Sons and Others

Sunday. Huh. Still quiet. Dull headache. Blood of Christ, aliens, vampires.

My friend M preached a GREAT sermon. She showed us how, when Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, give your undergarment to the person who is suing you for your overshirt and go the extra mile, he was showing us ways of challenging what is wrong, not accepting it. She told us that the word 'resistance' in the passage, is undertranslated, the Greek word means to stand against, and is used to denote the clash of two armies. So instead of fighting fire with fire, we should be more subversive.
The slap on the right cheek can only be a slap with the back of the right hand. When you face someone, to slap their right cheek, you would have to use your left hand. Jewish society of the time did not permit the use of the left hand. A slap with the back of the hand was from a person with higher status to someone lower, and couldn't be repeated, it would be meaningless, like repeating a joke. So, to turn the other cheek, is to show that you don't accept the slap. It's a way of standing up to the wrong.
The taking off of the undergarment in the presence of someone who has sued you for your coat, humiliates them so intensely, not you, that they would think twice before going down that route again.
The Roman military had rules that were so strictly adhered to, that if, as a civilian, you were told to carry the soldier's pack a mile, you would do just that, and the soldier would know absolutely, that you would drop that pack off at the one mile mark.
Mess with their heads.

My friend Andrea is the global relations co-ordinator for the Anglican Church of Canada and is in Jerusalem at the moment.

Top line from tonight's 'True Blood', Lafayette - 'Just because Jesus and I agreed to see other people, doesn't mean we don't talk from time to time.'
Lafayette rocks.

This afternoon we went to see 'District 9'. It's very thought-provoking. It was also very headache inducing, or more....increasing, the cinema was packed, even in the middle of the afternoon, so we were in the front row. Now I remember why I never go to see films until everyone else has. Still, it was good, and nice that it was set in Jo'burg, and the actors were not big names, at least not over here.