Mother Dogs and Men Who Cry

May 4, 2013 Leave a comment

Mother Dogs and Men Who Cry

We had a mother dog come in our showroom door this week… She had broken loose from her wire like leash obviously to search for food…. She was a dog with a pleasant disposition, although obviously in need on food… Her rib bones where protruding through her skin and her breasts were partially full of milk, as much as could be supplied from her body fat….. Not much fat was left on her…

Wink, my wife, came in to my office crying, saying “there is a dog out here.” You may have heard the puppy stories before… I went out to find the mother dog with her nose to the ground trotting back and forth all over the place, into the back shop, etc. I thought she might be thirsty so I garnered a bucket, put some water in it and offered it to her… She refused the water, but vigorously liked my hands in an appreciative manner and ran back to the showroom where she tipped over Wink’s trash can that had some wrappings from a Jimmie John’s sandwich and tried to open the empty crushed up paperwork. Wink was crying and I began to realize what was really going on…. “It just isn’t right,” Wink whimpered, as she cried with tears streaming down her cheek.

I took out $20 and asked David Jones to go to the Dollar store and purchase some dog food. While he was doing that, I pursued the dog who left the showroom, who ran to a house across the street with her nose to the ground, and I momentarily lost her as she ran around the neighborhood… I checked with the neighbor across the street, whom Wink said had some puppies, but they said it was not their dog… then I saw her, a block away, not far from a lot upon which a policeman had been shot and killed a few years ago… I went to catch her so we could feed her, but she ran up under the crawl space of another house looking for food… I called Flannigan, a truck driver who lives next door to the house asking if this dog belonged to the neighbor. He said it did not, but it belonged to the house next to the lot I knew the policeman had been shot and killed on.

About that time, the mother dog came out licking my hands and I captured her short leash and began to lead her back to our shop to feed her. Then the Animal Control truck wheeled around the corner… Wink had called 311 and the Animal Control Center responded quickly. David came up with the dog food, and I told them the dog was hungry and needed to eat. They advised not to feed her because she would just throw up in their truck… They put her in the truck and they were going to carry her off and I offered the bag of food to them to take with them, but objected that the mother dog had puppies somewhere and the puppies would die if they took the mother dog away… The Control Men began to realize the seriousness of the situation and we all began to search nearby houses…. There was a Pit Bull dog on a heavy chain in the back of one house, barking and lunging at his chain… “He is just a breeder,” the Control Men said, but they saw a dog house just out of reach of the lunging Pit Bull’s chain and went to get a long metal stick with a lasso on it to catch the pit bull it he broke loose… One of them went to the dog house while the other one and I watched close by, keeping our eyes peeled for the Pit Bull… “There are five puppies!) he exclaimed…

The Control Men then got the Mother dog out of the truck, and put a long leash on her collar as I scurried to get an empty and dry dog food bowl from the back yard. I opened the dog food sack David had brought to me and poured out some into the bowl and the Mother Dog desperately gulped up the dog food…. “She isn’t protective of her food,” one of the Control Men said, as I put my hands close to the food in the bowl as the Mother Dog lapped and chewed the food and I poured more out for her as tears dropped from my eyes..… I asked the Control Men how much to give, knowing that one should give only a limited amount to a starving animal, and they told me. I put the rest at the door of the house where apparently no one was home, and left my business card on the door for those who lived there….

We took the Mother Dog to the doghouse and the Control Men said the dog house should have a wood floor, and the puppies should not be on the ground… I told them I had wood, if they needed it, (in our cabinet shop)The little puppies where so happy to see their mother, and vice versa…. In the meantime, Wink had called me at least a couple of times to see what was happening… I went back to briefly tell her what happened, and I am writing in more detail now…. “It just isn’t right,” she murmured as she cried…

After work, I did my regular things, having some popcorn and drinks as I checked my personal email…. One of my Sisters called me, and we talked at length about some family difficulties we are suffering, (about someone we love who is suing the family) and I left work about 7:30, before dusk and saw a whole bunch of new and shiny cars around the house where the Mother Dog lives…. Some of the cars were driven up in the yard, so I stopped at the intersection and took a picture of the scene with the new and shiny cars… I thought to myself, … If the resident’s friends have new and shiny cars, why can’t they afford dog food? So, I drove up in my Avalanche in the yard too, and walked to the back of the house to see the Mother Dog…. The Pit Bull did not make that much of a ruckus, since apparently he knows me a little bit, since our face to face meeting earlier in the day…. Soon the residents came out of the house, the man of the house first… I introduced myself, asking him his name, shaking his hand… He told me he had the dog food and had my business card… I explained how the Mother Dog had gotten loose, and a much shorter version of the story above. He said he worked at Burger King. I told him if he was at work, and that since the dog was apparently starving, since our business was so close, I could come and feed the dog in the middle of the day…. He seemed appreciative, and a little girl, about two years old came out of the house in front of apparently her Mother. I offered my index finger to the little girl, she grasped it; I asked her name, and I listened closely with my hearing aid ear to her name, and nodded to her Mother… We ended the conversation on an amicable note, and I told them that the Animal Control Men were to come to see them the next day to help them keep better care of the Mother Dog, telling them, for instance, that the Mother Dog would need food with more protein while she was nursing…

I drove across the lawn in my pick up, the tires slipping a little bit, since they are slick and are in need of replacing, to the yard of Flannigan, to whom I sold our GMC-White truck tractor on terms… “They just don’t need things like that if they can’t take care of them.” Flannigan said…… After that conversation, I began driving home, crying along the way…. At a couple of points, I pulled doff the road to weep and cry… “It just isn’t right.” I muttered, as Wink had cried also…..

 
Let me clue you in on this…. All the above is written with multiple meanings in mind. The Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, is written this way… This means there is more to it more than you may imagine at first reading….. For a glimpse of what I mean, check out http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/04/30/apocalypse-now/.

The story I tell is true… I have witnesses that it is true, but I will only partially explain a couple of things…. Other meanings of this story may become evident…. At a later time….

First,
Some men cry….
I am a man…
I cry… I cry often…
John 11:35
35 Jesus wept . (Over Lazurus)
NIV

 
I can imagine the anguish Jesus had:
Luke 13:34-14:1
34 “O Jerusalem , Jerusalem , you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”
NIV

 
And Nehemiah:
Neh 1:3-5
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept . For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
NIV

 
And Esau, and Jacob, and Joseph, and the people of Israel, many times, and David, and Kings, just for a few… They wept too….
Real men cry….

 
Back to Mother Dog and puppies… I told Wink and David later that It is just not right, and even worse that it is just not right that in addition to animals, human beings are in the same condition, starving to death too, while we spend enormous funds on the military and killing people… Flesh and blood people whom we mistakenly believe to be our real enemies.

Even the amount we spend on Drones could be put to better use. The amount we spend on sanctions against Iran….. Would that be better spent sending peace delegations, even Civilian Peace Delegations to just drive up on Iranian officials lawns and talk to them? I have asked before… I have asked “high” officials such things…. No response… Dead silence….

Ancient walls such as Nehemiah wept over were walls for the protection of the city of Jerusalem… A Christian is called to be a citizen of a different Kingdom, of a New Jerusalem, one whose light is of a God who cries for us, and runs after us, and whose mayor is a God who pursues us. It is a city whose gates are never closed… Always open….. A Christian is to bear the Armor of God, and have feet shed in the Gospel of Peace…. The Gospel of Peace, another idea just about completely rejected in most of Christianity… Bring that idea up one day. I imagine you will find no response, dead silence…. Other elements of the Armor of God mentioned below are:

 
Eph 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God , so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
NIV

 
Speaking truth to the powers….
righteousness…
gospel of peace…
shields of faith… (not shields of nuclear warheads)
helmets of salvation, swords of Spirit, prayer, awareness that we are not fighting against flesh and blood… such things along with the Gospel of Peace seem to be sought after, not so much….

 
It just isn’t right that we should spend so much money, time, and energy building up walls of defense, using that armament actually for offense, and pre-emptive warfare, while we shed our lives of the Armor of God and ignore the Gospel of Peace and suffering and hungry humans in so many nations, and our own, and our supposed enemies beautiful mothers and children…

Our enemies are not flesh and blood..

 
“It just isn’t right,” cried Wink… Not for Mother Dogs, certainly not for humans…
Mother dogs and men who weep… Some don’t care so much about that idea either…
Maybe the world would be a better place if we did….

 
Oh, I just saw our neighbor who owns the dog again this morning after I finished this article… He waved, and I we walked to meet each other… I shook his hand, asked how the dog was doing and he said fine… I told him there are some people around concerned… He said the Animal Control people had talked to him and advised him the mother dog while nursing needs more protein, like chicken and stuff…. I was thinking of the Mother Church too, while talking to him… Yes, Christians need more protein too… Solid food, the meat of the Word…

Grace and Peace,

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Communion, Cross, Grace, mother's day, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

The Kingdom of God and Barabbas

March 24, 2013 Leave a comment

The Kingdom of God and Barabbas

I was thinking about the Kingdom of God recently in view of Pope Francis’ desire to serve the poor, and choose St. Francis of Assisi, known to many for his care for the poor, for the environment, and his love of Peace, as his namesake. When I heard of this name choice, I thought of the following Scripture from Luke 4, (NIV):

 

 

“16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” “

 

 

As Jesus began to proclaim the Kingdom of God, choosing this Hebrew Scripture from Isaiah 61, which goes into even more explanation of God’s concern for Social Justice, he seems to be introducing a Gospel of a new type of Kingdom on earth. The earthly Kingdoms and the Powers over those kingdoms seem to be more interested in ruling over humans, not setting them free, and certainly not ruling “under” as servants to humans under their jurisdiction.

 

 

I am writing today not to explain my thinking specifically regarding the Kingdom of God, but to tell you about a connection to Barabbas regarding the proclamation of Jesus quoted above. I am sure many have already thought of this connection before, but it had never really registered with me until today during Grace Church’s Palm Sunday worship service the connection between Luke 4 and Barabbas. We were watching a video where a man was imitating Peter, and said he was so sorry for betraying Jesus, that concerning the cross, it should have been me, (Peter.) Then I thought of Luke 4, and how the release of Barabbas was a also a fulfilling of this Scripture because it was the sinner, Barabbas, who was a captive set free… Then I thought. It should have been me, (John Cooper.) Then I thought, it should have been all of us, the whole world, and how the cross and Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection set all of us, captive to sin, free… Not just us though, According to other Scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 5, Jesus was reconciling the whole world.

 

 

Speaking of setting people free, let us look at this Scripture from Colossians 1 (NIV):

 

 

“20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”

IMG_20130324_115400_525[1]

IMG_20130324_115527_201[1]

So, here we go… Jesus setting Captives free, including Barabbas, you, and me, and reconciling all things to himself, on earth and in heaven, and making Peace too! Could it be finished? Could all we human captives to sin, including our enemies, all things, everyone, be set free? Would that not be good news, if it were true? I believe it is true! Some people, including some Christians, may not believe God is big enough to do things just like that, but I do, and it is my name written on the purple robes on the cross at Grace Church today with the words about setting captives free written on the robe, with many other names too at Grace Church today…. Let’s just imagine your name is there to, and that the whole world will be as one, living life in Peace… I may be a dreamer, but I am not the only one… :):)

 

 

So, thank you Pope Francis, for choosing that name and getting me to thinking about the Kingdom of God, that looks like Jesus, that looks like you, someone who came to serve under, not over others… Assuming that is what you mean to do and mean to continue to do… May we all do the same… Oh, and thank you Barabbas, if you are in heaven already reconciled. It should have been you… It should have been me…. It should have been us..

 

 

John Cooper
Grace & Peace,
https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Cross, Easter, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Palm Sunday, Peace, Uncategorized

God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems:):)

February 9, 2013 Leave a comment

God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems:):)

I set before my computer just a little dazed, knowing I need to write out my thoughts, knowing I have been thinking about some things I need to get off my chest, the past week or so.., not having a clear and present idea of exactly what it is… Have you ever been there? Have you ever prayed like that also? Help me, God, I do not know how to pray?

 
I and our families, including my personal church family have been going through a lot lately…. Personally, Wink, my wife, has had an exam that seems to indicate something suspicious regarding the occurrence of breast cancer from five years ago we thought was behind us… One of my cousins recently had a Mastectomy…. Our business is struggling for the past several years in an inhospitable housing industry related environment…. I have had a Patella tendon torn in two this past year and am still healing from that… In my church family, one of our members just lost her unborn child… One of my business friends recently lost his family business that had been a pillar of the community for over 60 years, and is selling his home to attempt to pay off more of his creditors.. I cannot pay our business bills in a timely manner as we have always been able to for over 35 years… One of my Great Nephews, only 5 years old, had holes drilled in his head to relieve pressure from fluid building up as a result of brain cancer, just yesterday…. He is scheduled for a craniotomy to take out one of the large masses of cancer from his skull this coming Tuesday…. There is more lurking in the background than even these things…

 

 

Ever been there? Ever done that? That is, you are personally struggling, and it seems so many you know are also personally struggling also? What is one to do? It seems to just pile up….

 

 

Last week, I think it was, Fred Shuckert, pastor of Grace Church, http://www.gracenews.org/index.php, which I am a member of, mentioned in his sermon a quote from Corrie Ten Boom, recalling it something like this, “”When I walked by a mirror I told God, “God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems.”” I got to thinking about that and could not get up the nerve to say it just like that, but that Sunday afternoon, I emailed another friend, Paul Kurts, a former pastor in the Worldwide Church of God, as I was, the following note regarding an email he had sent to me:

 

 

“The Pastor of Grace Church, Fred Shuckert, in Tuscaloosa, AL where I attend, mentioned a reference from a book written by Corrie Ten Boom something to the general idea of “When I walked by a mirror I told God, “God, your are just not big enough to handle all my problems….” And she laughed….

I tried it out Sunday afternoon three times, but I had to modify it to “Father, someone told me to look into the mirror and tell you that your are just not big enough to handle all my problems.” And, I laughed until I cried….

I went home thinking about it, and had to pull off the road, in front of Your Way Furniture and laugh some more until I cried some more…. It is “Your Way, Jesus!” We are not Furniture, we are all beautiful human beings, each one of us, loved by God before time began, because He gives us a portion of his Eternal Spirit, to live forever into eternity…. This is just hilarious! We should celebrate it! Every communion, we should celebrate, and remember Jesus, and remember we are chosen, and remember Jesus has promised to draw ALL men unto himself…. It is more than funny, it is funny and beautiful….. It is amazing….

We are looking for the original source for Corrie Ten Boom’s idea, but I have found this link that may be a clue: http://rinamarie.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/wednesdays-word-corrie-ten-boom-on-anxiety/

I intend to write some about this and post it to my blog site, https://jcooperforpeace.org/ ASAP….

Personally, Wink and I are facing a lot of personal problems, principally of which is that Wink is going back to the Dr. tomorrow for evaluation of an MRI which shows something suspicious regarding her occurrence of breast cancer originating 5 years ago. Our business is severally struggling, and it seems the more I do Spiritually, the more we are attacked physically… Therefore, when I look into the sky, and see the universe, and read of physical masses in the universe that are billions of light years across in width, depth, and height, and are propelled outward from Divine force, I look into the mirror and say, “Father, someone told me to look into the mirror and tell you that your are just not big enough to handle all my problems.” and… laugh, hilariously…:):)

Jesus, you are worthy, Jesus, you are the way… Your Way, Jesus…”

 

 

Now, your God may not reveal himself to you, as a Triune God, as mine has to me… You may not call him Jesus, you may call God Allah, or Yahweh, or God, or you may not call on him at all, but some day, I really believe, God will call on you, and all of us to believe in the One God of the Universe who created all of mankind and all of creation, and created us “Good,” and loved us, and promised us he has everything under his control, that he has a hope for us, that he has a plan for us, that he knows what is best for us, if we live, if we die, we live and die in the parameters of Eternity he alone can imagine in its fullness….

 

 

OH, by the way, he has promised to resurrect us. He has promised to draw ALL men unto himself, he has promised that EVERY knee will bow, He has said that as in Adam, ALL men die, so in Christ shall ALL men be raised alive.. He has promised he has a hope and a future for us. He has told us he SO loved the world that he gave his only son for us….

 

 

God is FOR us? Who can be against us? Let us Laugh, hilariously, that any enemy can think they are against us, or can do anything to us of an eternal or lasting meaning… Why, who would have thunk it, but maybe we might even consider loving our enemies! A key to peace in one’s personal life, a key to peace in ones national life, and key to peace in the life of the world is to love one’s enemies….
Let us rest in this Peace…

 

John Cooper
https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Communion, Grace, Lord's Supper, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

In Rembrance

December 30, 2012 Leave a comment

In Remembrance

I apologize in advance for being so boring, but the last two articles I have posted on my blog site, “New Covenant”, and “I Cried too, Mr. President.” are still giving me remembrance of the event Jesus instituted in his remembrance. Now I am remembering how I choose to remember others. I am sure this is a common human experience and others use the same methods…. I have in my possession a chest of drawers form my Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Hinkle, as well as 6 of the chairs he made as a cabinet maker in Salem, IN. (He was a farmer and a cabinet maker, as I am a cabinet maker,) and was a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Salem, IN.) I have pictures of his and my father’s progeny also. I have items from my mother’s household, items from my Aunt, Gladys Lemeron, and my step Uncle, Kenneth Cooper, the McCulley side of my family, and various other articles of remembrance by which I personally chose to remember my relatives. I am certain you know what I mean and probably also have articles of remembrance from your varied relatives.

These mementos are real… They are physical… We can touch them, we can feel them, we can connect with them and wonder and remember…. (I had in the essays posted to my blog site questioned if we believe the gifts Jesus left us, are real.)

 
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he returns.” (I Cor 11)

 
I wonder why the furniture we can touch and feel, and the pictures we look at and the memories we have personally experienced seem so “real?” Are Spiritual things not real? Maybe Spiritual things are actually more real, and we just do not realize it.

So, now I want to take off on a tangent, if you will allow… Stop right there…. Think about this…

 

 

Stop Right There 2012-12-27_07-26-33_739

This Picture is a remembrance to me of an art auction for our local Tuscaloosa, AL Jewish Synagogue’s building fund for their new temple which has now been constructed. I contributed a Tiger Woods serigraph to the auction which was organized by Toby Whitman, who served on the board of Compassion Coalition with me. I knew at the time that Toby had a terminal disease, cancer of the brain, and would most likely soon die, which she did, but she was as enthusiastic and cheerful as ever, as I always remembered her to be. I bought it, just to remember the event. I also was thinking how diametrically opposite the picture’s  message was to that of Jesus, who was radically inclusive of women in his ministry, allowing them to wash his feet, pour oil over his head, and all those things. Women just seemed to love Jesus…

I purchased another picture at the same Jewish Art auction….

 

 

2012-12-27_07-27-52_793

 

 

I remember bidding directly against Toby on this serigraph in a light hearted and friendly way… Sandy Koufax was Jewish. Toby of course, was Jewish… As a boy I saw Sandy Koufax pitch in the World Series. I also remembered him stand up for his religious beliefs in spite of persecution and refuse to pitch on the Jewish High Sabbath of Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, which in Biblical terms is the Sabbath of Sabbaths, a day to fast and repent, a day when the High Priest went once per year into the Holy of Holies…

 

I had to make a stand for my Spiritual beliefs in the ethics of Jesus in the late 1960’s myself, choosing to observe the Sabbath and the Biblical Holydays as a Christian, and choosing to refuse to go to war and becoming a conscientious objector to war myself. For perhaps 25 years I observed this same Holydays as Sandy Koufax, and refused to play tournament tennis, which was at that time my passion, on even the weekly Sabbath, the 7th, Day of the week… Since that time, I have found my rest and my Peace in Jesus, not in the observance of days, times, and seasons, but I still hold to the ethics of Jesus regarding Peace and Nonviolence. I explain this because I admired Sandy Koufax even before the beginnings of my conversion experiences.

 

I remember that I won the auction against Toby… It is hanging on our showroom wall… She wanted the picture bad, but I wanted it worser… :):)

 

Now, back to remembrances… What about the remembrances of Jesus, and what Jesus asked us to observe to remember him? “Do this,” Jesus said… But, would Jesus want Toby to do this, to take the “symbols” or the “real” remembrances of him in communion with ALL of mankind? No women may have been aloud (:):)) at the Lord’s supper, way back then, but I can only believe they would be allowed now…. Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, is it just for Christians, and not for all mankind? Would a Jew like Toby be welcomed by Jesus? To me, one can read Scriptures that say yes, and Scriptures that say no, but I ask you….

 

How many Christians were at the Lord’s first Communion? 12? None? I say, none, that they were all Jewish, and not yet True Believers, and that the Holy Spirit did not come upon them until 50 days later, (or, 49 depending upon inclusive or exclusive counting methods)…However, I believe Jesus has included all of mankind in his invitation to the table… If one does not yet believe, Jesus “symbols” are “real” enough to bring about that belief, given enough time and space, which God has plenty of….

 
I have personally taken communion with avowed atheists, such as Rong Li, and Muslims, such as Jamaal, from Yemen. I have taken first communion with new believers, like Mariko. They took it, and they did not just keel over dead, or get sick and die…. I believe Jesus wants all mankind to remember him. Nor do I get sick and die when I take the “real” blood and body of Jesus in communion with my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of the rules made up by men. That stated, however, in no way do I take this matter lightly. I believe this is a “real” remembrance, a Spiritual remembrance, more “real” than if it were merely a physical one, and of much more importance and value than placing a picture on a wall, for instance. To me, I am not worthy, no one is worthy, except by the Grace of God which is poured out upon the whole world, all whom God loves, which Grace, not of our own merit, supernaturally makes us worthy. To me, all men are included in this magnanimous love of God. I cannot imagine Jesus would refuse the bread and wine, gifts of remembrance, to any person who wants to receive them. Paul might have excluded unbelievers or Jews, at times in his life, or those danged wommenz :):), and at other times I believe he would have included all… Refer to his advice regarding meat sacrificed to idols… In one place yes, in another place, no. To me, it is all yeses with Jesus. Jesus gave his body and his blood for all, and he gave his symbols of remembrance to as yet unbelieving Jews, including Judas…. Only Judas died… Oh well…. We all have to die sometime, it may as well be right after receiving the body and blood of Jesus. That is the best of times to die…. Also, it is good reason to live again…

 

 

Oh, and one more thing, regarding “believers” who are the only ones to partake of this remembrance, according to the vast majority of “Christian” systems…., where does anyone say that? Does Jesus say it? Does Paul say it? Paul’s advice is to not partake of these remembrances unworthily… If you are not a believer, I believe if you really care about observing this remembrance, these gifts are real enough, and the Spiritual forces behind them are “real” enough to help you to become a believer! If not, you may soon die, and become a believer via other means…. :(:(

 

 

I remember Toby, we remember Jesus, I submit God remembers all of us, every one of use, and our Spirits return to God who gave them. Maybe these symbols of remembrance we are speaking of are leaves of the healings of all peoples, of all nations, of the world, all of it… really?

 

 

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Communion, Grace, Lord's Supper, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

Do This

December 22, 2012 Leave a comment

Do This

I write this in reflection of my previous two articles, “New Covenant”, and “I Cried too, Mr. President.” After discussions of whether taking communion is “real” or not, and considering the Sandy Hook school massacre of 2012, in which 20 small children and 6 adults were killed, the question on many minds is, “What are we going to “do” about these things?

Are we going to start arming guards to stand at schools as the NRA suggests? Are we going to stop teaching our culture of violence via children’s cartoons, video games, TV programs, and movies? Are we all going to repent and begin going to our churches, temples, and mosques again?

What are we going to do?

I really don’t know what we are going to do; these matters have set off some thinking processes in my mind which are perhaps appropriate at this time of year, the season some Christians appropriate to the Birth of Christ. (Others observe different time frames, such as early January, and some Christians do not observe days, times and seasons at all.) However, there is one observance that Jesus did actually ask us to do. It is an observance, not for a particular time and place, or time and season, but an observance we are asked to do as often as we choose to, which to some, is very often.

23For I have received from the Lord what I have also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night that he was handed over, took bread, 24and giving thanks, he broke it, and said: “Take and eat. This is my body, which shall be given up for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”25Similarly also, the cup, after he had eaten supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he returns. 27And so, whoever eats this bread, or drinks from the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be liable of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and, in this way, let him eat from that bread, and drink from that cup. 29For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks a sentence against himself, not discerning it to be the body of the Lord. 30As a result, many are weak and sick among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31But if we ourselves were discerning, then certainly we would not be judged. 32Yet when we are judged, we are being corrected by the Lord, so that we might not be condemned along with this world. 33And so, my brothers, when you assemble together to eat, be attentive to one another. 34If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may not assemble together unto judgment. As for the rest, I will set it in order when I arrive. (I Corinthians 11, emphasis mine)

I am reminded of the words of Daniel Berrigan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Berrigan, a Pacifist Catholic priest active in nonviolence who was at one time vice chairperson of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, whom I quote below:

“At the Pentagon we are dealing with the insane, the spiritually insane. We are dealing with irrational power. ……
For us, mostly Christians, this is also and extension of our normal worship, Our tradition is sacramental. It is full of symbols: human blood, ashes, water, oil.
We look upon this as taking the body and blood from the table of the sacrament to the Pentagon in the same way Christ was taken from table to Calvary, all in one day. At the table Christ announced the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood, thereby establishing this principle for his followers; you shed your own blood rather than the blood of others; your own body is broken rather than the body of others. This is the heart of the gospel. He said Do this! Do This! Which we understand to mean not only do this with symbols at the table, which can be very safe in the worst of times, but do this with our lives.
It is very interesting that the crimes that we are accused of at the Pentagon are the crimes of the altar. We have done this in obedience to Christ, and many of us have gone to prison for it, including my brother Philip and my sister-in-law Elisabeth.
Our conviction is that the sacraments, properly understood, are not merely a principle of worship but also a command of ethics and conduct.” (PEACE IS THE WAY, Writings on Nonviolence from the Fellowship of Reconciliation, edited by Walter Wink, Orbis Books)

Being a believer in the ethics of Jesus, those ethics of Peace and Nonviolence, and Social Justice, or being a Pacifist, Christian, or not, does not mean we do nothing about tragedies and injustices. Our nonviolence is not to be inactive, but active nonviolence. Doing something, doing this, is active.

Tragedies and injustices of war and poverty, and hatred should call Christians together in a bond of unity to do something. Do What?  If Jesus’ memory is real to us, we ought to do this…
Do this:
Come to the table…
Share our love for one another.
Share our love for the world.
Share our love with our children. (Hug them as President Obama advised, a little more tightly…)
Share our love with our enemies.
Share random acts of kindness, committed just because the love of God dwells in you…
Share love for the stranger among you, by telling a person from another nation you love them, even if you do not speak the same language.

  • Love is a language.
  • Love is a power.

Share our food…
Share our clothing…
Share our homes…
Share our time together…
Share a Hug with someone…
Share a Confession of our sins to each other… Ask for forgiveness…

  • I confess mine now… I have sinned in many ways, and still sin, and I am dependent upon the Grace and Forgiveness of God to be counted worthy.

Share Communion with a body of Christ….

It is the doing of such things that we remember Jesus… Do this, he said, in remembrance of me… For Christians, when we are trying to figure out what Jesus wants us to “do” about violence, and human injustices, war, Evil, and sins of commission and omission in our lives, to remember Jesus and what he told us to “do,” that is, “To love one another, as I have loved you,” is a very probable thing we should ”do” about it….
As a Christian, (better said, Christ follower…) (Sometimes one is chagrined by the historic baggage associated with the name, “Christian”) I would think that tragedies are not the time to go out and buy more guns, to lobby for putting guards in schools, but to see the need to confront our culture of violence, to realize we have been True Believers in the Myth of Redemptive Violence, which is the religion of fallen Powers. Our taxes support the crimes of violence we are speaking of, wars, drone strikes, etc., and we cannot help it, so we too are guilty… Before the table let us ask forgiveness, so we can be worthy, because we are forgiven…. by Grace, through Faith. We are sick, and we die, perhaps because we live our lives violently, unworthily, of the one we are to remember, Jesus. We cannot carry a gun and a cross at the same time. Our way is the way of the cross…, to the Cross… The Cross is the Way, Peace is the Way… The Cross resulted in God’s gift of Peace to mankind. God is not angry with man, He is at Peace with us, Jesus left his Peace with us, God loves the world. This should be Good News!
If there is something real about the symbols of communion, the gifts of the altar, if we really believe in the real body and blood of Jesus, if we believe he is in us and we are in him, I really think we will “do” these things in remembrance, real remembrance of Jesus. As we do these things, Jesus will become more real to us… We cannot bring our children back to life, but Jesus can, and said he would… When he returns.. It won’t be long now…. Before the lion dwells with the lamb, it won’t be long now…
Grace and Peace,
John Cooper

Filed under Christian, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Sandy Hook, Uncategorized

I Cried too, Mr. President

December 14, 2012 Leave a comment

I Cried too, Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

I cried too….

While watching you cry on the Internet video, regarding the violence in Newtown, Ct.  I cried too, with tears streaming down my cheeks…., more than yours… Unashamedly, I admit this, contrary to the tough guy culture of Americanism, which would never admit to weakness, or emotion, or love and concern for our enemy.

I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King, a GREAT man, who was our predecessor… Dr. King was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, as I am.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation is our nation’s largest and oldest interfaith Peace, Non-Violence, and Social Justice organization, founded in 1915, and proclaims the vision of Peace, Active Nonviolence, and Social Justice.

Dr. King read Tolstoy, and Gandhi, and Jesus, who believed in Peace and Nonviolence, and Social Justice, as I do….

May all Americans, and you also read them too….

May we Americans stop this madness….

May we stop training our children in violent games…

May we stop paying for and watching violence on TV and not purchase goods from those who support violence on TV by advertising.

May we American stop this culture of violence….

May we Americans repent now of our sins and transgressions….

of not Loving our enemies…

of not loving each other….

May we bring our young men and women warriors home?

May they work for a worthy cause?

May we also grieve for our enemies and their children’s sons and daughters killed in war, and drone strikes?

Mr. President, you too, could be a great man…, Like Dr. King….

You too, could help change this world for the better….  As you seemed to promise in your first campaign…..

May we invest in Peace, not in war, not in weapons of mass destruction, of which we are the King of the world regarding weapons of Nuclear war….

And, you, the King of Drones… Please repent….  Violence is not the way…. Peace is the Way…

May we rob the Military – Industrial complexes of their ill gotten gains and give the funds to the poor.

What would Jesus cut?  I believe Jesus would cut expenditures for war, killing, and destruction….

May we sacrifice our wants which are over our needs?

May you help cast the vision of a more just and more equitable society?

A much wiser man than I, or you, has said that if we take up the sword, we will die by the sword…

May we repent?

Please, Mr. President, cry some more.. Thanks for crying!

May we all cry out for Peace and Justice…

Grace & Peace,

John Cooper

https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Grace, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

New Covenant

December 12, 2012 Leave a comment

NEW COVENANT

I was in a Bible Study recently and we were discussing Matthew 26 and the subject of the New Covenant came up.  In the process of discussion I piped up with one of my typical off the top of my head smart aleck type of remarks, “most Christians do not know what the New Covenant is”, and I said that Jesus gave us a New Covenant, that we should love one another as He loved us”.  I immediately sensed a room full of blank looks from the room full of Christians.  I was not the teacher, so I let the subject drop.  The teacher, Dr. Phil Bishop, said, yes, “A new commandment I give you that you should love one another, as I love you,” which is actually the accurate and literal quote.

Which reminds me, speaking of literality, at another point in the discussion, I related my recent visit with my Aunt, Joan McCulley, a lifelong and dedicated Roman Catholic, when I went with her and some of our family to Mass at the Paris, Illinois St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  Normally, when I attend a Catholic church, if I want to, I will just go up to receive communion, termed “the gifts” in Catholicism.  To me, that is a good term…  This time, however, on the way to church, being the provoking type of person I can be, (in a good way I hope); I asked my aunt if it would be okay if I took communion.  Now I already thought I knew the Catholic beliefs on this matter, having been raised Catholic myself, that only church members should take communion.  Also, I had in the past asked Fran Viselli, a friend who is a Catholic deacon and also on the Advisory Council of Circles of Peace with me, the same question when invited to his church and he stated, “Well they cannot refuse it”.  Therefore, I take communion in the Catholic Church if I want to; after all, I have never yet been “disfellowshipped” by the Catholic Church as some groups in Protestantism are wont to do to you if you do not agree with their doctrines or beliefs.

Back to my Aunt…..Aunt Joan answered my questions that no, I should not take it, because non-Catholics do not believe the bread and wine (or elements) are the actual body and blood of Jesus (transubstantiation).  She said if I would “come home” I could receive communion.  I told her I was coming home, right then and there, but I did not want to come “home” anywhere I could not eat.  :):) My sister, Janelle, also a lifelong Catholic, piped up that “those are just symbols”.  Then my Aunt and my sister (who takes communion in Protestant churches when she wants), got into a discussion about these matters…..

I did not explain all this in such detail to the class at Grace Church, but I briefly explained it and asked the question about the statement Jesus made, “This is my body, take of it and eat, and this is my blood, God’s New Covenant, poured out for many people, drink of it”.  I asked, “Is it real, as the Catholics believe, or is it just a symbol”?  This enticed some confusion and more discussion among us.

Well, what do you think?  Is it real?  Is it a symbol?  Could it be both?  Which is it?  Also what about the New Covenant, which Jesus says this is?  Is the New Covenant real?  Is the New Covenant just a symbol of ideals of Jesus that are really for another place and another time, in the future?  Is the New Covenant only for believers, or is it for everyone?  Should everyone believe they should love one another, as Jesus loved, or should only Christians love one another, and not others who are not Christians?  Possible clue…Did God so love the world, all of it, or just part of it?

I admit, after piping up about most all Christians, and hardly any of them actually know what the New Covenant is, that I was rusty on the subject myself and I needed to give more thought to the words that had just popped out of my mouth since I confused myself a little also.  After all, it was in the mid 1990’s that I addressed such matters extensively when the church I was in (and became a pastor of) struggled in a New Covenant transformation, having formerly believed all Christians, and all people for that matter, should adhere to the Old Covenant (the Ten Commandments for instance) as well as adhere to the New Covenant (which, by the way, we did not actually know what the New Covenant was back then).

Whadda ya mean the Ten Commandments are the Old Covenant, Cooper?

Ex 34:28

“28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant — the Ten Commandments.”

NIV

Many Christians do not know the Ten Commandments are the Old Covenant, especially not in Alabama, apparently.  Well then, we know the Old Covenant is at least real, written on stone, and all of that, but what about the New Covenant?  Is it real?

Speaking of commandments, the New Commandment Jesus gave us was this:  “A New Commandment (covenant?) I give you that you should love one another, as I have loved you.”  This covenant, this commandment is a gift, like the Catholics refer to the “elements” of bread and wine as “gifts”.  Jesus is said to have written it on our hearts this time, not on stone… Really?  Is this Covenant real to us?  We cannot really love one another, nor certainly can we love the enemies of our own selves unless we have this gift living in us.  I like to term this gift as being that the Spirit of Jesus has infected us.

It is real!

This is a real infection, not to make one sick, but to make one well.  It is an infection that we as Christians need to consider at this time of year, Christmas, when we give lip service to love, peace, non-violence and social justice for one or two days, then revert back to the default mode of our spiritual enemy of hatred, greed, selfishness, war, killing, etc. in many ways (now I do not say all ways).

I say these things to challenge us all, including my own self, to greater acts of love for each other and of love for our “enemies.” That this New Covenant, the very flesh and blood and spirit of Jesus which should really be living inside of us, caused by a Spiritually Divine and Spiritually real infection of our hearts and minds, should really be shared with all mankind in honor of Jesus, who loved us first and gave His life for us that we may live in an eternal kingdom now, where the lion and the lamb dwell together, where Blacks and Whites, Orientals and all humans live together, where nations live together and mothers and children live in managers, and homeless live on streets, with no place to lay their heads, but human beings smile at them, and tell them they love them.  Why don’t we, the next time we receive the “gifts” (communion, The Lord’s Supper, etc.) believe they are real.  They are meant to be shared as an offering from God to us.  A New Covenant, not in any way dependent on us or our own agreement with it (Jeremiah 31), but a Covenant and way of life and way to live peacefully and nonviolently in love for each other,  with one another.  It is all about God, all about a divine being living in  mankind, and in Jesus, incarnate, one might say, and in us, and celebrated by Christians at Christmas.

May our celebration of this Covenant, of this Communion and Love for one another, last longer, forever.  May it be real.  May it begin now, if it has not already begun, in your life.

Love & Peace,

John Cooper

https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

Dreams for Sale

October 28, 2012 Leave a comment

Dreams for Sale

I was in touch with my past again this past week.  There are times when we get in touch with our past via dreams and other times when we meet those who have been a part of our past experiences in person.

This past week I attended the funeral of Sarah Campbell Benson, who died from cancer at the age of 43.  Her husband is Rick Benson.  I have known both of them from their very young ages.  We were all a part of the Worldwide Church of God, formerly a cultish church group founded in the early 20th Century by Herbert Armstrong as a break off church of the original Adventist movement.  The church has experienced transformation and is no longer considered a cult.  However, this church has experienced severe decline in membership and has split many times itself as a result of the majority of its membership discovering its former cult status or disagreeing with its New Covenant Grace based Theology.  Most who remained loyal to the original visions of Herbert Armstrong have left for splinter groups.  This division mainly occurred beginning in the early 1990s.

It is certainly not that we do not like each other as individual human beings.  Almost all I know, and certainly on mine and my wife’s part, still love each other from our past experiences in life.  Seeing each other from so long ago, as when we meet each other for funerals and other life events, can be a bittersweet experience.  Of course funerals bring sorrow, along with the joy of seeing those you have not seen for so long, as well as their children you may have known as little boys and girls and now have wrinkled faces and children and grandchildren of their own.

Many times such movements and church groups, and even governments are founded upon dreams for a better world and a better future for mankind.  I well remember the dreams for a Kingdom of God to return to this earth with Jesus as its head, where Peace would flourish, the Lion would dwell with the lamb, swords would be turned to plowshares, and men would not learn war anymore.  I still dream of this future…  I think the problem comes when dreams that should be shared are dreams that are sold as a pyramidical marketing scheme to aggrandize the dreamer.

I gave a lot to these types of dreams.  I was a True Believer.  I remember after having quit college because of ethical decisions I had made, I received a letter from my Mother asking me not to discontinue my education, but to return to school…  This was probably in about 1969.  I advised her that I would, that in 1972, I would return to school for 3-1/2 years to complete my education.  What I did not tell her was I had envisioned this continued education to occur in Petra, an ancient ruin the old Nabataean  Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataeans where such “True Believers” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer as I was would be in a “Place of Safety” in the midst of Tribulation the rest of the world would experience.  It was to be in this Place of Safety I would continue my education in preparation for Jesus’ return in 3-1/2 years.  After all, this Tribulation was thought to perhaps occur in 1972.

A dream… A pipe dream I eventually found out somewhere after 1972, then 1984 :):) that was not to occur….  If all the religious groups who believe in such dreams and market them for sale where to be in Petra, it would be quite a crowded place.  http://otagosh.blogspot.com/2012/10/petra-atlantis-of-desert.html

After all these years, I now understand that the Spirit of God (Whom Christians believe is portrayed in Jesus) is not elucidated in being set apart from other human brothers and sisters in protection,  or good health, or having plenty of material goods and superior knowledge.  The Spirit of God (or Jesus) is elucidated in communal suffering for mankind and in dreams of the betterment of all mankind, and of a “Beloved Community.”  If the end of time is to occur to us, personally, (as it may have done to Sarah), if war is to overtake the world and nuclear weapons be used to vaporize humanity, let us suffer together.  Let us give and share our last bread, our last clothes, our last hugs, our last prayers, and our last dreams.

It was such suffering that was spoken of in Sarah Benson’s funeral.  She suffered immensely from this dreaded disease, cancer, but all those who saw her spoke of her caring and love and spirit, of her concern and love for others in the midst of her own suffering.  Several of her friends including Rick, her husband spoke at the funeral of these sacrifices.  It is only when we can give up our lives with concern and love for other humans, that we will realize the dreams God has for each of us.  I remember Sarah’s smile and gentile spirit more than anything else about her and I can dream she is gently smiling now.  If death is state of unconsciousness or sleep (soul sleep) until the promised resurrection, one can still dream while sleeping.  We are told the Spirit returns to God who gave it.  Things like this, the state of the dead before the resurrection, time and eternity, are things to wonder about that only a wonderful God knows about for sure….   Perhaps Sarah is dreaming now….  Perhaps Sarah is not dreaming, but smiling now…gently smiling…

Whichever, this I believe: It is when dreams are sold to others for gain that problems occur.  Dreams of Politicians of Peace through domination, dreams of American Exceptionalism, dreams of Peace through war, dreams of adding 2 Trillion dollars more than asked for in military budgets while cutting the deficit and not raising taxes either are dreams being sold.  It is voodoo arithmetic, and the dreams are voodoo dreams.  It just is not going to happen.  If you believe it, you are the True Believer.  If you believe in these dreams and the Myth of Redemptive Violence, it is you who are the True Believer.  It is your choice.

Life choices…. Do not disparage the path which your Divine Being has called you to trek… I do not disparage the path I have trekked… In comparison to Eternity, if we have trekked the path of a non standard religion, or even a standard system of religion, which is in many cases historically worse, life goes on…  Dreams are never stopped… Also, consider Nationalism, nearly the same thing as religion…  Try not to trek the path of Nationalism…  We must eventually learn to live beyond systems…  Do not disparage any of the people you meet on the path you have taken or are taking.  Love them.  It was hugs all around at Sarah’s funeral…. We cannot just cast aside the people we love because of their choices in the past or their choices now.

Living beyond systems is to live in the Beloved Community….. http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy.  This is one of the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King.   He had a dream… Dr. King’s dream is not for sale to the highest bidder… His dream does not require your monetary input, but the input of your heart, the input of your love, the input of your dreams for all of humankind.  None of us can dream a better dream than this, or of that dream of Jesus, that we “love our enemies”….

Dreams are given, not to be sold…  Hugs are free… Dreams are free… Don’t let nobody charge your for them…:):)  “Don’t let nobody tell you God don’t love you, cause He do”…:):)  A quote, If I recall correctly, from Billy Sunday… A double negative, for sure, but don’t, don’t let nobody charge you for dreams….

Love & Peace,

John Cooper

Filed under Christian, Grace, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

6 Par

October 15, 2012 Leave a comment

6 Par

Now any self respecting golfer knows that according to the rules of golf, there are only 3 pars, 4 pars, and 5 pars. There is no such thing as 6 pars.

Case Closed?

Not so fast….

I am reminded of one of our most outspoken political personages, former United States Agriculture Secretary, see Below:
“At the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome, Butz made fun of Pope Paul VI’s opposition to “population control” by quipping, in a mock Italian accent: “He no playa the game, he no maka the rules.”  A spokesman for Cardinal Cooke of the New York archdiocese demanded an apology, and the White House requested that he apologize.  Butz issued a statement saying that he had not “intended to impugn the motives or the integrity of any religious group, ethnic group or religious leader.”  Through a spokesman, he stated that media outlets had taken this portion of his statement out of their original context, which was that of retelling a joke. “(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Butz)

“He no playa the game, he no maka the rules” :):)
6 Par… A new game.. I play golf, so I can make some new rules!

These rules are made so I, who am still having difficulty walking, let alone hitting long golf shots, can enjoy golf, and also for my friend, Ray Willkie, who is in Stage 4 of cancer of the larynx, which has metastasized.

Here are the rules:

“Fellow competitors” (I may have more to say on that term later), play according to these rules I have invented because of my torn Patella tendon injury which has made me unable to play golf in a regular way and also created the rules for my friend, Ray Willkie, mentioned above, ride up to the green area in a golf cart. The par is 6 on any hole. The first shot is hit from the fringe or rough where the cart stops with a wedge. The players gear is limited to two clubs, a wedge of their own choice, and a putter, and limited to three balls. The wedge shot counts as one stroke. If one person misses the entire green with the wedge shot, he can use a wedge again to arrive on the green, but this takes away the free throw to be described next.  Next, both competitors throw one ball to the hole either underhanded or over handed as chosen with the loft desired in accordance with the playing conditions toward the hole. This throw does not count as a stroke, but helps develop hand eye coordination. The next ball is thrown to another area of the green for a long putt. The fellow competitor follows suit attempting to duplicate the other player’s shot and throw. Then each player plays his ball until it is putted into the hole NO GIMMIES.

One can also play this game by oneself. Par is 6 on any hole. A Birdie is 5, and an Eagle is 4 and a hole in one is three. If playing as partners, the loser gets the opportunity to start the next hole. If your fellow competitor scores better than you for three consecutive times, then he must play left handed (or other handed) until you score better for three rounds in a row. This helps level the playing field.

Talk to each other. Listen to each other… Learn from each other. Have fun!

For those who believe in God, I am thinking of some lessons to learn….

We are all fellow competitors in life as a golfer is a fellow competitor against the golf course, and the ball is played as it lies, so are we fellow competitors in life, “not against flesh and blood”, but against higher powers and principalities, otherwise known as evil forces of the universe, or in ancient lore, such as the book of Job, sea monsters, or Leviathan. We are all in this game of life together, and we all must realize the end goal is not to make it out of this life alive, but to give our lives in service to each other and to make some kind of contribution to society and to each other as human beings created in God’s image. Let’s live this life together, not fighting one another, not participating in the Myth of Redemptive Violence foisted upon us for the past thousands of years as the solution to our problems… Look for instance, at most political parties, including those in the current United States Presidential “game”… Both parties think violence is the solution to Evil… Which one will defeat this Evil with the violence they purport? It just has not worked for thousands of years… why not try something else?

Let us help each other out… If our fellow competitor is losing, let us drop his ball closer to the hole, making it easier on him, not more difficult… Oh, and let us love one another, even our enemies, in this game of life….

God, (or Jesus, if you are a Christian), has a perfect right to change the rules of life… So must we change the rules of golf if those rules become too difficult for us… If we can’t walk so well, if cancer is harming our bodies, let us change the rules… Jesus did… He did it for us… The Law, and even the 10 Commandments, the heart of the law, were changed by Jesus to their Spiritual intent in a New Covenant he made, not in agreement with us, but in agreement with himself, that our only rules in life should be based upon the premise that we love each other as Jesus loved us, including loving our enemies. It is not that those rules are any easier, or that it is any easier to make par 6 according to the above rules, than par 3, 4 , or par 5, but that we can still play the game. We do not have to be a mighty warrior, but can be an old man, an old woman, or a little child playing by a golf hole, or the hole of a snake, or a child petting a lion…. that is what it means to walk in this Kingdom , there is no hurt, no pain, no suffering in this Kingdom, and every tear is wiped away… I am reminded of the Kingdom of Shivas Irons…http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Kingdom_of_Shivas_Irons.html?id=gsuxw1kYjRQC, only this Kingdom is so much better, and Eternal too..

Let’s make par 6’s if needed, Let’s love one another and die for one another, not kill one another, nor send out Drones to kill each others families sleeping in bed, including women and babies, and children playing with toys… http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6yMOzvmgVhc#!Let’s drop the ball closer to the hole… Golf balls, that is, not Drones…  Hopefully our enemies, if we have any after they understand this Divine love, will understand and join us…. Walk together to the green… Let us not develop nuclear weapons, let us ask forgiveness for ever having used them, let us disarm ourselves of nuclear weapons, ALL nations, that is… and submit ourselves to the risk of living this life and dying out of Divine love, not human greed and hate, or of our “right to exist”… After all we have sinned, we have no “right to exist”, except my Grace of God…. Our new life will also be according to this same Grace of God.
Believe… Believe we can walk at Peace with God and each other, with nature, hearing the birds chirp and sing, and believe that God is at Peace with us… It just does not matter what score we make in life… or, on a particular segment or golf hole… Enjoy the journey… Accept suffering… Be Joyful… We are ALL already forgiven… Just believe…

Oh, and try out my new game… 6 Par, some time… You will like it!

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Golf, Grace, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

1 Iron

October 6, 2012 1 Comment

1 Iron

I just heard today that a dear friend of mine, one with whom I have spent many hours playing golf, has cancer.

I was reminiscing a little, as fishermen and golfers are wont to do, about some of our experiences together.

As human beings we are witnesses together of each other’s more significant feats and life experiences. We witness birth, baptism, conversion, marriage, graduations, and yes, sickness, and eventual death. According to the Christian Bible, we will also be witnesses to each other’s eventual resurrection, no one of us to precede the other. My friend is Ray Willkie. I one time witnessed his 195 yard hole in one struck with a 3 iron on hole number 9 of the Tuscaloosa Country Club Golf Course. It cost me money too…. I recall I was $2.50 up on #9, according to our friendly wager. Then, suddenly, I was $97.50 down due to a standing $100 wager we had on the fellow competitor’s hole in one. He had to buy the drinks though…. 🙂 🙂

Another friend of mine, Jimmy Patton, witnessed one of my golfing accomplishments, a 120 yard hole in one with a Pitching Wedge on Hole #17 of the same course. Another hole in one I had was witnessed only by God, since I was playing alone. This reminds me of a golfing adage, “Only God can hit a 1 ion.” A 1 iron used to be my favorite club. Ray Willkie has been a witness some of my most memorable shots with a 1 iron. One time we were playing together at the old Tannehill course and I chose to lay up on hole #9, a 325 yard hole, with a 1 iron. Somehow I hit the club just right and my tee shot ended up nearly on the green. A 1 iron is difficult to hit correctly, especially the forged blade types of clubs that I play with. “Only God can hit a 1 iron,” it is said in golfing lore.

When one has serious problems, such as cancer, the tendency is to look to God for comfort and ultimate solutions. Only God can strike a 1 iron, and only God can strike to the heart of our some of our problems in life. Healing is one of those instances, where even with the assistance of modern medicine, ultimately, we must rest upon the promises of Divine healing. Even if Doctors and medicine can help in some way, for some period of time, and bring such things as Cancer into remission, ultimately, we must look to God for our resurrection to life, since no one has gotten out of our common human existence without dying first.

Witnesses…. The Apostles of the New Testament were witnesses to the life events and accomplishments of Jesus the Christ. They risked their lives to tell the stories of his feats. They witnessed Jesus’ resurrection to life and wrote of that resurrection in the Gospels… The Gospels are called Good News. They are Good News because there is hope for a life to come, beyond the pain and suffering we experience in this life. The Apostles were witnesses to the miraculous healings of Jesus. They were witnesses to his walking on water, feeding 5,000 with only a basket of bread and fish. They were witnesses to Jesus’ Divine love and healing for even his enemies. Why, one time, he even placed an ear back on a Roman soldier, his enemy, and healed him…  All these feats, and accomplishments of Jesus offer us far more hope for the future than sickness and eventual death can muster against us.

We will all face up to the Divine calling of Jesus, if not in this life, perhaps at our resurrection…. In my view, it is better to face up to and accept it while alive now. We should view this life as all our being in it together, both friends and enemies, as witnesses of each other’s life story and accomplishments. Perhaps one day we will realize we are all brothers and sisters, when we are all at peace with one another, and the world is at peace. I feel that is one of our callings, to be Peaceful witnesses…. We are not called to condemn, to hate, or to judge one another.  Those who are call themselves Christians are actually called to Peace, but not that many seem to know it yet.. They will know it…

Only God can hit a one iron…. Only God can provide healing… Only God can forgive sins and provide peace. Let us rest in this hope…

Love & Peace,

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Golf, Grace, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

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