As the latter-day prophet of our generation, Martin Luther King, Junior, stood upon the steps of eternity - I believe the very day before he was felled by an assassin's bullet(s) - he famously declared, as his Old Testament 'mentor' Moses himself did as he prepared to die upon the very border of Canaan, having himself forfeited the wonderful opportunity of leading the people of Israel through Jordan into their Promised Land through a single error of judgment, failing to hallow God in the eyes of His people:
"I may not get to see the Promised Land, but I can see it afar off"; adding, unlike Moses: "...and am persuaded that not 40 years hence we will reach it"...of course in infinitely more eloquent phraseology, tones and emphasis (than my pitiful attempts at recollection).
And so, almost precisely 40 years on America elected its first black American President, Barack Obama.
I've little doubt MLK's fellow soldier of the cross - and *indeed friend and confidant, if in an entirely different sphere of activity, Billy Graham - has likewise departed this earthly scene just 'moments' (in the overall scheme of things, and of this Earth's brief human history) prior to, as JRR Tolkien's Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee put it, 'the end of all things', the long-prophesied Parousia (Second Coming) of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent First Resurrection of all God's true 'saints', '[His] servants the prophets', 'and [all] those who fear [reverence, respect, rightly esteem, hold in awe, and show due deference to] [His] name, small and great'. And for such a moment he lived each day to behold.
And so I as well, if a belated 40 days on, take this opportunity to pay my own brief respects to the memory of someone much in the public eye who bore steady and unflinching, but ever grace-filled, loving witness in life and word and public proclamation, to 'his generation' - across the **entire globe.
To Be Continued (after sufficient shuteye!)
'Hot off the Press this morning':
Though apparent 'coincidences' seem to dog, bedevil - or, alternatively, grace and inspire - my every step these days (and years) of my life, I was simply dumbfounded this morning when the celebrated (and doubtless equally reviled!) 'award-winning Global News Hour' of the New York-based 'Democracy Now' radio show led out today today with items it later covered in greater detail, informing its listenership that April 3rd, 1968 was the date Martin Luther King made that memorable speech (cited in my above opening paragraphs), and the following day (April 4th) he was gunned down by an assassin's bullet/s. So that I seemed to have some sort of ESP for recounting those details I did on the very day I did, i.e. yesterday, April 3 (NZ-time), 2018...apparently 50 years (half a century) to that memorable day in the US of A; which was of course followed by MLK's 'history-making' - yet all too ***commonplace (especially back then) assassination.
A Few Extra Thoughts (scribbled the afternoon Billy Graham's death occurred/was reported):
Strangely the idea of Billy Graham's death has recurred to me on many occasion in years prior, my envisaging that moment resulting in quite a shockwave to the American (not only 'religious') psyche, dominating the likes of Time Magazine et al. However, in this secularized day and age - even, and especially in the US of A (except, naturally enough, among Christian evangelicals and ****'fundamentalists') - it has hardly occasioned more than a ripple of nostalgic interest and reflection. Nevertheless, for what it's worth, here are some of the reflections that affected me on that fateful day.
Yes, Billy Graham was intolerant - as indeed was His Master and Lord (but that's for another time and place) - of one thing, and one thing only: sin - in all its many and various, variegated and complicated forms and manifestations and infinite permutations. Just as were all the great biblical prophets, as a matter of fact, so he was in some especially good company, I'd argue. But somehow I don't suspect he'd have been at all, even remotely, concerned, much less upset let alone outraged, or even all that taken aback, for a matter of fact (or rather, (my) opinion!)...by such a designation. Rather, I strongly suspect he'd have worn such a designation - generally born out of sheer ignorance and/or intolerance itself!) as a veritable badge of honour...with which His own beloved LORD, his own great God and Saviour Jesus Christ had adorned him.
The story that has not been told, cynics and sceptics would contend - and with very good reason - that arguably has been actively suppressed from Americans and everyone else, was that Billy Graham was only too well aware of the divisions that would be caused and the criticisms stirred up by his being seen to publicly take a stand/stance fully in sync with where his own sympathies long lay...i.e. with the desegregation movement. Which is not to even for one moment condone the use of 'policy' and expediency in such situations, only to explain that - far from actually being in any sympathy with such reactionary and sadly in the vast majority (especially southern USA) 'elements', Graham was equally and only too well aware of the potential for disruption and ultimate injury to, and even effective destruction of, what he - naturally- felt was an important and life- and nation-, even world-changing ministry. So that not merely was his own 'livelihood' under serious and very real threat, but that work of the Spirit in peoples' lives, through which those heart- and life-transformations so necessary, even absolutely critical to, the ushering in of true equality in not only America but throughout the world would - indeed the only way such really ultimately could be effected - would be effectively thwarted; and for good (in every way).
(Unedited, Raw) Additional Reflections (Upon the New Zealand Response) on February 22nd:
Shame on New Zealand's Parliament upon this historic day. Their (new Speaker-inaugurated) PC-mangled and mauled, Jesus Christ-expunging and even un-'virtue-signalling' excuse for a 'parliamentary prayer', followed immediately by an enthusiastic welcome for a visiting Iranian parliamentary delegation (a nation not exactly conspicuous for its commitment to human rights), followed by...yes, you guessed aright, no - either '(uncontested) notice without motion' (or otherwise) - 'obituary'/remembrance slot acknowledging/commemorating the passing of the great 20th century evangelist to United States presidents (for half a century), Billy Graham... Yes, those three closely-juxtaposed 'items' essentially 'said it all' (as per where our present-day leaders effectively stand upon things that really matter in our modern day...although hopefully - in under an hour's time - they'll at least note the 50th anniversary of the gunning down of America's great 20th century prophet Martin Luther King, and reflect upon his timeless legacy...but even that I somehow doubt...
Upon the matter of that Iranian delegation, let me add a few further well-considered thoughts. Though not among those entertaining the prospect of even a small-scale regional Middle East nuclear conflagration - in which Iran would doubtless be an essential 'player' - thus publicly (from the highest official echelons of our society) 'celebrating' even just the presence here (within our own parliament) of (some of) the leadership of a nation well-documented as officially sanctioning, nay, verily promoting, the driving of another nation, in this case the M/E's one and only real democracy, i.e. Israel, into the Mediterranean Sea...whilst *****no-one in our Parliament apparently raises so much as 'a whisper nor a murmur' about the presence in said legislature of a former 'human rights' lawyer (and from that selfsame nation with its well-known human rights record) outed awhile ago (just following our recent parliamentary election) as deeply involved in having represented some of modern history's most genocidal (regime) players - to wit, 1990s' Rwanda and post-Yugoslavia - says a heckuva, or if you'll 'scuse my French', helluva, lot about where their real hearts are these days...and it sure ain't a pretty place!
*Curiously the mainstream media has well-nigh chosen (if but by neglect, but that's an agenda in itself) to ignore this crucial element of Pastor Graham's life experience, and if mention is made (as the ODT did in its own obituary upon him) of desegregation in the American South (in the 60s and beyond), Graham is presented as coming belatedly - and effectively (if only by obvious implication) kicking and screaming - 'to the table', as a reluctant and certainly not an eager, willing participant in and contributor to that seminal moment in United States and world history.
But the scurrilous, arguably even slanderous...allegations do not stop there. Yet to my surprise, one of the main ones was not entirely, or even at all, without some foundation: N.B. Graham's 'anti-Semitism'. In that regards RNZ National's decision to read out a rather inflammatory email - citing Graham as an anti-Semite and a preacher of hate' (presumably because he, in harmony with his biblical predecessors, held out staunchly against all manner of sexual deviance and perversion, including and especially ******homosexuality, which the Torah terms 'an abomination') - just before its 9 a.m. headline bulletin the day after Graham's death, without any 'right of reply' (as is usually - or, I would argue, supposedly - accorded subjects of media stories), was just plain awful (but probably quite well-planned) timing.
And yet in this era where the term 'homophobe' (and occasionally anti-Semitic) is bandied about willy-nilly, such (well-publicized verbal) transgressions, far from being seen as mere indiscretions let alone errors of judgment, are seen as major veritable hanging offences.Yet one cannot really argue that Pastor Graham's views upon sexual 'diversity' fit well in the modern world, and many today are metaphorically hung publicly for a way lot less!
And thus RNZ's sense of appropriateness in so airing them. And though on Graham's death day I bristled at such, feeling how utterly baseless, scurrilous and scandalous these various allegations were - aside from (as I just mentioned) being free from anyone's ability to publicly refute - and moreover almost 'unforgivable' from a human (if not divine) point of view...the sober light of reflection enabled me to check up upon the anti-Semite charge, and establish that Graham did indeed have somewhat of a case to answer...while he lived. And so, after processing the *******two (only!) internet opinion pieces dealing with this matter, I realized that Graham's tape-recorded conversation with then-President Nixon did indeed contain serious, even 'way out there' substance, itself (if no other such record existed) positively deleterious to Pastor Graham and his long-term (posthumous) reputation.
But to my surprise, it was the Jewish commentator extending the most grace - or arguably just sheer head-in-the-sand, look-the-other-way, see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil rationalization-making to Graham. He essentially saw Graham's, admittedly fairly graphic, remarks as being more a reflection of the then times than signalling any great personal failings upon Graham's part.
Indeed, as that ODT obituary makes abundantly clear, Pastor Graham's conscientious moral (and spiritual) scruples are these days generally seen as a quaint relic of a bygone era, leftovers of a day and age of error and superstition. They are hardly intangibles held up to any degree of honour or public esteem.
But be that as it well may, 'the truth will [one day] out', as others have said, and God is able to guard our true, genuine characters from every last smear and stain upon our earthly reputations, however untrue, slanderous and scandalous...till His great Judgment Scene scatters all His enemies and 'truth, forever on the scaffold', finally comes into its own...for time and eternity...
**Though personally not alive during Billy Graham's evidently highly memorable evangelical crusades throughout the 50s and 60s, he drew large crowds pretty well everywhere he went, including here in 'God's Own', and one of my colporteur/literature evangelist leaders (from almost three decades ago), Tony Wall, traced his conversion from attending one such 'rally'. Perhaps modern-day evangelists could learn a thing or do from Graham about the importance of securing public - albeit entirely voluntary, 'moved by the Holy Spirit' - commitments then and there from attendees.
***Following on from - or, no, perhaps it only months preceded - the assassination of New York Senator Robert ('Bobby') Kennedy, then seeking the Democratic Party nomination for President; himself of course the brother of, not only the late Massachusetts ('liberal lion') Senator Edward ('Ted') Kennedy, himself a sometime Democratic Party presidential would-be nominee, but their brother John Kennedy, popularly known as JFK, himself cut down in his presidential prime by the bullet/s of the personally insanely envious (and politically radicalized and alienated) Lee Harvey Oswald, whose own ultimate responsibility is of course the stuff of modern (and not only urban) legend...the series of and various permutations of potential associated conspiracies now running into literal screeds and screeds, reams and reams of newsreel, newsprint and volumes written and sold (and voraciously consumed) in their millions. Interestingly, something the media seldom mentions is the incredible fact that Pastor Graham - whether in response to a dream or a presentiment/sense of foreboding - warned JFK over the phone only days prior to his never-to-be-forgotten Dallas motorcade journey not to make the fateful trip. But of course he did, and, as the wag once put it, nothing's ever been the same since.
***Incidentally I also (think I) heard this morning that King was only born in 1929, meaning he was only 38-39 when he died. And hence the old saying, 'Only the good die young', which certainly seems to have more than a modicum of truth in it (as per many notable world famous spiritual and political leaders, not least Jesus of Nazareth - if not necessarily those idols of modern generations, i.e. popstars).
****Though upon Graham's death, as is so common, evangelicals and 'fundamentalists' have come out of the proverbial woodwork and almost stumbled over each other in their indecent haste to pay posthumous homage to such a noteworthy persona, while he was alive the 'verdict' of such Americans was not always so positive. In particular Billy Graham's essential unwillingness - despite being 'pastor to presidents' - to engage in party politics or even overtly promote a moral legislative agenda so beloved these days of so many such, earned him public disfavour at times from the Moral Majority/Christian Coalition/Religious Right (as its evolving permutations have been designated). However, for my part, I consider it a badge of honour that in this He closely followed his beloved Master, who so famously and memorably declared during His betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane::
My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews [i.e. Jewish religious and political authorities]. But now is My kingdom not from here.
******Admittedly the divine 'epithet' of 'abomination' (translated in at least one modern version as 'detestable') is applied to many things in the (Hebrew) Scriptures, and indeed is employed numerous times throughout the book of Proverbs, and there regarding far more prosaic concerns (such as, especially, pride, deception, wholly 'perverse' and inappropriate things, and inaccurate weights and measures in commercial transactions). Nevertheless, 'lie[ing] with a[nother] male, as [one] lies with a woman' is (at least) thrice termed 'an abomination' (in the Old Testament), and 'vile passions', also comprehending lesbianism, (in the New); whereas bestiality is described as 'perversion'; marrying a woman and her Mum (and boy-girl incest) as 'wickedness'.
Interestingly, however, 'abominations' plural is then used (in the relevant passages in Leviticus) as a catch-all including all the various forms of sexual deviance cited ('any of these abominations'/ 'abominable customs' being used thrice, and 'all these abominations' once, in the relevant section of Leviticus 18: 6-23;-30) and the list is quite long, primarily referring to all manner of incestuous relationships within (it is assumed by said texts) an extended family with father, mother, daughters and sons, uncles and aunts, sons- and daughters-in-law; indeed 'anyone who is near of kin'.
Like Tim LaHaye, author of The Unhappy Gays: What Everyone Should Know About Homosexuality, Graham - like any evangelist worth his salt - would have been quite conversant with major history bearing upon the question, such as the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. This is seen as being essentially due to its moral sins, of which, in the view of the renowned and respected historians Edward Gibbon and Arthur Toynbee, homosexuality played a major part.
*******Said internet-accessible editorials are: 'How should Jews Remember Rev. Billy Graham?' (cited in New York-based 'Jewish Week' '14 hours ago' (when I accessed it but a day or two on), by Rabbi Emeritus Gerald (Zelizer?) of Congregation Neve Shalom, Metuchen, New Jersey; and, by the oft-cited Mark Axelrod, Professor of Comparative Literature at Chapman University: 'Gushing Over Graham, or, How Much is That Anti-Semite in the Window?' in the (14/12/20120 Washington Post.
*****And we've no time here to even touch upon the other recent case of an outed and ostracized and summarily out-on-his-face, 'Do Not Pass GO, Go Straight to [at least the court of public opinion's) Jail', former member of that selfsame Parliament. Though I intend to write more upon this ACT (and that other Green ) M.P. soon (procrastinator unsurpassed as I am, I intended and should've posted re such over four months ago now), suffice to say that the comparison sends up our politicians, pretty well one and all - despite all their many wonderful professions of decency and integrity and the like - as a bunch of...inconsistent h........s (the unparliamentary 'h word') - and that's being extremely kind! And let's not even mention their acolyte party officials and members, who themselves evidently see little, or even absolutely nothing, wrong with this state of affairs themselves.
And all this while thus 'positively' ignoring/snubbing - notwithstanding his few, and not insubstantial, transgressions, as already noted - the passing of an individual responsible - under God - for helping lead more people to the LORD than arguably any other such (Christian minister or evangelist) - excepting someone probably not seen as having done so, I mean Martin Luther King himself - in the second half of the 20th century...while 'leading out' with a (creatively-expressed) benediction upon Parliamentary proceedings which nevertheless is effectively so emasculated, enervated and effete as to be a pitiful, pitiable, piteous - even downright pathetic - excuse for the same.
Postscript:
New Zealand, you've now well and truly entered a post-Christian phase of your (relatively) short and generally illustrious history. Having now effectively and for all intents and purposes eschewed your Maker and Redeemer as the Source and Inspiration of your everyday and collective life and endeavours...I wish you well. You'll positively need all the help you can possibly get in the troublous years ahead, Will you ever!
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