Pastockwell's Blog

Holy Week – April 20

The third day in this Holy week is full of questions. I can only imagine what people are thinking as Jesus teaches in the synagogue. He sits around listening and talking, but His words are for changing how we live, not how we should be armed and dangerous. This isn’t going to defeat the Romans and the Pharisees who stand against Him. I can only imagine how disappointed some of the people might be about His actions so far. I can only imagine what some people might be thinking about the lack of recruiting for fighters. What kind of leader just sits and talks? I must have faith in what He is doing, but I really am confused. I just don’t understand. Judas Iscariot secretly has questioned Him. I can only imagine what people would think if they heard one of the disciples having doubts. He needs to stand up against the Jewish leaders; against the Roman invaders. I must believe He knows what He is doing, but I am losing confidence in Him. He is not acting as I want Him to act. I can only imagine.

Holy Week – April 19

Day two of a miraculous week has arrived. I can only imagine; Jesus is talking about changes in the way we should live. Why isn’t he raising more disciples to follow Him? He is only talking about being kind to friends and neighbors. He speaks of forgiveness and compassion; not of disavowing the Pharisees and the elders. I can only imagine what they might be thinking of His words. He’s not acting against them; just questioning their teachings as relating to the Torah. He says he will fulfill the prophecies. He says He can rebuild the temple in three days. What is He talking about? Nobody is tearing it down! Why isn’t He raising an army to expel the Romans? I don’t get it. He talks about the Kingdom of God. Where is it? What will He do to make sure we can live in this new kingdom? All I want is for the Romans to leave and never return. I can only imagine the confusion others are feeling about what He is doing and saying. His disciples are joyous all of the time. Why? What do they know that I don’t? I want this new kingdom; I need this new kingdom. I will gladly arm myself and follow you, Lord Jesus; just tell me what to do. I can only imagine.

Holy Week – April 18

The great procession into Jerusalem is over. The streets still contained remnants of the palm fronds thrown in the pathway of Jesus as he rode in on the borrowed ass. The multitude of followers is thrilled because a new life is going to happen. I can only imagine the excitement as he approaches the synagogue to teach. His words have meaning far beyond any this world has to offer. I can imagine the thrill of hearing about eternal life and wonder about how I can change my life to accept what is being said. I have no concerns about the feelings of those who have rejected his teachings and words he has spoken. They don’t get it and deserve to suffer the fate that awaits them. Jesus is the savior. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. I can imagine the people around Him listening to Him and ignoring the pharisaic teachings. I can imagine the excitement of Roman rule ending once and for all. He will build an army of disciples to rise up and strike against those who oppress the people. He will become the most benevolent ruler the world has ever seen. All is good on the day after the procession into Jerusalem. All is wonderment and a miracle. All we need to do is follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the Son of God. All we need to do is be strong for the coming battle of good against evil. I am willing to die for my Lord. What a blessed day today has become. I can only imagine.

April 16

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the great procession into Jerusalem by Jesus and his disciples. As I wrote in an earlier posting, a person today can only imagine what it must have been like. I don’t pretend to understand any of the motivation for these people to invade an area laden with enemies waiting to find an excuse to arrest him or worse. At the same time many of the less powerful people probably waited anxiously for their messiah. Today we believe in our messiah and have faith that we are saved by what transpired over the next week. My father, an Episcopal priest, stood strong with the idea that we need to follow our savior. He taught me to be strong in faith and I have continued learning and growing in that faith in God. This next week is important to all Christians. We need to think about what is represented by the procession and the events. What happened those many hundreds of years ago changed the world. May we continue to change it for the better.

April 15

Today is the traditional tax day for Americans. We pay our income taxes as deductions from our paychecks, usually, then complete and submit our tax form to the IRS. I suppose some pay quarterly as self-employed people. I don’t mind paying my taxes as I get goods and services for the money I send to the government. I hear the complaints of people who say they take enough from them.  Capitalism is a wonderful economic system, but humans are sinful because of greed. So what is our responsibility to each other? Do we want a collapse of civility because we don’t like each other’s political stance? Do we like what we have in this country or do we want to chip it apart and start little regional countries? Jesus asked us to love each other as we would want to be loved. We still fight meaningless wars; we hoard money, if we can. We don’t like anyone who might be a different color or religion or ethnic background. For those of us who are fighting to maintain sanity in this nation, keep on fighting. Live your life like God intended and maybe we can make it work after all.

April 14

Next week is Holy Week for Christians. We will start with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem this Sunday and have our hearts ripped out on Friday, only to rejoice because of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. What a wild ride that will be. Of course, I understand that the week is a commemoration of what really happened. But something did happen during that fateful time period. A man professed to be at one with God, set about healing people of their infirmities, raising dead people to life again, teaching about the wonder of eternity and all he gets for it is a wooden cross on which to hang. Yesterday I asked if we could climb onto the cross the way Jesus did. I have thought about this for much of my life. I would like to think I could, but fortunately, I have not encountered the opportunity to be tested. Not many of us have. I think about some of the people I know who have been tested, not on a cross, but in life. These people have put their life on the line to protect me, my family, and my friends. They have protected people I don’t even know. One of these fine people is my niece, a King County sheriff’s deputy who witnessed much more than I would want. Unfortunately, her career was cut short because of a traffic accident that caused some disabilities which she is overcoming as best she can. I have a son in the navy, who has flown in F-18A Super Hornets. His career took him into a war zone. I celebrate Holy Week because I have faith that Jesus suffered on the cross so I do not have to. I believe in a future life after death from this planet. I haven’t any comprehension of what it might be, but I have faith heaven exists. I wrote this blog with faith, as I had a writer’s block when I sat down to my computer. See what faith can bring! My fingers just started typing and the Holy Spirit guided what letters they hit.

April 13

I won’t normally write about comparison of political positions and religious tenets in this blog. However, I have been thinking about the positions that political leaders are taking these days and how these positions relate to what Christ taught his disciples and the people of Israel. I believe strongly that Jesus was a social reformer who asked each of us to share with anyone who had a need. Luke 3:11 “If you have two coats,” he replied, “give one to the poor. If you have extra food, give it away to those who are hungry.” So how do our political leaders stack up to this bit of Biblical reality? I see some of them arguing against our social safety nets by cutting social security and Medicare benefits for citizens. There are leaders who believe the people who have the most money should have even more. Remember what happened to the rich man who refused to help Lazarus, the beggar? (Luke 16:14-31) I do not want to judge anyone’s intentions, but this story points out the right attitude we should have when it comes to the needs of society and the desire for control, power, and money. Control, power, and money are not evil in and unto themselves. We can use control to enhance our society. We can use power to direct improvements to our society. We can use money to improve our society. But do we? Many of us use control to make others cow to our desires. We use power to build empires for ourselves. We use money to buy our control and power. During Lent, I want to understand how I can use control, power, and money to improve the society in which I live. Of course, I feel like a fool when I realize I have control over so little, power over only my own life, and limited money. But I always have faith in God’s love for me.

April 12

I have enjoyed my two days as a seating host at Safeco Field. I am scheduled for tomorrow, as well. Although the team is struggling for wins, the fans are fun. I have not had any rude, inappropriate behaviors which could cause their removal from the stadium. How does all of this tie into my Lenten discipline? I am now living a more structured life as a retired teacher who is now employed again. My writing discipline means I must carve out time for the writing and still have time for other activities. I am scheduled for several games a month and travel time is up to three or four hours per game. God provides us with the ability to accomplish what is expected of us. So faith in God is important to me. I realize I have obligations to family (my grandson) and other people, so structure and discipline becomes a mainstay for daily living. Reach out to your family and friends and have no excuses for not being a part of their lives. God created an orderly universe. We should be able to live an orderly life.

April 11

Can you imagine what it would be like to understand that your behaviors would lead to your death, and you followed the behaviors anyway? I have a hard time believing I would continue following a path of action which ultimately would cause my death. We are nearing Holy Week which is next week. Holy Week represents the last week of Jesus Christ’s life on this planet as a human being. He knew what was coming and chose to continue teaching his disciples and anyone else who cared to listen. He had been ministering to people in and around Jerusalem for three years. He taught and healed on the Sabbath, which was against Judaic law. He reasoned with people about what it meant to be a true Jewish person. He gave lessons to people about how to live a better, more rewarding life. All of his actions ultimately led to the high council of the Pharisees to condemn his action and commit the eventual wickedness of having him put to death. Can you do what Jesus did? Ask yourself daily; is what I am doing right, even if others condemn me? Jesus’ life had a definite impact upon the human population almost from the beginning of Christianity. The number of followers of Jesus Christ grew despite the attempts to extinguish the movement. Today, approximately 1/3 of the world’s population declares their Christianity, sometimes in perilous places where other religions or beliefs hold sway. These people are willing to sacrifice for Jesus rather than deny the truth. Can we in this country do the same? We are not as threatened even when we disagree about our own Christian tenets. One week from now, we celebrate a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, which leads to the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. In two weeks we will rejoice with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let’s pray we can follow Jesus onto the cross.

April 9

I am writing this day’s blog entry at 11:30 PM due to three events in my day. I slept until 8:00 AM and then attended my grandson’s baseball opening day gathering. From this event, my wife and I attended the afternoon Seattle Sounders game against the Chicago Fire, which was a rousing success because they won 2 -1. Sandy returned home and I went to work at the Seattle Mariners games, which was another loss by the score of 2-1. Seattle teams were stuck on the same scores. I returned home around 11:00 PM, and now I am writing my blog. All of this gives credence to the last three prayers of the Litany of Penitence. “Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us.” To which we respond with: “Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.” The next prayer is “Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,” and we respond with “That we may show forth you glory in the world.” The last prayer is “By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord, Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.”

The end of the Litany is a prayerful desire I wish we all burned feverishly so that our world would be a more just and understanding place to live. I have met many fans of the Mariners who exhibits the traits we want need to have. I have yet to meet any person who has displayed abhorrent behavior. I hope I witness to the greatness of God each and every day. May we all come to share in that heavenly kingdom.