The Merry Monk

Every time I eat a meal or enjoy a luxury like a venti soy chai latte at Starbucks, I think of all the people suffering in Haiti. I saw a story last night (while wolfing down a bowl of Life cereal) about how they don’t know what to do with all the bags of amputated limbs, not to mention the dead bodies. They’re amputating kid’s legs with Black and Decker power tools and wheeling the children off in dirty wheelbarrows.

I can’t take it anymore! I can’t watch what’s going on in the aftermath of that earthquake without either becoming calloused to the suffering, or doing more than sending a few bucks to the Red Cross. So I’ve decided to do more (short of inviting Haitians to live in my house…I’m not that holy…yet).

I am going to undertake a fast for the 40 days of Lent to raise money for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti through Tony Campolo’s organization, EAPE. Will you sponsor my fast?

Here’s the skinny on the fast (Get it? Skinny!):

- I pledge to consume only liquids (water, fruit & vegetable juice) for 40 days
- You pledge an amount of money per day I can make it ($1 / day yields $40)
- Consider joining me in the fast and solicit sponsors of your own
- 100% of the money goes to EAPE

Let me know how much you’re in for in the comments of this post. During the 40 days I’ll post updates to the blog in an effort to keep attention on the situation in Haiti. I will also attempt to raise awareness of the need for world leaders to cancel Haiti’s $1 billion debt in order to give the country a real chance to recover.

Check out my recent MonkCast on Haiti and hear the genesis of this idea. Let’s call it the “Help Haiti Fast”.

Haiti, may God bless the Hell out of you.

Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.

- Isaiah 58:6-10

Please use the “Share” options below to spread the word!

Experience the podcast that gave birth to The Merry Monk of Love. That’s right, it’s the return of Etcetera!

Click here to hear Etcetera!

Join me, Hurk, The Spastic Mystic and The Comedy Ninja for a rockin’ good time as we jump back into The Internet Stream of Collective Consciousness. This one is international and coast to coast. Listen as we catch up, yuk it up and hang out with F’ing Andrew, Mrs. F’ing Andrew, Obed, Troy Boy and Matt from Canada.

We’ve all seen a lot of life since our last show, but we’re no worse for the wear.

Thanks to Spoon for providing the intro music and Matisyahu for keeping the good vibrations flowing. Please don’t sue us and we’ll promote the hell out of your stuff.

Finally, here’s that video we mentioned on the show. Watch me and The Merry Monk of Funk losing it. I dare you to try not to laugh!

Experience the podcast that gave birth to The Merry Monk of Love…Etcetera!

Join me, Hurk, The Spastic Mystic and The Comedy Ninja as we jump back into The Internet Stream of Collective Consciousness today at 4 ET.

We’ll stream live here, podcast and post it. Listening is cool, but it’d be a lot cooler if you called in and joined us in the stream…1.888.547.8383.

Until then, may God bless the Hell out of you!

Whosoever will may come!

Eat, drink and be merry with The Merry Monk of Love and help out a friend of the order, Jim Bartoli.

Jim got cancer, then the chemotherapy treatments killed his liver. He had a $500,000 liver transplant and no insurance. Find out more at HelpingJim.com.

Let’s drink to Jim’s health!

Date/Time – Saturday, February 6 @ 6:00 PM

Place – Fiddler’s Green in Winter Park, Florida

Topic – The discipline of celebration

RSVP now so we can reserve your seat. Comment here or e-mail themonk@themerrymonk.com.

Some visitors here at TheMerryMonk.com have expressed interest in hearing one of my sermons.

So, here’s my most recent spiritual experiment in exposition as heard on the second Sunday of Epiphany at The Church of the Resurrection in Winter Park, Florida. Below, you’ll find the prayer and Scripture readings for that day.

Click here to listen.*

The Collect

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Old Testament
Isaiah 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

The Psalm
Psalm 96

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; *
sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.

2 Sing to the LORD and bless his Name; *
proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations *
and his wonders among all peoples.

4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; *
he is more to be feared than all gods.

5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; *
but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

6 Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

7 Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples; *
ascribe to the LORD honor and power.

8 Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name; *
bring offerings and come into his courts.

9 Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; *
let the whole earth tremble before him.

10 Tell it out among the nations: “The LORD is King! *
he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.”

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea thunder and all that is in it; *
let the field be joyful and all that is therein.

12 Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy
before the LORD when he comes, *
when he comes to judge the earth.

13 He will judge the world with righteousness *
and the peoples with his truth.

The Epistle
1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

The Gospel
John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

*This audio may be offensive to idol worshipers and pagans.

I saw The Low Anthem on a re-run of Letterman the other night. I’m in LOVE! I’m not alone either…

“solemnly beautiful music”
– Rolling Stone

“Quintessential purveyor of rootsy rock.”
– NPR, World Cafe: Next

Maybe you’ll love them too. Here’s the music video for Charlie Darwin off their recently re-released sophomore studio album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

It’s bad enough that Conan O’Brien was squeezed out of his Tonight Show gig, but now I hear he has to leave behind his comedic creations as well! This in from MSNBC.

Due to the unavoidable issue of network ownership, it seems O’Brien must bid adieu to all characters he showcased and helped create during his talk show tenure at NBC. That, of course, includes longtime fan favorite Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

What a load of crap. What are they going to do, have Triumph on with Leno? This is like your ex-wife taking your guns in the divorce settlement. She has no use for them! Salt in the wound if you ask me.

To quote Lando Calrissian, “This deal is getting worse all the time.” How depressing. Let’s watch some Triumph and laugh until we cry.

Looks like the Taliban is going seeker sensitive. If you’re shopping for a new religion, you might want to check them out.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:43-45

“‘Love your enemies…that ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven.‘ We are called to this difficult task in order to realize a unique relationship with God. We are potential sons of God. Through love that potentiality becomes actuality. We must love our enemies, because only by loving them can we know God and experience the beauty of his holiness.

Of course, this is not practical. Life is a matter of getting even, of hitting back, of dog eat dog. Am I saying that Jesus commands us to love those who hurt and oppress us? Do I sound like most preachers–idealistic and impractical? Maybe in some distant Utopia, you say, that idea will work, but not in the hard, cold world in which we live.

My friends, we have followed the so-called practical way for too long a time now, and it has led inexorably to deeper confusion and chaos.

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says ‘Love your enemies,’ he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies–or else? The chain of reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrendered to hatred and violence. For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. This does not mean that we abandon our righteous efforts.

To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. Throw us in jail, and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.’

Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security. Napoleon Bonaparte, the great military genius, looking back over his years of conquest, is reported to have said: ‘Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I have built great empires. But on what did they depend? They depended on force. But centuries ago Jesus started an empire that was built on love, and even to this day millions will die for him.’ Who can doubt the veracity of these words? The great military leaders of the past have gone, and their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes. But the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing. It started with a small group of dedicated men, who, through the inspiration of their Lord, were able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire, and carry the gospel into all the world.

Jesus is eternally right. History is replete with the bleached bones of nations that refused to listen to him. May we hear and follow his words–before it is too late. May we solemnly realize that we shall never be true sons of our heavenly Father until we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.”

- Martin Luther King Jr., Excerpts from Strength to Love

Denzel meets Mad Max
Post-apocalyptic fun
with a divine twist