Perspective
A friend's dad has weeks to live.
Last night, we talked with Matt & Valerie (who are soon to be married) about death and dying and the martyrdom of marriage.
Today, I read Fr. Stephen's Blog and found this gem about political discourse in light of the Resurrection:
But when you have come to make a pilgrimage to Christ ranting is simply not on the agenda. Christ had little to say about the injustice of Roman rule. It is not that Roman rule was just - but that He represented a kingdom that trumped anything Rome ever dreamed of. It’s for the same reason that a single monk could say, “I have no enemies.”
Such a statement can only be made because you have seen the fullness of the Kingdom and nothing offers any rivalry. God is God and that is that.
I do not mean to suggest that justice in this world is to be ignored by Christians. We must speak the truth, regardless of consequence. But we must also speak the truth to ourselves - that regardless of consequence - the Kingdom of God has come in Christ and there is nothing the world can do to make it not so.
The very difficult task of forgiving our enemies - by the resurrection of Christ as the Church’s hymns sing - is also the very difficult task in believing the resurrection in a manner that is not removed from the world in which we live. Every breath we take, every grain of sand upon which we walk, all that exists - exists solely because of Pascha (Christ’s resurrection). His resurrection is not a footnote in history but the very reason there is any history. I can forgive by the resurrection because it is my very being and the being of everyone around me - even though they may not realize it or act accordingly.
So, Chicken Little may be right, and the sky may indeed be falling. It may be true that China has started saying "no" to buying up our debt and will no longer sell us credit. (That alone is enough to make the dollar rapidly decline in value. Imagine what will happen when China starts selling our debt and flooding the world economy with dollars. Then the dollar will be in a free fall.) And, it may also be true that people hear only what they want to hear, even when they know they're misinformed. But none of that holds a candle to the fact that Christ has come and is coming again, and we are charged with loving and knowing him as he really is.
Last night, we talked with Matt & Valerie (who are soon to be married) about death and dying and the martyrdom of marriage.
Today, I read Fr. Stephen's Blog and found this gem about political discourse in light of the Resurrection:
But when you have come to make a pilgrimage to Christ ranting is simply not on the agenda. Christ had little to say about the injustice of Roman rule. It is not that Roman rule was just - but that He represented a kingdom that trumped anything Rome ever dreamed of. It’s for the same reason that a single monk could say, “I have no enemies.”
Such a statement can only be made because you have seen the fullness of the Kingdom and nothing offers any rivalry. God is God and that is that.
I do not mean to suggest that justice in this world is to be ignored by Christians. We must speak the truth, regardless of consequence. But we must also speak the truth to ourselves - that regardless of consequence - the Kingdom of God has come in Christ and there is nothing the world can do to make it not so.
The very difficult task of forgiving our enemies - by the resurrection of Christ as the Church’s hymns sing - is also the very difficult task in believing the resurrection in a manner that is not removed from the world in which we live. Every breath we take, every grain of sand upon which we walk, all that exists - exists solely because of Pascha (Christ’s resurrection). His resurrection is not a footnote in history but the very reason there is any history. I can forgive by the resurrection because it is my very being and the being of everyone around me - even though they may not realize it or act accordingly.
So, Chicken Little may be right, and the sky may indeed be falling. It may be true that China has started saying "no" to buying up our debt and will no longer sell us credit. (That alone is enough to make the dollar rapidly decline in value. Imagine what will happen when China starts selling our debt and flooding the world economy with dollars. Then the dollar will be in a free fall.) And, it may also be true that people hear only what they want to hear, even when they know they're misinformed. But none of that holds a candle to the fact that Christ has come and is coming again, and we are charged with loving and knowing him as he really is.