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... taken out of context. Even slavery was justified by using the cursed of Ham when he made fun of his father Noahs drunkenness. After hams son was cursed to be a slave to Shem and Japheths families, Shem had a son named Cush, which means black. This story in Genesis 9 is what the Confederate "Christians" used for keeping blacks as slaves, saying it was their curse.
When the context is added to the content, a whole different picture can emerge. This story says only one son, Caanan was cursed. Caanan was Cush's brother so there cannot be even a generational curse to affect Cush or his ancestor. This may seem like a digression from the point, but to carry it full circle John 3: 16, put in context is followed by the statement, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. " This turns the former verse from a weapon into an invitation of love. A Christian is not to condemn or beat someone into belief, but to love them and allow that love to incite change and progress. Christianity is probably the most fragmented religion on earth.
Some people say you dont go straight to Heaven or Hell, but to purgatory first when you die. Some argue you must be baptized before you can go to Heaven and even then it has to be in the name of Jesus. Still others say you have to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Other groups preach that you cant even have musical instruments in your church, and then their are groups that say no matter you do, once you give your heart to the Lord you are going to Heaven.
All these groups use the Bible to say they are right, but they all take the Bible out of context, or maybe more correctly take a fragment of the Scriptures and build a theology around it. Marquez must have seen all of this hypocrisy in the church and used his wonderful symbolism to reveal it to the world, in such a way as not to offend others but hopefully open their eyes. I myself have seen these things in the organized church, but since I am not as eloquent and dont have the luxury of time in my life, my message is more direct. We have to love people the way Jesus did, and let the Lord make the changes in their lives. I have found from personal experience that when we fall in love with Him the changes come from within. I had habits that were unpleasing to my wife, but when I truly fell in love with her I wanted to change these habits and they started to disappear.
The same is true of the Lord, when we fall in love with Him, the things that are unpleasing to Him will become unpleasant to us and we will change them. I now turn to another sore point in the story, and in religion. The use of God to gain material wealth. The story clearly states this was done by Pelayo and Elisenda when they started charging people to see the Angel and also when Marquez goes into the list of monetary benefits gained by Pelayo and Elisenda.
All of the clothes and big fancy mansion that even had bars on the windows to keep Angels out. This done even though they had brought this on themselves by taking the Angel captive, not the Angel coming through the window. Mainstream religion uses the same thinking in raising funds in some of their circles. God has promised to take care of His children and bless them when He is put first.
This is taken to extreme in some instances, like when Jesus says "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. " (Luke 6: 38 NKJV) I have actually heard it said that each word group i. e. : good measure is used, it is one times what you give. Since there are five sets; given, good measure, shaken together, and running over, then God owes you five times what you give. There is also the thirty, sixty, and hundred fold blessing that is mentioned and this means if you give a thousand dollars, God owes you thirty, sixty, or one hundred thousand dollars back. If this were true we would never have to do anything to earn money.
We would just give money, then just follow the snowball effect to our riches. I dont believe God wants His people poor, but there is more to our prosperity than just waiting for a handout. The Bible also says, if you dont work you dont eat, so where does this fit into this giving scheme? I do believe there are laws concerning giving and tithing, but these laws are meant to govern our behavior, not Gods.
Whenever we put ourselves in a position to hold God beholding to us we are being presumptuous and trying to hold God hostage, just as the Angel was held captive in the story. To compare the Angels flight to that of a Buzzard is another of those symbols Marquez uses to signify the church. A buzzard is a scavenger that lives off the frailties of others. It is a shame to say that in some cases the church has done the same thing. Living off the hopes and dreams of people that have no other reason for life.
God, so wants us to depend on Him, and He will give us what we need. When we on the other hand give that dependence to a man, even a preacher, father, or some other symbol of the church we set ourselves up for the parasitical, unscrupulous people that put themselves in a position of trust. This doesnt just happen in the church, but when it does it makes headline news. The freedom of the Angel is as sad as the beginning of his stay in the village. The first sunny days that start the growth of feathers seems to show the growth that comes only from the Light of God. It had to be hidden from the disrespectful, irreverent people.
It was necessary to protect this growth like the innocence of a newborn baby, until the time comes for those glorious, triumphal first steps. The Angels flight was as ungainly and awkward as the steps of a baby, but the beauty and triumph is wonderful to behold. A church can undergo the same growth, and maturity as the Angel symbolizes if it is willing to follow the same steps. Find the Light of God and cherish it. Protect it like the precious commodity it is. Then do the work, showing the love of God and not falling back into the traps that caught it up in the first place.
Marquez realizes this will be ugly at first, those first steps will be hard. People will be distrustful at first, but in the end the final point is that the freedom God promises will be achieved and people will be affected. This story deals with the state of organized religion in such an eloquent way that it does not offend, but simply makes you stop and look at yourself. This introspective approach is a refreshing way to handle one of the most devastating issues in our country today. The church is full of apathetic and self-serving people that only look beyond themselves long enough to see what God can do for them. I only wish more people would read this story and take its message to heart.
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