I have read the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus many, many times. And, I have never seen the similarities it holds with Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” It is a fairly common trope, though. There’s “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” whose heart grew three sizes. And, of course, “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey has an “Ah ha!” moment. Besides the obvious change of direction that they had, there seems to be another connection between these. In all of them there were relationships with others that were both amended and the cause of that amendment. I’m not gonna do all of the heavy lifting for you. Take a minute and think about it. Zacchaeus and the people that he had wronged; The Grinch and joy of all those Whos in Whoville; George and his family and friends. And, of course, Scrooge and Tiny Tim. None of these individuals could be separated from others. No matter how much they tried or wanted to be. Sorry, Paul Simon, no one can be an Island. Gee…I guess you do learn something new every day!
Well, folks, I pulled the trigger. I have deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and tumbler accounts. I do need to tell you that it wasn’t easy. Even as I sat with my finger hovering over the‘Enter’ key, I was considering ways that I would be able to maintain some presence. Facebook offers partial canceling. I thought, that might work ok. I can use that. Then, when I find myself in the throes of Social Media Withdrawal I can simply log in and say, “JK!”
Both Facebook and Twitter have a 30 day wait period before they actually begin to delete stuff. So, I do have that time to reconsider. And, like I wrote in my last post, I don’t have any idea if or when I’ll be back traversing the InterWebs. However, having escaped it, I’m afraid that venturing back along the strands of the web may put me in peril like Ynyr in the 80s fantasy movie, “Krull.” I don’t think that I would be able to escape unscathed. Even if I could get my hands on some of the sand from the enchanted hourglass.
Anyway, it’s done.
Now what?
I plan to spend more time here. I hope to continue posting material that you all have found so riveting. All, what, 5 of you?
I’m going to try to use this platform for sharing, also. So, I may create more posts that are shorter. But, they will have links to other sources that I may comment on.
Like this:
Yesterday I read a blog post written by Carl McColman. In it he shared a common problem associated with social media.It does not lend itself to well-developed discussion. Like any remote communications, e-mail, social media, even writing letters, we aren’t able to communicate our true thoughts and feelings. There is lacking the physical presence and ‘body language’ that helps others to really “get” what we try to say. That problem seems to be more pronounced, however, when we simply react to something that someone writes or shares. There have been many times when I’ve had to come back and explain something that I shared that someone else misinterpreted. Those are awkward and can be damaging to relationships.
Relationships? Can people even have and develop those through social media? I don’t think so. It’s too easy to fall into the sin of “assumed familiarity.” We connect with someone online. We read what they share. And, we begin to think that we actually know that person. However, our understanding is far from the reality of things. I recently experienced this. I ‘assumed’ that I was a friend with someone. In fact, we even know each other away from the internet. But, I apparently misunderstood the depth of that relationship and feelings were hurt all around.
See? Short and sweet with a link to boot! We’ll see how this type of posting goes. I can always tweek it depending on how it is received.
I also hope to use this platform to share things that I write. I may share some poetry or excerpts from some other piece that I work on. Perhaps, eventually, I may be able to offer completed works to followers who are interested.
I don’t know where this will ultimately go. Since I began it several years ago I have experimented with different things. I would expect that changes will continue to be made. Nothing is etched in stone. This is, after all, only a bunch of 1s and 0s gathered together in a specific order.
So, I hope to see you here. Bring friends! We’ll have a party! (You will have to supply your own libation of choice.)
Be sure to ‘Follow’ the blog if you want to receive updates. Also, leave a comment!
It’s been a little while since I last visited here. There has been a lot happening. So, I want to take a minute to share a bit of it with you.
November was National Novel Writing Month. I decided that it was past time for me to write something. My dear old, gray haired Daddy used to say to me, “Son, you need to shit or get off the pot.” So, I shit. Or, rather, I took the opportunity to focus my energy on writing a novel. The goal of NaNoWriMo was to write 50,000 words over the course of one month. And, I’m happy to say that I DID IT!!!! Yay!!! While I met the goal of the challenge, it wasn’t until today that I actually finished the story. And, truth be told, it’s not great. In fact, it’s pretty bad. But, that’s not the point. The point is that I DID IT!!!! Yay!!! I created a lump of word clay that, hopefully, I’ll be able to mold and fashion into something worthwhile. That’s the aim of a first draft. Get words out there where they can be worked with. Now that I’ve done that, I’m going to put the story away to ferment for a couple weeks. I hope to start the editing process after the holidays.
Ah, yes…the Holidays. All I can say about that is Bah! Humbug! This is not the most wonderful time of the year for me. And, I know it’s not for a lot of other people as well. There are lots of reasons why people who grew up immersed in our Western winter holidays feel as I do. But, I’m not going to write a list. You know who you are and why you feel like you do. Hopefully, we’ll all get to January ready to pick up our lives in the New Year.
In recent months I’ve taken some time to re-evaluate some things. I was kind of forced into this by recent political events. I first noticed my anxiety and stress levels climbing during the Brett Kavanaugh debacle. I’m pretty sure that a more unqualified jurist could not be found. It was also clear that the will of the majority of citizens was that the Senate should have stopped the confirmation process and sent the nomination back to the White House for a new choice. Now, I know that some reading this may disagree with me. They may think that a majority of citizens did not feel this way. That’s ok. I really can’t concern myself with that. But, I will point to the recent mid-term elections as evidence for my case.
That brings me to another event that has been chasing peace away…the mid-terms. The divide in this nation, and I might add, around the world, is real, people. It seems that it’s far more important to win than to be right. Lies trump the truth. (See what I did there?) Partisanship takes precedent over the common good or the will of the people. I mean, look at what the GOP in Wisconsin just did to the incoming Dem. Governor and Attorney General. Don’t’know? Google it.
It seems that everywhere I turn I am faced with divisiveness and hatred. Xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia…it’s all fear, folks. Fear triggers the fight or flight reaction that has allowed us as a species to grow and thrive through a million years of evolution. But, if it is sustained, it causes real damage to one’s mind and body. Our Western culture, particularly in the U.S., has been running on high adrenaline for way too long.
It’s come to the point that I need to step back from things for my own health. I think ,also, in order to fulfill my own calling.
I have spent a lot of time reading,studying, and following news and events online and on television. Now, these things are not inherently bad. In fact, they are all beneficial in their own ways. And, I hope to continue them. However, there is a text recorded by one of the writers of the Gospels referring to folks who gave a tithe to the Jerusalem temple without fail. Yet, they neglected to do the good and right things when it came to justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus told them that they should have not just focused on their giving. But, they should have done the one without neglecting the other. Well, in a way, I have done just that. I have been so focused on studying and sharing my thoughts and opinions that I have neglected the interior work that must be done by any person who would call him or herself a follower of Jesus. That interior work involves contemplation,meditation, and prayer. These practices helped to open my eyes many years ago to how wrong it is for people to get caught up in following a set of rules and calling that ‘christianity.’ It was in the quietness of ‘waiting on the Lord’ that God’s grace became my reality. So, I have begun to take the time I would have given to study in order to offer it to God in stillness. I trust that God will not reject that.
And, finally, I am going to make some changes regarding my online presence. This Sunday I intend to walk away from social media for a while. How long? I have no idea. Until God presses me to go back, I guess. What this will mean is that I will delete and deactivate every social media account I now have. Facebook, twitter, tumblr, Instagram…all of them.
“But,wait! How will we communicate with you? How will you share all of those priceless nuggets of wisdom that we’ve grown to know and love?”
Yeah, I hear ya. But, not to worry. I will continue to write and share here. My WordPress blog will be my primary avenue for online communication. You can follow it by selecting below. That way, you’ll get a notification whenever something new is posted. You can also use the comments to share your own thoughts and feelings with me. Note, I said ‘with me.’ That doesn’t mean that what you share will automatically be broadcast to anyone else. We can share it publicly if we want. Or, it can remain just between us.
You can share your e-mail address and we can communicate electronically. That way we can continue to stay in touch.
A better way, I think, would be to share postal addresses. Yes, I mean snail mail. Why? Well, it’s a far more personal and thoughtful way to communicate. It’s way too easy to give into the tyranny of the expedient with sound bytes and emojis doing our talking for us. Taking time to think about words and how they may impact another person is too important. Yet, daily we toss our responsibility away with our shallow interactions. As important as the electronic communities are for many, it’s important to remember that They Are Not Real! They exist in the ether of the World Wide Web. And, while that location is not a real place, it is a web. It can be as sticky as any spider’s. And, just as deadly.
So, what do you think? Have I lost it? Am I succumbing to that malady called ‘old age’? No, I don’t think so. But, somethings are becoming more important to me. Recently, I found a cache of old letters that one of my great-aunts had sent to my parents. As I read through these notes I was struck by how these words had transcended the years. I held, in my hands, thoughts that had been created in the mind of another human. She had taken the time to formulate specific ideas and articulate them on paper for one specific purpose. That purpose was not to gain followers or so that her brilliance could ‘go viral.’ No, she simply desired to touch another person’s heart with hers.
We have gained a hell of a lot with the technological advances that have been made. This is both good and wonderful.
But, perhaps we should not neglect the one at the expense of the other.
It’s been awhile since I last visited my question,
Who Are You God…Really?
Most of my available time has gone to studying rather than writing.
But, this journey is long.
If I don’t stop and get my thoughts out they may get lost along the way.
Previously, I’ve been here, here, and here.
I’ve discovered that God enjoys being with and in the Cosmos.
God seems to have fun getting dirt under the Divine fingernails and
making stuff.
And, God likes to make stuff with others.
I found that Jesus called some others to follow him so that he could make them
into something that they were not.
They were fisher-people. Not, People-Fishers.
Those are what Jesus wanted them to become.
How did Jesus think that he would do this?
The writer of Matthew wrote down his ideas about that.
Jesus gathered his disciples and, like Moses before him, went up to the Mountain.
What mountain? And, why there?
The answer to the first question has been asked and speculated about ever since
the Church began. And, for the sake of brevity I’ll just say that no one knows for sure.
It’s a question that will not be answered because it may not have an answer.
“Whoa, Mike! Are you saying that Matthew was just making up this mountain story?”
Well, yeah, maybe.
There could very well have been an actual event that took place where Jesus talked to
his disciples on some mountain. In fact, considering the terrain where they lived, it was probable.
But, that’s not important to Matthew or this particular story.
Mountains have been the location for divine interaction in many cultures over the ages.
Just considering the Hebrew Scriptures, mountains are the places where deities dwell.
They are considered closer to Heaven because of their height. Check out the story of Babel.
Why were people building a great tower? To get closer to Heaven.
How about Mount Olympus? Ziggurats and other tall places? Mountains were places where the gods hung out. The place where divine proclamations were made.
What better place for Matthew to have Jesus go in order to begin training his disciples?
I’m not going to go into a detailed description of all that happens here. Unless you’re Biblical scholar I’m pretty sure that I would lose you, (if I haven’t already), within 2 sentences. Plus, that’s not my purpose.
I want to know who God is. And, in the 21st century who really cares.
I’ve already shown that the purpose of this hike was to begin training for Jesus’ followers.
If I was one of those guys with Jesus I think that I would have been expecting him to do what other Rabbis did.
We would sit at Jesus’ feet and Jesus would teach them how to follow Torah, the Law.
Jesus would show us all of the things that others had taught for at least the previous 400-500 years.
What Jesus actually did, though, was to turn everything upside down.
He began by telling them that they were to be happy when things went wrong!
When they mourned, they should be happy.
When they were hungry, they should be happy.
When they were merciful…happy!
When the found themselves persecuted, yep, happy again.
This wasn’t what all the other Rabbis taught.
They taught that when people were comfortable, rich, well-fed, etc. that was a sign of God’s blessing.
Then Jesus turned things up a notch. He began to tell them that the popular way of
understanding the Jewish Law was in need of some tweeking. He had the audacity
to change the words! He said, “You have heard it said…” and quoted something from
the Torah or the Rabbinic tradition. Then said, “Yeah, but I tell you…” and contradicted the earlier teaching.
Now, there is a lot to unpack in all of this.
Not gonna do it.
What I do want to see is what Jesus actually did that gives glimpse into God’s mind.
He reinterpreted the Torah in the light of his current time and need.
This is important for us today. Too many theologians, both professional and armchair,
teach that the only correct way to understand the Scriptures and our theology is to
reiterate over and over what someone said 200 or 300 or 500 years ago.
They say that God’s Word never changes. Whatever Calvin or Luther or Wesley or
any of those guys says about it MUST BE CORRECT!
Well, if we’re to take Jesus, (and Paul), as exemplars in Biblical interpretation, then I have no choice but to
call Bullshit on that.
Jesus clearly believed that the Scriptures, (like the Sabbath), were made for us humans.
Not the other way around.
God, it seems, wants people…Us…You and Me to engage the text as we are today…in this culture…
with our own needs and desires in mind. We don’t need to bow our knees to the way that someone else has
interpreted the text.
Does that mean to each his/her own?
No. I don’t think so. The Biblical text still needs to be interpreted and lived in community.
But, what it does mean is that we, as a community, may travel the Way of Jesus
with a freedom that will Break the Chains that Bind.
Please feel free to share this post with your friends!
Also, please use the comments section to share your thoughts with me. Thanx!
I grew up in a small neighborhood. My street had 3 houses on it and what seemed like miles and miles of woods. At one end of the street was Lake Rd. Cars, trucks, and busses flew up and down that thoroughfare. My parents made sure that I understood that any attempted crossing of that barrier would result in my instant death. At the other end of the street were cliffs that led down to Lake Erie. Again, my ever-loving parents put the fear of God into me. Jesus may have walked on water, but I surely could not.
There was another street next to ours. It had a lot of small cottages on it. Apparently, the street had been a resort of sorts for folks from the Big City, Cleveland, to come to on summer weekends to get away from it all.
Living in one of those cottages was a family whose roots were in West Virginia. At that time there were 5 people in the family. Dad, Mom, and 3 little girls. I remember spending time there playing with them. The oldest was 5. She was something about her that made her special to 6 year old me. If I had to describe it, I was madly in love with her. (At least as a 6 year old could understand that!) She had braces on her legs and couldn’t walk well. I had no idea what caused that. And, I didn’t really care. All I did care about was making her laugh. And she did laugh! She was a very happy child who brightened by soul.
One day I went there and she was gone. I didn’t know for sure where she went. I do remember one time driving with my parents and passing a local hospital. My mom pointed at it told me that my friend had gone there. Later, they told me she had died. Six year old me really had no idea what that meant. After all, when our dog suddenly disappeared my parents told me that she had gone to live on someone’s farm. For all I knew, my young friend had simply gone to live somewhere that she could be cared for.
At the end of that street there was one of the few non-cottages. It was a fairly large house. The family that lived there had 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls. To get to their house I had to follow a path through the woods that grew next to my house. We were roughly the same age, give or take a couple years. I remember that their youngest daughter was my first real crush. Yep! Seven years old and madly in love! Ah…those were good times! I became friends with one of the boys. They had an old camper that the two of us used to climb up on and then jump off of holding on to an umbrella that we were sure would be just as good as a parachute. It’s a wonder that we didn’t break our legs…or our necks. Inside their house they had an old pump organ. It was one of those instruments that you had to pump pedals in order to build up air that would generate sound. My friend knew part of one song. But, he may as well have been a virtuoso to me. It was at his house that I learned the time honored practice of making prank phone calls. You know, “Hello! Is your refrigerator running? It is? Well, you better run and catch it!” Ha ha ha! We would also have carnivals at my house. All of us kids would hang in my back yard and devise carny games and side-show acts. My friend liked to be the ‘Man with a Thousand Shirts.’ He would put on six or seven t-shirts and act like he was at the doctor’s. His brother played the doctor. When he was told to take off his shirt he did. But, of course there was another one under it. For a bunch of 1st to 4th graders in the early 1960s this was great fun!
Eventually, all of my friends moved away and we drifted apart.
It was odd, though, that over the years we all came to embrace religion. And, we all came to it in its Evangelical form. My friends who had the daughter who had passed when she was 5 were devout Baptists. When I came to faith in my teens the Mom was glad and made sure to tell me that she had been praying for me. She was a super lady and I loved her deeply. Sadly for us, she has passed on to her Glory. My other friend who wore too many shirts went on to become a pastor. We have been able to reconnect through social media.
For anyone who knows me they realize that I no longer hold to the Evangelical way of following Jesus. Perhaps because I wasn’t born and raised in that tradition I had a different perspective. I came from a rock-n-roll rebel background. I am wont to say that “I once was a Hippie, then I was a Reagan Republican. Now, I’m a Hippie again.” That whole Reagan thing came about because of the Evangelical crowd I was a part of at that time. I remember in 1980 hanging a sign in my area at work that read, “Vote Republican for a Change.” The only reason that I felt that way, besides the conservative religious folks I hung with, was the single issue of abortion. Evangelicals changed the way they thought about that in the late 70s. Jerry Falwell, Sr. and his Moral Majority grabbed hold of that and so did the Republican Party. Since then, sadly, Evangelicals and Republicans have been together between the sheets doing the Monkey dance. I think that we are seeing the progeny of that coupling in our politics today. It’s not pretty.
So, I and my friend have grown apart when it comes to a certain way of religious practice and our politics. Yet, we still follow each other on Facebook. I think that we could sit together and laugh and drink coffee while reminiscing about those days way back when. Yes, we will not agree on a lot of things. But I am finding that if people put their minds to the task of trying NOT to be divisive and to respect the other’s opinion there can be healthy relationships.
People grow. People change. And, people are strengthened by diversity. Relationships come and go. Still, I find it refreshing that after so many years and such divergent paths, I can still find a kindred spirit to share with on the journey.
I’m sitting at my desk. It’s 4:15 A.M. My diffuser is sending a cool mist smelling of Pumpkin Spice into the air.
One week ago I was preparing to take a road trip with my wife to Albany, NY. I had promised myself that I was going to take a break from the news, social media, and any distractions that may compete for my time. The current political state of the U.S. and the chaos that seems to reign in Washington, D.C. and the news media was eating at my soul.
I needed a break.
And, I needed it NOW!
I’m pleased to say that I was successful at turning things off. I turned of both television and computer. I spent a lot of time reading and taking care of some odds-n-ends that required my attention at home. A couple new door knobs on bedrooms, lawn cut and outdoor furniture stowed away for another year. You know, odds-n-ends.
Now, here it is a week later. My blood pressure is good. Well, that’s mostly due to the medication. But, laying low for a week helped I’m sure.
Did I have any great revelation while away?
No, not really.
However, I am going to make a couple changes for my own well-being. You see, I tried very hard to know what’s going on in the world. I listened to as much as I could from many conflicting sources. I didn’t want to spend all of my time in an echo chamber only hearing one side of a story in order to continually feed and reinforce any biases. And, I do hope to continue to listen to everyone that I can. There are some, though, that I must let go of.
Today I am going to go through my social media feeds and weed out many voices. These are voices that I truly love to listen to. But, they are voices that I don’t really need to hear. So, I will bid them fond farewell. I am going to restructure my Twitter feed. If I can’t do that in a satisfactory manner, I’m gonna ditch it all together. I intend to leave other media alone. For now.
I have a calling. Part of that is to write. Part is to listen, study, and think. (Some say that I do that too deeply. Oh, well.) I’ve got to focus on that more. Especially, the writing part. Not only here, but in other ways as well.
So, am I refreshed from my time away? No, not really. I’m still leaving in about an hour and a half to go back to work. Life moves forward without pause. It cares not a whit whether I’m feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. But, I was able to draw my focus back a bit. Hopefully, that will be enough for now.
I know that I’ve not been posting much recently. I have been busy with other projects.
I have mostly been focused on studying the Gospels. That study has consumed what little time I have for personal endeavors, like this blog. The study, however, is providing fodder for future postings. So, what goes around will come around eventually.
I’m writing now, however, to say that I am taking a few days to disconnect as much as possible.
Between work, the online communities that I’m a part of, and and the constant chaos presented both online and in the news cycle I am burned out and suffering no small amount of anxiety.
So, taking a breather is in order.
I hope to take a road trip to clear my heart and my head. Once I post this I’m shutting down my computer and closing my commentaries and Greek grammars. I will be leaving my cell plugged into its charger in my office. It will not accompany me.
I will take my journal and my wife only.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to spend time in prayer and contemplation.
I need to chill and recharge.
So, until I get back, May any who read this be Blessed!
As I’ve struggled with trying to discover an answer to my question, “Who Are You God…Really?” I was drawn to the initial spark that became the Cosmos. Who is God in relation to all that we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch? And, what does that have to do with me getting up every day and driving into the city to work? Or, returning home to family and responsibilities and, well, just “Life” stuff.
The short verse I wrote is built with 2 lines of 5 syllables followed by an exclamation.
Except for the end where the last 2 lines leave off into space where all sorts of possibilities live.
You didn’t even leave a note on the bedside table!
Don’t all of the years we spent together mean anything to you?!?
We laughed and we loved.
We travelled together. We slept together.
I thought that we would be together ALWAYS!!!
You Promised That You Would Never Leave Me!
And Now!
Now, You just died and left me alone!
I wrote this as I was thinking about a friend of mine who lost a loved one. Could part of our mourning process involve resolving anger that we may have toward that person? They did, after all, leave us alone without warning.
