Thought Picnic: The quest to see the person first

No Sabbath for suffering

It never ceases to amaze me when people are presented with situations and they are occupied with anything but the engagement with humanity. Biblical references come in useful, the instance where Jesus had disputes with the religious leaders and leaders of the synagogues because he performed healing miracles on the Sabbath, where, by law, he was not supposed to perform any work.

One leader of the synagogue made his displeasure known by remonstrating that there were other days in which Jesus could perform miracles, but the Sabbath really had to be kept holy. This was after witnessing the healing miracle of a woman who had been bound in infirmity for 18 years. Somehow, it was impossible for him to countenance the wonder of giving the woman any succour on the Sabbath, for as far as he was concerned, the law came first, and the woman could come on another day. [Luke 13:10-17 The spirit of infirmity (NKJV)]

As I have mentioned before, when I had cancer, our modern-day Sabbath which by terms is a Sunday did not suddenly mean the pain went away or I had any respite. There was a Sunday when my Fentanyl patch fell off the skin of my stomach unbeknownst, I just knew the pain was deathly and then realised the patch had gone. I applied a new patch but whilst I waited for it to take hold, I was in excruciating pain that I began to laugh almost hysterically with the view to releasing endorphins to ease the pain.

The birthday of a gay man in love

Which brings me to yesterday when I posted birthday greetings to Brian, my partner. I included pictures of a sunny disposition and these included ones of us kissing. We were kissing because we are in love, there should be no difficulty in recognising that.

Blog - Thought Picnic: Live your life freely and we'll live ours

If we were to view this in terms of humanity versus the legalism issue which comes across as an inability to recognise and accept diversity, this was what was at play. Two men kissing, an expression of love that some might find difficult to understand or appreciate, then they might look at the message; a birthday greeting expressed in love. Well, if they cannot abide the kissing, they should be able to celebrate the birthday, you would think.

Blinded by rage

Then obviously, no one is under obligation to do anything, the men are strangers to you doing something you do not agree with. As there is no connection between you and them, you would probably let sleeping dogs lie, ignore it and move on. That, unfortunately, was not our experience with some, even though the majority offered best wishes and support.

They on their high horses with unrighteous indignation to castigate, excoriate, condemn and vilify, completely implacable in their outrage at two men celebrating their love and a birthday, all they could see was everything wrong according to their worldview. The iota of humanity that would have allowed them to even grudgingly offer birthday greetings and express their misgiving never found an airing. They became protectors of the law as they saw it at the expense of their humanity.

Bitterness diminishes humanity

For them, seeing others suffer their stinging wrath was more pleasure to them than the celebration of life and happiness. To a point, I was pained for them, for at the root of it all was bitterness and negative energy that probably had depths that could not be explored satisfactorily to revive their innate humanity. Some, I withstood and faced down, others were too disagreeable to engage.

It is not like they would entertain any stranger interfering with how they live their lives, but a form of hubris with arrogance and a misplaced moral authority emboldens them to insert themselves to dictate how they think others should live and express themselves. It was a hard viewing to watch soulless and heartless vituperations. Yet, in the broad spectrum of our diverse humanity, I guess someone should fill those positions even when on the wrong side of history, priorities, or simply minding your own business.

Through the prism of the #Coronavirus leaders are devaluing human life

All days matter

Sometimes, you have to mine the rich seam of biblical stories to illustrate issues in our contemporary times. There is no better time to share an event in the ministry of Jesus Christ where he healed a woman who had been afflicted for 18 years on the Sabbath.

Having demonstrated compassion and mercy in the healing of the woman, the leader of the synagogue was livid with rage and indignation, completely oblivious of the amazing miracle, he remonstrated saying, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14 (NKJV)

Obviously, the leader of the synagogue was keeping the law, the 4^th commandment of the 10 delivered to Moses in the wilderness on tablets of stone.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11 (NKJV)

No Sabbath for the pain

The leader of the synagogue did have a valid point, but there was another call to his humanity. I do remember clearly when I had cancer and the pain that was sometimes too otherworldly for description, the pain did not take a break on any day and not on our modern Sabbath of Sunday.

In fact, on one Sunday, the Fentanyl pain patch I wore on the skin of my belly had peeled off that I was in such pain until the effects of the newly applied patch kicked in, I laughed myself to delirium, my friend thinking I was having a psychotic event. I was relying on the endorphins released by laughter to assuage the pain.

Jesus responded, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:15-16 (NKJV)

By this, first Jesus was offering the primacy of works of necessity over everyday work. Leading a beast of burden to the water on the Sabbath was work but of necessity. Then, by comparison, he averred that healing on the Sabbath was a work of necessity as much is it was one of compassion for the woman that could not wait another day, even if she had been afflicted for 18 years.

Our humanity is paramount

This brings me to the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic in some countries, in the UK where the outrageous policy of pursuing herd immunity with regards to a virus for which there was no vaccine. The implication being the UK government was afraid for the cost and consequences to the economy if the country were locked down. They were ready to sacrifice the vulnerable, human beings to the capitalist machine.

It was in my view the most apathetic and dispassionate act of inhumanity a government was ready to visit upon its people just not to upset big business. Thankfully, reason prevailed, but it would be impossible to forgive the government for ever suggesting it and there can be no redemption for the thought process that allowed it. They had sided with the leader of the synagogue against the core element of our humanity to preserve and protect life.

Human beings over the economy

Over in America, Donald Trump is grappling with a situation over which he has little control. Just a month ago, he could boast of a record rising stock market and the best employment figures in US history. Today, the stock market is below the numbers when he took office on the 20^th of January 2017 and unemployment figures are rising. The interventions from the Federal Reserve and Treasury have not stanched the stock market decline, the sentiment is broadly negative.

It appears Donald Trump is ready to go against the advice of the medical experts and truncate the measures put in place to limit the spread of the Coronavirus, in order to give a fillip to the economy. The risk is the Coronavirus will cut a larger swathe through the country and they would be in a worse place than they are now. Much as the economy is important, human beings run these economies and the machinery it depends on, human beings must always come first. [BBC]

America loving people more than money

As if this was not bad enough, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, 69, who will be 70 in April suggested that the older generation of the 70s were ready to sacrifice themselves and die for the sake of America going back to work, because the Coronavirus was destroying America, and what he meant was destroying America’s economy.

“You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.” said Dan Patrick [Guardian]

It is interesting that “keeping the America that all America loves” was not people, else it would have included the parents and grandparents of the children and grandchildren. It does also make one wonder if Americans would be more predisposed to selling off their parents and grandparents. It must be plumbing the dregs of our humanity to rate the advancement of the economy over generational ties and familial love.

Yet, the Lieutenant Governor would have us believe that the greater love might be better expressed in espousing the American way than having our parents and grandparents with us. Let Coronavirus take them away, for they are expendable. The economy is the god of happiness and fulfilment.

The Sabbath was made for man

I appreciate that there are many in power that have neither the emotional intelligence nor the human compassion to see the value of humanity in the face of adversity. Human beings become an inconvenience in the pursuit of riches and legalism. Like the leader of the synagogue, what mattered most was keeping the law, damn the infirm, they can suffer another day or even die than be given succour, mercy, consideration, and healing on the Sabbath.

To which Jesus responded in another place in the gospels after healing another on the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 (NKJV)

For all the importance we want to place on the law and other activities, the human being and humanity comes first.

What is a life worth?

The question to those who think otherwise, you have to ask, “How much is a life worth?” Is it better to save life or to pursue our aims oblivious of the suffering? For the Good Samaritan saw value in the person of the helpless person who was robbed and left for dead by the wayside, just as a priest and another walked by. [The Parable of the Good Samaritan – Wikipedia]

The story that got told was of a plain Samaritan who happened to be kind, for it was his deed that saved a life, he went out of his way to act out of human kindness when he could have concentrated on the urgency of his own business. It is in recognition of his deeds that his story became that of the Good Samaritan. Human kindness is what creates the story of life that matters more than anything else.

This should be our thinking, those who are not able to put humanity first and do everything to save a life no matter the cost will be ready to sacrifice anyone including their children, parents, grandchildren, and grandparents to their other pursuits. Beware of these wolves, they are wickedness personified and evil beyond description.

On the 8th day, the shop opened

Times are moving

One might just venture the idea that progress of sorts has come to my neighbourhood and that is in my local supermarket, 7 floors below my apartment and round the side to its entrance.

When I moved here just over 8 years ago, the supermarket opened for 6 days and closed at 19:00 hours, then a few years after it closed at 8:00 PM and soon after it closed at 9 ‘o clock.

The shelves were probably most empty on a Saturday night just as people rushed in for last minute shopping only to realise the goods had been cleared by those who shopped earlier in the day.

A different competition

If you found you had to shop for morning goods, you had to wait till Sunday morning for a shop opening 4 tram stops away.

Just about 2 months ago, a Turkish corner shop opened its doors on a Sunday and whilst you could not get the great variety of goods, it was nice to see that what you could get there was much different from the Dutch fare you got from the supermarket chain.

If I could muster the energy, I made the 500 metre walk to that store to feast my eyes of high capsicum factor peppers and other tropical foods I would have no idea how to for eating.

The look and the taste

The other day, I picked up what I thought were sweet potatoes only to peel them and find they were orange in colour, I was in two minds between binning or potting them, in the end they went in the pot and disintegrated into a pudding of sorts.

It reminded me of seeing “coco-yams” in an English supermarket and on cooking them they fell apart disastrously that the bin got well fed and I had an empty stomach, they were in fact dasheens.

Appearances are so deceptive, the grapes from my supermarket taste so different from the grapes in the corner shop, so synthetic as plastic behoves the beauty of supermarket chains over corner shops – food does not necessarily come from the farms without scientific intervention that changes it into something different and probably cheap too.

Open for the Sabbath

The perception of any of the Western European countries being Christian is slowly but surely gaining the spectre of secularism, very few shops except in tourist prone areas tend to open on Sundays and then we have Sunday-shopping days, usually once a month.

The Sabbath is losing its significance to Mammon, on the 18^th of April 2010 my local supermarket 7 floors below will be open on Sunday for the first time – I do wonder how many people in my neighbourhood would postpone their late Saturday shopping to brunch-time shopping on Sunday.

Forget the idea that Sabbath might be the Friday evening to Saturday evening, the Saturday or even the Sunday – man never seems to rest on any of the 7 days of the week, maybe we need an eighth day.

Is this progress or what?

Ignoring the Sabbath for church and library

Getting up for church

My church runs two services on Sunday, the early one starts at 10:15AM and the later one at 12:15PM, in the last two weeks I have woken up early enough to attend the first service but end up going for the second one instead with more than enough time to spare.

In general, my alarm which is on my mobile phone is set to wake me up at 8:10AM on Sunday morning, however, stirring up at that time is just not as easy as it sounds, after a few snooze taps which last 5 minutes, I dismiss the alarm and get out of bed, immediately preparing to go to church.

Up for firsts but doing seconds

Last week, though the weather was dreadfully cold and inclement, I was already at the tram stop when I realised I hadn’t pocketed my wallet and had to return, so I took the opportunity of missing the rushed attempt to catch the first service to relax and have breakfast then plan for the second service instead – I probably was amongst the first to arrive primarily for the second service.

This week, I was already dressed up and ready to leave for the first service then decided it was better to have breakfast and plan for an early arrival at the second service, it also allowed me to take my morning pills at home rather than at church.

In fact, I am thinking of moving my pill hours from the awkward eleventh and twenty-third hour of the day to something more reasonable around the 10th and 22nd or the 9th and 21st – ideally, the last option is probably the best time, consideration of the 8th and 20th is a possibility too – I have to work on the logistics of the pill times.

The library is full

After church, I planned on spending a few hours at the Amsterdam Public Library [1], a 7-storey expansive edifice with reading tables, 600 computers split between Apple Macs and PCs, free wireless access upon registration, a number of theatres with performances, cafes, restaurants and all sorts of areas for many kinds of activities.

I usually take a place on the 5th floor which is quiet and secluded enough whilst offering the opportunity to study or do some work and even talk on the phone.

Arriving at a few minutes to four in the afternoon, the library seemed to be completely full, none of those seeming secluded places were available, I walked most of the floors to no avail, on a second run of the floors, I found a space on a communal table to do some work.

The serious youth of Amsterdam

I should have reckoned that with the mild sunny weather people would come out to play, but again, it was not like people were out to play but to read and study, the examination times for the universities, colleges and the like must be quite near.

One would be taken aback realising for once that there is indeed a serious side to Amsterdam youth and their education, it is unlikely that many of these people were out clubbing on Saturday night doing everything to excess and nursing hangovers on Sunday.

What church?

In the same vein, I do not think many of the attendees, who were not in hijabs and all those ostentatious turbans, warps and religious or cultural coverings had gone to church in this supposedly Christian country.

The Sabbath does not get observed anymore, from what I could see of the library this afternoon, very few were here with their kids running about and this could easily have been a weekday with work as usual.

If anything, the people of Amsterdam do come out to read and study, the library provides a great atmosphere to get things done, I wish them all good luck with their examinations – it is quite gratifying to see this, really it is.

Sources

[1] Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam – Public Library Amsterdam

The Great Peace of Sabbath

Decisions far and near

Commuting for just about 4 hours a day means that weekend nights are not as available to fritter away even if one were propped up with artificial stimulants.

I had just cried off going to the Swingin’ Safari restaurant [1] which would have been a trip to The Hague from Apeldoorn, no problem with that, there are direct trains, but the thought that I would not be back home till the witching hours having left home at dawn did not appeal to me.

Besides, I am not your best car passenger, I prefer a Flintstone car ride [2] of manpowered acceleration than the daring-do of a car pretending to be in a Formula-1 race and I have been a few without being able to protest too loudly since I do not drive.

Missions revisited

Out of the blue came a phone call that flashed up a number and name I had not called for 5 years and I took the call with full recognition of the caller to find out that this contact had been instigated by visitors from the UK who were missionaries to non-Christians and those who through conversion had been ostracized from their communities.

They were once in the Netherlands till the laws on missionary work changed unfavourably about 6 years ago, so they moved to the UK where their work has been a blessing to many untold.

In the end, I was invited to dinner where my friend had whetted my appetite for roast lamb, potatoes, corn on the cob and other taste-bursting accoutrements, I could not refuse.

Sabbath Shalom

I arrived just before 19:30 having push back their dinner some 90 minutes, but it was handshakes, hugs and kisses as renewed our fellowship and friendship as well as an introduction to a family that had grown from just 2 to 5.

We were going to have the Sabbath meal [3]; so we sat at the table solemnly, lit the two candles, broke bread, poured the wine and the water and we sang the Sabbath Shalom song after which the blessing came at the end with Jewish chant.

We then got up, fell on each other’s necks, kissed and blessed each other and commenced our dinner.

The loss of Christian roots

At which point I lamented the fact that most of Christendom had lost its Middle-Eastern roots of community, fellowship, sharing and love.

We had become informal, indifferent, individualistic and literally independent of each other where togetherness, fellowship and the ability to share our deepest feelings with trusted co-religionists could help lift the burdens and find real solutions.

It began the discourse about the role of religion in humanity, the need to ensure that man is not sacrificed on the altars of customs, traditions, sacraments and creeds noting that Jesus clearly said the Sabbath was made for man [4] and not man for the Sabbath.

The gospel is the focus and viewfinder

We learnt that Christianity is still about the mission that Jesus Christ had to the world and that was clearly documented in the Gospels, meaning that it should remain the filter through which we view the Old Testaments and the Epistles – one could see how in many cases the Epistles had almost become post-Gospel and close to leaving the message about the man, Jesus too far away to be noticed.

Another issue was the way Christianity had evolved into Churchianity, people now say, that is not how we believe in our church rather than this is what the Bible says in relation to what Christ would or might have done.

Practical Christianity

In all the discourse, the most important thing was that we had congregated in fellowship for strengthen our friendship and communion part of which including sharing love, food, ideas and prayers – A most fulfilling evening it was; the core point was simply how to make Christianity practical, relevant and worthwhile without any religious encumbrance.

As I signed the guestbook again, I was able to flip pages back to when I first signed the book in March 2003, besides the missionaries from the UK, this couple whose mission with the youth [5] leaves one seriously unfulfilled in religious vocation, probably run the most welcoming and hospitable home in the Netherlands, they are a blessing to anyone who crosses their path.

In my view, that is the purpose of the Gospel.

Sources

[1] Swingin' Safari – Home

[2] The Flintstones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] BBC - Religion & Ethics - Sabbath:

[4] Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath was made for man – World Council of Churches

[5] YWAM Amsterdam

The Blood Transfusion con claims another life

Humankind the core of religion

Religious fanaticism becomes ever so much a problem when some interpretation by a branch of religious adherence stands in the way of preserving life.

Jesus in His earthly days contended strongly with the religious leaders who paid much heed to religious observance than the care and nurturing of humanity.

It led His charge that Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath, presaging the context that his hungry disciples could pick grain for food on the Sabbath when religious law forbids work and it forms the crux of the parable of the Good Samaritan where it was someone without the strict religious upbringing of not touching the unclean who exercised compassion to save the victim of a mugging.

Basically, the import of all His teaching was that the care and love of humankind bears the greatest importance and significance to their fellow human-beings beyond traditions, culture, customs, doctrines, diktat or beliefs.

In everyday words, we have done nothing for the advancement of humankind if we sacrifice people on the altar of creeds and laws when we should be focusing on preserving health, well-being and life.

Blood for life in transfusion

This brings a very harrowing tale to the fore, a lady of 22 gave birth to a set of twins, but complications ensued where medicine could have mitigated the situation through a simple blood transfusion, but because of religious beliefs, she refused this life-saving treatment and consequently died leaving her twins motherless and her husband (24) loveless to care for the babies.

I stand on the point that any religious adherence that compels the denial of parenthood is inherently evil, extreme, fanatical, cultish, ungodly and patently of the devil.

Contrived Biblical interpretation

Somehow, someone has read the Bible and come to the conclusion that the exhortation not to touch blood in the Old Testament automatically infers there should be no transfusion – as if transfusion was an everyday occurrence in those times.

I agree that we do need to adhere to certain religious beliefs if we are so inclined, but unnecessary martyrdom where remaining on earth to perform your duty as parent is concerned is folly at best and inexcusable to the top of the church hierarchy that espouses such teaching, at the very least.

One wonders if a parent is then allowed to treat the wounds of their children if they are not to touch blood that is not theirs.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses hold this belief dear and in the process many have met untimely deaths where a simple medical procedure could have preserved life, love and care.

Transfusion is acceptable

They - the Jehovah's Witnesses - went to the extent of providing a Fresenius Continuous Autologous Transfusion System (CATS) to a hospital in the UK, years ago, which allowed for blood from the same person to be collected and transfused if needed – this means they do recognise the medical benefit of blood being transfused to save life; they only cannot countenance the idea of the blood being from someone else, whereas, this in itself is a gift of life where in a majority of cases the donor would never know the receiver. In the vein of a Good Samaritan spirit.

Beyond that, why can blood not be transfused in the family, are they not blood relations? parent-child, sibling-sibling or spouse-spouse.

The whole principle and doctrine begins to fall apart when scrutinised from a very common sense perspective, it saddens and infuriates that we cannot use our God-given faculties to balance the greater good over the nominal evil, if it really be that evil.

Keep religion out of public services

The more reason why the clamour to ban religion in public services and places should prevail, if you choose to use a public hospital, the medical advice should and must take precedence over religious belief, else go to church and let the priest minister through prayer.

It is things like these where the family should be filled with joy, that the wretched hands of fate and sorrow might lead people to curse God when it has been no fault of God but that of men in religious leadership teaching for doctrines the traditions of men to keep others in bondage to a faith that engenders death rather than the preservation of life.

I am so sorry for the Gough family; the church, no matter how benevolent cannot replace the love of a mother or suckle the children to maturity, the man alone with his sorrow, must contemplate the possibility that God’s will would have been so radically different from church doctrine and seek where the preservation of life as a service to humanity is the true calling of religion.