I stared at the world
I could have built
Had I
Grasped more
Farce fully
A stock pile
Awe but reaching
Heaven
Falling short
Of mature stature
Leaving behind
Child’s play
The ripe now
And not trading in
Futures
Of albatross necklaces
Adorned by all
This poem is a tip of the hat to the story of the Tower of Babel, where mankind tries quite literally to build a stairway to heaven. This ancient tale of vanity is perhaps even more true now than when it was first told. With advances in science and technology the notion of building a socialist paradise that saves humanity from its own perennial moral dilemmas seems all the more possible, and therefore, tempting. Of course, knowledge is no sin; but, the hubris to think that you can cheat reality is. There are no technological means to bypass courage, faith, and compassion or love. Humans are the proper instrument for courage, faith, and love. Any worldview that negates humanity by pretending that humanity can somehow be bypassed, along with its unavoidable moral responsibility, is idolatrous. Idolatry is simply constructing the foundation of one’s life (whatever you consider authoritative) on images of reality rather than reality itself. Simply put, humans cannot create a world where they no longer need to be good, that is make moral choices, with their commensurate values or “costs”, which include courage, faith, and love
Any ideology or social system can function idolatrously, if it is considered an end not the means to something greater. Such rigid, graven images impair proper human functioning, which is relational, not simply a “thing” to be better sculpted. The something greater is dynamic living relationships. In religious terms, the great commandments are relational as loving God and loving neighbor. Unfortunately, humans are quite adept at over-concretizing spiritual truths and settling for worshiping the stone images (e.g., ten commandments) printed word (e.g., Bible), or any system of thought, rather than the reality to which they point: God and neighbor. Inasmuch as we stop and settle for an image of what our relationships should be, we actually step outside of that living relationship and kill it. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the “People of the Book”), God keeps it very simple by declaring to Moses to tell the people only “I am who I am” (or, “I will be what I will be.”) The rest involves having a relationship with the “I am who I am.” Of course, in modern secularism, this is epically avoided by denying even the existence of “I am who I am.” Not surprisingly, the “I am who I am” residing within us all gets short shrift and humanity is left to define itself simply by its material aspects, limiting it’s nature to “I am what I am” — which I call the Popeye fallacy. The Popeye fallacy omits a dimension of our being, leaving us a mirror caricature. Much alienation in modern Western civilization is rooted in mistaking humans as “what” not “who.” People are not things, at least not things alone. To add to the irony and epic misdirection, legal fictions like corporate “personhood” are considered “human,” while humans have difficulty mustering such status. Such battles over what a person is, a who or a what, may very well define our age. May we have the wisdom to know the difference!
Of course, this poem frames the epic theme of idolatrous hubris on a more modest, individual level. Hubris often hides in the “humble” context of the individual, with a built in rationalization that one person cannot make the difference. This itself is an amoral or immoral act. Morality always plays out among individual moral agents. This is the very point of what is often avoided by shifting agency onto society, deflecting moral agency altogether, or claiming that “the devil made me do it” (insert ‘terrorist’ for ‘devil’ to upgrade to “modern” worldview).
Lastly, moral agency is played out in real time, the now. Respecting the relational process of being human, which is inherently subjective, must favor the present over some conception or image of a future end. More simply put, humans are ends in themselves, not to be subjugated to another’s systems of images of the future. Keeping it real means honoring humans as sacred participants in this process, always valuing who people are more than what they are, or even what they may be. I suspect that faith in God, the “I am who I am,” is trusting that the greater is lived out by focusing on who, not what. This may very well be the inseparable nature of loving God and loving neighbor, each reinforcing one another in blessed mutuality. May it be so.
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Blessed Are the Peacemakers – Jesus Quote–BUTTON
Blessed Are the Peacemakers – Matthew 5:9 – Jesus–BUTTON
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This quote from Jesus from Matthew 5:9 is probably one of the most famous and well-known Jesus quotes from the Bible. Though, however common the phrase blessed are the peacemakers is, you’d be hard-pressed to figure that Christians took this seriously, given how many Christians are in the military, in many a nation (often opposing nations), and how much counsel and comfort is given to those manning, and occasionally womaning, military enterprises. Of course, many Christians would argue that war-making is a form of peacemaking. I think that this was a popular argument in 1984. Or, well, it’s a real job creator for theologians to figure a way out of loving our enemies, and allowing us to kill those that we hate. This is one of those areas where I find that Christianity gets seriously in the way of following Jesus. Many people do not realize that in the early Christian church, pacifism was the prevailing norm. Refusing military conscription was a common form of martyrdom in the early Christian church. Of course, later, when Christianity cozied up to the state, particularly in the fourth century when Constantine made Christianity the state religion, Christianity mysteriously came up with new ways to justify warring on its enemies. This co-option into the ways of the world is as common as it is unjustified. Just reflect on Jesus’ words for a moment. Really, what blessings do we see reaped by the peacemakers? In worldly wisdom, these so-called blessings are secondhand fodder for the weak, the lowly pacifist. I don’t think that it was a mistake that Jesus’ words recorded here as part of the beatitudes, added for emphasis that peacemakers would be called the children of God! he was trying to make a point! This is a title reserved for the blessed peacemakers in Jesus’ list of who is blessed. Most people stop reading the beatitudes soon after this because they are insane enough to suggest that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake are also blessed. I also like to Luke version which mentions as one of the woes as all people speaking well of you, for this is what our ancestors did in speaking of the false prophets. It seems that a common thread of the many rationalizations I believe stray from Jesus true message concerns avoiding a cost for our actions. Some days I just wish that we had a courageous Messiah that spoke boldly and prophetically to the powers that be in this world, and they wouldn’t back down, even to the point of death by the cruelest means. I can tell you one thing: they didn’t need to torture Jesus to get the truth from him. However, the fact that Jesus was willing to put some skin in the game, all of his skin, speaks truth deeply. Like they say, talk is cheap. What would you be willing to sacrifice for peace? And what blessings would you reap from this?
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