Let the music play ... gotta get a message ... Listen to the music ... Its 2am and I'm exhausted, sitting in an airport somewhere in a desert. Outside the temperature is 30°C, and even the toilet water gives off a disconcertingly warm glow that makes me ask "why?". I'm on my way back from wrestling with governments about the greatest threat to societal stability and cross-generational human security: climate change. Meantime on the other side of the world Donald Trump has again exposed his misogynistic ego as he undermines the supposed face of democracy (although, it's hard to really call the USA a pure democracy). A few hours ago and 4 time zones away I had a taxi driver telling me that he faced arrest if he spoke publicly about the history of his countries monarchy. In my country my president continues his self-serving cronyism with a multitude of criminal charges stacked against him. At my university the students are engaged with violent protest in a complex conflict, against a backdrop of a city that's driven by a fluid sexuality, hedonism, and relativism. On one level this is all normal - its the normal mix of complex societal dynamics found throughout history. As my Buddhist taxi driver said, the problem comes from humans making humanity their authority; when we decide what's right and wrong. One current disturbing event illustrates the issue. In trying to understand the complexity of the student protests (which have effectively brought the academic programme to a halt) I have been reading a variety of publications. Almost without fail the most thoughtful of these articles seem to be written by non-Christians. In fact the two most insightful articles I have found were respectively penned by a Moslem and an atheist, while the church is mostly silent on these issues. The protests are tearing the student body apart – just like Trump, my president, and the city's evolving moralities are all creating an environment of polarization while undermining mutual respect. The plaintive whispers emanating from the church leaves the outsider with only a few conclusions that they can draw abut this thing called Christianity: Christians seem to not care; or their position is one of judgment of others; or (at worst) their silence tacitly condones. Why? Where is the collective fervor of objection to social injustice, to degraded moralities, to corruption and manipulation, that one might (should?) expect from the church? As I personally work through the process of leaving my church (see earlier posts), I recently raised this point with the church leadership. I said that, in this current age, we are more like the biblical rich young ruler than we would care to admit. The story goes that the rich young ruler asked Jesus what more he should do to get eternal life, apart from the list of good things he says he's already doing. Jesus says, sell everything and follow me! And it was reported that the young man went away sad because he was very rich. Translating that story into today, I think the riches we most fear being asked to give up are not materialistic; our more precious riches are our opinions and preferences that from childhood we've been taught are all important. Fighting for our opinions and preferences, in the belief that we're right, and for what we get out of it - these are what are most precious to us. My point was that just like the rich young ruler we've missed the vision. The church and its inhabitants cling to preferences of practice with a death grip, leaving no hand free to extend to the world. And so most of the majority never darken the doors of the church, even though they seek a voice of moral authority, with individual lives conflicted by stresses and tensions they struggle to understand, while being blown every which way with nothing to hold on to. We Christians need to hold on to what we have - not the norms and rituals, but the relationship with Jesus, and walk into the world. That's a paradoxical partnership that to others makes as much sense as a left-wing fascist. My Bhuddist taxi drive dropped a pearl of wisdom that he did not fully understand. He said the Bhuddist makes his way alone, reincarnated until he reaches God. And that the Christian, well his God comes to meet him and take his hand so that they can walk together now. When we're apart I'm a perm without a curl 'Cause ever since the start You been the ocean to my pearl You and I together tilt Earth off its axis We make as much sense as a left-wing fascist But when we locked eyes back in grade nine classes I knew we'd be together 'til this life passes I wanna see the world with your hand in mine, you know Come on I love you like that
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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