You know the story about Jacob and God wrestling, right? Jacob and his family were out on the road and there was this freaky presence following them. Jacob got his family all bedded down for the night and went out to wrassle the freaky dude. At some point, Jacob was all “Hey, freak, you’re God.” God was all like, “Whatever, I’m God. I’ll kick your ass.” Maybe this was biblical MMA or somesuch because Jacob was all, “That’s fine, but I’m not tapping out until you bless me.” Now, most people when they encountered God back in the day, back when God was God and Canaanites got smote, most people would get a little freaked out figuring they were about to buy the kibbutz. Not ol Jacob. He was in it to win it, or at least to get something for all the beating he was taking. So he got blessed. And his hip got smote. And he got a new name: Israel. “Wrestles with God.”
That’s a badass name, and a badass legacy. It’s encouraging to think that maybe even God hasn’t gotten it all figured out yet. If he did, why does he need to spend any time wrestling Jacob? The idea that there is uncertainty in the everlasting does not bother me so long as there is opportunity for dialogue. And so to the point of this post: maybe the fact that we don’t have our democracy figured out yet is not a problem if we can keep on wrestling with it. We’ve obviously had our share of hip dislocations if not worse. (Think Civil War.) But there is also the hope that if we keep going with the struggle, if we keep trying to figure it out, we will be blessed.
Ground and pound!
I see a Sanuk D Commentary series in the works.
Peace,
The Sub-Dude
Something is brewing. Smells like Sumatra.