In my previous post I wrote regarding bloodshed. Interestingly at the time I had not yet looked at the readings for today and how the shedding of blood is a prominent feature in both the first reading and the gospel.
Many are the times in my life that I have considered the passage from Hebrews today "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood." However, never have I considered it in light of the gospel story we find today in Mark of the woman with the hemorrhages.
When we consider sin, either in our lives personally, or that great darkness that threatens our world in its many guises, we may look upon it on several levels, though I don't intend to offer an exhaustive analysis. The message is clear. Our sin bloodies us, that is, it stains our lives, yet not one of us struggles to the point of shedding blood to resist it, though shedding blood has a conspicuous place in our history. Sin is the great wound that afflicts humanity--it is our hemorrhage. For healing we must look to the gospel.
Clearly, the message is faith. Only having faith will resolve the issues that we face, both as individuals and as a people altogether--as a world. We must put our faith in the one who did resist sin to the point of shedding his blood (cf. Lk 22:44).
Placing all our trust in the will of God, we let go and offer our woundedness. We give it to our Lord, speaking the name of that which troubles our lives most. We find that place where we keep vigil with him in the garden, knowing that only he has the power to save us and to save our world.
That's the problem. We are willing to shed blood, ours and others', for some alleged good, or against some alleged evil. There isn't anything, apparently, we won't believe-- despite facts presenting the absolute opposite. We cannot war for peace. That's like cleaving the heart to relieve a brain anuerysm. We still have the anuerysm, and now, deadly heart trouble is added unto it. At worst, when power is desired, little things in its path dies regularly. We know the difference, don't we, between freedom and slavery? That's why this nation came to be. Cheaper oil won't matter a damn -- nor will someone else's democracy -- to the armless, motherless, eyeless. They'll have forfeited life or limb or organ for a SUV's greater filling. At best, we want honor, we understand the concept of honor. But we forgot Who invented honor, Who laid the tree-work of honor, Who died for our greater honor. We do not shed blood for the Right honor.
I have a friend, a dear sweet former WAC who sends me smarmy patriotic stuff, much as what is constantly force-fed us by our surgical but skill-less leader. ("Win" is a dead-giveaway word, don't we know that by now?)
No, we have not resisted evil. We have decorated it.
Posted by: HC | January 30, 2007 at 11:25 AM