Merge!

A new post today on The 12, about the division of the Christian Reformed Church and Reformed Church in America.  You can see it by clicking here.

Me and Barack

A new post on The 12 about a dream I had with Barack Obama. You may see it by clicking here.

Solidarity!

As a follow up to my post from Monday, I’m taking the liberty of paraphrasing some thoughts from Richard Rohr for today. What do the events Christians marked last night and today mean? Here’s some mashed-up Rohr, from his recent book Wondrous Encounters:

On the tenth day of the month, the book of Exodus says, each family was to procure a small year-old lamb. They were to keep it for four days – just enough time for the children to bond with it and for all to see its loveliness – and then “slaughter it during the evening twilight”! Then they were to take the blood and sprinkle it on the doorpost of the houses. That night they were to eat in highly ritualized fashion, recalling their departure from Egypt and their protection from God along the way. Thank God the Jews eventually stopped animal sacrifice, but it was meant to be a psychic shock for all as killing always is. You can see, however, that the human psyche is slowly evolving in history to identify the real problem and what it is that actually has to die.

A cultural anthropologist could explain what is happening here. The sacrificial instinct is the deep recognition that something always has to die for something bigger to be born. We started with human sacrifice (Abraham and Isaac), we moved here to animal, and we gradually get closer to what has to be sacrificed – our own beloved ego – as protected and beloved as a little household lamb! We all will find endless disguises and excuses to avoid letting go of what really needs to die for our own spiritual growth. And it is not other humans (like the firstborn sons of Egypt), or animals, or even “meat on Friday” that God wants or needs. It is always our beloved self that has to be let go of.

Good Friday illustrates the human tendency to kill others, in any multitude of ways, instead of letting our own illusions, pretenses, narcissism, and self-defeating behaviors die. We understand Jesus dying “for us” as a substitution “in place of” but rarely “in solidarity with.” But “in place of” is a heavenly transaction. “In solidarity with” opens an avenue for the transformation of our very soul. Whenever you see an image of the crucified Jesus, know that it is the clear and central message unveiled, the transformative image for the soul. Don’t lessen its meaning by making it merely into a mechanical transaction whereby Jesus pays a “price” to God or the devil. Don’t lessen its meaning by just making it into a transaction that changes things in heaven. The crucifixion of Jesus means everything potentially can change on earth.

God has always and forever loved what God created. It was we who could not love and see his omnipresent goodness. But on the cross the veil between the Holy and unholy is “torn from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:51) An opening is created that we can walk through. We can “confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favor.” (Hebrews 4:16) The bleeding heart of Jesus (which Catholics call “the Sacred Heart”) dramatizes that the curtain is open. It seems we needed an image just that shocking, dramatic and compelling to get the point, to truly see ourselves, and trust the Great Love.

Brandon Inge: Public Enemy Number One

Three miscellaneous thoughts:

The Detroit Tigers announced today that Brandon Inge will be their starting second baseman against left-handed pitching. Of course, Inge has to come off the disabled list first, being relegated there because of everyone’s least favorite injury, a groin strain. The warm vibrations felt across the state of Michigan this afternoon were coming from the sports talk radio shows, whose hosts were unanimously deriding both Inge and Detroit Manager Jim Leyland. I flipped the dial while driving home and heard one person after another angrily talking about Inge.

“Inge hasn’t shown anything this spring,” one radio host screamed, “to believe he can hit in the regular season is as ridiculous as believing in something you cannot see. I don’t believe in things I cannot see.”

“What about love?” I wondered. I mean if love is real, send me a box of it.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the radio host was struck by what he was saying and took it to a whole different level. “Wait a minute,” he said in a suddenly calm and reserved voice. “There’s faith. You can’t see that. But faith is way different than this. This is Brandon Inge we’re talking about.”

That was my religious moment of the day. Faith is one thing, to be spoken of respectfully. But who plays second base for the Detroit Tigers? That’s something very, very different. I sense it is going to be a great season for the Tigers but a painful one for Brandon Inge.

Also in sports, am I the only one who took special note of the announcement made during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship last night that Reggie Miller had been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame? This caught my interest because his sister Cheryl was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame 17 years ago. I find that amusing. Last night, when the announcement was made, some announcer even said under his breath, “Still, Cheryl was a better player.” I’m trying to think of any other brother-sister combination that played the same sport where the brother reached great heights yet never completely outshone his sister. Any ideas?

Finally, Into the Dark published another classic film recommendation by yours truly today. You can read it by clicking here. What I didn’t have space to say in the short review was the unusual fact that I first became aware of this movie listening to Jerry Stiller talk about it. I think Jerry Stiller is hilarious, but who could imagine Frank Costanza being a sucker for a movie that tugs so hard on your heartstrings?

There Will Be Blood

Holy Week brings with it some musing by me about the "blood of the lamb." I posted this today on The 12. You can access it by clicking here. The comment of a friend is very true - this probably sounds like "foolishness" to many ears. What do you think?