The Evil of Doing Good

For Protestant Christians, the RCL text for Sunday is from Romans 6. It concerns sin and the act of dying to sin (in baptism) and being alive to God in Christ. Paul calls it "walking in the newness of Life."

Commentaries on this text are interesting. Many focus on how we end up sinning (or doing evil/bad things) in the process of doing what we think is good and right.

For example, this morning I heard Randall Terry ranting about how he heard Terri Shaivo say she wanted to live and how, despite all medical and legal evidence to the contrary, her husband abused her, wanted to kill her, and is an evil man. I don't doubt that Mr. Terry has convinced himself that his statements are true. And he has a higher agenda that fuels him - some type of anti-abortion, "right to life" agenda that he believes God has called him to fight for. But this doesn't mean that it is right to lie, manipulate the truth, and defame a man's character, no matter what good you think will come out of it.

The same goes for W who lied about weapons of mass destruction in order to convince the public that we needed to invade Iraq. Maybe Saddam did need to be removed by force, but this doesn't mean that it is right to lie, to manipulate the truth, no matter what good you think will come of it.

To be fair, let me offer an example from the other side. Gitmo needs corrected. It is an embarassment to the example of human rights that the USA is supposed to model. 520 prisoners are held, without being charged with a crime, without access to legal respresentation. But this doesn't mean that the people there are being abused. And to make that suggestion, even with the higher intent of forcing Gitmo's reform, is wrong.

We need to be careful about what we do because of what we believe to be "good." We may just end up doing more harm before any good can ever occur.

Don't call it a comeback...

Tyson boxed (terribly) last weekend. MJ is back in the spotlight. Phil Jackson has been re-hired as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. And Alanis Morisette has re-released her breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill, this time acoustic and re-interpreted.

Philosopher, madman, Frederick Nietzsche believed in the idea of the "eternal return," which was, for him, horrifying. Briefly stated,

For time is infinite, but the things in time, the concrete bodies are finite.... Now, however long a time may pass, according to the eternal laws governing the combinations of this eternal play of repetition, all configurations that have previously existed on this earth must yet meet, attract, repulse, kiss, and corrupt each other again.... And thus it will happen one day that a man will be born again, just like me...

Nobody enjoys the same old shit, which is why we are constantly seeking to re-invent ourselves, even while we are (mostly unknowingly) having the same thoughts, same emotions, same experiences over and over again.

When I went to college I remember thinking, "now I can change who I am. Nobody here knows me - I can be whomever I want to be." But then gradually I came to realize that I am who I am and I had way less control than I thought over "who I was" and they way people perceived me.

The eternal return is an interesting idea but I don't believe in it. You can't step in the same river twice. Life flows on, thank whatever higher power you thank.

I'd rather listen to "Off the Wall" a million times that hear one more CNN report about MJ.
Tyson is more like the chicken-brand that shares his name than the fighter he once was.
Are there no other good coaches left in the NBA?
How many ways can you re-intepret, "Did she go down on you in a theatre?"

Freedom

The President is dubyad the "leader of the free world." American women and men in foreign made uniforms are thanked for "protecting our freedom." Janis sings that "freedom in just another word for nothing less to loose." Nirvana is freedom. Moksha is freedom. Free in Christ. Thank God almighty, free at last.

Sometimes I feel trapped. Trapped by the obligations of life - obligations mostly self-imposed in the quest for freedom.

What would life be like if it was all gone? What would be left? Would life be any better, any more free?

To have is not freeing. To have-not is not freeing.

Stuck in the middle, oscillating, juggling, making sense of what has stopped making sense, searching for freedom within the traps and the traps of freedom...

No Woman, No Cry

My parents have been visiting for the last few days. They live in Indiana, 10.5 hr trip to Georgia to see me - or rather, to see their grandson. They are trying to see him every 2 months so that "he knows who they are."

My family has never been outwardly emotional and so it suprised me this morning when my mom started crying during our goodbyes. Since I left for college 12 years ago, I can't remember any other time my mom cried when we parted.

The bond between grandparents and grandchildren is one of strongest forces in existence. It makes me long for a time of intimacy with my parents, a time of innocence, before I moved to a state away from them, chose a major they questioned, came home drunk and used their bathroom instead of mine, pierced my ears, got a "skater" haircut, tried to runaway from home, talked back with my sassy mouth, ....

It makes me fear the days when my son and I will begin to not see "eye to eye."

Marijuana, Swamis, and the Rapture

Thinking about marijuana, health, the control of the pharm industry, the government's "war" on drugs...

Listening to an interview from New Dimensions with Brother Chidananda about Swami Paramahansa Yogananda and the Second Coming of Christ...

Reading how the Rapture is a Biblical distortion that is used to make money and further political agendas...in Barbara Rossings, The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation*

*I am not selling for or promoting Amazon.com. Just a link for a closer look - buy from whomever you want or check it out from the library (I did).

Jesus was a Blogger

Without too much of a stretch, we can compare Blogging to words of Jesus, especially his words to the Pharisees and other leaders. His words were challenging and controversial and he didn’t seem to care about the consequences. Of course, he didn’t say things just to piss people off – he chose his words carefully and out of compassion.

By associating himself with tax collectors and sinners; by declaring that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, Jesus was challenging his own tradition, including some passages of the Hebrew Scriptures. Or at least his interpretation of scripture was different than the Pharisees.

We should not be afraid to take Jesus’ initiative and critically examine our own beliefs, practices, and scriptures. What does the Bible have to say about justice? Are gay marriage and abortion the only justice issues (no matter what your beliefs on these controversial topics)? What about concern the elderly and orphans, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick? We can read plenty about these justice issues in the scriptures.

We should not be afraid to deconstruct our own idyllic and ideological God-constructions, especially when we understand that what we believe about God not only shapes our lives personally but also influences, through our collective actions, the community in which we live, our state, country, and ultimately world.

I AM / Religion is a Tool

Religion gets more blame and more credit than it deserves.
Like science, religion is a tool - neither good nor bad.
It may be an opiate for the masses but opiates serve a purpose -
they can help us transcend ordinary reality, give us a glimpse
of the world behind ego, show us something More.
But if we become addicted, placated, misusing the drug to
make us feel safe, to keep us from facing reality, then we
need to check into the treatment center.
Where do you get treatment?

A beginner's mind 

Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness

As a little child...I had a Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind...

This is a first crack, of my brain, what flows out, splurge of thinking, emotional outbursts, personal canon of shower ruminations, bedtime visions, a small way to stay sane.

Inspired by a series of Zen talks by the late Shunryu Suzuki, I offer these thoughts to you.

Darkness - uncomfortable, frightening, primordial
Flow - miminal self-editing and criticism
Streams - water, source of Life
Branching - searching for connections