six::seventeen

Complicity often seems to be our only option when we begin to really consider the world on a large scale. We may disagree with some things that go on in business dealings and foreign policy, but really, what can we do? We can do little things, but these seem pointless; they won't change the world. Well, maybe we're not complicit, nor are we apathetic. We certainly are trapped. What can free us from the bondage we find ourselves in? First, what is our bondage? Are we willing and able to name our captors? Are they us? Are they powers? Are they the hands that feed us? Perhaps, instead of being trapped, we're simply ignorant, sometimes willingly so, sometimes due to more sinister things. I'm tempted to begin to look deeper into the ties that bind, yet as I continue to ponder our state, I am reminded that there are things to live for not simply against. Perhaps life is not a battle; such is a metaphor that the powers of violence would have us use for everything. Life is and should be a unity, a blessed coalescence of Creator and created, a graceful harmonizing of spiritual and enfleshed beauty. Once we can see what life positively is, we can see that the lesser life, the life of bondage and servitude to unjust powers is surmountable, we can overcome it. We can see the life of Christ, the life of peace, the life of love, where sin is overthrown, and forgiveness is lived out. True life is through the life of Christ, the life that is victory over death, victory over the powers, the nullification of injustice and lack of peace. This life is participatory, not complicit. We are gathered in and empowered by God to live well.

Lord, I hope I am not wrong, but if I am, teach me your truth.

(2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13, Psalm 32, Galatians 2:16, 19-21, Luke 7:36-8:3)