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today is Good Friday of the Christian Holy Week, a day when the crucifixion & death of Jesus is observed. it is also a declaration of what the cost of fierce disruptive love can be. there are more than one way to view the crucifixion. viewing it as the end result of Jesus’ life of love, a life of love so unapologetically & fiercely embodied – the kind of love that flips tables – is, i think, very relevant today. it is important to see that Jesus’ message of love & what it meant to embody the heart of God – loving our neighbor (who incidentally is EVERYONE…i.e. the parable of the good Samaritan), welcoming the foreigner, feeding the hungry, tending to the sick & imprisoned – was disruptive to governmental, religious, & cultural norms. Jesus’ nonviolent protest tactics of turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, etc. can be also understood as shifting the power dynamic from oppressor to those oppressed, by exposing the oppression. the love Jesus was devoted to – divine love – which he preached & embodied, undermined & upset power structures, & the result was crucifixion & death. Jesus said whatever we do to the least of us (including all, but especially any marginalized group) we do to him. so, it’s not a stretch to see that Jesus would likely be crucified again today by the current systems in power, & disappointingly, tragically, by some of the very people who claim to love & worship him. it is interesting that Jesus never really says to worship him. what he says is to follow him. take up our cross & follow him. what does it look like to follow Jesus today? what does it look like to take up our cross today? our answer as it was in Jesus’ time, may be to find solidarity with all who are excluded, marginalized, & oppressed by the systems of power today – secular & religious, & offer our fierce, unflinching love, giving our life to it & for it.

~j

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#GoodFriday #Jesus #crucifixion #TakeUpYourCross #love #FierceCompassion #bodhisattvas #OpenHeart #JinpaLhaga #JMWart