By Charles Vaden
Oops, did we turn the corner and I missed it? Given all the attention to religious freedom and same sex marriage we must have forgotten the “seek first the Kingdom” thing somewhere along the way and moved on to the religious hot button issue du jure.
Personally I haven’t seen the results so maybe it’s just a slight oversight.
But really, what would it look like if the Christian faith community got the Kingdom within and Kingdom at hand thing right?
I mean after all, a billion and a half and counting, if this were a social disease we would be all over it. But it’s not, it is a belief and relationship with a higher power thing that has been formalized into major holidays wherein large segments of the economy are dependent on selling stuff to celebrate said relationship.
I’m cool with the religious holidays, well not really, they’re just a reminder of what is not happening. I know I probably sound like a grumpy old man but at 65 years old, to think that we as a faith community, that’s been around for centuries, can’t seem to get this Kingdom thing figured out bugs me.
Right here in the Inland Northwest we have universities full of talented, educated, bright people. These institutions represent major religions, hundreds of churches, thousands and thousands of people of faith all having prayed the Lords Prayer for Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on earth. The solution is hard wired into our DNA based on faith. We have all the tools at hand!
Now here again, having just finished eating all the Easter candy, I sit with my sugar high envisioning Jesus ascending to heaven, verifying our spiritual nature and for good measure leaving us with the Spirit of Truth.
So what’s the problem! Lets see if we can lay it out and connect the dots using the truth that sets us free so as to outline and define the Kingdom thing.
We know who is going to inherit the earth, the meek. They are the cool, mellow folks the ones that come from love, patience and understanding the kind who are wise in the “righteousness of social organization” representative of the Kingdom.
We know what we are seeking to build, the Kingdom of God as a voluntary participatory social system. We know where, on earth. We have a template, as it is in heaven as revealed by the natural principles of life. And we know when, if you’re asking, now seems like a good time.
I mean, as an inheritor of earth I think now would be a good time given the trashing of the planet and the die off of planetary life in a myriad of forms. While the problems are legion they all trace themselves back to the same origin. Namely the obsessive/compulsive behavior of predatory capitalism, you know, the behavior related to the love of money as being the root of all evil. The destructive environmental evidence of this love affair is staggering.
Now before anyone gets to hot over this statement lets take a look at some of the dynamics at play. In social psychology we have a system of operant conditioning called working for money.
Given the carrot on the stick approach to consumerism society has encouraged addictive behavior and social control by creating a wide array of beliefs in “not-enoughness/not OKness” that can only be temporarily assuaged by consumption of the carrot.
That is if you can reach it with several jobs while carrying a significant debt load. Then throw in some global socio-pathology corporate mandated profit goals and you’ve got the perfect storm of species self-destruction. It’s the who ever has the most toys wins attitude regardless of what is lost along the way.
This is not about blame, it is the way that game is played.
If that sounds ominous it is. So lets slow down and see who’s on first and what’s on second, (its an Abbott and Costello comedy thing)
Ok now, we were all born into society with pre-existing conditions and as such we may never have really consider the origins of social norms which I call the 6 p.m. news, the, oh well, that’s the way it is news.
In reality this is nothing more than the allegory of the cave as taught by Plato. We sit placidly watching the darkened images on the wall of our caves as the talking heads preach to us of the drama being interpreted from the shadows cast by the rise and fall of the Dow Jones Industrial average.
The commentators ascribe human behavior to the fluctuation of numbers that are nothing more than high- speed electronic trades that attempts to glean the smallest sliver of profit for anything that adds to a bottom line somewhere, the social psychology of the nation ebbs and flows on the nuance and inflection of the tone. The worship of the Golden Calf has morphed into the worship of the Wall Street Bronze Bull.
Without pointing fingers let me just restate what others have said, “The recent financial crisis was the largest white collar crime ever committed in history.”
The flickering on the cave wall of our electronic devices brightens or dims, rises or falls, as those traders who effect the economic forecast cause real people to have the food taken from their mouths by manipulating commodities and financial markets with the only thought of maximizing profit. We pray and ask where is God in all of this?
That’s the simple part, God is as near as your breath and as close a your heartbeat. Now I know this preceding observations may have irritated some people but let us be clear. Going back to Platos’ allegory of the cave, avert your eyes for a second and check out the guy who said, ‘I am the Light of the world’.
Step out of the cave and see what he’s talking about and please take the spirit of truth with you!
