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lördag 18 mars 2017

React, repent, return, ressurect

In war, they say, there are no winners. No, that is probably very true.
I have no experience of war, except for those we fight among ourselves on daily bases. The domestic little wars have casualties as well, that's for sure. 
I know and you know that keeping peace in the family and close by is one of the most important things we have to tend to. It should be easy enough, but never is.  Love your enemies, Jesus tells us, to set the standards right. There is no greatness in doing good for those you already love and care for.  Still we can't do even that from time to time. That is why we need the blessings of grace.
For your benefit, here is the water of the river, released from it's icy shroud and preparing for springtime , salmonfishing and the beautiful view of the King Fisher.

This weekend, not even gone yet, have been filled with disasters and miracles, all at the same time and spot it seems.
Some taken place close, some bringing pain to others. I do get tired sometimes, wish I could do more. But sometimes, we have to take a break, praying, reading, walking,watching movies, yes.
We went to the Filmstudio on thursday to see Almodovars "Julieta".  Issues of guilt, repentence and reconcilliation, splendid filming, good portraits. My first Almodovar-film- 

Friday, tossed right into the sparkling and highpitched world of Disney, we had promised the girls to go and see" Beauty and the Beast" with Emma Watson as Belle and Emma Thompson, disguised as a tea pot.... The miracle in this is that our youngest have been feeling very bad for a long time, not wanting to go outside the house even. Missed several films she wanted to see .
And a lot more, as you can understand.
But now she actually came along!!!! She brought a good friend along, as did the oldest one and as did we. 
In this story , it's hard to know who is the monster. Who is different and who is normal and what is normal?  Is it okey to be a monster as long as you don't harm anyone or are you no longer a monster when the urge to harm fades away?? 
In some cases, people that really appears to be prince Charming actually turn into monsters, never to be reversed?
But when love returns to the monster, loving and sacrificing, the monsters gets a chance to repent. 
Or maybe I can just rest in the joy of the film, the music, the colours, the animations and the acting.  It has been a great fuzz about Disneys Gay-moments, well, someone else will have to tell me whether those moments were valid or not. Or just plain Disney glamorous?

Finally, this evening, we opened the film that has been calling from the shelf for some time now " The eye in the sky" with Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman.  Brilliantly played and horrifying. How can we turn this lunacy?? How can a war become calculated risks?  Has that always been the case, how great risks we are prepared to take to win the war?
The warlords of the centuries has altered between joining in side by side, and keeping a safe distance, calculating with other mens life. The tale of two cities comes to mind, with the sacrifice of one for the sake of many. The gospel comes to mind.
God made his calculations and took the decision of being the casualty AND the winner.  But he chose not to be at safe distance.  In this film, the option is attack with the help of drones and autopiloted missiles. The obsticle is a small child, selling bred outside the targetarea. How many percent risk is too high not to send the missile off? On a safe distance the discussion is on, political, calculated, lawyers, ministers, generals and attackpilots. The giant monitors that displays every horrible detail, the two inside the house, being dressed up with bomb belts, the girl in the street, people in the market.

War is fought every second somewhere in the world. Trump calls for stronger defence budget, Northern Korea is sending missiles, Rakka is under siege, terror is threatening every airport, every tourist event, anytime, massacre upon massacre.
Who is the beast? Who is the monster?  Is there something less frightening in the calculated attack with low percentage of casualties? More humane? I can't judge those who try to defend people, try to fight evil in it's most horrible sense.
But I can react, and think that the only thing I really can do, is to keep peace where I am and return again and again to repent and be reassured that grace is holding, God didn't keep the distance, he dies with every calculated casualty and weeps with every devastated parent.  Evil won't prevail, monsters will eventually meet the sacrificing love and there will be no more tears.  When I hurt someone, even if I don't mean to, I become the monster.  When I stop reacting to what is going on around us, it's just as bad.  When ressurection day is at hand, the pain will leave us.  But until that day we must react, return and repent so that grace can be visible through us, right where we are.  And pray for those who have to make these horrible decisions, every day.....
Yes, what a weekend this has been, and it's not gone yet!
But thank you Lord, for the miracles shining through the disasters!!!

2 kommentarer:

  1. I find this particular blog post very hard to comprehend and mainly because of the terms and cliches that you are using.
    You speak of evil as being monsters, without explaining what is evil.
    Monsters can be seen as overgrown animals i.e. above average size is that your definition ?
    Evil though is very different and the understanding of the word has changed throughout the centuries, as people became more educated. Able to recognise the effects of mental illnesses and treat various conditions. Today we term various and serious behaviours as being negative human conditions.

    Here in Ireland we are hearing about the negative treatment of single mothers and their babies during the 20th century by the Christian Nuns. In much the same way as we heard about the children who were abused by the clerics/ monks.
    What we (Ireland) have yet to do is to look at both of these cases and reach an understanding of the what caused this awful behaviour by people who ought to have known better.

    SvaraRadera
  2. You are missing my point here, Melvyn! Long ago, a friend of mine committed murder on his own mother, due to mental illness. The priest responsible for the funeral spoke of him as a monster, evil lurking behind the closed doors. I found that revolting and still do, I know the church has been responsible for many kinds of mistreating people for horribly wrong reasons, so that is not all my point. Christians have been and are just as much responsible for the pain and agony in the world.
    My point is, that it's easy for us to point out evil in others but harder to see it in our own behaviour. I took some help from the metafores in the film, Beauty and the Beast. In that story the monster was transformed by his own behaviour and transformed back again by love. In the fairytales, the monsters are as you say, overgrown creatures or otherwise abnormal. But that was also said about those poor people on fairs that were exposed for fun and laughter, f.i short people, dwarfs, bearded lady, people with one arm, or abnormalities of the head and face, such as shown in the film The Elephant man, a sad and wonderful story.
    Today , fortunately, we don't make fun and use of those conditions. But, again, I speak of monster only as a metaphor, saying that the evil mankind is capable of, can create a monster out of anyone, almost. Yes, we know better, we do horrible things even so!!! Just like the examples you mention, and many others. My friend was not an evil person, quite the opposite really, but he was ill and got abandoned by health care, no monster in our eyes, but to some he was.
    I wrote this post after watching that film, Eye in the sky, it made me feel hollow. I might have used clichés since the films stayed on, but my definition of Evil is everything that works against Gods will that every living soul should be saved and loved. Evil is that which makes people lose faith and hope, brings darkness instead of light. I know you have other views on life than I have, but mostly we agree that people are treated badly and we have to react and act. Evil has nothing to do with mental illness or physical and social malfunctions and disorders, neither to overgrown animals, it runs deeper in the very core of creation. I believe the creation is in itself good because it was lovingly made, but God has an enemy, balance needed to come, sacrifices needed to be made, hence the cross.
    You use the energy to bring comfort and light, you have healing powers. That is good, It doesn't collide with my faith, the disciples could heal when needed.
    Forget the monster image, Melvyn, let's just spread as much love and understanding as we can muster. You are wise and goodhearted, just keep on the way you do, we are not so very different. Maybe I just express myself badly! Or I watch too many films.......

    SvaraRadera