Comparing notes with a friend and co-worker some time ago and found that both of us are plagued by uncertainty, insecurity, frustration and feeling things are out of control and neither of us is really sure what to do to change it, if indeed change is possible.
Reading or listening to newscasts is depressing. Stories on the blogs or websites may offer a bit of brightness but then reading the comments that people offer often destroys any slight feeling of budding optimism or even comfort. People who are just names or nicknames offer comments on not only the story or idea being presented but on the comments of others, often with a viciousness that borders on mental violence. They don't know the one they are slashing and stabbing, they often don't even read the story (or so it seems) but rather use a sound-byte or title to fuel a frenzy of expletives, name-calling and challenges as to the intelligence, national loyalty and even religious practice of the other. It's as if the anonymity of the medium encourages the baser side to emerge unchecked. Even in the little local rag the letters to the editor can be vicious even though each letter must be signed with a person's actual name, no anonymity allowed. What is WRONG with this picture?
What strikes me as ironic is that many who stab and slash the hardest are the ones proudly claiming to be Christian while casting doubts and aspersions on the religious beliefs of others whose words and letters they criticize so vocally.
Churches themselves are not guiltless. Sure, there are churches and congregations that try to focus on the message of Christ but what those messages are are quite often perceived in very different ways, as different as the Hebrew view of the cosmos vs. the views we have from Hubbel telescope and Voyager. The congregations sing of "... in the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore," but the focus is on a heavenly shore not the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Bering Sea, or any of the oceans. All will be sweetness, light and glory but in keeping the eyes on heaven one can very easily lose sight of things on this earth that could stand some attention --- like hope, comfort, help, compassion, civility and concern for the earth and its peoples here and now. No, folks would rather throw verbal bombs and slashes denigrating the personhood, character and faith of someone with whom they disagree on some level. As long as they have what they feel they deserve, "given by God" like some Cracker-Jack prize deserved because they bought the box, that's God's will. If someone else doesn't, then it must be God's will and their own fault.
I wonder what Jesus thinks about all this. When he said "The kingdom of heaven is near (or within) you" did he mean if one expires after having said a certain phrase one could expect immediate and joyous entry into a heavenly paradise where all was joy, light and glory or did he mean we should look around to find the paradise available in the here-and-now if we were willing to look for and work for it? I wonder what God thinks of the billions of tons of waste in landfills that render the land around them unsuitable for use as fields, homes or businesses? I wonder what the Spirit thinks of the petty meannesses we perpetrate against our fellow human beings (and the rest of creation) with our careless words and wasteful habits?
WWJD? I think he's already told us. Are we listening? What difference are we making if we are? If we aren't, why aren't we?
Time to do some serious consideration --- and maybe change of direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment