“18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”) 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” (Jn 9:18–41 ESV)

Upward mobility is masked to some at the table, because the Landscapes availed upon the believer by their faith in Christ, truly surpass class distinctions and fixed postures. More, the contemporary believer goes beyond the rote and primitive Notions of what His Faith entails, sure and gladly accepting the—yes—loss of all things, the submission to authority, the glad tidings amidst penury or victimhood: the church, she can be fixed and rigid in her Posture. But again, the sins of a former incarnation of the Body of Christ, have always and everywhere Positioned us as Victorious precisely where the rumor mill and dubious track record, once upon Failed the would-be believer.

We go Escape Valve and Mobil, upwards if you like, but Mobil nonetheless, and the calm demeanor of the Saints, the words of Encouragement, the Second Chances and strange Allayed Beliefs, these Comfort and coax New Things from the heart’s landscape. We found Religion a Plus Additive, a New Things added, a Smorgasbord of Lancing forth this way and that: yes, the Body by and large is to be pitied a bit, but see the Luminescent Escape Valve and the Joy in fellowship! Never rigid or set in our ways, we laugh through the ambitions and pride, but Recollect Always: Church has a self-abnegating Duty, to be kind and gentle Yes, but to be thus in deep awareness of the Power of the Assembly, and therefore in much Humility. Her Name, Christ’s one and for all catholic Body, is on the verge of Abuse at times: denying mobility, harboring Pride, cultivating Cliquishness, enamored with Holiness’s Image but not her actual fact.

We cultivate a Taste for the radical, for the counterpoint, for the self-abnegating Confession. We believe, that to do said labyrinthine Walks around loss of all things, around submission to authority, around Giving to others and Healing as we would be Healed, is to Await and even to be in a position to Testify: God is with the poor in spirit. God… we have adopted a religion that favors those different from us in some things, we laud the poor in spirit, yet scarcely have the Courage to go there ourselves, to be a people not plundered but alleviated of their worldly trappings, that is, to be Caretaker and Custodian of the church’s wealthy things.

We honor a Lord who died on a Cross, and in the church picnics and discussion groups, a Fact plays out in spades, that Everyone stands to learn from His missional trip to Calvary. More, we earn our stripes no longer waiting in blase resignation for yet more Queries and Asks from above, rather, in high-minded, high-flying, highly-ambitious Effort to fight the good fight, to be those kingdoms of Priests and Healers foretold in the Church’s self-inventory: we have a few good souls around here. So we stop worrying about squeaky-clean, and start Acting, fully vested as those Forgiven, and fully vested as those Contrite; but no time to wallow, Act, O soldier of the Most High! Lucky are you, who have given up all and find yourself calmly Meditating around the campfire: truth told, the End Times mock the proud and lift the lowly, bring down the high-flying; yet we have a Pilot so forsooth and Giving, as to go luxe, go Rich, go Exuberant, unto the Mission of giving back. We give… back to the world even as to a cynic the world only Takes. We are those half-crazed around Rejecting so much atheism, but having germinated and gestated Near to it, to Count and Relay and Recount our Blessings. That God is for the people Everywhere, a God who tolerates nothing cynical, except to Remind of the plaintive God’s walk to the Cross, can you bear my cross for me, for a spell? And our end-times, they are upon us already, to Give and be Gifted, to Relay and be Borne Up on angels’ wings.