Suitors

I think it will take my whole life to truly understand the Church.

I love the Church, the Bride, the Fiance' of Christ, what's not to love?

I make a distinction between the Bride in all her glorious diversity, this exotic beauty, and the cultures, traditions, systems, vocabulary and governance she's inherited.

Often times, I'm saddened, even sickened by the ambitions of man that ultimately limit the Bride from her intended freedoms. 

I love that Christ always took the law, and the traditions of men and shined His light deep into the caverns of our intentions and motivations. As if the say, see? this was never meant to be a dead practice but a meter of our hearts with encouragement and forgiveness at the ready.

Man is fearful and builds systems and traditions, like cities, around life, he then looks generous, thoughtful and innovative when he reintroduces a controled example of life back into the manscape. A park, a pond, a tree, a lively worship service, a joke, or casual clothes.

Jesus came into this world completely surrounded by this manscape, all in the guise of a godly society. The perfect model of love an life came and the experts of false religion killed Him.

In reading the Odyssey, I noticed the parallels in Odysseus, the returning king and Christ the returning King. Penelope (greek word for fidelity) his bride was convinced of his returning, even after 20 years.

As the story goes, the false-ones smelled a power gap and their insatiable ambitions took over. By the end, over 500 hundred suitors had done more than just suggested that Penelope give up her hope and devotion. They had the audacity to move into the palace.

Their message? The king is dead, the land needs leadership, make me king, choose, a king. Penelope, the truest of brides, stayed the course, as we are to do. The suitors, wanted control, power, command, order. 

What should have the suitors been doing? Encouraging Penelope to keep her faith in her husband's return, quietly serving the kingdom as faithful friends and subjects of the king, deferring peoples loyalty to their king and their citizenship.
Instead they vied for the bride's devotion, they said, "follow me!" "fashion your lives after mine, be subject to me as the king's representative".

The king, Odysseus, returned, it didn't turn out well for the suitors. He tested them first, by taking on the lowly estate of a beggar, then, when they had abused him, showing their evil hearts, he slew them all. Judgment day hinged on treatment of the poor.

Again, the Church, the Bride, the Fiance' has plenty of suitors. When I get into conversations about "biblical authority" and hierarchy within the ministry, it only takes a reflection of the judgment day to find balance. We won't be able to defer our faith, or assign blame to misled leaders, as in: "I followed that religious expert, you know, the pastor, talk to him about my beliefs". It's all on us, and hinges on our treatment of the poor.