Army of Priests

Friday, 6th June

Dear Diary,

I have found some servants. Finally that miserable attendant brought some humans willing to sell themselves to me. Whoever owns that man should really punish him, or at least show him some ads for other occupations because he really is NOT good at sales. I had to wait for a whole 12 days 4 hours and 19 minutes since arriving at the store.

Unfortunately for me my new servants are clumsy things. They almost stumbled when they were caring me out of my car. But, on the upside, when they took me into my castle and removed my bondages they were enamoured by my beauty and size. This should make it easier to control them.

Read more…

The words of Gandhi, as quoted by Dave Andrews in his book Christi-Anarchy (pg 75):

The gentle figure of Christ, so patient, so kind, so loving, so full of forgiveness that he told his followers not to retaliate when struck, but to turn the other cheek – was a beautiful example, I thought of the perfect person [...]

I refuse to believe that there exists a person who has not made use of his example, even though he or she may have done so without realising it [...]

The lives of all have, by some greater of lesser degree, been changed by his presence.

A poem in my journal. Inspired by Matthew 25:31–46 and the sight of beggars on the street.

Today, I walked past Jesus.

I saw him sitting there, on the concrete floor;
He was holding his sign, just begging for something more.
But I just kept on walking, being sure to look astray,
Lest he stare me in the eyes, and take my heart away.

But I cared so little, for needs that weren’t my own.
I walked as though I own my life, but really it’s on loan.
And as I passed him later, I saw he’d sat all day,
I think that all he really wanted, was to hear “I care” as some would say.

But I loved myself, more than him this one time.
God’s roaring voice of love, was reduced to just a mime.
I couldn’t give him everything; I could never erase his fault,
But in just five minutes, I could have acted like real salt.

Yet with eyes focused, on only my own goals,
I know I walked past He, who lives in holy souls.
And now I fear, what I did not do,
I have one thing, I must confess to you.

Today, I starved my Christ.
Today, I threw God on the street.
Today, I tore His cloak of love.
Today, I walked past my King, Jesus.

He was bloody.

A death blow had been struck against his chest and he stumbled along in the streets – grabbing light poles and chairs to keep himself steady. Onlookers watched with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. If only he hadn’t been fooling around, they thought. They knew they were better than him.

Finally, as he collapsed and was near his end, an elderly man grabbed him firmly and commanded, “No. You are not sick.” The gentleman then took a bandage made of fine linen from the far away deserts of Denial and wrapped him firmly. In a few minutes the wounded man was fine again, and stood up as if by miracle.

Why is everyone standing around? The onlookers thought. There’s nothing to see here. He never did look that bad to me. Thus the wounded man went about his life for a few days with no problem. There never really was a problem after all. The man chided himself for being such a hypochondriac.

But no matter how much he willed it he never could quite mentally block out the niggling pain and after a few days some blood started seeping through the fabric the gentleman had given him. So the next day he decided to go down to the megacenter on Greed Street and get himself a new and improved bandage.

Read more…

I have an article published over at Jesus Manifesto. 

Over the last few weeks governments around the world have been clamouring to rush money into failing financial systems in order to stave off the impending “economic crisis”. The American government passed a US$700 billion bill to try to sure up liquidity in credit markets.

It would only cost $82 billion (for 5 years) to meet all of the millennium development goals.

Almost half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day ($730 a year). The “economic crisis” is already here, and it has been here for a long time.
 

Check it out over here.

How much would you earn if all the money in the world was fairly distributed? This would have to take into account the different cost of living in every country and the increased cost of adults over children.

The world economy is worth US$46.66 trillion each year as of 2006. There are 6.7 billion people in the world. This means each person in the world should be earning US$6954 pa.

However, to be fair children cost less to raise than adults. As of 2007 27.4% of the world’s population was younger than 15. Thus if we gave each adult twice as much as each child we would all be entitled to the following:

Adults: US$8058.68

Children: US$4029.34

However, we must also take into account that different countries cost different amounts to live in. Food and shelter costs much more in Zimbabwe and Norway than in Ethiopia and China. So, if we are to be fair, we should adjust the amount given based on the “purchasing power parity” of each country.

Read more…

When I think of Greed I think of two components:

• Envy – wanting what I don’t have (it’s opposite is contentment)
• Jealousy – holding onto what I do have (it’s opposite is generosity)

Now, we usually think of these things in how they relate to money and material possessions. Everyone has seen example of someone enviously trying to “keep up with the Jones” as they buy ever bigger houses and TVs. We’ve also seen jealousy in children who refuse to share or people who wont take the train to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I’m my life, when it comes to materialism I feel like I am well on the way to defeating greed. I am without want. I’ve given much of what I own away. I hate money (Mathew 6:24).

But I have realised lately that I am still envious in other ways. I am envious of people’s popularity, of their fitness, of their experiences, or their relationships. I am envious of their abilities, or intelligence, or humour, or body. I am forever wishing in my head that I could do X like person Y. I even imagine myself having some attribute, and thus become envious of this imaginary character.

Read more…

The words of C. S. Lewis in his book The Screwtape Letters (pg 40). This quote is from a conversation between two demons:

Our cause is never more in danger then when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our enemy’s [God's] will, looks around a universe from which ever trace of him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsakes, and still obeys.

He loves us.

He loves us despite the state we are in. He loves us regardless of what we have done. He loves us regardless of what we will do. He loves us regardless of what we can do. He loves us, male and female. He loves us, young and old.

He loves us regardless of skin colour, or how much money we have, what we wear, of if our jokes are bad. He loves us if we are lonely, depressed or angry. He loves us when we are annoying (Romans 8:38-39).

He loves us if we do drugs, or get drunk, or sleep around. He loves porn addicts, meth addicts, and TV addicts. He loves prostitutes, murderers, gay people, and thieves. He loves sports watchers, cult members, and masturbators.

He even loves you if you don’t love him (Romans 5:8, John 3:16).

Read more…

A poem from my journal.

I believe in a delusion
That I can reach my own conclusion
Living my life by human steam
But finding this is just a dream

I seek out what seems best to me
I worry not about what you see
And in the end I just become
Yet another hopeless blinded one

But you, O God, you placed me first
On Calvary’s hill my shackles burst
From your deep love I cannot hide
You knew one truth: I’m broke inside

By knowing this, your heart was hurt
You reached down to lift me from the dirt
Your boundless grace is where hope lies
And now I see life through new eyes

A rich new hope was in me placed
To see the world saved by your grace
And every day I walk in step
To ease the world of sin’s great debt

I do not know how to prevail
But I can hear dreary souls wail
My heart breaks like yours does also
Yet the people hurt only more so

Help me lord, to rely on you
My conscious will is shattered in two
I want to live by holy light
So give me strength for my fight

By will alone I cannot win
I am still tempted by constant sin
The deception of Hades waits
To lure me in with fresh new baits

Let me know you’re all I need
So I won’t seek any other creed
When fiend comes, let weakness seethe
For from my side you will not leave