Today is the feast of Christ the King. It is the celebration of the coming kingdom of Christ (you didn't see that coming, did you?). There are some great truths out there waiting to be discerned. Christ the King makes me think of The Big One.
Anyone raised Christian learned in childhood that Jesus died for our sins. It's pretty matter-of-fact that He had to come to Earth, in the form of man, to be sacrificed so God would forgive our sins and we could go to heaven. Well, not really, but when you know that almost your whole life, it seems matter-of-fact. It's actually astonishing. Think about it. You're God, you can do anything, and you're born as human. Voluntarily. The diaper stage alone is a lot to go through, when you know what's going on. The Passion, that's nothing, that's a couple of days ~ truly hellacious days, but days. Imagine going through puberty, just to be nice to us. Acne, growth spurts, hormones (Christian theology tells us He is wholly human as well as wholly divine, so He had to deal with it all) for our sins. That's a couple of years. I can think of nothing that would make me willing to go through puberty again. Menopause dancing in front of me, taunting me, is still more appealing than puberty.
But that is still not The Big Truth. I cannot imagine that the nuns didn't teach this, but I can imagine that didn't pay enough attention. I do tend to be rather easily distracted. (Oh, look at what Peanut's doing. What was I saying? Oh, yeah, sorry.) It is amazing that Jesus would go through thirty-three years as one of us, for us. It seems odd, a bit sad, and even mean-spirited that God would do this to His own Son. Why couldn't He just allow our sins to be forgiven? And this is where The Big One comes in to play. Like I said, I assume that it was taught, but I didn't learn it. Sometimes, God whispers in our ears, and we brush Him away like a fly. His messages can be hard to take, it is easier to ignore Him. Sometimes He lets it go. Other times, we will hear what He has to say no matter how afraid we are to get the real message. It's like He whomps you upside the head with a spiritual two-by-four.
We cannot feel the extent of God's love. Our little human hearts cannot bear it. We get teasers, but we won't be able to completely bask in it as long as we inhabit these bags of bones. When our souls are in Heaven, then we will revel in His love. It is because of the limits of our humanity that is easier to think God made Jesus endure more than three decades as man to earn redemption than to accept theTruth. As hard as that is to believe, it is still easier for our fragile human hearts than the Truth.
A couple of years ago, we had the old family movies copied onto DVDs. No one had watched them for about thirty years. My Grandma has been dead more than twenty-five of those years. As I sat in front of the computer, watching two-year-old me with Grandma, I found myself cheering for the toddler, "Pick her up. Oh please, pick her up." As though she'd heard my plea, long-ago Grandma bent over and picked up long-ago me. I could feel her arms around me once more. I could feel her love. (I still miss her ~ she was a great lady.) It was so wonderful to feel that again. I think she was in heaven watching me watch us. It was so overwhelming, I wept.
Once He finally made me understand The Big One, it was like that film of Grandma Johnson, to the nth degree. God didn't make Jesus do it. We did. We know we're unworthy. We offered sacrifices since the dawn of time, trying for expiation. God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, Isaac, to show us that we don't have to be worthy. He loves us anyway. We couldn't, or wouldn't, grasp it. Jesus came down, lived as one of us, died for us ~ not so God would forgive us, but so we would accept God's forgiveness. So we would believe that He'll forgive us even though we aren't worthy.
It is a love so powerful it is hard not to weep. It is so much bigger than any human love. We are so unworthy. And He doesn't care. Like any parent, He loves us regardless. He is waiting patiently to forgive us, we just have to ask. That is a mighty regal concept, befitting Christ the King.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Palestinians Are People, Too
Loath though I am to admit this, until quite recently, it hadn't registered that Palestinian is the name of an ethnic group, not a political/terrorist group. Deep down, I may have known better, but certainly not on a conscious level. Palestinians are people of Arab descent. Mostly, they're Muslim, there's quite a few Christians, probably a few atheists (maybe not, though, there are no atheists in foxholes). They are men & women, children & elderly. Palestinians are born, grow up, go to college, marry, have children ~ you know, just like everyone else. I'm sure that there are few black sheep in the family to go with the doctor, the deli owner, the professor. Don't they sound dull? They are. The Ailabounis are ordinary, just like the Andersons and the Schmidts. I bring this up now because Israel's current activities are, for all intents and purposes, lauded by our president.
Barack Obama says that the US is "fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself." That's cool. I can accept that. What I can't accept is Israel's definition of defending itself. Apparently, three Israeli civilians were killed recently by Hamas rockets, so Israel is fighting back. Israel, which borders the Gaza Strip (Palestinian territory captured by Israel in 1967) on the northwest & southwest, blockades access to the Mediterranean on the northeast, so the only "friendly" border is the southeastern border with Egypt. This is akin to the US being surrounded by hostile forces except for the California coast. Unnerving, isn't it?
Israel lets Palestinians enter Israel to work, when it feels like it. The border crossing makes a day with the TSA feel like a picnic. And, since the borders are closed capriciously, even Israelis who want to hire Palestinians often can't, due to unreliability ~ you need your employees to show up. Israel controls which people, food and supplies get into Gaza. When they want, they can completely close it off. Yes, there are smugglers' tunnels. Weapons probably get through, but so do frivolous things like food and drugs (antibiotic type stuff). No one should have smuggle food. EVER!
With this much control over Gaza, and with the size of the Israeli Army (176,000) they should easily be able enter Gaza City, find the Hamas leader and do whatever they wish. Israel has all the coolest new military toys, as well they should, considering that they spend $14,000,000,000 dollars a year on their military ($2,799,500,000 from the US). So does Israel go on a manhunt? Nope. They send rockets, and drones, and drop bombs on the suspected houses of Hamas leaders. Not smart bombs, old-school blow-up-the-block bombs. Israel loves to say that Hamas is at fault when civilians are injured because they put headquarters in civilian areas to use civilians as human shields.
"Hamas is using the Gaza population as human shields," said Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the chief Israeli spokesman. "They are exploiting crowded residential urban areas." With a population density of 12,000 per square mile, everywhere is crowded. The reason bad guys use civilians as human shields is because it works ~ because the good guys do everything possible to avoid hurting innocent bystanders. There are terrorists in Hamas (the government of the Gaza Strip) but over 40% of the population is young children. And most adults aren't terrorists either.
In five days, 37 Gaza civilians have been killed ~ I've read the Old Testament ~ it's an eye for an eye, not 12 eyes for an eye. As many ten Israelis have been wounded, so they wounded 720 Palestinians (again with that funky math). Makes you wonder who the bad guys really are. Israel seems to want to eliminate the Palestinian people. Every year on Yom HaShoah, Israel remembers the Holocaust victims, perhaps they should reconsider their own actions. It's time they stop. Israel must stop treating the Palestinians the way the Nazis treated their families. Shouldn't God's Chosen People be better than this?
Barack Obama says that the US is "fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself." That's cool. I can accept that. What I can't accept is Israel's definition of defending itself. Apparently, three Israeli civilians were killed recently by Hamas rockets, so Israel is fighting back. Israel, which borders the Gaza Strip (Palestinian territory captured by Israel in 1967) on the northwest & southwest, blockades access to the Mediterranean on the northeast, so the only "friendly" border is the southeastern border with Egypt. This is akin to the US being surrounded by hostile forces except for the California coast. Unnerving, isn't it?
Israel lets Palestinians enter Israel to work, when it feels like it. The border crossing makes a day with the TSA feel like a picnic. And, since the borders are closed capriciously, even Israelis who want to hire Palestinians often can't, due to unreliability ~ you need your employees to show up. Israel controls which people, food and supplies get into Gaza. When they want, they can completely close it off. Yes, there are smugglers' tunnels. Weapons probably get through, but so do frivolous things like food and drugs (antibiotic type stuff). No one should have smuggle food. EVER!
With this much control over Gaza, and with the size of the Israeli Army (176,000) they should easily be able enter Gaza City, find the Hamas leader and do whatever they wish. Israel has all the coolest new military toys, as well they should, considering that they spend $14,000,000,000 dollars a year on their military ($2,799,500,000 from the US). So does Israel go on a manhunt? Nope. They send rockets, and drones, and drop bombs on the suspected houses of Hamas leaders. Not smart bombs, old-school blow-up-the-block bombs. Israel loves to say that Hamas is at fault when civilians are injured because they put headquarters in civilian areas to use civilians as human shields.
"Hamas is using the Gaza population as human shields," said Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the chief Israeli spokesman. "They are exploiting crowded residential urban areas." With a population density of 12,000 per square mile, everywhere is crowded. The reason bad guys use civilians as human shields is because it works ~ because the good guys do everything possible to avoid hurting innocent bystanders. There are terrorists in Hamas (the government of the Gaza Strip) but over 40% of the population is young children. And most adults aren't terrorists either.
In five days, 37 Gaza civilians have been killed ~ I've read the Old Testament ~ it's an eye for an eye, not 12 eyes for an eye. As many ten Israelis have been wounded, so they wounded 720 Palestinians (again with that funky math). Makes you wonder who the bad guys really are. Israel seems to want to eliminate the Palestinian people. Every year on Yom HaShoah, Israel remembers the Holocaust victims, perhaps they should reconsider their own actions. It's time they stop. Israel must stop treating the Palestinians the way the Nazis treated their families. Shouldn't God's Chosen People be better than this?
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