"Resurrection" in the Dock

Okay. I will bite.

In the news of late is a story about a 22-year old mother -- Ria Ramkissoon -- who is charged with the murder by starvation of her toddler son. As twisted as it is that a mother would starve her own child, there's more: Ramkissoon has cut a plea bargain with prosecutors that calls for all charges against her to be dropped if, or when, her son Javon Thompson is resurrected from the dead. (Click here for CNN's account.)

There is a lot here on which to chew: The media's fascination with the tragic and the bizarre; the circumstances of the child's death; and the intellectually lazy manner in which complex subjects are disintegrated by reporters and their editors for easy consumption by the masses. And there is another subject that hovers and haunts this tragic situation: The plausibility of bodily resurrection.

In a post about this tragedy, blogger Gary Davis gives no quarter to the idea that the small cult to which Ramkissoon belonged is "Christian," or to the media's interest in resurrection without due consideration of the Resurrection. (Click here to read Davis' blog.)

If it is true that a sure bet is no bet at all, the Baltimore, Maryland prosecutors who accepted Ramkissoon's "resurrection" clause are not betting people, and their actions have put Resurrection in the dock.

Resurrection on trial is not a bad thing. Were it not for this intrusive reminder, most Americans might only think of God's most audacious act on the coming Good Friday and Easter Sunday -- which are yet more than a week away -- and not think of it again until the following year!

But there it is: The proposition that our life doesn't end with our bodily death. There it is: The possibility that as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so will all who have lived be resurrected -- the faithful to life with God; and all others to an eternal existence apart from God. There it is: The wager of all wagers.

Unlike the Baltimore prosecutors, who have wagered without fear of loss; every person has a stake when the Resurrection in the dock. As the clock winds-down, and as we see many of our contemporaries pass from "labor to reward," we realize that, like it or not, we have skin in the game.

The Party is Over; Bring on the Ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday, and it could not have come at a better time.

Of course, Ash Wednesday occurs every year, but until recently, most of us were not much interested in self-reflection, self-denial, and repentance for our trespasses against both God and others.

In a teleological sense ("teleology" being a 50-cent philosophical word for "end purpose"), we are all headed to the ash pit. It is the common denominator of human existence: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," are the words one usually hears during worship services as ashes are imposed on one's forehead. It is a solemn reminder of our common origins, our common humanity, and our common mortal destiny.

I understand why some people do not like days like Ash Wednesday, where fasting, self-reflection, and repentance is expected. No one wants to go hungry, or confront the private ugliness we've conveniently overlooked, or to turn our back to the things that give us temporary pleasure at the expense of our eternal destiny.

Whomever it was who scheduled President Barack Obama's televised address to the United States Congress on Mardi Gras - the last day of Carnivale -- is a communications genius. With growing numbers of American homeowners at risk of foreclosure, a banking sector with foundering confidence, and state and local governments on the brink of insolvency, it is clear that the "good times" of easy credit, opaque banking operations, and "best case only" government financial calculations have rolled to a stop.

We will yet again find the path to prosperity. Just as the "party" did not last forever, neither shall our time in the difficult task of getting out of the hole we've created for ourselves.

But, today, we are in a fix: Socially and spiritually; metaphorically and literally. In each sphere, the solution is the same: Self-denial, self-reflection, and repentance. So, for the sake of our temporal and eternal salvation: Bring on the ashes.