Monthly Archives: January 2013

Real Ghosts

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Mark 6:13-16 (NIV)
They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. [14] King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” [16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

These verses are about a ghost story. Herod is worried he has a ghost–John come back to haunt him.

It isn’t John, it is his cousin, but never mind that. Herod is spooked.

He deserves to be. He is a rat–adulterer, bully, pedophile. He is one of those tidy historical villains who leave little doubt of his destination.

A bad guy. But that is the irony–when he was alive he was haunted by the possibility his victim would return. When in truth he is the ghost.

John died for no good reason, but he went to heaven. Herod lived for no good reason.

And hell became his habitat.

What We Stand to Lose

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She has her back to me. She is telling the children a sort of fable–if fables started if instead of once upon a time.;. And if the princess were a royal pain in the….well, you get the idea.

So Princess is unravelling a story. What if we had no mom or dad, no one to tell us what to do… Her voice conveys the magic of this scenario. Thanks to public assistance she has now had a few years to live the dream, and I will not venture to comment on how that has worked out for her.

It is her life.

And I was once just a random woman willing to wipe her…oh, you, get the idea again.

You could look at the things she has lost playing out her orphaned-with-cash fantasy. But that does not matter as much to me as this—

This world is God’s house and we may presume he has just run to the store for grapes. But I would not be so foolish as to underestimate Him. He owns this house and will return to clean it.

You can live your whole life without a mother and somehow muddle through. But to stake your forever on the dream of autonomy is risky precisely because you may just get exactly what you wanted…

Forever.

Who is this guy?

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Mark 6:14-16 (NIV)
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” [16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

Jesus was becoming a celebrity, but not by choice. He knew that his kind of renown led to crosses and blades, not black tie events.

People speculated about him. Who is this guy? Who raises the dead? Who heals our diseases? Who takes away my sin? God. Just Him.

Don’t forget it.

What Faith Can Do

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Mark 6:4-13 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” [5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. [7] Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. [8] These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. [9] Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. [10] Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” [12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Jesus never forces us to believe him and he never pushes his gifts on us. If we want his eternal bounty, we get it, if we don’t…well sometimes he heals us anyway. Or gets us standby seats, or fixes our power outages.

Because he is love.

He lets us see him as an interloper or an imposition. But if we take a risk on Jesus, we find he is a Sure Thing.

He is that good.

When We Look Away

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How could any sentient person suggest that the Sandy Hook massacre was fake?

When I see the pictures of the victims I know that their families are lost in a sea of grief and pain. Not only do they miss their loved ones, they are caught in a vicious web of the beautiful life taken and the bloody end.

Yes. The pictures are there–a crime scene where there should have been snack time. The reality of what it takes to rob a person of her life with a deadly spray of bullets.

If we really want to make our families safer we must face the bodies of our dead.

And perhaps face the cost of our pornography of violence.

Is Your Child Safe in Public School?

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Sometimes I just don’t want to write stuff. This is one of those posts–

The scene was described to me. It is compelling and comes from an impeccable source, but I did not see this happen–

A high school girl is at the center of a tableau in a public school. At least one educator is present as well as students. Her foot is held captive by a boy who has a specialized diagnosis and a foot fetish. He gains gratification from holding the girl’s foot. So no one removes him or stops him.

I would call this sexual battery and would raise a ruckus if it happened to my child. But unfortunately it is not an isolated incident.

Three related stories from three separate public schools involved similar incidents of sexual conduct during a school event or on school property.

No charges were filed in any of these incidents and to my knowledge no disciplinary actions were taken.

My thoughts?
No comment.

Gifts and Siblings

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Mark 6:1-3 (NIV)
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. [2] When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! [3] Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Lance Armstrong got $200,000 for speaking gigs. Jesus spoke for free.

And he backed up his wisdom with miracles, his miracles with suffering, his life for ours.

But all we see is his poverty and his ordinary family?

Or do we see more? Are we listening to the still small voice of God in the world? Or is it still the flash of the imposter that holds our gaze?

Private Resurrection

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Mark 5:39-43 (NIV)
He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” [40] But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. [41] He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). [42] Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. [43] He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Unwise to laugh at Jesus.

He knows when we are dead and when we are merely sleeping, and I imagine he could have pointed out people around him who were already dead–who failed to absorbed eternal life.

He tells the girl to rise and although we know she has been dead for at least a few hours she gets up restored.

Her healing is complete. Then he gives her an additional gift–privacy. She will not have to go through any ritual purity, public scrutiny or unwanted celebrity.

She gets to live again, whole.

Jesus both restores and loves those he resurrects.

Eliding Miracles

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Mark 5:34-36 (NIV)
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” [35] While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” [36] Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

This makes me weep with joy and gratitude–ignoring what they said.

I follow this man like a puppy dog because he ignores what they said and raises the dead.

If you are gonna travel effortlessly on the surface of water you gotta hold tight to the rope.

A Parable of Faith

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My kids are practicing French, handwriting, and shooting the breeze. They are quoting Patrick Warburton, who could read tax law and be funny. They remind me of my father, who was a military helicopter pilot.

He used to take the back roads. He would head down some narrow country road with a mysterious look on his face. Where are you going? We would ask.

I know a short cut. He would tell us.
He had marked the roads as he flew over the countryside.

I think of this when I ask God, why?

He sees beyond the horizon, the big picture, the answers to all my why?s