Our Human Predicament - Creation Gone Awry

 The last time our creation went as badly awry as it is at present was way back in the mists of mystery and myth in the story of The Flood -- the one with Noah and his fine ark. Genesis 5:5-7 spells out the problem (somewhat):

"When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, God was sorry that humans had ever been made or put upon the earth.  God was so filled with regret that God said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."

Of course, the short riff of the story is that Noah found favor, built the ark as instructed, sailed the seas of destruction, and then landed with all the pairs of reinhabitants to start a new chapter for humanity (and planet Earth).  God placed the rainbow in the skies as the seal of the covenant never to do that again. 

The majority opinion in mainstream Christianity is that this is a teaching myth, shared by other religions. If so, what lesson should we learn? Maybe that humanity is capable of mucking up the works so badly that there's nothing to do but start over? Which brings us to the present. Are we, as a planet, again at this soon-to-be crossroads? Climate scientists say yes. 

The human predicament is still as it always has been: when we're good- spiritually aware- we can be very good, but when we're bad, it can be very bad. The continuance of the earth depends on a healthy balance between the good and the bad.  Ideally, we will lean in favor of the good.  But in the United States, the current situation is placing "good" on very shaky ground. The driver for this trend appears to be the cynical attitude of the ultra-rich to strip as much from the Earth for themselves as possible. Therein lies the true predicament: a few with over-inflated privilege robbing the whole. Yet we all do it in our own self-centered ways. The predicament grows terminal as each individual starts to assert a right to have and defend what they consider precious. All creation becomes a zoo of silos - each one grabbing onto and storing a hunk of Creation as their very own.  The sole focus of living becomes acquiring and holding tightly to each one's little kingdom. The quibbling, petty physicality of this predicament erases the glue that holds it all together - the spiritual - the Source. Is there an option for saving creation from this foolish myopia that averts the pending utter destruction?

As innumerable sages from all ages and faiths have declared: Return to the Source. The Source is the Wisdom that guides our steps.  It is the collective Care for neighbor.  It is the Gentleness with which we walk the Earth. It is the Union created by holding onto the lessons of past generations, ever conscious of the generations to come. Humans crave what's theirs. They crave simple solutions, e.g., the barrel of a gun.  They seek the easiest answers to the most complicated - answers that usually only serve the few.

Yet, we do not serve only our own kind or just the people next to us. We are woven into a cosmic expanse that transcends time and place. The eons and cosmos are One. Those who have gone before are still inescapably joined to us. They still pray with us to the same Source.  The Vision is that even as Creation continues to expand, it is eternally held tightly in the Love that first brought the Light. 

The remedy to a Flood-type apocalypse wrought by our futile human predicament is to see the forest.  We exist not as individual trees. We're gathered by the Architect of Creation, glued into an evolving beauty that came before we were born into it and lasts as an eternal present moment of evolutionary Hope, where we get to the future together as the Old Testament story of the Promised Land foretold. 

This is our future should we choose to accept it. Staying in this wilderness, worshipping the Golden Calf, comes to naught. 

 

 

Memorial Day

 "Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for the mourning of U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces."  - Wikipedia

I was born very close to the beginning of the Vietnam War and spent the first 18 years of my life seeing scenes of Vietnam on the evening news nearly every night.  Each Memorial Day, growing up, my family also made an annual trek to the cemetery with irises in tow to place on the graves of my grandparents, noting all the flags on the graves of my uncle and other's family members lost (mostly) in World War II.  By the time I was old enough to vote, I was opposed to all war.  With each "police action," "military excursion," and war after that, I was on the side of pacifism and conscientious objection, reaching a nadir in seminary, feeling hostile toward all military matters, expenditures, and people.  So Memorial Day has ground my gears for a long time. 

One of the ways I wiggled around the military aspect of the day, especially when I was pastoring, was to widen the lens to include all people in the memorial (giving my churches two days with All Saints Sunday to recognize their departed). One or two veterans would invariably complain about "watering down" their sacrifices.

More recently, I've softened in my sympathies toward those who have served in the military or families who have lost someone in military actions. Military service is a major fork in life that would have been. So, I would regard my present state as one of profound reflective respect, not so much for the acts committed by our leaders who order the military, but for the choices with which military personnel face - from unbidded duty assignments to permanent injuries to death. Also, a visit to Tahoma National Cemetery one May a few years ago and seeing the vast expanse of white funeral tombstones with hundreds of flags was sobering.

So, this weekend I'm deeply present with all military folks living and dead.  Especially so for those in the Persian Gulf right now. Few things could test a soul more than to be under constant threat with no discernible purpose. I'm deeply present with all those who still live with an ever-present felt loss in their life or in their family. Some of that pain may go back decades across a generation or two. 

Each and every life lost frames the past and shapes the future for those choosing to remain in a relationship.  That relationship might be one very close, like a spouse or a child..  Or it may be more distant, like a citizen to the military. Each life, each death alters the future, and the vibration of those feelings reverberates across the sands of time, just like Jesus' death still ripples through the world to this day.  I thank all for all they have given and for all the unmerited gifts that I benefit from daily, though I am blind to the many lives that contributed to me having the life I have. 

Blessed Memorials!

A Farcical Show of Christianity

But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which god decreed before the ages for our glory.  None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (NRSV) 

On May 17, 2026, the "Rededication 2026" of America assembled a cadre of white nationalist quasi-Christians on the Mall in Washington, D.C., aimed to return America to its "Christian Roots."  I'm going to ignore for the moment the thinly veiled right-wing political propaganda purposes that were rife under a not-so-carefully hidden charade of faith.  Instead, I'll focus on the sincere Christian faith principles this media-intended spectacle ran over with a ten-ton truck.

Flaunting religiosity has never been an accepted Christian practice among the sincere followers of Jesus. (Mark 12:38, Luke 20:46)  To do so obliterates all notions of humility.  Jesus was carefully humble almost all the time, and when he wasn't, his actions were always about taking a stand for others or for a higher principle.  His most obvious act of humility was his silent defense before Pilate, and the crucifixion that ensued because powers felt threatened by his growing following. 

The leadership of the rally in D.C. revealed their inauthentic Christian aims by the scripture they chose for their theme: 2 Chronicles 7:14: "...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  They chose a verse from the Testament that is rife with chosenness throughout, and they avoided the entire New Testament, filled with such honest Christian themes as the Beatitudes and loving your neighbor as yourself.  From their egoistic belief in their own righteousness to define "wicked ways," they suggested an us-them dichotomy - drawing an exclusive circle around themselves and leaving out the rest of America.

America has been its moral strongest when it has followed Jesus' example, including acts of charity, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, sheltering the poor, being a refuge for immigrants, defending the weak, and bringing people together.  But under this President, America has become a sick, twisted caricature under the weight of extreme corruption, violence toward neighbors, and the fomenting of division based on unadulterated lies.  Pretending there is some special remnant of holiness controlled and manipulated by these theological hoodlums masquerading as holy men of God should sicken all of us, and I suspect it does God as well. 

If you are not familiar with Christianity, I invite you to open biblegateway.com and search, then read 1 Corinthians 13 for starters.  Then ask yourself if a nation with a true belief in Christianity holding that ideal would be "wiping Iran off the map" or imprisoning humans in concentration camp-style "detention facilities."