Hunger Games

Well, I am no movie critic, but I would not tell my friends to rush to see this one. But it reveals what a world could look like without God, without religion or a spiritual life. It would be a world without compassion. The president of the victorious ruling class sees problems with compassion. He wants none of it. It is dangerous to his rule. If you become willing to give up your life for another person, that causes problems in the whole balance of commerce. It is enough that the defeated class show some care among themselves. They have no power. But don't let this spread to the ruling class. Something besides "me" might become empowered. It is easy to control your people if they only care about themselves. The rulers will "sponsor" someone fighting survival, but only in a game.

I wonder if this is why people in power had problems with Jesus? He was willing to die for love of others. He showed compassion for the suffering and the poor. If this catches on it will upset the balance of life, the balance of power. You cannot control an idea or a community that is willing to suffer rather than protect themselves, willing to share what they have that others may have something. I think that is what Christianity is supposed to be. Followers of Jesus.

The Consumerist

A young person said that their peers were threatened by becoming "consumerists" of holy communion. You can take it or leave it. It might make you feel better. We consume pills, drugs, booze, sex, movies, TV, music, and it all might make us feel better, for the moment. But none of these things will really change us. Communion is not supposed to be a pill for an upset soul.

Communion is the very opposite of self-focus. It is anything "but" all about me. It is a matter of touching the divine. How so? Well, Jesus said, "This is my body, which is given up for you." It was not just his body, with good things to fix us, but it was a body given up for us. All around him were nasty people who wanted their own self-will. Jesus was a nuisance or a threat. His response. Love. He forgave them, including the ones who nailed him to the cross and divided up his belongings. He did not hate or seek revenge, or curse anyone out, or even feel particularly sorry for himself. He died rather than hurt people. So impressive was his response that 2100 years later people still admire, talk about and even want to be more like him. The rest of the nasty people at the cross, no one talks about them at all.

Now, many people believe that Jesus' actions and even his person were divine, and still are. What he did was Godness in the flesh. So that wafer you eat is not just to fix you. It is to change you. Touch divine things and you get more divine. Touch dirt and you get dirtier. Now becoming more divine does not mean you will feel better right away. You might feel like your life is a bit more of a cross for a while. That is what transformation is all about. You live more for love of others, you forgive those who are nasty, and you chose to love even when you don't feel like it. Know anyone like that? Rare, those people. It is a tough way to grow. It is also the only way to grow. No wonder we avoid receiving holy communion on any regular basis. But what if transformation ultimately is quite a bit more happiness than you could ever imagine? Touch the divine too often and you might find out.

Hair For Whom

If people think about their hair at all, it is usually rather self-absorbing. i want to look good, or at least not dreadful. We speak about "bad hair" days. We wear or don't wear certain hats depending on our hair. Some people like their hair to call attention to themselves. a lot of money is made on hair products.

There is a woman named Mary, who perfumes Jesus' feet with precious oils, and then, get this, dries his feet with her hair. What a mess that might have made of her hair and appearance. People are all looking at her at the dinner party, as she does all this. In one sense, she is calling attention to herself, but to me, she is pointing to something outside of her, away from her. She is absorbed in another, Jesus, and does not worry so much about her appearance. Her dreadful look calls attention to someone else, not to herself. I know people who go out of their way to have dreadful hair, but it is to call attention to themselves. Mary probably had long beautiful, soft hair, that could indeed dry the oiled, perfumed feet of Jesus. Now, with her wrecked hair, both she and Jesus would share the same aroma or scent. Mary loved someone to the extent that she stopped thinking so much about Mary. Could this be the scent of love?

Washing Feet

In some Christian circles there is a foot washing ritual this week in church. It seems that foot washing had a special meaning in Hebrew circles. Abraham washed the feet of his visitors. He did that because they were from heaven or especially connected to things eternal or of God. His visitors were angels or God's own self. A woman washed Jesus' feet because she believed that he was especially of God. He was seen by her to be "heavenly."

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. They were not heavenly at all. They were about to do all kinds of despicable things, such as lie, run away in a cowardly fashion, deny him. No angels in this crowd. So why did Jesus wash their feet? I suspect he did it because of the potential he saw in each one of them. In spite of their "imperfections," he believed in them, that they could become heavenly, more like himself. His washing their feet was in anticipation of what they could be some day. Jesus is the hopeful one. Well, don't each of us have this potential? Be hopeful. Go to church or wherever, and get your feet washed. Believe in yourself. Today's mess and tomorrow's right action could be all in the same person. Of course, a pedicure would be nice too!

Fickle

Yesterday I was at 8,000 feet altitude in short sleeves. Today it is snowing in Boulder, at 5,000 feet altitude. Sudden change. People are like that too. One day Jesus comes into town and the crowd is praising him at a Savior King. A short time later, same town, same crowd, crying, "Crucify him!" Never put too much stake into the mood of the masses. One day they praise you, and the next day they condemn you or are angry about something for which they blame you. People are like that, no?

Really close friends, the few, will be a constant, yes. But others? One day your boss, your child, your spouse, your co-worker, are saying nice things, even wonderful things about you. The next day? People are like that. When everyone says how wonderful I am, I enjoy it for today, but have no expectations about tomorrow. This way I don't spend time in disappointment.

The Passion

I have been reading the passion of Jesus according to Mark. Boy, did he pick a bunch of losers to be his followers and future leaders of the Community. They were cowards, a betrayer, a liar, and all disloyal. I bet there were some in the community who thought, "Couldn't we have gotten better than this?" So what was God thinking when these fellows were chosen? I don't know what God thinks, but it makes me think about my complaining about today's Church leaders. They have so many faults, in my opinion of course, but no more faults than the original prototypes. So if Jesus wanted the original Twelve or Apostles, and they were good enough for him, then maybe I better accept what we have today. We do believe in Grace, right? Jesus' followers did change. The Holy Spirit is at work, just not according to my plan.

What's In A Word

Someone asked, "How are you?" and the person replied, "I am good." Strange. Good has expanded its meaning from an action, moral state of good or bad, to now a feeling of how you are. You don't so much do good actions, as you feel good. The neighborhood of feelings: happy, sad, joyous, jealous, has added good to its list. It seems strangely out of place but there it is. So what?

Well, I began to think about the word, "God." It is a name of a deity, the deity, but it also gets used as a feeling of surprise, as in, "Oh my God!" We don't say, "Oh my surprise." I do it myself. But then what happens when I mean to use the word "God" to refer to my Lord, the Divine Lover. I think the name God gets diminished or loses its specialness if I am more often using the same word to mean something else, a feeling of surprise. What happens when you decide to use the word "good" to refer to an action you did or the state of your moral character. You say, "I am good," and people think you mean a feeling. The word God will lose meaning and specialness if I use it for other purposes. I would be upset if people said, "Oh my Terry," when they mean surprise or their tummy aches. I want my name to refer to me and other Terrys in the world. I wonder how God feels about me using God's name for things unrelated to God? I don't want to find out too late! Maybe I will just begin to say, "Oh my goodness!" Well, there's that word "good" again. What to do?