Two Posts For A Nickel (What a Deal!)

More food for thought for the long weekend...

Asian geo-politics have featured heavily in the news leading up to the Beijing Olympics. China is walking a fine line in Tibet trying to manage the "evil forces of the Dalai Lama death cult." (Ah, the melodrama.) This band of young enthusiasts seems bent on defying their own leader as well as the Chinese government by calling for de-facto independence and a boycott of the Olympics.

Predictably, a number of activist groups outside Tibet have been making similar demands. Actually, they have been doing so for years. The media is just beginning now to take notice.

Now imagine for a minute that you're a swimmer from Lebanon--a really good one. Your Mom and Dad have made big sacrifices so that you've had the best trainers from an early age. And now, your moment is finally here. You've survived moments of self-doubt, injury, political upheaval, and insurmountable debt. But on August 8, 2008, at 8:08pm, you're going to be in that parade. You've arrived, and your country is cheering you on.

Unless...you become collateral damage.

Why is it that in our striving to uphold righteous causes and accomplish dreams we humans are so quick to quash the dreams of another?

In other words, why is my ambition better than yours?

It might seem obvious to some that winning political freedom for an oppressed people is more important than winning a gold medal. But I will go on the record by saying I'm not so sure. I would be more sure if I knew that punching a ballot card made me more fully human than the next guy. I would be more sure if I believed that human rights were conferred upon us all by the benevolent hands of government. I would be more sure if this life was all there is.

Somewhere in the midst of trying to love people on the other side of the television screen, we forgot what it feels like to love people. A wise man once wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Can't I just hold up a placard? Can't I just write a cheque? Can't I just buy all the right things from all the right sellers? Isn't that enough? To assuage guilt, yes. To love, no.

Real love does not shrug its shoulders when a Chinese peasant is turned out to beg because her employer has lost a lucrative contract exporting goods to the West.

Real love is on the ground giving real answers and real hope to people who have none. Real love costs more than a few cents a day.

Real love changes everything.



(The original title of this post was "Boycotts Are Dumb." I stand by that assertion.)

And it was a Good Friday

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven..."

Through the suffering, humiliation, torture, and death of Jesus, we have been reconciled to God. This is my hope that even though I don't see Him yet, I know I'm ready to. I know that at any moment, I will see Him and not be destroyed. Not even the Patriarchs had that kind of confidence.

That's because they lived on the other side of Good Friday.

Yesterday after church I sat down to read the paper. I opened up to page 2 and saw that a prominent minister in our denomination called for the Good Friday public holiday here in Australia to be replaced with a National Reconciliation Day in honour of the Australian Aboriginal communities. Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia is a crucial goal politically, ethically, and spiritually for the health of the nation. It's importance was brought to the forefront by the Prime Minister in February on the now famous "Sorry Day."

But is reconciliation possible without Good Friday?

Can the noble goal of this minister, Mr. Rudd, and countless others be realized without the cross? It might seem odd that one act of brutal vigilantism a couple of millenia ago has something to do with similar injustice today. But if I understand the passage above, only the horrific beauty of the cross has the power to reconcile the murderers--all of us--to our Creator. And then in turn, those who are now free to see God are also free to embrace their neighbours for no other reason than that they resemble Him.

Yes, Good Friday is reconciliation day. But not because we said so.