Peace Hacks

According to scripture, Jesus’ followers have been charged with the awful task of bringing peace into a not so frequently peaceful world.

I agree with the Bible here, and try my best to comply, seeking unity, reconciliation, forgiveness, compassion, etc. wherever I can.

At this point in my life, I’d give myself a solid C+.

Until I get behind the wheel. Whatever road rage exists in our culture, rest assured that I’ve contributed to it. I’ve yelled at other drivers, my wife shaking her head, my oldest kid begging me to calm down. I have a fairly high tolerance for humanity’s dark side, but bad driving drives me nuts.

I don’t spend much time critiquing my own driving faux pauses, however. They’re occasionally infrequent, accidental, understandable. Everyone makes mistakes.

If you, however, merge into oncoming traffic because you’re trying to get around a bicyclist, forcing me to get out of your way, in my own lane, I’ll get angry. If you get to a 4 way stop before I do, then wait for me to go, because you think it’s nice, forcing me to figure out whether or not you’ll pull out in front of me because you’re the one with the right of way, wasting my time because you could have simply rolled through, then I could’ve rolled through, I’ll get angry. And if you ride my ass, following so closely as to endanger my life, don’t be surprised if I tap my brakes to let you know that you need to back off.

Never mind how dangerous that is. And never mind that I do all that stuff too.

But the problem with my outbursting isn’t just Continue reading Reconciling Us to Us: Reflections on Shalom, Peace, and Aloha

When I first came to faith, I was quickly convinced that God wanted, most of all, for me to “turn my life around.” Regular church attendance, Bible studies, no more booze, a high degree of chastity, etc., somehow became the most important parts of religion. My life at the time was in a shambles so I was more than happy to try something new.

I became part of a community of people – really good people – who shared my desire to live “clean,” a vision for life that everything seemed to revolve around.

It was also important that we engage in “evangelism;” telling people the “good news” that Jesus died on the cross to erase all of their sins, securing a place in eternity, and removing any barriers between them and God. For anyone accepting our offer, we would immediately stress the importance of clean living, Bible studies, and church attendance.

Sin is a bad thing, so we tried to avoid it like the plague, and taught others to do the same. We weren’t the first would-be-Jesus followers to get confused about what matters most to God, His people have always been tempted to place morality above everything else.

Theologians nowadays call this the “Gospel of Sin Management,” Continue reading Rethinking What Matters Most to God

Following is a guest post from K. Johnson, blogger at “The Bible As Is“

If I had to give an award for the best book that no one’s ever heard of (including my librarian), I’d have to give it to Mahasweta Devi’s The Mother of 1084.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

The novel follows Sujata, wealthy mother of a failed revolutionary named Brati.It takes place exactly two years after Brati’s death and follows Sujata as she mourns her son and attempts to understand him better.

Sujata goes beyond grief as she discovers a deep sense of alienation from the world she has always known while investigating her son’s memory. There are no epic battle scenes or grand dramas, only a grieving mother trying to understand her son, herself, and the remarkably cruel world around her.

Each chapter is named after a time of day. Continue reading Reflections on Wealth, Comfort, Peace, and Injustice