Matt 20

Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

I had a teacher in high school who did a bit of this and a bit of that. She took health and social sciences, occasionally filled in for English and generally wandered around the school. Mrs W had a few theories which she seemed to appropriate from textbooks and seminars and radio talkback. One of her theories was that there is no intrinsically ‘bad’ human emotion (she was one of ‘those’ teachers) – it was how you act on the emotion that is important. The exception to this rule, perhaps, is jealousy. This exception may be similar, biblically speaking, to the commandment to cease and desist coveting thine neighbour's ass!

Whatever the case I think there is a thread running through many western Christians which causes them to do a double take when they think of ‘those more fortunate than them’ – because there are always those less so. It seems to me that this is a good thing – the call to humility is the call of the rich man (and his young rulers). And yet the flip slide of the equation is that western Christians are fearful of any call to justice and the righting of wrongs – because we do not want to be perceived as envious.

The liberation theologians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology) tell us that, while enough is enough, when you do not have enough you may well be envious, you may struggle for justice and you may seek restitution on the way to reconciliation.

I don’t know what to make of this, but I hope that the web of envy and justice and retribution and reconciliation and new life are dependent on God’s generosity and not the foibles of humanity.

OK, sorry I haven’t posted in a while but have been moving into our new place. Had a win yesterday when my brother Murray helped me put in a network cable (patch to patch!) which worked first time. There is no sweeter thing than a successfully replied ping!

We are now in Newcastle and trying to avoid work as much as possible – but it seems to fill up the available space. If nothing else I need to get my diary for February into some sort of semblance, especially when people like Glen Powell keep nagging me about the Brian McLaren (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_McLaren) conference thingo coming up in Sydney. For those who don’t know Brian has some interesting things to say about the church emergent – at the very least he strikes me as a gracious, generous and risk-taking kind of person. We need more of them!

Went for a spin around Newcastle Uni and will probably book into the pool in the next few weeks.

Well, it’s Saturday and I fell a bit lazy. We’re in the middle of packing boxes for our move on Wednesday, so I thought I would just leave you with this snippet from Jostein Gaarder. This comes from Maya but many will be more familiar with Sophie’s World.

Verana was a beautiful woman who was so spoilt for suitors that she couldn’t choose between them. As a result, she was forever bewailing the fact that she hadn’t time enough to decide. One day she was given a magic elixir by a sorcerer. If she drank half of it, the sorcerer explained, she would live for ever. Then she’d have ample time to find the man she wanted to live with. Once she’d met Mr Right, all she needed to do was give him the rest of the potion, and her husband would then have eternal life as well. Verana drank her part of the elixir and lived for many years without being able to settle on any particular man. A hundred years passed, and Verana was still as young and beautiful as ever, but as time went by it got more and more difficult for her to choose who she’d give herself to. She realised that the magic elixir had made it even harder for her to make up her mind. It wasn’t just that there were too many men to pick from now, but she’d also got so much more time to make her selection, and the decision wasn’t made any easier by the knowledge that her ultimate choice would remain by her side, not just for a lifetime, but for all eternity. After two hundred years Verana had met so many admirers that she could no longer love any man. Nevertheless, she’d been condemned to live on earth for all eternity. She still roams the world to this day. When a man falls in love with a woman who can’t make up her mind, he should be on his guard, because it may be cold, unappeasable Verana he’s fallen for. Many a man has lost his heart and his youth to Verana, but none will ever win her.

Matthew 9

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?

I saw a T shirt once which had three labelled images with some text above. The text said something like, “Great Masters of irony”, and had a picture of Socrates, Jesus and Alanis Morrisette. It was like rain on my wedding day.

I have heard that (United States of) Americans have no sense of irony and lack the ability to embrace self-deprecating humour. This is why, apparently, British comedy goes straight over their head. Now I don’t believe that Americans do not appreciate irony. From their great modernist poets, to the beatniks, to Woody Allen and some of their better film makers, to the Violent Femmes and other musicians, Americans can and do appreciate irony – they certainly show a degree of self-deprecation.

The problem is, or so it would seem, is that too much of America is squashed by a monolithic mythology – a mythology which is very good at blanketing micro-myths. This monolithic mythology is as overpowering in the neo-liberal commercialism of Hollywood as it is in the neo-conservative ‘us-and-them’ rhetoric of the religious right or the pentagon. It would be inaccurate to suggest that other nations and regions do not have their monolithic myths, most of them do (just look at France’s romantic myth surrounding its language and culture!). Yet the spin machines of other myth-holders are not as skilled, or powerful, or profitable, as the spin machine of the US mono-myth. It is so big that sitting here in Australia I am unsure just how much of the sun is blocked by it on this side of the globe.

Which brings me back to Jesus. Jesus was and is ironic and subversive. He was no ancient Superman from Smallville (Darren Wright who runs http://digitalorthodoxy.com/ has more to say about this), and his defence was never of the powers and principalities of this world. When Jesus asks, “Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?” our immediate response may well be that forgiveness is far easier than miracle. Yet I believe here Jesus is both ironic and obvious. Forgiveness is of God and far more ‘powerful’ than healing a paralytic, and yet where there is forgiveness there also must be healing. Masters of irony move our camera to record reality from wacky new angles.

On another note, if you will excuse the pun, I have probably been talking way too much about 'things religious' and not enough about 'things jazz'. I will try and remedy this soon (though I am no expert in either). For today let me say that when I play jazz, and it's really happening, this is as close as I've been to what my Pentecostal friends describe they feel when they fall over and mumble and writhe. Is jazz a gift of the Spirit?

Matthew 8

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralysed and in terrible suffering."

Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished…

I love the bits in the bible where Jesus or God are astonished, or surprised, or change their mind. Though theologians like Thomas Weinandy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Weinandy) and others give some strong arguments against the notion of a mutable or emotional God (or at least the inadequacy of such language to describe God), I am a bit more mainline and warm to thinkers like Jurgen Moltmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurgen_Moltmann), and suspect that the surprised and suffering God is the most real one we can know. Perhaps this is simply because of the practical impossibility (for me at least) of believing that free will is an illusion, whatever the logical or philosophical arguments. Free will means that the actions of humanity and creation must be able to affect the creator.

A word of caution. Being able to ‘affect’ God does not mean we can control God – that would imply both a power and an understanding we simply do not have. However because the God of Christianity is most fully known in relationship, vulnerability is implied. Perhaps God’s greatest gift, made pretty darn clear in Jesus of Nazareth, is the gift of vulnerability – the gift of allowing creation to affect the creator. Perhaps.

OK enough theologising. My friend Mell sent me a link to a comic which she enjoys, I am just computer nerdy enough to enjoy it!

http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot

In Mell’s words,

peace.out.

Matthew 7

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Is it possible to recognise a false prophet? On the one hand they look like a sheep, all white and furry and a bit stupid – and yet on the inside they are nasty pieces of work. In an age of pastiche and simulacra, where all meaning surfaces, do hypocrites exist?

Salman Rushdie, of Satanic Verses fame, wrote a piece on ‘ugly language with uglier consequences’ (http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/ugly-phrase-conceals-an-uglier-
truth/2006/01/09/1136771496819.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1). It’s not the most eloquent piece of writing, and I have to say I don’t think ‘ugly-ness’ is an adequate term to describe what is going on. Yet in general Rushdie is spot on. The invention of language is a wonderful and terrible thing. Good poetry and metaphoric relationships can trigger those old synapses in startling ways – unveiling a new slant on reality. ‘Weasel words’, ‘corporate speak’ and military propaganda numb our minds and our senses tricking us into believing the easy connotations rather than the scarier meaning. The thing about it is, this kind of language is not ‘false’. If it were it would be so much more easy to deal with. When the Pentagon talks about ‘mortality response’ they are talking about killing people, but because they use the word ‘response’ they can, if we are lazy, shift the discussion to that which they are responding to. And so the conversation is always about ‘them’ and what ‘they did’ instead of about ‘us’ and ‘our culpability’.

The thing about wolves in sheep’s clothing is that it is only laziness or wilfulness that allows us to ‘buy the lie’. The only reason a conjurer’s tricks work is that the audience wants to believe in magic. I know I want to all the time. But perhaps I should be believing in the world of God’s reality – where an allegiance to the prince of peace means that the lies of war can never take hold. Living in Australia, the 50-something-est state of the US of A, this seems more immediately necessary than ever.

On a different tack, I have a confession to make – which I hope will be absolved. I have now a mobile phone. I know I am a bit of a tech-head but I have never been a gadget-man like some of my friends. But starting chaplaincy this year has meant getting a mobile. I now have a Treo which is a glorified diary and ebook reader as well – so I guess there might be some kind of justification for it; or maybe not. I just hope I don’t lose the infernal thing...

Matthew 6

When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

--

My grandfather was born into a life of Brylcreem, the hair oil of the 20th century. Up until the last time I saw him, a couple of years before he died, his hair was set and shiny. Over the years he became more weary and distracted and saggy but his hair was the same. They talk a lot about the stoicism of the ‘depression generation’ people who grew up through the depression years between the two great European wars. Maybe my grandfather was a stoic - always cheerful - a whistler.

His first wife, my grandmother, died when I was young. His second, a bizarre woman with high heels, believed she saw bears. Luckily, perhaps, she didn’t last long. He was a POW in North Africa and Italy before escaping to hide in the country; a six foot blonde South African surrounded by, shall we say, less tall, less blonde Italians. Man, what a life. I may get some the notes of his experiences and put them on the blog.

I used to fast, but having children threw out my schedule. Perhaps it is time to start again. I probably shouldn’t be telling you all this, seeing as the whole of Matthew 6 seems to be about doing ‘spiritual stuff’ in private – and not public. I guess I will avoid putting prayers on the blog. We’ll see.

By the way, my professional drug administering friend didn’t know the origins of the URL for this blog (freddiefreeloader). For more info see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_davis

and do a search for Freddie. (Ain’t Wiki great?) If you are really interested look for So What.

Must go funeralise.

Here's a letter I wrote to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald (Australian broadsheet) in
response to a dodgy letter published a few months ago. My letter wasn't published - but I guess that's why they invented blogs... :)

I looked up the origin of the adage “about a prophet being without honour in his country”, which Ron Elphick (letters 25 August) applies fawningly to Australia’s current Prime Minister. An earlier use of this ‘adage’ is by Jesus of Nazareth presumably about himself, in Luke chapter 4. The odd thing is that it comes just after Jesus, also quoting, asserts that his mission is to ‘preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners and release the oppressed’. After Iraq, Tampa, wacky fridge magnets and Akubra wearing jingoism can we really compare the PM and his ‘mates’ to Jesus? I don’t think so, Ron.

In the aftermath... 

Well, they said it was the done thing - so I did it. Herewith find a blog o' sorts. Reflections, musings
and conflations concerning jazz, theology, thinking and every now and then a rant on a subject I know nothing about. Have you ever noticed, for instance, that Simcity 3000 uses Freddie Freeloader(that smooth Miles Davis tune) as background music? Now I love Simcity but you know
there is something awry when you are far more interested in the background music of the game
than those breeding sims.
Enjoy the posts, change the world - but have a break every now and then.
n