To remember - Para lembrar

Next, Back.

"God said to Abraham, kill me a son! Abe said man, you must be puttin' me on!" So said Brother Bob 40 years ago, and we boomers have been helter skelter all over Highway 61 ever since, not killing our firstborn maybe, although we may have done that too in a manner of speaking, but living as close to the Enron dream as we could manage, like a bunch of Houston Christians.

Micah Chapter 6 looks like easier stuff; easier to understand, easier to try and fail at; easier to fake. A-and it keeps on looking easier as the years go by; succinct; good for petit-point wall decorations and the like: do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.

I read the first encyclical from the new Pope this week - he says God is Love, sexual love too he is meaning. Get the love first and then go for justice, he says. And the snooty theologians and intellectuals are sniggering up their sleeves and making excuses for him.

And Sub-Comandante Marcos, Delegate Zero, is saying "Let me tell you a secret. It is already known that we are going to win. This is what the Other Campaign is about. You’re invited. Enter it." Grant you this is a little far fetched on the face of it - go read the whole story and maybe my leap will make more sense - Marcos Rips Up the Script: “We’re going to Chichen Itzá”. And the words "Chichen Itzá" conjure up something too, for those of you able to remember the Fugs.

About the same time as Evo Morales was standing on another set of steps at another temple.

A-and then we have a Hamas bright light, Mr. Abu Teir with his beard dyed bright orange, telling us: "The No. 1 thing we will do is take sharia as a source for legislation. Sharia has a soul in it and is good for all occasions,”

Can you see what I am driving at? Clumsy un-subtle oaf and boomer bourgeois twit that I am? Look at it my friend, my brother, my sister. The spirit is afoot. The wind of the spirit is on the loose and blowing where it will, where it 'listeth'. Some humble people with something to lose, and some not-so-humble others with nothing at all to lose, are taking some big transcendental risks and laughing at it.

And I am looking for a clue in Micah, and then I am thinking of Revelations: "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." It makes no difference to me if he added: "for I have not found thy works perfect before God."; it goes without saying.

Th-that's it folks! No need to drag God into it if he/she/it makes you uncomfortable. The whole thing can be equally paraphrased into left-lib-speak and lose nothing much at all in the translation. Seems to me the things that remain are just that - what you know of justice, what you know of love and what you know of humility. Paul said Faith, Hope, and Charity; three big words, three big hard-to-understand words with capital letters at the fronts of 'em. OK, here ya go Paul, here's one for you - I'll see your Faith, Hope, and Charity; and raise you love, justice, and humility.

Yeah.

from Genesis Chapter 22:	de Gênesis Capítulo 22:
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.	Algum tempo depois Deus pôs Abraão à prova. Deus o chamou pelo nome, e ele respondeu: - Estou aqui.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.	Então Deus disse: - Pegue agora Isaque, o seu filho, o seu único filho, a quem você tanto ama, e vá até a terra de Moriá. Ali, na montanha que eu lhe mostrar, queime o seu filho como sacrifício.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.	No dia seguinte Abraão se levantou de madrugada, arreou o seu jumento, cortou lenha para o sacrifício e saiu para o lugar que Deus havia indicado. Isaque e dois empregados foram junto com ele.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.	Ao terceiro dia, erguendo Abraão os olhos, viu o lugar de longe.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.	Então disse aos empregados: - Fiquem aqui com o jumento. Eu e o menino vamos ali adiante para adorar a Deus. Daqui a pouco nós voltamos.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.	Abraão pegou a lenha para o sacrifício e pôs nos ombros de Isaque. Pegou uma faca e fogo, e os dois foram andando juntos.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?	Daí a pouco o menino disse: - Pai! Abraão respondeu: - Que foi, meu filho? Isaque perguntou: - Nós temos a lenha e o fogo, mas onde está o carneirinho para o sacrifício?

from Micah Chapter 6:	de Miquéias Capítulo 6:
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?	Com que me apresentarei ao Senhor e me inclinarei ante o Deus excelso? Virei perante ele com holocaustos, com bezerros de um ano?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?	Agradar-se-á o Senhor de milhares de carneiros, de dez mil ribeiros de azeite? Darei o meu primogênito pela minha transgressão, o fruto do meu corpo, pelo pecado da minha alma?
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?	Ele já te declarou, ó homem, o que é bom e que é o que o Senhor pede de ti: que pratiques a justiça, e ames a misericórdia, e andes humildemente com o teu Deus.

from John Chapter 3:	de João Capítulo 3:
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.	O vento assopra onde quer, e ouves a sua voz, mas não sabes de onde vem, nem para onde vai; assim é todo aquele que é nascido do Espírito.

from Revelations Chapter 3:	de Apocalipse Capítulo 3:
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.	Acordem e fortaleçam aquilo que ainda está vivo, antes que morra completamente; pois sei que o que vocês fizeram não está ainda de acordo com aquilo que o meu Deus exige.

Tags: Scripture, Genesis, Micah, John, Revelations, Pope Benedict, Enron, Dylan.