Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 68
Is Mitch McConnell alive, is he awake and alert, did John Thune really speak to him? What will Trump do with NATO, will he follow through on the sale of fighter Jets to Turkey, will he dis the other NATO countries as he has been, will he lie about Meloni’s amorous intentions towards him(NOT), will he blow up the Iran cease-fire by once again bombing them? These questions and more are swirling around the political world right now. In these worldly affairs, one constant feature that I hear in the News is the word “genocide” to validate the Socialist Democrats belief in the “rightness” of their hate of Israel and deny their antisemitic beliefs, the right wing nuts speak of Israel having too much power in our politics-an old, old anti-semitic phrase. It is amazing to hear both the left and the right take off on Israel but ‘love their Jews’-sort of like the South who enslaved Black people and loved their mammy’s! Listening to, reading about the exploits of our politicians, our wealthy, our poor, is to worry about the fate of humanity.
The prophet Amos is a good reminder of who we are, who we can be: “For I know your transgressions, your sins, you who afflict the just, take a bribe, turn aside the poor at the gate…Seek good and not evil, that you may live” (Amos 5:12,14). What some of We the People are witnessing and some of we the people are participating in is what is described by Amos and yet, all of these ‘good god(idol)-worshiping ‘christians, jews, muslims seem to conveniently forget these words, become wittingly blind and purposefully deaf to the cries of Amos, to the shouts of Amos, and put him down because he is so angry and hurt, he is so afraid for the people and disgusted by their lack of fidelity to God, as Frank Sinatra sang: “stick with me, baby, I’m the One you came in with” and Bibi, Trump, and their ‘friends’ are like “lady luck”, they go and “blow on another guy’s dice” and, like our ancestors throughout history, forget “the One who brought them to live free, who rescued all of us time and time again from the “narrow places”, the Egypts we continually put ourselves into.
Sitting here this morning, after watching and hearing Chris Hayes, who I respect, constantly go on a tangent about “genocide” is very disheartening, hearing him extol these “social democrats” and their anti-semitic leanings is concerning. Knowing that whether the prejudice starts with Jews or Blacks, Hispanics or Asians, the poor or the lame, the blind or the deaf, it reaches into everyone’s life. Prejudice is not something that is contained to only one group of people, one class of people. Prejudice is like water, it goes everywhere. When God separated heaven and earth, God separated the waters and, had a hard time-took two days! Yet, too many of we the people are of the belief they can limit their prejudice to just the “Jews” and only the “Jews in Israel”, AIPAC, and, oh you know, the rest of the Jews who they know support Israel, as demonstrated on College Campus’ . “When will they ever learn”, Pete Seeger’s refrain, for me, for us is based in the words of Amos in the Bible. Do the people perpetrating these prejudices, those who “afflict the just”, those who “take a bribe”, those who “turn away the poor at the gate” really believe they are doing the Will of Christ, the Will of God in the Bible? PLEASE, give me a break! And what of the rest of the people who refuse to stand up, who refuse to demand proof of Mitch McConnell’s alertness, of Trump’s baseless claims and goodness? Where are our morals, where is our fidelity to “the One who came in with”?
The “Bernie groupies”, the “socialist Democrats” are in a quandary because of Platner, they backed him against a moderate, against someone who seeks consensus and now he is their embarrassment and, could throw the election to Susan Collins-a terrible liar, a terrible person who supports the overturning of Roe v Wade, the demolition of Voting Rights, the pumping of dark money into our election process, etc. All of this because so many of we the people are unwilling to hear Amos’ warnings, Amos’ calls to return to God. It is embarrassing to witness the wanton destruction of the Declaration, the Constitution, the words and ways of both Christ and the Bible. Yet, too many of we the people are too stuck in their willful blindness, deafness, arrogance to change, to hear Amos, to return and all of us suffer for their refusals.
I am aware of my ‘naivety’ as Harriet puts it and I cannot believe how many people can’t see what is right in front of their eyes. I have not valued myself, my vision enough to realize that most of the world is blind! Even in my worst moments, my worst actions, I KNEW THEY WERE WRONG and this doesn’t seem to be the case today. This is the challenge of our time, to “rebuke your neighbor and not bear guilt because of them”. This was the way of the prophets from Nathan to today, the way of Heschel and King, the way of Bobby Kennedy after he had a spiritual awakening. I suggest We the People “lift up our eyes and SEE” what truly is!
ACTION STEP
What are you willfully blind to and how does it serve you
GOD BLESS, STOP GHOSTING GOD, GHOSTING SELF, Rabbi Mark