LOVE is still the answer...

"...hate cannot drive out hate... only love can do that." -Martin Luther King 

"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?" -Jesus 

“As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, what we have, and what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to putting people and things in their "right" place.” ―Henri J.M. Nouwen

seems that it has become quite popular to bash religion... and, christianity - traditional faith practices in particular. some people really hate it with a virulent passion. because afterall, "they are such hypocrites" ... and, oddly, any non-traditional religious practice seems tolerable as long as it is called "spirituality" ...

judgemental hypocrisy is nothing new... and, it certainly isn't confined to only the religious... it is easy to spot though. hypocrisy and fanaticism go hand in hand. if one thinks that a "right or righteous" position justifies judgemental and hateful behaviors... and, if one believes that they are never wrong or won't back down even when faced with ones own contradictions... that defines a fanatic.

Jesus' murder came as result of a coalition of intolerant, fanatical and hypocritical, judgemental persons of his day: Sadducees - the "religious political liberals" of that time, and Pharisees - the "religious political conservatives" ....

later, feeding Jesus' followers to lions in the Roman Coliseum became public entertainment. seems not so far from today... the "crowd" always loves to have someone to blame... 

Love baby Love...

"What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe." -Paul

“When he ascended on high,
  he freed many captives
  and gave gifts to his people." 
-Psalm of David

"...if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free." -John

How did Easter come to be the holiday that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ - the ascension of life over death?

The simple answer - somewhat short version, Christians had long celebrated Sunday as resurrection day, in remembrance of Christ's passion and ascension. Constantine was the Roman Emperor from 306 AD to 337 AD. His mother had adopted Christianity. It is generally accepted that Constantine was a clever opportunist. Christianity's popularity had grown past being able to be suppressed by the Roman Empire. So, Constantine had Christianity legally recognized. He "christianized" common cultural holidays of the time. It was a brilliant political move. The lasting effect on the purity of Christianity is still passionately debated. Constantine continued throughout his lifetime to practice the Roman pagan religion - he worshipped the sun-god "Sol". Constantine was baptized on his deathbed as a Christian, at the request of his mother.

"Pagan roots of Easter - Daily Kos

The March or spring equinox is used as a determinant for what modern Christians celebrate as the holy day of Easter.

As a budding young feminist, I was fascinated with the idea of female symbols of power, and lapped up tales of Eostre (Ostara) along with Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, Demeter, Ishtar, Kali, and Yemaya.

The name 'Easter' originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the 'Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos.' Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: 'eastre.' Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime." -Denise Oliver Velez, Daily Kos: Pagan roots of Easter

darkness is only for a short time. 

light always prevails...

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland." -Isa

"He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces...
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering...

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence...

I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life..."

-Isa

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us." -Marianne Williamson

goodbye...

rejection... betrayal... reconciliation... renewal... transformation

I wish you Spirit

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hello’s to get you through good-bye.”
-unknown

Why would a master teacher wash his students' feet?

"so [Jesus] got up from the meal... and wrapped a towel around his waist. He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." -John

The foot washing, recorded in the gospel according to John, allows us a window into the character of Jesus Christ.

Christ, by his actions, made it very clear that He would not expect anything from his followers, that he was not willing to do himself. 

This act models humility to us in application to helping others and by doing acts of service or kindness.

source: biblestudy.org

Holy Week reflection...

"God is Spirit... worship in spirit and in truth." -John 

"commercialism" is a dirty word? 

in many cases, yes. an economy is dependent upon commerce, but it gets real murky when there are "dishonest scales" ... it becomes particularly distasteful when religion and "commercialism" merge. 

"Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables..." -Matthew 

truth is, it isn't just christianity that is guilty of this one. and, further, "non religious" cultures have a way of commercializing their "statist adulation" (translate "worship") as well. easy to see an example by just merely watching the military parades of the Chinese, N. Koreans, or Venezualens. that is both a past and a current reality.

are we really all so far apart? must we agree on everything? does the "other side" really have to be "won over" in order to have harmony and to coexist? why is everyone so bent on that?

peace...

The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more." ―Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist

"The issue of thanksgiving [being grateful] is really central to the whole debate about the existence of God. On the one hand, if there is no God, there is no need to thank anyone. We are here as a result of a long chain of impersonal processes, grinding their way down to our brief moment in time. If there is a God, then every breath, every moment, every sight and sound, is sheer, unadulterated gift." -Douglas Wilson, Is Christianity Good for the World?

http://bit.ly/sl1I4S

Palm Sunday reflection...

the choice is always passion of vision over what is popular.

"Popularity is very inconsistent. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. It usually just comes in waves."
-Mia Wasikowska

Judas the skeptic, cynic, critic, pragmatist... Judas the "realist" was completely "right"... 

He was right about the fickleness of people and the temporal nature of popularity. He was right about people that seek power and wield power and how those types will viciously protect their endless climbing and privileged positions... He was very very right about a lot of things... 

but, his fearful caution clouded his perception of purpose and its meaning...

"Listen Jesus
I don't like what I see
All I ask is that you listen to me
And remember
I've been your right hand man all along
You have set them all on fire
They think they've found the new Messiah
And they'll hurt you when they find they're wrong

I remember when this whole thing began
No talk of God then, we called you a man
And believe me
My admiration for you hasn't died
But every word you say today
Gets twisted 'round some other way
And they'll hurt you if they think you've lied..."