Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Today, April 22nd, is not only Good Friday for the Christian faithful but it is also the 141st anniversary of the birth of Soviet founding father V.I. Lenin. Out of one event springs the promise of everlasting life and the defeat of death itself, while the other is directly or inspirationally responsible for some of the largest mass murders in history.
When Christ broke the bread at the Last Supper, He said, "This is my body. Partake and do this in remembrance of Me." The physical body of Jesus is no longer, but replaced by a larger body of believers.
Lenin's body still exists today, under glass and dutifully attended to on a daily basis. Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russians are still debating whether or not the time has come to put Vladimir where he belongs, six feet closer to the Hell his soul surely occupies.
Could any one date demonstrate the extremes of mankind any more than today?
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Jun '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Only if today was the birthday for Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot.
Oct '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Breathtaking !
Aug '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Well said, EJ. Marxism/socialism is purely materialistic, worships the creation, and denies the Creator of All. Because all material creation decays and dies, inevitably they find themselves worshiping the dead and decaying. Mental instability and insanity results.Their pride keeps them from turning back and recognizing their fatal error.
When we worship the eternal Creator, we're joining with the Living God, the source of all life.
Jun '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
I've long loved Malcolm Muggeridge's reflection on the crucifixion:
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/mugridge/jred/jredch04.htm
Muggeridge: "Christ's death on the cross may be seen as the exact converse of the next most famous death as far as our civilisation is concerned—that of Socrates. Socrates obediently drank hemlock and died to support and enhance the State: Christ died on the cross in derisive defiance of all States, whether Roman, Judaic, or any other.
"From Socrates' death emanate all plans for the collective betterment of mankind, whether embodied in a nation, a regime, a leader, an ideology, a social system, or, for that matter, a Church; from the cross, the notion of individual salvation, of individual souls journeying through life like Bunyan's Pilgrim, all equal in their capacity as children of God and in that Christ died for them equally, and all buoyed up by the expectation of deliverance through death from the demands and imperfections of their fleshly existence."
Dec '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
"Lenin's body still exists today, under glass and dutifully attended to on a daily basis. Ten years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russians are still debating whether or not the time has come to put Vladimir where he belongs, six feet closer to the Hell his soul surely occupies."
Definitely a shovel ready project if ever there was one...!
Oct '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
I'd rather leave Lenin out for the vultures, per the Zoroastrian tradition.
Jul '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Mike: Just heard from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Vultures. They aren't happy.
All: I have always thought the Lenin display serves as a near-perfect illustration of the brutally arrogant gauchery that was the Soviet movement. A kind of never-empty tomb for the godhead of the atheist state.
Its discarding would be a huge symbolic act, but at this time the symbolism would be undermined by the continuing reconstructed Stalinism of the current regime.
Jun '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Beautifully stated, EJ. Christ came to show us the way to heaven, Lenin the way to hell. Each by their own example.
Johannes: Very funny and precisely apropos.
Sep '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
"Ten years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russians are still debating whether or not the time has come to put Vladimir where he belongs, six feet closer to the Hell his soul surely occupies."
Not to make anyone feel old, but it's been almost 20 years since the Soviet Union broke up.
Anyway, Lenin's tomb is still filled with rot but Jesus' tomb is empty.
May '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
Editor! Give me REWRITE! (Fixed)
Nov '10
Re: Death that brings Life, Birth that brings Death
TomC: I've long loved Malcolm Muggeridge's reflection on the crucifixion:
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/mugridge/jred/jredch04.htm
Muggeridge: "Christ's death on the cross may be seen as the exact converse of the next most famous death as far as our civilisation is concerned—that of Socrates. Socrates obediently drank hemlock and died to support and enhance the State: Christ died on the cross in derisive defiance of all States, whether Roman, Judaic, or any other.
"From Socrates' death emanate all plans for the collective betterment of mankind, whether embodied in a nation, a regime, a leader, an ideology, a social system, or, for that matter, a Church; from the cross, the notion of individual salvation, of individual souls journeying through life like Bunyan's Pilgrim, all equal in their capacity as children of God and in that Christ died for them equally, and all buoyed up by the expectation of deliverance through death from the demands and imperfections of their fleshly existence." · Apr 22 at 10:32am
Tom, thank you for this, what a beautiful piece!