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12-20-2010 PP#2: The Crisis Point

A professor of mine used to say to those of us in class when discussing how to best aid people, “People aren’t willing to experience the pain of change unless and until it exceeds the pain of remaining the same.”  It was a fundamental Truth that sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and numerous other “ists” have observed over the millennia.  Over the years, i have come to observe that Truth over and over again…

In the current politically adversarial and heels-dug-in climate, there are several things that have formed a confluence of events in the past few days to once again prove my professor’s point.  For the sake of analytical amalgamation, i would like to point out just seven of the much larger number here.

First, a new group called “No Labels” was launched last week to some fanfare.  Now, despite the point of the group being to try and promote a civil discourse among thinking people from all across the political spectrum, the extremists on every side have tried to assail the group as soft or inconsequential or unprincipled or any number of other distortions.  Next, the tax bill passed over the weekend along with the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexuality in the armed forces.  Third, New Jersey governor Chris Christie appeared on 60 Minutes on Sunday about New Jersey’s financial peril.  Fourth, the lame duck Congressional session is about to end, and the new wave of Repugnican House of Representatives and Senate officials assume their posts in January.  Fifth, some financial agencies last week threatened to downgrade the United States financial rating if something fiscally responsible isn’t done soon regarding the National Debt.  Sixth, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D – Nevada) was forced to pull a $1.1 Trillion OMNIBUS (budget appropriations) bill last week due to a lack of support, thereby potentially leading to a shutdown of the U.S. government.  Seventh, the financial commission’s report and findings – to which all sides pointed as a critical evaluation of our current predicament – have gone either largely ignored or roundly criticized & rejected.

Ugh…

This confluence of events highlights a problem about which i would like to comment today.  It would seem intuitive – and, indeed, even perhaps common sense – that people would want to avoid a crisis.  To avoid a crisis requires action, but only if You do indeed want to avoid the crisis.  Due to some people’s insatiable need for drama or conflict or attention (or whatever their particular neurosis), not everyone wants to avoid a crisis.  For example, Rahm Immanuel believes in exploiting crises for political gain.  Saul Alinsky wanted to create crises to stress the system to bring about radical change.  John F. Kennedy (and, for that matter, the whole Kennedy family) wanted to avoid crises, but he was seemingly always drawn into them.  Ronald Reagan wanted to react to crises in ways that prevented them from occurring again.  Everyone has a different posture toward the notion of a crisis.

So, here is the problem (at least partially).  Oftentimes, people who lean toward the right part of the political spectrum have tendencies toward a more rule-of-law-based predisposition, while people on the left end of the political spectrum often tend to have a more justice-based predisposition.  Did You catch it?  One might think that having a strong conviction regarding the rule of law is either very similar or precisely the same as having a passion for justice.  Wrong.

Now, of course we are also dealing with semantics, nuances of political theory, and shades of gray here that cloud the distinction, but – as commonly manifested throughout American history in the culture, courts, legislatures, religious institutions, and other bastions of thought – these two concepts (rule of law and justice) have grown to have very different interpretations.  Those right-leaning zealots who pride themselves on a firm belief in the rule of law with all of its constitutional backing tend to want to fix what’s wrong with policy before they address the abuses of the system, the plight of the afflicted, or the inadequacies of the infrastructure.  They are coming at problems from the angle of how to set up the most efficient, useful, and law-based mechanism to address whatever need(s) exist among the minority needing aid at any given point.  Those left-leaning enthusiasts who pride themselves on a firm belief in justice with all of its humanitarian support tend to want to fix what’s wrong with the delivery of services before they address the fraud to the system, the burden on the law-abiding citizenry, or the consumptive limits of finite resources.  They are coming at the problems from the angle of how to set up the most inclusive, supportive, and fairness-based mechanism to facilitate opportunity.

Now, neither of these approaches is necessarily better than the alternative, but they are just different in their origin, trajectory, eventual arc, and result.  If one is governed by the motive of establishing a system that is easily followable and, therefore, somewhat exclusive toward people who refuse to play by the rules versus being driven by the motive of establishing a system that is inherently compassionate and, therefore, somewhat inclusive toward people who may or may not be worthy of empathy, then the dichotomy between the two approaches is highlighted.

This elemental difference between the two sides causes a ships-passing-in-the-night kind of miscommunication phenomenon.  Today, i will give You two examples: one from the recent past and one happening right now.  In the second term of President George W. Bush, President Bush wanted to address immigration.  His approach was based on wanting a political settlement of the issue.  He concluded that the best approach politically was to go for a “comprehensive” immigration policy, because he thought it would garner more broad political support.  After all, he was a self-described “compassionate conservative,” and – if he could stomach that approach – then surely his fellow Repugnicans could as well.  He had some strong supporters, including the GOP presidential nominee in 2008, John McCain.  However, he did not anticipate the level of pushback that he encountered from conservatives who insisted on border security being implemented first before substantive discussions regarding a path to citizenship and other issues could be seriously addressed.  On the left, some activists stipulated to the security issue being addressed first, but the vast majority were much more concerned with how illegal immigrants were being treated and demanded that comprehensive legislation be crafted in an attempt to address the whole issue at once.  Why?

Well, the political fear of the left is that they will die a death by a thousand paper cuts.  If they admit that security is the most pressing issue, then they are admitting that crimes are being committed by illegal aliens that predate any treatment issues (never mind any national security concerns).  In other words, the illegal immigrants are mistreating others (other would-be immigrants by jumping in line, U.S. citizens by disregarding their superseding claims to services, law enforcement officials by putting everyone in the danger of a criminal enterprise, the laws themselves by reckless disregard for their authority, and innocent people who are not immigrants as much as slaves caught up in human, drug, or other forms of trafficking among other harms) by breaking the law before being mistreated themselves, and that is an admission that progressives see as a perception (in the court of public dialogue) from which there is no recovery.  It’s a tone-setter that cannot be overcome.  Rule-of-Law folks want incremental, measured, systematic reforms that fix the situation a little more at every step along the way.  Justice folks want the end result of a more tolerant, humane, and sympathetic system, so they want it all at once so that they won’t continually have to negotiate based on inanimate facts that constantly get in the way and muddle up what is fair.  They don’t want an issue-by-issue debate on what is right so much as a big-picture reformation of what is in keeping with what is right.

There must be a greater aversion to remaining in our pathetic condition than to the disorientation of whatever change will bring about...

Now, with the immigration example in Your back pocket as an example, view the current debate on the budget deficit.  Rule-of-Law folks want to address spending first.  They want to address overspending.  Justice folks don’t want to cede any of that ground.  They want to address the overall fairness of redistributive policies.  It’s the same shell game with bowls hiding the ping pong ball instead of coconut shell halves.

At the heart of this dichotomy is a more deep-seeded distinction: responsibility versus morality.  Ah, but that is for another post.  Maybe i’ll write about that when all is right with the world and there is no more war, Grammys go to the most talented musicians instead of the most popular, and the Cowboys are finally Super Bowl Champions again….

12-17-2010 3FA (Friday Free-For-All) Post #1: How About A Rant?

The first Friday Free-for-All article.  Hmmm, now there’s some alliteration for You…

There are so many things to write about, but i think i will start this column with a general rant about things that bothered me in 2010 – and maybe even throw in some things i liked, too.

First, let’s start with the obvious: the Dallas Cowboys.  Sheesh.  This is what we call an exercise in futility.  i Truly didn’t know it was possible to make a boy born and raised in Texas hate pro football.  Well, congratulations, Cowboys.  Because of You, i now don’t really care that much anymore – and, what’s worse – You’re also to blame for global warming.  i don’t know how yet, but – given Your unique ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory – i know it’s Your fault somehow.  How does it feel to murder the dreams of little kids & old men while simultaneously murdering polar bears?  Congratulations….

Second, there’s mobile phones, or – more specifically – the people who use them.  i rarely have real, substantive conversations anymore, because no one focuses or pays attention without the distraction of mobile phones.  Nevermind, the dangers of texting and driving, the awfulness of being able to be contacted anywhere at any time for any reason, or the disgusting addiction to mobile Facebook.  There’s a new movement afoot in the privileged circles called “unplugged,” and it stands for not being so linked in technologically.  Apparently, i was the forefather of that movement, and i am looking to broadcast that and gain lots of celebrity with my Twitter account…

Third, Larry King is no longer on the air.  Really?  i don’t know what’s worse: that it took this long to get him off the air or that Joy Behar now has a talk show.  Seriously, friends – the end is near.  Buy cans of hominy, get Your cellars prepared, and buy a big, dangerous dog.  Any day now, the apocalypse begins…

Fourth, Time’s Person of the Year is the Facebook kid.  Yes, You read that right.  No, You are not having a nightmare…

Fifth, America is facing a severe deficit crisis that threatens to put us in virtual bankruptcy a la Greece or Ireland.  How do our politicians respond to this crisis (since – as Rahm Immanuel famously taught us – we don’t ever want to waste a crisis)?  They went out and spent $900 Billion.  No, i did not just call You a cuss word.  That is Your imagination, friend….

Sixth, Conan O’Brien is back on TV.

Seventh, Conan O’Brien is back on TV.

Eighth, apparently, the Miami Heat is just a nickname, and they’re not so hot after all.  Funny.  my Celtics didn’t say much during the offseason as they signed great player after great player.  Hmmm…

Ninth, it’s Christmas time.  Besides all the other good reasons to hate Christmas, there is always the incessant playing of music that just can’t cut it at any other time of year.

Tenth, i would have had ten items for You, but there isn’t a tenth one worth mentioning.  i mean, there was Bristol Palin on Dancing With The Stars, but You see what i mean.  i rest my case…

OK, maybe i’ll get around to the good stuff next week…but probably not.  Have a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

12-16-2010 Personal Post #1: A Life Worth Living

“Only a Life Lived for others is a Life worthwhile…”

(Albert Einstein)

“We must be willing to let go of the Life we have planned,

so as to have the Life that is waiting for us...”

(Joseph Campbell)

Shakespeare had Hamlet ask, “To be or not to be – that is the question…,” but – as i enter a new period of my ChristLife (again) – i have come to believe that the primary question in Life is not “whether or not to be” but rather what is the LORD Most High attempting to make us be (since that would imply that whatever He is attempting to morph us into is indeed what He designed us to be)?

Recently, i have endured an disorienting experience – divorce.  In fact, i am still (and always will be) enduring it.  So, You should know that my Personal Posts in the future are not the musings of some young, unexperienced, green-behind-the-ears punk, nor are they the theoretical concoctions of some affluent, ivory-tower scholar/artist/therapist/counselor who has no idea what the real world is like.  On the contrary, i know exactly what the real world is like, and i fight in it – and against it – every single day.

These personal posts will not be negative, but neither will they be shallow.  Often, supposed and seeming positivity is the result of not going deep enough to encounter sharks or from embracing some astoundingly stupid form of dismissive or oblivious optimism that discounts the fins circling You as the predators close in with every revolution.  No – the positivity of my posts will be the wine wringed from the labor of picking, sorting, washing, crushing, cooking, distilling, and fermenting grapes.  The only positivity i have found worth embracing and keeping is the kind that comes at the end of a long day of labor, and i intend to be brutally honest, relentlessly pursuant of Truth (i.e., Y’shua’s perspective), open-minded to my own faults, deficits, and blame in my Life as well as being open-minded to others’ faults, deficits, and blame, too, and neither dismissing or excessively focusing on their parts in the problems that currently plague me.

Today’s post is about where the LORD Most High leads me from here, and He has been calling me toward a Life that matters…that is significant…that leaves an impression…that begins a legacy…that breaks generational curses and personal bondage and tribal iniquities and replaces them with generational Blessings and personal liberty and tribal righteousness.  And – beyond that – a Life that is fulfilling to me as well.  He wants me to have a Life that is full of zest and passion and intensity instead of lethargy and apathy and indifference…that invigorates me and energizes me instead of dulls me and drains me…that i anticipate instead of dreading.  The LORD Most High has always called me to a Life that – in His words – glorifies my Father and benefits those with whom He puts me in contact, but i think my understanding of exactly what He means by that both has grown much recently and also will continue to grow even more as this new period unfolds.

To start, i want to say a few things about my wife (and, yes, i still refer to her as my wife – even though we are divorced – because that is what she was…kinda like calling a former president “President” so-and-so).  That’s not a holding-onto-the-past thing as much as it is a respect thing.  Having witnessed literally hundreds of divorces in my Life, i think one factor that contributes to former spouses not treating each other with respect is the thinking that they are not linked anymore, and that is simply not True.  Spouses are linked for Life, whether or not they remain married all of their Lives.  At the very least, they are part of each other’s narrative, and – at most – they are joint parents to children.  So, my referring to my former spouse as my “wife” is a sign of respect.

And my wife is worthy of respect.  She is a remarkable person who is amazing in many ways.  As i mentioned earlier, i am going to be honest about the fact that she has deficits and faults and blind spots and issues, but everyone has those things – not just me and not just her.  And the fact that she isn’t perfect doesn’t mitigate in any way the fact that she is an amazing person who is worthy of respect and honor and esteem.  While i was always mindful of how great a person she is when we were married, i didn’t always do well at focusing on those things instead of her lesser qualities.  But this is a new period in my Life, and i want to Christen this new period with a newfound resolve to focus on her greater qualities when i speak or reference her from now forward.  That doesn’t mean i won’t refer to our problems or issues or her specific struggles when i am discussing my Life now and how i am coping with moving forward, but it does mean that i won’t dwell on her issues (since the point is to let You know how i am doing) and i won’t use the fact that she isn’t perfect to somehow grant me an excuse to belittle, degrade, or blame her.

To be sure, both of us hurt one another and caused each other enormous grief, anxiety, and a host of other pains over the more-than-a-decade that we were married.  Neither of us are beyond blame, but both of us are good people in the sense that we belong to the LORD Y’shua and carry His Light and Love inside of us.  i am a richer human being for having had my wife in my Life as a friend, but we should not have gotten married and that is my fault.  i settled for marrying a person i didn’t Truly Love in a romantic way, and my pride in wanting to stay together and not admit my mistake caused a child to be born who will have to deal all of her Life with divorced parents.  i should have gotten divorced much earlier and way before we had a child together, but it was my sinful pride that kept me from doing so.  Not only was i prideful, but i was also selfish in wanting her to change to accommodate me and stubborn in not being willing to change to accommodate her – although i don’t believe either her or me evolving into someone who wasn’t True to the LORD Most High’s unique design of each of us would have been healthy, either.  It reminds me of a statement that Albert Einstein used to frequently make, “Women marry men with the hope they will change, and men marry women with the hope they will never change.  Invariably, both are disappointed.”

While i would not say that the years spent in my marriage were wasted, i would say that they almost destroyed me and indeed have ruined parts of me that will have to be carefully recultivated if there is ever to be any good and useful fruit from me.  The beauty that can be brought forth from the ashes of my marriage in my own personal existence is yet to be seen, and the LORD Most High is known – as much as anything – for His ability to make good out of bad.  Therefore, i cannot look upon the years of my marriage as a waste when my God has claimed the exclusive right to redeem any horrible situation that i encounter and use it for His good.

What i do see in those years is a man who was completely miserable and who grew in spite of his marriage instead of because of it.  Our marriage was awful on the first day, and it got worse almost every day afterwards.  Rarely can i remember any joy in those years, and there was certainly no ecstasy.  The struggle of every single day to just feel valued and also to deal with the constant fear (which was eventually realized) of being thrown away as unkeepable was an unbelievable burden to bear.  i believe that the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual stress of those years probably took years off of my Life as i tried to cope with all of the competing interests, debilitating emotional sparring, interpersonal dysfunction, frustrating miscommunication,  and relentless antagonism between us.  i have emerged a lesser man: not broke, but in debt beyond my ability to ever pay unless a miracle occurs…not with no reputation, but with a reputation as someone who i would abhor myself and a name that has largely been destroyed in the circles in which i run…not with no future, but with a future that has been severely handicapped…

Don’t get me wrong, i have hope.  In fact, for the first time since before i was married, i am hopeful about my future.  Several years ago, i had a vision from God.  It is the only one i have ever had, and in it i was instructed by Y’shua to speak Life to people.  i am not the man the LORD Most High designed me to be just yet.  The man He designed me to be and is calling me to be is a man who speaks His Life to people, who prefers family, who honors his parents, who will not speak ill of any person, who keeps covenants and is faithful, who defends his friends, who is able to walk in trusting faith for provision and protection, etc., etc.  Right now, that’s not an accurate description of me, but it will be some day…

Before my existence here is finished, my Father will succeed in making me into the man He designed me to be – and that is my hope: that the One Who began a good work in me will be faithful – and is able – to complete it.  That man is a kind son become a gentle father - an orphan who is adopted and grows and matures to become a father to many...an abandoned person who becomes a refuge for runaways, throwaways, & other "aways"...an impoverished person who becomes a faithful steward of much...a person who matures into one who utilizies his talents and gifts and passions for the glory of His Father and the benefit of those with whom the Father Blesses him to interact...a person who speaks Life and not death or limbo or mere existence...a person who Blesses others...a person who is hospitable and gives comfort...a person who counsels wisely and for godly purposes...a boy who becomes a man who is like his Father and represents his Father faithfully.

This is my hope, and it is also the path to a Life worth Living.  It reminds me of the hymn i sang growing up, “my Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…i dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name…On Christ the solid rock i stand – All other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand….”

Selah….

12-15-2010 Theological Post #1: Intimacy

“Everywhere and always God is with us, near to us, and in us, but we are not always with Him since we do not remember Him; and – because we do not remember Him – we allow ourselves many things which we would not permit if we did remember.  Take upon Yourself this task: to make a habit of such recollection.  Make Yourself a rule always to be with the LORD, keeping Your mind in Your heart, and do not let Your thoughts wander; as often as they stray, turn them back again and keep them at home in the closet of Your heart, and delight in converse with the LORD….” (Saint Theophan the Recluse)

Besides the fact that Saint Theophan is one of my favorite mystics, he hits upon here the very essence of being a disciple of Y’shua.  For my first Theological article, i would like to post today a writing addressing – if one wants to be in a Truly significant relationship with his/her Creator that matters on a moment-by-moment basis –  the fundamental primacy, absolute necessity, and essential joy of intimacy with the LORD Most High.  i am convinced that nothing – yes, i meant to say “nothing” – is as important in the Life of a disciple of Y’shua as intimacy.  There is nothing more central to our identity, nothing more grounding in terms of our purpose, nothing more awakening regarding the warfare surrounding us, nothing more moving in our relationships with other human beings, nothing more tempering to our carnal responses conditioned in a world under they influence of our enemy, nothing more jarring to our selfish proclivities than intimacy with what the great philosophers call “the Other.”

The Westminster Confession states, “The chief end of humanity is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever,” (notwithstanding John Piper’s adjustment that yields “…to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”)  This debate seems to me to be an important one, but it all slightly misses the point, in my estimation.

A recurring theme in the Theological articles posted here will be the need to view issues from the heavenly places in which we were seated when adopted in Love into Y’shua Christos and then given the mind of the Messiah as He trains, equips, and teaches us.  Normally, we see, for example, issues from the temporal viewpoint instead of the eternal viewpoint.  With regard to intimacy, i would argue that we observe it most generally from the human-centric viewpoint instead of from the divine-centric viewpoint.  What’s lost in viewing intimacy from our standpoint rather than God’s perspective?  Everything.  When we do that, everything is lost…

While i can appreciate Piper’s interest in shifting the emphasis of the confession from enjoyment of God as a result to enjoyment of God as a means, it still rings a bit hollow in me.  The point is not, as the confession asserts, to glorify God.  i understand how people may think that before they know God, but i am more dubious as to how they would continue to think that after meeting Him.  Indeed, such a belief as taught by the Confession seems intuitive to someone who has read about God in the Bible or who has heard of his faithful relatives discussing their Friend or who longs for protection & provision in her Life from her Maker.  But that such a belief is intuitive does not make the belief True.  Truth is a person, and His Name is Y’shua Christos.  So, if we are to discuss what’s “True,” then we must discuss Him and what He says.  That is why one of His many monikers in the compilation of writings that tell His story is “the Word,” because it is what He says and writes and defines and interprets that is Truth – not what we say or codify or define or interpret, even if we are discussing the same things as He is discussing.

Once a person has met the LORD Most High, and – yes – i mean that literally, i cannot then understand how they can think in a way native and intuitive to a world consigned to disobedience, as Paul asserts.  Such an encounter should shift a person to seeing things from the perspective of the “Other.”  This is given as the antidote to the curse on Israel by both John the Baptist and Y’shua which is often mistranslated as “repentance” as they announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

You have already heard that i do not believe the chief end is to glorify God, and that i think the way people arrive at that conclusion is based on a distant proximity instead of a near propinquity.  So, what should be the point?  What is the chief end of man, if it is not to glorify God?

i believe the chief end of man is koinonia, but that is for another time.  Today’s topic is intimacy, and it is at the heart of koinonia.

One reason i believe that intimacy trumps glory is that God could have designed our chief end to be anything.  So, what if He had proclaimed it to be glorifying Him?  Well, then the Confession would be correct.  But if He had chosen anything else, then the Confession would be wrong.  However, by choosing – as He did – koinonia, He showed what He describes as His Own essence: Love.

Whatever the chief end of man, the LORD Most High wanted it to be in a particular context of koinonia.  And why is koinonia valuable?  What makes it of such great worth as to be God’s chief end for man?

The answer to that query is intimacy.  Whatever tangential notion of a relationship with the Almighty we are discussing, at the heart of the answer is intimacy.  John Wimber understood this, and, therefore, even when he taught about power or spiritual warfare or encounters with the demonic, intimacy was still the primary concern.  This essential Truth is evident in Y’shua’s ministry.  It is the point, i believe, of the foreshadowing Samson narrative.  It recurs over and over again in the typological story of King David.  Koinonia, based on intimacy, is the chief end of each human and the purpose for which he or she was created…

Worship is, perhaps, the most easily accessible context in which to consider intimacy.  In His conversation with the woman at Jacob’s well, Y’shua informs her that God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth.  Well, of course they must.  The Holy Spirit indwells those who are disciples of the Truth, otherwise known as Y’shua (or “Jesus” to most Westerners).  What shouldn’t be lost on us is not so much the “Spirit” or “Truth” parts, but the “in” part.  This gets into another discussion completely about what it means to be “in Christos” (a key formulation is Saint Paul’s language) or to have “Christos in us” (another key formulation in both John and Paul), and so i won’t go into detail here.  Suffice it to broach that it is the “in” part that is the key, and “in” implies intimacy.

When we worship, it can be in a multitude of ways: building altars, mowing a neighbor’s grass, not returning evil for evil, eating in sacred fellowship with gratitude, keeping reverent silence, shouting joyful noises, bowing low, dancing, etc., but many times we use music – to which we alluded yesterday.  Why music so often?  Because singing Love songs to our Lover has been an appropriate expression of worship for millennia.

The word “intimacy” starts with “in.”  The etymology of the word “intimate” reveals the following: “[Latin intimtus, past participle of intimre, to make familiar…]”  Did You see that?  The Latin term is talking about the process of making two who are not family into family.  When we say that a husband and wife are intimate, we are describing, oftentimes, the physical process of sex that takes two people from non-related streams and divergent backgrounds which consummates the legal recognition of those two “separates” becoming family (on paper) by becoming “intimates” (in physics).  And how is a marriage consummate?  With in-tercourse.  The man is “in” the woman.

It is a process that strikes fear into the heart of an enemy who wishes with all his might to retain isolation for that woman, to haunt her with loneliness, to dangle his meager, terrorizing scraps over her head and make her act like a yelping dog desperate to merely survive instead of the kind, bountiful provision & protection gently supplied from her Lover that allows her to thrive while resting.  A woman, once entered by the one she Loves with all her heart, will never be the same.  Not on paper, where the state recognizes the union that turns unrelated strangers into related folk.  Not in her body where she welcomed a Lover who could have taken for himself his own measure of pleasure, but instead – in seeing to the meeting of her needs – was given pleasure by her as she was given pleasure by him.  And not in her heart, where a calm peace and emotional security and intense bond form to let her know that she is not alone, not susceptible, not vulnerable – except to the trustworthy one in her Life.  Her worth is not up for dispute, she is not uncherished, she is not unpursued, she is not left to her own devices, and she is not discarded to provide in whatever degrading indignity or prideful capability she can muster.  No, she has experienced intimacy.  Someone who she Loves was in her, and he made her his family.

That is the story.  As Christmas approaches, the Christian religion focuses on the birth – and that is a worthy thing to remember.  But births don’t occur without intimacy, and – even in the case of the virgin Mary – the birth was not without intimacy.  It just wasn’t human-to-human physical, sexual intimacy; it was our Creator bending the natural to a supernatural moment where He could highlight the purpose of it all: His making us family by changing our status from strangers to intimates.  The process of the Holy Spirit “overshadowing” Mary and sparking the physical Life of the Messiah in her was a type of what was to be shown in Y’shua – that He would make each of us family if we would but receive Him into ourselves.

Today, don’t let intimacy avoid You.  Make it impossible for intimacy to sidestep You as it walks down the hall.  Intimacy is hard…it is messy…it is draining…it is elusive, but it is also worth it…it is precious…it is fulfilling…it is within Your grasp.  After all, Your Lover is standing close in proximity to You saying, “Come to Me….”

12-14-2010 Cultural Post #1: Music & me

 

“Music is the shorthand of emotion...” (Leo Tolstoy)

i wanted to write today about music and its importance to me.  i write all kinds of stuff: short stories, poems, political commentary, rap, theological treatises, etc., but – at heart – i am really and have always been a songwriter.  The reason?  Nothing moves me so much as music.

Tolstoy was right.  Linguists will tell You that music fits all the criteria of qualifying as a language, but mathematicians will tell You that music fits all the criteria of qualifying as a science.  As a former professional musician who sings, plays multiple instruments (including guitar, piano, percussion, & winds), produces, writes, performs, & arranges, i can tell You that music affects people in profound ways.  Now, that may seem obvious to everyone, but we don’t act like it’s obvious at all – at least not in the Western world and cultures.

A recurring theme of cultural posts here will be the difference between the Eastern and Western worlds.  Music serves as a good example of this dichotomy.

On 9/11, Westerners were shocked to see Islamic women pouring out of houses into the streets to scream in ecstasy about Americans dying by jumping from 100-story buildings and Islamic men dancing in throngs of thousands while burning flags and chanting themselves into frenzies.  Americans went on talk shows and discussed – albeit not always rationally – the situation.  The divergence of reactions could not have been clearer: Both Eastern and Western people reacted with emotion, but Easterners embraced their emotions and led with them while Western people actively tried to subdue or suppress their emotions and, for the most part, tried to remain calm and led with their intellect.  Even President Bush was derided when he stood in the Oval Office and teared up when addressing the press or when he stood on the rubble at Ground Zero with a bullhorn in hand and a firefighter at his side and promised that “the people who did this will hear from all of us soon.”  Such emotion – especially coming from our leader – was just unacceptable.  The overriding question that i remember hearing over and over and over again on network news and analysis was, “Why do the hate us so much, and who are they?”  As if mere information could address the situation…

The bottom line: Life is emotional, and – to understand Life, indeed, to embrace Life – You have to engage emotionally with it.  Otherwise, You end up more a robot than a human.

But that is the curse of the West: the belief that still plagues us from the days of Plato, Aristotle, & Socrates when it was birthed and then contagiously passed on through to the days of the Enlightenment when the virus matured into a full-scale paradigm known as “Modernity” that if we could just gain a complete enough access to information that we could solve any problem, overcome any obstacle, understand any mystery.  Nevermind the laments of geniuses like Tolstoy or Einstein when Albert remarked, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when creating them” or Carl Jung’s “Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain” that remind us that information doesn’t tell the whole story.  Nevermind Julia Cameron’s well put statement, “Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.”  Nevermind the countless statements of monks, shamans, priests of every religion, witches & warlocks, etc., etc. who know that not everything can be understood.  Oddly enough, this was a central tenet of Plato, too.

We were not meant to reduce the miracle of Life to well-organized data packs of intellectual bytes.

Yet, we act – especially here in the West and no where more than in America – like art, in general, and music, specifically, are valuable only in the sense that they can be commoditized and, therefore, owned & protected from unfettered, public, mutual use, sold & traded, and distributed & shared to those fortunate few who can pay the troll his toll.  This is at the heart of why so many Christians are offended by the commercialization of the Christmas holiday: even if they haven’t conceived of it this way or cannot articulate it as such, they know intuitively that the shopping madness has stripped away the emphasis on the mysterious incarnation.  The kenosis has lost its primacy, and shopping turns out to not be nearly as interesting or intriguing as divinity morphing into humanity and then becoming and remaining deity.

The West strips art, and specifically music, of its relevance, its importance, its profundity, its power, its inspiration when we treat it like a how-to manual for a carburetor and sell it for $19.99.  But, alas, i digress.  i’m not wanting to delve deeply today into the ills of commoditization as much as appeal to all of You to learn the more perfect way – the way of embracing music as a sign…a sign of Life, an evidence of passion, an impression in the soil that trackers could follow to see that someone was there once, a proof that Love, joy, & peace are cohabitating with pain, heartache, & misery, a witness that the spirit of beings is present and real and indisputable….

Music is a gift given to creation broadly (even the angels sing), but specifically to humanity by divinity…an innate tool that can reach into the very being of a person and seize both the soul and the body simultaneously and make them pay attention to the spiritual, because that’s what music is: a spiritual reality.  Music – and especially when combined with poetic words that get sung by a vocalist carrying a melody (whether or not it is enhanced with harmony) – is the native language of the spirit.  Music can say things that people can’t say, literally.  This is why people who stutter can sing brilliantly, because their brain actually views the two as completely different phenomeni.  This is why You can’t say the words to the Star-Spangled Banner (try it, if You don’t believe me).  This is why at the most vulnerable of moments, we sing when our mother dies or our son marries or a soldier sacrifices.  This is why we worship so disproportionately with music instead of equally with other just-as-valid expressions of worship such as building altars or keeping silence or eating in gratitude.  Music speaks for us when we can’t speak.  Music facilitates healing in us when we are stuck.  Music moves us….

i learned the alphabet by singing, and – despite a linguistic interest and gifting – i struggled at every other language i attempted in which i didn’t have an alphabet song.  i went to sleep (and sometimes still do) to adults singing to me.  Sometimes i just turn on Alison Krauss or Ella Fitzgerald or Norah Jones and fall asleep.  i dated girls to music, and that’s all i’ll say about that.  i prepared for athletic contests by listening to music.  i passed time with music as i worked in restaurants and on ranches and on highways driving.  i paid for college with music (partially).  i watch movies to music (though usually someone else is in charge of what accompanies what).  Music is powerful and – when done from an emotional platform instead of a commercial one – uniquely capable of affecting us.  This is why clerics gripe about backbeat-driven music and its affect on crowds and its promotion of group-think via peer pressure.  This is why psychologists describe its mood-altering affects and counsel people prone to certain tendencies away from certain kinds of music.  This is why we teach alphabets and Bible genealogies and other hard-to-learn lists with music.  This is why schools and countries and civic organizations teach “fight” songs (yes, i know…“fight” songs does strike me as i’m writing this) to condition their new members.  This is why Hitler and every major political leader in history (as well as our own political candidates in the modern era) co-opt pop music for their campaigns.  This is why music therapists (yes, they do exist) believe music can heal.  And this is why Your masseuse plays “soothing” new age music before and after (not just during) Your massage.  i could go on and on and on…

In the West, we don’t give music its due.  We relegate it to certain uses and tie its hands to only affect us in pre-approved ways.  But that is largely because we are Western, and – even for all our understanding – don’t really “get” Life very well.  We would do better to embrace the emotional and temper it with the rational, instead of dismissing the emotional & replacing it with the rational or eschewing the emotional & depending on the rational.

Music shows us that we are aLive.  Music means there is something to express that requires a special investment of effort.  Music lets us humans touch something that is other than us and beyond us: the divine.  The finger of the divine may be only a tiny bit away from the finger of the human in the famous “Creation of Adam” painting, but You can bet an angel is somewhere in the background with a harp playing and that the soundtrack just somehow didn’t make it into Michelangelo’s masterpiece.

Today, let music infuse Your Life.  Build a soundtrack to Your story over the next year.  Find that song that was playing when You lost Your virginity or that hymn that was sung when Your great-grandfather died or that chorus that You sang when Your niece got baptized or that song that blared when the opposing player fouled out at the basketball game or whatever, and let it move You.  If You’re able, let it shove You back to Life and give music permission to use as much force as necessary to do so.

Warning: Don’t settle for commercialized crap, either.  Some commercial stuff is fabulous, and – chances are, at least in this dumbed-down culture – that You may not even know of any non-commercial music.  But make sure that what You listen to is more about what can’t be said than what can, so that it took music to communicate the concept with the sentiment and, therefore, a spiritual merger of human and other-worldly aspects combined to form something metaspiritual or possibly even sacred.  Make sure that the people playing and singing are putting their heart and soul and mind and spirit into the music.  Make sure that passion is the marker of choice in what gets recorded into Your head by those artists to whom You choose to give influence instead of commercial interests like a 3 minute time limit or an aversion to the hard topics.

And, for God’s sakes, don’t sell it or analyze it.  If You have to do that, do it up front.  But, whatever You do, when You get ready to listen, quiet Yourself and really listen.  Let Yourself be moved and inspired and affected.  It’s just like drugs, or so i hear: the better the quality of the stuff, the better the ride….

12-13-2010 PP#1: Why American Politics Doesn’t Work

With the ever-deteriorating state of American education, it is not surprising that most American adults don’t have any real idea why American politics doesn’t work, because most Americans don’t know that American politics has been broken since the beginning of America and even before that. They are under the illusion that, at least in years gone by, the American political system actually worked, produced good results, and was handled by more capable, knowledgeable, and authentic individuals. Therefore, there is confusion as to why the seemingly broken system which they are witnessing currently is so ineffective and the current politicians so inept, but that is not the Truth. Today, i will clear it up for You….

Live Man Walking PP (Philosophy / Politics) Posts are about understanding the Truth behind the actions, and the current debate over the tax compromise bill being debated this week is a great example. You’ll hear all week various views espousing everything from cynics just wanting something accomplished to ideologues on various sides itching to fight for the purity of their cherished beliefs to realists concerned that the current trajectory of Congressional/Presidential spending is (not will) bankrupting us to political analysts pointing out the fine points of who’s setting up who for what (even if they aren’t aware that such is what they are doing). Please don’t get as caught up in any of those positions as much as assuming a posture of understanding what is really happening at a belief level that is driving each of those perspectives.

Whatever Your belief about tax policy and the intricacies of regressive rates, stimulative initiatives, or moral obligations, there is one overriding problem that America has that will constantly recur in our PP posts: the American political system is inherently self-promoting. Now, notice i did not describe it as “selfish,” because the system is an “it” and not a person – therefore, it cannot be selfish, per se. Also, i am not insinuating that Americans themselves are a selfish people; such an assertion is simply not borne out by statistical, anecdotal, or historical data. What i am asserting is the Truth that the American political system is not designed to help people – it is designed to facilitate the governing of people.

Many people today think that the purpose of government is to help people. Others argue that government should referee people but otherwise stay out of their affairs. This is the foundational contrast between big-government and small-government advocates. But either one of these views misses the distilled point: government exist to provide order. Order indicates the presence of government, but what kind of order exists is a reflection of the character of the rulers. The problem today with regard to the confusion people are experiencing when they listen to opposing party members argue the ideological passions of their sides or watch the analytical pundits massage the fine points of political maneuvering is that ideas and strategy don’t matter nearly as much as character, because both are derived from character.

This fact means that government will be imperfect, because people are imperfect. As important as government is, it is not the end-all, be-all in Life – uh, that would be called “Love.” For example, there was no shortage of order in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in power, but no one in a healthy state of mind would argue that Saddam Hussein was a good ruler. His character wasn’t flawed, it was evil in its nature. To a far lesser degree (but, make no mistake, it is still the same), many rulers around the world and in America are also not good rulers. The difference is whether they are evil or just inept.

So, what makes a ruler “evil”? What makes a ruler “good” (if there is such a thing)? The answer is: character.

Here is the point worth remembering: character in a politician should not be judged along the spectrum that extends from benevolence to malevolence, it should be discerned according to the politician’s posture toward those over whom he/she has charge. Terrorists can build schools, roads, & hospitals – they are not completely malevolent or absent of any benevolent proclivities. In fact, terrorists (by their very nature as people predisposed to fight) will be very benevolent to someone. Great presidents (as they are remembered) can wage unnecessary wars and kill innocent people, develop opinions of themselves that are disproportional to reality, or detach themselves in their own luxury. No, the test for evaluating a ruler or politician should be this: Are their actions driven by a character that is primarily concerned about the welfare of those over whom they rule.

Back to the current debate on the bill that freezes taxes, extends unemployment aid, allows estates to be inherited, and runs up the deficit by $900 Billion. The Repugnicans got what they wanted, and the Demoncrats got what they wanted. The President got what he wanted. Now, granted, they all had to “compromise,” (which normally means they didn’t get everything they wanted, but – in this case – it means that they gave the other side everything they wanted), but all sides should be happy with the resolution of this issue. And yet very few thinking and serious people are happy on any side about it. Why?

The underlying reason why no one is happy is that it wasn’t a good deal for anyone. Everyone got what they wanted, but it wasn’t a good deal for anyone. In our hearts, all of us know that this bill is similar to having plopped down on the couch to watch Your BeLoved Cowboys play on Thanksgiving after having just eaten way too much food followed by a piece of homemade fudge, a piece of pecan pie, and some of that crunchy, cherry stuff when Your taste buds call from the bullpen….

“Uh, hello. This is the bullpen, sir. Listen, we know that You just ate too much and our body is going to revolt soon. And we understand that – after that binge – You irresponsibly took in enough calories via several desserts to kill some forms of Life on this planet. However, we respectfully submit to You that it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if You don’t get off Your ass and get us a piece of banana bread. And, by the way, just as a point of order, we would like it noted for the record that banana bread is good for You – or at least not as bad as those other desserts that You consumed. We’ll be awaiting its arrival.” Click…

Now, who among us doesn’t like our Thanksgiving traditions? All the bullpen’s arguments about the virtues of banana bread, the “You’ve-already-gone-too-far-so-You-might-as-well-go-ahead” view, the justification that You’re not nearly as fat as Uncle Henry and ought to somehow be proud of Yourself for only being 100 pounds overweight instead of 200 pounds like him, and the other arguments are ridiculous. The fact is that You are killing Yourself by eating in such an irresponsible manner, and tradition doesn’t lessen the stupidity of that behavior.

At that moment, when the bullpen calls You up, You have to say “no.” And that’s what this tax deal is all about. The Repugnicans are supposed to be the grown-ups who will say, “Well, i’d Love to extend unemployment benefits or cut taxes, but we don’t have the money, honey.” The Demoncrats are supposed to be the ones who look out for people’s best interests. Instead, the Repugnicans just added $900 Billion to the country’s already maxed out credit card, and the Demoncrats are demanding that class warfare (read, “blamegame”) should have been waged to stop this shenanigan. It’s repulsive, but it’s worse than that – it’s evil.

It’s evil – yes, in a lesser way, but nonetheless still evil – in the sense that it doesn’t take into account what will most benefit the people under their collective rule. Is it any more morally right to give people money through Christmas that they don’t have than at any other time of the year? Or should someone with a brain cell that still works stand up and tell people that there is no more fried chicken and they’ll have to settle for saltines if they’re still hungry, ‘cause momma’s tired and all the chickens outside are gone. When did it become OK to go steal the next generation's chickens from next door?

Or is it somehow not as bad if we extend tax cuts for everyone than if we only extend them for people who can barely make ends meet? O, wait, i know – let’s just quit having taxes and keep running up our credit card. i mean, as long as we’ve got a nuke, do we really have to pay our bills anyway? What is China gonna do about it – they’re not going to take over and, ultimately, they want the interest paid anyway…

See how stupid all that sounds? This debate was a chance for serious people on both sides to actually get serious, but the problem is not how serious they are – the problem is how little character they have. And what is in their character is to rule on behalf of those who keep them in power and for their own selves instead of ruling for the benefit of those under their rule.

This is why the American political system is broken, why Americans are instinctively upset about “Washington being broken,” and why so many young people (and increasing numbers of older people, too) are becoming cynical, disengaged, or just simply jaded about the potential of any effective results being produced. To rule doesn’t mean to just establish or keep order…it doesn’t mean to just be sober-minded in acknowledging the problems or recognizing the dangers…it doesn’t mean simply stopping bad policies or obstructing ideologues hell-bent on wholesale change. No, ruling means implementing or not implementing, but – either way – doing so for the benefit of those under Your rule. Saddam got it wrong. There is a difference between our rulers and Saddam Hussein – he was evil, ours are incompetent. However, the difference is not much comfort when the grown up is sitting on the couch eating banana bread….

12-12-2010 Live Man Walking - A New Blog

Finally! That's what i know some of those of You who know me are going to say…

For years (yes – literally – for years), several people have been bothering, pestering, or otherwise nudging me about "blogging." At first, i refused, because – quite honestly – i didn't know what "blogging" was. Then, i rebuffed them, because i didn't think anyone would care about anything i would have to say. Lately, i have been eschewing the idea based on other more personal issues. Now, though, it seems to be the right time to begin a blog and share my Life in a more public way than just via FaceBook to select friends or in the personal company of those who share my Life.

So, in the great tradition of Descartes, Shakespeare, & Thoreau, i offer my humble writings for the benefit, encouragement, and – hopefully – pleasure of each of You. i write, because i am told often by many that i have a gift of writing and that it needs to be nourished & cultivated. i write, because people tell me that, on the one hand, i have things to say that others need to hear, so i need, therefore and on the other hand, to make sure that my thoughts are distributed & shared via the medium of writing. i write, because i Love to write and want to write and it helps keep me aLive. To adapt a phrase from one of my aforementioned inspirations, “i am writing, therefore i exist….”

So, here is the format i am going to use – at least in the beginning. As much as is possible, i will post an actual article each weekday, but i will also occasionally post “stati” (like a Twitter “tweet” or a FaceBook status) if there is something i think is relevant, funny, or interesting happening in my Life (don’t hold Your breath), news to which i care to react, or pictures, images, headlines, songs, or other media which move, inspire, frustrate, anger, or confound me. The articles will be posted by day; Mondays will center around PP (Philosophy / Politics, although some might argue that “PP” should better or more accurately stand for “poo poo,” such as issues regarding matters legal, regal, or theoretical), Tuesdays will address something Cultural (music, art, entertainment, customs, etc.), Wednesdays will engage the Theological and deal with spiritual, faith, or scientific data (debates, discoveries, revelations, studies, etc.), Thursdays will highlight Personal issues in my Life (marriage, divorce, career, etc.), and Fridays will discuss anything that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the other categories (sports, finances, etc.) – we’ll just call it the Friday Free-For-All. I will begin the Blog on Monday, December 13th, 2010, and i will attempt to be as faithful as i can in following the format described above.

Generally speaking, when someone undertakes an endeavor, they would ideally have a goal. If that is reasonable, then i suppose an apropos question some of You might have is, “So, mshane, what is Your goal with this Blog – Live Man Walking?” What a fabulous question….

Live Man Walking will be my general base online. It will be the work space where i spend the bulk of my daily online energy, the “house” into which i invest most of my creative abilities, and the focus of most of my pursuits. With that in mind, i think the more salient question to me should be, “What do i hope that You get out of it?” Now, that is an important question, and – in the end – this is my hope for each and all of You.

i hope it accurately reflects who i am in the core of my being for those of You who care to engage with me, so that You can come to know accurately the person with whom You are engaging. i hope it becomes a platform for me to share my views, assumptions, learnings, and questions about issues and also a reference point from which any of You may derive understanding about my perspective, agenda, & paradigm, so that You may be informed, challenged, and moved by the content You stumble across. i hope it becomes a hub of intrigue where You may come and be inspired by ideas and art and beauty, exposed to people, places, & other resources about which You did not know before, and encouraged by a Live Man Walking to Live today – really Live, despite whatever pressures are on You, forces oppose You, or circumstances hinder You. To Live…not just to survive, but to survive while embracing the struggles…not just to do well, but to do well with purpose…not just to overcome, but to conquer for the benefit of others…not just to exist, but to thrive in adversity, pursue in faith, blossom in hope, and exchange in Love – that is what it means to me to Truly Live. And that is what i hope You see in me as You witness a Live Man Walking….