Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Rainbow Chasers

In a far-off country there exists a tribe of people known as Rainbow Chasers. It is said that these people spend a considerable portion of their time looking for these visual phenomena and trying to locate the places where they meet the earth. To further understand and appreciate the unusual customs of these people, an interviewer was dispatched to question them regarding their traditions. The following is a transcript of that interview.

Interviewer: Sir, what is it you hope to find at the base of these rainbows?

Rainbow-Chaser: It is our hope to find the conditions that prevailed at the beginning of our kingdom.

Interviewer: And you believe that these conditions were better than the current ones?

Rainbow-Chaser: Yes, we believe that conditions have greatly deteriorated, and the only hope for any sort of progress is to return to our original condition.

Interviewer: And what did this original condition look like?

Rainbow-Chaser: All the citizens were genuinely obedient to the King of the country and had a profound impact on the foreign nations round about.

Interviewer: Then how do you deal with the historical records that show that, even in those early days, many of the citizens where living in ways that conflicted with the King's laws?

Rainbow-Chaser: How so?

Interviewer: Well there was a tribe called the Corinthians, who were divided into factions and accused of moral failures. And there was a tribe called the Thessalonians, where many had quit their jobs and were freeloading off others. Further, there was another tribe called the Galatians, who had deserted the King and gone back to old customs the King had abolished.

Rainbow-Chaser: There were places like that, but the City of the Great King was different.

Interviewer: Excuse me, was that not the place that clung to the old customs the King had abolished and His generals declared unnecessary?  Some there even claimed one could not be a part of the kingdom without them.

Rainbow-Chaser: But they held all their possessions in common and met daily in private houses.

Interviewer: Than you want to pool your property and have daily meetings?

Rainbow-Chaser: No, it is the spirit of the thing. They had a huge impact, converting large numbers of people. They turned the world upside down.

Interviewer: But do not your ancient histories tell of Jonah, who made many converts in spite of his own reluctant and sullen obedience? And do they not also tell of Samson, who accomplished much to deliver his people despite his problems with anger management and loose lifestyle? And do not your teachings say the King will build His kingdom and cause His citizens to increase in numbers?

Rainbow-Chaser: That is an interesting point of view, but I must be going. I have heard there is a large rainbow in the vicinity of the city of Informalia. I need to get there before it fades.

This, then, is what is known of the Rainbow Chasers. An interesting people and common in that region.

6 comments:

  1. I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to have fellow believers that you saw more than once a week.

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    1. I certainly think it is a good thing for Christians to get together outside the context of Sunday morning. It is hard to get to know people on just Sunday morning. But I do not think just meeting every day is a quick fix for what ails us. And I think if it were simply made a requirement it probably would not work.

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    2. I have many Christian friends from my years of church experiences. Sadly, I do not see them very often. Our small group does congregate at our place on Wednesdays but I have not had much success at fostering a relationship outside of the group that involves regular lunches/coffees.

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    3. I have to admit it is hard. I also have a small group that meets on a Wednesdays and a Sunday school class that meets on Sunday mornings, but getting together outside of that is sometimes workable and many times not. I wish I had a better solution, but it seems sometimes our culture is designed to keep people apart.

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    4. I am intrigued by your last sentence Mike. Our culture, and things like TV and A/C, has gravitated towards a personal isolationism.

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    5. We have and I suspect some sort of underlying philosophy there. We have strong individualistic tendencies and tend to gravitate toward things like TV that allow us to entertain ourselves without requiring the participation of others.

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