THE WIDOW, an Interview

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The Enemy

Think of these words and phrases:

Islamic extremists
Terrorism
Sharia laws
Revolt in Libya
Civil War in Syria
Iranian Nuclear weapons
The Israeli-Palestinian conflicts

Do these make you happy? Or do they concern you?

There is a reason we struggle between cultures, faiths, and nations. Not all the reasons are good. The past year saw uprisings and violence in Arab nations, and more conflict between the West and Iran, and Pakistan.

If you see the events in the Middle and Near East as being, well, good, or if you see them as troubling, do you pray for the people there?

I am troubled by the naming of countries as enemies. When the people in each country are completely different and not represented by their political leadership. If the countries are enemies, do you see their people as your enemy?

If yes, there is an answer. Love your enemy. Pray for your enemy. Pray for the nations and their people. Christ told us to do so...

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," Matthew 5:44 NIV

"Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke 6:28 NIV

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Luke 6:35 NIV

This Journey

I am a flawed person. I have weakness, I have faults that lead me to choices that are not good. I sin daily. I need forgiveness daily. But if I repent, if I confess my sins, I am forgiven. There is a truth that by forgiving others you are released from a burden. By forgiving yourself for your flaws, it is the same. I hope that what I write about here helps people think about an issue more than otherwise. I hope that if you hadn't considered something that I am writing about, about the Christian journey, you now will.

I receive occasional e-mails here regarding my faith, how I practice it, and whether or not I believe certain aspects of the Christian dogma. Unfortunately for those who ask, I tend not to be concerned by the small aspects of belief and religion, but rather, the big questions, the absolute truths, and what I see as fundamental to understanding the whole of the issue at hand.

A couple points I think are important about our journey.

Matthew 7:14 "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

The road is narrow. Many think all roads lead to the same destination, but that is very untrue. I believe in God, Love, Forgiveness, but even so, if we are all ultimately redeemed, what is the point? Not all ideas are equal. Not all faiths are worthy.

Ecclesiastes 1:15 "What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted."

The path we seek to follow is hard. Not only is it hard due to the needs of the physical body and at the same time the denial of the wickedness of the flesh, we also find a world that is broken. While God is perfect, and we seek order, because of sin, the world is crooked. Sin has made the world subject to the laws of entropy. This is confusing. We were made by God, and God instilled in our hearts a desire for order, and we assume it, and find none. Or, as a philosopher said, “Mathematics would certainly have not come into existence if one had known from the beginning that there was in nature no exactly straight line, no actual circle, no absolute magnitude.” (Friedrich Nietzsche, German classical Scholar, Philosopher and Critic of culture, 1844-1900.)

I seek God, I see a narrow road, and I believe that the shortest distance from point A to Point B is a straight line. Walking that line, no matter how true, or how good, is nearly impossibly hard. But that is the road. Therefore, impossible or not, I need God to guide me, Jesus to love me, and the Spirit to give me strength.

Serving God? or Serving Mammon

Who do you serve?
What do you live for?
Do you desire God, or do you desire pleasure?

1 John 2:16

For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.

A Christian Perspective
An anti-Mammon perspective, from a worldly view... (adult language)



I was going to post this during the holiday season, because that tends to highlight the love of things over the beauty of the Christmas holiday... but, quite honestly, there is something to be said for gift giving, and it is nice to get things. But the wild crowds, rioting over AirJordan shoes, the spraying of pepper spray while people jostle in line to get to the front, and more, when people elsewhere starve, daily made me understand things a bit more. People will celebrate however they like, but it is the truth of family, and love that is the holiday. Stuff, good stuff, cheap stuff, expensive stuff don't mean anything. Except if you receive gifts of food and you are starving, or gifts of money and you have nothing to pay rent. Focus on God, on love, on family, and you'll find the right course. Focus on things, on lust, on desire, and you will lose your way.

God is greater than our power to describe

"Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me."

Nope.

Someone with an opinion before asking my opinion, wanted to know if a certain politician qualified as a Christian. Now, amongst other things, I cannot see into a person's heart, I cannot measure a person's soul. So no I don't know if the person in question believes in Jesus. But this wasn't about that. They wanted me to say yes a Mormon is a Christian, or not. And there I can answer differently than looking into another soul/heart. I said I have no idea. I believe people who say they are Christians, and live a certain way should at the very least be given a benefit of doubt. But don't I think they aren't Christians? I said I am not the judge.

This isn't to say that I am without ideas or opinions. I would point out that I would say an Atheist is not a Christian. Additionally, a practicing Buddhist is not a Christian. A person who claims Christ, expresses belief, and show works isn't in my available choices as not a Christian, unless I wish to condemn them for not fitting a cookie cutter of Christianity. And since I am not what most would consider "normal" I refuse to judge others in this fashion.

There are lots of Christians by name only. There are denominations who are dead wrong about certain facts and ideas in the bible. But to judge them all, as being non-Christian? Nope.

I have enough in my path to worry over, than to place obstacles in the path of others.

What was up with Naked Noah?

Darren Aronofsky's Noah

I'm a fan of speculating about details Scripture leaves out. In the big picture, it's a frivolous exercise without a lot of value in terms of practical application, but it helps my faith to connect dots and bring the Bible's stories to life this way. I like to imagine Jesus' rolling his eyes a little when Mary wouldn't let him blow off helping the wine situation at that wedding. Or thinking about what he possibly could have written in the dirt that would keep those guys from stoning that woman.

It's stuff like that that makes me enjoy movie adaptations of Biblical stories. I used to get caught up in how accurate they are, but now I more enjoy the way they bring details of the story to life, however speculatively. (I still fuss over accuracy too, but with the same nerdy part of my brain that dislikes Hellboy's romance with Liz in those movies. It's lame, but it doesn't take anything away from the source material.)

Hollywood's planning a couple of high profile Biblical epics that I'll look forward to if they come to fruition. Steven Spielberg's thinking about a Moses film and Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) is working on a movie about Noah. It's because of that second one that I'm writing about this, because Aronofsky's already teased one of the details he's filling in from his imagination.

Have you ever wondered why Great Man of Faith Noah became the naked, drunken guy who cursed his son? Aronofsky has an interesting theory: "Noah was the first person to plant vineyards and drink wine and get drunk. It’s there in the Bible – it was one of the first things he did when he reached land. There was some real survivor’s guilt going on there. He’s a dark, complicated character." I don't often think about the trauma that Noah and his family must have suffered during and after the Flood, but that makes a lot of sense to me.

What about you? Do you enjoy speculating over details that Scripture has left out? Any favorites you want to share?