THE SYMPHONY THAT IS CHRIST

    A young musician who was studying conducting was paying almost all his attention to the notes of the composition he was preparing to conduct.  His teacher told him he was missing the most important point.  The notes, he said, do not exist by themselves or for themselves.  They exist in patterns, in melodies.  It is the patterns, the melodies, that turn the individual notes into music.  If he did not see and conduct the patterns, he would conduct individual, disconnected sounds and miss the music that is greater than the individual notes and greater than himself.

    Unhappily, that is what happens to many of us Christians when we read Bible passages that were not meant to be taken literally.  Like the young conductor, we can easily read the words and miss the music, which is the symphony of God-with-us.  Without our consciousness  of the presence of God in the entire Bible, we are liable to give the texts our own meaning, with all our human limitations, including our errors and prejudices.

   To us Christians, God-With-Us has a name.  It is Christ, or the Christ Reality, Who is  God-With-Us within and throughout the entire universe from its very birth, 13.8 billion years ago.  With respect to our Jewish cousins who gave us what we call, The Old Testament," we Christians see the grand symphony of God-With-Us, Christ, beginning with the very first sentence of Genesis, which tells us that a mighty wind, the Spirit of God, swept over the initial dark abyss, bringing Divinity into the birth of the entire universe.  

   In the New Testament, St. John describes the same reality as God "speaking" Christ, i.e., Divinity's presence, into the newly created universe.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (1:Jn 1)   

   The "notes" of the Old Testament give us  beautiful and wonder-filled music.  The story of Adam and Even in the garden of Eden is a mythic wonder, i.e., a story that is not historically  true but that beautifully expresses the "music" of our creation by God, and our human frailty.  When we learned the scientific and historic truth of evolution, we were able to see ourselves from our very beginning as imperfect, yet deeply blessed and loved children of God.

   The symphony grows and develops in the wonder stories of the Great Flood and Noah's Ark.  Even the deliberately funny story of Jonah in the Whale carries the melody of love and resurrection.  And what poem or song can match the music of the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my Shepherd...?

   And when the ancients sent discords into the symphony of God, they had Prophets to call them back from their cacophony.

   For us Christians the symphonic music of the Bible builds until the blessed day when Christ, God-With-Us appears physically in the world in the person of Jesus.  Jesus is our Divine Way, Truth and Life.  (Jn. 14:6)  

   In Christ Jesus there is no place for hateful views of those who are different from us, racially, culturally, politically, etc., etc.  And there is no room for depressed and depressing predictions of the imminent end of the world, or for "infallible" predictions of election results, or for adamant refusal to accept true election results.

    In Christ Jesus there is room only for love for everyone without any exception.  And there is room only for loving confidence that Christ Jesus will get us through whatever crucifixions life may send us.

   At this crucial moment in our beloved country's history we must keep in our mind and heart our love of Christ Jesus, God-With-Us.  In him we find the beautiful music that is the symphony that is Christ, God-With-Us, who is the true melody of our lives and of our beloved America.  

Comments:  Massimini7@gmail.com

 

A TIME FOR PROPHETS

    This election is so important that we cannot in good faith turn away from the stark reality of this moment of our history.  As the People of Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, we must speak truth about the condition of our country, and speak it loudly.  We are all prophets of Christ: we all have the grace, opportunity and responsibility to speak the truth as loudly and clearly as we can.

   The Truth of Christ is that we must vote to save our country, our very democracy, our rule of law, and our political and moral dignity.  That is what the contemporary prophets of Christ are called and empowered to do.

   First, let's get the important question of abortion out of the way.  In a very short time, Amy Coney Barrett will be sworn in to the Supreme Court.  She will give the Court the sixth conservative justice as opposed to three liberal justices.  So the Court can easily vote to end Roe v. Wade.   

   In the Spirit of Christ we must decide if we want to have a country and  a government that are based in the Constitution and the Rule of Law, and not on the whims of a President and his slavish followers who are operating out of the back woods of the American psyche.

   We have to decide if we want to continue to have corporations that pay very little taxes and have CEO's who receive obscene compensation while they keep the employees' salaries and benefits under tight control, and while they disregard the air pollution and physical damage they inflict on the environment.

   We have to decide how to enlighten and help those of us who are polluting our public life with political prejudices born of tribal mindsets, poor schooling and ineffective and even misleading religious leaders.   

   This election is testing us to show what level of humanity we want to live on.  It is all too clear that some of us are acting out of the primitive, or reptilian, part of our brain.  These are the ones who form and act in political hate groups.  Members of these groups live out of our basic instincts where we are controlled by pre-formed fears and prejudices that give birth to actions of hatred and violence.   These brothers and sisters of ours are victims of our social and political collapse.

   Lastly, we have to vote for leaders who will work for living conditions that are fair, just, safe and peaceful for all of us, with special concern for the poor, sick, vulnerable and outcast.  We have to vote for leaders who will give us better schools with better education plans that prepare our children not only to find good jobs but also to be good citizens.  We have to vote with care for our fellow Americans who do not have the opportunities that America owes them.  

   Christ is calling to us to be the prophets that his grace has formed us to be.  Now is the time to vote to help bring the Kingdom of God on earth, the Kingdom of Love for everyone without exception, ever closer to reality here in our beloved country.