The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his book “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments,” describes three types of experiences for human beings regarding dreams for their lives: 1. Those who dream boldly even as they realize their dreams may not come true. 2. Those who dream more modestly and fear that even their modest dreams will not come true. 3. Those who do not dream at all; lest they be disappointed.
A strange day that we Christians dare to call Good, is this day. Strange because today we live with the disciples in the deepest expression of disappointment and disillusionment as we are drawn into the agony and despair of Jesus. How do we affirm our innate nature to dream or how do we participate in God’s dream for humanity and the world when on this day we live a story of an execution of one who dares dream the world through God’s eyes, Jesus of Nazareth? The story is one whose themes we know oh so well. There are betrayal, false accusations, ultimate injustice, torture, and unspeakable acts of violence against another human being. Make no mistake, at the center of the day is an act of corporal punishment carried out by an occupying government, and the policy of this act is to keep an occupied people firmly rooted in a theme of disillusionment and disappointment.
What of us, Jesus’ disciples, on such a day we dare to call Good? What of Jesus’ disciples who have come to a crossroad in their faith and following of Jesus and the dream he boldly proclaims? How do they watch this abuse and what will become of the dream Jesus carefully implants in them? And what of us? Even as we strive to affirm the possibility that Jesus was victorious against death when at the same time we recount how his body was literally broken and crushed. The powers of death and destruction surround us, who would dare dream boldly? There is war, there is terror, and despite the rhetoric of the day where one is implied as an answer to the other, the result it seems is similar, that is despair and destruction. There is betrayal and there is injustice. There is inequality and there are false accusations. There is abuse and there is even torture in the most surprising of circumstances. There is neglect and there is suffering. There is, even in our day, similar governmental policies of execution and corporal punishment. Yes, it seems ironic as we carry all of this with us as it enfolds itself in the story of Jesus that we could call such a day as this good, even as we are tempted then to be among those who dare not dream at all, lest there be pure disappointment and disillusionment.
BUT, there is the dream, one dreamed boldly that comes in the sure and certain knowledge of God’s I AM. Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh, God says, I Am who I AM, I will be who I will be. God’s name, Rabbi Kushner suggests in the Hebrew translates, is I will be with You! For Jesus, the Son of God, Who are you who dares to die for the dream you embody? I AM Resurrection and Life, I will be with you in Resurrection and Life!
God’s dream embodied in Jesus takes on the insufferable ways of the world, takes on abuse, injustice, torture, neglect, not because these themes can be avoided in a world whose default setting sometimes seems to be darkness, BUT because and in spite of it. God’s dream of new life can only come into being by participating in our lives, in the brokenness of it, and by being present as the light that shines in the midst of darkness! Where do we find the strength to dare dream boldly a world of compassion and justice? A world where the dark default setting cannot be betrayal, false accusation, war, injustice, discrimination, abuse, torture, and the execution of our dreams for something better? We start by looking for the light of Christ even as it shines through the mysterious darkness of a day we dare call Good. Listen to words of compassion even from the cross: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Dreams of compassion start with our own lives. Even our own brokenness may not always be entwined in the powers and forces of all the world, but may even be as challenged by forces that break us down personally. Broken relationships, addictions, the breaking down of our bodies, and the unimagined fragility of our very lives! Yet shining, even in the shadow of the cross, is the I AM! I AM with you in Resurrection Jesus will promise! New life even in the midst of darkness! The Goodness of the day begins with a dream that death cannot conquer! Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh, I AM with you as light in the darkness and the darkness will never, ever overcome the light! We choose the light and call it Good. We move through the darkness toward the light as the light moves toward us.
1. WILL YOU THINK OF ANOTHER PERSON IN A FORGIVING OR AN ACCUSING WAY?
2. WILL YOU ACCEPT OR REJECT THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT THAN YOU ARE?
3. WILL YOU REACH OUT AND EMBRACE OTHERS OR HOLD BACK, PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR EMOTIONS?
4. WILL YOU SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE OR WILL YOU HOARD?
5. WILL YOU, THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, LIFESTYLES, ATTITUDES, SEEK TO HURT OTHERS OR HEAL THE WORLD?
6. WILL YOU TAKE A STANCE OF LIFE THAT RESENTS OTHERS OR BE GRATEFUL FOR OTHERS?
7. WILL YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH A GENERAL SLANT THAT IS GLAD OR SAD? HOPEFUL OR DOOMFILLED?
