A Prayer for Politics

Do politics scare you, maybe tick you off, or maybe they frustrate you? Me too. It baffles me that we vote for these people whom we have never had a cup of coffee with or even a handshake. I do not want to vote for a guy who gives a dead fish handshake, there are few things worse than shaking a hand that does not shake back! Regardless of sissy handshakes or rotten morals, we elect and they stand in between the unemployed or minimum waged and the president and the world for that matter. The people in Washington—that is DC not that the state, I was confused for awhile—are supposed to represent what I would vote for, root for the policies I’d root for, get angry at that dumb things I’d get angry over . . . well we all know that for the most part this does not happen. So when Presidents, Senators, House Representatives, Governors, Mayors, Chairmen, etc. act different than I’d like them to I want to bash them until I have no words left. I want to criticize them to anyone who will listen—this does not exclude inanimate objects or even unintelligent animate ones—in hopes, I guess, that I’ll feel better at the end by showing how logical I am and straight thinking I am. But does this help anything or anyone? I’d suggest no.

While it may be entertaining and make me feel better afterwards, I think it is an act of cowardly wickedness to react in such a way towards our elected leaders and here are my reasons:

Reason 1: They are people like you and me. This means two things: First, they are going to make mistakes just like you and me; Second, they are humans which means they are in some way beings that reflect the image of God. Lets take the first part of this—mistakes. While they should be more closely watched than the average guy—they are supposed to represent us after all—the result of watching something more closely is going to result in revulsion no matter what. One time I got a hold of one of those vanity mirrors that is more like a reflective microscope; I was terrified when I looked in it: it was like a planet of living hideousness was existing on my face, but I never would have noticed such filth if I did not zoom in. When we zoom in on people—yes, including yours truly—the result is going to be vomit inducing. The second thing—they’re made in God’s image—is more important because when we attack them personally we, in some measure, attack God himself. ‘No we don’t’ you may say to which I valiantly and sweepingly reply, ‘Yes we do.’ God created the physical body of someone as well as their brains which control mental development and reaction. I am speaking in very general terms here knowing that society and upbringing play a huge part in ones development.

Reason 2: Policies, for the most part are really what we despise. When I get ticked it is when so-and-so voted in favor of a dumb idea. Attack the plan, attack the soulless stupidity that is the ‘plan’ and not the people casting a yea or nay. Write your Congressmen about the plan and not how you wish he was not alive. People don’t mess up countries, policies and administrations do.

Reason 3: How would you do in their position? I know this is not a fair question, but I am still gonna use it. First of all, I read about as fast as a fifth grader so I know I’d lag behind on reading all the policies and suggestions, secondly I know I’d get torched by the resounding rhetoric and rules: I’d get my feelings hurt and go into a raging fit that’d headline CNN and Fox News. I also have the consistency of a wave on he ocean, which is not helpful when you’re supposed to be a rock. And finally, I have the ability to remember things like a ninety-year-old with Alzheimer’s, somehow I do not think this would be to my advantage.

Reason 4: I think I criticize because I am lazy: it is easy to yell and scream at someone who you know will not react or even hear you. I blow steam that they’ll never feel . . .and I kinda like this fact, which is wrong. I give them no chance because they do not even know I exist, yet I continue to butcher them like a piece of meat. Shameful.

Reason 5: I know that the God of the Bible is watching everything and is in control of all of it. For those who follow him we have nothing to be anxious about. Yes it is frustrating because I no longer live in the same country which my grandfathers—heck, even my father—were born in and I try and change what I can, but in the end I cannot be frustrated: God is working his plan, how can I hate that? ‘Sorrowful yet always rejoicing’ the Apostle Paul put it: sorrowful over the tragedies that are going on because we feel and are human and it hurts; rejoicing because there is a greater hope that is sure and coming soon, the kingdom of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

So let us do ourselves a favor and maybe add a few years to our lives and when we turn on the news be a little less angry and frustrated because something bigger than taxes is going on in the world.

Thankful on Thursday

Thank you Jesus for your death,
the oozing blood & sacred breath.
For your nerves and your skin
bearing the bones & briars of sin.
For the salt and saliva you shed in shame;
your naked exposure & fallen fame;
the mocking murderers cheering your pain.
The breaking of the dance divine,
the dirge of duty & delight
dove into death
to save the wicked
and that was it.

Rising for the rebellious,
we regard your righteous worth,
a wreath upon the head which
was ashen and of dirt.

Healthy Much?

What’s with being super healthy? I know that I cannot live out my dream of eating candy all day long and hoping that the milk I dunk the Oreo’s in will balance off, but we have issues here in the West. At the expense of being genuinely happy: we count percentages, we say no to enjoyable foods, we work out way too much, we stand in front of many mirrors and step on scales, we feel bad when we’re not ‘in shape’ and the list goes on. I understand that there is a certain healthiness that is good (my candy life-style is bad, I know this), but what is the mostly Western psycho-healthy life-style good for?

Here are a few stabs at positive points:

1. Being pleasant to others. It is true, the saying ‘easy on the eyes’ did not come from nothing. But do you really sweat 4 times a week so that other people can look at you and not be horrified?

2. Being attractive to others. This is more like it. This is the reason that when you DO go for your run or weight-lifting that you have no sleeves or anything covering your tummy (well, for those who have something to show there; I’ll keep the mo-mo thank you). You want others to look at you and say, ‘oo-la-la.’ You also, like some animal, want to be made of the right stuff to attract a suitable mate. I said like some animal . . . that’s weird, I thought our brains set us apart . . . maybe our souls, regardless there are plenty of people who buck the number scale for attraction. Besides, there really is much more to a person than their looks (seriously, I’m banking on this one). Not that it is at all wrong to enjoy someone else’s beauty, especially your spouse’s, but one bad accident can change their physical physique: do you really want to base a marriage off of something as mutable as skin and bone structure?

3. Feeling good about yourself. Most of the time this phrase can be translated into ‘good self-esteem,’ which can equally be translated into ‘I like me,’ which can just as easily translate into ‘I’m arrogant and think I am the center of the world.’ When I look in front of the mirror and the shadows are right and it is just dark enough to be very visible I do not think good about myself, I feel great, I feel like I’m something special that the world has been missing for quite some time. What really IS good is more so feeling comfortable—without everyone else’s commentary—with yourself, regardless of how your body is shaped. Lie 3 exposed.

4. Live longer. This is good. I am not going to say that I want to die young and hope everyone else does too. Even the Bible speaks of long life as something positive. However, there is a big difference between hoping you live long and demanding it. People who are always in the gym and always watching what they eat seem to want to demand more life out of Life: look what I’ve done, give me days!! This is silly. What prevents us from dying when we are 20 or 120: not our choice. People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day may live decades longer than the person who never ate a calorie more than he should have.

Ultimately we fear death. There is a sense in which this is not a bad thing at all. However when we fear death so much that we try and wield the reigns of life, there is something wrong. I am not a Fatalist or a disguised Fatalist (Realist), rather simply one who understands how the world turns and who really is in control of things. The Bible is very clear about this subject and there are three aspects:

A. The Ruler of this World. He is also called the Devil, Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies, the Deceiver, but he is also called the Ruler of this Present Age (of this World). When he tempted Jesus by telling the God-man he would give him authority over all the earth, it really was a temptation because the Devil DOES have the authority (thankfully Jesus is patient). In the book of Job (pronounced with a hard vowel sound like boat) the Devil inflicted Job with the death of family members, the loss of wealth, and personal hardship and physical suffering.

B. The God of the Bible. Read the Book, he’s all up in there. God is above the Devil, while the Devil does what he does on the earth God is telling and allowing him to do so—the Devil is leashed up. In the book of Job again we see that the Devil first had to ask permission of God to do the harmful things to Job and his family, God allowed them to happen. God even appoints the seemingly terrible things that happen in life: he even appointed that Jesus, his very own son, be unjustly murdered.

C. We are the final aspect. But some things do not make complete logical sense. I understand down to the most minute aspect how a seed grows into a tree and then produces fruit, but it still does not make sense. So too it is with our responsibility on earth. If you believe that the actions you take and do not take control the world (not in a dictator way, rather have an effect on the world) than you must have the most ulcers out of anyone. There is no way that you can believe this and still get up in the morning. If you think that the world will be tremendously effected by the decisions you make you would be crippled with anxiety because you know you will make a mistake that could kill someone and no one can live with that understanding all the time and not go crazy. You call it chance or fate or providence, regardless, you believe there is something other than your personal decision that dictates the flow of life. You know that you do not determine who gets cancer and who misses getting hit with a bullet when everyone around them does.

What does all this have to do with being overly healthy? When your health begins to dictate all you do and do not do it has already controlled you and you are bowing to a subservient master: you are being controlled by something other than God and even less than man. You cannot escape death, no one can. But you can laugh at the future knowing that eternity is in the hands of a God who loves you . . . unless you do not love him, then you should be afraid to die because if you die being a rebel towards God, you’ll be judged for it. However, like the All-State Insurance guy says, if your in God’s hands, your in good hands. And being in God’s hands means you can be a little less trim because you are worried about bigger things than what others will say; you can be a bit more round and not freak out that you will never attract a good spouse; you can know that your future is okay, ultimately. This is no license to be a glutton and not give a cent about your health, but put it where it needs to be, somewhere further down the list of priorities than it is. And go get some Dairy Queen, please.

Why are we Surprised?

Surprised. Surprised by what? You ever wonder why it is that people get surprised by anything? I’ve heard is said countless times: ‘Expect the unexpected;’ but even then you cannot control the reaction you sustain when something surprising happens.

The typical male American hero is a man not surprised by anything. When an explosion happens just behind the greased up and ripped dude, he doesn’t move a muscle. When people die he turns into an overly pragmatist with a touch of stoic realism: ‘people die, life happens,’ and he moves on,

Well we all know that the movie man is not real, we hurt when people die, we wet our pants when explosions happen, and on average, we’re ‘over-weight’ and not terribly good looking. We surprise fairly easy actually. Take, for example, the singer Susan Boyle. Susan was a contestant in Britain’s Got Talent, the British version of American Idle (really it is the other way around). The Scotswoman stepped onto the stage before a young audience wearing a 70ish stay-at-home-mom dress and overall she was not an externally captivating woman; however, as soon as she began to sing everybody’s jaw dropped and by the end she was met with a standing ovation and much praise from her judges. Why was the world shocked by this? Mainly it is because she looked like she fell off the boring bus 3 decades ago and has been lost ever since. Her demeanor projected a certain precedent but her abilities shattered that precedent: she did not fit her mold. This is the basic reason why we get shocked: when someone or something breaks out of its expected norm of behavior. Why are we shocked when a baby says momma for the first time? We’ve heard hundreds of people say momma, I can say momma and no one cares; it is that the baby was not supposed to say any coherent word yet. Guys, why are we surprised when ugly dude (2) lands a beautiful wife (10), because that is not how things are supposed to work, dude messed up the number scale.

Well here are some things to be shocked but not surprised by:

--People doing evil things to other people. You want evidence that people are generally bad, look at babies. You take something they want away they’ll scream, crap their pants, hit and refuse to eat until they get it. Why should we not be surprised; people are evil, we live under an actual curse where we want to and do . . . do wrong (somewhere 8th grade boys are giggling).

--People doing nice things to other people. Even though we’re all evil, we are still made in God’s image and though the mirror is broken we still got some pieces that rightly reflect who he is. So just because the lady at the store smiles and forgives you when you cuss at her baby who wont shut up, doesn’t mean she loves God, rather there are some things that she can let go.

--People claiming they’ve found complete contentment in life. Don’t trust `em, seriously. Life sucks, even in the bubble of the United States, and if someone says that they are okay with life they are either clinically crazy, so sheltered an infant would be shocked, or a cult leader. Granted people can have pockets of contentment, but seriously, keep one good eye on that person. The world is broken down and bleeding, we can laugh and cry; be happy and want to kill our self all in the same day: the world was not supposed to be this way. There is a difference between saying you’re content, living an island life-style throwing back margaritas and being content because you know that one day you get to push the ejection button out of this mess.

--People doing heroic things. There are plenty of principles people live by that are inches away from Christ, but, as the saying goes, a miss is as good as a mile. It takes something special to be brave, and not many have it. However we must remember that we can gain the whole world but still lose our soul.

--God being who he says he is. Hope you don’t miss this one. I get mad when people don’t answer me as soon as I like; I get overexcited when my team wins; I get the blues on occasion; I cry when I really hurt; I laugh at jokes; I have goals and desires and life will crush me, but I will not be surprised when I meet God. He will be much greater than I imagined, much more than I imagined and I’ll be surprised by that, but I will not be surprised that he is good, that he is full of justice, and that I’ll be pardoned of all my wrong simply because I believe that what Jesus did is true.

From the Preacher to the Preached: Unskilled

You’re on the Penthouse
holding a mojito
chirping articulate prose

They’re on the sidewalk
downing a Mad-dog
groaning unthinkable woes

John: the disciple whom Jesus Love

'The disciple whom Jesus loved.'

These words come from the Gospel according to John in the Christian New Testament. There is something you need to know about these words, the author of John kept writing them in his book. He keeps telling his audience that he is the one whom Jesus loved.

I remember when I first discovered this truth. How dare John, I thought to myself. Who is he to parade the words, who is he among Andrew, James, even Peter to claim that he is the one whom Jesus set his affection? When I would reread the Gospel of John I would continuously get angry at John, for I saw him as the most arrogant and obnoxious figure in the whole Bible. John is speaking these words and often, as he said presumptuously, ‘of course I am he who Jesus loved.’ I came to the conclusion that this guy was not going to be heaven, there apparently was not room enough for his ego, he thought that he was so great therefore God loved, that he must be some kind of special deal to God.

My judgments are all in the past because I could not have been further from the truth. Yes I realize now that I turned what John said completely on its head. The first time this phrasing occurs, in speaking of John, is found in chapter 13 of John’s book. Immediately prior to our phrase is something extraordinary. Jesus, whom John and 11 other guys had been following around the country and being taught by, said, ‘If you want to be great, be the servant of all.’ Jesus then took each of the twelve men’s callused and dirtied feet and one-by-one began to wash them using his own clothes as a rag and his own hands to hold their feet as he poured water over them and scrubbed them clean. They knew that Jesus was God. Jesus knew he was God. Yet, Jesus served them; Jesus was literally on his knees before them.

John heard the sermons that Jesus preached, he heard the stories Jesus told, he saw the way that Jesus lived day in and day out. John also saw how his life did not compare. John knew Jesus was right in saying that no one can ever be perfect just as God the Father is perfect. John was realizing more and more that he was a failure, that he needed help, he needed saving, his eternity was in trouble. Speeding ahead, Jesus is murdered and John and the others are scared and not too sure what to do, but then Jesus almost casually shows up in their house. He is alive, he beat death, he paid the penalty that John was to receive!

John knew how much he needed saving and now there was one who really could save his soul. Would that Savior reject him, wouldn’t he be annoyed with John’s sins? No! And this is why we find John saying over and over and over that he is the one whom Jesus loved. The repeated statement is not an exclusive statement that John is the only person Jesus loved, or even that John is the only disciple that Jesus loved. Rather, John cannot and should not get passed the fact that he could be and is loved by the perfect God and creator of all things. His song is simple and humble: ‘Do you realize that God loves me?! How can this be, I am not worthy, I am wicked. Yet it is true, God loves even me!’

What Was It?

I have the presence of something absent,
the wisps of dissipating veins,
a fog so subtle you cannot mark
when it is not.
When is a wave just a current?
A noise just a wind?
Is the ache of something standing
or something rightly ripped away?