HuffPo Corrects the Pope

Woke up ready to write seven lovely things about this house, or seven meltdowns I’ve had this week, or seven ways not to pack and move, but then, as per usual, I clicked open my tablet and Matt had very thoughtfully sent this gem. Maybe he was saving it for himself, but it woke me right up, and since I don’t have anything to add to any national conversation about politics, race, or terrorism, I’m going to have some words for poor Ms. Horner.

She begins,
“Dear Pope Francis,” hoping, I guess, that that great personage will pop over to Huffpo and take a gander there at the general insanity. It may be, at least I would so imagine, that he has other things to do with his time, but perhaps not. Maybe he is sitting in his study waiting for advice about how to reform a religion that it’s just a tiny bit possible he knows more about than she does. Anyway, we carry on.
“Every single day before communion, millions of Christians verbally declare one of the most destructive phrases in human history. On Sunday, it’s tens of millions if not a half billion of the over one billion Catholic Christians worldwide—and not without repercussions.”
Oh my Word! I read this and thought, What Terrible Thing are Catholics saying every day? Every. Single. Day. Has something been added to the Mass that I hadn’t heard of? Has the creed been replaced by that ghastly pantheistic funereal poem? Are people being asked to pledge allegiance to Hitler? What are all these people saying that is the most destructive phrase in human history?
“In the Bible,”… So you see, she’s read it, and she knows whereof she speaks, we can totally trust everything she says now.
“a Centurion soldier relates, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof…’ (Matthew 8:8) before recounting the inner workings of the blindness of patriarchal hierarchies and slavery that exists to this day.”
Um.
So.
A Roman Centurion says to Jesus (who is God) “I’m not worthy”, which means, essentially–You, God, are better than me. I am not as good as you. You are holy and perfect and I am sinful and ignorant. I should not be allowed to live in the presence of your holiness, which, if you haven’t heard of the word “holy” before, means pure moral perfection, which, of course, Ms. Horner has all wrapped up tidy with a bow on. She must not have ever done anything wrong that would separate her from a holy and perfect God who holds not only the universe, but also her own breath, in his hand. This man, who had what the bible calls Wisdom, which is the proper fear and awe of the Lord, did not come to Jesus snapping his fingers, entitled, micro-aggressions at the ready, but rather came in humility, knowing that if all things were fair, he would be dead because of his sins.
But Ms. Horner thinks this has something to do with patriarchy, and slavery? I’m not following her incredible non sequitur here. I mean, of course, we are all slaves to sin, and cannot do good unless God frees us to love him, and we do address him as our Father….so, I’m coming up with a blank on what she’s talking about. If you’re going to address the Pope, Ms. Horner, who has been to seminary and stuff, you should try to be a clearer writer. We carry on.
“Applying religious context,” which I look forward to
“what’s important for Christians to note is that the soldier uttered the phrase pre-salvation. An unsaved (ignorant) man sharing his feelings and a religion demanding a billion saved Christians repeat the phrase daily post-salvation are entirely two different matters.”
I think most people would argue that when the Centurion uttered these destructive words, he was at that moment saved. See, it’s important to know what the word “saved” means. If you save something, it means you don’t throw it away, you keep it. And we are all trying to throw ourselves into the pits that we have dug for ourselves. God gives us life, and gives us everything we need, and we respond to this incredible good fortune by telling him to go jump in a lake. And when we do that, when we sin and rebel against God, we are taking the dignity that he, God, gives us as a gift, the worthiness of being a creature in his creation, and we ourselves devalue it, chuck it away, fling ourselves into the mire. And then, and this is what is probably so offensive to Ms. Horner, we find that we have no way out. We can’t get out of the pit that we have dug for ourselves because it is a pit, a hole, with no ladder and no nothing. We might try to carve out a way to climb up, we might do our best, but even if we climb half way out, we will fall back in again. So, let’s see, there is the human person in the pit, dying, and there is God who made that person. So, hmm. What does he do sometimes, to help the person in the pit? Oh, that’s right, he “saves” them. He pulls them out. He gives them eternal life. He heals all their diseases, both of the mind and the body. And know what’s nice, sometimes, if you’ve been saved from something awful? Sometimes you feel grateful and want to say thank you, or, understand that the savior didn’t have to do that, but be really grateful that he did.
“Dialogue and constructs that perpetuate ‘I am not worthy’ are the root of all evil.”
No, Ms. Horner, they are not. Saying to God that you are not worthy is not the root of all evil. The root of evil is rebellion against God. And the only remedy for this evil is God’s work to pay for that evil in himself by dying the death you, the rebel, deserved to die. It seems to me that Ms. Horner would do well with a basic study in the meanings of words. So far “saved”, “worthy” and “evil” are constituting a list she might wonderfully benefit from learning about.
“It is divisiveness personified.”
No it’s not. Humility is actually a great unifier. If all of us realize the great distance between ourselves and God, and come to him seeking his mercy and salvation, we don’t have as much time to gather up our offenses and bash each other with them. Consider Nice, which has just been mushed into the ground, by a person who took the justice of God into his own hands, to murder and destroy. He should have woken up yesterday morning and begged God for mercy. But instead he, in the most divisive way possible, killed a lot of people. Catholics joining together in Mass and acknowledging their corporate humble status before God is not “divisive”. I think I will pop out and buy Ms. Horner a dictionary, so confused she seems to be.
“By believing we are not worthy, we open the door for the mistreatment of ourselves and the mistreatment of others as we seek to assuage the psychological pain the false belief imparts.”
Again, that would be a big no. When you believe yourself to be unworthy, you are in a place where you can fling yourself onto a God whose property–just think about that, it is a quality inherent within himself, just like my property is always to be a jerk–is always to have mercy. Mercy is a great thing. It is a beautiful thing. When you have mercy on someone you are acknowledging that they did the wrong thing, they broke faith, they hurt someone or themselves, and then, instead of dealing out the just dessert for that action, you absorb the penalty of that in yourself and let that other person go free. That’s what God does for us when he has mercy. So far from opening up the humble penitent to more mistreatment, the mercy of God to the one who is humble creates a core strength, a great gracious love that can never be shaken, never conquered, never undone.
“The guilt of unworthiness calls for us to judge ourselves and to judge others just as harshly. We cower within power-over structures or worse; we attempt to control others in our imagined superiority. The insanity continues as inferiority complexes pursue power and wealth as outward substitutes for what Jesus, Buddha, and many other saints and sages have said can only come from within.”
I think, perhaps, that Ms. Horner is accidentally describing her own psychological and spiritual state. I feel for her. I really do. You can’t get the great gift of God’s saving mercy by digging deep within yourself. You are in a pit, remember? If you dig any deeper you will just end up in hell. And that’s too bad, because God is standing there, ready to pull you out and give you his own self unto eternity. If you look at the Centurion, and then cast your eye to the cross, and then take a morsel of bread and a sip of wine, and think that we are here talking about power, or control, you are, again, terribly and heartbreakingly mistaken.
“Tacking on ‘but only say the word and my soul shall be healed’ is not enough.”
Oh but it is! That’s what so amazing! We don’t have to do anything! We only have to cry out for help, as a bird cries out desperately for food, or a child cries out for comfort, or a beggar cries out for help. One single cry is enough to attract the Lord’s attention. You don’t need to climb up, or clean yourself up, or do anything but let the well spring of your heart come into your throat.
“Jesus did say the Word.”
Yes he did, Ms. Horner. Yes indeed he did.
“Yet, Christianity along with many other religions, continue to shove a dagger of inequality into the hearts of those the religious community is supposed to be serving. Where is the healing?”
Um. Wow. A dagger? Really? Getting to be forgiven of your sins and then going out and offering other people this beautiful gift is like being whacked with a dagger? Gosh. What this poor lady is seeing is not really Christianity.
“Daily we see the emotional pain of inner self-hatred projected into the world through acts of violence.”
Oh! I see, yes! She must have confused Islam for Christianity.
“This behavior originates from feeling disconnected, powerless, and undervalued. A false belief in unworthiness contributes to drug and alcohol abuse and deviant behavior. Many continue to leave religion as they seek more positive and supportive environments elsewhere.”
Again with the confusion, non sequiturs, and inability to use language coherently.
“It’s really a sustainability issue. Negative reinforcement is not the answer to dwindling faith. The renewal of hope and joyful living are found by reconnecting with the goodness within one another, our bountiful Earth and all of Creation, which is God. The sooner we speak of our goodness; the sooner we can truly unify as a people. Then faith isn’t even required—we become the living Word.”
Snerk.
Western culture has been busily looking for its own goodness lo these many years and it seems to be going well. I would love to see the face of our Lord, gazing upon Ms. Horner, as she explains to him that he is confused, and actually she is the Word, the savior of the world, the hope of all mankind. I would hope for bemusement, but I fear wroth is more usual.
“It’s time for a mass healing.”
Funny, Jesus did a bunch of mass healings in Galilee, and they killed him anyway.
“I implore you to call for an end to the religious ritual of the declaration of unworthiness. As children of God, we are equally worthy—even the ‘ignorant.’ I think deep down in your heart; you know this to be true. Lead the way and others will follow.
Healed, we can finally turn in service to one another instead of exploitation as so many already have. Then maybe, just maybe, we can all work together cooperatively to create a peaceful and harmonious world.”
Well, I’m sure we’ll shortly be hearing from the Vatican on this very important matter.
“That’s what love would do.”
Ha ha ha.
“Eternally,”
Bwahaaaaaaa
“Christine Horner”
Who, we read at the end, “is the author of What Is God? Rolling Back the Veil,” and was “nominated for the 2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.” And of course, “A healed ex-Catholic, her religion is Love. Horner’s next non-fiction book is The Power of Unity Consciousness.”
That’s some kind of love you got there, Ms. Horner. May it get you farther than is actually possible. For my part, I will pray for God’s mercy, both for you and for myself.