Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are invited, but few are chosen.
___________________________
The basic point of the Parable of the Two Sons is that doing is more important than saying, and while the tax collectors and prostitutes were repenting of their sins, the Pharisees were not. In their pride, they thought themselves to be sinless. The Parable of the Tenants speaks to how the prophets of the Old Testament had been treated by the Jewish authorities, who murdered them (see Luke 11:37-54 which addresses both of these truths). Jesus further emphasizes all of this with the telling of the Wedding Banquet Parable, and while this Parable provides a vivid message for the Pharisees drawn from current events and Jewish history, it is also prophetic in nature.
In Jewish society, a marriage contract was generally made between the parents of the betrothed. The bride and groom would meet, perhaps for the first time, when this contract was signed by the involved parties. Although considered married at this point, they would then separate. The bride would remain with her parents and the groom would go off to prepare their home. This could take quite a while. When the home was finished and all was ready, the groom would return for his bride without notice. The marriage ceremony would then take place and the wedding banquet would follow.
The wedding banquet was one of the most important and joyous occasions in the Jewish life and could last for up to a week. Christ compares Heaven to the wedding banquet that a king had prepared for his son. Certainly a royal wedding would far surpass that of a commoner. The mention of the oxen and fattened cattle having been butchered in vs. 4b indicates it is being prepared and will be fresh, a royal feast where the best of everything is available and plentiful. Indeed Christ first public miracle was at the wedding feast of Cana in supplying an abundance of the best wine (see John 2:1-11).
To the Pharisees, the sending of the first servants would have spoke of the Old Testament prophets, while the sending of the second set of servants is representative of John the Baptist, the first prophet in over four hundred years, and also Jesus’ disciples mentioned in the tenth chapter of Matthew. It is also representative of God’s long-suffering nature toward man. The invitation is an invitation to salvation, first offered to the Jews, who, for the most part ignore it, and then to the Gentiles.
Note that it is not because they could not come to the wedding feast, but that they would not come to the wedding feast, that some of the guest failed to respond to the invitation. This speaks not only the Jews, but to mankind in general who fail to seek out God. Everyone at one time or another wonders about the big questions of life. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Everyone at one time or another wonders about the question of God, but we become so enamored with ourselves that we fail to seek the answers to these questions where they can be found, the Bible. We become so involved with the everyday practice of life that we fail to find its meaning. We take the path of least resistance and seek comfort. We answer those questions with what will please us, only to find that after a lifetime of trying to satisfy ourselves, we are never satisfied. That is because we live in time, but were made for eternity (see Ecclesiastes 3:11).
The rest of the invited guests who failed to respond to the invitation took it upon themselves to mistreat and murder the servants. While this describes the Jewish ruling class of the day, it also represents mankind at various places and times throughout history, Mankind who has made God into its own image and will not tolerate the truth. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (see John 14:6).
The Pharisees and others throughout history have wanted people to believe that they were acting for their good while trying to achieve their own agenda; more often than not, an agenda that would place them above all others, an agenda that actually sought out wealth and power while the people they governed came in a distant second. John 11:45-53 is a most revealing passage pertaining to true concern of the Pharisees. It concerns the plot by the Pharisees to murder Jesus because of His popularity. Note verse forty-eight; note their primary concern; that the Romans would take away “their place.” For these type people, both then and now, murder is preferable to losing “their place.”
The city of both types’ people is destroyed. This speaks to the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish nation in A.D. 70 and to the destruction of the cities of the world mentioned in the book of Revelation. God is long-suffering and patient, but He will not tolerate wickedness forever. His judgment is well-earned by mankind, and it will come to those who have ignored His offer of salvation. Considering what that salvation cost Jesus, is not this judgment well deserved (see Hebrews 10:29-31)?
The invitation is then taken and given to everyone at the crossroads, to strangers both good and bad. This refers to the gospel being taken to the Gentiles. The Gospel message is available to everyone. This message was certainly not lost to the Jews, who considered Gentiles beneath their contempt (see Romans 9:30-33).
Now, when the king enters the wedding feast, he sees a man without a wedding garment. This would be a gross insult to the king. Considering the fact that no one invited from the street corners would have been expected to have had a wedding garment with them, it is evident that the king himself provided the garments for the guests. To refuse to put this garment on is insulting to the one who provided it.
This insult of refusing proper attire for the wedding feast would have been obvious to the Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking, but this also refers to apostate Christianity. It speaks to those who are Christians in name only. To those who are depending on their own works, their own self-righteousness, to make them acceptable before God. This will not work (see Ephesians 2:8-10). Just as the king provides the wedding garments for the guest, it is God who provides salvation for mankind. To refuse this salvation is insulting to God because in this refusal you are treading on the very blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. When you strip away everything from all the religions of the world, except for its basic tenant of faith, you with either find man working his way towards God, or the cross of Christ. The cross is the only way to salvation. Our wedding garment is Jesus Christ Himself, and unless we put Him on, we will miss the wedding feast.
For his crime against the king, the improperly attired guest was thrown out into the darkness. For their crimes against God, there will be many who will be consigned to the darkness. That darkness is existence without God for eternity. Christ concludes the parable with the sad fact: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” This deals with salvation and its offer being available to everyone, but only a few accepting it.
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Friday YouTube
Kay Kendall was a promising British actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Regrettably, her career was cut short due to her untimely death from Leukemia.
This role in the film Genevieve made her a star, though sadly she passed away five years later.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Totally Voluntary Semi-Meme
Of these fifty snooty art films, which have you seen?
Use bold faced text to indicate films you have viewed.
__________________
ALEXANDER NEVSKY (1938)
ASHES AND DIAMONDS (1958)
L'AVVENTURA (1960)
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (1959)
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946)
BLACK ORPHEUS (1959)
BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945)
THE FALLEN IDOL (1948)
FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959)
FISTS IN THE POCKET (1965)
FLOATING WEEDS (1959)
FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952)
THE 400 BLOWS (1959)
GRAND ILLUSION (1937)
HÄXAN (1922)
IKIRU (1952)
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (1952)
IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PART II (1958)
LE JOUR SE LÈVE (1939)
JULES AND JIM (1962)
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949)
KNIFE IN THE WATER (1962)
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943)
LOVES OF A BLONDE (1965)
M (1931)
M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY (1953)
MISS JULIE (1951)
PANDORA'S BOX (1929)
PÉPÉ LE MOKO (1937)
IL POSTO (1961)
PYGMALION (1938)
RASHOMON (1950)
RICHARD III (1955)
THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939)
SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957)
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (1973)
LA STRADA (1954)
SUMMERTIME (1955)
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
THE 39 STEPS (1935)
UGETSU (1953)
UMBERTO D. (1952)
THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960)
VIRIDIANA (1961)
THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953)
THE WHITE SHEIK (1952)
WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957)
THREE DOCUMENTARIES BY SAUL J. TURELL
A Few Thoughts on Memorial Day
Even when I was a child, I've never been filled with anything resembling a swelling sense of national pride when Memorial Day rolls around. Even before I became a Quaker I remember focusing a skeptical, cynical eye upon the rhetoric, the pageantry, and the pomp and circumstance that characterizes this holiday.
Perhaps I've always maintained a child's sensitive, literal view towards armed conflict: what a waste of life, money, and energy. How does killing other people solve our conflicts?
As I have gotten older, subsequent study of wars and military endeavors do not fill me with a kind of adrenalin joy. The reality of the situation is not a particularly beautiful notion. Unlike many, I do not need wars to feel better about myself. Indeed, wars make me feel worse about humanity and human nature. On the other hand, however, I enjoy reading up on military strategy. I enjoy second-guessing the decisions made during wars prior and I relish contemplating and charting the narrative progression of how previous conflicts have unfolded and resolved themselves.
__________________
It's interesting to contemplate how we incorporate often nonsensical, or at best dubiously logical rationalizations into our thoughts and judgments.
Wars are just. Wars are necessary. Wars unite us. Our enemy deserves to die. Wars thin out the population. The end justifies the means. It's either us or them. Carnage is justified. God is on our side.
These statements fly in the face of reason. If you'd believe the rhetorical flights of fancy perpetuated not just by our leaders, but by leaders throughout history, our enemies are devilish, 100% evil, and evidence of everything wrong with the world. We are supremely right, they are supremely wrong, and there is no in between.
_________________
I just don't buy it anymore."next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country 'tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
e.e. cummings, 1926
My Very Own Froodle
(click to large-ify)
Freida Bee made me a Froodle!
I love it!
*the Froodle makes fun of hipsters.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Football Season is Over
No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 27. 27 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 27. You are getting Greedy. Act your age. Relax — This won't hurt"
I know the bottom, she says. I know it with my great tap root:
It is what you fear.
I do not fear it: I have been there.
Is it the sea you hear in me,
Its dissatisfactions?
Or the voice of nothing, that was your madness?
Love is a shadow.
How you lie and cry after it
Listen: these are its hooves: it has gone off, like a horse.
All night I shall gallop thus, impetuously,
Till your head is a stone, your pillow a little turf,
Echoing, echoing.
Or shall I bring you the sound of poisons?
This is rain now, this big hush.
And this is the fruit of it: tin-white, like arsenic.
I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets.
Scorched to the root
My red filaments burn and stand, a hand of wires.
Now I break up in pieces that fly about like clubs.
A wind of such violence
Will tolerate no bystanding: I must shriek.
The moon, also, is merciless: she would drag me
Cruelly, being barren.
Her radiance scathes me. Or perhaps I have caught her.
I let her go. I let her go
Diminished and flat, as after radical surgery.
How your bad dreams possess and endow me.
I am inhabited by a cry.
Nightly it flaps out
Looking, with its hooks, for something to love.
I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.
Clouds pass and disperse.
Are those the faces of love, those pale irretrievables?
Is it for such I agitate my heart?
I am incapable of more knowledge.
What is this, this face
So murderous in its strangle of branches? -
Its snaky acids hiss.
It petrifies the will. These are the isolate, slow faults
That kill, that kill, that kill.
An Open Letter
Friends,
I didn't used to be this angry, this skeptical, this cantankerous. There was a time before I got sick where I was trusting, naive, shy, and innocent.
Then I had my first breakdown and over time I got very bitter. As the argument goes, underneath every cynic there is a romantic in disguise. And so it is that I am one as well.
I won't excuse my behavior. I won't excuse my anger. I won't excuse my bad qualities. I'll own up to them.
But underneath it all I really do care deeply. My illness keeps me miserable, but I don't care to romanticize it away as I did when I was in my angst-ridden teens.
It would certainly be nice to relax once in a while. It would be nice to take something, anything at face value. And maybe with time I'll reach that state.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ambivalence on Siegelman
As a resident of the state of Alabama, I cast my vote for Don Siegelman twice: once in 1998 (a winning campaign) and again in 2002 (a narrow defeat). Let it be further known that in this largely GOP controlled state, I have never cast a single vote for a Republican in either a state general election/primary/runoff, a local election/primary/runoff or a national general election/primary. I do not regret casting my vote for Siegelman either time because he was the lesser of two evils running. In this state, one often has to cast a vote for the Good Old Boy on the left or the Good Old Boy on the right, and I always opt for the former.
As a matter of fact, I even registered to vote at a Siegelman for Governor campaign office when I was a senior in high school. Siegelman's successful 1998 run for Governor coincided with the very first election cycle in which I was eligible to exercise my civic responsibility by voting.
So, having set my credentials, please kindly allow me to proceed.
Don was, at best, an inefficient Governor. He was routinely lambasted in the press for lacking a spine and for being entirely beholden to the Democratic party establishment. He passed no real reforms during his four years in office, which contributed to his defeat and inability to achieve re-election. Until he was sentenced to prison, he was best known for a failed state-wide Education Lottery plan that went down to defeat, sabotaged by an unholy alliance of the Christian Coalition and the Mississippi gambling bosses.
Don was the kind of man who was ruthlessly politically ambitious and whose desire, first and foremost was to be Governor. What he lacked in intellect he made up for in drive and determination. By no means the sharpest crayon in the box, he was a notoriously poor judge of character and surrounded himself with corrupt underlings who cut a variety of underhanded deals. Whether he was aware of this, I know not.
What I do know is this: Siegelman rose up through the ranks of Alabama politics methodically, one rank at a time. He won election to the highest office in Alabama not necessarily because of his own merits, but because he ran against a highly unpopular good old boy whose real first name, was, believe it or not, Forrest. As an aside, I'm not sure what sounds more ignorant or down home: Forrest or Fob.
_________________
To provide a bit of perspective, in the early 1970's my father was elected as an independent to the Student Government Association of the University of Alabama. He recalls Siegelman as an arrogant, nakedly ambitious Greek who ruled with an iron fist. Siegelman was the President of the SGA during his college years in Tuscaloosa and was the consummate political puppet. Greek concerns came first and independent concerns were treated with caustic disdain and summarily dismissed.
In those days, Alabama's future political leaders were groomed by a Tammany Hall-like operation known as The Machine. The Machine's power over the University of Alabama's Student Government was legendarily corrupt and not above resorting to intimidation to accomplish its aims. Ironically, The Machine's power was largely undermined by the crusading reforms of one Joe Scarborough, lately of MSNBC talking head fame.
______________
When charges came down against Governor Siegelman, I remember thinking to myself that the prosecution had a rather weak case. I wasn't sure it was going to hold much water. In fact, the only reason the Feds' case held up at all was because a top Siegelman aide turned state's evidence and pointed the finger of blame squarely at his former employer. And having said that, I do not disagree with the jury's verdict. I do believe that Don is guilty, though I am almost positively certainly the harshness of his sentence was, indeed, politically motivated.
However, if by chance he isn't guilty of this particular offense, I'm sure there are many others far worse which would easily result in a guilty verdict. Don is just another corrupt politician of the sort we seem to produce in excess here in Alabama. If the GOP was responsible for putting him away on bogus charges, they need to be punished just as severely as he was. But that doesn't excuse the fact that Governor Siegelman has a tremendous amount of political baggage and is no innocent.
Such a Perfect Day
Just a summer's day
Drink Sangria in the park
And then later
when it gets dark
We go home.
Just a summer's day
Feed animals in the zoo
And then later
a movie too
And then home
Oh, it's just a
perfect day
I'm glad I spent it
with you
It's just a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on
Just a summer's day
Problem all left alone
Weekends on our own
It's such fun
Oh, it's just a perfect day
I'm glad that I spent it with you
I thought I was someone else
Someone good.
Oh, it's just a summer's day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh, just a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on
You're going to reap
Just what you sow
You're going to reap
Just what you sow
Dear Sister in Oregon
Thank you for registering to vote and casting your vote for Barack Obama.
I don't tell you this enough, but I am proud of you. :-)
Monday, May 19, 2008
Blogging About Blogging
I'm going to take a step back this morning.
I'm going to refrain from commenting upon the latest raging political controversy. Instead I'd like to take a fast moment to reflect upon the role of bloggers and the blogsophere in this day and age.
Our numbers are small, certainly, but we've quickly been transformed from a triviality to a novelty in the eyes of the MSM over the past four years.
That being said...
I often wonder if we are as important or as influential as we think we are. Let's try to keep our egos and our ids at bay if we can, friends. After all, if you believe a few overzealous bloggers, our combined voices and keystrokes on a monitor were the sole voices directly responsible for electing a Democratic controlled House and Senate two years ago.
Not quite. We had a role, certainly, but we're not that influential. At least not yet. Our journals and blog entries merely mirrored the deep sense of dissatisfaction felt by a majority of Americans. So do they now.
The last batch of statistics I've read put our numbers at roughly 5% of the American population.
Blogging can often be a deeply cathartic exercise but I hasten to over-exaggerate our impact on any large scale. I am merely one person and one voice among many often disgruntled souls. As a netroots activist, I often express deep frustration at those who do not share my passion for agitation and rabble-rousing. This is, of course, the quandary of every hyper-political being.
My point in writing this is to remind us all that we shouldn't let a grandiose sense of self-importance distract us from our real role as citizen journalists and amateur op-ed writers.
As for me personally, I'm not interested in being a social climber or a name dropper, nor am I out to impress anyone.
I am grateful that we have an ability to speak our minds in a public forum such as this without being censored or thrown into jail. Though I am a thin-skinned individual who does not take criticism well, I recognize that a few of my opinions have touched a nerve with readers, although that outcome was never my goal. I'm not out to inflame or incense anyone.
In saying that, I do feel a sense of satisfaction that some of my words and ideas have made such a deep impact upon total strangers that they've felt compelled to respond. In my mind, if I've accomplished only this, then I have succeeded: I have been heard.
For Those of You for Whom Autovehicular Sex Isn't an Abstraction
You could call me a car lover
'Cos I love it in a motor
And the way it feels
To ride around on new wheels.
I hardly know you
But I think I'm going to
Let's go siesta
In your Ford Fiesta
Here we go again
I'm riding in your car
Let me count to ten
'Cos it's gone way too far
Up my street to nowhere
You know what detours are
Here we go again
And it's gone way too far
Sometimes I just can't function
My heart's spaghetti junction
Every shining bonnet
Makes me think of my back on it.
I just can't escape the feeling
That I'd rather be free wheeling
In every little Honda
There may lurk a Peter Fonda
Here we go again
I'm riding in your car
Let me count to ten
'Cos it's gone way too far
Up my street to nowhere
You know what detours are
Here we go again
And it's gone way too far
-Elastica "Car Ride"
-----------------
No, I never have. Always seemed a bit cramped to me.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Realigning Election in Progress
With Senator Obama now the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, the old coalition of red states and blue states is due for a major shift. Exactly how this will occur and to what degree it will occur is a purely a matter of debate. I simply will not make sweeping predictions with six months to go before Election Day.
That being said, I've noted many optimistic forecasts, all proposing that even solidly red states here in the South might very well go blue in November. With Obama the first African-American candidate with a serious hope of winning the Presidency, I understand their rosy perspective, though I am inclined to discount it a little. Make no mistake, it would certainly be fascinating to speculate as to what 90% black turnout would look like on a major scale. However, whether that alone would be the deciding factor in the general election this November is a matter of conjecture and speculation.
As Obama himself pointed out in The Audacity of Hope, even many solidly red states routinely register 40% Democratic turnout when all the votes are counted. He's right. My home state of Alabama is a classic example of that old cliche: so close and yet so far away. A 60/40 split, according to the conventional wisdom, is about the best a Democratic candidate can ever expect here in a Presidential election. With Obama on the ticket, the inevitability of this usually sage bit of advice seems less certain. If the Black Belt counties (whose population are overwhelmingly African-American) turn out in record numbers then I believe that the GOP margin of victory will be far less than it usually is but I doubt it will be enough to overcome the votes of rural whites, who almost always vote Republican, no matter who the candidate is.
That being said, I think it is possible, although not likely, that usually reliable GOP states here in the Southeast could turn blue this November. It will be a daunting challenge for any Democratic candidate.
However, this time a year ago I would have never believed Barack Obama would be in the position he is in right now. Consider me cautiously optimistic but not holding my breath. Alabama is a state where President Bush still has a tremendous amount of popularity, due to the deluded notion of many residents that anything with an R after his or her name must automatically be purely good and anything with a D must automatically be purely evil.
If any southern state has a chance of ending up in the Obama column, it is, in my humble opinion, Georgia--because of its large population of African-Americans who reside in the city of Atlanta. The dynamics of rural vote versus urban vote are always in play during every election cycle and this time around we'll see it with a slightly different permutation than ever before.
I don't know how the general election will shape out in the end. Too many things could transpire between now and November, but what I will certainly stand behind is my belief that we are due for a shift in political polarity the likes of which we haven't seen in decades.Saturday, May 17, 2008
Interesting
Justine Frischmann interview
.
'I just thought it was better to be Pete Best than Linda McCartney,' she explained with the hint of a grin, as she raised a cup of tea to her lips in a Camden caff. 'Apart from anything, I couldn't deal with being the second guitarist and having this strange, Lady Macbeth role in it, along with being general mother to four blokes.'
She'd been studying music and writing songs since she was 11 and went on to lament the fact that 'as soon as a bloke gets a guitar in his hands, he's unbearable,' which is something that even most men will struggle to argue with.
Saturday Video
in which I am showing my age.
Justine Frischmann was the de facto leader of this mid-90s Britpop band, Elastica. This song, "Connection", was the group's biggest hit, although but they were never able to fully capitalize on its success for any long-term impact in the public consciousness. "Connection" drew controversy in the music press because the opening riff was rather flagrantly stolen lock, stock, and barrel from the art-punk group Wire.
In the U.S., Elastica were a one-hit-wonder. In their native Britain, they were a brief sensation with a tremendous amount of unfulfilled promise.
To provide a bit of back story, Frischmann dated Damon Albarn of Blur for many years. Their breakup was documented in the latter band's album 13, which was released in 1999.
