Still Here?

Last Saturday a few people, 200 million, were supposed to disappear and the rest of us were going to have to live with more of a mess than we already have. I have no joy about Harold's mistake. The poor guy seems to be really invested in this. I wouldn't want to be his dog. I might get kicked.

What I do find fascinating is the continuing focus of so many on dooms-day scenarios. I don't get it. Don't people have enough to pay attention to without trying to figure out when the whole thing is going to come crashing down? Maybe that's why there's so much interest in this stuff. Maybe we don't want to deal with all the normality. We'd rather be seeing beyond to the incarnation of 'what if.' Maybe it takes the pressure off.

Some of it is a mob scene. It's why lemmings keep going, everybody else is running, I'd better join. But I think there is a seed of yearning in this whole thing. And that interests me. I think we all would like to see through to something else. I think we'd all like to know, without a doubt that there is more than chance and darkness out there. Good ol' Harold with the huge ears hit on that with his formulae and his droning account of the end. The failure of his particular vision won't make the yearning go away.

I respect the yearning. I think yearners are the wise ones. But our job isn't to solve this conundrum. Our job is to reach with all the power that's within us toward... What? I guess that's why I got into this particular line of work so long ago. This is our particular version of WWF Wrestling. The rule is hang on and be willing to be amazed.

Who knows? We may evaporate at any moment.

Living on the Rift

Being Christian is strange. There are some moments when it feels like we are called to live straddling a fault line. The execution of Osama Ben Laden is one of those moments. This incarnation business forces us to take our human nature seriously. We can’t dismiss it as wrong or bad. Having a god that lived as we do, complete with tears, laughter, humiliation, and glory compels us to see each follicle of this life as full of potential, even the ugly and the tragic parts.

On the other hand the Christian vision includes ideals that extend beyond any reasonable hope of actualization. Beating our swords into plowshares isn’t going to happen this week. But it was part of the foundations upon which Jesus built his theology and ethic. He refused to deny that vision of peace even as he was tortured and executed by the powers and principalities that refused to pay any attention to the truth and the potential that vision indicates. The peaceable kingdom, the suffering servant, the mercy and love of God these all speak of a way of living that demands of us more than survival, dominance, vengeance, and other coin that purchase such ideals of the world as wealth, military might, and political power.
So, how do we live practically, in the world, while we follow a Lord who refused to be defined by its demands? By His behavior, we cannot live in judgment, we must live in the hope of redemption and reconciliation. That’s what He did.

See what I mean? One foot firmly planted on each side of the rift. And I think that’s where we are meant to live. When we get too comfortable on either side of the paradox, we’re not taking the world or Christ’s vision seriously.

Joy over the execution of Ben Laden is allowing ourselves to be seduced by vengeance. To deny the power of evil he wielded and his potential to wield more is to be naïve. So we struggle, we argue, we pray. And day by day we seek to follow in the footsteps of that crazy guy who broke rules and confused us and demanded that we be willing to live each day like it’s holy. Which it is.