Category: World Order

Berlin and More

This year’s Remembrance  Day (Nov. 11) coincides with the weekend’s thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. There were huge forces at work in both times. What we want to remember and honour most, however, are the individual stories of heartbreak, heroism and sacrifice lived out for the greater good.

There are, of course, great forces at work today. Their impact is felt just in weariness over the news. But the contributions we acknowledge now should prod us to recognize we are not powerless. What we do each day can and does make a difference, from how we speak to the drive-through person to the attitude we bring home from what we”ve been through for the day.

Big forces have their day. What we do in love has eternal significance.

Romans 12:17-18

Who’s Calling the Shots?

There is a common and disturbing dynamic that permeates various areas and levels of our organizational life. Even in the church. Let’s face it. It happens–not in all settings but it certainly happens–that the life of a faith community can be guided more by political “reality” than the way we outwardly agree it should be run, usually with an agreed upon system of governance, based on Biblical principles and authority. Too often it boils down to things being done according to the predilictions of some power broker or brokers, and people fall into line, often unconsciously. The principled leader ends up frustrated, and often demonized as defensive, unresponsive, and/or simply incompetent.

The point here is that so pervasive in society is the power talks and might is right mindset that not even the church is immune from being run this way. And it’s too easy, and inexcusable, to just throw up our hands and say, well that’s just the reality. That’s the problem (see above re the church). Part of this mindset by those who most practise it is an end-justifies-the-means mentality. If you are convinced you know what’s best for everyone, any means is justified, even deemed right.

My current reflection on this is prompted by the news that Canadian government agencies have been requesting, successfully, roughtly a thousand requests per day from telecoms for information on Canadians. This is justified under the umbrella of “national security.” Really? For that many requests? And is really just the government itself behind this. Or are there powerful forces in our world that see themselves as the rightful rulers (just like the power person in the church), and therefore see any action or tactic as justified.

Is government just a willing player in this dynamic?

Who is really calling the shots?

Reverse (Dis)Order

I was reading something the other day about past (incorrect) and present (considered correct) methods of determining the age of Earth, and, for that matter, our solar system. The common theme that struck me in this is decay. My mind starts to get fuzzy (more than usual) when trying to follow a lot of this stuff, but what I get is that the currently accepted method of “radiometric dating” has in common a phenomenon in common with previous “failed” methods: decay. Basically, the age of ancient rocks can be determined by measuring their rate of decay.

Some of us might think, great, I’m just like ancient rocks: ageing and decaying. Life is winding down. It might also resonate with a certain view of the world: that socially, politically and economically, it is devolving into increasing disorder. And maybe even that the morale of your life is not much different: a mess and getting messier. Nothing every works out, lurching from one crisis to another. And the various crises of life are like compressed entropy, the process of decay and increasing disorder compressed into my lousy day.

Maybe that has something to do with why the disciples where scared out of their minds by the storm, even with Jesus with them in the boat (Mark 4:35-41).  He didn’t seem even to care! That just adds insult to injury. And maybe that’s the real crisis with us in our storms, in our sense of things winding down and disintegrating: “God, don’t you even care? Are you, like, sleeping or something?”

God is creator, but he is not identified with nature or its processes. We may be united with one whose ways are increasing while the world, yes, may be decreasing. He is in the boat with us. He stills our storms, and gives us hope.

Fewer with More Information

CBC and others have reported on the work of Canada’s privacy commissioner, who is about to end her term in that position. I have tended not to be too concerned about such things, thinking that if I have nothing to hide, I don’t need to worry. Something in this report made me think that is probably a naive attitude. The commissioner makes the observation that more and more information, about all of us, is in the hands of fewer and fewer organizations. We often hear about how more and more money is in the hands of fewer and fewer – the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. This points out that a similar thing is happening with information. I suspect if one were to dig into this more deeply, one would find at least some correlation between the two kinds of wealth: money and information. That adds up to immense power, and power, inevitably, gets abused. That’s a concern for all of us. So maybe I should stop being so naive, and we all should pay a bit more attention to these things.

The Book of Revelation has something to say about the coming together of various kinds of power, and demanding our allegiance and even worship. There are forces in whose interest it is to keep us in a state of fear and dissatisfaction, so we will depend on them and they will profit by us. This is something we can do something about, by being discerning, and making wise choices.

Meanwhile, it is also not a bad thing to keep from having anything you feel you need to hide.

 

Trance

“If only.” It’s a seductive mindset. It’s also a form of unconsciousness. Its appeal is clarity but its reality is obtuseness. It reduces complexities to single issues and singular ways of dealing with those issues. It creates villains, the elimination of whom/which will solve our current problem(s). And we all say it, do it, think it: If only …

It’s the most common mindset behind interniational and inter-ethnic strife and hatred. It’s at the heart of work and family conflict. It poisons our souls. It’s a way of ethically and relationally sleep-walking through life, and it’s time for us all to wake up.

That’s what I’m addressing in this Sunday’s message. Reading: Luke 13:1-9.