Woke

 Then Jacob woke from his sleep . . . 

 - From Genesis 28

Jacob's dream is legendary. Even in 2021, it may be hard to find a person living in a Western society, that has not heard the phrase "Jacob's Ladder." There was even a song so titled, by Huey Lewis and News, back in the 1980s. 

The idea is that Jacob happened upon a gateway, or portal, into "Heaven," and accordingly, by drawing so near to the Lord Himself, was forever changed by it. Jacob still had not done much except be kind of a cheat and a scoundrel. But God promised him, in the dream, that the land upon which he is resting, would be his one day, and that "all the nations of the earth would be blessed", through him. 

And all the testimony we have, that this dream actually happened, is Jacob's word. 

How many historical figures list as their chief credential, a "dream" that they once had?

But it's this closeness to another dimension, or to eternity itself, that occurs within the dream, that merits a closer look. Some have suggested that the dream state does, in fact, place you near a realm above and beyond our own. Some dreams are so life-like, it's hard to argue otherwise. 

Eventually, you wake up. This is the boundary from dreamfulness, to being "woke," or back to reality. 

Now think about that for a second. The woke state, compared to the dream state, is where your feet are back firmly planted. You are no longer in the fantasy world of dreams. 

Can a person claim to be "woke" whose objectives include setting up Utopia on earth, in these limited lifespans? 

Or should a "woke" person, instead, be practical, present, attentive to their surroundings and to others? 

When Jacob "awoke," the dream was gone. The angels, the ladder, the Voice of God. The ideal state occurred in the Otherworld of Dreams. But, while woke, Jacob got back into his routine. He worked. He rested. He played. He studied. He had aches and pains. He got hungry and thirsty. He dealt with what life had handed him, right there before him. 

Woke should mean . . . serving the people around you, cheerfully. 

It should not mean . . . stirring up discord because everything's not as perfect as you want it to be. 

WOKE. A concept that should be re-assessed. 

Take

and taking [the child] in his arms . . .  

 - From Mark 9

If you were going to "take" something . . . what would you do? How would you do that?

You can "take" a left turn. This means you will steer your vessel to port. 

If you "take" a week off . . . you will not be reporting back to work for at least seven days. 

You can "take" a fast pitch, which means you don't swing at it. 

"Take" is an active word. You "take" your medication, which means you will ingest it. 

Jesus took a child in His arms, to make a point about humility and servanthood. And this picture in your mind is, the Lord has lifted a child up, and is holding him or her close to His chest. In holding the child, He is protecting him. He carries her . . . which means she goes where He does. 

Jesus equated this act with welcoming. And we are to welcome others. We are hospitable. We open our doors. We bring them in and care for them. We feed them. We shelter them. We provision them. We take them. And we do so actively. We do it to the "least of these." We help those most needy. We swallow our pride, and serve them.

Our emphasis is not on being right, or popular, or strong, or attractive, or clever, or well-educated. 

It is on becoming lowly, so that we can help the lowliest. We get them what they need. 

We take them.

I'm sorry. In talking about the neediest person, Jesus demonstrates what to do . . . and He lifts the needy person into His arms. He gets as close as He can, to them . . . because in the end that's the most needful thing of all. 

The separation of humanity from itself, for any reason, is a parameter that must not be permitted. Care for the sick. Put them away from others, so that their illness doesn't spread. But do not compel forced distancing from others. Someone has to go in and serve. Someone has to get close. Someone has to serve. 

Someone has to touch. 

Someone has to take. 

Emptied

 . . . but emptied himself . . . 

 - From Philippians 2

And now . . . a typical on-line comment by an evangelical:

If you're <fill in the blank>, what's a few thousand more deaths as long as you win your next election?

The person that I'm quoting is a lifelong Christian. A former Director of Publications and Editor of a denominational newsletter. He taught in a Christian college for twenty years.

He is a broken record of nonstop vitriol against one wing of American politics. The wing that he attacks is more likely to have his back, if things ever got particularly dangerous.

But it doesn't matter what side he's on. Variations of the above quote are commonplace, coming from all sides, against the other. The "other" side promotes policies that "murder" people. The other side is sub-human, idiotic, evil, sick, sheep, cultists, Nazis, Communists, etc., etc., etc.

And it only makes things worse.

Christ had none of that. He emptied Himself. He didn't go stir up political strife as a play for attention. He eschewed attention. He didn't insult people as a defense against His own hurt feelings. His gentleness disabled anger. It brought enemies together. It disarmed His adversaries.

Let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay.

That's another of Christ's tenets. Keep it simple. Do the hard work, the extra effort, to be still and listen. To put others first. To understand why they think as they do. To get into their shoes.

And to keep your mouth shut . . . especially when your friends have been advising you to do so, for years.

Face

I did not hide my face . . . I have set my face like flint . . . . 

 - From Isaiah 50

Is there ever a good reason to hide?

Yes of course, if you're setting up a surprise party for somebody. Or playing hide 'n' seek. Or Peek-a-boo. These are fun reasons to hide, but not what I'm talking about. (But even in the case of playful hiding, the fun comes from the symbolism of hiding itself . . . as a way to scare someone.)

The desire to scare others, simply out of spite, is probably borderline sadistic. Humans require stability and safety, in order to function effectively. There are no good reasons to scare others. 

And I daresay, there are no good reasons to hide. 

We hide, because we're afraid of danger. And if there's imminent danger, that's not good. 

We hide, because we're rude, like ignoring a tapping on the door, or a phone call, because we'd rather not be bothered. Whatever the reason, these reasons to hide may also be filed under the category of "rudeness." And even if you are trying to avoid somebody . . . even that goes back to something being wrong, or not good. 

We hide, because we're ashamed. And this is probably the most important reason to discuss hiding, and why we do it. If we're feeling shame . . . the takeaway must be, to avoid doing things that bring shame. (I realize that the preceding statement is potentially very inflammatory. I ask the reader to hold that thought, until some future time when additional layers of analysis may be done, in a blog post.)

But what do we do, when we hide? The goal is to go unnoticed, or unrecognized. 

We hide our faces. The covering of one's face is symbolic of something being wrong. Your face is your identity. It's how you're recognized. And recognition is at the root of our sense of self-worth. We want to matter, more than anything . . . . and for you to matter, I must recognize you. To recognize you, I must see your face. 

We need to show great care, when attempting to steer an entire culture, and society, towards an ethic of face-covering. The symbolism of the covered face is something that I do not believe we fully understand. But it's a parameter that should be on the table when discussing protocols to deal with epidemics, or any social development that may call for us to cover our faces. 

It should be a last resort. If there is push-back, our response should be empathy, not harsh reactions that border on violence. 

When you set your face like flint . . . you are boldly showing your face. You're so determined, that you're not afraid for everybody to interpret every possible nuanced line and movement, from your forehead, all the way to your chin, where your personality most shines, and from which most light is emitted, from the human form.

If we're going to advocate face-covering . . . could we treat it as a deeply serious option? Might we even address it realistically . . . as a last resort?

Poor

Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor. 

 - From Proverbs 22

There isn't a problem in the world today, that doesn't trace back to lack of charity on the part of the haves, towards the have-nots, as the ultimate root cause of everything. 

The Old Testament made the point aggressively clear: We have to care for others, starting with our own. God names these others: Orphans. Widows. Aliens. 

That's it. Make sure your kids, your elders, and people from outside your circle, are taken care of. When he says "aliens" it really is referring to anybody winding up in your back yard, or even at your front stoop, that got there from some other place. 

Yeah, sure . . . the American Left, particularly the non-believer Left, rubs out face in it all the time, but focused on the "caring for aliens" part; in defense of an open borders policy. Well. they kinda get it, and it's good to get these reminders, no matter where they come from. 

But the Gospel is personal. God comes to us, and meets us where we are, face to face. He prefers the personal touch. And when He advises us as to our behavior, he's talking about helping others in the way it is most awkward: those right there in front of us: Our kids. Our parents. Our grandparents. Our aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

Are they well? Are they lonely? Are the young angry because of a lack of parenting? Are they sick? Are they hungry?

Are your own okay?

Is that unemployed, homeless person that has wandered into your community going to be taken care of? Or will you send him off where he can become even more resentful and angry? Yes, angry . . . at you!

We'd rather post our virtue-signaling memes about how compassionate we are (or more accurately, how uncompassionate OTHERS are). We can put Scripture verses in people's faces. We can point the finger. 

God asks you to make sure your family, your distant relatives, you neighbors . . . everybody within your personal orbit, that you can personally help . . . are okay, before going out and telling other people about what they're not doing (usually via politics). 

There's a critical point, a tipping point, where enough people are acting charitable, in this way, that the general population would not even dream there's a problem worthy of passing off to government. I don't know what that number is. But my guess is that it's only 10% of the population. That's how many people we need, doing what God has asked all of us to do - - - help the poor. Personally. With our own resources. 

Let's get on it.