Continued from Friday (if that’s not too clichéd?)

Jesus is squashed, the revolutionary community is pummelled and scattered except for three women who follow on blindly, not really understanding what they are to do. And what of this revolution? Is this another victory for the overworld? Was it even much of a fight? What, if anything, was achieved? If the original discipleship community did not understand, what do we now understand of Jesus’ intentions. There were many things that this battle was not; a zealot overthrow, a pacifist acceptance, or a ‘messianic’ ending of the overworld. But the question is ‘what was it?’ My favourite question comes up here: what did Jesus do? (WDJD)
He came to the underworld from outside, challenged the very core of the overworld’s power, and was executed. When the remnant followers go to attend his corpse (a redundant ritual), they are instructed to return to Galilee. What victory was won? What liberation gained? The empire stands, the overworld is secure. But some are no longer captive to it... what does this mean?
The message received is that Jesus returns to Galilee to meet up with his followers. There is promise of new beginning, a restart. That promise again falls flat when the message fails to get passed on due to fear. So they apparently escaped. The empire failed to exert its number one tool, death, over Jesus. But neither is the empire defeated. The net result is that, I imagine, the followers return to Galilee more confused than ever, but with the opportunity to relearn the revolutionary principles, this time with the knowledge of something they were unable to contemplate before – the possibility of death and resurrection, or should I say the certainty of it, on the revolutionary way. They will become free to fulfil their revolutionary vocation because they will be free of the fear of death. Yes, they’ve escaped, but their escape is far more significant than escaping Jerusalem. They’ve escaped the hold that empire and the overworld has on us all. The sixty-four-thousand-easter-egg question is: ‘have we escaped’? Does the overworld have a hold of us, are we on the revolutionary way and is death and resurrection a certainty? Or is this Christianity thing just a religious game we play to hide our real identity under the overworld?
And, so, what of the overworld? What hope do we hold for its end? Will it come to a final completion? Or will it always remain and our vocation is to escape it, and help others escape also? From these questions, for now, I’m running away, for I am afraid.

a completely random place to start an easter reflection...

We live in an underworld. We are fed an illusion that we can rise into the privilege, power and wealth of the overworld. Just enough people rise towards it to prove that illusion; whether any at all make it is the subject of an ongoing battle of myth.
Many assert all can get there, so long as they go first. Many others advocate they have enough, that we need a perception shift that the upward strive is over and it’s ok where they’re at. There are zealots who advocate war between the worlds. And there are pacifists who advocate a peaceful acceptance of the status quo.
This could be developed more, but what’s it got to do with Easter?
An outsider of both worlds, Jesus made a home among the lowest strata of the underworld. He took it up to the overworld, exposed its fraud and threatened to turn it upside down. In response it crushed him. For the overworld and its servants it was just another day, it was a crisis averted, but they continued on ‘business as usual’.

putting the search out there

this post is primarily aimed at planetradical.fishvisions.org readers...
(those of you not on there may find it an interesting read)
i'm wondering if anyone here lives in Alice Springs or Central Australia or knows any radical disciples who do. I've lived here for nearly 6 months now and haven't come across anyone new, but unlike melbourne i don't have 'past church connections' in which to find networks of people. if so, you can contact me through links to my blog and leave a note. cheers. woz.