Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Goodness...oh, and a new job



mercy is the road we walk.......

'The gospel no longer benefits the poor essentially. In fact, Christianity has now even become a downright injustice to those who suffer (although we are not always conscious of this, and certainly unwilling to admit to it). Today the gospel is preached to the rich, the powerful, who have discovered it to be advantageous. We are right back again to the very state original christianity wanted to oppose! The rich and powerful not only get to keep everything, but their success becomes the mark of their piety, the sign of their relationship to God. And this promts the old atrocity again - namely, the idea that the unfortunate, the poor are to blame for their condition; that it is because they are not pious enough, are not true christians, that they are poor, whereas the rich have not only pleasure but piety as well. This is supposed to be Christianity. compare it with the New Testament, and you will see that it is as far from that as possible.'
(Kierkegaard)

He penned these words quite some time ago....not much has changed really and it seems we don't learn much at all.

As I have always thought, the real fragrance of God is found in Gethsemene and Calvary....

...and maybe for the poor the gospel is good news because it is a sign of God's nearness...ironically when Jesus wishes were not met, and his own dad turned away....

Annie Dillard said that there is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. I think she may be right.

Talking of which, I forgot to mention - got a new job last week - I now work for Government (I hung up my chain saws). Ironic that it is I cannot say anymore than that as I've signed the secrecy act. Suffice to say, it's my journey into politics - the new chapter begins. 'Fix it from the inside; that's what the grown ups do'. Isn't that what President Santos said in the final episode of the West Wing?

My attempt at a good life, maybe this is my path....

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Ghosts


'The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone.'
(Mitch Albom)

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Chains


Maybe we should wear our broken hearts and battered idealism not like hard-won honours but open, weeping sores...maybe that unlocks the door that leads to freedom...maybe

"All our experiences are needs, dissolving when the needs are fulfilled. but the truth is, our existence, too is a need. We are such stuff as needs are made of, and our little life is rounded by a will. Lasting in our life is neither passion nor delight, neither joy nor pain but the answer to a need. The lasting in us is not our will to live. there is a need for our lives, and in living we satisfy it. Lasting is not our desire, but our answer to that need, an agreement not an impulse. Our needs are temporal while our being needed is lasting."
(Heschel)