Wednesday, February 28, 2007

In the Chiropractor's Office

This is not the kind of thing I normally think about while laying face down on vinyl:

Everyone has an idea of right & wrong, but most of us don't generally think much about other folks ideas of justice. There are some people that catch us of guard by having a sense of right. For example some people believe politicians don't care about right and wrong. Politicians believe they are servants of it. Some people don't believe Democrats care about good. Some don't believe that Corvette owners care about good. Some think that gays are completely unconcerned about good?

Why?

Everyone has an idea of justice and how to get it. If they believe that their idea of attaining justice is within their power they act on it; whatever it takes. If they feel powerless to bring justice they either find some way to escape (mentally or physically) or they live very fearful, dark, despairing lives.

Some people think justice doesn't happen on Earth, but they believe it exists somewhere so they fantasize about places where it could be. When they fantasize about a place on earth we call it a "Utopia" or a "paradise". When it's after earth we call it "heaven". But all these people seem to think it's far away? There's a big group of people who think that justice has to do with the afterlife; that it only comes after death? Most people have just one word in English for a place where justice and fulfillment are absent: hell.

What if there were a possibility that justice could come during life? Would you be willing to help? What if you knew you'd die before that happened? Would you still try?

With all this in mind is justice really all that important anyway. Maybe it isn't even real. Maybe justice is greed disguised; everyone out for themselves. They and Their's are their own definition of justice.

But what if justice deep down is really important. So important that we'd sacrifice something very important to us get it.

If it's important is it available? If it is available, where is it? How do we get it? How hard is it to get? Who gets it? Who doesn't? Who deserves it?

If everyone has an idea of right and wrong what's missing? If this is something that everyone wants, why are so few of us experiencing it? Is justice a limited commodity?

What is justice really about? Who's fault is it that we don't have it? How important is justice? Why don't we act on it? Why are we starting to put the word "social" in front of "justice"?

How many times have you heard a really good idea that makes the world a better place and thought "Why didn't I think of that?"

How many times have you heard something that made the world a better place and thought "I thought of that once. Why didn't I ever do something about it?" Why don't you do things what you know you should do? Why do you do what you know you shouldn't? How do you change?

If you know what you should be doing and you haven't done it yet, is there hope that you could do it? What will it take for that to happen? Are you waiting for something? If someone paid you to do something good would you enjoy it as much? If nobody payed you to to do something good would you still do it. What if you had to suffer in order to do what was right? Would you still do it then? Would you do it and be angry at those who didn't or would you think good of them? Would you enjoy doing the right thing just because? Would you want others to enjoy it with you? Does God enjoy good works or does He enjoy us doing good works?

Does God care about the right thing? What is He doing about it? Is He real or is He just us at our best? Or are we at our best learning something about God? Either way, why is God and/or our best such a difficult thing to find. If He's us at our best who gets the credit? If good things don't happen is it His fault? Did he fail?

Is Justice worth killing for? Does killing bring about Justice? Who do we have to kill to achieve justice? Do we kill every person who does bad things? How bad do they have to be? Is right and wrong more important or is life?

What about the things that aren't worthy of death? What do they cost us? Are they "no big deal" or do they add up? How do you punish those fairly so that they don't happen anymore? Does punishment fix the damage the wrong creates? Are we fixing the problem or the source?

If everyone wants justice, who are the "wicked" people? Who are the righteous? If everyone thinks about doing good, who are the bad people?

And what does any of this have to do with Jesus?

Is there good news? What would be good news to you right now?

Is reading the Bible any more effective than any other way of making the world a better place? If it is, how? If it isn't, why are we reading it?

--------

These are leading questions. I already have an idea of how I think they should be answered. I wish I didn't. They're easy for the one doing the asking. Sometimes I ask questions I think I know the answers to, but perhaps I do that because It's a cheap way to feel significant.

Maybe I need to loose my idea of being significant because every time I've felt like my life mattered It's been a surprise and I've been in awe and I think "God, why? I didn't deserve this." and I think He smiles and waits for me to worship Him. Sometimes worship actually occurs to me.

I've read that the word in the Bible that we sometimes translate "fear" might better be rendered "awe" or "reverence". Like "Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling." (Psalm 2:11) I've always like the way "awe" sounds compared to "fear". After all, if we are trying to convince people God is loving we should get rid of the word "fear" right. I'm wondering though if the kind of "awe" I'm thinking of isn't supposed to be scary. The Psalmist still says "trembling".

How do we get to a place where we ask these questions without a presupposition. What if we get truly risky and ask the questions we are afraid of because we don't know the answers yet. Any chance that would help us worship with awe and rejoice with trembling.

posted by Scott # 1:36 PM

Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home