complexity

Things used to be so much simpler.  I could just float on through life, obese, obtuse and oblivious.

Now I see it.  I see the good and the bad and the ugly everywhere I turn.  I see what can be done, could be done, should be done and yet what so very little is being done.

In my office, I have an image from the BBC that I've printed out.  A lone Burmese monk stands, back to camera,  facing a crowd of 'security forces', bedecked in riot gear, shields and the ilk. It reminds me that Edmund Burke was right, "One man with conviction makes a majority".  There is a danger in that, though.

Once you know the truth...that the world can be changed, that we can make a difference...you are dangerous to the powers that be, to yourself and to others.  Whether you are tired woman who won't sit in the back, a handful of bois refusing to 'go along quietly' or one man who stops on his way home from market to halt a column of tanks, getting up and saying 'this shall not stand' is frightening indeed and once you open your eyes to that possibility, you cannot unsee it.

It means that every day, you see what needs doing while everyone else bumps along, oblivious, obese and obtuse.  Every day you know what CAN be done when everyone else says that it can't.

"Let your conscience be your guide".  Thanks Dad.  *grumbles*

Reflections on St. Patrick's Day at our church

A moving homily and efficacious eucharist followed by a wonderful dinner, home-made desserts, good beer and marvelous conversation about the nature of the Divine with someone I never met while we washed dishes and Irish live music is in the background.  Oh yes...and whole reason we do this dinner/show is to raise money for the mission trip to build houses for folks who need them.

Really, how much better of a day could it possibly be?   

My, but I love my church and our Lutheran brethren.

Buíochas le Dia!

Today's Reading: Long Division

"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house divided against itself will fall. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?" (Luke 11:17-18)

No, I haven't been blogging recently and I have found it increasingly difficult to comment on other people's blogs.  Part of it is a cyclical issue dealing with personal matters, but a larger portion is this scripture verse.

Whether it is political discourse, religious ramblings or general societal scuttlebutt, I see time and again the lack of a willingness to embrace a unifying position. I could provide examples and point fingers, but the bottom line is a dearth of comity and a callous, unyielding nature which creates a gulf that separates us as human beings one from another.

If the Kingdom of G-d belongs to the people of G-d, how can it stand if we are divided?  Divided Muslims and Jews, catholics and protestants, clergy and laity, young and old, male and female.  Are not these divisions artifical constructs of our own making and, if so, do we not have the power to erase them?  It is not about a 'Right Way', but recognizing that your way is no less valid or 'right' than my own way, even if it is different.  It is about respecting the G-d in others, just as I should respect myself for She resides in me.

Be patient, kind, forgiving and loving, for that is what you would wish others to do for you.  If we do not, then we have separated ourselves from each other and from G-d.  I'm seeing that as a bad plan.