Laughing With The Joker

"It is the minor characters that make up the cast of life -for they are life."
Bob Kane

Somewhere in Gotham city a business man is driving home on the freeway.

He's in a hurry to get home because he's had a long day. He wants to relax before he has to eat his wife's meat loaf. He's had a long day at work and he has no patience for bad drivers.

Suddenly a car cuts him off.

The business man lowers his window and shouts, 'Hey who do you think you are, buddy?!'

The other car changes lanes and slows down. Its window lowers and there behind the wheel is the white and green smile of the Joker.

And he laughs.

...


What a coincidence. This man thinks he is thoroughly bad and tough - or atleast enough to learn the identity of the man who cut him off. And this man discovers the smile of the Joker. He is an extreme character, but I don't think it is hard to laugh with the Joker. I think we laugh with him all the time.

This businessman thinks that if he can make it home a little sooner, if people treat him a little more fair, if he can eat roast beef for dinner, his life will be meaningful.

Ha!

With every laugh the Joker seems to say, "Someone forgot to tell this outstanding fellow just how meaningless this all is."

And it is meaningless. At least Solomon says so.

"'Meaningless, meaningless,' Says the preacher, 'Everything is meaningless.'"

The businessman tries to apologize on the road, but, again, the Joker is an extreme character and his stylized extremeness is also his greatness. The Joker stalks the man into a park and places a gun to his head.

"No," The man says, "Don't kill me ... I'll do anything!"

The Joker's curiousity is aroused. "Anything?" He asks.

To kill the man or not is a meaningless choice -or atleast it is as much to the Joker. But experimenting with a man's boundaries ... testing the limits of his sanity ... well, somehow the novelty of such an opportunity is somehow ... meaningful.

The Joker begins to question Solomon. He wonders, 'Maybe there is something new under the sun'. Something new to laugh at ...

So the Joker sets up the business man to be an accomplice in one of his criminal acts to embarass the commissioner.

Of course Batman is not far from the scene, and he exposes the facade of the Joker for what it is: petty human infatuation with appearances. The Joker wants to be seen as a fearsome and terrible person -a person he could care less about actually becoming.

Batman is the true glimpse of an extreme lifestyle. The promises of the world: to be admired by the crowd, the allure of the opposite sex (particularly catwoman), the luxuries of the millionare lifestyle ... all are meaningless to him. He finds them so meaningless he becomes an ethical superhero -an alien to the rest of the world.

One person to catch such a glimpse is the business man.

Batman breaks in on the Joker's plans to ruin the commissioner's party. The exploding birthday cake is removed just in time. The Joker and his female assistant, Harlequin, escape. The businessman runs away.

As the business man runs he catches the attention of the Joker.

The Joker holds him at gun point, but the business man asserts he is no longer afraid of what the Joker can do to him. The business man's appearance does nothing to intimidate the Joker, but he catches a glimpse of the businessman's willingness to lose everything and not care.

The Joker's psychological curiousity -crafted for the sake of a comic effect- detects the contours of something great and unmovable. Perhaps he is reminded of someone.

Batman watches from behind.

The Joker fumbles and the gun drops. "Don't hurt me!" He shouts out. "You! You're going to let him hurt me?!".

"Who's the one afraid now?" The business man asks.

The Joker is taken to Arkham Asylum and the businessman returns home. One person stays the same, but the other person is different.

"He's crazy!" The Joker shouts -pointing at the businessman- as they take him away.

Suddenly the prospect of eating his wife's meatloaf doesn't seem so bad after all. The business man has learned something about the tenuousness of existence ... the futility of choosing between roast beef and meat loaf ... and in a meaningless world he has found something meaningful: gratitude.

The Joker is an extreme character, or presents himself as such, but easy to laugh with. Who can understand the businessman?

Can you?

Do Not Conform

I recently found a poster at an online store. The poster displayed a barcode running horizontally through the center. Below the barcode were the words: "Do Not Conform".

The poster resonated with me, but I wasn't sure why. Eventually I remembered the passage in Romans 12.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -his good, pleasing, and perfect will."

A lingering theme of both the Old and the New Testament is the message that God wants His people to be set apart.

"Be holy, because I am holy."

Holiness is a measure of how 'set apart' a thing is.

Certainly there are a number of ways a person can be set apart. In one way of looking at it a person could stand out by doing evil deeds. People throughout history have taken this position, the most noteworthy is probably Niechtze who said in order to stand out one must in effect become a criminal.

On the same side with a different message, Charles Dickens' novels often critiqued those who were set apart because he considered it unusual to see a truly evil person such as Ebeneezer Scrooge. C.S. Lewis' ethics in Mere Christianity follow a similar pattern.

Sometimes I wonder about the world Lewis, Niechtze, and Dickens discribe. It sounds in many ways like an almost-heaven: where most people are angels, think good thoughts about each other, where people give themselves and others the benefit of the doubt, where they do not merely conceptualize standards but actually live them. It sounds like quite a place!

But the Scriptures teach that everyone has sinned -that no one is righteous -that if anyone says he is without sin he is a liar.

To glimpse of just how set apart God wants His servants to be, consider the fact that Christ commanded his disciples to be perfect. When I reflect on my attitudes, my ingratitude, my double-mindedness and recall that Christ has called me to be literally perfect, my obligations seem to be very set apart.

In one sense the command to be "set apart" means to not behave as the world behaves with its lusts and boasts and cravings. In another sense it means to not base our priorities on the choices of the people around us.

If a person is to truly have a relationship with God, he must not seek that relationship because his parents were Christians or because he wants to win the approval of others or because it seems to be what "everyone is doing".

And this is precisely what God is looking for when he searches the hearts of men: mere devotion. Devotion comes from the word "devoted". The more devoted a person is in regard to something, the more his interest in the pursuit becomes independent of everything else going on around him.

For example Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo's devotion meant their love for God was independent of what the King of Persia decreed. In this way Christ commands his followers to be independent in regard to obeying God. When the crowds bowed before Nebaudchunezzar they were the only ones standing and they were set apart.

Often in periods of trial and during the good times it becomes desirable to have a companion. To this extent Christ has given believers his body, the Church. But this is not to say our obligation to be set apart grows and shrinks on the basis of the people who claim to be in the Church.

Certainly Shadrach was glad and proud of his God that his companions did not bow to the Persian leader, but this is not to say he was only willing to obey God as long as his companions obeyed. And it doesn't mean that if they bowed he was excused from the task given to him by heaven ... the task to remain set apart.

Mother Teresa And Her Critics

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own."
John 15:18

I was disgusted and discouraged to read the wikipedia article on Mother Teresa.

I am convinced this woman was very close to God and lived a very righteous life. It seems to me this should be fairly undisputed, but apparently it isn't.

Wikipedia has many interesting articles (particularly on history and science), but the style of the articlces often lack seriousness of any kind, and they are often written by very worldly people.

The article on Mother Teresa is a perfect example. This woman devoted her life to serving God and her neighbor and yet the article on her is between 1/3 and 1/2 criticism.

The criticisms basically read: "Sure she made some impressive attempts at helping people, but she should have been more systematic about it." Or, "She should have been smarter about it."

This is pure foolishness. Does any system care about anyone? Are the published scholars the ones working at orphanages and hospitals? Is it not the case the secular thinkers and the athiests are too busy running universities to care about anyone?

The other criticism she received was for her effort to lead people to know Jesus. She traveled all over the world help the people no one else cared about, and people criticize her for telling people about Jesus. If she helped feed the poor and comfort the dying, yes, this is acceptable to the public, but to offer forgivenness and second chance to know God? Many people claim this is wrong.

The Catholic Church has responded to much of the criticism against Mother Teresa by suggesting she was a "sign of contradiction". The phrase is reserved for those who demonstrate the love of Christ so much they are hated by the people for it. Apparently there are enough examples of this they had to designate a category for it.

These travesity against Mother Teresa remind me that the works God calls us to are often disregarded or even hated by the world. The world is open to letting people be aided externally, but as soon as the inside of a person is addressed, they are hated.

Jesus said that before the world hated any Christians it first hated Christ. The life of true devotion is not something that people can recognize from the outside unless they themselves have found it inside of them.

On a final note, Mother Teresa once said that those who do good would have false friends and true enemies but that we are obligated to do good anyway. As good as this advice is, I emphasize that this woman actually lived it!

The End Is Near

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do -living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised though Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to being with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

1 Peter 4

Peter's letters cut right through the haze of human foolishness. I've spent much time reading secular philosophers - and with them there is always that tendency to say, "How brilliant!" When I read Peter's letters I say to myself, "How serious!"

This passage has a lot of imagery describing the way the world lives in darkness and is surprised (perhaps offended) that those who follow Christ do not join in with them. A central theme for Peter is the way those who follow God are aliens among even their countrymen. A person who has been transformed by the power of God is not rewarded by the acceptance of the world and should expect (in some ways hope) to be mistreated by the world.

Of particular note is the way the passage makes discretionary measures of time. When will the end come? "The end is near". How much time have I spent in the past doing what pagans choose to do? "You have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do". One could spend an eternity measuring and quantifying the answers to those questions, but their lengths are clear to God: "near" and "enough". These are value judgments which are often ignored and called arbitrary, but we are hearing the very opinion of God who is the Truth.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised though Jesus Christ.

The letter describes the world's darkness as something that brings uncertainty and indecision to our choices. Our flesh has its desires, certainly, but they are never absolute and the people who follow after those desires aren't absolutely committed to them. People in the world turn to their desires to tell them who they are, but their flesh never tells them anything with certainty. This is in direct contrast to they way a disciple of Christ is decisive and intentional in the way they live.

Perhaps one could read this paragraph as, "In everything you do, do it for real." Peter is zero-ing in on how the disciples are to act, and not necessarily what they are to do. Certainly a believer in Christ can pray, can love, offer hospitality, serve others, administer God's grace, speak, and serve. The aspect of spiritual importance is the way we do it: with "self-control", "deeply", "without grumbling", "faithfully", "as one speaking the very words of God", "with the strength God provides". As people living in a time close to the end, we should pay attention to the way we are living and not just what we are doing.

The end is near and judgment is waiting for all of us. For believers in Jesus Christ this judgment is taking place now. Therefore Peter is commanding us to live in a state of great self-examination. The examination the world gives us is shallow and a deception ... those who follow Christ will never be understood by it. But God does not miss anything, and we are to live lives of honest and authentic love before Him.

Parable of the Letter

I had it all set in my mind to post another passage from one of Peter's letters, but I've been reflecting lately on how one hears God's voice. SoulFoodDude had some questions which I believe everyone needs to answer.

At any rate I came across this passage in Either/Or this week and I find it relevant to the same task. Kierkegaard frequently writes on three or four levels at the same time, and there have been several times in my life where this passage has been on my mind:

If someone possessed a letter which he knew or believed contained information concerning what he had to consider his life's blessedness, but the written characters were thin and faded, the handwriting almost illegible, he would read it and reread it, with anxiety and disquiet certainly, but with passion.

At one moment he would get one meaning out of it, the next another. When he was quite sure he had managed to read a word, he would interpret everything in the light of that word.

But he would never pass beyond the same uncertainty with which he began. He would stare, more and more anxiously, but the more he stared the less he saw; sometimes his eyes filled with tears, but the more that happened, again the less he saw. In due course the writing became weaker and less distinct; finally the paper itself crumbled away and he had nothing left but his eyes blinded with tears.

Either/Or. Penguin Classics. p. 187

Life presents us with difficult choices.

As humans I find we tend to lean on outward observation, general opinion, and the so-called assurance of the experts. In this confidence I often feel like something is slipping away. It's something difficult to describe, and like everything valuable it is seldom appreciated until it is gone.