agri.church

Who knew? Well actually, Tracy told me a long time ago but besides her, who knew? Who knew that Grand Rapids actually has a stellar bus system? The combination of high gas prices and car troubles have inspired me to start taking the bus to work. You know what I found? I AM IN LOVE WITH RIDING THE BUS!

I have discovered that I live at the intersection of two major routes (28 and 10) and I can get anywhere I want to go. For the last week, I’ve taken the bus for pretty much everything. Haeli and I took the bus on our date night to beaners, and our whole family took the bus downtown last night to grab some turkish coffee and cookies at Marie Catrib’s.

I had to take the car today to get to Holland and I am MAD about it. I’ve already gotten used to the freedom of not worrying about if I have enough gas or the fact that I’m way past due for an oil change. I’m hooked on reading on the way to my destination. It really doesn’t take all that much more time to ride the bus and besides, parking downtown is well… I don’t want to talk about it. And on top of all that, you meet some really interesting cats on the bus! I am totally serious, I am done with cars. Good bye fancy container for the same old internal combustion engine, you’ve plundered my wallet and raped the environment. I won’t miss you…

CRAP, I have to get back in that blasted thing to get home from school. Why, oh why, isn’t there a light rail system from Grand Rapids to Holland? What’s that you say?! You mean to tell me that we used to have an extensive steetcar and interurban light rail system?! Curses! Curses on these darn interstate highways. Whose idea were these things anyways? Who’s idea was it to abandon the huge investment in interurban railways and make us slaves to big auto and big oil empir… I mean companies? What’s that? You mean to tell me we got this idea from Hitler’s autobahn?! ARGHH… Subvert the empire, ride the bus!

Brian emailed me today:

Thanks for the creative way to start the textpiece on Colossians! I went to your blog and wanted to comment, but felt intimidated on expressing a view. I’ve never blogged before, so not really sure on how. Do I use my real name or hide behind a “username”?

I am definitely guilty of forgetting how intimidating this whole thing can be. I’ve been reading, writing and commenting on blogs for years now and sometimes assume that everyone else has too.

I realize that this is not true, so keeping that in mind I want to explain how things work. If you want to comment on a particular post you can click on the link below the post that either says “no comments” or “[n] comments”. This will take you to a form that allows you to write a response and post it to this site (attached to the particular post). You can use your real name, a username, a nickname, a first name or whatever really. Though it is nice to know who we’re conversing with, but it’s up to you. The email address you fill in the form is only visible to me, by the way…

I welcome any and all comments, but especially cherish those that push me to refine my thinking. So if you don’t exactly agree, fire away. It may be that I didn’t express myself adequately or maybe I’m off base or perhaps we see the world differently. I appreciate other views and intentionally seek them out in my life and learning. Don’t be afraid that I’ll jump on dissenting opinions and try to make them seem foolish. I am commited to not using this blog as a club against those who may disagree with me. If you search, you’ll find a few instances where people disagreed with me quite passionately and I am (I think) extremely careful to listen and honor those folks.

So fear not this is a safe place to post a thought! Don’t be intimidated!

Empires always guarantee the status quo of privilege and oppression through a centralization of power. During the time that Paul was writing to the Colossian church, the Roman empire used many systems to centralize power. One is referred to as paterfamilias, which was a patriarchal structure of marital, familial and economic relationships. This patriarchal structure relegated wives, children and slaves to little more than property of male Roman citizens. This system centralized power among males and was passed down from father to father with the emperor being the “father supreme”.
Another system in those days was the patron-client relationship. This was in some ways similar to the lord-peasent relationships of the feudal societies during the middle ages. The wealthy and powerful patrons would bestow certain benefits to their ‘clients’ in exchange for their allegiance and praise. The patrons leveraged their power over clients by withholding or threatening to withhold basic resources. class was obviously important to this system, with many layers of patron-client relationships existing among the various socioeconomic classes. There were, of course, other ways that power was concentrated in the Roman world but I’m afraid I may have lost some of you already with the history lesson so let’s move on…

So let’s start talking about today. I think we should look to global structures because folks who pull the strings on the world scene have long since been beyond the scope of any single government. In this day and age I think that the patron-client system of the Roman world sounds a lot like the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that keep countries in the global South dependent by means of structural adjustments and perpetual debt. Regardless, it is hard to deny the systemic centralization of power that they represent in the global economy.

And despite all protestations to the contrary, the corporate landscape is overwhelmingly the domain of the white male. Most major corporations use the equivalent of slave labor to produce clothing, toys, tools and some foods. And would I be wrong to suggest that these products are produced in factories that are filled with a majority of women and children? What is clear is that power in the global economic system is primarily centralized with the male gender. A quick glance at the boardrooms of the largest multinationals would prove this point i think.

To my eyes imperialistic centralizations of power abound in our global systems. But hey, I may be way off base here. What do your eyes see?

Well friends, we’re about to enter a conversation about empire. But why? Why would we here in the midwest of the United States spend five weeks talking about “subverting the empire”? Of course, the new testament church grew in the midst of the hostile Roman Empire. And, before that the people of Israel were rescued from hostile territory in Egypt only to eventually find themselves in occupied territory once again at the hands of Babylon, Assira, and the Romans. But those days are over right? We don’t live in the shadow of any empire do we?

Perhaps a few words about what empires look like and how they wield power would be helpful for us to answer this question…

According to Walsh and Keesmaat (the authors of the book from which I took the title of this series) empires are:

1. 1. built on systemic centralizations of power,
2. 2. secured by structures of socioeconomic and military control,
3. 3. religiously legitimated by powerful myths and
4. 4. sustained by a proliferation of imperial images that captivate the imaginations of the population.

In the next few days I’ll explore each of these signs of empire as it may or may not relate to our context. In the mean time, I wonder what the rest of you might think. Do any of these spark a connection for you?

the promises of man are doomed to the grave but a covenant of God cannot be broken

and on the dawn of the third day as was promised darkness lifted from the earth and the secret doors of the air swung forth and to those who by chance of sex were kept even from the temple to them it be proclaimed the Jesus you seek is not here! for He is risen He is risen, Mary He is risen, Salome He is risen, Joanna He goes ahead of you and do not be afraid the living is not among the dead tell the desciples tell everyone He is risen He is risen !

now it begins…

from the balcony of Heaven you saw the cup would not pass from the beginning you knew it you willed it but now it is here… In the vestiges of night a wife dreams pierced by light but with the dawn her man in fear and cowardice strips your flesh like your clothes to appease a raging mob yet comparing nothing to the vestments you hung upon Heaven’s hook but the washing of hands does not erase guilt your flesh opened like night blossoms the stone to drink you in and you were handed over

the cup tips and pours its wrath upon you

this is the poem that accompanies station one of the stations of the cross that we’ll be using tonight as part of our worship. The artist is Kevin Rolly.

Thank you Mr. Wendell Berry.  This, I believe, is what Easter is about:

Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer. When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years. Listen to carrion - put your ear close, and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come. Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men. Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child? Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth? Go with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts. As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn’t go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.