Providing Christian resources from the YMCA past and present to nourish inclusive, equitable work in our diverse and global neighborhoods that build up healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
For Christians within the YMCA, these words of Kierkegaard hold much wisdom for how we embody the Y mission and gospel of Christ. When it comes to Christian Emphasis in the YMCA, it’s the humble imitation of Christ, it’s the vulnerable submission to reality and truth, the decisive act to trust Christ in our participation in the Y and the world as we love, care and serve for all.
“Without a life of imitation, of following Christ, it is impossible to gain mastery over doubts. We cannot stop doubts with reasons. Recall that the Savior of the world did not come to bring a doctrine; he never lectured. He did not try by way of reasons to prevail upon anyone to accept his teachings, nor did he try to authenticate it by demonstrable proofs.
“His teaching was his life, his existence. If someone wanted to be his follower, he said to that person something like this, ‘Venture a decisive act, then you can begin, then you will know.’
“What does this mean? It means that no one becomes a believer by hearing about Christianity, by reading about it, by thinking about it. It means that while Christ was living, no one became a believer by seeing him once in awhile or by going and staring at him all day long.
“No, a certain setting is required – venture a decisive act. The proof does not precede but follows; it exists in and with the life that follows Christ. Once you have ventured the decisive act, you are at odds with the life of this world.
“You come into collision with it, and because of this you will gradually be brought into such tension that you will then be able to become certain of what Christ has taught. You will begin to understand that you cannot endure the world without having recourse to Christ. What else can one expect from following the truth?”
– from Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, p. 78
“We don’t even know what our desire is. We ask other people to tell us our desires. We would like our desires to come from our deepest selves, our personal depths – but if it did, it would not be desire. Desire is always for something we feel we lack.” ~René Girard
The pandemic has revealed many different paradoxes about our society, our families, our communities, our values, and our desires. At the core of this COVID-19 confusion are frustrated desires for life, liberty, and happiness. For many of us, the coronavirus is magnifying reality: we never get all that we want.
People are social beings, we get our desires from others – first from our parents and immediate family, and then extended family, friends, commercials, classmates, social media, literature, films, and art, neighbors, coworkers: basically our culture.
Our desires are never truly fulfilled, we always feel a lack. Life is a paradox – you desire based on what others desire in your culture, but you personally pay the price for trying to fulfill them.
The pandemic is fueling our anxiety around this existential question: how can we be blessed and happy when so many of our desires are unfulfilled?
Especially if we’re facing a frustrating disruption to our children’s education and well-being, our jobs and economic stability, or worst of all infection and the fear of death.
But amidst all the anxiety and uncertainty that the pandemic has increased, amidst all the thwarted desires and plans we were striving to fulfill, there have been many heart-warming stories of personal sacrifices, of hero’s stepping forward, of people letting their light shine, of families making the most of it, of seeing the best of humanity emerging towards those who are suffering.
It’s an interesting paradox – the best of times can bring out the worst in people, and the worst of times can bring out the best in people.
It’s almost as if the “worst times” is the default setting for humanity, but we deeply yearn for “the best of times.”
If one were cynical, it would seem that out of the billions of people on our planet, too many are stuck in the worst of times, and too few are getting to enjoy the best of times.
What to do when it feels like you are getting stuck in the “worst of times”?
For Jesus of Nazareth walking the length and breadth of Israel in the first century, most of the citizens were stuck in the worst of times.
They floundered under the cruel paranoia of King Herod, the local authority who rebuilt the beautiful temple and had an eye for urban architectural design but was bloodthirsty and evil towards his own people.
On top of these injustices was the oppressive Roman Empire which sought to tamp down the violence in Israel, a stubborn people unwilling to quietly accept the blasphemies and corruption of the Caesars.
The common folks were dying of malnutrition, of untreated diseases, of trauma, of economic exploitation, of unfair justice, of hopelessness.
The entrenched political and religious oligarchies were insulated from the misery of the people – though they sought to find ways to speak for them and drain away the violent repercussions of mass poverty so the government wouldn’t take away their privileged positions.
It’s in this pandemic of terrifying imperial and royal authoritarianism that Jesus arrives to be with the people of Israel. He brings real healing and hope, speaking subversive truth and grace. Christ Jesus reconnects them to their living God, the one who brought them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, their God who created them to be a blessing to the world.
Jesus arrived to teach them his people how to participate in the kingdom of God even while they are subjected to the politics of injustice.
What Jesus is revealing to us comes across as a series of paradoxes amidst our thwarted desires. They are guideposts to us on how God keeps his promises to his conflicted people, and how to be God’s people while immersed in the politics of whatever authority and government happen to be in power.
Jesus is teaching those who will listen to him how to be blessed by God while in the worst of times.
He knows that for many people, most of their life will be marked by the tragedies and injustices of the world.
For them and us: when we can’t stop the worst of times from coming, how to find happiness, hope, a way to experience God and his goodness?
We all know that anger, vengeance, bitterness, hatred easily take root in us, our desires become full of darkness and rage, or despair and violence when we are pressed down and oppressed lacking hope of rescue.
While it’s natural, it’s also destructive to ourselves and others. What’s another way?
The Beatitudes are a realistic assessment of how God blesses his people, how he is with them, and for them, in this paradox-full world of the best of times and the worst of times.
We desire to be blessed. And at our best, we desire to be a blessing. Jesus teaches us how to be blessed and to be a blessing when we are poor and mourn when we are oppressed and hungry when we are treated unmercifully and violently when we are full of impure thoughts and persecuted for striving to live God’s way in the world.
In February 2020 I traveled through parts of the Holy Land with a group of YMCA leaders as part of our OnPrinciples program. In learning how to strengthen the presence of Christ in our Y, we spent time where Christ had been present, taught, and blessed.
It was hard to complain when we visited the Mount of Beatitudes. Yet I found myself frustrated that instead of it being a beautifully warm and sunny morning in which to soak up the glory of this historic and sacred place, it was cold, rainy, foggy, and very crowded by the time we left.
My desire for a particular kind of experience was thwarted; I wasn’t getting the full amount of what I wanted.
What to do? Remember why I am there, how much grace was part of my even being there, what kind of privilege and blessing it was to be there, and what it meant to be in a place where Jesus had been present. For all we know it had been rainy, cold, foggy and miserable when he taught the Beatitudes!
I learned while in the Holy Land that the desires there are complicated, that there are many, many paradoxes, and too often the striving for being blessed leads to violence.
The need for Christians to heed this sermon is more paramount than ever.
Below are the gospel text, some pictures and brief reflections of my time at the Mount of Beatitudes:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
Mid-morning view of the Beatitudes mountainside sloping down to the fog-covered Sea of Galilee.
His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
OnPrinciple group gathered for a lesson, escaping the cold drizzle under a canopy in front of the Church of the Beatitudes
Jesus said:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled.
Traveling through the wilderness on way to the Mount of Beatitudes; with a view of date tree farms and the Judean hills. I reflected on the lives of Palestinian Christians who eke out an existence in this stretch of the Holy Land, a minority within a persecuted people group. Their meditation on the Beatitudes takes on a rugged necessity that I can’t relate to.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
An old abandoned and graffitied tank at a rest stop in the Judean wilderness on way to Mount of Beatitudes. The Holy Land in the past twelve decades has known only escalating violence in an effort to fulfill their desire to abide in the Promised Land. In their pursuit of being blessed by God there has been too much bloodshed. Surely the Beatitudes do not condone these tactics?
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Back portico of the Church of the Beatitudes, facing the mountainside that slopes down to the lake; OnPrinciple leaders Eric and Mike giving a hearty blessing. The interior chapel was jammed wall to wall with pilgrims from around the world seeking to kneel and pray where Jesus sat and taught us how to be blessed. The desire is strong in all of us.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. [Jesus of Nazareth, the Gospel According to Matthew, 5.1-16, NIV]
Entrance to the Church of the Beatitudes, with the faithful gathered in the rain, waiting to pray within.
The ongoing violence in the Holy Land is at odds with the kingdom of God revealed in the Beatitudes.
Christians in Israel and Palestine face a brutal reality – how to survive, how to be blessed by God, how to be salt and light, how to follow the teachings of Christ Jesus in the Beatitudes amidst the complex, roiling desires for justice, security, peace, prosperity, and God’s will?
Christians in the West are not immune to this brutal reality – it’s our brothers and sisters who suffer in spirit, mind and body.The persecuted Body of Christ there, of which we fully belong, must endure this violence according to the Beatitudes.
And, for Christians that are not in the minority, we must face the brutal truth – are we, in any way, propping up violent forms of politics and economics that oppose the Beatitudes?
If so, we must first face the truth, and lament this reality.Then we can begin to learn from our fellow Christians in the Holy Land on how to be blessed when you don’t get what you want.
“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” – Maya Angelou
What’s the wall you feel like you are up against these days?
What kind of wall has COVID-19 thrown up in your life? Walls of anxiety? Walls of joblessness? Walls of mourning?
Aside from COVID-19 there are still many of the other concerns that are part of our lives that are still real, still worrying us, and some are made worse because of the pandemic.
How to pray when you feel like you’re up against a wall, nowhere else to go, not sure what else to do?
It’s easy to pray with anger, frustration, and resentment. But how to pray with empathy, courage and hope when up against a wall?
In Jerusalem there is a literal wall that people press themselves up against to wail when they feel like their lives are up against a wall.
The Wailing Wall in the Holy City is part of the western edge of the Temple, all that is left of what Herod beautified and Titus destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.
It’s a complicated wall, which is why it draws people to it with their complicated lives to pray, to mourn, lament, wail, intercede, plead, hope, and bless.
While there is only one Wailing Wall in the world, we can all relate to the conflicted spirits that are drawn to that wall.
The Western Wall of the Temple Mount
While we don’t have a Wailing Wall in our city, when we feel like we are up against a wall, we can still pray like those in the Holy City where everything is “complicated” and shaped by violence, poverty, resentment, fear and hope.
What about you: if you could go to the Wailing Wall, what would you want to pray about?
Up against the “Wailing Wall”
How to pray when up against a wall? With trust.
You are not alone when you are up against a wall.
It can be a reality-check about where you stand with God, and the little bit of trust you have opens you up to the empathy God has for you, and it can fuel your courage and empathy towards others up against a wall.
What did I pray for when up against the Wailing Wall?
Mercy and peace for the people I know.
Cheesy, I know.
But with my head up against the wall, remembering the many conflicts in my spirit and the world around me that loom large over me, I tried to clear the clutter in my heart to hear the words of the Lord.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” – Jesus of Nazareth
How to pray when up against a wall?
One way is to immerse yourself in the Lord’s Prayer – own it in your spirit, trust that God is hearing you, and with you, and working to answer it in your life, no matter what is ahead of you.
Another way: open your eyes to see the blessings God has brought to you, and is bringing to you – even if all you see are stones and crevices. The Beatitudes – the Blessings – are how Jesus operates in our world with walls and wars, resentments and revenge.
When up against a wall, focus on how God blesses you, and through you, even amidst whatever you are facing.
As a Christian, praying on the heights of Mount Zion where the Jewish Temple stood for centuries, and is now a site for two Muslim mosques, it was sobering and humbling.
Seeing the beautiful Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount inspires me, but also conflicts my spirit. For some it stands as a symbol of God’s favor, for others it’s an obstacle to it.
And if I wanted it to be for me, a source of resentment towards all those who have fomented bloodshed on this site, who have perpetrated violence, who have incited hate and terror.
With a group of YMCA professionals in the OnPrinciple program, I was able to stand next to the beautiful mosques on the temple mount. It compelled me to pray for peace with a renewed earnestness.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God .” – Jesus of Nazareth
Dome of the Rock Mosque
Selfie on the Temple Mount
OnPrinciple Group 2020
The day also included a stop in a space some believe was where Jesus hosted his last supper with his disciples before he was betrayed by Judas and handed over to the government authorities for execution.
It became a Byzantine church, then a mid-millennium mosque, then retaken as a Christian site, now operated by the Israeli government.
Here it was that Jesus washed the feet of his twelve apostles, shared a Passover meal, and then broke bread, passed a cup and asked them to remember him.
It feels “complicated” in that space now. Eucharist is complicated now. So is the gospel, salvation, and Christian hospitality. But somehow we are expected to not give up on peace and mercy.
“Blessed are those who still hunger and thirst for righteousness – for they shall be filled.” Jesus of Nazareth
Upper Room of the Last Supper, Mount Zion
OnPrinciple Team in Upper Room
Olive Tree in Upper Room, gift of Pope John Paul 2; three branches – for Jews, Christians, Muslims – symbol of peace
How to pray when up against a wall? From the heart, with trust, courage and empathy.
Like our Lord, when he was up against the wall, we can learn to pray from him and how to bless through him.
May mercy and peace sprout from your life when you are up against a wall.
