Sometimes it's hard to be thankful

“Gratitude should go forward, rather than backwards.” Bill W.

Thanksgiving is upon us. For what are we thankful?

I’m struggling to come up with an answer to that question this year. It seems events overseas and around the country have gotten so chaotic and violent, I just don’t know what to think, what to do, or how to respond.

I feel guilty anticipating holiday feasting, football, and family gatherings when all around us, wars rage across the pond, the homeless are dying in our neighborhoods, and the plagues of gun violence, drug addiction, and drug-resistant diseases are banging on our doors.

Jesus said these things will always afflict us. Nations will rise up against other nations. Pestilence will ravage the lands. Families will be torn apart – fathers against sons and sons against fathers; mothers against daughters and daughters against mothers. The earth will shake, the skies will darken, stars will fall.

Egotistical souls will insist we are living in the end times, but egotists have been saying that for thousands of years. We always feel we are in the worst times, simply because when times are bad, we assume no one has ever had it as hard as us.

“What fools these mortals be,” says Puck in a Shakespearean play. Jesus cautions us against calling anyone a fool, lest we subject ourselves to judgment. But I think Puck is right. I don’t mind calling people fools as long as I remember that I am describing the “we” and not the “thee.”

We are silly creatures, so I don’t mind starting off by acknowledging that I am sometimes a fool, yet I’m alive to tell about it. Life is serious, to be sure, but we need to be careful not to take ourselves too seriously. I’m thankful for that.

When I finished raking leaves in the front yard a few weeks ago, I did more. I drained the hoses, coiled them, and put them away (along with the sprinklers and nozzles). I covered the outdoor faucets with their foam insulating caps. Consequently, when I found hard frost upon the ground today, I could drink my morning coffee – with a smile – for I was ahead of the game (for once). My procrastinatory nature was overcome by a bout of industriousness; I’m thankful for that.

I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to put up my holiday decorations. OK, yes, my Christmas decorations; let’s be honest. While it has been chilly, the sun is shining and the rains are holding off (if one can believe the weather person on the television), so I may get them up a little early. I don’t do rooftop or eavestrough lights any more as I prefer to avoid such heights, but I can put out ground-level decorations at my leisure. I’ve got the health and energy to do what I can do. What’s more, I can do it with good cheer; I’m thankful for that.

I do like to keep up on news of what’s happening around the world and around this country, but I don’t obsess over it. I can’t control wars in far-off places, but I have neighbors with whom I get along reasonably well. We don’t fight. We don’t argue. We don’t endanger one another with our driving. The neighborhood dogs are either well-behaved or kept on their own properties. The deer don’t come through too often, but when they do, they leave their calling cards with the neighbors and not with us. The raccoons amble through on occasion, but they leave our trash bins alone (so far). I’m thankful for all that.

The fact is, I find complaining embarrassingly easy to do, but I’ve learned to take life one day at a time; I’ve learned to give thanks for what I have, and not to worry about what I may not have. I have far more than I need, so gratitude really ought to be on the tip of my tongue, rising up from the bottom of my heart – daily. It doesn’t always happen, but it does often enough, for which I am thankful.

What’s more, I am grateful for having an opportunity to regularly share a little bit of myself with you, my readers and publishers here in this, our valley. I am thankful for you, one and all!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)

The Scourge of Retribution

I don't normally speak on matters of politics or current events as there is little on the world or national stage I can do or affect. No one in DC is checking in with me, seeking permission to do something, or finding sound reasons not to do something else. In a world of seven billion people, I have no doubt I am somewhere in the lower half of the six billions on anyone's Speed-Dial.

Events in the Middle East are complex, and as I have never been to Israel or any other place East of the Atlantic coast of the USA, I cannot speak with any authority on what's happening there. I have my opinions and thoughts, of course, but they are bound up in second or third hand information, gleaned from a variety of media sources, and seen or heard through a thousand filters.

I am reminded of a parish that offered to send their priest to the Holy Land one time (as he'd never been, and they thought it would a nice gesture on their part). The gift came with one string, however. He could only refer to his experience no more than once a month in his preaching. Apparently, the parish has done that once before and the previous priest came back from his ten day trip as an expert on geography, history, theology, the cultures of Jews, Muslims, Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Evangelicals, etc.), and the parishioners really didn't want to have to suffer through that a second time.

I have not been to the Middle East and could never afford to visit the Holy Land, so such a trip will simply have to wait until the Second coming, at which time (in theory) I'll get to see if from a couple thousand feet (and rising). So I'm no expert in what's going on over there. I have never been a part of a minority or oppressed class of peoples. I often joke that when it comes to racism, all I know is how Norwegians and Swedes treat one another. If that's as bad as I've had it, then I've lived a fairly sheltered life.

The experience from which I CAN speak, however, is the human experience of violence and retaliation. Everyone says they want Justice, but for many, that devolves into retribution and vengeance. Jesus saw danger in that kind of attitude. Every act of retribution, no matter how "measured" or how "careful" will be experienced by the "other" as excessive. Punch me with one pound PSI, I should be able to punch you with equal force, but darned if it won't feel to you as 1.1 pound of PSI. That requires an escalation on each victim's part, and it will never end.

So Jesus says clearly, "Turn the other cheek; walk the extra mile; give your coat AND your shirt." It's not because the bullies or instigators deserve it, but because the response is your own choice. "Yes, you may assault and abuse me, you may take advantage of my friendship and good nature, but I choose to respond THIS way." Of course you may lose everything. Bullies will ask a foot, take your mile, and respond by making you carry their pack mule. That's a possibility, and maybe even a probability, and at some point a third party may even have to intervene (police, courts), and they (your rescuers) may secretly hate you for putting up with being a "victim." As Jesus says, "Yes, folks may well hate you and revile you." The point is, the cycle of violence and retribution will never end if we refuse to try a different way.

There is an old, staid cliche that defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It may be old, it may be staid, and it may be a cliche, but nonetheless it is true. The cycle of violence continues because those who dare try something different often fail, resulting in those who might follow to quit trying, too. We have no trouble getting into fights, but it seems we have no patience to make peace.

I suspect part of the problem is the dehumanizing of the "other." During times of war, soldiers always find ways to remove the humanity of the enemy from their minds. They must do that for self-preservation. The enemy is the "target" (or some racial, ethnic, or dehumanizing epithet). Acts of barbarism are always "justified" by what the other did (first). This eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-tooth approach devolves into a world that is blind to the escalating destruction that takes place on an ever-escalating ramp to hell.

Jesus says, "Stop! For Christ's sake, STOP!"

Each side expects God to come down and wreak vengeance on the other for their atrocities, vileness, cruelty, etc. Well, I can't speak for those of other faiths (and can barely speak for those of my own faith tradition), but those who walk the Jesus Way would suggest God did come down, and rather than descend with an army of angels to visit death and destruction on the human race, chose to risk birth and living amongst us, and even when we visited torture upon him, did not send out a bugle-call for help, but allowed the cold embrace of death to lay ahold of him, instead. 

One can always find loopholes in the Bible (Hebrew and Christian scriptures) and Quran to justify violence. Jesus no doubt sighed with disgust when he said, "The kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). Still, he gave himself up for arrest; he gave his back to the smiters; he endured torture; they took his clothes from him, divided them by lot, and nailed him naked to the hard wood of the cross, upon which he died -- an object of laughter and scorn by passers-by.

There isn't room here to present a comprehensive guide to peace in the Middle East, but I would offer a few ideas for consideration of all involved. (1) Cease Fire. Unilateral, if need be. But stop the insanity where it stands now. (2) Unimpeded Humanitarian Aid (Food, water, shelter, medical care, evacuation of anyone and everyone at risk). (3) Find, identify, and charge a small team (3 people representing Israel, and 3 from Palestine Authority) to sit down with a mutually agreed upon neutral third party (non-major power) and develop a process for transforming the ceasefire to a genuine peace accord. (4) An independent investigation by a neutral third party to identify and secure arrest warrants for all parties (of whatever stripe) who are responsible for engaging in specific war crimes (thinking Nuremburg type of trials).

Anyone who says such an approach is unworkable, ignores the complexity of the history and list of grievances, etc. is not interested in peace. Of course it is complex. Of course it will require risk. Of course these will be stops, and lurches, and set-backs. So what? Of course it may take years to undo the damage of decades of mistrust and bad acts. So what? Of course there will still be people doing everything in their power to make sure nothing works. So what? 

The cancer of violence is shrunk by the application of medicines that may bring unpleasant results at first, but if the tumor shrinks, and the circle of violent antagonists shrinks, isn't it worth the effort?

Jesus thought it was. Ghandi thought it was. Martin Luther King, Jr. thought it was. Standing in the midst of those giants, who am I to disagree? Let's beat our swords into plough shares and spears into pruning hooks; let's give peace a real try, and stick to it.

The Kingdom of God is a Tool Box

“Many things get done in the world because someone had a vision of something better.” Herbert O’Driscoll

I love learning. I never tire of reading. When something breaks at home, I delight in trying to figure out what’s wrong so that I can fix it or, if I’m lucky, it’s broken beyond repair and I get to replace it with something new and improved. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy pinching pennies until Lincoln cries, “Uncle,” but it doesn’t bother me to get something that, most generally, works better than what broke.

I’ll confess I am sometimes embarrassed by how little I know about something, or about how long it took me to discover what someone else (or everyone else) has presumably known from the git-go. For instance, I was always flummoxed by how terribly my drill functioned as a screwdriver. I mean, I have various bits for it, and it seems to do fine for the most part, but then it barumphs [sic] and ruins the head of a screw. I never knew why until Earl, my carpenter friend in Ennis explained something I’d not realized: a drill is designed for drilling; what I need to use is an impact driver. The two tools may look similar, but each serves a different function; each is designed to handle different situations.

In the past I would have been too embarrassed to admit this intellectual short-coming. I would have counted it as a character defect. I’m a guy. Guys are supposed to know things about cars and tools, carpentry, sports, and stuff like that. I’d lived much of my life by Mark Twain’s maxim: Better to keep one’s mouth closed and thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

I am beginning to think that shame is the leading cause of all the world’s woes. When children grow up and are ridiculed for not knowing stuff, they often learn to shut down and stop asking questions. Children have a reputation for being innocents, but often they are cruel, intolerant bullies. Many of the people I have known and counseled continue to live under a cloud of childhood events and traumas. It’s no wonder many grow up to be intolerant, fearful, and shame-filled souls in need of healing, safety, and security.

Jesus spent most of his time teaching and healing. He called his vision “the kingdom of God.” He didn’t define it as much as he described it with stories and images almost anyone can relate to. I may not be a farmer, but I understand the concept of things starting off small (like seeds) and growing into something big (like a shade-tree or a jar of French’s Mustard). I may not be a fisherman, but I understand the importance of repairing a net so that it will catch fish. 

Having had a child run away from home, I understand the relief and joy of having that child come home. Having lost a cherished gift and finding it again in a puddle of melted snow, I understand the joy and relief of finding that which was lost. Having had a terrible argument with someone I love, and the fear of losing them forever, and having that relationship restored by forgiving them (and being forgiven), and amending uncharitable attitudes or deeds, I have seen how forgiveness can lead to peace and reconciliation.

None of us is perfect, of course; only God is perfect. I still lose things. I’m still hurt by unkind remarks or the neglect of those who ought to know better. But this talk of the kingdom of God – this vision – allows me to see the world differently. It allows me to plead ignorance so that others can help me understand what I’m missing or neglecting. It opens my eyes to the possibility that God may have other ways of dealing with matters. 

The kingdom of God is a tool box into which we add tools as God provides them. We need only know not every tool fits every circumstance; we need only be humble enough to ask others what might help here in this, our valley. To mend a life, you see, is to amend life.

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)