Crossing the Red Sea
Dear Eugene,
This morning I read in the news: Facebook helped advertisers target teens who feel "worthless".
And I wrote the following to my children:
So this is the world that you are living in. The champion of anti-bullying big corporations are themselves the biggest perpetrators of exploitation.
Of course, as Leonard Cohen says, "Everybody knows" already anyway. Every corporation on TV or the internet is out to exploit, especially the vulnerable ones, because it is easy money. If they are really smart, they could even position their exploitation and convince the world they are doing something good for the vulnerable, giving them a helping hand to come in from the cold. Make huge money and then crown themselves the messiah; wouldn't it be nice? (Heck, they might even enlist you to join their justice campaign.)
My questions for you are:
When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message: “Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.
Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai: “Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together. Fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, either day or night. I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it’s forbidden. If I die, I die."
So my daughter and son, maybe you were made queen and king for just such a time as this, don't you think? You can get your degree, your career, your stage, your music, but still lose everything that you toil for. Your friend did. Her warm-big-smile good look turned stone-cold in less than a minute. How about yours? How about the beautiful smile on your friends' face? Will you help to preserve them? Will you share with them the Living Water so that they will be nourished forever, always young, always vibrant, eternally alive and kicking for goodness, for beauty, for justice, for God?
The choice is there. The road is long. It is meant to be hard. Sometimes even feel impossible. Adam failed. So did the Israelite. But with the Spirit in you, Jesus your Moses, you can cross the Red Sea and help a few others to do the same. Dad
Well, Eugene, as you can see, I was only channeling you, my Dad. Not a thing I have said in this email was not in some way the fruit of your faithful and painstaking pastoring.
Thankful, as always, Alex
This morning I read in the news: Facebook helped advertisers target teens who feel "worthless".
And I wrote the following to my children:
So this is the world that you are living in. The champion of anti-bullying big corporations are themselves the biggest perpetrators of exploitation.
Of course, as Leonard Cohen says, "Everybody knows" already anyway. Every corporation on TV or the internet is out to exploit, especially the vulnerable ones, because it is easy money. If they are really smart, they could even position their exploitation and convince the world they are doing something good for the vulnerable, giving them a helping hand to come in from the cold. Make huge money and then crown themselves the messiah; wouldn't it be nice? (Heck, they might even enlist you to join their justice campaign.)
My questions for you are:
- Before we talk about someone else, how do we conduct ourselves on the internet or in person? Do we also choose to use words that we know would get what we want from another person, especially someone whom we have an interest in, romantically or otherwise? You know what I mean. Just say the right world and you can sway a person's emotion or perception one way or another. Throw in an adjective like "love" or "beautiful" or even plain "nice" would get you a lot of mileage to go where you want to go. You know it is easy to exploit your peers, the same way for you to be exploited by others. Are we the perpetrator of injustice and evil, while we allege our allegiance to a just and good God? Are we part of the bad news in this bad-news world?
- What do you use as a mirror to see yourself? The actual mirror on the wall? People's words? Even just a casual side-way glance? Or do you care most about how God sees you, that your mirror is the words of God? Yes, we are all vain one way or another. But are we fighting the vanity and let the Spirit take over, even if only gradually in our growing? Or is the Spirit's voice waning by the day? I am looking at a picture on my wall as I type these words, the face of your friend who died of a drug overdose a few years back. Do you think what happened to her happened overnight? In one party? In a few seconds of misjudgment? No. It was a gathering storm that she failed to summon the storm-God to take over from an early stage, and hence by the time the big one hits she was already swept off her feet, grabbing at every direction but nothing was within reach to pull her back.
- Will you be the voice of God, the Esther of your generation? If you choose to, you will find God and find your voice, your song, your story, your self in His-story. The world is desperate for the Good News. They don't need another guitar player to shred like another thousand YouTubers can. They don't need another cover of "Stairway to Heaven." They need Heaven (not as where we will go when we die, but as God's Kingdom rule in our lives, starting in the here and now, restoring brokenness, bringing peace and justice, obedience and faith.) Will you be the heavenly voice to usher in God's Kingdom in a world that seems to have plunged into darkness? This is "the hour when the ship comes in"; are you on board? Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering (e.g. a mere show of religiosity). There is a crack in everything---and everyone. But that's how the light gets in.
When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message: “Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.
Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai: “Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together. Fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, either day or night. I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it’s forbidden. If I die, I die."
So my daughter and son, maybe you were made queen and king for just such a time as this, don't you think? You can get your degree, your career, your stage, your music, but still lose everything that you toil for. Your friend did. Her warm-big-smile good look turned stone-cold in less than a minute. How about yours? How about the beautiful smile on your friends' face? Will you help to preserve them? Will you share with them the Living Water so that they will be nourished forever, always young, always vibrant, eternally alive and kicking for goodness, for beauty, for justice, for God?
The choice is there. The road is long. It is meant to be hard. Sometimes even feel impossible. Adam failed. So did the Israelite. But with the Spirit in you, Jesus your Moses, you can cross the Red Sea and help a few others to do the same. Dad
Well, Eugene, as you can see, I was only channeling you, my Dad. Not a thing I have said in this email was not in some way the fruit of your faithful and painstaking pastoring.
Thankful, as always, Alex
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