The best way to serve this age is to betray it...

I just came across this brilliant reworking of U2's "Dirty Day" - a combo of the Zooropa song and Scorsese's cinema in "Taxi Driver" - just freakin' brilliant! Two things grab me: the first has to do with the way this hip/flip song is a lament for the times we live in for today is even more cynical than the early 90s when Zooropa burst on the scene; second, it is also one of those totally counter-intuitive invitations into the ways of God's kingdom. Bono says in U2 by U2 that "one of the ways to serve this age is to betray it..." Sounds like the gospel to me with a tip of the hat to wrestling with the sins of the fathers and mothers being passed on to the third generation.

That's when you'll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You'll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God's kingdom. You'll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God's kingdom. And all the time you'll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last. (Luke 13: 28-30)

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbSZQQWQlkE

Brennan Manning writes: In spite of our reluctance and resistance, the essence and novelty of the new covenant is that the very law of God's being is love. Pagan philosophers like Plato and Aristotle had arrived through human reasoning at the existence of God, speaking of the Lord in vague, impersonal terms as the Uncaused Cause and the Immovable Mover. The prophets of Israel revealed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a more intimate and passionate manners. (And I would add the prophets and poets deepen that sweet intimacy!) And then Jesus reveals that God is a Father (and Mother) of incomparable tenderness, that if we take all the goodness, wisdom and compassion of the best mothers and fathers who have ever lived, they would only be a faint shadow of the love and mercy that is in the heart of our redeeming God. One of the challenges of this cynical and fundamentalist era is to embrace the truth and wisdom of a spiritual path deeply and passionately - for me the way of Jesus - without closing the door - or worse judging - the spiritual traditions that bring joy, integrity and hope to others. And I think this rings true spiritually, socially and politically. These are profoundly challenging times - even a dirty day as my boys U2 remind us (you want explanations... I don't even understand... if you need someone to blame throw a rock in the air and you'll hit someone guilty! And still the Psalmist tells us: Do not fret because of the wicked... trust in the Lord and do good... be still before the Lord and wait... wait for the Lord and keep to God's ways and the One who is Holy will exalt you to inherit the land. Which brings to mind another U2 song: I waited patiently for the Lord, he inclined and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay... how long to sing this song? (This was sooooo cool to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64P3KCXP6s4_