Trust to hope

inklingz — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:51:45 +0000

Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane–Red in Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption Farewell. Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands–Éomer …

Upside-down, Inside-out

inklingz — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:11:14 +0000

Easter presents the most important question that each person must answer in his life—what happened to the body of Jesus of Nazareth? Contrary to the eponymous Bunny which has become the symbol of this day, Jesus of Nazareth lived—he was a historical figure—he was real. The life of Jesus arguably better documented than that of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln—and the historical documentation was from both sympathizers and critics (it's ironic that the writings of those who despised him are some of the best evidence of his life—ah, the law of unintended consequences!). Jesus lived. Jesus was also killed. This relieved his enemies—those threatened for either political or religious reasons (perhaps both in some cases)—by the message he propagated. He proposed nothing short of a re-ordering of all things, an upside-down, inside-out order that meant those on top might end up on bottom, and that those on the bottom might actually be on top. He was the evidence himself, he claimed—God come to earth in the form of a human—arguably the most radical cosmic re-ordering possible! And as if that wasn’t enough to upset people, he threw in a few comments about conquering death and rising again on the third day. So it was in the interest of the establishment (or so they thought) to get rid of this man and his upside-down, inside out nonsense—just in case. The religious establishment trumped up false charges and used the political establishment to carry out a rigged trial and the execution. It all came down to the body—and everyone knew it. The body was the only evidence needed to prove that Jesus was a phony, that there would be no ‘rising again’ on the third…or any other day—that there would be no new Kingdom with an upside-down, inside-out order. They snuffed out the man and now would snuff out his following. So they put Jesus’ body in a cave, with a sealed rock in front of it and armed guards to protect it. How did it come to this? Easter presents the most important question that each person must answer in his life—what happened to the body of Jesus of Nazareth? Contrary to the eponymous Bunny which has become the symbol of this day, Jesus of Nazareth lived—he was a historical figure—he was real. The life of Jesus arguably better documented than that of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln—and the historical documentation was from both sympathizers and critics (it's ironic that the writings of those who despised him are some of the best evidence of his life—ah, the law of unintended consequences!). Jesus lived.

Welcome to inklingz

inklingz — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:32:47 +0000

Thanks for visiting Inklingz.net. I am a seminary dropout currently working in finance, with a lot of interest in politics, music, fiction and long-distance running, so anything could happen here. My hope is that we can have an exchange in …

inklingz » J.R.R. Tolkien

Trust to hope

Upside-down, Inside-out

Welcome to inklingz