barbwire

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alas, the sun came out yesterday, for almost two minutes or so. and i recognized that january is probably not the best time to submerse myself into the depths of lament regarding the relational holocaust. but neither should i be watching Bergman films in my basement in the dead of winter, which has become a very devastating tradition that i enjoy way too much.

also, i realize that i am 31 years old, with a fourth child coming in April. i feel like it may be a bit typical for my prototype to be a critic of those selfish younglings who love freedom, but not responsibility. but i do think it's more than just a new chapter or season in my life. and my reason for confronting it is certainly because i have too many peers still rejecting love for freedom, community for ideals, and reconciliation for barbwire.



Coo Coo Cachoo Mrs. Robinson. I think there are a few layers of the film worth exploring. Some are pro-relational holocaust, and some anti- relational holocaust. but some forty or fifty years after Benjamin and Elaine eloped, just narrowly escaping the perils of modernism set out for them by their parents and society, by getting on the bus to post-modernity; it seems worth suggesting that they may not have been able to sustain their infatuation for each other all these years. because they became our parents, and most likely the parents in "American Beauty", but maybe not. who knows? maybe they became guerrilla revolutionaries?

but i do believe the film to be anti- relational holocaust, in that it certainly wanted to reject the perils of "plastics", unsatisfied bored MILFs, and limitless excess, for the possibility of a shared life and love that subverted what had become of traditional marriage in the suburbs. however, i doubt that Benjamin Braddock ever made a habit of stopping by Jayber Crow's for a haircut, or that Elaine Robinson's reflection of her life would have read like this...

Our story is the story of our place: how we married and came here, moved into this old house and made it livable again while we lived in it; how we raised our children here, and worked and hoped and paid the mortgage, and made a pretty good farm of a place that had been hard used and then almost forgotten; how we continued, making our life here day by day, after the children were gone; how we kept this place alive and plentiful, seeing it always as a place beyond the war - Nathan seeing it, as I now think, as if from inside a fire; how we go old, and Nathan died, and I have remained on for yet a little while to see how such lives as ours and such a place may fare in a bad time.

This is the story of my life, that while I lived it weighed upon me and pressed against me and filled all my senses to overflowing and now is like a dream dreamed. So close to the end now, what do i look forward to? "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Some morning, I pray, I'll have the good happiness of "the man who woke up dead," who Burley Coulter used to tell about.

This is my story, my giving of thanks. -Hannah Coulter

Gratitude. the concept of gratitude might have as much depth and complexity as the concepts of reconciliation and shalom. and without gratitude, reconciliation is not possible, and shalom does not exist. i was first struck by the possibilities of gratitude, when a trusted speaker at the vineyard (boston) had recently returned from the hospital (upon the recovery of their youngest child (toddler), who at one point was expected to die, if i remember right) spoke about the anxiety of being there at that time of the unknown, and about a time of significant prayer (which for him is conversational). and in that time, he stated that "God told him" that he should consider the two years that he has had with his daughter, and that he should be grateful for that time.

now, i would assume that anyone with children would potentially understand the severe depth of embracing gratitude in the face of death/illness. and you know, the only place you will find gratitude in the grief process is in the acceptance stage, which is typically the last stage. but God here appears to be asking this father to be grateful and accepting up front. and I believe God not only has a reason for this, but also the right.

"The power to heal broken relationships is demonstrated in Jesus' resurrection. In other words, the significance of the resurrection in not just how it justifies individuals before God. When Jesus beat death, HE REVERSED THE POWER OF THE FALL. He beat the strongest power in our world -DEATH- the one power all humanity must face at one point. the text (Ephesians 1:17-23) tells us death is now "under His feet". and because of the resurrection, all things are under Jesus' feet. This means the hostility between ethic groups and nations (context of Jews and Gentiles) is under Jesus' feet, and the hostility within families is under Jesus' feet. The hostility between humans and the rest of creation is under Jesus' Feet. The hostility between humans and their systems and between men and women is under Jesus' feet. The hostility within ourselves in under Jesus' feet. and finally, the hostility between humanity and God is under Jesus' feet. to say that these hostilities are under his feet means that Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection make it possible for all the relationships broken at THE FALL to be restored. because God is the force behind SHALOM (freedom and unity) and the Gospels say Jesus is God, Ephesians declares that following Jesus makes the restoration of SHALOM (peace covenant) possible: 'For he himself is our SHALOM'." - lisa sharon harper 2008

so if we have abandoned (or been abandoned by) people and places for "better" people and places, let us reconcile these relationships, by first evaluating and understanding our responsibility for these people and these places. if for some reason, you don't feel that you are ready to accept that responsibility, then at least engage in the process of understanding your current responsibility for the people and the place you find yourself, beginning with your family and your home and your soil.

our freedom should bring people together, not tear them apart. there is not freedom without (comm)unity. there is no acceptance without gratitude, nor reconciliation without resurrection. SHALOM.




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