The Poor will always be with us

Recently a non-christian activist friend of mine had the misfortune to have this verse thrust in her face by a Christian as a reason to ignore social justice issues and focus purely on proselytising:

“”The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me” (Matthew 26:11)”

Oh dear =(

This person obviously doesn’t read their Bible’s properly, since the point of the story is about a woman pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet, and the lesson the disciples learnt from this about devotion to Jesus first and foremost before other important priorities (of which addressing poverty is key). If they had read their Bibl’es properly, they’d also note that Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:10-11

“Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

This person also seems to suffer selective amnesia.. because in the previous chapter of Matthew, Jesus says this:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)

It appears Christians will take Sola Scriptura as far as they can if it lets them avoid issues that make them uncomfortable. Check out these links for more info:

http://www.justpeace.org/lent43.htm

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/1720.htm

http://ragarambler.blogspot.com/2004/12/poor-you-will-always-have-with-you.html

• Deuteronomy. 15:10-11
  “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’”…

Peacemaking

Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.

- Thomas Merton

in your mind’s eye

“in your minds eye

buildings rise up like the crooked fingertips

of long-dead titans

abstraction made perfect in black ink

and radiating

watercolour

in your minds eye

the promise of peace

is more enticing

than the most golden of mexican sunsets

and the warmth of the creative juices

flowing through your careful fingers

brings a gaiety to your step

and a softness to your countenance

that no beachfront restaurant could hope to

(even your mother admits it,

and the restaurant was her idea)

in your minds eye

Taranaki watches from lofty heights as

Tangaroa takes you down into his cold embrace

and shows you his secrets in a way

that only you can understand

and only your paintbrush, and pen, can describe

though

it is never completely captured,

and you are never satisfied with the result

(there is always more to add

– this is the artists curse)

because,

in your minds eye

everything is begging for interpretation

to be born again in black ink

and radiating

watercolour”

The Emerging Church

This has to be one of the most interesting and gracious explanations of the Emerging Church, by one of my heroes, Richard Rohr… himself a man who has a ‘gracious foot’ in two camps.. the Roman Catholic Church, and the organic ‘emerging’  community of jesus followers worldwide who are finding common ground and creative ways of taking the command to love others seriously.

Faith in Action

“Faith has to connect to the world we live in … we have to read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.”

- Shane Claiborne

On being overly critical

This quote by Richard Rohr challenged me.. I love it.

“The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better. Just go ahead and do it better. Don’t waste the next 20 years of your life being against anybody, anything, any group, any institution. Just go ahead and do it better.”

- from the CAC webcast, Nov. 8, 2008: What is The Emerging Church?

Pupper Super Mario

This is awesome:

Top Ten Tracks

Inspired by Virtual Phil, here they are… my top ten tracks of all time… pretty hard choosing these! I reserve the right to change them in the future. In fact, I probably will.

10. O, Fortuna – Carl Orff

9. Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Iglova, Once

8. Semaphore – Jakob, Cale:Drew

7. Sally’s Song – Danny Elfman, Nightmare Before Christmas (this is Fiona Apples version)

6. Nessun Dorma – performed by Paul Potts (I can’t watch this without crying)

5. Lilac Wine – Elkie Brooks, the Jeff Buckley version from Grace

4. High and Dry -  Radiohead, The Bends (so hard to choose a Radiohead song! This one is simple but has good memories)

3. Lover You Should Have Come Over – Jeff Buckley, Grace (so soo hard to choose a fave Jeff Buckley song!!)

2. Untitled 8 – Sigur Ros, ( )

and finally..

1. La Catedral – Agustin Barrios

This song, in three movements, is unbelievably hard to play on the classical guitar, and painfully beautiful. Barrios dedicated this monumental work to this beautiful Cathedral in downtown Montevideo.

Best of all, my mother plays it better than anyone I’ve ever heard. Here she is (click arrow to play)

La Catedral.mp3]

Reading is for awesome people

My passions and interests always lead me to fantastic authors who have endless wisdom to offer me. A list of people whose work I am intending to read this year:

Cynthia Bourgeault
Karl Barth
Gregory Baum
Emmanuel Levinas
Jean Vanier (particularly his work on Community)
Henri Nouwen
Jacque Ellul
Richard Rohr

If you have any interest in faith, theology, justice, mysticism, community, or contemplative prayer etc, google these guys.. they are the awesome

Extreme Shepherding

This almost defies belief… so cool..