• On June 10, 2012 by

    Cannonball Jesus

    Easter_004

    Cannonball Jesus
    by Brian Zahnd

     “You cannot bear to hear my word.” -Jesus (The Gospel of John)

    “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” -T.S. Eliot (The Four Quartets)

    “Ya can’t look at much, can ya man?”     -Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna)

    It seems to me that what we really want is a tame Jesus, a domesticated Christ.

    We want a Jesus who will “save our soul” — not so much now, but later on.

    We want a Savior who tweaks the status quo, making slight improvements on the basic scheme of things.

    We want a divine “life coach” to make us winners in The Game. Read more

  • On May 16, 2012 by

    Eye-Deep In Lies

    prophet-isaiah-1968

    Eye-Deep In Lies
    by Blindman At The Gate

    Why is it that if we dare to envision a world without war
    (A hope offered humanity by the prophet Isaiah bar Amoz)
    We’re considered hopelessly naïve or even treasonous?

    Why is it that everyone knows Jesus taught the way of nonviolence
    (Just read the Sermon on the Mount and you’ll see what I mean)
    Except those who most vociferously call themselves Christians?

    Why is it that a clear renunciation of war is called cowardly
    (Suggest killing enemies is not the way and see what happens)
    When following the crowd has never required any courage?

    Why is it we’re suspicious of those called peacemakers
    (Ask brave Daniel Ellsberg, he’ll tell you all about it)
    When the One we worship is called the Prince of Peace?

    Why is it we believe the coming of Christ will bring the reign of peace
    (For we do confess that someday the lion will lay down with the lamb)
    But in the mean time act as if we must preserve war as long as possible?

    Why are those who renounce war and embrace peace called stupid
    (“The poor dolts don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain”)
    When Einstein said, “I’m not only a pacifist, but a militant pacifist”?

    Why am I even bothering to talk about the topic of peace
    (“Shouldn’t he be preaching the gospel or something?”)
    When I know good and well it will only cause me grief? Read more

  • On May 3, 2012 by

    A Long Way from Mona Lisa’s Smile

    Monascream

    A Long Way from Mona Lisa’s Smile
    by Brian Zahnd

    Yesterday Edvard Munch’s modern masterpiece, The Scream, sold at Sotheby’s auction house in New York for a record $120 million, making it the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction. To which I say three things:

    1. I like Edvard Munch. I saw an exhibit of his paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009.

    2. $120 million is a lot of money for a painting.

    3. We’re a long way from Mona Lisa’s smile.

    What do I mean by that? Well, if Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile is the iconic image of the Renaissance, then Munch’s Scream may be the leading contender for the iconic image of modern man. And this is worth pondering. How has a mysterious smile been replaced by a horrified scream? What has happened to us? What is it about Munch’s disturbing masterpiece that speaks to us so deeply? Read more

  • On May 2, 2012 by

    The Beatitudes (BZV)

    SermonOnTheMountTwo

    The Beatitudes
    (BZV)

    Blessed are those who are poor at being spiritual,
    For the kingdom of heaven is well-suited for ordinary people.

    Blessed are the depressed who mourn and grieve,
    For they create space to encounter comfort from another.

    Blessed are the gentle and trusting, who are not grasping and clutching,
    For God will personally guarantee their share when heaven comes to earth.

    Blessed are those who ache for the world to be made right,
    For them the government of God is a dream come true.

    Blessed are those who give mercy,
    For they will get it back when they need it most.

    Blessed are those who have a clean window in their soul,
    For they will perceive God when and where others don’t.

    Blessed are the bridge-builders in a war-torn world,
    For they are God’s children working in the family business.

    Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for the right reasons,
    For the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst such persecution.

    BZ

    (The artwork is The Sermon on the Mount by Gerald Shepherd.)

  • On April 17, 2012 by

    Stars

    starry-night

    Stars
    by Brian Zahnd

    I don’t spend enough time looking at stars
    I’m a modern man, I live with a roof over my head
    I live in a world of ambient light with washed out night skies
    One reason why there’s not enough wonder in our eyes

    Tonight I saw the stars from the crisp Colorado skies
    And I said—
    The world is old
    The stars are older still
    They twinkle, but they don’t blink
    They’re impassive (I think)

    And I wonder—
    Do they watch the goings-on on the blue marble below?
    Do the twinkling but not blinking stars think…
    Will those curious little creatures ever get it together?
    Will they ever figure out they’re all in it together?
    Will it ever dawn on them they’re children of God?
    Will they ever learn that in the long run—
    “There’s no them, there’s only us.”

    I wonder if they wonder about us
    After all, like the song says—
    We are stardust, we are golden
    We are billion year old carbon
    We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden
    Yes, we do—we’ve got to!
    (The bombs are now far too big for us not to!)

    I looked at the stars tonight
    And I prayed a prayer—
    God, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow
    I don’t know what will be a billion centuries on
    But I believe in you
    I believe you’re good, true, and beautiful
    I believe you sustain your finite creation from your infinite being
    Forgive us. Restore us. Heal us. Help us. Save us. Please!
    Oh, yes! I believe you will!
    Glory be to Christ!

    And so anon or much, much later on…
    Everything will be alright—
    In the end we’ll find the lost garden
    And learn to love our brother
    We’ll walk with you again
    Or for the first time
    And shine like the stars
    Forever

    BZ

    (The painting is, of course, Van Gogh’s Starry Night.)

  • On April 9, 2012 by

    Resurrection Here and Now

    117426_1024_768

    Resurrection Here and Now

    An Easter Monday Meditation

    On that first Easter morning God’s new world began. The old world is still with us, still dying, but the new world is here too; the age to come has already begun!

    Or as G.K. Chesterton put it…

    On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of a gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.

    But what of it? Or as Francis Schaeffer might put the question, how should we then live? Read more

  • On April 3, 2012 by

    To Mend the World

    Christ

    To Mend the World
    by Brian Zahnd

    November 9, 1938 resides in the catalog of human crimes as Kristallnacht—The Night of Broken Glass. On that dreadful night when Nazi storm troopers smashed, ransacked, burned, and destroyed Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses throughout Germany, Emil Fackenheim was among the thirty thousand Jewish men arrested and taken to concentration camps. Through an improbable twist of fate the twenty-two year old Fackenheim managed to escape the Sachenhausen concentration camp and was eventually able to get out of Nazi Germany. Following the war he made his way to Canada where he became a prominent Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi. In 1982 Fackenheim wrote To Mend the World, an influential book on post Holocaust Jewish thought. The title comes from the Jewish theological concept of tikkun olam—“repairing the world.” Tikkun olam is the idea that though the world is broken, it is not beyond repair—that it’s God’s intention to work through humanity in order to repair his creation. Read more

  • On February 29, 2012 by

    Leap!

    leap

    LEAP!

    And shall I go on being casual and numb?
    Pretending
    Pretending that I know something about this being I so glibly call God
    Or shall I dare to encounter Him?
    Him
    The One with whom I have to do
    The One who can never be an object
    Forever and always the eternal subject
    Is it grammar or a much deeper truth?
    The object is acted upon but the subject acts
    God is not in my story—I am in His
    How is it I can be unaware of this?
    Did I think I invented this story called being?
    Surely I’m not that crazy
    I belong to His story
    History
    But there is my story
    Mystery Read more

  • On January 25, 2012 by

    Satan and Empire

    1315919755_1315919755_babylon

    Satan and Empire

    When asked to identify the origin of Satan we are commonly directed to Isaiah 14. This is the passage where the King of Babylon is called Lucifer (Day Star) and described as “fallen from heaven” after coveting the throne of God. But what should be readily apparent is that Isaiah is giving us a prophetic critique of empire by using the king of Babylon as a personification for the whole imperial project. This is quite clear from a simple reading of the text. Throughout Scripture (and especially in the book of Revelation) Babylon remains a prophetic symbol of empire and the kingdom of Satan.

    Here are a few thoughts from Isaiah 14… Read more

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →