It's the least we can do.

I hardly ever address politics or current events – the last time was maybe in 2011? But I want to talk* about the whole Charleston/Confederate flag thing, and since no one's here to stop me, here goes... 

I definitely think taking the Confederate flag down at the South Carolina state house and any other public property it adorns is a good and necessary action. I mean, it’s the least we can do. But… really, it is exactly that… the very LEAST thing we can do. I mean… it’s like putting a Ninja Turtles bandaid on a long, deep, infected abdominal wound with oozing innards spilling out of it. Or maybe it's like putting merthiolate on a debilitating psychosis. 

That is to say, the evil of racism is very old and soul deep. It’s one of the world systems that the “prince of this world” wields like a deadly weapon… waves like a flag, if you will. That said, we can certainly perform this simple, tiny symbolic gesture… just to show that we’re at least willing to say that racism is a still a brobdingnagian**, festering problem, and we’re willing to begin addressing it.

Because it has to just be a beginning. Because how much is taking down a flag actually going to do...? Although… maybe a good portion of the population will no longer feel mocked every time they pass by the government building of their own state.

Of course, I say it’s the beginning, so there ought to be more steps, right? I just don’t know what they are. Prayers. Lots of prayers. Jesus was the most un-racist cat who ever lived, so we really should be embodying that part of His gospel… 

How? Again, I haven’t really worked that out yet – I’m more of a why and what person than a how person. I bet there are plenty of people who could come up with much better ideas than I ever could. So let’s start thinking about it… Let me know what you come up with – I’m all ears.

* If someone has already said this - and if it’s worth anything I’m sure they have – then sorry for the repeat sentiments.

**That's a real word! It means "giant."

In Which I Meander the Dotted Line

The Easy Listenin' 
Mobile...

Back when I was a kid being chauffeured around in our wood-paneled Vista Cruiser station wagon, the AM/FM radio was always tightly controlled by our parents. My dad grew up on a tobacco farm in rural Granville County, so I hazard a guess that his true preference was for country music, old-time or otherwise. However, because my mother detested country music with the kind of vehemence people normally reserve for, say, Hitler, he kept that in the closet. If we listened hard enough, though, we might catch him whistling Farther Along or You Are My Sunshine.

My dad fancied Karen Carpenter.
Apparently, so did Nat Stine's dad.

So, what was the soundtrack of our dysfunctional car rides? One of three things: WUNC, which played classical music back then, WYYD, which played muzak (elevator music, we called it), or WRAL's adult contemporary. Yes, I am deeply familiar with the soft hits of the seventies: Captain and Tennille, the Carpenters, Helen Reddy… folks like that. I think my dad had a secret crush on Karen Carpenter... and she did have a voice like butter... Of course when we were very young we thought it was fine. As I blossomed into a surly teen and found out that WQDR (album rock back then) was where it was at… well, let’s just say my preferences were slightly more metal than our parents’. Led Zeppelin. Cream. The Who. And Elton John, of course – but he was considered cool back then. 

This was more my speed.

Nevertheless, we continued to be fed a steady auditory diet of smooth melodies, maudlin lyrics and syrupy orchestrations. Ew. To my teenange ears, it was like fingernails on a chalkboard... Oh! The humiliating uncoolness of it all!!! I survived, though, and here I am today, telling you the tale.

And now we fast forward to the current day, which will take us in my usual roundabout way to what I am really going to talk about. (Picture those Family Circus cartoons where the mom tells Jeffy or PJ to walk from point A to point B, but dotted lines show how the kid’s actually path shoots off in a hundred directions – petting the dog, getting cookies from Mrs. Wilson… oh wait, wrong comic! Sure I could have just said, “let’s talk about these two songs” but it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as telling you about the cavities we got from excessive Paul Williams consumption…!)

Anyway, I remember a cool woman in my office – a stellar mother – told me that she always let her (teenage) kids pick what they would listen to in the car. So I thought, due to my previous pain, “that’s what I’M going to do.” And so I do. When Bill was too little to care, I picked the stuff – usually something I considered pretty good, but not too obnoxious. He knew Van Morrison’s Moondance album from beginning to end. Also James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James, Hank Williams Greatest Hits and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper.

Bill's Pinewood Derby homage...

But now that he's nine, he’s starting to have his own preferences and, like the aforementioned cool mom from my office, I let him pick the tunage. You know what he picks ten times out of ten? The Who. That child loves those guys. Especially Keith Moon, who, although not a great role model, could really beat the skins. Bill even put a Who logo on his Pinewood Derby car and made little Lego figures to go with it of the guys in the band. It was awesome if I do say so myself.

to these guys...

Now, as I’ve said, I’ve been listening to the Who for roughly 40 years. Album radio has ensured that I have heard Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley more times than I can count… so by now it kind of goes in one ear and out the other. Until Bill. Hearing these songs as my kid hears them for the first time… it’s almost like hearing them myself for the first time… again. So let’s just say that my appreciation of the Who has been reignited.

 

who actually looked like this.

Bill invariably requests Who’s Next or Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy for our rides to school and cub scouts and Target and the like, so I’ve had plenty of time to mull over the classic songs and their meanings and implications. Two songs, have especially unfolded for me in new and different ways. (And now we come down to the true raison d’etre of this post!)

"naked, stoned 
and stabbed..."

First, Bargain. It’s fairly obvious that this passionate declaration is religious. Pete Townshend is a follower of Meher Baba, who was an Eastern guru. The gist of it is that Pete would give up everything he has to find spiritual enlightment through his guru – and would consider a bargain… the best he ever had. Of course my Western, thoroughly Christian brain applied it to seeking and following Jesus Christ… it resonates with quotes from the Bible like, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44) and “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)

But one day, we’re driving along, Bill and me, listening to this forceful, anthemic song, and I hear Roger Daltrey sing out, “To win you, I’d stand naked, stoned and stabbed…” I realized that this song is not about ME and what I’D give up for Christ, but about JESUS Himself and what He gave up for every me on earth!!! That is to say, each one of us is so amazing to Him that He would and DID stand naked, stoned and stabbed to purchase us from our own stupidity! AND He considers it a BARGAIN!! (Can I get a "Hallelujah"?!) I much prefer this interpretation, as 1. I am lazy, and 2. Even if I were to do all the work this song implies, I couldn’t save myself.

"Can I buy your magic bus?"

Okay, moving right along. This next one is sort of a stretch, but it really works for me. Magic Bus. This joyful, rockin’ good tune – performed with all the  fervor of a charismatic worship service – is about a guy who boards a bus every day to visit his girlfriend. He values this privilege so much he wants to buy the bus for his own personal use. “I don't care how much I pay, I wanna drive my bus to my baby each day.” Which, again, expresses the sentiment that attaining the object of one's desire is worth everything one owns. (Again, Matthew 13:44)

This song can be taken straightforwardly – as in "boy do I love my girlfriend;" some imagine it as an ode to the narrator’s drug of choice. But one day recently, I heard it in my mind as an expression of intention and appreciation for contemplative prayer. As in, “every day I hop on board the contemplative prayer bus to be united with God.”

"Nooooooooooooooo..."

In this scenario, our protagonist chants “I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it…” as a sort of contemplative exercise such as those devised by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Then the guy in the background goes, “You CAN’T have it!” This would be Satan, naturally. Or “the enemy,” “the evil one,” Mr. Scratch, Voldemort, Sauron...* That a-hole tries to tell us we can’t buy the Magic Bus, (ie. pray worth crap and why would God want you anyway) and therefore, getting to our “bay-bay” (ie. achieving union with God) is either impossible, or much too costly. Of course we’ve already established that we are willing to spend whatever it takes to get there… and fortunately for us, as mentioned above, it is our “bay-bay” who has paid the enormous cost and made the amazing journey to reach US. Yes, please!

How ‘bout another “Hallelujah!” and an "Amen!"





*Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, Mr. Scratch, Louis Cypher in Angel Heart, Daryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick, John Milton in The Devil's Advocate, Duchess the cat in Babe, Denis Leary as Slater in Secret Lives of Dentists...

What A Friend We Have In Jesus...

Profile pic for Jesus Benyosef

There’s a guy on Facebook that has made a page for “Jesus Benyosef.” And I say “guy,” but I don’t really know who it is - it could be a gal... or a group of people of either gender... Of course “Benyosef” means “son of Joseph.” The profile reveals the following abut JB: Owner-Operator at Joseph & Son Construction Co. / Went to Nazareth High School / Lives in Nazareth, Israel. So... of course I had to send him a friend request. I mean, we’re already friends, right?

He has Facebook friends like Andrew and Simon Barjonas, John and James MacZebedee, and Philip Bethsaid and Mary, Martha and Lazarus Bethan. And the all through Holy Week they posted about their trip to Jerusalem, and how Jesus got really mad about the huge clearance sale they were having in the Temple... (Boy, was Caiaphas Benannas spitting mad!) And on Saturday, he posted the following: “[Jesus Benyosef] is having a pretty crappy weekend so far.” But... not to worry: on Sunday, he posted this: “[Jesus Benyosef] is feeling better today.” I’ll bet he was!

Simon Barjonas

Other times Jesus B. does stuff like engage in metaphysical discussions with Nicodemus Ben Isaac, check in at different spots in Israel and give thoughts on being baptized by his cousin (and Facebook friend) John TheBaptist Benzachar. 

Lately, Jesus has invited everyone to go on a journey with him, engendering a discussion thread with 60 comments. Turns out EVERYBODY wants to go! Including me. He, of course, is providing loaves and fishes for all for the journey. He also envisions gathering round the campfire at night singing, with camaraderie to spare.

Philip Bethsaid

Now, I know it’s not really Jesus, and I don’t know if it’s sacrilegious... but I find it completely charming. It sort of fleshes the whole thing out for me. Seeing these guys as actual (virtual) guys, commenting on events as they “happen,” bantering with each other (someone complaining about how bad Lazarus smells, for example)... 

It just feels so... immediate. I mean, I know the disciples were real guys, but it’s been so long since they walked the earth in their skin... the Bible is a reeeeeaally old book... When I read it, though, the concepts resonate with me. Of course they also mystify me. But even knowing the truth of it all, it seems so... conceptual. These guys, whoever they are, are sort of... bringing it home for me – someone who sits staring at a computer screen a lot of the time. 

Party at Mary and Martha Bethsaid's!

I guess it’s pretty funny to say that someone just posting things on Facebook is making it real for me... I think a big part of it is that they have put profile photos up that look like actual dudes that you might know. Jesus is especially handsome! The disciples are all handsome Semitic-looking guys, as they might have been. I mean, we know they were Semitic... we don’t know how good-looking they were! Mary Bethan posted a photo of guys sitting around her living room drinking beer and eating chips... one of their famous parties (Luke 10)?

Just like the people who made Godspell, the Cotton Patch Gospel and Jesus Christ Superstar, whoever is doing this is speaking the language of the day. Of course, these other pieces seem dated now, as I'm guessing this may also someday.  But right now, for people who are stuck behind a desk, staring at a computer, communicating with friends via the internet, this is a sweet taste of the good news. 

Godspell... groovy!

As we know, the internet – social networking, in particular – has done astounding things... even fomenting revolution in some places. It has always been amazing to me that the Christian movement was able to expand as it did without modern means of communication. I’m guessing horseback was the fastest any message could get from one place to another. Or maybe by sea? But it was GOOD news... and it spread from one man, to a few close friends, to crowds who may just have wanted to be fed and healed... or maybe they wanted a revolution. Then after Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection, the message proceeded to move throughout “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1)

Jesus Christ... Superstar!

Of course the disciples didn’t get that Kingdom had been restored at first. No, what they saw was their God hanging limply on a cross with his blood and water pouring out of His side. Of course when He refused to stay in the tomb, they must have thought, “NOW we’re cooking with rice!” It was during this time that one of the disciples asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Of course, He did... but not as anyone expected... and part of it is still to come!

Is this little piece of ongoing internet performance art going to revolutionize anything? Like many things – Christian movies, books, music... it may be just “preaching to the choir,” as they say. And, as a card-carrying member of said “choir,” I find it a spicy whiff of Jesus and his friends, the life they must have lived, and what He continues to call us to. And as far as the rest – well you’ve heard that saying, “The Lord moves in mysterious ways”? Again and again, I have found this to be true. What I mean is, you never know who might stumble across it. And while it may not revolutionize the world, it may start an uprising in someone’s heart.