Monday, April 13, 2026
Spiritual revelation is about coming clean from injustice and one-sidedness. Here, in the states, we thrive on a moral economy where owing each other and being indebted make the world go round. We have no clue about removing the implicit “strings.” If you give me something, it comes with a hidden I.O.U. But what if there were no imbalance, and giving and receiving were “free and clear?”
Christians are supposed to be free and clear; but the “strings attached” mentality is prominent in churchgoers. We are constantly leading with a guilty conscience, implying the universe is here to “fix it.” We need to “save souls.” To save souls you must have a victim. To help, you are complicit in naming the helpless. In ways too mysterious to understand, if you see “needs” in the world, you’ve magically conjured neediness. Who can be a peacemaker without stirring up a little war? Who creates art without a critic?
Our common mindset believes God does the good and humans do the bad. But the universe does and is all things. Purpose is driven by making things right. But what is making things wrong? The flip side of purpose hangs in a shadow created by its own implicitness.
In the story of the good Samaritan, we think those who walked past the dying man are scum. But what about the scum who robbed and beat him in the first place? Why does he vanish in the shadow of this story? Had the man on the road not been beaten by a “bad” Samaritan, there would be no “good” Samaritan to whom we sing virtuous praise.
The universe is a kind of setup. Tell me where God “went wrong,” and I’ll show you how to help. It is fundamentally OK when both sides contain the truth.
Play along with a wink and a nod, and you’ll see where things went wrong, even God.