Overcurrents of Hostility

Kathy Hochul vs. New York, Musk vs. Trump, Simone vs. Riley, Israel vs. Iran, Me vs. Morning Prayer, Monday Livestream, Song of the Week. Read the Comments

File: John Martin - Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still - Google Art Project.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Wouldn’t you know it, it’s Friday already. I know I should, by now, expect the alarming speed of the passage of time, but age is not making me more agile and able to anticipate the sensation of careening to the end of the week like Tom Cruise running in every movie. I missed seeing a lot of exciting news this week, so how bout a round-up of some of highlights.

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After saying a few things about Kathy Hochul and the Bill of Death yesterday, I caught clips of her being questioned by the House Oversight Committee (I think), and having to answer questions about why violent people have been allowed to wreck the lives of New Yorkers in the last few years. Kidnapping and assault, setting people on fire in the subway, and a series of other horrifying crimes have gripped New Yorkers with fear and yet Madam Hochul didn’t manage to do much about any of it. I don’t want to be mean or anything, but during the hearing, the governor, clad in bright green and festooned with overdrawn eyebrows, looked a little bit like the villain in a superhero movie.

I enjoy politics the way other people savour sports they don’t themselves play. I have my own thoughts and feelings, of course, but it is the sheer thrill of suspense that makes the daily scroll so addictive. Every morning, I wildly attempt to discover what appalling things people of every party and persuasion have said over the past 24 hours before facing the things that really matter, like broken car doors, the deaths of loved ones, children who fall in love, and pipes that decide to break at the worst possible moment. The relative wisdom or foolishness, the righteousness or wickedness, of the various actors is not what grips me. I assume that everyone is bad, like really bad. Nevertheless, I want to know what they did and said because I’m human and I can’t help it. I read about Mr. Trump with the same level of emotional investment in the morality of what he does and who he is that I did about Mr. Biden—mouth open, thumb numb from scrolling.

When it comes to Madam Hochul, however, my flesh creeps. I get the heebie jeebies. I wish she would not be governor. Trying to pinpoint the origin of this sensation, I would put it to the moment she visited a church in order to lecture residents of this state about being “apostles” of the covid vaccine. I really don’t love it when right-leaning politicians do this, by the by. I am equal opportunity, ‘please stay away from a pulpit, whoever you are.’ But when Madam Hochul did it, it wasn’t just jarring, it was icky. The moralizing and patronizing, or rather matronizing, tone of the Lady Governor is vraiment de trop.

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Speaking of fun gossip, what do you all think about Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk breaking up and then getting back together? Most of the commentary I listened to about this was from the France 24 live stream on YouTube, where I learned that “Bromance” is now officially in the French lexicon.

One American (gosh, can’t remember which one) explained at length that the unusual thing about President Trump is that he doesn’t hold grudges. This makes him unpredictable and strange, because to be a politician is to be a person who gathers loyal followers and keeps them forever, sometimes long after they should be kept, while simultaneously icing out people whom you don’t love forever. President Trump, by contrast, will be on your side if you’re doing something he likes, and when you do something he doesn’t like, he will drop you. And then when you do something he likes, he will pick you up again. If anyone can think of where I heard this, I would be most grateful.

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Likewise, I very much enjoyed the Simone Biles-Riley Gaines conflagration. From what I gather, Riley Gains said something about boys being allowed to play on girls’ softball teams, and then Simone Biles said that Riley Gains was the worst, and in short order, personal insults were spewed back and forth. My favorite part was getting to see one female athlete accusing the other of basically being a man. This is why I love Twitter so much. Imagine if we had to wait whole minutes to find out what people were saying about and to each other? That would be awful.

Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t weigh in, because Simone Biles apologized, sort of, for being wrong on the merits, which she absolutely was, and she should be sorry.

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Of much greater import, I woke up in the early hours and read about Israel’s practically Biblical strikes on Iran. Here’s the briefest summary:

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I generally lead Zoom Morning Prayer on Fridays because most of the regular leaders go to men’s Bible Study at the appalling hour of 6, and somehow—I expect because of divine retribution for being a bad person—on the last day of the work week, when I am most particularly worn out in body and spirit, there is always a long list of names that are not there on the other days. For example, if there is going to be a genealogy, it will appear on Friday. This morning, I had to slog through Joshua defeating the five kings that came against Gibeon, which the lectionary people mashed up with the crucifixion of Jesus.

I was amazed, again, at how those five kings, after seeing what happened to Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon, decided to attack Gibeon. Instead of desiring mercy and peace, like the Dishonest Manager doing whatever they could to be accepted by the God of Israel, they thought a fight would serve them well. And this is how we go at life and always will. Believing ourselves to be good, we don’t take God into account and then launch forth, fighting with everyone. And by “we,” I really do mean all of us.

And knowing this, that we would always reject him and fight with each other, God prepared a table in the presence of us, his enemies. He offered himself as the peace that passes all our understanding. He didn’t accomplish this work by lecturing us to get along. No, he went to the cross, he hung there between heaven and earth, he was hidden in the grave, the very sun going dark. He endured hell itself to absorb all of our violence, degradation, and ruin in himself.

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I’m over in WORLD this morning, check it out, and on Monday, Matt and I are so excited that David Roseberry has agreed to come on our Usual Livestream (aiming for noon EST) to talk about his fantastic book, 10 Ways To Preach The Church Year, and all the great writing he does on his Substack.

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Song of the week:

Read the comments below the line! Have a lovely day!