When the teacher cannot learn....

Rev Wright continues to rant in his oppositional, pugnacious, paranoid style. The media love it and go ga-ga over it, encouraging him to continue. Pundits get silly and blame all this on Obama, poor guy, who has to denounce it. Hillary and Bill stand aside and smile, as do all the Neo-Cons.

But some of us old, white men do get it. And a lot of post-moderns do get it. Rev. Wright's ego is all bound up in the old victim/perpetrator dyad -- he's hugely invested in that (as are countless counterfeit feminists and other "victims."), and he's not about to give it up. He's fighting fiercely for the old us-vs-them ego structures. Too much invested to let go of that now....

Obama keeps trying to lead us to a new paradigm, beyond victim/perpetrator, us-them, right/wrong oppositions. Blacks, Jews and women, especially, can continue to play the victim game for another several thousand years if they want. But if anybody wants to listen, we all know where that's going to get them -- and all of us. Obama wants to unify us beyond these oppositions.

But the old teacher is not yet ready to learn from his student. Sad. And tragic. It's time.

"Except as you become as little children...."

Peace, warren

When Jesus was a boy -- how a pastoral counselor reads the Bible

When Jesus was a Boy

When Jesus was a boy, his life was very hard. He and his parents were refugees. Because they were foreigners, and his parents didn’t know the language very well (they had Egyptian as the official language legislation), his father had to take whatever odd jobs he could get; mostly as a gardener or as a farmworker, even though he was a skilled tradesman. His mom worked as a domestic and took in laundry. Some Egyptians hated them because they were foreigners. They said they came in and undermined the economy and put a burden on all the social services. They made fun of them and Jesus had to watch where he went because the local kids would beat him up.
Later, when they moved back to Palestine, life was better economically, but it was still hard. There were very few boys Jesus’ age to play with, because most of them had been killed. Some parents resented Joseph and Mary because they had a son. The only boys were half-breed shepherds, and they were mostly at work. Sometimes Jesus would go out into the hills and hang out with them, but Jesus also played with girls a lot.
Some of the local kids had heard their parents (mostly their moms) talk about how Jesus was illegitimate, so they made fun of him for that, too. You’d think people would just let that drop, but some don’t; they never forget. And they don’t let you forget, either.

©Warren Sapp
Revised 3/30/08

To nurture your spirit...

Sometimes people ask how I nurture my spirit -- or what resources are available for spiritual nurture outside the routines and programs of local parishes. I have a number of resources I stay in touch with daily online... Here are some suggestions for you to check out...
l. For scripture: check the daily lectionary readings for a Psalm, a Hebrew Scripture and a Gospel Reading each day, plus a possible New Testament reading. It works much better for me than trying to read the Bible straight through, and it puts you in touch with the millions of people within the liturgical traditions who are reflecting on the same passages today. Google: daily lectionary readings.
2 I also receive a daily email from Geranium Farm. Check www.geraniumfarm.org Barbara Crafton is a wonderful, wise Episcopal Priest who grounds spirituality in touching, down-to-earth ways. Check it out.

I'll share additional resources in future blogs...

Stay awake, Warren