It is by the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete) that we become the followers of Jesus the Christian community in contrast to the world around us. The Paraclete (lawyer for the defense/defender of the victim) enables our understanding of the difference between the mimetic communion of the persecutors and the Christian Communion. Rene Girard notes: In the modern world this understanding is either absent (and that is why the modern world has never discovered the true difference between Christianity and the other religions), or it is present in forms that disguise its Christian origin. It is must too easy to follow along within systems that are based on scapegoats - victims - sacrifices that attempt to keep order in the world. It happens in the smallest of group when we put someone in our cross-hairs in order to put them down as we think we are raising ourselves up or simply keeping things in good order. We are given eye -you could say- that help us to see when it happens and how we are being pulled into it and (thank God) a way to move differently. That way is the cross. The Paraclete always being the defender of the victim leads us to the cross - leads us to the way in which the order of the day - the order of all time - is disrupted and a new life - a new being comes forth and begins to take life. That life is to be Christian Communion - the Church - the followers of Jesus, who know the way that brings all people to the table even though it is not the acceptable way to be a communion in a world bent on exclusion. Connection: I know that many folks may get tired of me saying that I am basically a coward. And yet, I know me. It is too easy to run away - too easy to turn away - too easy to let the victims of the world go for it on their own. And yet, I really do trust that this Paraclete - this Holy Spirit - resists my daily devotion to the ways of fear and doubt. The Holy Spirit brings a fresh breeze to my every breath - so that sometimes - just sometimes - I will stay put and be for and with the victims even as it means I take a hit. That is rare - but I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is the only way I move to this way of the cross. We must remember that the sting of death has no power over us. Unfortunately, there is still the sting - but we have been empowered to move through it to the point of saying 'death where is your sting!' As you walk with us, O God, tickle our hearts with the way of life that carries us into a life that is so often rejected - even by those who consider themselves pious. Amen. |
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