violence

An Incensed Pacifist and the story of the Chickens

Published August 23, 2012 by Tarah Van de Wiele

Another guest post today from Tarah Van De Wiele, an amazing theologian and Biblical scholar living as an ex-pat in England. You can read more about her and her adventures and her adventures living outside the U.S. at ever popular blog: 2 People, 2 Dogs & 10 Bags.

I am a pacifist. But historically I am an incensed one.

This is why it has finally become dire that I expend the energy built up inside me from the endless culture wars that inform our language, plague our dinner tables, and crawl across the TV screen like some bug you can’t seem to swat away. Are you pro or anti? Red or blue? Straight or gay? Black or white? Male or female? Enough. Al. Ready.

The latest culture war sparked by a certain chicken restaurant completely caught me off guard. I spent an entire day stalking the web for pictures of people fighting in the war. After a few hours I managed to succumb to the purest form of rage available to an incensed pacifist, and began to brainstorm what smart but highly insulting sign I would distribute, what post I would send viral, what boycott I would demand. And the only question by 4 in the afternoon was not if I should curse but HOW MUCH.

And then the chickens showed up.

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End of the Story: Most of the truths we live by are things we cannot prove. Beauty is just one of them. (Faith for Reasons)

Published April 30, 2012 by Doug Harrison

We live in a moment in history in which truth is only found in this fairly new thing we reinvented called a ‘fact.’ “This is a table,” we say. It is a fact that the thing I just set my cup on is a “table.” Ta-da! End of story… It is an idea that seems pretty hard to argue with until all of a sudden I take that same table apart and plan to build a flower bed out of it. Fairly quickly it becomes lumber. So it is now not a table after all. Er… right? That is the case until I decide without making any changes to the pile, to burn it in a fire. Without moving an inch, by mere planning in my head, it becomes fuel. This pile of wood is fuel for my fire, end of story. …Or perhpas this is where the importance of ‘story’ just begins.

Faith for Reasons.

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The Impossible Will Take A Little While.

Published April 9, 2012 by Doug Harrison

It is harder than it looks to know how to take Easter. On the one hand it feels like an easy home run, a touchdown, a triumphal entry. But those were the kinds of thing we were celebrating last week. How then is this week different? For one thing it amazes how few people to whom Jesus appeared after the resurrection.

One would think he would be taking out billboards all over town that said, “I told you so!” but he doesn’t. The first to see Jesus would be the last we would expect. It was not the disciples, not even his family, but one of the worst outcasts of all of his company: Mary Magdalene.

"Disappointed with God"

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“Unless our Hopes Fall to the Ground and Die” — We have some grieving to do, but not for Jesus.

Published April 6, 2012 by Doug Harrison

The Gospel of Mark is my favorite. I especifically love the eighth chapter. It is hysterical. I still find myself being caught off guard and LOL-ing sometimes.

The disciples are dolts. They have the hardest time learning the most obvious lessons. Jesus goes and feeds several thousand, gets on a boat with them, and suddenly they are afraid Jesus will be mad because the didn’t pack a lunch. Zheesh. In that same chapter Jesus heals this man in a most unusual way and he has to do it twice. Either Jesus is losing his touch or Mark is writing to try to be be obvious: We don’t see clearly yet. The first time Jesus touches the blind man he sees part way. ” I see people, like trees walking around.” I get that. That makes sense to me. If he is still half blind, then he is not wrong. But there is more to be seen and it will be a shocker. So don’t stop now…

"Disappointed with God"

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Ashes, Ashes. We all Fall Down.

Published February 23, 2012 by Doug, the patient.

For some time it has been rumored that the children’s rhyme, “Ring around the Rosie,” was a creepy rhyme born during the era of the Black Plague. That may be more the stuff of legend than of history, but it also makes a little sense. For when faced when imminent and pervasive death, humans, and children in particular, have interesting ways of coping. These little mechanisms also shine a little light on why it is such good news to have an Ash Wednesday to take pervasive death and darkness and turn it on its head.

Tohu-Bohu

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How to be a Valentine: A Note on Martyrdom.

Published February 14, 2012 by Doug Harrison

Today is a feast, a gift and remembrance, of an occasion I have yet see Hallmark really nail with one of its watercolored limericks: there once was a man so in love with God that he was beheaded for performing marriages in opposition to war. In defense of hallmark, that is a very hard picture to paint with water colors…

In the third century, Emperor Claudius had declared marriage illegal in order to encourage more young men to volunteer to be soldiers. Valentine, a celibate priest, opposed both the aggressive violence of the empire as well as the notion that the state alone held the reins of marriage. The priest knew how central marriage is to the life of the Church and couldn’t stop marrying people just because Claudius had other plans.

Tohu-Bohu

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On the eve of hope, into such a world.

Published December 25, 2011 by Doug, the patient.

Today I listened to even more stories hard to hear, Stories that were never meant to have to be told. I am reminded there are places where life is still taken from the young, children are unwanted or used, and innocence can be traded for cigarettes and bags of chips.

It is this very world into which every child is born. This life, with all of its risks and violence, is where every human body has to live. We like to think we do our best. Not everyone does. Some tearthrough the landscape of life like a wildfire out of control. This is the world into which every baby is born.

It is in this molested, abandoned, cockeyed world that Mary has her baby. God was born into all of our danger like every child and in fact even he didn’t make it out alive, …at least as far as we could see at that time. Perhaps that is as far was we can see now.

God knew the mess Jesus was getting into and Jesus came anyway. There is no darkness God refuses to touch, or to be touched by. There is no darkness into which the light is not willing to shine.

Let this be our last night of waiting.

related post:

Yeah, Actually, Mary Did Know.

29 Days of Hope

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