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"Say to This Mountain": Mark's Story of Discipleship

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Ched Myers' BINDING THE STRONG MAN, first published in 1988, was one of the most innovative interpretations of Mark's Gospel in the twentieth century. Myers challenged readers to become involved in the story of Mark, which is believed to be the first of the four gospel accounts to be recorded. It can a sparse and at time harsh gospel, yet it is also the one that challenges the status quo perhaps more than any other writing in the New Testament. SAY TO THIS MOUNTAIN is an attempt by Myers and four other writers of different Christian religious traditions to make the concept underlying BINDING THE STRONGMAN accessible to a wider audience. Most of the readers of this book will presumably be American, and at least middle class, so the book challenges the reader to view the Gospel of Mark from the point of view of one who is at least somewhat privileged while also looking at larger world concerns.

This is a work that can easily be adapted for the purposes of a Bible study or discussion group. The book is organized by chapter and looks at the Gospel in the context of Mark's world and then looks at the words in the context of our own world. It also has an appendix that contains materials that will enhance reading this book. The Gospel of Mark appears in both the Roman Catholic lectionary and the common lectionary every three years. It fits rather well into the weekly gospels and would be a wonderful way of extending scripture lessons on a deeper level. It will also help people who preach and feel that a challenge of Mark is "more of the same" to find ways this gospel can both challenge and invigorate people.

Este es un libro imprescindible para entender el evangelio de Marcos. Facil de leer, claro en la exposicion y sin ambiciones retoricas. La editorial es catolica, pero el contenida es universal (valga la redundancia).

"Say to this Mountain" begins with the origins of the Gospel. Mark the evangelist felt Jesus' story was so extraordinary and powerful that he needed to invent a new literary genre for it. The book looks at the Gospel in the context of Mark's world and then looks at the words in the context of our own world. Religion is an organizational effort to get every human being on the same page facing the same direction in the hope of being struck with joyous visions of Utopia so that when one reaches it, one isn't defeated by excitement. Mt. Arafat the site where Adam and Eve met and recognized each other following their expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a place of reminiscence and repentance that creation (pg. 6) continues, wherever the story is told and lived again. On page 9, when God instructs Samuel to warn the people of the ways of the king, what I understood was that "If Thou dost punish them, they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in power, the Wise" as Jesus reminds God that he is not proposing a utopian dream that can be realized only in another place (heaven) and time (afterlife). As said in the Gospel there is no room for otherworldly religion.

The author on page 11 describes the urban wilderness and its effect on globalization. He is defining the effects of secularism on a sacred society being the church. What the church should be is described on page 91, where the church is a community existing on the boundaries whose mission begins on the limitations. In this system, believers work as a team, a brother and sisterhood so to speak but secularists are the reason why the secular system survives. The secularists are the group of people living off others and the earth, living in comfort and splendor while others starve not out of free will but they have no choice but to put their hope in humanity, or whatever or whoever is left by default. People in Africa are forced by cruel means to reflect on social and political forces instead of the divine will to clarify any misconception they have about nature. It is as if the entire continent of Africa is one big franchise, and the oppressors are disenfranchising by exploiting its natural resources for example diamonds. This is how corporate globalization marches forward and destroys local communities wherever they may be. It is also a clear message of believing that there is somewhere better than where they are now. If every African tribe or nation went on a pilgrimage to a new location and a new vocation just like Jesus and his disciples, they would rely on the divine will by overturning the existing order of inequality.

On page 14, people were astonished Jesus had authority to teach with the curriculum of God, not like a college professor or a certified teacher of public school having a right to be at their school and proceeding with the curriculum. Before he did anything he would ask for permission in whatever he did, setting the example for people to become righteously thankful. Preaching the word to the crowds or the disenfranchised was his duty of liberating human life on to the path of God. It is fitting that Jesus' message was for the poor considering the kingdom of heaven is theirs, when all they had was nothing, all they could do was but listen and learn from the youths of knowledge as well as Jesus' wisdom. If they didn't, they would become more miserable. On page 16, the talk of cleansing by using priestly rituals talked about the covering over vulnerabilities. Reflecting on it, I understood that seeing a beautiful face wasn't a medical cure for a person hungry for romance or love. Everything about a human was seen as vulnerable to the opposite sex. On the same page, the existence of maps reflectively relates to the Medias war on terror being Muslim radicals and fundamentalists. It points out that Christianity today is a kingdom divided by pure and impure people, being that the ones who stand in awe of the Lord and prostrate themselves are in place being pure and on the path of God. On page 112, the reason Christians pray the way they pray besides respecting and imitating the creation and perfection of Adam is to attain self-knowledge. It allows one to examine the roots of one's weakness by confronting illusions that paralyze us. On page 117, Jesus defines that powerful practice as something done by someone who is not against us but for us, exemplified as a Christian. Whereas the fundamentalists and radicals who have a face to show cameras and the media have no face to face God making them impure and out of place on the receiving end of the works of mercy just like Jesus remind "Christians" in page 117 whereas a pure one would give everything.

On page 19, the purity and debt system Jesus criticizes parallels the secularism of today in the way the state segregates and excludes the church rather than integrating and restoring it. Corporate America is the modern society whose credit is due to the deeply institutionalized evil instilled from where it is mentioned in page 21, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Later in the page, the author refers to an evil that perpetuates their poverty. For example, the Irish with their potato famine or African tribes who practice polytheism instead of monotheism and still wonder why God hasn't blessed them with an abundance of crops or fresh water in the form of rain. In my reflection of Gods justice, if a nation gives little thanks or no thanks at all and idolizes certain crops or animals, preparing their push would help only if they became aware of the oneness of God and actually thanked on a daily basis. Every action is justified whether it is in this world or the next. On page 23, Jesus identifies the sick with the sinner. An example of this can be seen with Africans and the rate of HIV/AIDS among them. It is also mentioned of a status quo being healthy and Jesus' good news being insufficient. This is similar to a tax markup on fast food and the obese population in America not realizing a change in the status quo. Celebrities and idols aren't obese but they do indulge on the luxuries of life. The more we see them on TV, magazines and newspapers, the more we can pinpoint the faces of the poor as Jesus does on page 65, for he seeks to know the face of the poor. The concept of a poor little rich girl isn't enticing but it is important to save the life or whatever innocence is left of her. To recognize it as one would recognize their own children is important when organizing the list of people who need more attention than others in understanding the message especially if you're Jesus.

On page 79, there is a concern over the table presented. Reflecting upon that, boundaries within a group can and will be maintained while the outsider is embraced considering every believer is awaiting Jesus to descend. Christians would keep boundaries tighter to the core as one gets closer to the root. Once Jesus' second coming has commenced, there will be absolute justice from the corners to the depths of the earth. On page 85, Jesus acknowledged that oppressed people had a fond understanding of social situations and that they know the paths of justice. On page 91, it's the people that work on the margins that are of the righteous cause they have authority to challenge us to read reality and text as it is.

On page 89, I thought Mark's portrayal of Jesus was a little farfetched by calling him a boundary I think its funny for someone to accept every dare and to take that dare and use it against the people that won't understand what a dare is but will get the ever living truth out of the situation. It's like following the lead only to read it by watching a continuous set of errors. Boundary crosser is like Satan making fun of Jesus and when Jesus leaves it up to God, Satan crosses the boundaries again by making fun of Mary, the mother of Jesus, encouraging Jesus to confront Satan with no mercy. But really it is an act of civil disobedience on page 154. On page 101-2, Jesus alerts Peter he has aligned himself with Satan, which metaphorically defines the Son as being aligned with Satan as well. Satan is apparently ruling history. When the people of all nations invoke God, America because of the tragic events 9/11 continued on with just wars and crusades proving that the enemy of the state is the enemy within, for it is violence itself.

On page 118, the individual and social addiction is the will to dominate. To become believers, one must love and submit to God by sacrificing the ego and become selfless cause as believers we are addicted to God, and to struggle with addiction involves deprivation which is why the believer spends their life in deprivation The addiction to God in this world might not be financially enticing but it is true that the kingdom of heaven is theirs because it is their addiction to God in this world that is making them already live in the hell of addiction making God most merciful of them to embrace the fire of recovery in the hereafter. The people living poorly in this life is a pity concerning hell in the hereafter because they have a free ride to heaven proving it's better to deform than to conform like being definite about it than being a proven convict of the hereafter. Speaking of convicts, since America is considered to some a big brother and to others a big bully, it is by moral definition the strong man's goods and on page 149 Mark metaphorically talks about Americas house being divided and cannot stand for they have incurred a ban on its goods which explains why America doesn't export anything, anymore and why Americans don't buy American. According to Jesus on page 153, we're suppose give a person what he is due. This ties into the concept that shows secularism is an atheistic system that doesn't allow giving God what is Gods in a sacred society.

Ever since I bought this book, all I ever thought about was what I would say because if the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain. The book looks at the Gospel in the context of Mark's world and then looks at the words in the context of our own world. Religion is an organizational effort to get every human being on the same page facing the same direction in the hope of being struck with euphoric visions of Utopia so that when one reaches it, one isn't defeated by excitement. Being abducted by God Almighty to be taken exclusively to heaven to enjoy the youths of knowledge and pearls of wisdom isn't what Mt. Arafat is to Muslims but it goes with what Mark argues. Mt. Arafat the site where Adam and Eve met and recognized each other following their expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a place of reminiscence and repentance that creation (pg. 6) continues, wherever the story is told and lived again. On page 9, when God instructs Samuel to warn the people of the ways of the king, what I understood was that "If Thou dost punish them, they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in power, the Wise" as Jesus reminds God in the 118th verse of the 5th Surah of the KuraniKerim.
The author on page 11 describes the urban wilderness and its effect on globalization. Truth is that he is defining the effects of secularism on a sacred society being the church. What the church should be is described on page 91, where the church is a community existing on the margins whose mission begins on the margins. Believers work as a team, a brother and sisterhood so to speak but secularists are the reason why the secular system survives. The secularists are the group of people banking off others and the earth, living obesely while others starve not cause out of free will but they have no choice but to put their hope in humanity, or whatever or whoever is left by default. People in Africa are forced by cruel means to reflect on social and political forces instead of the divine will to clarify any misconception they have about nature. It is as if the entire continent of Africa is one big franchise, and the oppressors are disenfranchising by exploiting its natural resources for example diamonds. It is no doubt a clear message of believing that there is somewhere better than where they are now. If every African tribe or nation went on a pilgrimage to a new location and a new vocation just like Jesus and his disciples, they wouldn't rely on political and social aspects but on the divine will by overturning the existing order of inequality.
On page 14, people were astonished he had authority to teach with the curriculum of God, not like a college professor or a certified teacher of K-12 having a right to be at their designated school and proceeding with the curriculum. It's no surprise that before he did anything he would ask for permission in whatever he did, setting the example for people to become of the righteously thankful. Preaching the word to the crowds or the disenfranchised was his duty of liberating human life on to the path of God. Makes sense Jesus' message was for the poor considering the kingdom of heaven is theirs, when all they had was nothing, all they could do was but listen and learn from the youths of knowledge as well as Jesus' pearls of wisdom. If they didn't, they would propagate themselves in misery. On page 16, the talk of cleansing by using priestly rituals talked about the covering over vulnerabilities. Reflecting on it, I understood that seeing a beautiful face wasn't a medical cure for a person hungry for romance or love, which is why if it was a man, he would keep the beard and force women or a woman to look deeper than the surface and if he did shave, he was seen as defective. If it was a woman, the covering of her hair would prevent the woman from swaying the men or the man with the majesty of her hair. Everything about a human was seen as vulnerable to the opposite sex. On the same page, the existence of maps reflectively relates to the Medias war on terror being Muslim radicals and fundamentalists. It points out that Islam today is a kingdom divided by pure and impure people, being that the ones who stand in awe of the Lord and prostrate themselves are technically in place being pure and on the path of God. On page 112, the reason Muslims pray the way they pray besides respecting and imitating the creation and perfection of Adam is to attain self knowledge. It allows one to examine the roots of one's impotence by confronting illusions that paralyze us as well as repressing the unconscious power of our silence. On page 117, Jesus defines that powerful practice as something done by someone who is not against us but for us, exemplified as a Muslim. Whereas the fundamentalists and radicals who have a face to show cameras and media outlets have no face to face God making them impure and out of place on the receiving end of the works of mercy just like Jesus remind "Christians" in page 117 whereas a pure one would give.
On page 19, the purity and debt system Jesus critiques parallels the secularism of today in the way the state segregates and excludes the church rather than integrating and restoring it. Corporate America is the modern society whose credit is due to the deeply institutionalized evil instilled from page 21, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Later in the page, the author refers to an evil that perpetuates their poverty for example, the Irish with their potato famine or African tribes who practice polytheism instead of monotheism and still wonder why God hasn't blessed them with an abundance of crops or fresh water in the form of rain. In my reflection of Gods justice, if a nation gives little thanks or no thanks at all and idolizes certain crops or animals, priming their pump would help only if they became aware of the oneness of God and actually thanked on a daily basis. Every action is justified whether it is in this world or the next. On page 23, Jesus identifies the sick with the sinner, Africans and HIV/Aids, for example. It is also mentioned of a status quo being healthy and Jesus' good news being insufficient. This is the same as letting the insanely obese population of America know that all fast food is going to be taxed with a markup of 1000 percent as the new status quo as a message from my forbearance of glad tidings but the obese population saying that there is nothing wrong with the status quo and that they can continue to look like kings and queens living extra large lifestyles. Celebrities and idols aren't obese but they do indulge on the luxuries of life. The more we see them on TV, magazines and newspapers, the more we can pinpoint the faces of the poor as Jesus does on page 65, for he seeks to know the face of the poor. The concept of a poor little rich girl isn't enticing but it is important to save the life or whatever innocence is left of her. To recognize it as one would recognize their own children is important when organizing the list of people who need more attention than others in understanding the message especially if you're Jesus.
On page 79, there is a concern over the table. Reflecting upon that, hypothetically speaking, in-group boundaries can and will be maintained while the outsider is embraced considering every believer is awaiting Jesus to descend in Mecca in the Masjid al Haram. Theoretically, Muslims would keep boundaries tighter to the core as one gets closer to the Kaaba, but at the gates of the Sacred Mosque would the angels of God protect and accommodate the testimonies of new believers. Once his second coming has commenced, there will be absolute justice from the corners to the depths of the earth. On page 85, Jesus acknowledged that oppressed people had a fond understanding of social situations and that they know the paths of justice. Taking into account all the corruption there is in politics, my question is why people in positions of authority need to heed them when they know that the righteous shall and will inherit the earth, since crooked politicians know they are crooked, what's the point when they know they won't get anything? But on page 91, it's the people that work on the margins that are of the righteous cause they have authority to challenge us to read reality and text like a police officer stopping a person for speeding 20mph over the speed limit in a school zone.
On page 89, I thought Mark's portrait of Jesus was hysterical by calling him a boundary crosser cause Jesus is no different than a spy working for the CIA even though Mark feels like a disturbed soccer mom. I think its funny for someone to accept every dare and to take that dare and use it against the people that won't understand what a dare is but will get the ever living truth out of the situation. It's like following the lead only to read it by watching a continuous set of errors making it a divine comedy. Boundary crosser is like Satan making fun of Jesus and when Jesus leaves it up to God, Satan crosses the boundaries again by making fun of Mary, the mother of Jesus, encouraging Jesus to confront Satan with no mercy. But really it is an act of civil disobedience on page 154. On page 101-2, Jesus alerts Peter he has aligned himself with Satan, which metaphorically defines America as being aligned with Satan as well. Satan is apparently ruling history as well as the worse half of America being the majority with the myth of redemptive violence. When the people of all nations invoke God, America with the help of 9/11 continued on with just wars and crusades proving that the enemy of the state is the enemy within, for it is violence itself.
On page 118, the individual and social addiction is the will to dominate. To become believers, one must love and submit to God by sacrificing the ego and become selfless cause as believers we are addicted to God, and to struggle with addiction involves deprivation which is why the believer spends their life in deprivation and the egotistical maniacs that most people call braniacs like Obama pettily spend their addictions to dominate with slogans like "hope" and fail in becoming a disciple and end up being of the little ones in the sight of God. The addiction to God in this world might not be financially enticing but it is true that the kingdom of heaven is theirs because it is their addiction to God in this world that is making them already live in the hell of addiction making God most merciful of forgoing them to embrace the fire of recovery in the hereafter. The people living poorly in this life is a free get out of jail card concerning hell in the hereafter cause they have a free ride to heaven proving it's better to deform than to conform like being definite about it than being a proven convict of the hereafter. Speaking of convicts, since America is considered to some a big brother and to others a big bully, it is by moral definition the strong man's goods and on page 149 Mark metaphorically talks about Americas house being divided and cannot stand for they have incurred a ban on its goods which explains why America doesn't export anything, anymore and why Americans don't buy American. Technically, according to Jesus on page 153, we're supposed to give George Washington what is George Washington, an almighty dollar proving Secularism is an atheistic system that doesn't allow giving God what is Gods in a sacred society.
On page 208, the movie Inception was probably created of the slogan "they said nothing" cause in the end it's the silence of our friends that we remember, the silence of the lambs so to speak. Inception, it's a dream within a dream which is within another dream which is what makes us think in the way that silence hits us. Inception also finishes with a incomplete ending with a dradle that never falls down which symbolizes how real it is, by its capability to either sink, fly or stop, or does it, that part we never find out cause that's where the movie ends. The terrible ultimatum for the audience is who will explain what happens, to bring closure to the situation is the bearer of glad tidings or good news.

We picked this book as the source of a "Bible Study" in Church. HOWEVER, it's not very easy to adapt to a Sunday School discussion, and is very hard to read. It focused on the costumes of the times, and several other areas that you probably never considered. Which can be good or bad, depending on your view. I would NOT recommend it.