27 April 2005

More of a look at Jesus from the viewpoint of "The Prophetic Imagination" by Walter Brueggemann.

Jesus is remembered and presented by the early church as the embodiment of an alternative consciousness. In his compassion he embodies the anguish of those rejected by the dominant culture, and as embodied anguish he as the authority to show the deathly end of the dominant culture. Quite clearly, the one thing the dominant culture cannot tolerate or co-opt is compassion, the ability to stand in solidarity with the victims of the present order. It can manage charity and good intentions, but it has no way to resist solidarity with pain or grief. ...The imperial consciousness lives by its capacity to still the groans and to go on with business as usual as though none were hurting and there were no groans.

Why is the embodiment of compassion such a force within our world? Could it be that it is so contrary to how our culture moves that is disarms us for a moment? By that I mean it creates a feeling within us. It stirs us up...even if just for a moment. The stirring may not be identified as a corresponding compassion because compassion is such an alien experience since we have been made numb to the reality of pain around us. Yes, we can be moved to stay in touch with and be moved by the "anguish" of those around us - and I would suggest that it is the Holy Spirit that moves us in that alien direction - or we can react to anything that opens up our eyes and ears and hearts. When we are reactive...when we try to keep things just as they are...even through acts of charity, the dominant culture or mood will prevail and as it does, we easily become numb once again to the life around us. Isn't that how wars start?

Connection: Would it be a good exercise to stop in the middle of our day and try to sense how or why there is a lack of compassion in what we are hearing and seeing in the news...from our government...in our homes...from our churches? And then...what will we do?

Lord of New Life, you walk in our steps and you also bid us to come walk in yours. Open our hearts so that we will become aware of the pain in our world and not fear it or run from it but rather, like you enter into it and begin to dismantle its control over all of us. Amen.