Loadstar 230/230.d81/t.puzzle 152

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 6KB | 190 lines

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        P U Z Z L E   P A G E

      Program by Barbara Schulak
         Text by Dave Moorman


    The Read It file for Puzzle Page
was Fender's favorite place to rant
and rave about his most current
obsession. However, for this month's
installment, disk space was short, and
the Grand Mojo only mumbled a bit and
got on with it.

    Space is no problem today -- and I
guess this is a good place to semi-
hide my latest thoughts and illusions.
And as I write this, I am still caught
up in the experience of Mel Gibson's
[The Passion of the Christ].

    Right out of the chute -- I have
the highest regards for the non-
Christian faithful. Several loyal
LOADSTARites with whom I often
correspond via email are Jewish. And I
would gather that this movie is not
particularly important to them --
except for the rank exclusivism and
closet anti-semitism.

    Jesus was unique from other
teachers in his insistance on "loving
one's enemies." I think he would be
(is) appalled at the use of his name
for anger and hate of any kind.
Remember that according to all
Christian doctrine, Jesus [gave]
[himself] to inhumanity of humans.
Since he is fully responsible, no
blame can be assigned to anyone.

    As a clergy (and therefore more
like Caiaphas than I would like to
admit), I can understand how some
chrismatic holy person blowing into
town could cause talk among the
Ministeral Alliance! Competition is
never really appreciated. Did the
powers-that-be go too far back then?
Of course they did.

    Someone wrote that most of
civilization can be characterized as
"small and vicious." That was true of
First Century Common Era priests,
governors, soldiers and mobs. It is
just as true for 21st Century CE
dictators and administrations. We like
to think civilization is a [good]
thing. But it has always been
maintained with a sword (Weapons of
Mass Destruction, Smart Bombs, Lethal
Injections, etc.) The threat and
delivery of bodily harm and/or death
is at the foundation of governmental
power.

    Which is -- in my opinion -- what
this whole Passion was about. Once
Jesus chose to step on the path, his
fate was in the hands of many agendas.
Pilate, in the movie, is clear about
his agenda. His "truth" involves Rome,
his job, and maybe even his life.
Everyone in this story is driven by an
agenda -- from Judas to Simon the
Cyrene. I see Jesus' agenda was to
expose the invalidity of all the other
agendas. And he does so by hurting --
but not hating.

    The one person who most fascinated
me in the movie was the lady who
brought a cup of water and gave her
scarf for wiping Jesus' face. Being a
Protestant, I don't know much about
this "Station of the Cross," since the
episode is not in the gospel writings.
But I did my homework and found out
her name is Veronica, and the imprint
of Jesus' face on her scarf is called
The True Image.

    The scarf is now lost, but is
refered to for a number of centuries
after the crucifixion. More important
is that the name "Veronica" is derived
from "Veritas Icon." Pilate kept
asking about "Veritas." And here the
True Image is much more that the
miraculous face on the cloth. The True
Image is Veronica herself. For of all
the agendas at war during that day,
she alone risked her own comfort and
safety to offer a little kindness to a
total stranger.

    To belabor the obvious -- the True
Image has nothing to do with blaming,
only with caring and giving. And that,
for me -- far beyond any particular
theology or doctrine -- is the whole
point of the story.

    In Jerusalem, there is a shop at
the Sixth Station of the Cross on the
Via Dolorosa that employs single
Palestinian women to weave, sew, and
embroider liturgical robes, stoles,
paraments, and other goods. The lady
who runs the shop will help any
Palestinian woman in need -- Muslim or
Christian. She totally trusts
Providence to provide what is needed.
Show a little interest, and she will
get out her photo albums, and tell you
the stories.

    One day, before the store did any
business at all, a single mother came
in, needing $100 for rent. But the
till was empty. However, even as they
talked, a "rich" American clergyman
came in and bought $105 worth of
merchandise. Five dollars went into
the cash drawer. The rest paid the
needed rent.

    Veronica is alive and well -- even
in the midst of hatred and blame.
Slowly, haltingly, civilization moves
away from its penchant for smallness
and violence. This, I believe, is the
necessary course of history. It began
with a wandering Aramean. A carpenter
made the direction crystal clear. A
later prophet pointed in the same
direction.

    But 1300 years later, 2000 years
later, 3800 years later -- we still
don't get it. Not completely.

    I was surprised and delighted that
Gibson chose to use Aramaic and Latin
as the languages of the film. What a
movie making risk! But the very sounds
of those languages -- even if not
understood -- transported us back to
that long, terrible Friday we now call
"Good."

    I would have done the Resurrection
differently -- for the point (as I see
it) is that the risen Christ is
encountered by those who follow him.
Then again, it was Mel's money. Who am
I to complain?

    The movie [The Passion of the]
[Christ] brought to this culture a new
focal point for faith. Every Faith
will need to encounter this movie, and
every faithful person needs to find
its particular meaning. And even those
who pride themselves in not having any
faith at all must conceed that this
guy took the worst the world could
dish out -- and refused to answer with
an eye for an eye or a life for a
life.

    If nothing else, it was a class
act!

 DMM