Lest There Be Any Illusions. . .

This is what the Mediterranean Sea looked like in the aftermath of the 21 Coptic Martyrs.

"With their minds fixed on Christ, they despised the tortures of this world and purchased eternal life at the cost of one hour". . . (from The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 2nd century AD)

"Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell."  (The Gospel According to St. Matthew; chapter 10, verse 28)

Or, as Tertullian might have said, way back in the 3rd century - seed for the gospel, right there. . .

And I am still a Nazarene. . .

I Am a Nazarene

The mark shown above is a 'Nun', the Arabic letter 'N'.  In northern Iraq and Syria these days, it is being spray-painted on the houses of Christians ('Nazarenes' as they are known among Muslims) by radical Islamist thugs, to mark the house as a 'Nazarene' house.  When the spray-painted 'Nun' appears, it announces to the occupants of the house a four-fold decision, effective immediately:

1) Convert to Islam, or

2) Pay the dhimma*, and submit to dhimmi-tude, or

3) Leave, without your possessions (which now belong to Islam), or

4) Die

Nice, huh?

*The dhimma is essentially an 'infidel tax', designed to maintain the infidels in economic subjugation.  Dhimmis (those who pay the tax) essentially accept second-class citizenship.  They may not offend the eyes of pious Muslims by displaying any infidel religious symbols (eg, wearing a cross, or a nun's habit, or priestly vestments, or displaying a cross on a church building); neither may they build new churches, or repair old ones.

The very ancient Christian population of Iraq and Syria, which dates back to the early beginnings of Christianity (and pre-dates Islam by several centuries), is essentially being eradicated, as you read this.

The response of the rest of the world has barely been more than chirping crickets, and I can't begin to fathom why.

Is it because the 'victims' are Christian, and in the secular West, we think of Christians as the killjoys of the Sexual Revolution?  Or because, when we hear 'Christian', we think of obnoxious southern-accented TV evangelists, or the weird family with 20 kids?

Or is it because the thugs in question are Muslim, and we fear their irrational wrath?  Or because, somehow or other, we're stuck in a stereotype of Christians as 'oppressors' and Muslims as 'oppressed', and so, finally, the Christians are getting a little come-uppance (and about damn time)?

Or, do we tell ourselves that this is a 'religious problem', and therefore out-of-bounds for a secular state?

I really, really don't understand that Western governments (our own included) won't even issue impotent 'statements of condemnation', much less initiate any humanitarian measures on behalf of the Nazarene refugees.  And Western media will discuss the political and 'warfare' aspects of the dispute, but not the 'religious cleansing' aspects.

What in the world is going on?

By myself, I'm at a loss as to what I, as an individual, can do, concretely, to help my brothers and sisters in Christ across the world.  Anything I can do, like displaying the 'Nun' at the top of my blog as a sign of my solidarity with them, seems utterly 'token' and impotent.

But I do stand with them.  And, if I can do nothing else, I want them to know that.  I, too, am a Nazarene.

And, I will pray.  Partly because, even if I figure out how to do all manner of humanitarian good, but don't pray, I'm kind-of missing the point.  I will pray that God (Allah, as even Arabic Christians call Him), who sees every sparrow that falls from its nest, will watch over them and protect them, and deliver them from evil, and stay the hand of the evil-doer, and grant them His peace.

Oh, Lord, have mercy. . .

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(edit, 13 Aug)

Here is an essay posted yesterday, making a similar point to the one I'm making, but providing more supportive documentation. . .


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(edit, 21 Aug)


And here is another one. . .

The Whole Point. . .

"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are, of all men, most to be pitied. . .

"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the Resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. . . Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to him. . .

"Lo, I tell you a mystery.  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. . . For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. . . As it is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting? . . . Thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

     - from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15

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The Resurrection is the central, defining event of Christianity, its sine qua non. . .  No Resurrection, no Christianity; it is that simple.  But given the Resurrection, we have all of it. . .

Now, we "groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23); but "then we shall see Him face to face" (I John 3:2). . .

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I wish to all my readers and blog-friends, a happy and richly blessed Feast of the Resurrection!

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian penitential season of Lent. In honor of which, I'll re-post my traditional Lenten meditation. . .

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During Lent, I am struck again and again with the conviction that the Christian life is a lot more serious than I generally treat it as being. It is so easy to play at Christianity – to talk the jargon, do the theology, know the Scriptures, even – to get real good at the outward appearances, but miss the inner transformation, the knowledge of God.

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“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us” (from The Weight of Glory, by CS Lewis)

Alas; and I am the most half-hearted of all. I cannot escape the conviction that God is in deadly earnest about a way of life that I’m content to dabble in at my leisure. But –

“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” (from The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

I just want to drop the pretenses. I know who I am before God; I’m certainly not fooling God.

“Before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13)

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O Lord, have mercy. I may fool myself, but I don’t fool you. You “discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12); “you know my inmost being” (ref. Psalm 139:13-16).

Alas, alas. "Woe is me, for I am undone!" (Isaiah 6:5). Not a pretty picture, is it? And yet you won’t let go of me; you won’t leave me to my own devices, no matter how half-hearted I am. O Lord, I only want to know you. And yet I find that the biggest obstacle to my knowing you is. . . myself. I ought to pray, but I am irresolute. Too often, I go through the motions, “warmed from without, but not aflame within” (Imitation of Christ 3:2).

And yet, O Lord, you call me on, for reasons I can’t discern, except that your love and mercy are unfathomable. . .

Lent

For Holy Week, one more Lenten re-post, from March of 2008. . . ------------------------- During Lent, I am struck again and again with the conviction that the Christian life is a lot more serious than I generally treat it as being. It is so easy to play at Christianity – to talk the jargon, do the theology, know the Scriptures, even – to get real good at the outward appearances, but miss the inner transformation, the knowledge of God. ------------------------- “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us” (from The Weight of Glory, by CS Lewis) Alas; and I am the most half-hearted of all. I cannot escape the conviction that God is in deadly earnest about a way of life that I’m content to dabble in at my leisure. But – “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” (from The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer) I just want to drop the pretenses. I know who I am before God; I’m certainly not fooling God. “Before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13) ------------------------- O Lord, have mercy. I may fool myself, but I don’t fool you. You “discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12); “you know my inmost being” (ref. Psalm 139:13-16). Alas, alas. "Woe is me, for I am undone!" (Isaiah 6:5). Not a pretty picture, is it? And yet you won’t let go of me; you won’t leave me to my own devices, no matter how half-hearted I am. O Lord, I only want to know you. And yet I find that the biggest obstacle to my knowing you is. . . myself. I ought to pray, but I am irresolute. Too often, I go through the motions, “warmed from without, but not aflame within” (Imitation of Christ 3:2). And yet, O Lord, you call me on, for reasons I can’t discern, except that your love and mercy are unfathomable. . . ------------------------- (edit April 1; Holy Thursday) A couple more related passages have come to my mind: "I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is the very thing I keep on doing. . . Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chapter 7) "These two things I know - that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." (John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace) And that about sums it up. . .

Holy Shit

Perhaps I'm just being lazy, in a bloggity sense, or maybe my bloggity muse is taking a nap just lately. But this scripture passage was read in church yesterday, so I'm giving you another re-post today. This bit originally posted in March of 2007, but its roots in my brain go back decades before that, probably to my college days. At any rate, it is Lent. . .

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And [Jesus] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone for one more year, sir, while I hoe it and manure it. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, cut it down.” (Luke 13:6-9)

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It being Lent, I am in a ‘penitential’ frame of mind – taking a ‘spiritual inventory’ of my life, and trying, with God’s help, to address areas of weakness and sin. This Parable of the Fig Tree has always had a certain poignancy to me. There are many ways in which this parable has been interpreted over the centuries, but I’ve always tended to read it metaphorically, as though the fig tree is me, and my life. And I ask myself, have I borne fruit? When my Master comes to me, does He find the fruit that He’s looking for? And I get a certain chuckle from the last couple verses. Loosely re-translated (OK, very loosely), the vinedresser (the Holy Spirit?) says, “Let me whack on it and throw some shit on it, and see if it bears fruit.” And I get a wry smile at the metaphorical notion that our lives become more fruitful when we get some shit thrown on us. Maybe we get humbler, as the ‘shit’ that comes our way breaks down our pride. Maybe we finally begin to address some weakness or character flaw when the ‘shit’ that gets thrown at us makes it apparent. Mother Theresa said that ‘there is no spiritual growth without suffering’, and whether she had this parable in mind or not, this is essentially how I tend to understand her. Throwing some shit on my garden makes it more fruitful; is it possible that the ‘shit’ that gets thrown at me in my everyday life has an analogous effect on my spiritual life? But that bit about, "If it doesn't bear any fruit by next year, then go ahead and cut it down," causes me the tiniest bit of concern. . . ------------------------- (And hey: it got to nearly 50F on Saturday, so Jen and I got our bikes out and rode 19 miles - the earliest start to our riding season in many a year. . .)