Bob Dylan and Sam Hunt

Yesterday Bob Dylan turned the dubious age the Bible warns us of seventy. Much of Dylan's life and best work has been under a black cloud...I'm sure being 70 doesn't bother him too much. I have an appropriate BLACK book at home called "Bob Dylan Lyrics 1962 - 1985". It is the collection of his songs laid out as poems which paint pictures of people and places! Bob might score me 2/10 for alliteration...he's much better at it than me.

Also this week our famous New Zealand poet of about that age, Sam Hunt, has had a film released about him called "Purple Balloons and Other Stories". If you know Sam Hunt, you will know quite often his poems don't rhyme and they are delivered in a kind of monotonous tone a bit like Bob! But that's what makes them unique and well loved. I have 2 fond memories of Sam. The first when he came to our school in 1982 of him standing to attention outside the school library saluting one of the boys who came to school on mufti day a bit different to everyone else in full army uniform. The second memory is of Sam sitting in a chair at Waitangi, drink in hand, chuckling to himself as he observed Prince Charles arriving in a Maori canoe on to land and walking past the crowds on his way to the marae for the annual celebrations. I'm not exactly sure but I think he was enjoying the irony of the moment. If you know New Zealand history, and the problems caused by the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840, you might get it.

Bob and Sam both have their own unique way of delivering their poems. Most modern poetry is in musical form so we are not really accustomed to people reading poetry as popular art. But at times in history, poets have been very famous - Yeats, Shelley, Blake, Plath...it's a long list including David and Solomon from the Bible. Poems are big ideas in small rhyming phrases - a way of telling stories in a concise and memorable way. Sam Hunt reckons he can remember 4000 poems by heart, he said it's because they are so good that he cannot forget them!

When Sam was asked why he preferred to perform poetry rather than write it he said "The day the printing press was invented poems were well and truly hammered down on the page and quickly taken over by the academics. A lot of people still think a poem on a page is the poem but it's not - that's the score of the poem. If somebody handed me a sheet of music I'd say 'Well, can you play it or get some musicians to play it? Then I could hear it'. I feel the same with poems. The poets I really love and would die for, all their poems work out there when you say them."

The Bible is exactly as Sam describes. It is just words on paper but like music and poetry, it only comes to life when it is performed.

Forgive us our Debts

With the recent assassination of Osama Bin Laden, some of the first words we heard the President of the United States utter afterwards were "Justice has been done". Indeed. In the case of violence, the Old Testament law clearly states "an eye for an eye". However, for a lot of people, a quick bullet to the head will not have been enough for a man responsible for the deaths of thousands. No justice handed out could ever bring back their loved ones. For many people it is humanly impossible to forgive the crimes that have been committed against them.

Most people in our country have at least heard of the The Lord's Prayer. In this prayer are the memorable words "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors". The prayer is recorded by Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples. Matthew was an accountant, a tax collector. He knew a thing or two about keeping accounts and the legal right to collect debts! It is interesting to read that a wrong committed creates a debt that must be paid. That is what the justice system is all about. A man can "pay for his crimes" by going to prison. On a more personal level, if I hurt your feelings it is said that I "owe you an apology".

If I commit a big crime like murder that creates a big debt immediately. But over time, even a small wrong which creates only a small debt will build up to a great debt if it is repeated over and over again. This is especially true between family and friends who we spend a great deal of time with. Over a lifetime our debts can become so huge that we cannot repay them. No wonder people get divorced over what to others seem like very small matters! In another parable recorded in Matthew, Jesus told the story of a man with a great debt to the King. It is called the parable of the unmerciful servant. The man begged for mercy from the King and got it! But then the man went and threw one of his own debtors into prison until his much smaller debt could be paid. When the King found out he was furious and the man had to pay an even heavier price than in the first place! But more disturbingly Jesus said the same would happen to us if we refused to forgive others!

Why would Jesus say that? We do know that holding a grudge against someone eats us up inside. When we won't forgive because we want retribution, it is us who remain angry and without peace. If not for anybody but ourselves, we need to forgive!

But Jesus is saying more than that. He is saying that in fact we ourselves owe a great debt to God and to others, and that if we are a believer, we have been forgiven that debt through Jesus dying on the Cross for us. Therefore if we have been forgiven such a great debt, it is evil for us to hold on to others' debts to us.

And even more than that! How can we say we love God, if we refuse to love others? These are very strong words from Jesus! It is only possible to forgive someone if there is love in our hearts for that person. We need to see the person through Jesus' eyes. He died to forgive all our wrongs. That took an immeasurable amount of love on his part. We need to see the other person with love and compassion, perhaps we need to hear their story. But in some cases, people are evil and will never change. We need to remember that Jesus died on the Cross for everyone - he loves everyone.

Forgiveness pays the full price of every debt. Forgiveness costs the individual who has been wronged more than anyone else can say. God knows that. But to forgive is to be like God. To love like God loves. Does that mean that we don't need a justice system? Of course not! Was it wrong to execute Osama Bin Laden without trial. No, not by God's Law. But would the World be a different place if we could all learn to forgive like God has forgiven us?

Osama Bin Laden

Yesterday the notorious enemy of the West, responsible for the events of 9/11 in 2001 that changed the world into a more fearful place - Osama Bin Laden - was killed in a military raid having finally been discovered after nearly 10 years in hiding. There have been scenes particularly from the US, of people everywhere rejoicing at his demise.

I must admit to very mixed feelings on the news, I actually feel a bit sad. You see, a few years ago now, my youngest son began requesting every night that we pray for just 2 things - his friend Aaron who had emigrated to Australia and surprisingly, Bin Laden. There was something about Bin Laden that particularly struck a chord with my son. The prayer request never changed and every night we would pray "Lord please help Bin Laden, please show him that what he is doing is wrong and help him to change". It seemed a very insignificant prayer and usually a bit of an effort to say at the end of a long tiring day!

Jesus told us to love our enemies, to pray for them. From all accounts I doubt whether Bin Laden did change, he kept up his threats of terrorism right until the end. There does come a time in everyone's life when the die is cast and Bin Laden's time came. I guess we don't know for sure what happens in someones final moments. God can reach even an atheist when he is dying. Was the prayer worth anything at all?

What I can say for sure is that Aaron is doing very well at his school in Australia but that he still very much misses his friend in NZ. I believe that is more than a coincidence. And I also believe that praying for an enemy does change our own heart if not our enemy's. Yesterday I could have been rejoicing too, but instead I just feel sad.