words ..

how do our words live through us ..
..

am i the words i speak

do i enflesh what i say

am i the incarnation of my talk

am i, like him, full of truth
   or do i belie my language

is what i say a fair refection of the me i truly am ..

..

God graciously revealed
in truth ..

God is here ..

i suppose if God was walking around down here, showing up here and there, shopping in the local supermarket, that we'd get to know him/her eventually
or know about ..

we'd hear all the news about how God did this or that good thing - healed that child, got the homeless off the streets of new york, spoke at the standing rock rally, told-off the government for all those damned drone strikes that were killing innocent people, upended the climate change denial .. that sort of thing - that we'd probably be well on the way to believing God and being on God's team

and we'd all be trotting off to the local church on sunday hoping God would show up there like (s)he did in that church in baltimore last weekend ..
kinda thing

and, too, maybe we'd be a bit more careful how we lived - what we said in public or in Publix, not to shoot the bird to the stupid woman that just pulled a lefty right in front the car without so much as an indication ..
God might be in that car, or in the next aisle in the supermarket ..
and wouldn't that be something if God turned the corner at just the wrong time ..

maybe we'd even think of not even thinking of those things
'cause Jesus made a point of saying that even entertaining the thought is tantamount to doing it
as in, it's the same thing ..

`|`

but God doesn't live here as such
you're not likely to bump into God this evening when you pick the children up from school ..
as such ..

strange thing though ..
according to those in-the-know, God was here at some point
or at least (s)he sent someone
someone trusted
someone trustworthy ..

GodSon entered the scene
showed up just like we all do
as a baby
born to a very humble (imagine) couple in a nondescript town in the backwoods somewhere
..
and he grew up like we all do
and as he did, he learned like we all do
experienced life here
walked and worked and ate and slept and went to the toilet and died
like we all do ..

people recognized him too ..
they didn't recognize that they recognized him
   but they saw a very different, very real human
   that struck them as " this is what a real human is "
      even though they never said it ..
and he traveled from this town to that like we all do
   'cept he walked or rode an ass

in his living he showed-up in very different ways
   human ways we recognize, but don't recognize we recognize ..
he healed people !
   i mean he made people walk that never walked
   and see even though they'd never seen
      stuff like that
and one time he fed like thousands! and all he had to work with was a boy's lunch-for-one
and the things he said were offthecharts
   even at a young age
   even to the religious experts
      the ones who guarded the gates of Godstuff

what a guy!

`|`

his life still haunts us ..
   breaks normal into a thousand disconnected shards
   turns the expected and the revered into so much garbage
   unleashes a think that undoes the generally accepted mindset
somehow his words awoke recognition in us
   even though what he said was so very contrary
      contrary to power
      to religion
      to wealth and the right to master the masses

we understood him because he spoke a kind of truth that doesn't originate in the cerebral
that strikes recognition at the core of who we are

God was here somehow
and we just knew it
we could feel it in our bones

`|`

God doesn't live here
but God lives here
even if we have a hard time recognizing it ..
'cause God did something very special
   and i'll have to mention a bit of 'history' here
      pardon me ..

when this GodWhoIsThere decided to make all the stuff we know
   like Earth and trees and birds and flowers and stuff
   and planets and wormholes and blackstars
   and amoeba and coral and worms-in-holes and pets
God got to the point of saying to Godself
   " look, this isn't done yet. how about we make a creature that's like us, resembles us " ..
and that's when God made us
cool huh ?
   end history
..

so here we are
and like i said GodSon became one of us

now here's the thing ..
God made us like God
and then God made God to be like us
.. let that simmer a bit

`|`

and then this Godperson-person did something else really cool ..
just before leaving here Jesus told God he wanted us to have the same kind of relationship that God had with Godself
and that God had with GodSon
same !

that's wild
.. that is very wild

so when he left here and went back home
Jesus said " listen, i'm leaving but don't freakout
i'm coming right back
and my spirit will live in you and i will be with you all the time, 24/7 " ..
.. now
   let that simmer

`|`

so that, ya, God doesn't live here as such
but God lives here ..
because if we really do have the same oneness with GodFather that Jesus has
   and that Jesus called-for in us
and if Jesus' spirit lives in us ..
then .. God lives here
   walks around down here
   shops and works and drives and visits the vet and puts out the garbage
'cause we are the presence of God
   in the next aisle in the supermarket
we
us

`|`

while the christmas season doesn't hold the same thrill for me this year
   because of the utter madness and absurdity of what-has-been 2016
      and the foreboding that clings like some swampy smell i can't forthelifeofme get off ..
i'm trying hard to turn my mind to the awesome reality that God became a human
lived among us ..
and we recognized Godintheflesh
      even though we didn't
   full of grace
   full of truth
and we recognized human
      passionate, zealous, lovingkind, caring, sharing ..
   even though we didn't recognize that we recognized

so, ya
i celebrate one of the most phenomenal events ever in the birth of the Christchild
..

it's Jesus birthday ..
the one i aspire to
the one i revere
the true Human i want to emulate
   even though the bulk of that still hauntingly
   lies in my future

the one i want to recognize me

how could i do otherwise ..

a wonderful read ..

" Beatitudes

If we didn't already know but were asked to guess the kind of people Jesus would pick out for special commendation, we might be tempted to guess one sort or another of spiritual hero — men and women of impeccable credentials morally, spiritually, humanly, and every which way. If so, we would be wrong. Maybe those aren't the ones he picked out because he felt they didn't need the shot in the arm his commendation would give them. Maybe they're not the ones he picked out because he didn't happen to know any. Be that as it may, it's worth noting the ones he did pick out.


Not the spiritual giants, but the "poor in spirit," as he called them, the ones who, spiritually speaking, have absolutely nothing to give and absolutely everything to receive, like the Prodigal telling his father "I am not worthy to be called thy son," only to discover for the first time all he had in having a father.

Not the champions of faith who can rejoice even in the midst of suffering, but the ones who mourn over their own suffering because they know that for the most part they've brought it down on themselves, and over the suffering of others because that's just the way it makes them feel to be in the same room with them.

Not the strong ones, but the meek ones in the sense of the gentle ones, that is, the ones not like Caspar Milquetoast but like Charlie Chaplin, the little tramp who lets the world walk over him and yet, dapper and undaunted to the end, somehow makes the world more human in the process.

Not the ones who are righteous, but the ones who hope they will be someday and in the meantime are well aware that the distance they still have to go is even greater than the distance they've already come.

Not the winners of great victories over evil in the world, but the ones who, seeing it also in themselves every time they comb their hair in front of the bathroom mirror, are merciful when they find it in others and maybe that way win the greater victory.

Not the totally pure, but the "pure in heart," to use Jesus' phrase, the ones who may be as shopworn and clay-footed as the next one, but have somehow kept some inner freshness and innocence intact.

Not the ones who have necessarily found peace in its fullness,but the ones who, just for that reason, try to bring it about wherever and however they can-peace with their neighbors and God, peace with themselves.

Jesus saved for last the ones who side with heaven even when any fool can see it's the losing side and all you get for your pains is pain. Looking into the faces of his listeners, he speaks to them directly for the first time. "Blessed are you," he says.

You can see them looking back at him. They're not what you'd call a high-class crowd-peasants and fisherfolk for the most part, on the shabby side, not all that bright. It doesn't look as if there's a hero among them. They have their jaws set. Their brows are furrowed with concentration.

They are blessed when they are worked over and cursed out on his account he tells them. It is not his hard times to come but theirs he is concerned with, speaking out of his own meekness and mercy, the purity of his own heart. "

Matthew 5:1-12

frederick buechner

hope's reach .. advent and communion

we are indeed in dark times ..
humanity is struggling to find hope
we live in fear
   and for the rest of us, we live in fear of living in fear

..

it's a dark time too on the christian calendar
   the time of advent
it's winterdark
colddark
the time of longing
   and lament
the time of wait

and too a time of hope
   when faith kicks strong against the colddark
   when eyes roam
      in search of Light
         release
         redemption
anticipation
eager piercing eyes roaming the landscape
   for the arrival of Him
      the One
      the long-awaited prince
         of peace

Emmanu-el
God
   among us

he comes
soon he comes

`|`

3 years or so ago i was privileged to hear the welcome words
" all are welcome to the table "
..
i was overjoyingly shocked
this was my first experience of being in a christian place where everyone was invited to join in the christian festival of Communion, Eucharist
.. it was an unexpectedly pleasurable emotion for me
i, who for all my life was told why i should consider not participating
dreading every Communion Sunday
often refusing the cup and the bread because i was not ' worthy '
   unworthy
   "unclean!"
..
and they came
the rich and the poor
the house-dwellers and the homeless
the sober and the hungover ..
and the not-so-obvious addicted held hands with the needled arm by their side
and someone said " God is good "
   and the chorus rang back, " all the time! "
and i was delighted beyond words
thanking God for Godgrace and the kindness of God's people in this place
to all
everyone ..
welcome!

everyone is welcome ..

`|`

how did we ever see the incredible 'communion'
   fellowship
      intimate spiritual oneness with one peculiar unthinkable thought in mind
         that we celebrate the death of the very creator of life
as particular
as elitist
as limited
as restricted
as something for which people must qualify
..
how is it partitionable ?
ever

everyone qualifies
because that Man gave his life
   for the world
he initiated release
   for the world
he consummated freedom
   for everyone
      everyone

`|`

advent

..

allofasudden people are smiling in this coffeeshop
   when just a couple weeks ago they were 'minding their own business'

.. happens every year
people just change with the changing of the seasonal guard
christmas seems to lighten the air
   brighten
even in the anticipation of it
even for those who don't believe
..
some fairy flies around waving a magic wand
   and many-coloured stars fly free
   while multicoloured people change somehow

`|`

ISIS and Boko Haram
republicans and democrats
melting ice and burning planet
israelis and palestinians
refugees and refusees
wicked rich and dreadfully poor
the politics of the corrupt and the corruption of politics
drug lords and the lords of the drugcompanies
lies and assassinations
hatred and violence
   and the weapons that permit war
      and paint bloody holes in people
         some innocents
            eating lunch at school
..

darkness
black holes in black souls
black spaces where souls once lived
   in hope

`|`

who will rescue us from this madness ??
who will trump the darkness ?
is there anyone ?
anyone?

i thank God
through the Lord Christ we shall be released !

`|`

a warm welcome in from the cold lonely streets of needles and bottles
an invitation to join-in to the wicked in heart
   the liars and the pretenders and the hateful
   the pulpiteer preaching something borrowed
      something foreign to their own heart
      some lie
         while furiously wielding a bible
         one eye on the 'offering'
   the tunnel-visioned artists who only draw lines
      to segregte
   the adulterers
      in heart too
   the cheaters-on-the-tax-forms
   the destroyers of the Earth
      that deny the destruction of the Earth
   the stingy
   the judgers
the pretenders
 
..
all are welcome

even me

`|`

advent
a time of dark hope
a cold reminder of warmth
a dread begging for Life
a resonant creation-call for green, for colour, for rebirth

`|`

communion
a time to one
a warm reminder that the Christ lives
   out of death
a beggar's hopeful rejoin
a loser's reach for Light
   for hope
a sinner's plea for God
   in the hopelessness of lost and lonely

`|`

pray for rebirth in us all
a new creature
a new creation
under the wise and gracious hand of that Man
   the Creator Himself

pray for peace

pray for the advent of the prince of peace in each of us
in you
in me

for this i pray
in Jesus' name

like, for real ..

aside from the magnificence of John's opening words in his telling of the good news, the end of chapter 1 relates a memorable comment by Jesus ..

someone brings a friend to meet Jesus
before an introduction can be made, Jesus remarks " look at this - a real Jew!, a man with no deceitfulness in him .. "

something about Nathanael struck Jesus before they ever shared a sentence
and it was significant enough for Jesus to exclaim
notable enough for it to be recorded
for us to read
in 2016
..

Jesus was impressed with Nathanael's genuinity
he could read him from a mile off, see right through him
   don't think " well of course, he's God "
   rather, consider the quality in this man that attracted Jesus' attention and comment
   kinda like .. like recognizes like

Jesus saw something of himself in Nathanael
Jesus saw something of Nathanael in himself
and the recognition was apparently refreshing .. remark-able ..
..

maybe Jesus was saying
   " this is the mark of a true Jew "
   or maybe he was reflecting on this sadly uncommon trait among Jews, his own people

here was Jesus, Godperson become human, understanding the reality of who humans are, of human nature (John 2.25), marking Natahnael's authentic self, his realness - like what you see is what you get with this guy ..
and Jesus was impressed ..
integrity
no deceit
guileless
real
..

when Jesus says something like this
you get out your pen
it's underlineable, starable, highlightable
..
i've made this a favorite verse since like forever
it jumps off the page
nails me
as in bullseye ..
..

i finally landed in the place where i understood the gravity of being myself
such that i am who i am whenever and wherever with whoever
   ( i learned some of the significance of this from a dear friend, who became a model,
   a mentor to me in this area .. sadly, only after his passing .. my bad )
'cause the other side of that being is pretense
   put-on
   masking
   hypocrite (from Greek 'hypokrites'='actor')
   trying to impress

'course understanding and doing land in different courts
and i fail regularly
   desperately so
.. nevertheless i try again
to be genuine
   eschewing games
   running like hell from pretense
   burning the masks
      and then reburning them when they despairingly reappear ..
         like i can't believe they came back from the pyre
            where i burned them last time
         to hustle me back into my dungeon
            where i apply the already-blooded whip to my own backside again

`|`

last evening a friend and i talked
we spoke of the danger of being genuine
.. really
and it wasn't me that initiated that dicussion ..
but i totally enjoyed it
because i saw my friend stepping on to a path i've been on
and it gave me hope
hope for him
and for me, 'cause maybe there are others out there
and that's big, 'cause maybe i'm not a fool after all
   or simply antagonistic
      or antisocial
      or hateful
..

being an ordained pastor, my friend spoke from educated experience in the church as a leader ..
he was questioning whether the people could accept that genuine in a leader
or whether there had to be some dumbing-down in order not to come across offensive
.. and that is a huge sign that my friend is really working through this
his considering the effect on others of his strive to be real
whether it was fair to others who hardly see the real in this life
whether it would scare them off ..
.. and while that may sound strange
it actually is a very real consideration
'cause people get offended by it
.. absolutely

`|`

thank God for my friend's foray
   into the core of christian
hear that ..
for it's my understanding of things God
that the issue with us humans is being genuinely human
human the way God intended
human according to Jesus the Man
.. HUGE

if God wanted to tell us more stuff, there would be more scripture, more prophets ..
more writing on the wall a la Daniel
or on stones a la Moses
or maybe God would write it in the clouds
or appear on international tele
or speak through the mouth of an ass a la Balaam
   or one of us asses ..

the fact that ' in these recent days God has spoken to us by a son .. through whom God created the worlds ' (Heb 1) is a grand statement of the purpose of God's speaking
the apostle John refers to this Son-who-appeared as the Word
this was God expressing Godself in the clearest possible way
as human
to us humans
so we could recognize the God that is there
the God in whose image we are created
so we could say " Aha! "
   as in " Wow! this is God?! but .. he's quite like me .. "
and then we could diss the other weird convoluted visions of a god made like unto our debased cruel imaginings
and embrace the True Way, the Life
the person that is Jesus
   who leads inexorably to God
      right into the presence of Godself
who has chosen to live among us
and to live in us
..
what an amazing thing!
that my friend is Good News
   wonderful almost beyond words
   the best news ever ..
it bursts with delight on the senses
   in every direction
      across all boundaries
      traversing the seas
      shouting from the mountain peaks
   in every language
   to every creature under the light of the sun ..
the Son is come!
   and he is quite like me ..
      astonishingly .. like me
.. and ..
i am like him somehow

`|`

there must have been something 'holy' about Nethanael
   (think 'whole', 'integrated')
that set him apart from the rest ..

whatever that was
i want it
i want the i am that i am
   to be for real
and i want who Jesus is
   to be me
      for real ..

authentic
genuine
integrous
real

         imagine if Jesus had been anything other than genuine .. .
..

let's be Jesus
for Jesus' sake

peace to you

the rotting of stuckness ..

one of the marks of a conservative/fundamentalist in any religion is the penchant for being fixed
the need for stability
the matter of being sure, unassailable
.. such that something that could potentially disrupt their security in their religion is seen as a threat, a challenge to their 'truth' ..
inevitably the hackles raise
   the adrenaline runs
      and they either run from it
      or they draw weapons to defend themselves and their truth

..

that sensibility about life and faith has its own roots in christianity
much of it roots in what today is popularly termed 'calvinism'
a think based in the fixedness of God
   a God who never changes, immutable
   a God who is timeless, as in outside of time
   who is everywhere all the time (omnipresent)
   who is allpowerful ..
and the natural fallout of those characteristics (regardless of to-what-degree there is truth there) is a concreted God, a 1,000 ft. feelingless graven image with furrowed brow and a long long whip, the 'crack' of which reaches every corner of the universe
..

sad that

i was one of those people

and then i began to open my ears and eyes to thoughtful careful caring people on the other side of the lineinthesand ..

i had drawn that line
i stood on the one side alongside anyone who believed just like me
and everyone else was shunted to the other side
they were my enemies
they were enemies of God! for God's sake
heretics who were leading people into the dark fires of hell
and my job in life was to defend God
to shoot those people
to save as many as i could ..
   .. how do you save people by shooting them ?
i lived in my absurd christianity
and the tension, the confusion, the confrontation and conflict within myself nearly killed me

as i opened up my self to those other views
i realized these were dedicated christians expressing what they saw in the scriptures the best way they could
they weren't heretics
they were good people looking for God, refusing to rely solely on someone else's take on it

i decided to engage my mind, listen to the other side on whatever issue
and consider

sure, it challenged those truth-mountains i had built
and proudly summited
but .. perhaps i was wrong .. hmmm ..
perhaps i wasn't god after all ..
maybe i was only a manufactured idol of my own design
eating the fruit from that tree of knowing good from evil
and my being right was the flaky crumblesome foundation of a 'faith' that wasn't faith at all ..
because, in my newfound think, faith is not certainty
faith is the eye that sees
   even where there is uncertainty
   even in the dread feeling of insecurity in what i built

`|`

today i received an email from a longago friend who lives in the same place i used to camp
where 'thus saith the word of God' and 'repent or face eternity in hell' is served at every meal
and i was reminded of the far-reaching difference in my mindset then and now
and how awful a person i must have seemed to those around me ..
who the hell wants to be around an assassin

it's out of that email that i write this
..

please know that God is unchanging in character
but .. BUT
God engages
relates
adjusts
cares
because God loves
you
me
everyone
God embraces
and weeps
is overjoyed
hurts
   with me
sympathizes
   with you

( a friend recently told me about a friend of theirs who has virtually abandoned God, because where was God when this awful thing happened, and that life-altering tragedy .. and she didn't know what to say in response ..
there's not a lot that can be said really
much of that will become clear when we meet Jesus facetoface
nevertheless, my take on it is that God was there with her when 'it' happened
right there
and God wasn't watching
God was suffering the abuse of her friend
blow by blow
venomed spittle running down God's face
too ..
" .. it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. " (Isa 53;:4)
there may be more to this verse than we credit ..
i know that Jesus became my sin (2Cor 5:21)
perhaps he became my suffering too, the abuse that was forced on me, the losses that killed me
perhaps he became my hurt too )
..

God didn't develop a legal system of laws and just-recompense to punish the disobedient
God didn't crack the whip
God reconciled the world to Godself by taking the fallout of the world's disconnection from God in the person of Jesus
all the horror
the evil
the anger
abuse
manipullation
violence
.. God took it all on Godself
took it full-force, maxed-out

so that when we look into the face of God we see the face of a crucified Jesus
a lamb that appears to have been slaughtered (see Revelation)
..
the true character of this God is there revealed
on a cross
for us
.. that love is the power of God
not anger
not wrath
not fixity or concrete
not retribution
but
reconciliation in love
out of a love that embraces the image of Godself in every one of us
God's power is God is love

that has to be my focus when i look at God
when i look at myself
when i look at another

Jesus, the perfect imaging of God in a human form, defines God
in all

go there
look at that Man
look at the cross

it is there you will definitively find God
   not a god manipulated and twisted into a manmade idol
   but the God who works in tandem with the humanity Godself created
      to look like and be like
         God

this is the God i've come to know

this is the God Jesus came to reveal
for us to know

i love this God
i follow Jesus

please consider doing the same ..

peace to you

a tale of 2 kings, or the real Good News..

there's more than 1 way to look at stuff
.. we seem to like surety a lot
as in, my way is the way and the other ways are wrongevil

if you live in the ocean it's difficult to imagine landlife
   your think is waterlogged
if you've only ever ridden donkeys and horses it's a strain to imagine cars
   clippityclop rules

even for those of us who live near the sea, life in a waterworld is virtually unthinkable

and a muslim just walked past me ..

and i sat next to a wealthy man today ..

and africa is about as far away to me as the moon
   'cept for the internet, i suppose
and iran
syria

..

as the rich richen and poverty expands in this country, it becomes more and more difficult for either to imagine the other
both live in the fear of the other, and in fear of their state - the one scrambles for food and shelter and clothing while the other scrambles to secure what they have

..

point is, i suppose, that apart from the desire to understand the other, whomever that other may be for us, there will usually be
   the fear of the other
and fear is a serious obstacle to understanding and wisdom
and to love Jesus-style

`|`

for some time i've struggled with the question of whether someone born into and growing up in a place where the name of Jesus has not been known can know God
as in the God i know, the God who manifested Godself as Jesus
   ( and ya, i know about creation reveation
   and conscience
      .. got that )

that think can lead all kinds of places
like, if i grow up in a country where the religion is muslim (or hindu or brahman or ..) and my parents are and my schoolfriends are and my place of worship is and i learn that think as the think and observe that life in my daytoday ..
then the life of the other, christian (or hindu or ..) will be strange to me
   and not only strange, but perhaps even reprehensible

when women in my society are taught to cover themselves, and then i see uncovered and barely-covered women, it's an offense to me
   even if i don't express that openly
when pork is seen as an unholy/unclean meat, and i see people freakin' over bacon, it's strange and uncultured to me

..

muslimism is much like judaism is many ways
in ancient israel people had 'laws' to live by, and not to live by those laws entailed punishment, sometimes stoning
   stoning
   to death
..
that wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of human history

..

so then, there's more than 1 way to look at stuff

and i have to choose a way
or be blown about by every wind of doctrine, of somebody's morality, of social norm
and end up being a nobody
   or an everybody
and who wants to be a nobody
   or an anybody ..

but ..
.. i somehow have to allow the other to choose their own way
   and not be quick to judge
'cause my way may be the 'right' way
   but their choice has to be their choice, or it's not a choice
   and no choice is to live in love not
     
      even though they might not have Jesus as a choice ..
..
Jesus was the most unconventional person ..
he went to temple
   but he regularly upended religion
      his religion
he lived in a community that believed that God's blessing on people was manifested in their wealth
   but he oftentimes, as in lots, demeaned the value of money,
   and warned seriously about its power to draw a person
   away from God and neighbour

yet
he was the sinless One
   who spent his life among the sinners; he was their friend
he knew the boundaries of Judaism
   but he opened doors to roman oppressors and to hated samaritans
   and secondclass women
   and he loved children
his life led to breaking-down walls of separation, bustin' them loose
   so that there is no longer jew vs gentile, or slave vs free, or rich vs poor or man vs woman ..
broken down
lines gone
all in
no more lines
all in

and that was Jesus ..
the Jesus

and if that was his MO
   then who am i to ..

..

so that when we hear of why the government should not support the poor and provide homes for the homeless, including vets and women and children
   because that's a threat to me and my view of life
when we hear that medical care should only be for those that can pay for it
   because "i missed one-damned payment on my med bill
      and they sent a collector after me"
   and "whythehell should i pay for someone else's medical"
when i think of what a free education for everyone
   will cost me in taxes
when i see mosques in every major city
   and the offense that is to my understanding of god
      and correlate that with jihad

then ..

but Jesus ..

who opened doors
broke down walls
embraced the sinner
welcomed the oppressor
   gave up his life for
      me
..
me
the sinner
the wall-builder
the hater
the prejudiced
covetous
selfish
liar
cheat


`|`

i can lock-out
   or unlock
block-off
   or demolish
accumulate
   or share
pull my weapon
   or be willing to lay my life down
      " Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower,
      you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily,
      and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
      give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
      And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world
      but are yourself lost or destroyed? "
         that was Jesus btw ..

..

Jesus could have been a famous rabbi and lived well, garnered much respect
   he chose to live on the street with the people
he could have been a 'king' and challenged imperial rome
   he chose a donkey and sandals
   a basin and cloth to wash feet
      wash feet .. get that
he could have built a religion with many followers
   he chose to create a family powered by love for one another
   empowered by his spirit
      and let it run

because his way was 'toward' the other
   not walled-off
'for' the unclean
   not walking on the other side of the road
'with' the sinner
   not berating them
'embracing' the margined, the outcast and the alien
'inviting' and welcoming any

there's this passage penned by apostle Paul
   " And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself
   through Christ.
   And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
   For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,
   no longer counting people’s sins against them.
   And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. "
      (2Corintians 5:18,19)
wow
no longer counting people's sins against them ??
really ??
wow
..

who am i
   that i get to mark-off the other
   berate
   judge their circumstance and motivation
   hate them
   abuse them ..
when i am so deserving of judgement
   when there is nothing worthy in me
   when, in my puny respectability and workethicity and christianity
      i am in the place of 'depart from me, Lord .. i am a sinful man .. '

i (should) love
them
and them over there
neighbors they are
as deserving of love as i
even
   and especially, says Jesus
   my enemy

love
for love covers a multitude of sins
   a ton of sins labeled with my name
      mine
   as well as theirs

      and who wants exposed sins ? ..
   as in naked
   stripped of all respectability
      'cause sins can be respectably clothed, ya know
who indeed ..


' this is how people will know you're my disciples
   when they see your love for each other '
      Jesus

..

so then .. God does not count people's sins against them
because reconciliation has been accomplished through Jesus the Christ
and this incredible message of reconciliation, of release, of freedom
   has been entrusted to me ..
      not a message about sin
      their sin
      sins
         not


the Good News is reconciliation
wrapped in musty brown paper that looks a lot like me
..

may the peace of the Lord Christ be with you ..