tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24262067716127989312024-03-13T13:53:33.599-07:00Swimming UpstreamRandom musings on life, love, medicine, and the pursuit of God. And random things.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-55933215399050182032017-02-26T12:26:00.000-08:002017-02-26T12:29:06.694-08:00<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15867871/ONA%20copy/tony-peggy-campolo-homosexuality.pdf">Tony and Pegg Campolo</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Open and Informing Resource List:</b></span><br />
<br />
Transcript of a 20 year old presentation from Tony and Peggy Campolo about their differences on the question of marriage and gender in the church:<br />
<br />
<br />
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15867871/ONA%20copy/tony-peggy-campolo-homosexuality.pdfDel DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-4260924672455115322016-09-24T16:32:00.001-07:002016-09-24T16:34:17.257-07:00Karma and the Kingdom<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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We are going to be talking about one of Jesus’ most vivid
parables today, of rich and poor, of justice and injustice, and heaven and the
fires of hell. Before we get there though we really have to set the stage, and
to do that I first need to convince you that you and I mostly live our lives
according to a sense of Karma, a bit of an unusual statement for someone
speaking in a church professing to follow Christ. So let’s look at the definition
of Karma, and turn to that definitive source of wisdom, Wikipedia:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #252525;">Karma</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #252525;"> … refers
to the spiritual principle of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cause and
effect</b> where <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">intent and actions of
an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).</b>
Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">future happiness</b>, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad
karma and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">future suffering</b>.</span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We all Karma</span></h2>
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I suggest to you that the embedded cultural view we all
share is basically Karmic. For example, I think you can all complete these
statements:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What goes
around… (comes around)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You get
what you… (pay for; deserve)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You made
your bed, so you… (lie in it)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ying and…
(yang)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As you sow,
so shall you… (reap)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That last one should surprise you. It is from the Apostle
Paul, Galatians 6:7. So did Paul believe in Karma? Does the Bible actually teach
a version of Karma?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On the surface, the bible seems to have a lot of Karmic
philosophy. For example, from Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, the Lord spoke to
Joshua:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Keep this book of the law always on
your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Or on a less ominous note, Proverbs 6:10-11:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A little sleep, a little slumber,<o:p></o:p></div>
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A little folding of the hands to
rest—<o:p></o:p></div>
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And poverty will come on you like a
thief<o:p></o:p></div>
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And scarcity like an armed man.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There it is! You get what you deserve and what goes around
comes around!</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Job and Karma</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want to read a whole book about the debate over
Karma, read Job. Job is one of the earliest books of the Bible from a
historical perspective. It is clearly written as a morality play, with a
prologue, at least 3 acts between Job and his so-called friends, a dramatic
climax where God himself answers Job’s complaints, and then an epilogue where
everything is resolved, after a fashion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Job is described as a righteous man, yet faces trouble that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we</b> get to see is not of his own making.
In the prologue we learned that Satan, up to his tricks, incites God, telling
him that Job is only good for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Karma’s</b>
sake. God disagrees, and allows Job to be tested severely. During these tests
Job’s “friends,” who came to “comfort” him, show themselves to be card carrying
members of the Karma Club. Helpfully, one says to him:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Consider now: Who, being innocent,
has ever perished?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Where were the upright ever
destroyed?<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I have observed, those who plow
evil<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
And those who sow trouble reap it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you hear it? Good things happen to good people, and we
get what we deserve. Are there even echoes of Paul’s statement here, as you
sow, so shall you reap? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Job’s friends didn’t get it, believing Job <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">had</b> to have done something wrong to
have suffered misfortune. They were wrong, but they bring it all home for me.
You see I think that we all <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">expect</b>
Karma from life <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and</b> God, and
sometimes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hope</b> for Karma in some
very strange ways.</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">My belief in Karma</span></h2>
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For example, there are times I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hope</b> for Karma. I am pulling up to a yellow light, stopping as I
should, and one or two cars in the other lane <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and</b> behind me rush through as the light is turning red. No lemon;
it’s all tomato. Other than muttered curses, I also look around hoping that for
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">once</b> a cop would show up so that
justice would be done. In fact, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">my</b>
conservative approach to driving should <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">highlight</b>
the evil behavior of other drivers, and make it easy for the police. This,
despite my earnest hope, has <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">never</b>
yet happened.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Sometimes I expect Karma to fall on me. Say I just might
have eased it a bit over 70 on I-75 on the way up north. Completely justified,
right? The rules for red lights are important, but for speeding… Then I see the
dreaded blue sedan parked in the median and instinctively jerk my foot off the
gas, once again looking around, but this time out of fear of seeing karmic justice
fall on me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, when I am honest, my deep-seated belief in Karma can
get much more sinister. I am asked to care for a young person in the ICU due to
a car accident. I look at the history; is there drug use, alcohol, texting.
Something. I don’t wish it on them, but with every check box I am secretly
noting the ways this person is not me or my close friends, and so this can’t
happen to me. Please let Karma be intact! You might think this is implying that
I believe the young person in some way got what they deserved. I don’t. God
help me if I ever thought that. I think what is actually going on is a bit
subtler. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When bad things happen, we all want to find a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">reason</b>; we are like Job’s friends. And
one reason we hope for this is to avoid facing the reality that the world often
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">does not</b> act in a Karmic way, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and nor does God</b>. I am looking for a
reason to not be insecure. But bad things <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">do</b>
happen to good people. We often <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">don’t</b>
get what we deserve. The writer of Ecclesiastes expresses this frustration well
(8:14):<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
There is something else meaningless
that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the
wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So a sense of Karma permeates our culture and thinking,
ancient cultures of at least some Biblical times, and can color our underlying
beliefs about God. What does Jesus have to say about this very human way of
navigating a dangerous and difficult world?<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What did Jesus believe about Karma?</span></h1>
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When Jesus walked out of the wilderness, he said something
that changed the world and the way we think about it: “Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven has come near.” He didn’t say, “Repent, because you are a miserable
sinner.” He didn’t say, “Repent, or suffer the fires of Hell!” He said to
repent, or change your mind and behavior, because I am proclaiming a new way to
think about life, the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is very different from what you
have been taught and what you now believe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Did he mean it? I believe the clarion call of his defining
mission statement, the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sermon on the
Mount<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,</i></b> was “You have <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">heard it said</b>, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I say to you</b>…” So, for instance, “You have heard it said do not
murder, but I say to you if you are angry with your sister you will be judged.
Call her a fool and you are in danger of the fires of hell.” That escalated
quickly, and beyond simple Karma!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He says things like, “you have heard it was said, ‘do not
commit adultery.’ But I tell you that if you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">look</b> at a woman lustfully you have committed adultery in your
heart.” Has your eye ever lingered over the SI Swimsuit Edition?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesus raises the bar way beyond the rules the spiritual leaders
and the elite of his day had outlined so that they could feel Karmic peace
about themselves, and look good in front of others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But life in the Kingdom of Heaven goes so much further than
Karma. ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth?’ Karma. ‘No, turn the other cheek.’
Kingdom. ‘Someone takes your shirt?’ Karma. ‘Give them your coat also.’ Kingdom.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But here is where Jesus sticks the knife into any notion we
might have that Karma is in any way compatible with the Kingdom of Heaven:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor</span><u><sup><span style="color: #b34b2c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></sup></u><span style="background: white; color: black;">and hate
your enemy.’</span><b><sup><span style="background: white; color: black;"> </span></sup></b><span style="background: white; color: black;">But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in
heaven. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">He causes his sun to rise on the
evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous</b>.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bam. The Kingdom of Heaven is not business as usual. Love
your enemies. Recognize God loves your enemies. Don’t hope for Karma for them,
and don’t expect it for yourself. Jesus goes so far as to say, “Do not resist
an evil person.” How you get your head around that one? Dietrich Bonhoeffer
struggled deeply with this very command of Jesus when he ultimately decided to
participate in a plot to kill Hitler. These are not just pretty words. If we
hear them and try to live them it will be the hardest thing we have ever done. This
is a Kingdom, and the rule is a radically different than anything in our old
way of thinking or experience. This is why we need to repent. We need to change
the way we think and feel to live the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said the Kingdom
of Heaven is near and that Kingdom is based on a radical and costly love we
have not yet even imagined.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Rich Man and Lazarus</span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the first thing we need to remember to read this parable
is our tendency to think in Karma. The second is more stagecraft.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So in a wider context, Luke 16:1 tells us Jesus is teaching
his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">disciples</b>. So imagine Jesus
teaching here (area on the stage), and his disciples are gathered around him.
But wait; there is more… In verse 14 we see a wider audience, the most revered
religious people of the day, a group of Pharisees. They are standing or sitting
over here (second location on the stage), just beyond the inner circle, listening
with ill intent to everything Jesus is saying, looking for a way to discredit
him in court and even have him killed. Simply remember the repeating theme of
the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard it said…, but I say to you…” The
Pharisees were the “You have heard it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">saids</b>.”
Jesus had not been complimentary. Let may give you just one example of what
Jesus said directly to them earlier in the gospel of Luke, chapter 11, verse 46:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
And you experts in the law, woe to
you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you
yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saying that kind of stuff to the powerful can get you
killed. Jesus is aware of the stakes, and of his disciple’s need to understand
the Kingdom of Heaven as it is radically different than what they have heard
these teachers say.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So to the parable:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">19 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“There was a rich man who was
dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">20 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At his gate was laid a beggar</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">named Lazarus, covered with sores</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">21 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and longing to eat what fell from
the rich man’s table.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even the dogs came and licked his sores.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">22 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The time came when the beggar
died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and
was buried.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">23 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">24 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So he called to him, ‘Father
Abraham,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">have
pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my
tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">25 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“But Abraham replied, ‘Son,
remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus
received bad things,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">26 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so
that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over
from there to us.</span></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">27 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“He answered, ‘Then I beg you,
father, send Lazarus to my family,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">28 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">for I have five brothers. Let him
warn them,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">29 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Abraham replied, ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">They have Moses</b></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></span><span class="woj"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and
the Prophets</span></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">;</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">let them listen to them.’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">30 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“‘No, father Abraham,’</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">he said, ‘but if someone from the
dead goes to them, they will repent.’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span class="woj"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">31 </span></sup></b></span><span class="woj"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“He said to him, ‘If they do not
listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone
rises from the dead.’”</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So this story could not be more “karmic.” You do evil, by
active intent or by indifference, and you get punished; you suffer the fires of
hades, horrible torment. Did Jesus really believe this? Is that the point of
his story? This is an extraordinarily Greek idea. To the Greeks, on arrival at
the Gates of Hades your final destination was determined by your deeds during
life. To be condemned to ultimate torment was only true for the very worst people.*
Justice was Karmic, and weighed by the scales of deed and thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many levels to this parable, but I think Jesus was
being intentionally absurd, for the benefit of his disciples and to warn the
Pharisees, who loved money and power. The Pharisees believed in a deep way they
got what they deserved in life, while the poor beggar likely got what he
deserved; Karma. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesus’ disciples also believed this deeply before learning of
the Kingdom of Heaven from him. One time when they saw a blind man they asked Jesus
who sinned, the man or his parents? Someone had to have! I believe one of the
biggest challenges Jesus faced in ministry was to confront the cultural Karmic belief
of his time and help his followers <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">repent</b>
and begin to think and act from the Kingdom of Heaven and not Karma.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me give you one more example. Remember the story of the
Rich Young Ruler? He was a good man who, unlike many of the Pharisees, actually
did follow the rules and lived with compassion. Despite this he wanted to know
what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus in essence said ‘One thing you lack: give
up your Karma, the fortune you seem to feel you deserve, and follow me.’ He could
not do it. It wasn’t fair. He walked away. The disciples could tell Jesus was
truly moved and disappointed. Remember his response to the disciples? “It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be
saved.” Now the disciples were mostly not rich, but they finally begin to understand
what Jesus was really saying: you have to give up your Karma and live in the
Kingdom of Heaven, and you won’t get what you deserve.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The disciples began to get it. They asked, “Who then can be
saved?” Jesus’ answer is key to the parable we read: “What is impossible with
man is possible with God.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Chasm</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember what was impossible in the parable? There was this
fixed chasm that could not be crossed between Abraham’s side and the torments
of Hades. Who put it there? Did God really create the river Styx? Does he act
out of a cosmic sense Karma? Would it delight him if we got what we deserved?
Is that the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus proclaimed? If it is, then there is no
place for the cross. The point of the Kingdom of Heaven is that you and I are
not going to get what we deserve. Jesus did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if God didn’t create the chasm who or what does? I think
the point of the story is that we construct this great chasm, and it is because
we insist on our sense of Karma or justice, when it benefits us or makes us
feel good about ourselves or condemns those we judge. And the more we cling to
it, and the more we insist on it, the wider the chasm becomes. Karma permeates
our thinking, the “You have heard it saids…” But the Kingdom of Heaven says to
turn the other cheek, to not resist an evil person, to love your enemy and pray
for them. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a balance of good and bad works that
ultimately determines our eternal destiny. God’s justice is not Karma; it is
grace at the cost of a cross. You see, unlike Karma, God causes his rain to
fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Living the Kingdom of Heaven</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So let me humbly preach the gospel to you; Karma is not like
the Kingdom of Heaven we inherit as dearly loved children. We all need to
repent and rethink life in light of the Kingdom of Heaven because we are not
going to get what we deserve, and neither is our enemy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How do we repent? Who do we need to forgive? Who do we need
to love, who does not deserve it? Do we hate ISIS? Do we resent religious
people who have hurt us deeply in the past because of our faith, or our beliefs
about gender or race, or sexuality? If you get it, this is really hard stuff. Bonhoeffer
and Hitler hard stuff. At a very deep level I want a bully to get what he or
she deserves. But the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is really, really good
news—it puts justice, fate and our sense of Karma firmly in God’s hands. We are
therefore free to live from the Kingdom of Heaven, to love radically, and to be
loved extravagantly by God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Amen<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3 style="background: white; line-height: 21.0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: normal; text-transform: uppercase;">*</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><a href="http://www.ancient.eu/Hades/"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: normal; text-transform: uppercase;">http://www.ancient.eu/Hades/</span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: normal; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HADES THE UNDERWORLD<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The god Hermes was believed to lead souls to the
river Styx in the underworld, at which point the aged boatman Charon ferried
them to the gates of Hades where Kerberos - the ferocious three-headed dog (or
fifty-headed according to Hesiod) with serpents coming out of its body - stood
guard to keep souls in rather than to keep others out. It was for payment to
Charon that bereaved family members put a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.ancient.eu/coin/"><b><span style="color: #b52600; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">coin</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">in the mouth of the deceased (for Greeks the
traditional coin was the low-value obol). The unburied or those without the
means to pay the boatman were condemned to wander the Earth as ghosts. This
belief hints at the ambiguous nature of Hades. It was not necessarily a place
of torment and suffering but in most cases, simply the final resting place of
the soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On arrival at the gates of Hades, the final
destination of the souls was determined by an assessment of their actions
whilst they were alive. Traditionally, the three judges of souls were Minos,
Rhadamanthys, and Aiakos, themselves noted for their honourable lives. Souls
judged to have led especially good lives were first taken to drink the waters
of the River Lethe which made them forget all bad things, and then they were
taken to the idyllic Elysian Fields. Those souls judged to have led bad lives
were put in the hands of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.ancient.eu/Furies/"><b><span style="color: #b52600; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Furies</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and taken to Tartarus, the lowest level of Hades, to
receive punishment for their misdeeds. The worst-offending souls, those who had
offended the gods with their impiety, were condemned to eternal torment.
Examples of those so punished were Sisyphos who had to forever roll a rock up a
hill, Tantalos who could never quench his thirst, Oknos who plaits one end of a
rope while a donkey eats the other end, the daughters of Danaus who had to try
and fill a sieve with water, and Ixion who was tied to an ever-spinning wheel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-90183808736415552262013-11-21T15:43:00.000-08:002013-11-21T15:43:55.741-08:00LaunchingOne young man off to Navy boot camp this week, and one still in college in India. One a Freshman at MSU and one still in high school. Raising children gets much easier with respect to the physical drain, but the emotional stakes become much higher. One holds to the promises (for you, your children and as many as the Lord shall call).Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-20698476208670936402010-03-25T06:57:00.000-07:002010-03-25T06:58:39.502-07:00Process of Acceptance<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "> I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages:<br />(i) this is worthless nonsense;<br />(ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;<br />(iii) this is true, but quite unimportant;<br />(iv) I always said so.<br />Journal of Genetics Vol. 58, page 464 (1963).</span>Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-18928279934177433772010-03-13T17:12:00.000-08:002010-03-13T17:14:53.679-08:00Twitter Fiction--100 character stories.Temporal Displacement sounded like a killer app. Ironical, I mused, throwing my worthless iPhone in the raptor’s maw.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-37144051255942273852010-02-21T09:11:00.000-08:002010-02-21T09:14:33.474-08:00Generationally-Neutral Fiscal PoliciesOur nation is facing a day of reckoning of debt. The costs of programs such as Medicare, Social Security and federal pensions will overwhelm any reasonable projection of future GDP in the next 20 or 30 years. While it is questionable if the Baby Boomers actually contributed enough over time to fund their anticipated golden retirement, even if they have done so this money, held in trust, is gone. President Obama recently convened a bipartisan commission to look at these “third rail” political issues, and though I commend the effort I am skeptical of the outcome.<br /><br />In order to avert what will surely become a generational divide, we need to add another term to the budgeting lexicon. We talk at times about revenue-neutral policies and legislation. We need to speak of <strong>generationally-neutral fiscal policies</strong> as well. The current post-boomer generation is going to be saddled with trillions of dollars of national debt, and a legacy of unfunded, underfunded and looted mandates. They will refuse, as well they should, to support this burden, and they will have the growing political power to do so. Politicians are demonstrably unable to address this growing problem and be re-elected, and so a non-elected, broadly representative body of multi-partisan financial policy experts needs to vet legislation for generational neutrality. If the cost of a program, other than monies needed for national defense, exceeds the projected revenue of the generation benefiting from and implementing it, then that legislation goes back to Congress. I am ashamed of the fiscal situation that my children are inheriting from my generation and the one just before me, and we need to make the hard choices now to remedy this. If not, we will be passing down “the sins of the fathers unto their children to the third and forth generation. . .” This is not the legacy I want to leave for my children.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-62012869793571566612010-02-11T12:01:00.000-08:002010-02-12T18:10:01.835-08:00Children and Fathers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDzwPDoXeEQPzvfRwTU38WuLPLXJvfiZh1o8EmjwgXaYwOoYC2_FuHgLGyTFqZ8CS0CHcEXQGPbEqbJ1I3p3no153TJnD0Y_U4MDiLjDRcbZnmuZSXrCBKa5d4ec4sxYsu_gAQImxv0g/s1600-h/Maggie--2yo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437399169077416450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDzwPDoXeEQPzvfRwTU38WuLPLXJvfiZh1o8EmjwgXaYwOoYC2_FuHgLGyTFqZ8CS0CHcEXQGPbEqbJ1I3p3no153TJnD0Y_U4MDiLjDRcbZnmuZSXrCBKa5d4ec4sxYsu_gAQImxv0g/s200/Maggie--2yo.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Daaaaaddeeeeeeee!!! The scream rang out through the fellowship hall as a 2 year old bundle of pigtails, pink cheeks and sneakers came barreling into the room, oblivious to the meeting in progress. Maggie caught my eye on her way to the nursery, and having not seen me all day, she was off like a shot. I sat at the back of the room, expecting her to come in with Kate and the rest of the kids anytime, and so I was ready for her. I met her halfway across the room and caught her up as she jumped into my arms, a wiggling, giggling bundle of unbridled joy. She rested her head on my shoulder and hugged my neck as I carried her back to the nursery and we got her settled in. Only a pulseless rock wouldn’t be moved to tears at a greeting like that. The guileless, reckless and unfettered love of a young child is a wondrous gift of God.<br /><br />Mary Kay Dyer, our Children’s Minister, had just been teaching about one of her two favorite scriptures, Mark 10:13-16:<br /><br /><em>People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.<br /></em><br />This episode got me thinking about one of my favorite passages too, Hebrews 4:16:<br /><br /><em>Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.</em><br /><br />Now Maggie is not perfect. She is a skillful 2 year old schemer, schmoozer, stinker and stomper, who realized young that wallflower is not the preferred posture when the youngest of 4. It is even remotely possible that she had been naughty earlier in the day, though to look in her eyes you would hardly believe it. If so, nothing could have been further from her mind when she saw me and ran for my arms. She hesitated not a moment with the thought I might turn away or shush her up because of some meeting. It never entered her mind I might stop her before she jumped into my arms to question her about her behavior that day. I was her daddy and she my little girl--end of story. She approached me full tilt, as a little child, absolutely confident of my unconditional love. She knows charm only goes so far, and that I will discipline her when needed and appropriate; still she runs to me with abandon, knowing deeply things about her father's love I am still learning about my heavenly father's.</div>Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-34401060458531206012010-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:002010-02-03T10:53:47.490-08:00Bill of (granted?/protected?) RightsIn an informal poll of friends and acquaintances as to the purpose of the Bill of Rights, I found that most people believed these amendments granted specific rights to citizens. I found that only rarely did people use language that described the Bill of Rights as a document protecting unalienable human rights from acts of Congress. Yet the language of the founding documents makes it clear that a chief concern of the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights was to protect the rights of citizens from the power of government. The Declaration of Independence is absolutely clear about the derivation of the rights outlined in the Constitution and the first 10 amendments:<br /><br /><em>We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed. . .<br /></em><br />These rights therefore are basic human rights, and the role of government is to secure and protect them, but never to grant them. While the founders clearly saw the importance of a strong federal government in securing an environment where basic human rights could be protected and flourish, they were equally concerned about the propensity of governments, once established, to begin to limit the rights of citizens. The ringing tone of the first five words of the First Amendment could not make this point any clearer: "<strong>Congress shall make no law</strong>. . ."<br /><br />In every discussion of the legitimate role of federal government it is important to remember that the framers of our government were as concerned about the tendency of any government or institution to overreach its power over the lives of the governed as they were concerned about protecting the free exercise of unalienable human rights from threats both foreign and domestic.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-70341777135641008322010-01-18T17:08:00.000-08:002010-01-18T17:09:49.312-08:00Screwtape on Physician Assisted SuicideMy dear Wormwood,<br /><br />Our project is progressing nicely. The Michigan jury has spoken on physician-assisted suicide my dear nephew, and it is a particularly delicious stroke. I assure you your work is not unnoticed in low places. Yet there is much to be done, and no time for resting on laurels.<br /><br />We must immediately raise objections to this new precedent of law; it is much too narrow for our purposes. While sterile, calculated deaths hold some pleasure, murders of passion and hate are much more satisfying, only bettered in our cause by random, senseless and remorseless mayhem. But I am ahead of the horse. Perhaps interest groups might object to physician exclusivity in the killing fields. While physicians are arguably most qualified to recognize death's glorious approach, there are but a few truly accomplished in the art. Many other professions are better qualified to bring about our purposes. Why exclude professional hunters? Assassins? Pyrotechnician-assisted suicide has a nice ring to it. <br /><br />Raise the profit motive. Surely there is money in death, and human greed is legendary. Exploit it! Inspire entrepreneurs! I envision international corporations devoted to singularly spectacular exits. Fly them to the top of Everest or shoot the rich ones into what they perceive to be the heavens. The first human to Mars need not return. What about ultimate war games? The possibilities are boundless, so be creative.<br /><br />Masterful is the only word to describe the way you have transformed a singularly odd, prematurely retired pathologist into a cultural icon. It serves to focus the vermin on death in the very act of avoiding its inevitable grip. To focus in any direction other than the moment of death is counterproductive. Dwelling on the time they have left might encourage them to treasure life, and this is to be avoided at all costs. They may even seek forgiveness one with another, and undo all our best work. Any focus beyond death is even more ominous, for too many have been snatched from our mouths even while the taste of them was on our tongues. Continue to encourage their skepticism about deathbed conversions and reconciliations. Bolster their revulsion for the act of death and anything smacking of less than glowingly vigorous health. <br /><br />Wormwood, don't long allow them to hide the truth of their actions behind the guise of intractable physical pain (Is it not a sweet irony that while pain becomes more controllable ill-health is less tolerated?). Several of our good doctor's first "patients" were neither in much pain nor very near death, but suffered from psychological pain they simply would no longer bear. When they accept emotions as justification for suicide then we will have nearly all of them.<br />Allow physicians less control over the deathbed. There is far too much room for compassion and counseling for my tastes. Encourage them to capitulate all hard issues to the legislature and public opinion, arenas where we hold much sway. With proper laws in place we will make doctors feel more manipulated and controlled, and they will resent rather than revere their role at the deathbed. Perhaps they may even be coerced to resent the dying. Splendid!<br /><br />My dear Wormwood, I see your career going only downward in glorious descent. Guard yourself from humility.<br /><br />Your affectionate uncle,<br /><br />Screwtape.<br />With apologies to C. S. LewisDel DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-44707820763521168302010-01-17T06:29:00.000-08:002010-01-17T06:34:53.928-08:00Professional Courtesy in the BibleThe following two contrasting biblical accounts of Jesus and the woman with a “flow of blood” seems to be the earliest example of profession courtesy that I have encountered in literature.<br /><br />Mark. the Evangelist's version:<br /><br />And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. <strong>She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had,</strong> yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.<br /><br />Luke, the Beloved Physician's version:<br /><br />And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but <strong>no one could heal her</strong>. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.<br /><br />Thanks, Luke.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-13580396375428248562010-01-15T11:57:00.000-08:002010-01-15T12:11:37.316-08:00Pat Robertson?I wonder what part of Romans 2:1 is not clear to him?<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.</span></em><br /><em></em><br />Or Paul's conclusion in Romans 3:9-10?<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">What shall we conclude then? Are we any better</span></em><em><span style="font-size:85%;">? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one."</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br />I am also reminded of Jesus rebuking those who thought people inside a tower that collapsed must have been particularly despicable. He made the point in Luke 13:4-5:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br />If there is any response required of believers in a disaster beyond compassion and aid, it is personal repentance, recognizing that we are as deserving of catastrophe as anyone else on the planet. Our prayers: "Lord, how can I help?" and "Have mercy on me, a sinner."Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-87148508201292886382010-01-14T19:48:00.000-08:002010-01-14T20:05:04.369-08:00Aliens and Strangers<em><span style="font-size:85%;">1 Peter 2:11. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.<br /><br />1 Peter 3:15-16. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, [16] keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.<br /></span></em><br />Imagine yourself in Paris, sitting in the arrival gate observing the arrival of an international flight to France. First off is a woman in a conservative business suit, looking a bit haggard after a long flight. No one is here to meet her. She removes a small booklet from her pocket, obviously a travel guide, and steps aside to study it. Looking around she makes her way to a counter, where in a broken dialect she attempts to ask for directions to a hotel. The man behind the counter smiles broadly, holds up a finger and answers in practiced English, welcoming her to Paris. Next off is a garrish man in a leisure suit, lime green, with a videocam hanging off one shoulder and a 35 millimeter off the other. He spends the first few minutes in the terminal snapping pictures of various people, without permission. He singles out some kids off to the side, dressed in black leather and wearing their multicolored hair contrary to gravity. “Can you believe how these people dress?” he says, a bit too loudly. After a few minutes of gawking he walks over to the same counter and declares he needs to get to the Hotel Americana. The man stares at him with a politely confused look. “Whazza matter, don’t you speak English?” says the man. “Parle vous Frances?” the clerk replies. “Of course I don’t speak French; I’m just here for a vacation. Now where can I find out how to get to the Vatican?”<br /><br />We are called by Christ to be strangers in this world, not to be strange. To be aliens, not to alienate. To be within our culture while yet not controlled by it. It takes a critical appraisal of our behavior to make this distinction. We fall into habits and patterns that may be the norm in our religious culture but that are perceived as strange by those we are called to reach, and alienates them for culture, and not because of Christ.<br /><br />We are strangers in this world, or at least we should be, says Peter. Aliens, passport in hand, just off the boat, not quite ‘at home.’ We should feel the discomfort of not quite fitting in, like the first day of a new job, or the first weeks in a new school. Yet while we are to be strangers, we are certainly not to be strange. Though aliens, we are not to alienate. Paul says the same things when he declares that he strives “to be all things to all men.”Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-16074787396746891522010-01-12T09:10:00.000-08:002010-01-12T09:16:00.862-08:00Legends of the FallThere is a fascinating juxtaposition of verses from Genesis concerning the consequences of the fall of man. The curse for the man involved a cursing of the ground, so that he would have to toil for every scrap of food, working hard for the rest of his life simply to eat. This is confirmed by Lamech’s comments, the father of Noah:<br /><br />28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."<br /><br />The actual curse from Genesis 3 is as follows:<br /><br />17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."<br /><br />After the flood, when Noah, son of Lamech, came out of the ark, God said in Genesis 8:<br /><br />20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.<br /><br />So then, is the curse of the fall toward the man lifted? It certainly seems so from the context. History would also confirm this, because most of us, though having to work for a living, have an overabundance of food, and the ground is incredibly productive, allowing few of us to be farmers, and all of us to fulfill God’s desire to “fill the earth” with people.<br /><br />So what now of the curse to the woman? Pain in childbirth can certainly be lessened by modern medicine, though childbirth for most women in the world is still the most dangerous experience of their lives. What of the rest of the curse from Genesis 3?:<br /><br />16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."<br /><br />One has to ask the question, ‘Of all the consequences in the human experience mentioned in the curses from the fall, is the curse of the husband ruling over his wife the only one not to be lifted from the shoulders of mankind?’ Clearly we are not referring to the consequence of sin that fell upon all mankind through the first Adam, and was lifted at the cost of the suffering of the second Adam. I conclude that any sense of a man or husband ruling over a woman or wife can only be seen to be a curse, and not God’s plan or desire. We are redeemed people, and we should live as such, co-heirs with Christ.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-6184225376288664402010-01-10T17:24:00.000-08:002010-01-17T18:20:45.951-08:00Bed Bugs!Bed Bugs--a Drabble (100 word story)<br /><br />“Please! Check under the bed,” the little brat brawled.<br /><br />I stopped, my hand on the door, and sighed. “There are no monsters under the bed.”<br /><br />“I heard something scraping,” he whined, louder still.<br /><br />“OK, I will look under the bed if it will make you happy,” I said evenly.<br /><br />I knelt down, leaning under the bed. A cold, foul vapor crept over my face. Red eyes shifted back and forth in the darkness, and teeth ground.<br /><br />“No, nothing there,” I said, rising toward the door.<br /><br />“Good night,” I whispered, turning out the light. “And don’t let the bed bugs bite.”Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2426206771612798931.post-49240050309952228312010-01-10T17:06:00.000-08:002010-01-17T18:22:29.758-08:00Hounds of HellTwitfiction:<br /><br />Delirium. Hydrophobia. Fang marks. Classic rabies. Pentagram tattoo behind the ear? No, no! The Hounds of Hell again.Del DeHarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05636949439406892570noreply@blogger.com0