thoughts on power

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

                                                                                      Abraham Lincoln

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it appears that most of us can’t be trusted with power

people who end up with power

all too often abuse it

we call them tyrants, oppressors, persecutors

they can be men

or women

politicians

or ministers

their abuse can be overt

or subtle

power can be misused in an relationship, and

if you want to know how addictive power is

look at what people will do to get it

they will lie, cheat and steal

they will diminish others

they will do terrible things (such as oppress or neglect the vulnerable)

look at the efforts people go to in order to maintain the delusion

and illusion of power

the houses, and cars,

all of the trappings we accumulate to convince ourselves and others

of our supremacy

and if people do not feel powerful,

they will do strange and terrible things

to regain that feeling

carry a gun

act with violence toward a wife or husband

psychologically abuse one who is vulnerable

which is why Sacred power (as I understand it )

is so different

Jesus had power

He died on a cross

God has power

God chooses to express it as love

the Sacred version of power is

inverted

it is serving

giving

becoming the least

power is love

do you want to be powerful?

take care of your self

take care of your loved one’s

serve your community

live deeply

Create Something

What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten, what the great locusts have left, the young locusts have eaten:  What the young locusts have left the other locust have eaten.

                                                                                                                   The Bible, Joel 1

In a time of destruction, create something.

                                                                                                      Maxine Hong Kingston

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it seems at times

as if the forces of destruction are everywhere

the modern prophets

cry out

“it is a time of devastation

  be afraid, be very afraid”

there are enemies everywhere

moral decline is rampant

the economy is collapsing

“they” (whomever they are ) are going to come

and kill you in your beds

this is a time of decline

all is failing, drying up

the enemy is at the gate

doom

and we want to hide

or we want to hate

so we disappear

or we lash out in violence

dehumanizing others

marginalizing those weaker than our selves

stockpiling and carrying guns

we are on the edge

reactive

and the worst among us

the unprincipled and unscrupulous

feed on our fear for their own benefit

leading us like sheep into darker places

(see how easy it is to be a prophet of doom?)

and yet

this morning I look out into a world of beauty

a little buck, horns barely formed

his identity yet unclear, even to him

peeks out of tall grass, unconcerned, as I walk by

Iris glow neon yellow and deep purple

and birds, yellow, and red, vibrant and athletic

dart among the branches

the mountain still soars, snow capped into a sky

that is unbelievably blue

the sun shines

and there are things to do

a pile of bark dust awaits

needing to be spread among the herbs

a person sits, hurt and alone

wanting someone to talk to

there are many acts of healing

and kindness that can be done

there are pets to be petted

loved ones to be hugged

children to be loved and played with

there are songs to be written and sung

pictures to be painted

and photographs to be taken

there are poems to be written

in a time of darkness

we can be light

in a time of  destruction

there are acts of creation

that can be done

this day

at least this day

I will do something creative

and loving

and

good

The Extremism we can't seem to grasp

From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.”

― Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

Extremes to the right and to the left of any political dispute are always wrong.”

― Dwight D. Eisenhower

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I have been thinking today about extremism

In general I am against it

Political

Religious

I am against food fanaticism (sorry)

In general I am for the middle way

which is an old an honored path

it is not that there is no place for extreme

Jesus was extreme

and called for an extreme way of life

servanthood

death of ego

sacrificial giving

unconditional love

a difficult way for sure

and what have we done with his call to be

“ordinary radicals” (Shane Claiborne)?

we have moved to

extreme hate

exclusion

judgment

extreme enmeshment with the cultural status quo

we have even decided that greed is OK

many of those who say they follow Jesus

are now willing to follow a person who is the antithesis of all Jesus stood for

extremely

Those who would be progressive followers of Jesus have now become

as pious and rigid as those they just

we do not handle extremism well, and

it appears that we are willing to adopt any form of extremism except one

extreme love

Oh beloved one

deliver us from ourselves