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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Deal with it


God loves you, and there is nothing you can do about that!
David Mangan
______________________________________________

A Theology of Merit

I see it every day
I see it in so many ways

We have decided, somewhere, somehow
That some people are worthy
And some people are not

Worthiness is defined in so many ways
Behavior
Color
Sexual orientation
Affluence
Power
Jobs
Titles
Health
Mental health
Productivity
Beauty
Size
Talent
Beliefs

The list goes on and on and on and on and on.

And we just quickly and harshly
That person deserves care, or love, or forgiveness
Or they do not

That person is worth allowing in our country
Or not

That person is worthy giving help,
Or not

That person is worth respecting
Or not

It is amazing to me how insidious the process is
By which we choose whether to value another person or not

They support Trump!   Not valued
The are a libtard who doesn’t support Trump
Not valued

They are black, brown
Poor, ill
Immigrant
Non English speaking

NOT VALUED

It is almost a national pastime to decide who we believe should get health care
Or food stamps
Or be accepted within our borders

But is the discussion really about worth?
Or is it a discussion about fear, and greed, and other weighty things

I don’t want that brown person to get help
Because they are “undeserving” and keep some “deserving” white person from getting what they should get (it is doubtful that one person getting help precludes another needy person from getting what they want, but that is how the thinking goes)

Undeserving perhaps, really means different
And fairness is racism and elitism, and dominionism in disguise.

We play this game at so many levels
There are white collar versions.  I deserve that promotion, she doesn’t
I deserve what I earn, because I am smart and powerful and its might right
But those people at McDonalds don’t deserve a living wage

It is pervasive
And destructive

And Jesus saw it
So many people who are spiritual awake have seen it

It’s not just wrong
It’s deadly
It’s ugly
And it is anti- Jesus
Anti-Sacred

Even though we try to dress it in the clothing of religion
Right now the least Christian part of the American populace is the Christian right!

Really, I mean it!

Jesus was not ambiguous.   (Luke 14:21) 
“So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”    (Luke 13:29)  “And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.”

The table of grace is open for business
All are welcome

There is no theology of merit
Grace alone

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