listen

Saturday September 7^th, Luke 14:  33 "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. Soon it will be September 11^th.  Most remember this as the day when the US was attacked by religious extremist from Saudi Arabia.  The day after the attack there were several calls to not get sucked into the downward spiral of hatred and turn this into a war that would alienate the many in the world who now stood on the side of the US.  The report I most remember did not come from a theological network, but rather from an investment program on National Public Radio.  The premise was that this situation was an opportunity to show forgiveness and focus on the good and in the process cultivate favorable markets and an atmosphere for global cooperation that would enhance international trade for generations to come.  But we couldn’t say good bye to that which we held nearest and dearest to out hearts, the drive for hatred and greed.  Instead of attacking the Shiite strongholds from which Al Qaeda sprung, we chose to instead attack the Sunni stronghold of Iraq, which just happened to hold a lot of oil.   If you are not willing to take that which is nearest and dearest to you and kiss it good-bye, you are easy prey for those who would use you and the lives of your loved ones as cannon fodder for their own personal short term greed.  All the while we had the airwaves filled with the likes of Glenn Beck and FOX being fairly successful at dupping us again to follow our basic racist instincts and return us to this short term greed of which  nation upon nation  have fallen in the past.  Love God and Love thers, that is the command according to Christ.  The others Jesus was talking about were not just those whose skin is the same color as our own, who live in the same neighborhood we do, who talk, act and think like us, but also the rest of creation the God created and called good.  When we acted on this day out of our fears and hatreds and racism, when we denied the building of Mosques dedicated to moderation and decency, when we listened to the vitriol disguised as news from FOX we fell victim to our own hatred, and become so much less than we were created to be.  In the end we ended up doing the bidding of those who pull the strings and fit the bills behind the hallowed halls of congress.  Pick up Luke and read it beginning to end, then do the same for the other gospels.  Listen to what Jesus is saying, not what some TV preacher hack or some hate radio jock tells you it means.  Read the Gospel, IT IS ABOUT LOVING GOD AND LOVING OTHERS, ALL OTHERS.  If the Gospel does not fit into that you are not hearing it correctly.   You are still holding on to your age old hatred and racism and you are being played.