Living on a flood plain
Some days it drizzles –
a black man's tail light fails him;
a toddler finds daddy's new toy.
Some days it pours –
the music stops pulsing for late night dancers,
revelers storm the Bastille for the last time.
But every day the waters rise,
stalk their unwitting prey.
The boot strap cracks widen,
threaten to breech the dam,
to drown us in post-disaster anarchy.
As the red waters fill our basements
and soak our carpets
we retreat to the rooftops
throwing daggers with one breath –
someone must be at fault, after all,
someone must pay –
and in the next desperately calling help, help
as we wait for the helicopters and rescue boats
that never seem to come.
Used once or twice and put away,
the Starcraft stored in the garage,
upon whose bow we had proudly
painted its name in our piety:
The Golden Rule,
slumbers,
a forgotten gift.
©2016 Kenneth W. Arthur
Category: Current Events Page 3 of 4
Modern Monsters
Life-sucking vampires
preach a prosperity gospel:
Give us your blood,
it'll trickle back down again.
Not in time to save your ass,
but you can't have everything.
Mindless zombies
create converts:
Give us your brain,
let the mob do your thinking.
The world will go to hell
but it will be a ride to remember.
Frenzied werewolves
seduce the soul:
Give us your vitality,
we'll change the world –
not if it means compromise,
but at least we have our principles.
Unfocused full moon rage.
Unrepentant full time death.
When the zombies and vampires team up
the werewolves run scared.
©2016 Kenneth W. Arthur
Many of the people I love are in deep pain this morning. Many of us this morning are fearful and grieving. We are wondering where we find hope for the future as we awake to the surreal reality that our country has elected the candidate of homophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and white supremacy. The candidate who has promised to take away affordable health insurance and any implement any number of other policies that will prop up the power of white, straight, rich men to the detriment of anyone who isn’t that.
I can’t yet wrap my brain around it. I don’t understand it. I am discouraged and saddened. I am particularly discouraged that those who identify as evangelical Christians seem to have overwhelmingly voted for this new reality. Nothing about this is Christian. It doesn’t come from an ethic of love your neighbor, the core of the true gospel. It instead screams hate and fear your neighbor. That form of so-called Christianity cannot die fast enough.
Although, for now, I may be struggling with my faith in humanity, I do still have trust in my God. I still trust that love wins in the end. That is the true meaning of the irrational message of resurrection. And, yes, it is irrational. If I were being rational right now I’d have to give into the despair. I’m not willing to do that. I choose to put my trust in the belief that love wins in the end. Love is the very core of our being, even those who choose to live out of their fear. I’ll put my faith in love.
We have a lot of work to do. Things may get much worse before they get better again. There may be even more new realities to deal with in the next months and years. It will take time to try to understand each other again, to forgive each other. But we must.
Take time to grieve and then remind yourself that there is still love in the world. And where there is love there is hope. Then let’s redouble our efforts and get back to work.
Living on a flood plain
Some days it drizzles –
a black man's tail light fails him,
a toddler finds daddy's new toy.
Some days it pours –
the music stops pulsing for late night dancers,
revelers storm the Bastille for the last time.
But every day the waters inch higher,
the boot strap cracks widen,
threatening to overwhelm the dam
that holds back the reservoir,
seeking to drown us in post-disaster anarchy.
As the red waters fill our basements
and soak our carpets
we retreat to the rooftops
throwing accusatory daggers with one breath –
someone must be at fault, after all,
someone must pay –
and in the next desperately calling help, help
as we wait for the helicopters and rescue boats
that never seem to come.
The Starcraft stored in the garage,
upon whose bow, in our Christian piety,
we had proudly painted its name: The Golden Rule,
slumbers,
used once or twice
and put away,
a forgotten gift.
©2016 Kenneth W. Arthur
Have you ever had a dream in which someone was chasing or attacking you? In dreams like this the attacker represents our Shadow, where we shove all of those aspects of ourselves of which we are ashamed, hoping that they never see the light of day. When the Shadow shows up in our dreams it is basically our subconscious telling us that some repressed part of ourselves needs attention. The world-renowned Jungian analyst Robert Johnson wrote that if the Shadow gains enough energy “it erupts as an overpowering rage or some indiscretion that slips past us; or we have a depression or an accident that seems to have its own purpose.” An out of control Shadow “is a terrible monster in our psychic house.” In other words, the Shadow escapes our nightmares and becomes a real life problem causing pain and disruption for us and those around us.
Donald Trump is the Shadow of American culture. He is the nightmare that reminds us of the misogyny, racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, etc. that lurks just below the surface. We’ve tried to deny and repress these aspects of our culture. We’ve tried to claim that women are given equal treatment, that black lives already matter, that we welcome the stranger, that we offer religious freedom, but Trump is revealing the falsehood of our delusions. He is our Shadow demanding attention. He is an eruption of rage, an indiscretion. As the raging Shadow, it’s not surprising that his entire persona has no real substance. He doesn’t offer plans or ideas but only anger and vague, grandiose boasting. It’s not his function to solve anything but only to demand attention.
The Scream (for Orlando, June 12, 2016) One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord — the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream. – Edvard Munch We are the instruments of God. If that's all God has to work with we're doomed, an off-key, out of sync marching band parading off a cliff, cheered on by the bombastic blaring of trump-ets. Is that why the man is screaming under the blood red sky? Oh, how the crimson shrieks. Is it the horror of two men tenderly kissing? Is it the horror of forty-nine souls now missing? Is it the scream of a bad dream? Is it the blood raining from the clouds, running down the walls? Is it the tears flooding over the shrouds, cascading as an angel falls? Or is God screaming? And the man cowers as the shriek of nature's despair echoes, the cacophony of a marching band parading off a cliff. ©2016 Kenneth W. Arthur
It’s been weirdly re-assuring to see conservative politicians condemn Donald Trump’s proposal to stop Muslims from entering the US. I truly fear what far-right conservatives would do to our country in their pursuit of more wealth for the rich should they regain control of the presidency so it’s nice to think there is some moral line that they wouldn’t cross. Trump seems to finally have found that line.
As a nation we must stop giving into our fear. We must stop condemning an entire religion because of criminal terrorist organizations that create mayhem in the name of Islam. They no more represent Islam than Westboro Baptist Church represents Christianity. When we attack the entirety of Islam because of these terrorists it simply makes us their best agents because it creates a fertile atmosphere for them to recruit people to their cause. Instead, we need to embrace our Islamic brothers and sisters with love. That is how we could truly disarm the terrorists.
As many have been pointing out it is high time for ALL people, but especially our leaders, to speak out against the fear and hate that is running rampant throughout our nation, resulting in levels of xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Islamic rhetoric that are frightening. It feels as if the world has gone insane.
As a Christian minister, I am particularly disturbed that supposedly Christian leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Jr., Franklin Graham, and Pat Robertson routinely add to the fear. Such messages are not based in the Christian gospel. Remarks such as Falwell’s comments that we could “end those Muslims” by arming more people are profoundly offensive to me and should be offensive to all Christians. Christ taught that “love your neighbor” was the basis of, well, everything that matters. Anyone that preaches anything else is very simply not Christian.
Whether we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, some other religion, or atheist, I hope that “love your neighbor” or some other version of the golden rule is a principle we can all get behind. It is only by realizing our inter-dependence, realizing that we need each other, can we save this crazy world we are living in. We have to stop the insanity. It’s time to stand up and say enough is enough. We need to declare that all lives matter, but we need to do that not as some kind of code that really means white American lives matter. We need to be specific: Black lives matter. Latino lives matter. Muslim lives matter. Trans lives matter. And on and on. Not to say it is to deny it.
The German protestant pastor Martin Niemoller is famous for the post World War II quote:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
The truth of this is more relevant today than ever. It’s time to speak out however we can, whenever we can. #blacklivesmatter #iammuslim
I found this news story about teenage assassins chilling. What drives a teenager to that kind of life? Is it greed? lust for power? a lack of real meaning in their life? a lack of opportunity? Is this an existential crisis? A spiritual crisis? Or is humanity just screwed by our own capability for evil? I don’t know the reason, but it makes me very sad.
Video worth watching:
What started as a great day with the election of Barack Obama as president quickly turned sour with the passing of Proposition 8 in California. The message to gay people is clear. Even in a state known for its liberalness, gays are considered sub-human. It is a disheartening message.
I’ve never heard a non-religious reason to ban gay marriage. If someone has one, I’d be interested in hearing it. In the meantime, I have to lay the denial of gays’ right to pursue happiness at the feet of the majority of Christian institutions in this country. I’m not going to argue Biblical interpretation… if you want info on that see the “Gay and Christian” links in the menu to the right of this blog.
My take on it is that people are afraid. Gays don’t fit into how they (conservative Christians, et. al.) think the world should work so they try to deny their existence as fellow humans deserving full rights. If the order is broken, chaos will result. And yet, Canada, Spain, Massachusetts, etc. have not been swallowed up by chaos. All legalize gay marriage. The fear is completely unfounded and yet people still cling to it.
So where do we go from here? For one, my church recognizes gay marriages. I could certainly marry in a religious ceremony right here in discriminatory Michigan; it just wouldn’t be a legal civic ceremony. But, why not? Do we really want to continue to allow our government to privilege certain religious beliefs over others? How is that different from other places in the world against whom we speak out as being religiously intolerant?
So where do we go from here? In some sense, the whole marriage idea is assimilationist… give us the right to marriage and we’ll be good little invisible gay people… that tact isn’t working. Maybe we should give it up. Maybe we need some civic protests… a little marching in the streets… The Religious Powers are not going to give up the hold they have on society through the enforcement of the heterosexual family just because it is the right thing to do. We need to demand it. In our town halls, through our state and federal congresses, in our streets and most especially in our churches!