Since we've all worshiped the empire at some point in our
lifetimes, we have no excuse for judging other people. As Jews, we've
already spit in God's face enough times to owe a lifetime of
unconditional grace to every person we encounter.
Not only that, but you guys in Rome have gone so far out in your
whole God narrative that it doesn't look much different than the
toxins seeping out of the capitol.
By your own creation of the "God who demands sacrifice,"
you're setting yourselves up for disaster. No wonder you're trying to
please Caesar. He's a hell of a lot easier to please than the god
you've created for yourselves.
Secretly, you go around judging everyone who's not part of your
clan, yet you're in an even worse position - on the fence. One moment
it's Caesar and the next it's the God of Israel.
How do you think you'll escape the judgment you've written up for
yourselves? Are you so enthralled by the posh lifestyle of Rome's
rich and famous that you're blind to the obvious riches of the God
you once knew so well?
How can you be so arrogant to think that you - as the author of
this bogus narrative - are exempt from your own standards of pleasing
God? Don't you realize that you're bypassing your own rulebook by
joining in with the cronies of the empire?
You even say that God will render to each person according to
their deeds, yet not one of you has qualified as an A student. You're
failing big time as you hum your way to the temple to throw some more
sacrifices on the altar.
We all know that trouble comes for every human being who does bad
things; likewise, good comes for those who do good things. But
please, quit teaching people that their good or bad provokes God. God
doesn't operate on the human system of morality. That's for us. God
doesn't show favoritism the way we humans do in our everyday affairs.
Everyone dies eventually. If you're living by the code of conduct
stated in the Jewish scriptures, you have your own set of guidelines
you find your judgment in. If you're living outside of the code of
conduct of the Jewish scriptures, you also have your own set of
guidelines you'll find your judgment in. And besides, wholeness
doesn't come from simply hearing or talking about it, but it comes
from practicing the principles behind it.
When people outside of your tradition (who, by the way, live by a
different set of principles that are just as good) look as if they're
following the same handbook, it's because it's another reminder that
your way of seeking wholeness is not the only way. They're able to
listen to their own conscious even though they don't have the
scriptures. What you've got to understand is this: everyone has the
fundamentals written on their hearts and minds. Everyone has access
to the still, small voice inside them that directs them where to go.
We have no business trying to figure out everyone else's secrets, and
we really have no business assuming how spiritual or nonspiritual
anyone else is. That's God's job. And, I believe that if you want to
see a good picture of what God's judgment looks like, take a good
look at the grace that Jesus put on display for the world to see.
Now this last part is strictly for my Jewish friends. If you call
yourself a Jew and rely on your rulebook just like a good Jew does,
and then go out with this holier than thou attitude, do you not break
the law?
Or, if you're convinced that you're this superhuman guide for the
blind and this savior-type superhero, are you not breaking your own
lawbook?
Or, if you're convinced that you're an instructor of the
simple-minded and a teacher of all the neighborhood children because
you just know everything, are you also not breaking your own lawbook?
Think about it! Do you actually think you have nothing to learn
but only information to impart on “those lowly people”? And you
preach the law as if you've mastered it, but aren't you stealing from
your contemporaries the ability to contribute to the same
conversation? Or, are you so close-minded and ignorant that you have
nothing else to learn?
And, you scream about not committing adultery, but take a quick
look inside your fabricated temples and you'll see the worst form of
adultery – the kind that worships both God and Caesar. Not to
mention, how many kickbacks are you getting from the temple
sacrifices? Making a good living off of those? It looks like the
bogus narrative you've created for yourselves sets you up financially
as long as the poor keep getting brainwashed by your antics.
As much good as I've heard about the manifestations of your faith
throughout the Roman world, I've heard a lot of bad as well. I'm
hearing all sides. A lot of non-Jews aren't liking what you're giving
them.
And that brings us to circumcision, or, if you prefer, rite of
passage into what you think is your little clan.
Circumcision has no value to anyone except those who believe in
it. You're so gung ho about circumcision that you're forgotten the
symbolism behind it. It's lost its meaning. Circumcision is a symbol
of the heart – the cutting away of that hard, dead center of your
being. Circumcision (or baptism, or the Lord's Prayer, or fasting, or
communion, or any of the rites of passage that we all know so well)
isn't this magical, exclusive thing that keeps some people in God's
love and some people out. It's simply a symbol for the Jews.
This may piss you off even more, but I'll take it a step further.
There are thousands (possibly millions) of non-Jews out there who are
doing a pretty good job of staying in step with the Creator. So, what
are you gonna do? Go out and circumcise them? No! They'll have none
of that. They don't care about rites of passage. They just want to
experience God in whatever ways they can, and the manifestations of
that look very similar to that of the Jew who lives by the lawbook.
If you keep trying to force good, spiritual people to adhere to
your rules, they're gonna retaliate eventually. People don't like
getting their toes stepped on over and over.
One last thing: you aren't Jewish because of what you've chopped
off. You're Jewish because of what's in your heart. You have stories.
You've heard about your ancestors and what they had to go through in
order to finally get it right. Don't follow their footsteps. Get it
right the first time. Believe me it'll save you a ton of mistakes.
Religious rites – mainly, circumcision, is a matter of the heart
and the spirit. It's not about a bunch of stuff written in a book,
but about the deep, real desire to tap into the power of God that's
whispering and moving and redeeming and saving and rescuing. That's
where you'll find the reality of God's uncompromising and relentless
work of restoration.
