Obama

For the first time in my life I feel proud of America. I am a dual citizen of Canada and the USA. I voted for Obama. I feel deeply moved by the ascension of this man to the highest position in the world. Four years ago, a story about a man named Barack Husein Obama becoming the president of the United States of America, would have been published in a science fiction magazine not the world press.

Today, I see a joyful man stepping into a wasps' nest of trouble, rolling up his sleeves and beckoning the rest of us to come and give him a hand, promising hard times, hard work and hard-earned self respect. The funny thing is, thousands, no millions, are lining up to join him!

Today, I see a nation, roused from it's slumber of cynicism and fear, energized with a new belief in the ability to impact and change things for the better.

Today, I see a world, watching and hopeful, waiting to see if this man really will restore America's reputation on the international stage, really will lead America to be a force for good in the earth.

Today, I see myself, overcome with emotion and something strange to me - hope and optimism. Not a foolish hope either, not an "oh, I really hope so" sort of hope that really is closer to despair and last ditch efforts than it is to true hopefulness. Oddly, this newcomer to my heart is neither blindly trusting nor worshipful of the man in front. It simply believes that he can do the job. Maybe not perfectly, but with humility and grace and the ability to engage the help of others.

Early on in the race to the presidency, I chose to support Obama, not because he was a black man, nor later because he was a Democrat, but because I saw in him, during the debates, a man full of grace for his opponents who refused to respond in kind to personal attacks, who stood firmly on his convictions, who relied on the support of "everyman", who entrusted his campaign to the "little people" - the local workers.

Character is exposed in times of stress, and Obama's character held up throughout. We all know to play our best card in public, but to do so under attack is impossible without slip ups revealing our darker sides. Obama passed muster - he did not falter, his character came through loudly, clearly and consistently. This is why, I have confidence in him.

So, Obama, I trust you to get the job done, and I will be praying for you, your family and your administration. Hail to the Chief!

PING!

Just finished reading a newsletter from Vision Ministries Canada. No, not for any noble purpose, but only out of self-interest - to see the small article I'd written for them in print...that does give me a warm inner glow. Along with the glow came that little "ping" when two seemingly disparate ideas collide in what goes for my brain. What better thing to do with a ping than write about it in my blog (both are four letter words after all, like love and luck and lose, among others).

Colliding idea # 1: Last night I was hanging out with some people I know - they were sharing encouragement and stories about this and that. One involved a couple who were trying to sell their house. A potential buyer's Realtor was trying to get them to lower their price by citing the poor economy to which the husband replied, "I do not belong to this economy! I belong to God's economy and that doesn't change!" The result was that the buyer accepted their price! Hmm, very interesting I thought to myself and filed it in my "back burner" folder - you know the one with all those intriguing tidbits you don't really know how to categorize and haven't really made up your mind about.

Fast forward to me reading VMC's newsletter: First the glow - ummm, nice, yes, thank you...Then, idle curiosity prompts a quick scan of the other articles (http://www.vision-ministries.org/media/NEWSLETTER_DEC.08.pdf). Oh, one challenging people to give a portion of their Christmas spending towards solving the world's clean water issue. Hmm...PING!

When the writer used the word, "opulence", I was reminded of Old Testament prophets who warned about the consequences of letting the orphans starve and disenfranchising the widows. Consequences that included loss of property, enslavement, and forced emigration. This judgment was meted out to a nation by a God who tired of the greed and injustice of those who should have known better because they had clear instructions about how to treat each other and the weak. Western civilization, based on Judeo-Christian principles, knows better. Yet most of the world's peoples barely eke out a living, often under the threat of war and the oppression of multinational corporations, while the kings of western civilization, live in relative opulence, 20% of the world's population using 80% of the world's resources. Based on the tenet, "might makes right", we even feel entitled to rape and pillage our "mother" earth in the process. How long can this inequity last without judgment? Or, if you are a materialist, how long can the earth's natural systems endure this imbalance.

If this is indeed the case, then we Westerners need to do more than think about selling our stocks and bonds or pulling back on our spending, we need to think about doing things in an entirely different way. We need to repent. To change direction. To spend our time, money and intelligence, not on the idle pleasures of the wealthy, but on finding ways to redistribute the wealth, to share the opulence, to live more modestly and generously upon the breast of the mother God created to nurture and keep us.

As I complete this blog, I realize that Margaret Atwood in "Payback" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/02/payback-margaret-atwood)
has said much the same thing, and in a far more erudite way, as I am sure, have others.

The Way of Failure

For most of my life I have run away from any and all awareness of personal failure. At times this has included burning bridges, that is, turning my back on the people and projects that were the context for my failures.

As I have aged, this has become more difficult to do. Many of my failures have been as a parent and even I am not prepared to leave relationships with my grown children to avoid facing up to the ways I have injured them.

Seeing the hardships my failures have caused my children is exquisitely painful and the tempation is there continually to shrink away from the spotlight of truth. Holidays seem to be a good time for stirring up these issues.

So, I found myself this morning, cowering under the weight of all this - a weight, as I have said before, I often want to run away from. Of late I have adopted the practice each morning of asking Jesus to be "yoked" with Him. I imagine Jesus and I being harnessed together, and this morning I realized that the weight of my failure was something that Jesus was willing to help me bear. Of course, if I chose not to bear it by not acknowledging it, then Jesus would not help me carry it.

I felt God informing me that my failures were not excluded from the "things" in "God works all things together for good" and that owning them before God demonstrated my love and trust of God and thereby freed Him up to work even my failures out for good in the lives of those I have injured. This seemed too good to be true! Much of the gospel is - it isn't called the "good news" for nothing.

Further, I wondered if, from God's perspective, our failures are really any different than our successes. Although we feel much better about our successes in life, it is often our failures that being us closer to God, more dependent on God's grace and mercy. Is this maybe what Paul meant when he said, "when I am weak, then I am strong"?

So, while I do not welcome failure, I am called not to fear it. This should make me able to risk hoping for the future. As well, when I do fail, as is inevitable, I must walk through my failures, in fact, there is no other way around them.

The dog, the car and the Logos

Today I woke up before the crack of dawn in a state of anxiety. Besides the usual Christmas crazies yesterday brought a new set of complexities (aka troubles) into my life. The dog and the car.

My elderly mutt, Hobbes, is a long suffering fellow and had been clicking around the house on the canine equivalent of stiletto heels. Yesterday, as a pre-Christmas gift to the old fella, I took him in to the vet to have his toenails clipped. "Oh, and by the way," says I to the vet, "what is that swelling just under his eye?"

No, thankfully, it was not cancer, just a broken tooth and infected bone, requiring dental surgery, "Let me give you a quote on that," says he. Which is how I discover that Hobbes' mouth will cost more than all the Christmas presents and the turkey with the trimmings combined. "OK," says I, "can I get back to you on that?"

Try as I might, I cannot think of an alternative to immediate oral surgery for Hobbes, so, I will call the vet today to book it and worry about the cost later (me and the auto industry, eh? I'd ask the government for a bail-out, but...there really is no Santa Claus - for individuals at least)

Later on, after a busy day of entertaining and decorating, I decided to attend a Christmas drop-in hosted by some friends - that ought to cheer me up! Lo and behold my car protested loudly when I tried to leave later that night - screeching like a banshee it appeared that the parking brake on the right hand side would not release. The car mechanic is not open on Saturdays, so I will have to wait until Monday to find out how much it will cost to repair. Our host drove me home.

Finally, cozy in my bed, I tried to complete my nightly routine of writing up the day in my journal - oops, my glasses, yep, you guessed it - left on the dashboard of the car...hmm - thankfully, I have a few out-dated spares kicking around the house - one of those rare times I can pat myself on the back for being a pack rat.

So, no wonder I'm feeling a little pressed this morning - although, as I review my list of woes, I realize that I am truly blessed that they are so relatively benign - no foreclosures, no earthquakes, no dislocations due to war, no famine.

Still, wussy North American that I am, they do drag me down. As is my habit, I pray in the morning, "casting my cares upon the Lord" so God gets an earful of my angst. Generally I read the Psalms while breakfasting, and found this in Psalm 138: 7-8 "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, And thy right hand will save me. Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Forsake not the works of thine own hands." I put down my spoon and suddenly notice the poinsetta on my kitchen table - the colours of the leaves and petals are so richly nuanced!

I believe that this is one of God's daily miracles - that those words were specifically meant for me. Somehow in the eternal now the Logos of God, in love, aimed those words at me, to be read on this morning, to speak to these circumstances. And I am encouraged. If God cares for me and my foolish little woes, how much more must He care for those with greater woes. I pray that God will meet those who are suffering in the midst of their greater woes with love and hope.

Green Christmas Caroling

As Christmas approaches and the dread spirit begins to haunt my steps, I look around for ways to bless my family, enjoy my friends and honour the humble, meek and lowly Jesus without damaging the environment or my diminishing income.

"Those who bless the poor will themselves find blessing" (Good King Winceslas): Organizations like World Vision and Heifer International offer ways to purchase gifts for third world families such as a flock of chickens or an agricultural package including tools and seed. Donations to local food banks or the Salvation Army will help support those who have less in your area.

"Let earth receive her king" (Joy to the World): Bless the earth by buying a living Christmas tree that you could plant after a couple of years. Or an artificial tree. I'm trying something new this year - I bought an upside down cone about three feet high which I plan to decorate with cedar and pine boughs that I will harvest from the trees in my yard.

The spirit of the season and how to avoid it

No political commentary today, no, not even any environmental concerns. No, today I want to talk about the "spirit of the season". And by that, I do not mean Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel or Santa Claus. What I mean is that oppressive sense of panic descending on or around the first of December, crushing the very "warm coziness" it dangles in front of us to lure us into its vortex of buy, buy, buy and busy, busy, busy. Then, if we can't afford to buy, buy, buy or have no one to be busy, busy, busy with or when the actual day does not deliver on the promised "magic" of warmth / family / intimacy we are heaped with such a sense of loss that many despair. Social agencies and emergency hot lines beef up their services over Christmas and New Years to try to avert the human tragedies brought on by this same spirit - self-destructive behaviours that trip over into suicide.



Isn't this always the way? The dark trying to co-opt the light, trying to blight the generosity and genuine good will shown by so many during this time of year. Trying to draw attention away from the dirty stable where Jesus' was born - redolent with animal smells and the worship of shepherds. Instead, we get stuck in Herod's palace with the cloying sweetness of expensive perfumes and an inordinate drive to "get what is mine". What else could have been driving those hordes of people in the USA who broke through the doors of a Walmart and trampled an employee to death. Yes, the ads put out by WalMart pumped people up with expectations of yet more Christmas goodies for an even cheaper price. But why did that advertising work?

Well, I am trying to lay low myself. Malls do it for me - that is, once I am in one, all reserve and self-control go out the window. Oh, wait, I forgot, there aren't any windows in a mall - just like there aren't any clocks or any logical layout of the stores...I figure they are designed that way intentionally - it is to the vendors' advantage that you lose your way and your sense of time and any awareness that a reality outside of the mall exists.

Lest I sound like Scrooge - I do love Christmas and all the trappings. Its just that I find it so easy to get focused on the trappings and forget the content. Some ways around that are to focus on the poor, on making your own gifts, on spending time (instead of money) with those you love and on look for ways to be kind and civil to others as you trudge through the pitfalls and blessings of this season.

Crazy Idea #5 - Housing in Hard Times

I woke up this morning with another Crazy Idea. It had to do with my house. As small as it is, the mortgage may prove too much for me and I have been worrying about whether or not to sell it.

Rousing out of sleep, my paradigm shifted to an older one I once held. My mother grew up during the Great Depression. She garnered this piece of wisdom from those hard times: "if you are in financial trouble, don't go to the rich, the poor will always help you, because they know what it feels like." Later, when I became a Christian, I heard echoes of her statement in Jesus' own words "It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of the needle."

The point? "By your love for each other the world will know you are mine" John quotes Jesus as saying. In his letter, James elaborates by asserting that love goes beyond praying for people at church, it requires sharing material wealth where needed - a nuts and bolts involvement in each others' lives that our life styles make almost impossible. Our North American cultural obsession with material independence creates walls between people made up of a lack of time and energy. These walls, though not ill intended, are as difficult to penetrate as any castle fortification.

Well, the economy that allows us the luxury of material independence is wavering; those walls may be crumbling. Is that such a bad thing? Take my house for example. What if, instead of selling it and moving into a condo so that I can maintain my own material independence, I open it up and invite others, without homes, to live with me?

Such a radical move requires a level of faith, hope and love, I do not currently have. I fear losing my independence, my freedom, and yes, even my property. On the other hand, look at what I might gain - a more intimate relationship with others, a sense of community and belonging, shared responsibilities, and support for myself in times of need, not to mention the increased dependency on Jesus for His moment by moment grace.

Bottom line, do I want this? No, but, I am willing to be made willing. And Jesus has changed my heart before. What about you?

What is Revealed in The Revelation to John? - Part III

EPHESUS / WOMEN

The Revelation to John Chapter 2: 1-7

Ephesus was a wealthy city and, during the time of the early church, was also the seat of worship of the goddess Diana. Her temple was destroyed by Goths in 262 CE and it is suspected that columns from her temple were incorporated into the church of St. Sophia. The role of women, specifically Mary, Jesus' mother, is inextricably linked with this city and the events that happened in it during both the time of John's revelation and later church history. Jesus' admonition to the Ephesian church foreshadows these things.

An important church council was held in Ephesus in 431 CE. The major issue under discussion at this council was how to interpret Jesus' deity. The contenders were Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, and Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. Cyril was, by all reports a harsh man and likely a misogynist. He is suspected of instigating the murder of Hypatia by a band of monks - she was a prominent Alexandrian woman and respected pagan philosopher. While Cyril had the political backing of Pope Celestine, Nestorius was supported by Emperor Theodosius II.

The debate regarding Jesus' nature impacted the role of His mother, Mary. Nestorius was concerned that if Jesus was co-equal with God the Father then Mary, by extension would also have to share the divine nature of deity. Cyril was adamant about Jesus' God-nature. One wonders if, in the spiritual realm, this debate was more about Mary than it was about Jesus. Was Mary being positioned to be the spiritual stand-in for the goddess Diana? That this council took place in Ephesus, the former seat of the worship of Diana, aka, Artemis, is very suggestive. Other parallels exist with Mary, e.g., Artemis was a virgin, and both Diana and Artemis presided over birth.

The debates between Cyril and Nestorius were heated and the participants were jailed for a while due to unruly behaviour. In the end, it was Cyril's take on things that won the day. Did this mean Nestorius' fears were realized? That somehow the understanding in that day and in that culture about the substantial nature of Jesus' deity implied a form of deity for Mary, who would then take unto herself a form of worship? Is this subtle shift a prophetic part of what Jesus meant when he warns the Ephesian church of having "lost its first love"?

Although the tie in with Jesus' admonition may be a bit of a stretch, it is suggestive that the gnostic sect of Nicolatians, whose works both Jesus and the church hated, held a doctrine regarding the "community of women". If we believe that physical locations are imbued with spiritual significance or heritage, then perhaps the distorted role of women in spiritual practice railed against by Jesus and the Ephesians, still had power to influence decisions taken several centuries later in the same location.

Even though the Ephesian church worked hard at being dogmatically correct, not tolerating those diverging from the truth, and had endured "without flagging", Jesus was no longer their first priority. Cyril would fit this description as someone who was known for his ruthless zeal. Losing their "first love", if not repented of, would result in the removal of God's light from their midst. In all his fierce attachment to holiness, did Cyril really succeed, not in glorifying Jesus, but in making a way for the spirit of the goddess Diana / Artemis to be worshiped within the Christian church? Could this be the meaning behind the incorporation of columns from Diana's wrecked temple in Ephesus into the church of St. Sophia? Indeed, legend has it that Mary lived out her last years in the neighbourhood of Ephesus - there is even a church built there in her honor, The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary! Very intriguing coincidences, I think. Finally, the message in all of this is that our love relationship with Jesus out trumps religious dogma when it comes to discerning truth, to seeing things in the light of Christ.

An encouraging note: While the message is for the church body, the rewards are to the individual, in other words, even if the church fails and the candlestick is removed, the "one who overcomes I will grant to eat from the tree of life in Paradise." I figure this means that Nestorius, though he lost the battle, may still be eating from the tree of life in Paradise.

What is Revealed in The Revelation to John? - Part II

The Revelation to John Chapter 1

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:

I do not take anything for granted in this book and am sure that the positioning of things carries meaning. The first thing we learn is that John is located on Patmos, an island to the west of Asia Minor. It is the Lord's Day, presumably a Sunday, and he is praying. He has been facing west, looking towards Rome, the centre of the empire and worldly power, most probably the same power that has exiled him. This is deduced from the fact that when he turns to look behind him, to see who is speaking, he faces towards the churches, arrayed in the east, in Asia Minor.

Jesus himself stands behind John, and when he turns the first things he sees are the "churches", the seven candlesticks - an immediate reminder that God's light and authority in the earth are brought through the church, not through the Roman empire. Standing in the middle of them is their source of light and authority - "one like a son of man" - with a two edged sword (the Word) coming out of his mouth, stars in His left hand and His face shining with the full force of the sun, a glory so unbearable that John collapses, overwhelmed, terrified, scared almost to death.

Touching John with His right hand, Jesus revives him, saying, "Banish fear", then identifies Himself and indicates that John is to write "what he has seen, the things which are, and those which will be hereafter." Jesus wants to give John, and through John, us, the God point of view, the divine insight into current events. Cutting away all the blur of flesh, worldly systems, lies and confusion He will show John what is really going on under the surface show. But to do so, John has had to respond to the voice "like a trumpet" and turn his back on Rome, the seat of worldly power.

Are we any different today? If we want to learn what God's point of view is, don't we, like John, have to turn our backs on the world system, on the Rome of our day? We need to listen to Jesus' voice instead of swallowing the worldly version which is all too ready to give its own interpretation to our lives. I'm sure you have heard its voice before, whispering its tenets of faith: "You aren't good enough", "You failed", or, the other side of the same coin, "You're the best, better than anyone else", "This is all there is, so enjoy it, take advantage of it", "There is no king but Caesar (or Bush)", "You deserve it", "They owe it to you", ...ad nauseum.

While we occupy this created, material realm, ruled now by the power of the prince of the air through the current world system, we will always be having to choose to turn away from it, to actively reclaim the vision Jesus has for us of His kingdom and of the true spritual nature of our current situations. It is our choice to either listen and turn, or ignore that voice calling from somewhere behind us.

What is Revealed by The Revelation to John? Part I

INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE:



I recorded these thoughts in July, 2006. They are a personal study of Revelations born in response to the mad deception of war-mongers who justified their tenacious hold on power and resources with end-time prophecy. I wanted to find out and share what I was sure the book as a whole could tell me about these matters.
Predictably, I failed in my quest for two reasons. Firstly, life intervened and I only got through Chapter 3. More significantly, the internal beauty, pattern and wonder of the book itself superceded my intentions towards it...odd how that happens. From rant to reverance. I ended up finding myself awed and intrigued by the intricate weaving of symbol and theme - how they expanded the meaning in the messages to the church. I hope you will find it so as well.

I will try to post a Part each day or two.


A final note: I have provided links to the relevant Bible passages followed by my comments about them. This is not a scholarly treatise so I have not credited the books or web-sites I researched; most of the information is easily available through on-line sources, encyclopedias and dictionaries. Without further ado...


The Revelation to John Chapter 1


SEVEN:


Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, SArdis, Philadelphia, Laodicea - seven churches, seven Spirits before the throne, seven candlesticks, seven stars, and seven angels. Before the vision the seven Spirits are in the heavenlies, and the seven churches are on the earth - a clear division. In John's vision, Jesus brings the Father's will in heaven to earth - holding the seven stars, or angels, or messengers, He stands in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, the churches which are meant to deliver God's light to the earth.


But why seven, why not ten or thirty? As the number of completion, seven implies that while each message is specific and unique to the individual church addressed in that era and place, altogether they comprise a complete message to the church universal, transcending the time and space of the churches singularly. What then is the message for us today?

Conversations with S. - God, love, freedom, evil, suffering

Well, folks, the other day S. and I were sharing a muffin, sitting outside on a humid Spring day, pondering stuff. As often happens with us, the conversation drifted into the topic of God, the universe, creation...considering such questions as: Is God good? Why do we struggle so much to believe this? Is God really love? What does that love look like? Both of us have had experiences that we've had to dub supernatural, and were discussiong what they could mean. I have chosen, for reasons I like to think are "reasonable" (hence the term:-), to believe the Christian version of these experiences. My friend is not sure that any religious tradition really captures the essence of what she has experienced - but it has grounded her through the years with incontrovertable evidence of the existence of love - personal, light, accepting and unconditional. The truly challenging part came when we tried to reconcile the evil in the world with this idea of a loving omniscient presence. I offered her my take on things - namely, that love requires freedom, so, if love is the foundational spiritual truth, then it necessitates free will. A will fully free to choose to acknowledge, accept and return the divine lovers' love, or to turn away from it. My friend added that if this is the case, then God has chosen to suffer with suffering mankind rather than undo the premise upon which God's essence is founded - love and the freedom it requires. What do you think?