A Metaphor for Modern Man
Perhaps you heard the story. A few days ago a 70 year old man was found dead sitting in front of his TV in his New York home. He had been dead for over a year. The TV was still on. The dry air in his home had mummified his body. He had family who lived nearby, but he was estranged from them. He lived alone.
The lonely man who turned into a TV watching mummy is a metaphor for modern man. Estranged from his family, living alone, with nothing more to do in life than watch TV, his death went unnoticed for more than a year. From outward appearances, his death was not very different from his life. Sitting alone in front of a TV is not very much alive. You can even do it when you’re dead. It’s sad to think that this man was living a life that was so similar to death, that when he died, there wasn’t much difference.
So what is the message?
LIVE!
LIVE LIFE!
LIVE LIFE NOW!
Turn off the TV, reconcile with your family, make some friends, seize the moment and live! If you just sit there in your estrangement and loneliness with nothing but a TV for a companion, you are barely alive — even a mummy can do that.
I can only imagine that when this poor soul was finally discovered (because of a burst water pipe), the TV watching mummy was keeping up with the coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith. And that would be another modern metaphor.
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In the morning Peri and I fly to Moscow. We will be ministering in conferences all of Russia. After we reach Moscow, Peri will being going to St. Petersburg to speak in a women’s conference; I’ll be flying another ten hours to Kharbarvosk in the Far East to speak at a pastor’s conference. I’m flying 2/3 of the way around the world to reach the first conference. Weird, huh? I’ll spend two nights on planes before I finally find a bed. Oh, well. I love Russia and love my Russian druzhki (pals). We also have meetings in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Ulan-Ude in Siberia. Please pray for Peri and me and the meetings.
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I’ll be spending quite a bit of time in the “flying library.” Here are the books I’ll be reading.
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright
The Sacred Journey by Frederick Buechner
Eat This Book: A Conversation on the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson (My friend Joe Beach met Eugene Peterson last week and got me a signed copy. Thank you, Joe!)
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What I’m listening to at this very moment:
The Johnny Cash cover of Nick Cave’s The Mercy Seat. A strange song.
The Mercy Seat
It began when they come and took me from my home
And put me on Death Row,
A crime for which I am totally innocent, you know.
I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner deals
The meal trolley’s wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.
I hear stories from the chamber
Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
He died upon the cross
Might I say, it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that’s what I’m told
Like kill hand’s
Tattooed E.V.I.L. across it’s brother’s fist
That filthy five!
They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I’m told
All history does unfold.
It’s made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
And I’m not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all these looks of disbelief.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And I’ve got nothing left to lose
And I’m not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way that’s helping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
But I’m afraid I told a lie.
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I’m excited about preaching and teaching and talking and thinking and reasoning and prophesying and proclaiming the Kingdom of Jesus in Russia. This is my eighth time to be in Russia. I prefer Russia in the winter. That’s the real Russia. Russians might be my favorite people to preach to. The Russians are thinkers and brooders and I connect well with them. I’d have made a good Russian. So I’ll be a Russian of sorts for the next two weeks.
May the Kingdom of Jesus break forth in mighty power in Russia.
Amen.
BZ
PS
Don’t forget the message.
LIVE!
LIVE LIFE!
LIVE LIFE NOW!