Thursday, March 08, 2007
From AscensionNYC
Thursday in the Second Week of Lent
Psalm 1
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Luke 16:19-31
There is a sobering message in these passages and it amounts to this: For the wicked, there will be hell to pay; for the righteous, heaven will wait. I have to ask: What is wickedness and who gets to decide? If only there were quotas because I do not know if there are many humans without a few moments of wickedness.
I remember Gregory Maguire's Wicked, the book that became the musical. Mr. Maguire deconstructed wickedness. It turns out that the wicked witch of the west was deemed wicked because she could not and would not live by the conventions of Munchkinland. She was born with green skin. She possessed intelligence superior to munchkins. She had political opinions contrary to what was proscribed by the ruling party, the Wizard. And she possessed an independent character, and people thought she was wicked. Is wickedness defined by who's talking?
Fortunately, we don't have to define what wickedness is. We don't have to decide who goes to hell and who to heaven. This is not asked of us. What is asked of us in Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 is to choose between living by a proverbial stream where trees grow deep roots and bear unending fruits and whose leaves never wither (a blessed life) — to living away from and in the absence of this stream (a life without God). The image of a gurgling stream where God abides is hard to resist. I would want to live there and rest my weary shoulders by the stream's mossy bank. I wouldn't want to stray far from here.
Abstractions aside, we do have to choose — between a life that is good and one that isn't (away from the stream). We may not able to define wickedness, but we know for ourselves what is good. We know intimately what good feels like. Luke clarifies where Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 leave off. Luke is saying in the rich man's story: It's not about fine linens, stupid! It does matter how you treat other people. In this also do we have choices. It's not always about what looks good (fine linens, etc.), but also about the good residing in our hearts.
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Luke 16:19-31
There is a sobering message in these passages and it amounts to this: For the wicked, there will be hell to pay; for the righteous, heaven will wait. I have to ask: What is wickedness and who gets to decide? If only there were quotas because I do not know if there are many humans without a few moments of wickedness.
I remember Gregory Maguire's Wicked, the book that became the musical. Mr. Maguire deconstructed wickedness. It turns out that the wicked witch of the west was deemed wicked because she could not and would not live by the conventions of Munchkinland. She was born with green skin. She possessed intelligence superior to munchkins. She had political opinions contrary to what was proscribed by the ruling party, the Wizard. And she possessed an independent character, and people thought she was wicked. Is wickedness defined by who's talking?
Fortunately, we don't have to define what wickedness is. We don't have to decide who goes to hell and who to heaven. This is not asked of us. What is asked of us in Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 is to choose between living by a proverbial stream where trees grow deep roots and bear unending fruits and whose leaves never wither (a blessed life) — to living away from and in the absence of this stream (a life without God). The image of a gurgling stream where God abides is hard to resist. I would want to live there and rest my weary shoulders by the stream's mossy bank. I wouldn't want to stray far from here.
Abstractions aside, we do have to choose — between a life that is good and one that isn't (away from the stream). We may not able to define wickedness, but we know for ourselves what is good. We know intimately what good feels like. Luke clarifies where Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 leave off. Luke is saying in the rich man's story: It's not about fine linens, stupid! It does matter how you treat other people. In this also do we have choices. It's not always about what looks good (fine linens, etc.), but also about the good residing in our hearts.
Vinh Do
