Anti-Abortion

       I am quietly thinking about this 'new teaching - with authority'  that today's passage speaks about.  It isn't merely knowing Scriptures as Jesus does. It is not knowing the true interpretation as Jesus does. Nor is it the devout life of holy love that Jesus lives that makes the difference. It is the authority that He exhibits by virtue of all those things that he commands over all of creation. Jesus is not limited to Caesars domain or the synagogue but also heaven, hell, unclean spirits and all of creation.  It all comes down to our own free will however. It comes down to how we act and what we do with the authority granted us by our faith and belief in Jesus Christ. After all, if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains!

       What do we do with such faith, such authority and such power?  Do we forcibly make the world a better place? We certainly can try as so many have done. Today with the present administration in Washington, they are trying to 'convert' and exert authority over the country. Certainly not by their good example, that is for sure! That is a null and void set. There is no good there, no faith, no real love. Love does not force their will or authority over anyone.

        With a new Supreme Court justice to be installed in the near future, Vice President Pence noted his strong desire, 'hopes', if not plan, to overturn Roe vs. Wade. To what end? 

If you ask me, I am against abortion but not against abortion rights. I would not want to have an abortion but that's easy for me as a man to say now isn't it? Further more, I don't believe for one second that there is any woman who wakes up one morning and says, What to do today? Oh, I think I'll just go out and have an abortion! No, it is not a casual or light decision and as such, I would not want to use authority and power over something so personal.  I feel no calling to hate, judge or exert authority over anyone else. 

          So what to do with this authority and power of faith? Destroy free will? Judge others? If that is the case we are doomed.  A better solution ( in my opinion ) and based on faith and authority is to keep women's rights sacred as much as everyone else's. If you want to stop abortion, Educate. Love. Lead by example. And by all means, if you feel so strongly that even in the case of rape you should not have an abortion, then when you are raped, do not have one.

           So many people of faith, especially in that American Taliban religious conservative right, think that they can use God as an excuse for hate, power control, sexism, and judgment. They could not be further from the truth. They show their vacuum of faith, emptiness and ignorance.

          The old saying that "they will know Christians by their love" is all the more important when the temptation of power and authority is granted you by faith.

Mark 1:21-27

They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’

Jesus knew what he didn't know

     Fifty years on from high school and I still remember a sentence from one of my English teachers. Knowing not, one knows not, is in a sense, omniscience. If you know that you don't know something, then you can learn and hence, really have the capacity to know everything. When you're cock sure about stuff, you will be closed to learning and are in fact ignorant. The best way to be is to be aware of your lack of knowledge and be willing to learn. In the play Hamilton, a song relates the time when George Washington is leaving office. George notes that while he is aware that he did not consciously make mistakes he is not foolish enough to think that he did not in fact make some. Wise. Smart.

        Jesus in today's passage notes that he does not know the day or hour that Heaven and Earth will pass away. Shocking!  Jesus does not know? C'est impossible!  I suspect that there might be a great many things that Jesus may not have known but he is smart enough to know that he does not know them.

        A case in point is when Jesus cures non Jews.  Jesus himself first admits that He came for the people of Israel, the Jews. He himself is Jewish, Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is also a human.  When confronted with the humanity of a persons suffering ( a gentile ) and their faith, Jesus has no choice in his heart, in love, but to cure the person before him. Ask and the Father will respond.  Jesus sees the all encompassing love of the Father and does the same.  

       As if to admit that he does not know all and to show us the way to truth, Jesus notes that we can look to the fig tree to see truths about God the Father and Creation.  Jesus notes that you can obey all the Ten Commandments scrupulously and still not enter the kingdom of Heaven. There is so much more to learn and love. That is one reason I suppose that Jesus spelled out the Two Great Commandments. But more to the point here is that Jesus is pointing to the created world as lessons for us.

       See what God has created all around us and see examples of the power and majesty of God's world. Everything is a design of God's and so exhibits a clue to His/Her nature.  

       One thing that I noted early on in life is that "homosexuality" is not a specific act and it is not known only to mankind.  The attraction, spiritual connectedness of two creations in nature is not limited to opposites sexes. "Homosexuality" is evidenced throughout the animal kingdom, throughout God's created world. Wow.  The arrogant 'all knowing' notion that God created simply one paradigm is errant. God created a diverse world.  God is showing us, we should listen and see. To deny is to be ignorant. To embrace, understand and love is divine.

       Another example of this 'knowing all' and the wisdom to know that we do not know all is in the world's religions. Someone once noted that if we all stood around an elephant in fixed positions and asked to write a description of the animal, each of us would have a quite different view. Our descriptions would perhaps all say 'large' but one might note the tusk and trunk while another the tail and literally a mammoth derriere, still another might focus on the animals height.  All would be  correct. The religions that claim to be the entirety of truth based on their vision of God is pure arrogance and ignorance. Each of us has a view of God. I suspect all religions have a valid ( partial ) view of God.  The true differences and faults come when man places it's own strictures on God.  Those man made rules are also something that Jesus railed against.

      In the end, when we see our own limitations and realize that we do not in fact 'know it all', then we are on the path to real knowledge, truth, enlightenment and hopefully a whole lot of loving. Love of self and love of others.

     

       

Matthew 24:32-51

‘From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

‘Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, “My master is delayed”, and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

An illegal immigrant

     Those ridiculous and arrogant so-called Christians of the far right and their spurious translations of Scripture that devise any means to justify their hate and vapid version of Jesus would hate to read todays remembrance in Holy Women, Holy Men.  It speaks to a time when all non-residents ( i.e. Europeans ) were the illegal immigrants in a strange new world of the Americas. Ordinarily these snippets reveal only the story and love of a person who marshalled the love and courage to follow Jesus in their own unique way.

      So what of this man Conrad Weiser?  By all accounts an illegal immigrant, escaping as a refugee from Germany. The truth of Conrad shines a light into the future on us, a light of wisdom and shame at how we behave.  I suggest reading about Conrad and noting words in his story, words like immigrant, refugee, farmer, monk, soldier, tanner, judge. Quite an accomplished man once he came to this side of the pond, eh? His life, love and actions were all quite formative to this new land. We quite possibly would not be who we are as a nation if it were not for his life. All this to remember when we speak of faith and illegal immigrants.

       I urge you to read about Conrad in either Wikipedia or in Holy Women, Holy Men.

       May a reflection on his life be a guide to our actions

Persecution complexes and negativity

     Many years ago in my sleepy little beach town I returned from a vacation in a tremendous heat wave only to find that while we were away the refrigerator went kaput. It would probably have been easy to say whoa is me.  That same evening one of those tremendous summer storms came across the water. The storm was more intense than usual and it lasted well into the next morning. I noticed my mothers car was still in her driveway and so called to check on her - no answer. Eventually out of desperation I broke into her apartment and found her writhing in bed senseless having had a stroke during the night.  It was very traumatic and it was the downward spiral that began for my mother. She died a shell of her former self, many years later under nursing care.  And then I said, "what could happen next?"  Big. Big, mistake.  Within days my father had a stroke as well. There are so many lessons to be learned from this, the least of which is, don't ask "what could happen next?"

        Some of us seem to have a penchant for bad things happening in our lives. Some people really embrace the negativity and 'horrors' of what has happened to them and that is near to what I am trying to get at. I really have a problem with people saying "whoa is me" all the time and thinking that they have it the worst, that they are the most put upon, that they are troubled more than anyone else. In that great poem of Max Ehrmann, Desiderata , he warns of not comparing yourself to others for there will always be those greater or lesser than you. The same is true of problems in life.

         One day I was noting to someone casually that my mother ( noted above ), had died on my birthday. ( True. whoa is me?) That same someone then noted to me that her mother had died at her own wedding! Yikes.  You think you can have it bad, or sad, or are mad, but there is always a topper. Max Ehrmann seems a very wise man. My similarly wise father in law once noted that if we were all to sit down and put our problems on the table for everyone to see, many of us would gladly choose what we have already.

          And this brings us to today's passage, however long winded.  There are a seemingly large group of 'Christians' in these United States that feel they are heavily put upon. Whoa are they for they have to abide by secular laws and are being persecuted right and left.  They really have no idea what persecution is. Exaggerations that they will soon be gathered up like swine for slaughter is an insult to the many thousands ( millions?) of people who truly have been gathered up for slaughter. Early Christians, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Nazis and countless other atrrocities we have all committed on each other.  Baking a cake for a gay couple? Really, get a grip on yourself. Besides, Jesus would have baked the freek'n cake. These hypocrites are mis-representing Holy Scriptures in the worst way.

           The reason I am pointing this out is that today's passage speaks of the end times and persecution. Many of the pseudo Christians of today point to their 'persecution' as the beginning of the end times. Truly, they should not be comparing themselves to anyone who is persecuted because their "persecution" is so small as to be non existent. They do not know what true persecution is. Perhaps more importantly, while Jesus is speaking of the end times He himself notes that only the Father knows, not even Jesus himself. 

         So I would say, stop with the persecution complexes. Stop with the constant complaining and embracing negativity.  Move forward in love and that is what we are all truly called to do. Comparisons and persecution complexes get everyone absolutely nothing. 

Matthew 24:1-14

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another.And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.

Unspoken knowns and had I only known

        A favorite lament through the ages is "Had I only known". This works exceptionally well in the secular world. Perhaps less time, if any, is given to our Spiritual life and to God. I can picture Donald Trump being directed to Hades from the Pearly Gates saying "had I only known".

        This "had I only known" syndrome dovetails nicely into another expression I have learned, far less well known or used and that is "the unspoken known".  I suppose it speaks mostly to people that are gay. No one asks or discusses if some flamboyant person is gay because it is an "unspoken known".  This expression also speaks to our spirituality, to God.

We known we are dualistic beings. We flirt with it, we can ignore it, but the truth is in our very soul. It is a part of our essence.

      The problem arises when we blot out things in our life because it might be uncomfortable. Something might require us to do some introspection, some self-analysis or take a serious look at our beliefs versus our actions. A really good example is what we say we believe as ( supposed ) Christians and whom and what we support politically. When we are called to task we either drown ourselves in cognitive dissonance or when faced with blatant disparities in our beliefs / actions, we say "had I only known".

           Going back several thousand years, even before the time of Christ, people lived similar lives to us. Prophets spoke, people ignored. Jesus was the one who really took his own Jewish community to task over the disparities of their lives versus what they profess and claim to believe. He railed against the Pharisees all the time. The last three days spcripture readings from Matthew at the very least, attest to this.

       What do you claim to believe and how does that jive with your actions? How are we being called to live and are there any elephants in our own house? Thoughts to ponder.

             

Matthew 23:29-33

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.” Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? 

Eucharistic incantation

      If I thought I was on a tear yesterday, this passage seems to rip the Pharisees a new one. It does make me pause all the more though for the truly important things of life.

    Yesterday I went on another kind of rant and not the one on these pages. My poor husband got an earful about putting dishes away. Not the stuff of quality for sure. I am a bit embarrassed. I am one of the first to speak of what is truly important. I know people who bemoan everything in their lives, who cannot let go of anything. It seems that they embrace heartache and wallow in self pity. I have seen too many loved ones pass on. Heartache and agony over loss. Illness that can be debilitating.  It does no good at all to indulge in such things. What it does do is distract us from love and deprives us of the prize.

      So what is truly important?  Years ago in a 5000 family parish communityin which I lived, a Deacon decided it would be an addition to the meaning of our Thanksgiving service if he and his wife supplied home made Eucharist bread. More than wafers and less than bread, it would be more substantial in the transubstantiation of the service.  The issue, and there is always an issue, highlights my thoughts. The good Deacon and his wife used a 'recipe' that called for a small amount of honey to be added to the bread. That it seems is an immoral and mortal flaw. It invalidates the Eucharist. It was blasphemous, or so some said.  Personally, who cares? Is there some magical incantational recipe that is used to make Eucharist wafers? If one truly believes in such things, isn't God the one who consecrates, not even the Priest?

     So I ask again, what is truly important?  This passage and a closer look at our lives is always worth some sober introspection.

Matthew 23:13-26

‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

Scribes and Pharisees

      I wanted to simply label this commentary on today's Scripture as "thy name is Trump' and let it be at that. However, in all honesty, there are so many people, mostly pseudo Christian Trumpites that proclaim their Christianity in self righteousness that I cannot label him alone. They are, by any other name, all 'scribes and Pharisees'. Truly, how can anyone who claims to have a mustard seeds worth of faith in Jesus Christ promulgate policies such as we have seen? How can anyone causally or otherwise, glance over and dismiss the life of a man who is all about regal golden toilets and a life of intense materiality, sexuality and sin ?  The man himself is a walking abomination.This will become a theocracy based on utter hypocrisy.

      Had enough?  If we are to be faithful people, this is a call to act as our consciences and 

faith call us to.  So practice your Christian faiths but not as it is being displayed.  We know 

the right road and ironically it is not the road of the conservative, arrogant religious right.

Vote, volunteer, be political, love with reckless abandon but do not allow this travesty 

against our nation and against God to continue.  We do not need more scribes and 

Pharisees.

Matthew 23:1-12

Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.