Disturbing the World

Archive for January, 2010

The book of Isaiah is one of my favourite reads in the Bible. Some of the church’s most beautiful and meaningful images come from these writings. In chapter 55 verse 2, the prophet asks an extremely loaded question: “Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread?” (RSV)

As you can probably guess, Isaiah was not talking here about flour and yeast alone. In the lifetime that I have been endeavouring to be a Christ-follower, this question has come back to me over and over again in many guises, as I have tried to make the best choices as to how to spend my money, my time, and my daily caloric intake allotment.

Here’s how it works. Read the rest of this entry »

In the movie Twelve Monkeys, Brad Pitt’s character gets worked up into a psychotic excitement and utters these prophetic words:

“There’s the television. It’s all right there, it’s all right there. Look, listen, kneel, pray. Commercials. We’re not productive anymore; we’re not used to making things anymore. It’s all automated. What are we for then? We’re consumers. Okay, okay. Buy a lot of stuff, you’re a good citizen. But if you don’t buy a lot of stuff? If you don’t, what are you, I ask you? What?”

Is that just a delusional rant in a science fiction movie or an undeniable truth that haunts us? Read the rest of this entry »

As the patriarch Abraham faces the death of his beloved wife Sarah and ponders his own mortality, he realizes there is an important task left undone. The son of his old age, his heir Isaac, is in need of a wife. Appalled by the immorality of the people around him, Abraham decides that the only suitable wife for Isaac would be a woman from his own clan, and from the faraway land of his origin.

Accordingly, Abraham makes his servant swear to search out a wife for Isaac in the land of his ancestors. As the servant approaches Abraham’s homeland he devises a plan Read the rest of this entry »