e-stir; 1979

Before Al Gore invented the internet, BG...

From 1977 to 1979, this was my felt and now acknowledged condition:

"Whoever refuses to be led by God, but instead is led by" (cant, can't, and Kant) "will be IRRITATED by the message of Jesus and will continually complain about it."  --ML

From CS Lewis to Zeffereli's "Jesus of Nazareth" wasn't a long haul in the larger scheme of things. I can't say I put a lot of effort into this insight or others of infinite value--see John 6:43-44.  It certainly wasn't at all like taking organic chemistry-- that was hard work but also a lot of fun (in parallel, at Northwestern, I was reading Dostoevsy--a good balance, at the time !)

Jesus brings Joy, as in the book title, "Surprised by Joy" (double entendre by Lewis, that!); but He's not a "fun guy" and is the very antithesis of entertainment.  Even serious entertainment; this is an industry which was once described by Newsweek re: TV, which they alleged, "has America by the throat." Prophetic but far more than any staffer on the magazine has ever realised.

It takes an act of God, and the Gift of God, i.e. the drawing of The Father, to dislodge us from our inborn self-centeredness and rugged (read "ignorant") independence which is going down the tubes anyway, the more we self-induldge in the greatest delusion of all time.

Meantime, we are irritated when Jesus is mentioned seriously--as I was for years before I met him on my own little Damascus Road-Less-Travelled. Most people deflect the conversation immediately or simply say, "moving right along..."  (see Percy's essay on an "interview with myself- i.e. questions that the media won't ask so I asked them myself--please take time to read this if you haven't yet.)

But the most common irritation-expression is to just include His Name on the "favorites bar" of our profanity--on one level out of spite, and on another level to "dig" at Christians and deliberately seek to belittle Christ and offend His followers; and of course on a personal level to defy and despise the "Man of Sorrows."

"They know not what they do."  I certainly didn't.

This time of year of course is no exception--if anything the level of cursing rises as our materialistic illusions and expectations go into high gear. I read that Christmas was not even much of a holiday until "reinvented" by Prince Albert of England and his contemporary, Chas. Dickens.  While I do not doubt their intent and their sincerity and abilities, it's an artificial celebration from the get-go. I will of course do  right by my culture, insofar as it doesn't offtend my Creator; one cannot flout all traditions after all!  If a few hearts open up --see the Sadducee in Jesus of Nazareth--then I am there.  But I will never go back to my old perpetually dark life, not of "Mere Christianity," but of "Mere Education" lofted by raw ambition.

"HE LIVES"  i.e., HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!