Life is Fragile

Perhaps now is the time to remind ourselves that life is fragile. We have all experienced a greater measure of our own bodily fragility ever since our world declared a world-wide pandemic. We realized that there are viruses that not only make us sick but can even kill us. And the virus has killed young, old, and in between; healthy, sick, fit, and weak. We have all had to come to grips with mortality, sickness, and possible long-term health effects. We have also realized that civilization is fragile. This first showed up in the economy of the world but soon became obvious in our political systems, the way we interact with each other in our communities, and our divisions along many lines. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (New Living Translation, NLT) makes it clear that each of us has life within us and yet we carry this life around in a fragile vessel.

 

^“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

 

The distinction between life and not-life is significant, and yet it is a fine line. At one level, we see life in humans, animals, and plants and debate whether or not a virus contains life. Is a coronavirus truly life or is it just a biological machine that can take over our human biochemistry? We search to see if life exists on any other planet or moon in the universe, while recognizing how fragile all life is on this blue-green fragile planet.

 

Second Corinthians 5:1-5 (NLT) has some helpful teaching on how to live with the fragility of life here on earth.

 

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

 

The concepts this passage teaches are not readily brought to mind in our current predicament in the world and so we need to remind ourselves of them once again.

·       This fragile body in which we live is not our permanent residence; one day, our life essence will be housed in a new eternal body.

·       It is normal to grow weary of life on this earth and long for the eternal realms.

·       We are caught in the mystery of wanting to stay here in this body and this world, while also longing to put on our new eternal bodies.

·       God has prepared us for this longing and wants us to be ready to transition to a new realm.

·       To some, he has already given the guarantee of his Holy Spirit.

 

As we look at this fragile planet, these fragile systems, and our bodies as fragile entities like clay pots, we are reminded that God has a plan that begins now and continues into eternity. The purpose of this article is to remind us of the life we have beyond these fragile bodies, and yet it also reminds us that as we thirst for righteousness in this world, we need not fear what might happen to our earthly bodies. For Jesus said,

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”

 (Matthew 16:25 NLT). 

As we remind one another of a better life beyond this world, and as we prepare ourselves to breathe - with fresh lungs - the air of heaven, we will simultaneously seek to make this world a better place. May God show us his hope for the future and may it begin now on this fragile earth.

The Crucifixion

I am tempted to create a blog post by simply stringing together a series of Fleming Rutledge quotes. The words she uses are often adequate to spark the mind and generate combustion. However, I shall do more than that; I shall interact with some of her writings on the atonement rendered by the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Much of what I write here will stem from my reading of The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, Fleming Rutledge, Eerdmans, 2017. But, some thoughts will have their origin in other writings and interviews with Rutledge.

Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopalian Priest in the grand tradition of preacher, theologian, author, and scholar. She has written much, preached much, and said much in interviews for many publications, but her greatest work is The Crucifixion, published in 2017. She says that it has taken her a lifetime to write this book. Others consider it a landmark book and it has given Rutledge a significant platform from which to speak. The most significant theme of the book is stated this way,

“From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.”

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, p. 127.

She goes on to say that,

“If we think of Christian theology and ethics purely in terms of forgiveness, we will have neglected a central aspect of God’s own character and will be in no position to understand the cross in its fullest dimension.”

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, p. 131.

Her theology is not one that suggests we can achieve human happiness or self-actualization through human achievement. She is clear that the only hope for humankind is the cross of Christ and the intercession of God. God has clearly entered into history in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Rutledge sees this as the only hope of a world gone wrong.

“The New Testament writings all presuppose that the fallen human race and the equally fallen created order are sick unto death beyond human resourcefulness.”

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, p. 141.

And yet, our deeds are not without hope, and one sees in her words, threads of other conversations heard in other places. Rutledge says,

“Here is an important distinction with far-reaching implications for Christian behavior. The deeds of Christians in this present time — however insignificant they may seem, however “vain” they may appear to those who value worldly success — are already being built into God’s advancing kingdom.”

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, p. 14.

Tolkien had words like Rutledge in The Silmarillion, when he said,

I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, p. 15-18.

What they are both saying is that, even our flawed, or sinful, or poorly aimed actions are capable of redemption, and can be woven into the tapestry of the will of God. The crucifixion, though not necessary at the creation of the universe, was required because of the sinful propensity of every human alive and every human that has ever lived. God saw this propensity, and saw that our actions had created the need for the cross; so, he sorrowfully wove it into the pattern of the universe such that,

“The crucifixion is the touchstone of Christian authenticity, the unique feature by which everything else, including the resurrection, is given its true significance. The resurrection is not a set piece. It is not an isolated demonstration of divine dazzlement. It is not to be detached from its abhorrent first act. The resurrection is, precisely, the vindication of a man who was crucified. Without the cross at the center of the Christian proclamation, the Jesus story can be treated as just another story about a charismatic spiritual figure. It is the crucifixion that marks out Christianity as something definitively different in the history of religion. It is in the crucifixion that the nature of God is truly revealed. … we can assert that the crucifixion is the most important historical event that has ever happened. The resurrection, being a transhistorical event planted within history, does not cancel out the contradiction and shame of the cross in this present life; rather, the resurrection ratifies the cross as the way “until he comes.”

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, p. 44.

In The Crucifixion, and also in her other works, Rutledge even goes so far as to say that Jesus’ descent into Hell was a necessary aspect of his death on the cross.

"The Old Testament God" is the one who has come down from his throne on high into the world of sinful human flesh and of his own free will and decision has come under his own judgment in order to deliver us from everlasting condemnation and bring us into eternal life. He has not required human sacrifice; he has himself become the human sacrifice. He has not turned us over and forsaken us; he was himself turned over and forsaken. This is what the Old Testament prophet Isaiah says: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. (53:4-5)”

Fleming Rutledge, And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament, p. ?

Notice Rutledge’s carefully chosen words here. She is purposely saying that it was God who died on the cross. She distinguishes an important concept by saying this rather than speaking of God’s Son dying on the cross. This does indeed differentiate the crucifixion from child-abuse (some have disparagingly suggested such an explanation of the cross) and Rutledge emphasises how it was God, who came to earth as a human; it was God who suffered; it was God who died; it was God who paid the price; it was God who descended into Hell to set free the captives.

Rutledge goes on to say that,  

“We have to come to terms with what seems to be godforsakenness in the world. Many people find that difficult or even impossible. And people who find it difficult or impossible will probably not come to church on Good Friday and will concentrate on the happy aspect of the faith. But I think that’s too bad, because the real depth and strength of the faith is its facing of the worst, and the fact that Jesus faced and endured the worst is ultimately, for many, the only comfort we have in the extremities of the kind of situations that I’m talking about.

The only comfort we have is that Jesus was there before us and that somehow, he wrested away the power of death and sin precisely in his abandonment. How that happened, I can’t say. But the entire proclamation of the church, of the New Testament witnesses, is that that is what happened. Precisely out of the abandonment, he descended into hell.”

Fleming Rutledge, “Interview with Rev. Fleming Rutledge”[1]

Rutledge is a gift to the church at this time in history. I encourage all to read her writings and particularly her latest, The Crucifixion.

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[1] Fleming Rutledge, “Interview with Rev. Fleming Rutledge,” Religion and Ethics News Weekly, April 19, 2013, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2013/04/19/april-18-2003-interview-with-rev-fleming-rutledge/18886/.

Life and Death in God's Good Creation

God created a world in which one creature consumes another to survive. We may wish it was otherwise; we may think it would have been a better world if God had made it so that we humans could synthesize energy from the sun, but that is not the world God created. Besides which, even grass which does photosynthesize its energy relies upon nutrients in soil. Many such nutrients are provided by the decay of dead creatures. Whether or not one sees life as created by God, we must admit that our planet can be a harsh and competitive place. For Christians, such observations must be part of how we understand ultimate questions about the manner in which God created life and death in the Garden of Eden. Our theology has not yet fully wrestled with some of the implications of the lion and lamb created prior to humans.

Recently it has been discovered that some species of Praying Mantis can kill and eat hummingbirds. They have been known to lie in wait at hummingbird feeders and grasp the unsuspecting bird out of the air. It is an ugly picture of life and death in God’s creation and yet it is perfectly natural and the way God intended the lifecycle of his creation. God also created parasitic wasps that lay their eggs in the living bodies of caterpillars. The lifecycle of these baby wasps is the stuff of movies like Alien in which the immature offspring of one creature bursts out of the living body of another. Our world can be a cruel place.

Such is the struggle of life and death in the good world God created. Did God create all of this before the Fall of Humans? How much of life and death is a result of the Fall?

In case you are still worried about hummingbirds, there is a built-in system for the control of the mantis population. Parasitic worms, that live mostly in water, are known to place their larvae in the gut of the mantis and other arthropods. These parasites affect the brain of the mantis in such a way that, at the right time, the mantis drowns itself in water, thus returning the parasitic worm to another familiar environment.

The Searching Kind

“And I know if he’s here tonight, somewhere looking in on us, he would smile and be so proud that this artist is performing this song. To George who we love and will always miss, this is for you . . .”  James Corden, introducing a tribute to George Michael performed by Adele on the 2017 Grammy Awards.

It used to be rare, but there are a significant number of people in North America who live without religion, faith, or a sense of the divine. This segment of our population sometimes expresses their opinion by saying that before they were born, they were nothing and after they die they will be nothing again. In their view, life is like a light bulb: we are on and then we are off.

Some of these same people will make other statements and express other ideas and emotions when faced with the death of someone they loved or highly respected. They will say something like what James Corden said Sunday night or they will find themselves agreeing with Corden's thoughts shared about the one who is no longer with us. They will speak of the one they miss and say that they “just might be watching from above”; or that they are “among us tonight”; or that they are “in a much better place”; or that they are “at peace now”; or that they are now “doing what they loved the most.” The person saying or agreeing with such things may blame their inability to shake old notions; they may say that it is just their old Catholic upbringing coming through; or they may blame it on their parents' indoctrination about what happens when a person dies.

I understand that none of us is completely consistent in our expressed views, or in our understanding of the mystery of life. I want to encourage all of us to sort through our emotions and intellectual thoughts as we seek to comprehend life. For most of us, this will take a lifetime of thinking, imagining, reading, and studying. We need to encourage one another to look deep inside and see the variety of conflicting thoughts and emotions that lie inside the minds of each of us. We can seek to resolve them.

I encourage us to keep on searching for truth, hungering for righteousness, and thirsting for the answers that make the most sense. This will mean reading widely, paying attention to the ways in which humans have understood life in the past, being honest with our tendency to create a system that works for “me” in “my time,” rather than one that embraces others and is timeless. It will mean that we become adept at sorting through a variety of philosophies, theologies, and ideologies to understand why they came to be. It will mean giving a concept a fair shake before putting it aside. In short, it will mean that we stay curious, continuing to search for answers all through our lives.

Kyler England puts it well in her song, “Simple Machine.” In this song, she calls upon her friend to return to the “searching kind” of person they once were and not be afraid of what they might find. My prayer for us is that we might always be the searching kind. If we search for truth, we will find truth, and the truth will set us free.

Simple Machine(written by Kyler England)
(listen to the song here)

we never talk about the big things anymore,
it’s too hard
there’s a canyon between us that we can’t cross,
it’s too far 

whatever happened to you?
you used to be the searching kind
lately you turn and run
like you’re afraid of what you’ll find 

i know you believe
the heart is only a simple machine
and the love that’s running through our veins
is just a pulse of electricity
and you’ve given up on finding meaning
in this great big mystery
but baby don’t give up,
baby don’t you give up on me

you say we’re like a light switch
we’re on and then we’re off
and this is all there is
we’re here and then we’re gone,
then we’re gone
we’re here and then we’re gone
how can you believe 

the heart is only a simple machine
and the love that’s running through our veins
is just a pulse of electricity
don’t you give up on finding meaning
in this great big mystery
and baby don’t give up,
baby don’t you give up on me 

Where to Now St. Peter?

“Where to Now St. Peter?” is a song that I have been listening to for about 4 decades. There is much I like about the song and its meaning continues to intrigue me. It is a song about death and what comes after death, written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John. Taupin provided the evocative lyrics while John wrote the music and contributed to the overall mood of the song with his arrangement. It was first published on Elton John’s album, “Tumbleweed Connection.”

This is Elton John at his best and Bernie Taupin’s lyrics are filled with American Civil War allusions. In “Where to Now St. Peter?” Taupin was likely thinking of the fate of a soldier who died on the battlefield. Of course, any song about what comes after death will be filled with imagination; and Taupin draws on Christian and non-Christian influences as he seems to be wrestling with his own mortality and destination beyond this life.

I wonder who Taupin had to speak to as he pondered such ultimate questions. Certainly, his study of American Civil war history would have informed his consciousness regarding the religious beliefs held by both Confederate and Union soldiers. Many of those men would have been Christians or would have understood the basic teachings of the church in their day. Does he have a friend who could explain this route at a deeper level?

Listening to the words of a song like this and trying to understand their meaning can be beneficial for anyone. The lyrics bring us to terms with our own understanding about the themes the author is addressing. The lyrics of “Where to Now St. Peter?” follow with a few of my own thoughts afterward.

Where to Now St. Peter?
(Words and music by Bernie Taupin and Elton John; copyright 1970)

(Listen while you read)

I took myself a blue canoe
And I floated like a leaf
Dazzling, dancing
Half enchanted
In my Merlin sleep

Crazy was the feeling
Restless were my eyes
Insane they took the paddles
My arms they paralysed

So where to now St. Peter
If it's true I'm in your hands
I may not be a Christian
But I've done all one man can
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone
So where to now St. Peter
Show me which road I'm on

Which road I'm on

It took a sweet young foreign gun
This lazy life is short
Something for nothing always ending
With a bad report

Dirty was the daybreak
Sudden was the change
In such a silent place as this
Beyond the rifle range

So where to now St. Peter
If it's true I'm in your hands
I may not be a Christian
But I've done all one man can
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone
So where to now St. Peter
Show me which road I'm on
Which road I'm on

I took myself a blue canoe

With such an epic song as this I do want to be careful with my interpretations, and so I will offer a few minimal insights. The reader may certainly listen and make their own interpretations as it interacts with ideas already in the mind of the listener.

Death is represented by taking a “blue canoe” on a slow-moving river. This could be a reference to the River Styx or just a metaphor for the moments between life and death? Does “blue” indicate an emotion or death at the hands of a Union Soldier wearing the blue coat? Most of the songs on the album represent the perspective of the Confederate Soldiers and so this latter explanation is certainly a possibility.

The singer asks St. Peter to tell him which road he is on. Is he on the road to heaven or to hell? The soldier knows that he has not lived his life as a Christian but rather as a man who tried to do the right thing. He did what was humanly possible. He is now asking where that will lead him and where his blue canoe will land. For the listener and for Taupin, the answer lies in the words of St. Peter himself found in the third chapter of Second Peter in the Bible: an answer for all who have ears to hear.

The soldier understands that he is on the road “where all else is gone.” There is no turning back at this point; there are no mulligans. In this silent space, things move slow, but flow only in the direction of the final decision for this man’s life. “Where to now St. Peter?” will be answered. The soldier will discover which road he is on.

(You may also enjoy the Ann Wilson and Elton John recording posted here.)

Religious Nones and a Spiritual Remnant

Our world is becoming more secular; a disputable, but defendable statement. We are told that more people than ever have become religious nones. That is, there is an increase in the number of people who reject a belief in God, creation, spirituality, and purpose. They insist that the universe happened by chance, has no purpose, and will come to an end by chance. They reject a Christian faith, a Muslim faith, a Jewish faith, a Hindu faith, a Buddhist faith, and any other type of faith in something higher than the physical properties of a temporary - or eternal - universe. This is the truest form of secularism. These religious nones find meaning, if they find meaning at all, solely in living life passionately, sincerely, and authentically, according to their feelings.[1] Whether they know it or not, they are disciples of Existential Thought of one form or another. They assert that morality does not fundamentally exist, and that any established moral values are theoretically contrived. Some may even claim to be religious and ascribe to a faith, while functioning as if their own existential world was all that mattered.

When we say that these religious nones live passionately, sincerely, and authentically, we are saying that they live sincerely according to the authentic passions they feel at any given moment. Those feelings tend to change from moment to moment and, as such, are extremely relative to the situation.

So, could it be that more people are finding it acceptable to use immoral means to get what they desire out of life? Do more people today see others succeeding by operating by violent or immoral means? Do some grab all they can get from this world by any means possible believing that others will do so if they don’t?

Perhaps it is too soon to tell. But as our world turns away from the foundations of faith and the moral principles within the religions of the world, we can expect to see more amoral people, and more immorality, and even violence as people live out their unfettered passions.

I believe that we are at a turning point in which there will be another increase. Many of us will live to see a return to faith. The values and morals of another age are deeply rooted in the faith of our fathers and mothers. I believe that we will see many return to a belief in God and a trust in his authority and power. Let us not despair but instead choose to be at the forefront of a movement back to the Creator; a spiritual remnant.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism