Beginning to write today is hard. I want to post something to my blog, but I’m not really sure what to say, or even where or how to begin.
For one thing, I’m already incredibly tired. It’s only 10:30 a.m. and I’ve been up nearly 8 hours already. Really, these early mornings are taking a toll on me, and I’m not sure how to fix it.
Life seems to be changing for me… Again. I discovered late last week that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer. Tomorrow, she’ll be having surgery, and the doctors are hoping to remove all of it. She’s upset, dad’s upset, and I’m a bit worried. This is a hard blow for them. About 4 years ago, it was learned that mom had heart problems, and they’re pretty serious. She’s on medication for them. Two years ago, mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. And now, this. Squamous Cell Carcinoma. If mom didn’t already have all these other issues, I’d likely not be too concerned yet, as according to various sites on the internet, this is very treatable, even if “aggressively malignant”.
Watched “7th Heaven”, last night. This program has become a soapbox for a whole list of societal ills. No episode goes by without some character lecturing on the woes of some issue or another. And sometimes their attempt to tug the heartstrings almost makes one physically ill. And yet, I watch it because it entertains, it’s clean, and remarkably, those little lessons in the plights of this or that group of people are interesting. Maybe not written all that well, or perhaps more to the point, not acted very well. That’s okay. Perhaps that’s the charm.
Last night’s episode was about the underfunded, overworked Children’s Social Services, the Foster Care programs, and the like. Once again, Eric Camden is trying to save the world; this time, it’s 3 orphaned children who can’t live together. At long last, Eric discovers that this is one problem there isn’t a quick fix for. And yet, the fix that he comes up with is fascinating.
What if an entire church community decided to be part of the solution? How novel! A Church community doing something besides filling the pews on Sunday for an hour or three? Okay, I know there are a lot that do just that, MORE that is. But I’m still left with a rather cynical view of the average church. I think the ones that do more are anything but average.
Which brings me to my goal. Marcus Borg, “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time”. I’m picking up steam reading this one. Marcus has introduced me to a very interesting historical figure, Jesus. And I find myself really connecting to this view of Jesus. Can I sum up this view of Jesus in a line or two? No, Marcus’s view is far too complex for that; but I can sum up one part of who this Jesus is that I find so attractive. The Compassionate Jesus. “Be compassionate, as your Parent is compassionate”. Luke 6:36. Or, as other translations state “Be merciful, as your Parent is merciful”. (I’m providing the inclusive language here, not the translation.) Or, as The Message translates it: “Our Parent is kind; you be kind.” I like that one.
See, that just who Jesus is to me. He’s the teacher telling all those around him, “Hey, folks, God is a kind, compassionate God. You want to be close to God? Be like God. Be kind and compassionate.”
Borg sees Jesus as a “spirit person”, and as a teacher of wisdom, or sage. But he’s not about teaching conventional wisdom, the prevailing wisdom of the society around him. Jesus’s whole message was subversive, an alternative to the wisdom of Middle Eastern society of the 1st century.
It’s remarkable to see the gospels again through this filter of compassion… just about every thing we read in the synoptics is in someway a didactic of compassion.
And that’s what 7th Heaven seems to be about these days. Compassion. Eric seems just about bowled over by the powerful sense of compassion he feels. He can’t seem to really cope with this need to be kind and compassionate. He wants to help everyone and everything around him, and when he can’t his heart seems to break. He’s compelled to act; not by choice but by some seemingly inner force.
It’s a force that is far weaker in me; but I sense it, nonetheless.
Compassion. A politics of living, an ethos that seem so foreign, alien really, to the church of the 21st century. I hope I’m wrong.
On The Road II 