“38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:38-41 ESV)

The sparkle of a would-be collaborator’s individualized motions, their mindset of mining the affair, gleaning from the arrangement, advocating for the personalities present: Today, the group-think must be a bit more urgent, hasty, because stalling, because mindless Focal Points, individuals Stalked and Done Up as somehow the be-all and end-all of life in community, life in this country, life on this planet; these things are making oblivious all awareness of rather urgent and pressing societal concerns.

But also we have a solemn Promise that we worry not over the grand affair, the big picture, the hem and haw of life together, rather we self-check that ours is a Christian Testimony. We self-check that ours is Faithful, no matter the barricades, no matter the torpedoes, no matter the hostage-taking and the demand: Reveal Yourself! For, it is in no way a group effort for some things: some things are “borrowed” without ever being mutualized or made up. There is stalling. There is absence of individualized Voice. There is still amidst all such mountains distracting, self-righteous Complaint driving, frustrated Note-Taking being the sum and substance, there is still something Evident and Victorious, leading the world come the Last Days: that it is and was never too late to change our allegiances. Good will prevail in the end, and let the theologians debate whether that Good is a second-coming post-holocaust, or it is a gradual improvement until Second-Coming is evident in our midst.

Educate us! The demand for a rather pristine Christ-type (just to whom Christ and why Christ remaining to be seen) to be held hostage until things are “explained ‘round here”: this is a blasphemy and a rather blatant occasion to ask simply, are these Christian deeds being done? Is it “Christian” to lead and defame individuals for their sins, allegedly unforgiven sins, or is it peace and prosperity instead to Bless and to Compliment each other?

The patient laborer, the principled ignored-one, the stalwart Family and Church: these are our best defenses against a Tomorrow War, because it is moot and obliviating to obsess over all that “they” are doing. Rather, we have Hope: God’s work, it matters not the decades lost, the stalling, the demands to be taken hostage until Education is complete, a lower echelon of social caste ruining the educated ones; what matters is that never do we awake with the despondent worry over time lost. Instead we launch forth knowing it will all change on a dime, the alliances and backing, the company-nature of the army, shall be Together and radically suddenly Friendly to one another. We will bless those who defame and persecute us; and this, not out of reluctance but with gladsome or giddy Ecstasy that Christ has come in the flesh for them and for us. That it is a burden off our own backs to be in a position to Ignore the rambunctious denials and hatreds, instead forgiving so much. In order that we ourselves one day shall stand before the Throne: forgiven! Our past deeds turned somehow to Good. Our strange encounter with inappropriate juxtapositions, that is, that one culture brushes up against another culture, and what is kosher to one is anathema to the other: these things, they inspire us to be endeavoring around Together Prayer, being there for one another, blessing and sanctifying the loser in the equation.