entering the synergy

Welcome to the world of disillusion where lives become dust blowing in the wind as the machine grinds away at your soul burning what’s left of life into a polluting viral smog that blinds the spirit and kills the body.  A world of death where decay is the only real thing to hang on to as isolation invades the senses building walls between hope and what’s within grasp of rotting flesh. 

We float like barren islands in a sea of pain unable to connect with the other as another becomes a monster that must be killed or kill to keep from the killing of one another.  Barren isolation ripping the soul to shreds in a sea of phantoms that burn the heart but can never be touched. 

Into this divided world of isolation comes a light, a hope, truth, a word that transforms and unites; the Creation of the possibility of the impossible, wells of life in the desert.  The wasteland becomes a source of life filled with the possibility of unity among islands of barrenness.  The word fills and surrounds the impossible with the powerless power of love uniting all that is empty with life to be fused with the Spirit that gives life through the breathe that God breathes upon the world to call it back into the paradise originally created to be it’s abode. 

The monsters of death, the powers of Hell come face to face with their enemy, their doom, their demise as the empty tomb made holy by the body of the Son reveals the glory of God’s chosen one.  Now the One within whom creation and Heaven have been fused together in a unity the monsters of isolation and corruption have been overcome.  Through the risen body the physical and the spiritual, the seen and unseen, the created and the uncreated are fused together to bring the life of love into the isolated creating a synergy of life.  

CHRIST HAS RISNE 

The darkness overcomes till tomorrow

Who do you trust and just what is truth.  The political pundits spin their tales to change reality to their selfish aggrandizing benefit.  The powers that be control and manipulate the people with fear and torture.  On the streets there is death and no one dares speak up or say a word; voices have been silenced and hearts have been crushed, we’re just walking aimlessly through life to our deaths.  Where are you going they say?  Where the hell are you going, this world’s about to burn up and burn out.  Well I say I’m going to the tomb to the place where hope has been buried and love lies in death’s captivity.  I’m going to wait and see what comes when the sun rises over the hills and lights up the dark alley streets. 

The poor sit in their dark corners waiting for the sun to shine upon a land scorched by bombs and bullets that rip the sky slicing the heart’s of innocents caught in the crossfire.  The sick lay in bed waiting for the sun to shine through windows dirty from years of neglect and apathy wondering if eyes will ever gaze upon them again.  The tomb is filled with the incense of death as all the world below and above waits to see what will happen while a war rages in Hell for the souls of the ancients. 

My heart bleeds for love as I sit at the tomb of the one who died at the hands of cruel powers that neglect the people while sucking life from the world.  The body of the immortal, the light, the holy one of God lays in the tomb from the wounds of the cross that gives life to our bodies inflicted with sin and death.  I sit at the tomb awaiting with hope and faith for the Lord to raise from death and lead us to Heaven’s glory. 

What’s in a name?

Apparently the McCain campaign is highlighting the fact that Barak Obama’s middle name is Hussein and interpreting this fact as something to fear because it’s a Muslim name.  This raises some serious questions about how we interpret life and understand cultural differences.  I would also beg the question as to whether or not our nation is capable of sustaining the diversity of religion and ethnicity that we espouse to if religious fear is exploited during campaigning; in other words, are we a nation of bigots, but that should be for another blog.

Names are powerful because they connect us with a person or thing.  We don’t identify ourselves with our social security numbers when greeting people.  We introduce ourselves with our name because that’s who we are.  Sometimes names can identify our ethnicity and sometimes our faith.  In my Mennonite church tradition there are certain last names that identify you as a cultural, cradle Mennonite because it’s a name that has been part of the Mennonite church for generations and can be traced back to some sort of German or Dutch roots.  What’s ironic is that in today’s plurality and change in demographics there are many people with these last names who are no longer part of the Mennonite church but they still have the name.  What does this mean?  So a person has a Muslim name does that make them Muslim?

I have a friend who has a Muslim name but he’s a Christian.  His family was Muslim and naturally gave him a Muslim name but he decided to be a follower of Christ.  It’s important for us to distinguish between the name embodying who we are in the sense that it connects with a person who has a story and history.  But, to say that a name means your a particular ethnic or religious group is absurd in a world of freedom and choice.  How ironic that at election time when candidates are touting “American ideals” they destroy those ideals by suggesting that a person’s name means they belong to something that they don’t belong to.  Shame on the Republicans (I know the Democrats are not innocent.)

Words are powerful and we must ask what fills the word.  In the gospel of John chapter 1 we read that the Word became flesh and blood meaning that God took on flesh and blood through the Virgin Mary.  If God would never have become human in Christ then God’s words would always have a disconnect from the reality we live in.  It’s only through God’s fusion with the world that the world can be fused with God to transform it and save it.  This is why the name of Jesus is so powerful in identifying a reality; a loving reality that has conquered death.  

But, there are many people with the name of Jesus; a very popular name among various Hispanic groups.  Does that mean that anyone given the name Jesus takes on the same reality as Jesus Christ in the Bible?  Of course not, it doesn’t even guarantee that their Christians.  We do have free choice after all.  So why the big fuss that Obama has the middle name Hussein?

The Republican campaign is playing on fear; an anti-American fear for after all this is suppose to be a nation of religious freedom which means it shouldn’t matter what religion the president is but I guess we haven’t come that far in our belief in religious freedom.  There is an attempt to put meaning into Obama’s name that doesn’t exist.  Barak’s name embodies the story of a particular man who has a particular story and that story reveals who he is and what he believes.  That is what should count, the story that the name connects with.  If we need to resort to fear tactics then perhaps the campaign isn’t worth the air time it receives.  So I pray that the ignorant and dangerous ploys on the part of some people in both parties is put aside so that the story and ideas of all the candidates is reflected on in an open and honest atmosphere enabling the American people to make a decision based on what’s best for the nation. 

LENT STORY: letting go

To be consumed with the stuff of life seems to be the way of the world.  We burn ourselves out desperately seeking to satisfy our desires only to find ourselves empty and shallow in the end.  If we let go of it all there is peace but letting go can be painful. 

There once was a man who dragged himself out of a life of poverty, of desperate existence, to make a fortune and live the life most dream of.  What he desired he acquired through the fame and wealth that was at his fingertips.  It was a life of luxury and ease that seemingly erased the pain of his roots where poverty ruled. 

One day this man’s family fell apart; though the brokenness of his family had been a long time in the making and he had been blind to it.  His concern for wealth and his own desires created a space of shallowness where he neglected the relationships that matter most.  Money could no longer hide the lack of love he had given and his family was overcome with drugs, adultery, and hate. 

The rich man thought that more money would fix things in being able to buy the best counseling and bigger toys to forget the pain that his family was experiencing.  But, he realized to his horror that more wealth left his family more devastated leaving him with an emptiness in the pit of his stomach.  One day the man became aware of how lonely he truly was and the emptiness of his existence where there was no love or peace in his heart.

It was a moment of truth, an epiphany, as the man realized that when he was poor his family had what mattered most; love for one another.  In an act of desperation he sold all he had and gave the money to the poor.  He downsized his house to a simple home and changed jobs to one that was not as demanding. 

This change caused such consternation among his friends for whom he could not longer throw big parties or give lavish gifts that they deserted him.  This left the man confused as he thought they would understand that love is more important and the peace that comes from helping the poor.  So when the opportunity came, this poor man accepted a promotion and began to rebuild his wealth and live the lie that money buys; misery can be hidden behind big meaningless toys.