The CineForum

² When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites (play actors)  do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A2-4&version=NABRE

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4&version=NIV

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Luke/Resurrection-Jesus

Jesus calls us to give that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing.

That is pretty much impossible but no less impossible than that his mother, Mary, was a virgin, and no less impossible than that after a brutal beating capped by a crucifixion which led to his death Jesus was literally raised from the dead.

In fact, the more I think on it the more I realize everything about Christianity is impossible.

THE I CHING, an ancient Chinese oracle I began living by in 1968 (I was 22) teaches that the superior man forgives both the conscious and unconscious misdeeds of others upon their person BEFORE they happen.

This means we do not allow ourselves to be dragged down into the bottomless pit of anger, resentment and the desire for revenge.

At 22, youthful and inexperienced, I decided to forgive everyone for their conscious and unconscious misdeeds upon my person BEFORE they happened.

I’m 74 now.

For decades myself and others have been and continue to be the focus of a determined effort to do us harm.

This has been documented in Canada’s newspaper of record: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-alternative-theatre-founder-stands-up-to-bullying-threats/article549053/    . I post this only so that the reader may know I am not making this up. The person behind these attacks has a documented history which is completely ignored it seems  as people avert their eyes and pass on by:  http://posterstoronto.blogspot.com/2010/06/davisville-psycho.html .

My problem is not with this person. It is with myself.

I made a decision to forgive. I stand by it.

Forgiveness does not mean standing by and doing nothing. It means doing what must be done to set things right all the while refusing to condemn.

We are told, “Be still. Vengeance is mine.”

Once a friend who had been deeply wronged by the same person who had wronged me said, “What do you think is the best revenge.”

The words came without thought, “To have former friends friends again.”

To my surprise he shouted, “You never stop, do you?!” as he stormed away.

No, I never stop.

Despite those who call themselves Christians and who state that the Hebrew Scriptures  have nothing to do with Jesus we have it on the authority of Jesus not only that they do but also that they were and are fulfilled in him. We have it on his authority as well that false Christians would arise (the tares and the wheat and more) and that we shall know them by their fruits. Many a “Christian” has said to me they practice their faith in the church and leave it behind in the world (politics, business, whatever). Well, the world is where we are called to practice it. Anything less is hypocrisy (play acting). We are also called to do good to those who wrong us, not to be fault finders and to forgive that we may be forgiven. This is easier said than done. In fact, I have learned it is as impossible as the fact that we are told Mary was a virgin impregnated by the power of God, Jesus worked miracles including raising the dead, that he was brutally beaten, suffered an outrageous death on the cross after which he was raised from the dead. All of this is impossible. Nonetheless we are called as Christians to believe it is not metaphorically but literally true. Not only do I realize that it is literally true but I also know that when Jesus governs my understanding he governs the world through myself and all those who seek to do the same. Jesus stumbled on the path he was forced to walk. We stumble as well. Nonetheless we continue. Christmas to me only makes sense in the light of Easter. Through Christ I have learned not only that the impossible is true but also and more importantly that through trust in God the impossible can be done by all of us. Paul taught there is but one priest between God and man and that priest is Jesus. When we depart from this we get confusion. John, in his first letter, wrote, “You need not that any man should teach you for the spirit with which you were anointed is your teacher.”

When we depart from this we not only get confusion we fail to connect with the God the Father, we fail to become His begotten child: “² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=NIV

This was and remains the true message of the gospels.