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Who Benefits from the Debate about the Assassination of (insert X)?

Cancel policy and murder have become an integral part of the political debate in many Western countries. That only means they are catching up with what has been the case in other places for decades: shutting up people with different opinions. There are few who look for real solutions. It seems the biggest chunk of the debate is about whose fault it is. What we should ask is: who benefits and possibly most importantly what are our common interests as voters? The Familiar Pattern The murder of Charlie Kirk followed the established pattern: outrage (some of it real), thoughts and prayers sent to his family and friends (some of them real) followed by the wait for another gun shot. Not another assassination but the starter gun for the obligatory mud-slinging. The culprit (this time) is the left. When the two Democratic Minnesota state politicians were murdered in June it was the right. So, technically 50% of the population in either case. There is the added hand wringing in non-U.S. media a...
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The Minority Report — A White Dude’s Guide to Harlem

When we told our friends we’d return to the United States and move to New York City, many were excited. When we followed up by saying we’d move to Harlem, there was a pregnant pause. I guess many people who have never been here still believe this part of New York to be crime ridden and outright dangerous. Granted, it is not as clean and safe as, say, the Upper East side but there are differences. There is West Harlem – which has significantly changed over the last decades. Proximity to Columbia University on the Upper West side helps. It also helps that Brooklyn has become too expensive and the gentrification bulldozer has moved on to Harlem.  We don’t live in West Harlem. Our new home is Central Harlem and one way I first realized the difference was by walking southwest from my home. At around West 118 th  St towards Morning Side, I noticed I wasn’t the only white dude on the block anymore. A recent conversation with an old African-American friend had me reflect on some of my...
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We Lack Imagination

If you wonder whether you are able to think big, ask yourself a simple question: can you imagine someone offers you the biggest thing you ever wanted for free - and you can accept it without any hesitation? You Cannot Perform Your Way into Salvation Salvation comes before sanctification. It is impossible to do this the other way around. Sanctification, the process of becoming progressively more like Christ and to be set apart for God’s purpose is a life-long process and it starts with salvation. From Christ perspective, salvation means our recognition we are imperfect and we actually need saving.  If we believe we need some form of sanctification first in order to receive salvation, we ignore that Christ is our salvation. It has been achieved through him already and is now available to us with no strings attached. Trying to earn this salvation somehow means we reduce sanctification to a program to better ourselves. The result is we do not seek salvation because we either belie...
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When the Quest Gets in the Way

We tend to try to make stuff happen. We are seekers but the quest gets in the way when it is all action and no real abiding, meaning to just be in the presence of Christ.  I always thought preparation means acquiring yet another skill to be ready, including to be "better at being his presence". There is no real manual for it and we become aware of his presence in different ways.  In the end, we wait to receive grace. Every word in that sentence is potentially challenging. We don’t like to wait because we are impatient. Some of us find it hard to receive because receiving requires humility. We can only receive grace with humility and being poor in spirit because that’s the one thing we cannot earn. But we believe we need to earn it because there is no such thing as a free lunch. We do not choose Jesus. He chose us. He also prepares the works which means he chose the works for us. Maybe we just need the patience, humility and trust to just receive while we focus on our hearts. ...
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Be a Heretic

I came across a Munk Debate from 2018 in which Stephen Fry argues that political correctness does not work. He argues people should take themselves more lightly and be less certain. During the debate, he also states the following: “Progress isn’t achieved by preachers or guardians of morality but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels and skeptics.” This struck a core with me. What am I certain of? Based on my own experience, Jesus Christ has always been in the midst of my humanity. That does not mean I understand much of it, especially why he still loves. I am sure Jesus was accused of being a madman at the time. As C.S. Lewis argued either Christ was a madman or he spoke the truth. We must decide for ourselves whether Christ was a madman or spoke the truth. Not many are willing to think this through but the fact of the matter is we need to take a position. All other terms do apply to Jesus and his contemporaries were well aware of that. Hence the need to kill him.  Christ...
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A Fun Life vs. A Full Life

The day you are born you start the journey of life until the day you die. The bits in-between are messy. We don't control the events and people around us. We only can influence how we react. Sometimes we react well. Sometimes we don't. Our challenge is to remain aware of our thoughts, emotions and actions during the seasons full of joy and equally important during the seasons of acute pain and suffering.  The Work never Stops Living life to the fullest means to put in the work to mature while fully accepting we are invited to this process until the day we die. Even when we have found our purpose, life will go on and we will always find ourselves confronted with new problems. We won’t really arrive. Our call is to make the most of it. No Full Life without Love Living life to the fullest cannot be a self-centered life because that would mean we miss out on love. We give and receive love. We love ourselves and others. That kind of love is not an emotion or based on feelings. It is...
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The Book of James Is Cruel

The last post ended with the statement that life is hard. In fact, the more I live, the more I find myself accepting that life is indeed hard and full of problems. In his book, The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck said as much but encourages us to look at these problems as a chance to mature. In so many words, he tells us to accept that life will always be hard so we might as well learn to focus on solving our problems instead of trying to avoid the inevitable pain.  When Life Sucks However, it is also a fact that we will not always succeed and may choose not to address a problem. That is part of our humanity. And if you won’t take it from Peck, take it from Christ, who was very explicit about it, telling his disciples they will have trouble. Importantly, Christ also comforts his disciples pointing out that he has overcome and by extension his disciples.  How Church Does Not Help Where things can go terribly wrong is when churches put a lot of emphasis on “overcoming” a...
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