Nagoya Mission

Do not go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki President Obama

Will President Obama support the wrong issue if he visits Nagasaki and Hiroshima?  In his attempt to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons will President Obama reinforce a myth?  In an interview with Japanese national media organization and broadcaster NHK aired today, (Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - Japan time) President Obama said he would be “honored to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency.”

I am deeply disappointed that President Obama has seemingly chosen to reward the perception of Japan as victim during World War II.  I can see it already; ill-informed US political observers and media will focus their attention on rehashing the decision to drop the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The topic of conversation will be: Is this possible future visit by President Obama an “apology?”

Rehashing the decision by the US of 1945 is a waste of time while the crucial issue of today is being ignored, the re-interpretation of history by Japan.  The myth of Japan as a perpetual victim and Japanese responsibilities leading up and during the war in Pacific will be ignored.  It is unfortunate that President Obama may waste political capital when the focus should be on eliminating the world of nuclear weapons, not rewarding false myths.

 

Can President Obama also schedule a visit to a museum in Japan that focuses on the atrocities of the Pacific War?  The reason he can not is because it doesn't exist!  Instead he visit what will be propaganda for Japanese militarists.

To see my earlier comments go to: http://nagoyamission.typepad.com/nagoya_mission/2009/10/obama-say-no-to-a-visit-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki.html.html

Training - 11/8/2009

Mark 12: 28-34

 Hideki Matsui --- Godzilla.  For those who have not been keeping an eye on the news this past week, his name has been in newspapers, radio, internet and TV particularly here in Japan, his home nation.  The reason being is that Matsui is a member --- at least for the time being --- of the New York Yankees; the baseball team that won the US World Series Championship.  Matsui in particular did exceedingly well winning the individual honor of World Series MVP --- Most Valuable Player.

 Hideki Matsui has received a great deal of attention, but his time in baseball goes further back than these recent home runs with the Yankees.  In 1992 while playing at the Japan National High School Baseball Tournament at Koshien Stadium for Seiryo High School in Kanazawa, Matsui sparked a nationwide debate because he drew five consecutive intentional walks in a game.  Intentionally walking a player by a pitcher was and is not a common practice at Koshien.1

 This week I have been thinking, seeing the present success of Matsui, learning more about the practice and work called for in Japanese sports clubs, in High School and Junior High, I wonder how much "natural" talent for baseball --- Matsui may have?  His whole life, since 3rd grade, has been so steeped in playing, practicing and perfecting the game.  I believe it may be impossible to distinguish his talent from his training.  The same could be said for Japanese baseball player Suzuki who plays for the Seattle Mariners.  Talent and training seem to be one.

 That being said, as Christians we have a unique view of physical training and what it means in our lives.  Just look at 1 Timothy 4: 7-8 and this succinct reflection: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  This observation however, leads me to reflect; “How do we train ourselves in “godliness”?”

 The answer partly lies in today's gospel lesson, where Jesus answers the question of a religious leader: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?2  Jesus responds not with one of the Ten Commandments, because as many of us know those are hardly the only commandments in the Bible, and according to Jesus not the most important.  Instead Jesus first recites the training mantra of the Shema.  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”3

 As an observant Jew, Jesus recited this combination of confession, that there is only one God, and commandment “Love…” to God twice a day -- during his morning and evening prayers.4  While sticking to this twice-daily ritual was itself a training regime, it is the message of the Shema that Jesus embodied so perfectly and which offers all of us a way toward complete and genuine "godliness." 

 If you notice, the building blocks of this Shema focus on the heart, soul, mind and strength.  In other words, no element of human existence is excluded from this training in faith.  The exercises that are to be worked on expressed in the Shema allow no parts of our being to unattended.

 I am not a Matsui or a Tiger Woods or a Ronaldo, not only do I not have their talent, but I do not train as the train.  But I am a professing Christian so the words of Jesus today are more than just a teaching they are a reminder in how to train.  Perhaps though we can gain some insight from the worlds of athletes to better understand about what Jesus is teaching us today.

 Mark Allen is the six-time “Ironman” winner and holder of the title “The World's Fittest Man.” “Ironman” and “Ironwoman” competitions include a grueling triathlon of swimming, bicycling and running, designed to push the capabilities of the human body to their limits.  To compete as an Ironman or Ironwoman one must be in superb, all-round, peak physical condition.

 Mr. Allen has devised a 16-week program designed for "ultimate fitness."5  That is not what I find interesting rather it is what Allen chose to use for he divides his training into four components. These include "heart training" for endurance; "mind training" for attitude; "nutritional training" for internal fitness; and "strength training" for muscle mass.  Sound somewhat familiar?  Therefore let’s take Allen’s approach not to trivialize the Shema mandate but to help us reconsider the words of Jesus as we train in “godliness.”

 Allen begins with Heart Training or Endurance Routines, urging his athletes to begin slowly, train easily, and be patient.  "Go for long-term gain, not immediate gratification," says Allen.  Building endurance, building up the stamina of your heart, depends on steady, incremental gains -- not flurries of heart-warming activities followed by weeks of uncaring sloth.

  The key for Allen is to “Get faster by going slower.”  I believe that observation helps us because remember the “heart” described in the Shema was not viewed as the location of our emotions --- that was usually the bowels.  Rather, heart training is a focus on building love endurance, not an emotion.  To be able to love God and love neighbor takes a constant, steady stream of commitment.  For Christians that would mean that building up the heart for feats of faith takes long, slow workouts and training.  To bolt out the door and save the world is to fumble and fall.  Rather we are to push ourselves but not to the point where we “dip into muscle” in bursts of energy and then stop completely for months on end.

 The second suggestion from Allen is Mind Training or Mental Toughness.  An Ironman course is daunting so just thinking about it can shake a person’s confidence.  Training recognizes that sometimes attitude is everything.  To take that instruction for us Christians that attitude is a key for example, when we do not see any way we can love a particularly unlovable person, we can focus on the goal of love, an attitude to get us through those times we find someone who is “unlovable.”  Having a disciplined mind does not mean a narrow, closed or muscle-bound mind, it is a mind focused squarely on the goal.

 Allen provides a third, Molecular Strength or what we Christians could call Soul Training.  This training includes a nutritional plan.  But instead of advocating some sports drink with his name on it, Allen suggests we stop and listen to our bodies, for the body will tell us what it needs.

 This means as Christians we may need to tune to our being so that we can hear and understand the language of our soul.  Allen is right to insist that genuine fitness begins at the molecular level.  But training for godliness is to recognize that there is much more to our insides than biology and chemistry -- there are the cravings and callings of the soul.  An untended soul sours.  It grows surly.  Its bile seeps out and gradually pollutes the heart, the mind and the body.  Tending our soul means intentionally turning it toward God’s love, regularly bathing in worship for example, and exercising through daily deep-knee bends of prayer.

 Allen has a fourth area called Strength Training or Muscle Routines: To look at Allen and other tri-athletes, you wouldn't know it, but the point of strength training is not to get bigger muscles, but to get better muscles.  The issue for these athletes is performance, not bulk.

 When Jesus advocates this portion of the Shema, “loving God with all our strength,” I believe that Jesus recognizes that a part of human existence is sheer physical.  We have bodies that we must feed, clothe and care for, not to bulk up, but bodies that are subject to injury, sickness and death.  So, it takes a certain amount of brute strength just to get through each and every day.  To deny that God's presence and love needs to be involved in this physicality would eliminate godliness from our existence.  Using the words of Paul, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”6
 Jesus Christ perfectly embodied the Shema -- reflecting God's love and loving the neighbor with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength.  Let Jesus coach us as we train in godliness; to love God and neighbor with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  So, what area; heart, mind, soul and strength, do we need to focus on today?  Or are we focusing on one at the expense of the others?

 We are not athletes of the caliber of Matsui and their training is not necessarily the model we follow, yet we are Christian and “godliness” is something to which we do train.  Finally there is one key difference between athletes and their success and Christians, because of God’s grace godliness comes in Jesus Christ, and talent is not necessary but training is.  Amen.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideki_Matsui
2 Mark 12:28
3 Ibid. vs. 29
4 Deuteronomy 6:5
5 Outside, XXII, February 1997, pp. 40-54
6 1 Corinthians 3: 16

Forget Capital One

Ok, I just have to get this off my chest!  When we return to the United States, I will be canceling our Capital One credit card.  If I did not have several recurring payments on that particular credit card, I would cancel now.

 

Capital One is a good card if you are traveling outside of the United States because unlike other credit cards they do not add a service charge when you use the card in a foreign currency.  However, if you plan on living outside of the United States, forget it --- Capital One is a horrible credit card. Over the last three years we have had ongoing problems because our billing address is outside of the United States.  So for example, if we use our credit card in Japan --- we live here --- it kicks into their fraud department and the charge is either denied or we cannot use it again until I call to verify.

 

(Just a note: we do not have a Japanese based credit card because my salary is paid in US dollars in the United States, so when we applied, they did not recognize my income!)

 

Well, today Capital One pushed me over the edge so to speak.  Capital One has a reward system in which you get points.  You can then use the points for cash back or merchandise.  Today, I called to use the points for a reward.  “No can do” because our billing address is outside of the United States.  So, if I change my billing address to a USaddress I could get the reward, but then I would have problems using the card!  This is simply a symptom of our ongoing dilemma with Capital One.

 

Thankfully, we have an American Express credit card.  The fees are higher, but it sure saves on telephone calls and overall irritation, because American Express is an excellent card around the world.  For example, when I was traveling this summer to China, I called American Express to tell them and the customer service agent said there was no need because they "Trust us."  No such experience with Capital One.

 

So, if you are thinking of traveling outside of the US, Capital One is fine, but if you will be living outside of the US for any length of time, forget it!  Get an American Express card, you may not receive “No Hassle Rewards” but you will have a “No Hassle” experience.

Tomorrow - 11/01/2009

Revelation 21: 1-6

Choices, human choices, are interesting to say the least….  Just take for example, American actor Rob Morrow.  He may be best known for his role as a New York doctor exiled in Alaska in the US TV series Northern Exposure and for his current role in the US TV drama series Numb3rs.  Those choices are not what interest us however; rather it is his daughter’s name.  The actor and his wife named her … Tu.  Tu Morrow.1

An interesting situation exists in southwest Ohio, an American state in the Midwest, with its village called Morrow.  It was named for Jeremiah Morrow, one of Ohio’s early governors.  However, the Morrow name has provided grounds for humor, especially when someone wanted to get to Morrow tomorrow.2

I simply point to these illustrations because not only do they illustrate human choices, but also to introduce today’s theme.  Tomorrow in biblical terms is far more meaningful, than a couple playing with their last name or the public finding humor in the name of a town.  Tomorrow in the Bible is not simply what happens 24 hours later … tomorrow is the future, God’s unfolding plan, the time that has not yet arrived.  Fundamentally it is the assurance that the present is never the end of the story.  Tomorrow proclaims that the darkness of today will not survive.

It is also the stuff of prophecy.  “The days are surely coming when ...” proclaimed the Old Testament prophets.  Such biblical prophecies were often uttered during dark and dismal days when not only the present but also the future looked bleak; “Tomorrow” was God’s word to the prophets to be proclaimed to keep faith, hope and courage alive.

Understanding this Biblical sense of tomorrow is thus, one of the keys for understanding Christian faith.  When we embrace the way of Jesus Christ, we enter the kingdom of God, which is already here in some ways.  But we also inherit the hope of the kingdom to come, where God’s love and power will have full sway, where all wrongs will be righted and where there will be neither sorrow nor suffering anymore.

Just for contrast, let me compare it to the classic Buddhist understanding of the future: the concept of Nirvana.  Nirvana is not the same as the Christian concept of afterlife nor is it similar to the meaning of the Biblical “tomorrow” rather as a Buddhist priest explained: “The Buddha said all forms of life are unsatisfactory because of birth, sickness, and old age; eventually you will end up suffering if you’re alive.”3  Nirvana he adds is “the end of suffering while you're alive and the end of rebirth after you die.”  In short, one key difference between Buddhism and Christianity is the understanding of the meaning of “tomorrow.”

Let’s examine our Christian understanding of “tomorrow” using today’s reading from Revelation.  Our passage comes from the final book of the Bible.  A book that in many ways is similar to the prophets of the Old Testament.  The days are surely coming when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”4  This passage not only resembles the Old Testament prophets but what we most often hear, when we are personally facing sorrow or pain that seems insolvable.  “Don’t lose hope,” we say. “There is a better world coming.”

In addition, this passage gives us a visible image of tomorrow which is otherwise mysterious, using the image of a city a “new Jerusalem,” fleshed out later in Revelations.  This image of a future city is to help us as we struggle with the complexities of the present.

To be honest, however, this promise of God’s kingdom “tomorrow” while it engenders faith, hope and courage in some people turns others off to Christianity.  Critics respond, “Christianity is based on a someday hope instead of immediate solutions.”  Tomorrow is the refuge of people who cannot accept reality.  Christianity is primarily wishful thinking whereas Buddhism for example struggles with the realities of the present.

Of course, in a sense, the critics are right.  Christianity does have a wishful-thinking element.  Where we differ with our critics, however, is on what wishful thinking can accomplish in our reality.  Sometimes, tomorrow is the channel of positive, if not immediate, change.

Let me share an illustration.  In the early, dark days of World War II in Europe, England was ill prepared to defend itself.  Night after night, warplanes repeatedly bombed London.  Many of the city’s children were sent to live with relatives out in the countryside, and the people who remained, lived under daily threat.  British flyers seriously outgunned and piloting outdated planes, took to the air to defend the country.  Many did not return.  During this difficult time, one of the most popular songs in England was “The White Cliffs of Dover,” which proclaimed words like these in it lyrics: “There’ll be joy and laughter / And peace ever after, / Tomorrow / when the world is free ... Tomorrow / Just you wait and see.”

The mood of that song was not unlike what we read in today’s lesson from Revelation, the “tomorrow” of the prophet, but it also highlights that tomorrow is not just an eternal one.  It was a tomorrow that was possible within the lifetime of that generation, of our generation, and of the generation that may follow us.  Although the “White Cliffs of Dover” is not a Christian hymn it is a symptom of this thinking this “tomorrow” that engenders hope and courage.

This “tomorrow” does not remove us from reality.  In the late 19th century, many Christians looked ahead to the 20th century with hope and optimism, believing that our world was making progress, scientific, mechanical, etc, toward becoming a more just society.  Those Christians had an enlarged vision of what following Jesus meant.  They no longer limited their work to bringing people to Christ and making disciples, but were active in society as well, taking on such problems as poverty, warfare, injustice and other human ills.  Those Christians saw themselves as helping to establish a new social order that would be a place of peace, justice and well-being --- the sort of things we expect in the kingdom of God.  Some people went so far as to say the world was about to enter a century that would be Christianity’s own.  Many today continue in that vein.

However for many others, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Holocaust and other 20th-century happenings eventually convinced many who touted what was called “Social Gospel” that they were not about to see the dawn of the earth’s version of the kingdom of heaven after all.  Some commentators are even suggesting that the contemporary trend of people searching and developing their own inner “light,” their own inner “divine” is partly in response to this prior “social,” outward, gospel.  Instead of the Kingdom of God being a social progressive movement, this tomorrow in our reality is now an inner event.  The Kingdom of God of tomorrow is in you now!  Other commentators have pointed to the trend among some that this Kingdom of God is to be found in your pocketbook or purse.  The Kingdom of God of tomorrow is prosperity now.

If anything, our lesson points out however the when kingdom of God arrives it will be because God has acted to make it so.  In other words, our world will not evolve or progress into the new heaven and the new earth on its own.  It will not come by our doing, whether in prosperity or a focus on our inner selves.

Nonetheless, our Christian faith, our courage, our hope and our faith in tomorrow drives us to work for the good not only people’s souls, their “tomorrow,” but also of our whole beings now, today.  We cannot expect to establish a time when their “will be no more tears;” that will be God’s doing.  But neither should we assume we can have no responsibility for our present reality.  Just because we cannot change everything, in society, or in our selves, it is no reason to think it is a wasted effort to change some things or at least try to.
 

Instead, this work is to find tomorrow today.  This concept of “finding tomorrow” is found in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is: “tikkun olam,” translated in different ways but generally meaning “repairing the world.”  It is also within our lesson today.  Because of Jesus Christ, finding tomorrow happens today.  They are the nearer tomorrows, those tomorrows that we “find” in God’s kingdom that has come now.  “I am making everything new! (I am finding tomorrow today --- I am repairing the world). Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’  He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.’” 

Because of Jesus Christ, “finding tomorrow” does not only come in death.  It comes throughout time from the beginning to the end, the Alpha and the Omega, in hope when getting out of bed seems impossible.  It comes in forgiveness when we are forgiven and when we forgive.  “Finding tomorrow” comes when we have lifted in prayer not only our joys and sorrows but the joys and sorrows of others.  It comes in incongruent ways sharing a cup of water, food, to sacrifice and obedience.  “Finding tomorrow” comes in countless ways.

Because of Jesus Christ, we are promised that the darkness that we may see today will not survive.  That does not free us from the reality of today.  Rather it helps us “find tomorrow” today and gives us faith that tomorrow will come.  Amen.

1 http://www.tv.com/rob-morrow/person/29885/biography.html
2 http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=17179
3 http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma/heaven.html
4 Revelation 21: 4

Nostalgia - 10/25/2009

Mark 10: 46-52

 Are you ever nostalgic?  The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past.  The word according to Wikipedia the internet encyclopedia and dictionary, describes the word as a “formation of a Greek compound,” consisting of "returning home", and "pain" or "ache".1
 I recently had a wave of nostalgia while I was watching a DVD of a TV show from the United States.  In the episode a father brought snickerdoodle cookies to his estranged daughter because it was her favorite cookie when she was growing up.  That gift intended to bring good feelings, feelings of 懐かしい nazakashi, to the man’s daughter failed but it did not fail with me because it brought to mind a warm butter cookie with a lot of sugar and cinnamon, memories of being a child and my mom.  That feeling is nostalgia.
 Of course there are other times I have feelings of nostalgia, interestingly enough they tend to revolve around food! 
 But, nostalgia of course is not limited to food.  For example, one of the great mythologies of Japan is that the “authentic” nation is not found on the streets of Akihabara, Tokyo but instead real Japan is present in the rural agrarian districts.  A study was done where researchers showed an older painted picture of a terraced ripe rice field ready for harvest and a modern painting of Tokyo and asked “Which picture represents authentic Japan?”  Even when the majority of the nation resides in urban areas, it seems that feelings of nostalgia are evoked and ふるさとfurusato --- hometown --- andちれい --- chirei --- the “soul” of  place manifested.  The majority of people pointed to the picture of a terraced rice field as that of authentic Japan.2  Studies in the United States have been done with images of the old West or images from the 1950’s and have had some similar results.
 That is why today’s gospel and the healing event of Bartimaeus perhaps do not stir the same emotive feelings and reactions in us as it did at the time of Jesus.  Let’s explore today’s lesson, the last healing event in the Gospel of Mark, more thoroughly.
 Jesus and the disciples are leaving Jericho, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.  Jericho is located northeast of Jerusalem in the vicinity and on the west side of the Jordan River on the southern end of the Jordan Valley.  In Mark it is the last city visited before Jesus dies in Jerusalem on the cross.
 As they are leaving for Jerusalem, Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd pass through the gates, were they go by a blind beggar.  That would not have been unusual at that time because beggars would have been located outside city gates not only because of their physical problems --- “outsiders” rather than “insiders” --- but also because the location was opportune for begging as many people would be coming and going through the gates in and out of the city.
 What was unusual was what happened next.  First, Mark identifies the beggar, which Mark rarely does, and tells us that is Bartimaeus, the son --- “bar” --- of Timaeus.3  This Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is walking by so he raises his voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”4
 For Bartimaeus to call Jesus “Son of David” is to evoke a nostalgic longing, deep-seated in the Jewish conscience, for an anointed king, a legitimate heir to the throne of the great King David, the greatest time in the history of the Jewish nation.  So “Son of David” is also charged with political power as well.  After all, the Roman governor, Pontus Pilate, hardly wanted his authority to be challenged by talk of a Jewish king.
 The expression “Son of David” is in one way a backward-looking phrase that evokes nostalgia and warm feelings among the Jews of this region.  They would have remembered the promise of Psalm 18, God “gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”5
 The people of that day would have looked forward to seeing their king march into Jerusalem, with crowds of supporters shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.”6  There was a lot of passion for this future “Son of David.”  Much more than anyone is ever going to feel for ripened rice on a terraced field or at the memory of snickerdoodle cookies.
 In this passage from Mark, it is only a sightless man who sees Jesus clearly.  Only blind Bartimaeus correctly identifies Jesus as the long-awaited “Son of David.”  We hear next that the crowd is annoyed by his shouting, and they sternly order him to be quiet.  It is possible that they are bothered by his brashness, maybe feeling that blind beggars ought to be seen and not heard.  Perhaps from their perspective, he is like a homeless person blocking the sidewalk, shaking a cup and asking for spare change.  Or maybe they are nervous because of what he is saying, fearing that the long arm of the Roman military will bring the hammer down on anyone associated with a Jewish king.
 In any case, Bartimaeus will not be silenced.  He cries out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”7  His faith in Jesus will not be crushed by the criticism of the crowd, or by the fear of what Rome might do to someone speaking in such a politically incorrect way.  He shows a profound level of courage besides evoking deeply emotional nostalgia feelings.  Bartimaeus does not seem to care that the people around him are telling him to be quiet.  He just does it.
 What is the result at this hint of nostalgia as well as faith?  Jesus stops in his tracks and says, “Call him.”  You get the feeling that the crowd goes silent at this point, surprised that Jesus would respond to the shrieks of a blind man sitting in the dirt.  Whatever the emotion of the crowd at this point, the word is relayed to the blind man, and Bartimaeus responds by throwing aside his begging cloak and springs up to meet Jesus.
 The unusual character of this event continues because we have the interesting question from Jesus when Bartimaeus arrives, “What do you want me to do for you?”  That is an intriguing question, don’t you think?  Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could have asked for a bag of gold.  He had no status in the community, an “outsider” rather than an “insider” so he could have asked for some respect.  He is unemployed, so he could have asked for a job.  We can assume that Bartimaeus had made his mistakes in life, so he could have asked for forgiveness.
 “What do you want me to do for you?” is the question that Jesus puts before him.  It is open-ended, non-directive; a blank check, just waiting to be filled in.
 Bartimaeus says, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  It is a simple and straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill from anyone other than Jesus.  It is much harder than a plea for a job or a bag of gold or even a place of honor in the community.  "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."  And immediately Bartimaeus regains his sight, and follows Jesus on the way.
 What does this event say to you and me?  In a former congregation I remember a discussion I had with a person who was commenting on the world contrasting it too the past and in particular the 1950’s in the US.  She was saying on how wonderful it was not only for her, but also for the church.  I responded to her that for me appealing to a bygone age, will not sort the sheep from the goats.  It only separates the young from the old.  And new Christians from those who have been Christian for a longer period of time.
 When Bartimaeus exclaims from the roadside “Son of David” he is not appealing simply to a nostalgia King of the past but to a King of the present and the future.  For Bartimaeus to evoke the past is not what gets him healed rather it is his confession of faith.  Second, Bartimaeus not only refuses to be silenced he is not concerned about what other people are saying.  As Bible scholar Lamar Williamson puts it Bartimaeus “is the one who can truly see” because his eyes are focused “on the one thing he wanted most in the world, together with his keen anticipation that Jesus could and would grant it.”8
 What does that mean for us?  Are we blind because our sight is focused on the past, or are we blind on what we need most, unable to clearly see or speak what we need?  Or are we more comfortable with out begging blankets before us, afraid to cause a stir.  Let us place our sight of Jesus, the “Son of David” the man, the savior, the son of God, the resurrected Christ, where we find healing today.  Amen.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia
2 Inexorable modernity: Japan’s grappling with modernity in the arts. Hiroshi Nara, Lexington Books, 2007, p. 178
3 Mark 10: 46 & Mark, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Lamar Williamson, Jr., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1983, p. 196
4 Mark 10: 47
5 Psalm 18: 50
6 Psalm 118: 26
7 Mark 10: 48
8 Mark, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Lamar Williamson, Jr., John Knox Press, Louisville, 1983. p. 198.