stories, ghettos, and crucifixion.

its been a while since i last wrote and to be honest, that last post wasn't very satisfactory. it was a little mean. that may not be unwarranted but its still a bummer to see all this bold and exclamation points every time you come to this page. sorry about that.

i'm taking a class with Wright right now, so its hard for me to move past these notions of the narratives and form and shape us. Basically, we live our lives according to certain narratives which are given to us by the polities that are over us and our practices sustain these narratives in our lives and allow us to obtain certain internal and external goods that also perpetuate the fundamental narrative. Example: in America, choice is good. When we have the power to choose, we can move from unfulfillment to fulfillment by making good choices. Choice is the medium for us to feel happy. so Colby Caillat can sing her song Bubbly (if you want to vomit from ODing on young love and unicorn sprinkles, youtube that song and watch the real video which is on the second page. all the others are of people trying to sing the song after coming down off of their own highs.) and we all feel tingly and good because she has chosen such a good lover and they live such a fantastic life full of beach bonfires and "tingles in a silly place." but if this lover was forced on her, we would all feel very differently about the song. we would say, "what the deuce? how could she feel so good about a lover she doesn't even like, let alone love. I mean, she didn't even have a choice!" Choice is the means of making us happy. Moreover, the happiness that we are shooting for is a mixture of some sense of contentment, tingles, fun, giggles, relationship, comfort, and a generally positive status quo.

but what if that narrative is vacuous and empty? what if our choice is meaningless, or at least incidental to the larger goings-on of the kingdom? what if the work of the Spirit in the world, the work which Jesus died to make possible is not about our choices being positive or ones that are good for us at all but rather what if God's work in the world is ultimately to bring us under God's authority, to subject us to the will of a God that was willing to die so that we might realize that this truest death was the death of the dearest life, the life that brings us life? And then that this death and resurrection has brought those of us who recognize it together to live faithfully before God and proclaim that this life in Jesus is available for all people. What if life has nothing to do with what we think fun or happiness is but has everything to do with how we bring life forth in the world around us.

Wright started ranting on MLK Jr. friday because we had a chapel that honored Rev. King and his legacy. I agree with Wright's criticisms, although I don't want to throw King out. anyway, the argument goes that King did not do blacks and others who are not white in America any favors by getting them the chance to vote. He merely gave them the chance to choose and that choice, which is supposed to lead them to happiness, is ultimately a sham. King is a profoundly ambiguous character because he calls all people (well, men mostly) to assert their freedom in a country that has slighted their freedom because it was convenient economically, psychologically, or whatever. but more than that, this freedom is endowed by God, which is an assumption shared by the same polity that has forgone said freedom. So we know that this state is not a good place. We know it is false and full of selfish ambition and ultimately self-contradictory. King shows that very well. But then, instead of calling those for whom he is responsible to respond to God and raise up a church that respects the humanity of all, resting his faith in something that is truly solid and true, King calls those for whom he is responsible to rest their faith in the state that we already know is faulty. We already know that the state has failed us but because the state is the means by which we can make choices to improve our lives and choices are what we ultimately believe in, we go with the state. So he is ambiguous.

what, then, shall we do with those who are poor and marginalized? now that we have criticized, how can we build something up that is positive. i'm not sure and this is a mix of Wright and me, but take it for what its worth. the poor do not need to be given a voice. the irony of people that want to be a voice for the voiceless is that they are assuming that the marginalized do not have a voice. the poor don't need a voice. they need someone to listen to them. that phrase voice for the voiceless keeps us from having to criticize the structures of the wealthy and therefore avoid the guilt of having to recognize our own wealth, with which we are profoundly uncomfortable. do not be a voice for the voiceless. listen to the voiceless. find creative ways to do it if you must, but listen to them. It is so easy for us to deny the poor while they are poor and then finally listen once we have made them middle class. when i first moved to southeast and after i got over the initial phase in which i wanted to teach everyone theology, i was confronted with the fact that i did not know what to tell these kids because everything i could think of sounded like, "be more like me when i was your age. don't drink, do drugs or have sex. study hard. get a good job. go to college. these are the things that constitute a faithful response to God's love." HA! don't we see the idiocy in that? why are we so focused on making the poor middle class? let the poor be poor. that is, for now, who they are. if we deny them their poverty, we are missing the gospel. in fact, maybe in our listening we can begin to become more like them. we can learn to be poor ourselves and rest in the poverty of spirit that comes from the very person of Jesus.

but the question remains: what do we do for those who are poor? what do we teach them? what do we say as we try to show them how to live? I'm not saying its simplistic, but i don't think its that original. what do you tell the middle class and the rich? love your neighbor. think of others more highly than yourselves. be hospitable. pray and learn silence. serve one another and live generously, inviting others into your dining rooms and living rooms. help one another out and live with one another in ways that show that you care. do not stop meeting with one another, but share the love of Jesus in tangible and verbal ways, mixing a verbal witness with a visible one. Mostly, believe on Jesus and come be baptized (or, as the case may be, accept and live by your baptism). These are not hard things! in fact, the poor are probably closer to these things than the wealthy. A certain lack of disposable income means, for the vast majority, that it is more difficult to put up walls of entertainment, busyness and worldly concerns.

finally, what if the communities of the poor became such a witness to the wealthy that there is life in Jesus Christ rather than the spinning of our tires in the mud which we are used to in the world. There is life that is deeper and more meaningful than Bubbly. but you must give up your choice to determine your own life. you must do a thing that no one in their right mind would choose to do: pick up your cross. And know that the level of fulfillment is a function of the one who brings it about.