Monday, April 24, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
Bothered By The Cross
Happy Easter (one day late)!
Bothered by the cross
by Deanna Murshed
As someone who has been a Christian for a while now, I must confess that the idea of redemption through the cross has lost its power to bother or puzzle me as it did in the past.
I remember being jealous of folks who could confess a grand conversion experience that pulled them from lives of sheer drunken hedonistic debauchery - dramatic stories in which they were saved just in the nick of time - into resurrection just by the skin of their teeth. And although getting in by the skin of our teeth is surely true for all of us, it is at least more obvious in those great stories, for whatever reason.
But that is not my story.
Even my earliest memories include my mother sharing Bible stories with me. Though I struggled with the meaning or reality of these accounts to be sure - I can't recall a time when I didn't perceive myself within this grand story of redemption.
My mother showed me a simple faith. My father, on the other hand, questioned just about everything. And I somehow inherited both. God help those who hear me think out loud.
I also remember that as a child, the idea that Christ died on the cross and rose again for me - though it was repeated over and over again and I so desperately wanted to believe it made sense - seemed odd. But I think it was repeated often enough, that eventually, I just came to accept it. After all, the answer to almost any question in Sunday school was easy: "because Jesus died on the cross!"
So, somewhere along the road, I took it for granted that Christ lived, died, and rose again. Somewhere, maybe after I had responded to the sixth altar call - just to make sure God had duly noted my belief - I had heard it enough times to think I had this mystery of mysteries settled.
But every now and then, I come back to that place. Really, what in the world does this mean? Christ died on the cross. It is so easy to hear now that the absolute foolishness of it - and I mean that in the best possible way - simply ceases to amaze me.
But liturgical cycles are good for that - making you not forget any part of the story and asking you to revisit each station, as it were. One passage has been coming to mind (from John's gospel):
"Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life'" (12:23-25).
The version of the Bible called The Message states the last verse this way: "In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."
The part that really struck me recently (though I've surely heard it read a hundred times) is that the dying of the grain is not for the resurrection of the seed itself - you do not die simply to be resurrected into a better you. You don't give up that bad habit or attitude, greed or grudge, simply to come out on top. (Though I suppose that's not a bad place to begin). No, the grain dies so that it can produce and reproduce life. The passage says, unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it is no more than a single grain.
The answer as to why the grain needs to die is for it not to remain alone. In other words, Christ died so that he could bear more Christs and grow his reign!
Though this way of living for others seems like such a radical (re)orientation, all of creation seems to be screaming this message. Every part of the wheat is living for the spread of life, wants there to be more wheat. The most basic cycle of nature reflects the divine order.
It is simply astounding, when I think about it, that the God of creation does not live for direct self-satisfaction! The God of creation who has all power and all might is in constant submission to another purpose. And God is inviting us to follow.
When one reads the surrounding texts in John where Christ is trying to explain to his disciples who he is and why he must leave them, he is rather indirect. He never says, I do such and such because that is my plan. Rather, he points to the Father and then says that the Father points to the Son and has given Him authority. And then the Spirit testifies of the Son and so on and on. And then the Father lifts up the Son. It is almost comedic how each part of the trinity points the finger at the other - not in blame, as in the human tendency - but because of a perfect harmony, submission, and a trade of trust and authority between each member. This is a wholly different order - a glimpse of what divine community looks like.
I don't know about you, but completely surrendering my will for another goes against every grain of my self-preserving being. And it looks nothing whatsoever like our capitalist culture which encourages us to think the opposite - both economically and morally. The world says that if each individual seeks out his or her own personal fulfillment, we will all ultimately benefit. But the gospel compels us to seek the benefit of others with no guarantee of anything in return.
This is a terrifying invitation that should bother us.
But do our motives have to be absolutely perfect in the sight of God before we can follow? And can we ever reach the point of being perfectly other-oriented? (If so, I'm in trouble).
But I'm comforted that in scripture, I find myself in good company. Christ's disciples followed him for many reasons - not all of which were noble. Ironically, sometimes they were selfish in their pursuit of selflessness. Sometimes they sought to gain something (to meet earthly or eternal needs), other times because they knew there was no other way. Later, they figured a few things out - saw Christ more fully - and their motives changed to those of gratitude, and ultimately, they imitated Christ's example to obey simply because God is worthy.
So, I've come to believe that we hold on to this mysterious truth for different reasons at different times in our lives, though we may never come to fully understand how it is that Christ's death saves us.
That we should follow Jesus in his death so that we might really live is the message of this Easter season.
May God have mercy on us as we follow this call.
Deanna Murshed, integrated marketing manager at Sojourners, is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School's faith and culture program.
Bothered by the cross
by Deanna Murshed
As someone who has been a Christian for a while now, I must confess that the idea of redemption through the cross has lost its power to bother or puzzle me as it did in the past.
I remember being jealous of folks who could confess a grand conversion experience that pulled them from lives of sheer drunken hedonistic debauchery - dramatic stories in which they were saved just in the nick of time - into resurrection just by the skin of their teeth. And although getting in by the skin of our teeth is surely true for all of us, it is at least more obvious in those great stories, for whatever reason.
But that is not my story.
Even my earliest memories include my mother sharing Bible stories with me. Though I struggled with the meaning or reality of these accounts to be sure - I can't recall a time when I didn't perceive myself within this grand story of redemption.
My mother showed me a simple faith. My father, on the other hand, questioned just about everything. And I somehow inherited both. God help those who hear me think out loud.
I also remember that as a child, the idea that Christ died on the cross and rose again for me - though it was repeated over and over again and I so desperately wanted to believe it made sense - seemed odd. But I think it was repeated often enough, that eventually, I just came to accept it. After all, the answer to almost any question in Sunday school was easy: "because Jesus died on the cross!"
So, somewhere along the road, I took it for granted that Christ lived, died, and rose again. Somewhere, maybe after I had responded to the sixth altar call - just to make sure God had duly noted my belief - I had heard it enough times to think I had this mystery of mysteries settled.
But every now and then, I come back to that place. Really, what in the world does this mean? Christ died on the cross. It is so easy to hear now that the absolute foolishness of it - and I mean that in the best possible way - simply ceases to amaze me.
But liturgical cycles are good for that - making you not forget any part of the story and asking you to revisit each station, as it were. One passage has been coming to mind (from John's gospel):
"Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life'" (12:23-25).
The version of the Bible called The Message states the last verse this way: "In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."
The part that really struck me recently (though I've surely heard it read a hundred times) is that the dying of the grain is not for the resurrection of the seed itself - you do not die simply to be resurrected into a better you. You don't give up that bad habit or attitude, greed or grudge, simply to come out on top. (Though I suppose that's not a bad place to begin). No, the grain dies so that it can produce and reproduce life. The passage says, unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it is no more than a single grain.
The answer as to why the grain needs to die is for it not to remain alone. In other words, Christ died so that he could bear more Christs and grow his reign!
Though this way of living for others seems like such a radical (re)orientation, all of creation seems to be screaming this message. Every part of the wheat is living for the spread of life, wants there to be more wheat. The most basic cycle of nature reflects the divine order.
It is simply astounding, when I think about it, that the God of creation does not live for direct self-satisfaction! The God of creation who has all power and all might is in constant submission to another purpose. And God is inviting us to follow.
When one reads the surrounding texts in John where Christ is trying to explain to his disciples who he is and why he must leave them, he is rather indirect. He never says, I do such and such because that is my plan. Rather, he points to the Father and then says that the Father points to the Son and has given Him authority. And then the Spirit testifies of the Son and so on and on. And then the Father lifts up the Son. It is almost comedic how each part of the trinity points the finger at the other - not in blame, as in the human tendency - but because of a perfect harmony, submission, and a trade of trust and authority between each member. This is a wholly different order - a glimpse of what divine community looks like.
I don't know about you, but completely surrendering my will for another goes against every grain of my self-preserving being. And it looks nothing whatsoever like our capitalist culture which encourages us to think the opposite - both economically and morally. The world says that if each individual seeks out his or her own personal fulfillment, we will all ultimately benefit. But the gospel compels us to seek the benefit of others with no guarantee of anything in return.
This is a terrifying invitation that should bother us.
But do our motives have to be absolutely perfect in the sight of God before we can follow? And can we ever reach the point of being perfectly other-oriented? (If so, I'm in trouble).
But I'm comforted that in scripture, I find myself in good company. Christ's disciples followed him for many reasons - not all of which were noble. Ironically, sometimes they were selfish in their pursuit of selflessness. Sometimes they sought to gain something (to meet earthly or eternal needs), other times because they knew there was no other way. Later, they figured a few things out - saw Christ more fully - and their motives changed to those of gratitude, and ultimately, they imitated Christ's example to obey simply because God is worthy.
So, I've come to believe that we hold on to this mysterious truth for different reasons at different times in our lives, though we may never come to fully understand how it is that Christ's death saves us.
That we should follow Jesus in his death so that we might really live is the message of this Easter season.
May God have mercy on us as we follow this call.
Deanna Murshed, integrated marketing manager at Sojourners, is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School's faith and culture program.
Friday, April 14, 2006
What to Watch (or, Why "Lost" has lost me)
Capitalizing on the success of one of my favorite shows, "24", ABC launced an hour long serialized drama, "Lost" from J.J. Abrams of "Alias" fame. I never watched the first season of "Lost", but I started watching at the beginning of the current (second) season. I was hooked immediately. And then...nothing. Weeks of reruns or other shows on in its place. And weeks of questions with no answers. Look, the American attention span is not that long. We can't be invested in something this engrossing without getting our questions answered. We can only focus for so long one one thing before we have....by the way, what's up with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? Is that weird or what? See. :)
"Lost" is losing viewership faster than Bruce Willis lost his hair. And it's all because "Lost" isn't what "24" is. A satisfying show week in and week out. "Lost" is losing to "American Idol", a crappy show but brilliant in its execution.
"American Idol" works so well and has for so long b/c of several simultaneous factors:
- The judges. Simon’s the prick you love to hate, Paula’s increasingly becoming unhinged and you can’t wait for her to meltdown completely. Randy’s just…there.
- The competition. American’s love competition. Period.
- The auditions. While they’ve become almost cliché, it’s still the best part of the season for me. Which leads to…
- The contestants. Some of them are wacky, some are trashy, some are bitchy, some are sweet. While they’re good, there’s always one or two that you know don’t belong but you watch to see if/when they’ll be voted off. Which leads finally to…
- The power of the vote. “American Idol” empowers people to pick a performer that they like, to launch the career of a talented kid and give them their big break. That’s intoxicating to most people.
Now, while there’s no accounting for the taste of the American people, they also usually do a lousy job of follow through with buying the albums of what I refer to as America’s Best Theme Park Performers. Look at the millions and millions of votes each week. Look at the millions and millions of viewers. It’s a pop culture phenomenon. So you’d think that each winner would sell tens of millions of records, right? Wrong. Kelly Clarkson has exploded because she’s broken free from the Idol machine. Reuben went absolutely nowhere, in part, I believe, because he’s probably borderline retarded and has the personality of a wall…a big fat wall. Clay Aiken has a core set of fans and did better than Reuben (and better than every second place finisher to date) but he’ll never really break out. Fantasia has done okay, but revealing her illiteracy probably did more harm than good. She’ll do well, probably, when she gets away from the Idol machine, too. Carrie Underwood’s success is a bit of an anomaly. But only because she’s a gorgeous white “country” singer. She’s good, but c’mon. Country fans eat her up with a spoon. And that “Jesus Take the Wheel” song makes rednecks and soccer moms cream their jeans.
“Idol” is not watchable for me, but you can’t argue with its success or the absolutely brilliant marketing and the product placement by only a few major sponsors (Coke, Ford, Cingular/AT&T).
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Darfur Gets Worse While Bush Does Nothing
Here's some background on the situation.
http://www.savedarfur.org/situation/
Here's how you can help.
http://www.savedarfur.org/sojourners
http://www.savedarfur.org/rally/factsheet
http://www.savedarfur.org/situation/
Here's how you can help.
http://www.savedarfur.org/sojourners
http://www.savedarfur.org/rally/factsheet
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
A Message to the Millenial Generation
You suck. You suck ass. Hard. The breadth and scope of your suckidity is awe inspiring. You suck on a level never imagined in previous generations' worst nightmares. Here's how and why:
You have absolutely no loyalty, commitment, or allegiance to anything or anyone beyond your own selfish interests. You're lazy and ignorant and seem to think that the world owes you something. It's not entirely your fault. While most of you need Blackberrys at an early age to keep up with all the crap your parent(s) get you involved in, you're used to participating and being rewarded for it, not competing and proving excellence. No one would ever want to harm your fragile self esteem. Heaven forbid. So as a result, when you're forced to compete for a job or a promotion or you get a bad grade on an exam or a less than stellar performance review at work, you bitch and whine and threaten legal action. Some of you execute my favorite trick of all; you call Mommy and Daddy. I've heard countless stories from professors, corporate managers, and human resources types about how Mommy and Daddy show up at the campus or office to stick up for their little baby. I work with young college students, providing opportunities for internships and leadership development training. I actually had a student call her mom when she got a performance review that simply suggested some areas of improvment. The mother came to the office THAT DAY and confronted/threatened the manager and when she was referred to HR, she confronted/threatened the HR person. I had one student break down in tears not once but TWICE during a perfomance review because she was told that she would need to continue working on certain skills and competencies for the remainder of the summer. Get balls and backbones you fucking pussies.
You somehow think you're owed something simply because you exist. You graduate from college with a bullshit degree and no practical experience in your field and you think you should get a huge salary, office (God forbid a cubicle), expense account and signing bonus. You're a generation that grew up in front of the television and at the movies and at the mall, so you think you know what your job should look like. Guess what; it doesn't and won't. You have a 2.0 from a shitty school and you've never worked anywhere but Best Buy. Sorry toots. This ain't "Friends" or "Will and Grace." You're not going to get the kick ass Manhattan apartment making $36,000 a year. I recruit at college career fairs all the time. I talk to seniors and my conversation, almost to a person, goes like this:
ME: What do you want to do when you graduate in May?
SENIOR: I don't know. (which is usually mumbled as one word)
ME: Well, what's your major?
SENIOR: Business. (A big hint that they don't have the first fucking CLUE what they want to do)
ME: What's your grade point average?
SENIOR: Like a 2.3, 2.5
ME: Okay....where have you interned?
SENIOR: I ain't had no internships. I worked at the movies and the grocery store.
Guess what Trump? You're going to KEEP working at the fuckin' grocery store. I've never seen so many people with lofty dreams, which is great, but no plan to get there and no realistic expectation of what work really is. There's a ladder, folks. There's dues to pay. You want to have a non-technical major like business or marketing, you're going to make crap money, work long hours, work in a cube, and maybe have some good ideas that get stolen by a more senior member of the "team." You're going to have to learn the fine art of networking and building relationships, perfecting your personal brand. Coming in at 9 and leaving at 5 doesn't automatically qualify you for a promotion, genius. I'll give your sorry ass generation this, though: you're technically savvy, and growing up in the world of Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, Adelphia, and Martha Stewart you've learned that being nice and good and ethical won't make you wealthy and successful. Unfortunately, you haven't learned that being bitchy, bad, and unethical will ruin you either.
None of you seem to have any sense of patriotism or pride in your country. After 9/11 did the mass of you beat a path to the local recruiting station to go fight terrorism? No. You went about your business and/or high tailed it to the ivory tower of academia where you could march and carry signs denigrating your country. You worked hard to get recruiters kicked off campus and welcomed the "free speech" of the Ward Churchills of the world while damn near rioting when Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter or David Horowitz visited to deliver a lecture or talk about their latest incendiary book. You, like previous generations, have pushed the envelope of hypocrisy even farther. And it crosses racial lines. I see white guys angry and cynical. For what? The world is your oyster, Brett. You've got it made in the shade, relatively speaking. And Jamal, pull up your fucking pants and study for the damn SAT. You're from the suburbs, bitch. You ain't hard. You can get into a decent school on affirmative action (or an HBCU just cuz) and then you fuck it up because studying would mean you're "acting white." Tell that to Reginald Lewis. And if you don't know who that is, look it up. Use the internet for something other than stealing music and whacking off to porn.
Obviously, I'm not speaking of each and every member of this generation. Every generation has that small percentage whose intellect and ambition keep the world humming along. But this generation seems to have even fewer than my generation.
So, to all of us Generation Xers and young Baby Boomers I have this advice: take your vitamins, eat right, work out like a freak, see your doctor biannually. Because if this is the generation that will be taking care of us, we're in a world of shit.
You have absolutely no loyalty, commitment, or allegiance to anything or anyone beyond your own selfish interests. You're lazy and ignorant and seem to think that the world owes you something. It's not entirely your fault. While most of you need Blackberrys at an early age to keep up with all the crap your parent(s) get you involved in, you're used to participating and being rewarded for it, not competing and proving excellence. No one would ever want to harm your fragile self esteem. Heaven forbid. So as a result, when you're forced to compete for a job or a promotion or you get a bad grade on an exam or a less than stellar performance review at work, you bitch and whine and threaten legal action. Some of you execute my favorite trick of all; you call Mommy and Daddy. I've heard countless stories from professors, corporate managers, and human resources types about how Mommy and Daddy show up at the campus or office to stick up for their little baby. I work with young college students, providing opportunities for internships and leadership development training. I actually had a student call her mom when she got a performance review that simply suggested some areas of improvment. The mother came to the office THAT DAY and confronted/threatened the manager and when she was referred to HR, she confronted/threatened the HR person. I had one student break down in tears not once but TWICE during a perfomance review because she was told that she would need to continue working on certain skills and competencies for the remainder of the summer. Get balls and backbones you fucking pussies.
You somehow think you're owed something simply because you exist. You graduate from college with a bullshit degree and no practical experience in your field and you think you should get a huge salary, office (God forbid a cubicle), expense account and signing bonus. You're a generation that grew up in front of the television and at the movies and at the mall, so you think you know what your job should look like. Guess what; it doesn't and won't. You have a 2.0 from a shitty school and you've never worked anywhere but Best Buy. Sorry toots. This ain't "Friends" or "Will and Grace." You're not going to get the kick ass Manhattan apartment making $36,000 a year. I recruit at college career fairs all the time. I talk to seniors and my conversation, almost to a person, goes like this:
ME: What do you want to do when you graduate in May?
SENIOR: I don't know. (which is usually mumbled as one word)
ME: Well, what's your major?
SENIOR: Business. (A big hint that they don't have the first fucking CLUE what they want to do)
ME: What's your grade point average?
SENIOR: Like a 2.3, 2.5
ME: Okay....where have you interned?
SENIOR: I ain't had no internships. I worked at the movies and the grocery store.
Guess what Trump? You're going to KEEP working at the fuckin' grocery store. I've never seen so many people with lofty dreams, which is great, but no plan to get there and no realistic expectation of what work really is. There's a ladder, folks. There's dues to pay. You want to have a non-technical major like business or marketing, you're going to make crap money, work long hours, work in a cube, and maybe have some good ideas that get stolen by a more senior member of the "team." You're going to have to learn the fine art of networking and building relationships, perfecting your personal brand. Coming in at 9 and leaving at 5 doesn't automatically qualify you for a promotion, genius. I'll give your sorry ass generation this, though: you're technically savvy, and growing up in the world of Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, Adelphia, and Martha Stewart you've learned that being nice and good and ethical won't make you wealthy and successful. Unfortunately, you haven't learned that being bitchy, bad, and unethical will ruin you either.
None of you seem to have any sense of patriotism or pride in your country. After 9/11 did the mass of you beat a path to the local recruiting station to go fight terrorism? No. You went about your business and/or high tailed it to the ivory tower of academia where you could march and carry signs denigrating your country. You worked hard to get recruiters kicked off campus and welcomed the "free speech" of the Ward Churchills of the world while damn near rioting when Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter or David Horowitz visited to deliver a lecture or talk about their latest incendiary book. You, like previous generations, have pushed the envelope of hypocrisy even farther. And it crosses racial lines. I see white guys angry and cynical. For what? The world is your oyster, Brett. You've got it made in the shade, relatively speaking. And Jamal, pull up your fucking pants and study for the damn SAT. You're from the suburbs, bitch. You ain't hard. You can get into a decent school on affirmative action (or an HBCU just cuz) and then you fuck it up because studying would mean you're "acting white." Tell that to Reginald Lewis. And if you don't know who that is, look it up. Use the internet for something other than stealing music and whacking off to porn.
Obviously, I'm not speaking of each and every member of this generation. Every generation has that small percentage whose intellect and ambition keep the world humming along. But this generation seems to have even fewer than my generation.
So, to all of us Generation Xers and young Baby Boomers I have this advice: take your vitamins, eat right, work out like a freak, see your doctor biannually. Because if this is the generation that will be taking care of us, we're in a world of shit.
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