Saturday 21 June 2014

PEOPLE PREFER DARKNESS TO LIGHT

PEOPLE PREFER DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Even if you do not believe that Jesus was God you have to admit that, at the very least, he was a very wise man who said many very wise things.

In the Gospel of John 3: 19 Jesus said: "MEN HAVE SHOWN THAT THEY PREFER DARKNESS TO THE LIGHT".

How very true this is!

The early "Christian" church showed it preferred the darkness of the Crusades to the light of religious tolerance and diversity.

The medieval church preferred the darkness of the Inquisition to the the light of allowing others to disagree with them in freedom.

The Protestant Reformation preferred the darkness of the marriage of Church and State to the light of keeping them separate.

The Protestant Reformation preferred the darkness of the ignorant literal interpretation of the Bible to the enlightened understanding of the Bible viewed in its cultural contexts.

The fundamentalist Muslims prefer the darkness of "holy war" and fatwa to the light of leaving men and women to their own conscience and to judgement of Allah.

The fundamentalist Jews in Israel prefer the darkness of their persecution complex and nuclear arms to the light of sharing a modern land mass with their fellow human beings.

American right wing fundamentalist "Christians" prefer the darkness of killing doctors who perform abortions to the light of peaceful protest and peaceful agitation for legislative reform.

The men of the Vatican prefer the darkness of mysoginy, homophobia and sexual repression to the light of equality, tolerance and sexual robustness.

Racists everywhere prefer the darkness of their racism to the light of the Brotherhood / Sisterhood of all mankind.

Criminals everywhere prefer the darkness of their underworld to the light of living and letting live.

 Rich countries and individuals prefer the darkness of their hoarding to the light of the fair distribution of wealth.

The drug companies prefer the darkness of their excessive profits to the light of curing world disease.

And so it goes on and on and on

And men prefer the darkness to the light

What can we as individuals do?

We can try and live in the light in our own little corner of the globe and hope that we can can make a difference.

Our living is only a grain of sand on a vast beach. But even the greatest of beaches are made up of grains of sand.

Yes - it takes hope.....and perseverance.......

But is that not better than the despair that would cause us to blow out our own little candle?

+Pat Buckley
21.6.2014.




















9 comments:

  1. Thank you Pat for another profound and challenging post. If you dont mind me observing I see a change in your posts recently, they appear to me much more profound and deeply challenging than the ones that have been attacking individuals be they popes, bishops or the like. Its almost as if you have come to a point of realisation like Our Lord that it is best to leave them to their own devices and to the God who sees all. "Leave the dead to bury their dead" is the long and the short of it. They could always accuse you of being "that nutter Buckley" when you were attacking them, sometimes in my opinion in overly strident and emotive terms - giving rise to the impression that you were ranting at them, and to no effect. But now you seem to be speaking from a different place; a much better one, and one that is surely more wholesome and ultimately is and will be productive and fruitful. Don't get me wrong these hierarchs need exposing, they need to be challenged, they need to be stood up too, but I suppose all of those of us who have done this, and in some small ways I too have felt the belt of the crosier, though nothing like to the extent that you have Pat, come to the point in our lives where we move on and wipe the dust from the soles of our shoes. I commend you for your courage, your integrity and your goodness. One final point, and more relevant perhpas to your latest post. I always like that saying that it is better to light a light than to curse the darkness. Keep lighting the lights Pat. A friend and admirer.

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    1. As a reader of this blog I agree... Recent posts have sent me off asking myself a lot of questions about the core of my belief. I'd rather read about stuff this this than priests in gay saunas. Edmund, Oban

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    2. Edmund,

      Thanks. I'll try and keep them like that

      Pat

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  2. Dear Friend,

    Thank you for your positive and encouraging comment.

    I suppose it is important to get the balance right?

    The MAN HIMSELF proclaimed the Kingdom and took an occasional side swipe at the Pharisees of his day. Maybe that should be our model?

    There is a lot to be said to wiping the dust off one's feet and allowing the Lord to deal with them?

    Pat

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  3. Talking about side swipes. I heard a story on radio news today that a music video was made in a D & C (RC) church which had a scene of a man and a woman lying on the altar kissing. Following complaints the offencive scene was removed from the video. Has the story made news in N I? Sean

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    1. Yes... Check bbc ni news.

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  4. I wonder what shade of darkness you prefer, Buckley?

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    1. I actually prefer the light and shining the light on people like you

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    2. Seeing shades of darkness tells me something about this bloke.....

      Old philosophical maxim Darkness = absence of light. Sean

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