Grace Is Offered to U2

I enjoy the music of the rock group U2. The group’s flamboyant lead singer is a guy named Bono, who doesn’t hide the fact that he is a Christian. Some years ago, Bono was interviewed by a secular writer, Michka Assayas. When Mr. Assayas mocked religious faith, Bono didn’t get angry or defensive. Instead he began to explain the Good News: “It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people. But the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.”

When asked to explain that statement, Bono said, “At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that…. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of [sinful] stuff. 

“I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge,” Bono continued. “It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity…. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven.” 

To his credit, Mr Assayas included Bono’s explanation of the basic Christian message in his publication. Even more interesting was his reaction to Bono’s words: “The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that…. That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy, in my view.” 

God’s grace is so wonderful that it is indeed close to lunacy. Except that it is true. 

The interviewer had never even heard of the concept of grace, or of the Gospel message about the forgiveness of sin through the death and Resurrection of Jesus. The idea that we can be freely forgiven, no matter how terrible our sins, seems to be lunacy when people first hear about it. It doesn’t fit in with our ingrained belief about karmic justice: if you do the crime you gotta do the time, or what goes around comes around.

For many people, like Mr. Assayas, who have never heard the Gospel message, the answer to the problem of karmic justice oftentimes simply is to deny that sin is real. Denying that sin exists may sidestep the problem of karmic justice, and it may give people some peace and comfort—at least until the swirl of societal chaos wreaks havoc on their lives. But the plain reality, for those willing to open their eyes and look around, is that sin is all too real.

Although the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), the solution to the problem is not to pretend that sin doesn’t exist. The solution is found at the foot of the Cross. The solution, as Bono mentioned, is Grace. God’s love interrupts the consequences of our actions.

If more people who believe in Christ—not just famous rock stars, but also everyday goobers like us—spoke out about the wonderful Grace of God, then maybe those around us, our fellow unfamous goober friends and relatives, would hear for the first time how much God truly loves them. So much so, He does something that borders on lunacy: He forgives our sins even though we don’t deserve it. All we have to do is sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness. It is truly the “Good News.” 

There’s a Foggy Notion Under His Hat

A local company recently sent out a mass emailing to all its customers, which said, “We rely on referrals for much of our business. If you enjoyed your experience with us, please tell your friends and post positive comments on social media.” 

They did not bother to say the obvious: “And if you did NOT enjoy your experience with us, please keep it under your hat.” This raises two important questions. First, who even says “Keep it under your hat” anymore? I mean, there are a lot of ways to request that someone not say anything, most commonly: “Hey, don’t say anything.” There also are these expressions: “Keep quiet,” “That’s a secret,” “Just between you and me,” and “Don’t tell a soul.” 

I don’t know if anyone under age 50 has ever heard the term, “Keep it under your hat.” It was pretty common a long time ago, but I doubt a young person today would have the foggiest notion what that expression means. (And I doubt a young person today would have the foggiest notion what the term “foggiest notion” means.) 

Anyway, the second important question raised by that company’s mass email is this: why are people so reluctant to say good things, but so quick to proclaim from the house tops negative comments? (And I doubt a young person today has ever heard the expression, “Proclaim from the house tops.”) 

If you spend a lot of time on social media, first I’d like to remind you that your eternal soul is in danger. Next, I’d like you to think back to the last time you saw something positive on Facebook or Twitter. To save you time, I looked it up. The last time someone said something nice on social media occurred on December 9th, 2015, when Mrs. Caroline Wasilewski of Dubuque, Iowa, sent out this tweet: “Maybe we need an outsider in the White House like that nice Trump fellow.” 

Moments later Mrs. Wasilewski was dragged from her home by an irate mob. Her remains were never found. Ever since that date, every single tweet ever posted throughout the world — now numbering well over 9 trillion — has been angry, insulting, negative, threatening, and for the most part, devoid of any factual information. (This includes the 2.5 trillion tweets sent by that nice Trump fellow, at least before his account was suspended. Twitter has a strict policy: if a user sends 2 trillion vitriolic tweets, he receives a stern warning. If he sends another half-billion, the account is shut down.) 

So, getting back to our original question, who even says “Keep it under your hat” anymore? Oh wait, that was the original question, but it was just rhetorical, meant to fill some space since I don’t really have a full column’s worth of ideas today. (And I doubt a young person today would have the foggiest notion what the word “rhetorical” means.) 

The important question is: why are people so quick to say negative things about others? Well, the answer is simple. People are jerks. I mean that in a nice way, of course, because I’m the only person I know who always says positive things about others — unless they’re jerks. 

I’m not sure the local company’s mass email campaign will be effective. The folks who did enjoy their experience won’t bother to tell anyone else. And the folks who did not enjoy their experience will be reminded by the email, and then post nasty comments on social media. 

Personally, I prefer to keep my negative thoughts under my hat. Either that, or publish them in a newspaper column. (And I doubt a young person today has the foggiest notion what a “newspaper” is.)

God Is Not an Impartial Judge

 Sometimes guilty people do not have to pay the penalty for their crimes. Even though they did it and they know they did it, often there is not enough clear evidence to obtain a conviction in a court of law. Other times the evidence is clear, but it was obtained improperly and thus not permitted during the trial. And once in a while the jury decides to make a political or social statement and declares the defendant not guilty despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. (O.J. Simpson comes to mind, along with the evil men who murdered Emmett Till. If you’re not familiar with either of these miscarriages of justice, look them up online.) 

In cases where a guilty person essentially “gets away with it,” his or her heart has nothing to do with the decision. This is because in a court of law, the goal is to make decisions impartially, based on the facts of the case rather than the emotions and feelings of the people involved. And in a secular court setting, this is a good thing. It’s not a perfect system, obviously, but it’s the best that mankind has developed. 

However, the situation is quite different in God’s courtroom. In His heavenly Halls of Justice, the evidence is overwhelming: we did it; we committed the crime; we are sinful. Romans 6:23 could not be any clearer: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All the evidence against us cannot be thrown out of court since it was obtained properly. In fact, God was an eyewitness to every sinful thought, word, and deed. So, we deserve to be found guilty and sentenced to the harshest penalty. 

Imagine a man is charged with a crime and goes on trial in a secular court. But when he’s brought into the courtroom, it turns out the judge is his father, and the prosecuting attorney is his brother. Obviously this cannot be allowed to happen. The judge and prosecutor would have to recuse themselves from the case, and the trial would be handled by impartial people. 

But something like this does happen in God’s court. We’re charged with a crime, the crime of committing sins, and we must appear before the judge. When we get there, it turns out the judge is our Heavenly Father, who created us and loves us. And the prosecuting attorney is our brother, Jesus, who promptly ignores the role of prosecutor and spends all His time being our defense attorney. 

In God’s court, our hearts are more important than the cold hard facts of the case. If we are truly sorry for our sins and sincerely ask for forgiveness, all that damning evidence is set aside. God pounds the gavel and declares, “I find the defendant not guilty. Case dismissed.”

Secular law is kind of like a contract: we agree to obey the law, and in return society agrees not to throw us in jail. It is quite impersonal. God’s law is a covenant: He wants us to enter into a loving relationship with Him. It is VERY personal. This is why the heart is more important than legal evidence in God’s court.

Normally when we hear about an obviously guilty person being declared innocent in a courtroom, we become indignant. “That’s not fair!” we exclaim. “The fix is in!” 

God’s court doesn’t even pretend to be fair. It is blatantly unfair. People who are obviously guilty are routinely set free. The fix most definitely is in. That’s the way it is with love. Those bloody wounds on Jesus’ hands, feet, and side are the “fix.” 

Instead of becoming indignant, we should thank God that His court is not fair. Otherwise, we’d ALL be found guilty. We should repent and receive God’s forgiveness. We should enter into a relationship with Him and revel in His love.

Why Do They Call It ‘Dope’?

 It seems inevitable that recreational marijuana will be legalized in Connecticut soon. It’s already legal in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and recently Governor Coumo in New York signed a bill to start the legalization process. Nutmeg state officials are getting concerned that neighboring states have this new source of tax revenue (not to mention this new source of social dysfunction), and we don’t want to miss out. 

There are some strong arguments in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. Oh, by the way, I’m not a big fan of the word “recreational” here. I know it’s used to differentiate between medical marijuana, but calling it recreational marijuana makes it seem like an organized sporting event, such as playing in a Park & Rec softball game at the community fields, when in reality it means getting stoned because you enjoy getting stoned.

The arguments in favor are this: first, people are going to find ways to smoke pot anyway, so it might as well be legalized and regulated. The state will reap tax dollars while the profits will go to business people and investors rather than violent drug cartels. Also, you can make a strong case that the so-called “War on Drugs” has failed miserably. Drinking alcohol is not prohibited, so why should a different intoxicant be outlawed?
 
I found some interesting information at the website of an organization called the Last Prisoner Project. For example: “There are currently over 40,000 nonviolent criminals sitting in prison for cannabis offenses. This costs taxpayers billions of dollars per year and has done immeasurable damage to the families of the incarcerated.”

I’m enough of a Libertarian to say, hey, it’s not the government’s job to tell people what they can and cannot do in the privacy of their own homes.

 

However, on the other hand, there are some good arguments against legalizing recreational marijuana. First, there’s no doubt that pot is a gateway drug that can lead to the use of harder and more deadly substances. The fact is, smoking pot greatly increases the chances that a person someday will try a much more dangerous drug.
 
Another thing about marijuana smoke is that it’s more harmful to lungs than cigarette smoke. Once it’s legalized, expect a spike in lung cancer and other serious health problems. Also, once pot is legalized, there surely will be an increase in DUI incidents, because another irrefutable fact is this: once legalized, many people who have never smoked pot — especially young people — will give it a try. After all, they’ll reason, the politicians have said it’s OK.

In my mind, the strongest argument against legalizing marijuana is simple: they don’t call it “dope” for nothing. Pot makes a person dopey. There’s a noticeable increase in foggy thinking, and a major decrease in ambition, initiative, and drive. The last I checked, it doesn’t seem our society currently has a shortage of people who are unmotivated and lazy. Do we really want a whole new flock of folks who enjoy frying their brain cells? Because that’s exactly what happens with regular pot usage.

And for that particular claim, I didn’t need to research medical studies. All I had to do was think back and remember (hazily) what my life was like during college. I was as dopey as they come. And even though I finally quit all intoxicants by age 28 (except for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups), it took a long time to recover, both emotionally and financially, from those “lost years.”

So, legalization seems inevitable at this point. A lot of people are thrilled, while others are angry. Personally, I’m just sad. It’s too bad so many people don’t realize you can be high on life without being a dope.

Jesus Has a Sense of Humor

A few weeks ago, one of my Merry Catholic essays discussed the time Jesus rebuked two of His disciples. James and John wanted to call down fire from Heaven on some Samaritans, and Jesus was not pleased. I suggested that Jesus may have been even more angry than Luke described in his gospel. When I posted that essay on my blog (merrycatholic.com), I included a meme I found online that showed an image of Jesus from an old movie. In the still shot, Jesus appears to be shouting at someone, and there’s a fairly intense expression on His face. The caption reads: “You just wait till I tell my Dad about this!”

Obviously, that meme was supposed to be humorous. As you may have detected, at least once or twice a year, I attempt a little humor. As you also may have detected, the operative word here is “attempt.”

When I saw that “Wait till I tell my Dad” meme, my first thought was, “Oh, that’s funny. It’s perfect for this essay.” My second thought was, “And I bet someone will be offended by it.”

Sometimes there is a fine line between innocent fun and sacrilege. For example, when you do a search on the Google Image site for “Jesus angry meme,” besides the “Wait till I tell my Dad” image, there are many others that are plainly gross and blasphemous.
 
The key, in my mind, is to ask a variation of a popular expression. When I’m trying to decide if something has crossed the line from playfully funny to sarcastically offensive, I ask, “What would Jesus say?”
 
With many of the nasty images online, I know Jesus would shake his head sadly and say, “Wow, some people are just consumed with hate.” With those images, it’s clear the person who created it either hates Jesus, hates Jesus’ followers, or simply gets a kick out of shocking people. There’s no real attempt at humor, no real desire to share a pleasant laugh with another person.

When Jesus saw the “Wait till I tell my Dad” image, I’m pretty sure He smiled, rolled His eyes a bit, and said, “Yeah, that’s kind of cute. I like the way it uses a comment a child might say and applies it to me and my Father in Heaven.” When I decided to post that meme on my blog, my only goal was to share a laugh with others, along with sharing my love and devotion for the Lord.

 

I think when the topic is Jesus, a lot of people are afraid to laugh. That’s understandable. All the popular movies about the life of Christ usually depict the Lord solemnly intoning “thee and thou” verses from the King James Bible. There might be a couple of brief smiles during the movie, but nothing resembling a laugh. And in parochial school decades ago, if you even suggested to the nuns that Jesus either cracked jokes or laughed at someone else’s jokes, you went home that day with throbbing knuckles.

But think about it: Jesus is fully God and fully man; that’s a core doctrine of our faith. When He walked the earth, He was like us in every way except sin. If He was a well-adjusted human being, then He certainly had a sense of humor. After all, God created us with a sense of humor for two important reasons, to help us joyfully bond with other people and as a mechanism to relieve stress.

Now, obviously, Jesus’ mission on earth was quite serious. I mean, paying the price for the sins of all mankind—and in a rather gruesome manner—is a pretty heavy task. However, there surely were plenty of joyful times during Jesus’ three years of ministry when He was relaxing with His disciples or greeting a bunch of boisterous children. I am convinced that plenty of laughter was present.

Whenever I attempt a little humor in these essays—with or without success—my goal is to share a joyful laugh with the readers. If it’s not very humorous, well, that’s no surprise. (If it is offensive, though, please let me know.) The thing to keep in mind is that Jesus has a sense of humor. And the more we laugh and enjoy the love and forgiveness of God, the more others will be attracted to the faith.
 
So, in conclusion, a priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar … and the bartender says, “What is this, a joke?”

Learning Lessons from the Ol’ Man

Recently I was explaining something to a co-worker, and when we were done, he said, “Thanks. You would’ve made a good teacher.”

It’s funny he said that, because when I was in high school, I wanted to become a teacher. The idea of going into education was partly because I liked explaining things to people, and partly because my dad was a teacher.

 

One day, when I was a junior in high school and starting to think about college, my dad pulled me aside and quietly said, “Son, you can be anything you want to be when you grow up, a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer. But keep this in mind: if you decide to become a teacher, I will wait until you’re sound asleep, tip-toe into your bedroom, and then hit you repeatedly in the head with a ball-peen hammer.” Then he gave me a Jack Nicholsonesque smile, which clearly said, “And I ain’t kidding.”

Well, I may be embellishing some of the details of that long ago conversation, but the general idea was clear. He was advising me in no uncertain terms to avoid the education profession.
 
Unfortunately, my dad experienced a perfect storm of bad luck in his teaching career. He began teaching in a city school in the late 1950s. But by the early ‘70s, the situation had changed drastically because most of the middle class families had moved to the suburbs. For the final decade of his career, my dad was never sure if his main job was to be a teacher, a social worker, a substance abuse counselor, a corrections officer, a professional wrestler, or a M*A*S*H unit medic. It all came to a head one day when one of his fellow teachers, who was also a good friend, was shot and killed by a student.

On top of all this, my dad taught during a time when seasoned school teachers got paid slightly less than the night shift manager at McDonald’s, which was better, I suppose, than new teachers, who made slightly less than the 17-year-old kid working the drive-thru window. For every hour he worked in the classroom, my dad worked two hours at various part-time jobs on nights and weekends, scrambling to support his wife and five kids.

I’ll never forget the day I got my first real job after graduating from college. I was a 22-year-old knucklehead who didn’t know his sphincter from a saxaphone, but I was being hired as a production supervisor in a local manufacturing facility. Everyone in my family congratulated me, but my dad walked away sadly when he realized my starting salary was more than what he was making after a quarter-century of teaching, plus earning a couple of advanced degrees.
 
Anyway, when I mentioned to my co-worker that I had thought about becoming a teacher many, many years ago, he said, “Oh, if you had done that, you could be retired now with a guaranteed lifetime pension.”

Yeah, maybe. But I suspect if I had gone into teaching, they would’ve asked me to leave long before I qualified for a pension, since administrators are not too fond of teachers who blurt out sarcastic comments at annoying students. And let’s face it, 90-percent of all school-age human beings are annoying. I know I certainly was.

When I began this essay, I didn’t intend it to be an homage to the ol’ man. But as I recall how much my dad busted his butt to provide for his family, my respect for him grows. I wish he were still alive so I could tell him. And by the way, I was just kidding earlier. My dad didn’t even own a ball-peen hammer. 

What If the Curious Story Really Is True?

Finally, Easter Sunday is just about here. And we celebrate with eggs, the symbol of new life. And with bunnies, the symbol of fertility. And with lilies and other flowers, the symbol of springtime renewal. And with 30 pounds of chocolate per person and fancy new clothes (which won’t fit anymore after wolfing down the 30 pounds of chocolate), the symbols of a consumer society obsessed with spending money we don’t even have. 

Oh yes, and some folks continue to include in their Easter celebration the curious story about the God-man who died but then came back to life three days later. This also is a symbol of new life and springtime renewal. 

It’s actually a rather grizzly story, if you bother to read some of the details. But I guess those ancient story-tellers were obsessed with gore and violence, not sophisticated and civilized like our modern day story-tellers, such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone. 

So, this curious fable about the God-man coming back to life fits in nicely with our seasonal theme: springtime renewal. The dark, cold, and dreary season of Winter finally gives way to the sunlight and colors and new life of Spring. 

But what if that curious story were actually true? Oh, come on now. We don’t take those things literally anymore. This is the 21st century, for crying out loud. We’re a little too clever and sophisticated and scientific to fall for that kind of stuff. 

But what if it’s really true? 

What if there really is a personal God who created the universe? What if He really designed and created us with a specific purpose in mind? Wow, that would actually give some long-term meaning to our lives, rather than the short-term, superficial meaning we try to create for ourselves with our consumer spending and our frantic scratching and clawing to achieve some recognition in the world. 

And what if this personal God loved us so much that He grieved over the fact that we ignored Him and decided to worship ourselves instead? What if He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to bridge that huge gulf between us, which sin had created? And what if that Son offered His own life as a sacrifice to pay the price for our sins? And most of all, what if He actually rose from the dead three days later, conquering death once and for all? 

Sounds kind of fantastic, doesn’t it? But what if it really were true? That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? That would mean that death is not the final chapter of our lives. That would mean the cruelest irony of life—the fact that everything we ever achieve in this world is destined to be swallowed up by death and forgotten—is no longer true. 

Well, I’ve got news for you. IT IS TRUE! The God who created us loves us way too much to let death have the final victory. That curious story about the God-man coming back to life is not an ancient fable, it is a fact. It is the central event in the whole history of humanity. 

When we finally realize what Jesus did for our sake, often our first reaction is to ask what we should do to repay Him for such a great sacrifice. Many religious organizations have created vast and elaborate systems for doing good deeds in an attempt to repay Him for what He did for us. 

But how can you possibly repay such a sacrifice? At the end of the award-winning movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” it’s 50 years after World War II and Ryan is at the Normandy cemetery. He’s talking to the gravestones of the men who a half-century earlier gave their lives so that he could live. He says, “I lived my life the best I could. I hope in your eyes I’ve earned what you’ve done for me.” 

Then he turns to his wife and pleads, “Tell me I’ve led a good life. Tell me I’m a good man.” But the answer is obvious: it doesn’t matter whether he’s led the most noble and productive life of any person on earth, it’s impossible to repay such a debt. 

We can’t repay Jesus for what He did. What He did was His precious gift to us. All we can do is accept the gift Jesus gave us with profound gratitude and humility. If we do this, the good deeds will come, not because we HAVE to do them, but because we WANT to do them.

That curious Easter story is not just one little facet of a springtime holiday. It is the most important event ever. It is our path to eternal life. He is risen! Hallelujah!