The view from the balcony can be quite positive sometimes. I much prefer the upper deck at a soccer stadium because it allows me to see how all of the players are moving on and off the ball on all parts of the pitch. At a live performance such as a play or musical, I prefer it for much the same reason. There is so much more to engage with, so much more understanding to be gained by stepping back from the front row and seeing “the whole picture”. However, the Balcony can also be a bit disorienting especially if we spend too much time at a distance and not enough time on stage. It seems that our perception of what is happening, why its happening or how it should be happening can be dramatically altered when things are only viewed from the balcony. So, if you have spent a number of years or even decades up up there as I fear I have, you may be asking where the exit is. I am sure the best treatment for Balcony Muppetism is a cocktail of various ingredients, one of which may be a deeper look at the oft used, everyday word, “inasmuch”.
Conjunction Junction
A while ago I listened to a podcast by Leonard Sweet (Napkin Scribbles) where he discussed the word “inasmuch”, as in, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:40). Inasmuch it turns out is a real word that can still be found in modern dictionaries. You know, the ones with no pages, because they’re on the internet. Anyway, according to Meriam Webster, it means, “the extent to which”. Dictionary.com puts it like this, “To such a degree as”. The thing I find really interesting is that it is a conjunction. You hear that? In the back of your mind? Don’t act like you don’t hear it, coming down the tracks of your distant Saturday morning memories, “conjunction junction”. . . . say it. . . “what’s your function?”. . . I know you know the rest, “Hooking up phrases and makin’ ’em run right”. INASMUCH IS ONE OF THOSE!! I don’t know if this is a real term but to me that makes it a functional, purposeful word, connecting ideas and giving them a sort of, depth of meaning they might not ordinarily have. Leave it to the folks at Cambridge to throw down the following for us to pick up; inasmuch is “used to show why or in what limited way the other part of the sentence is true”. OK, enough linguistics, what does this mean for we Balcony Muppets?
Let’s bring in the context of Matthew 25:40. Jesus is telling a sort of prophetic parable about the final judgement. The King has returned in all His might and power and glory, with all his Angel warriors in escort. He sits on His throne and begins to separate the people of the world into two groups. Some, much to their relief, are directed to His right and some, to their dismay, to his left. Those on the right are invited to a most unexpected future. The King Himself, I imagine with a sweep of His hand, directs their attention to a kingdom so fantastically beautiful that it makes the world in which they have been living look like a pencil sketch. He tells them, “come and inherit the kingdom my Father prepared for you from the beginning”. The other group is not offered this place in the royal family but are excused from His sovereign presence and sent, well. . . straight to Hell. The standard used to sort the groups was simple. The first group had apparently taken great care of the King:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’
Matthew 25:35-36 (NKJV)
Stupified by his words and perhaps wondering if the King had made a mistake, the group who would soon inherit the kingdom hear themselves protesting, “but we never did those things!” The group was questioning the truth of the King’s statement that they had done all of this service to Him. It wasn’t true. They had helped the poor, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned, yes, but not the King.
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
Matthew 25:37-39 (NKJV)
The King clarifies saying,
“inasmuch – to the extent to which you have done these things to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you have done them to me”.
In other words, “the degree to which (inasmuch) it is true you did these for the least, it is true that you did them to me”. Look, I know this isn’t some hidden Bible code mystery scripture that you have never heard because it is revealed only by taking the square root of the odd numbered letters of the even numbered names in the 1 chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It’s a great one to preach on a Sunday morning so I’m sure you are well aware of it and that when you give the homeless guy at the intersection a dollar Jesus marks it down as a credit. When you serve in the children’s church on a Sunday, standing at the back checking the morning’s soccer scores, BAM, another credit. I wonder though if we too often stop short in our understanding only focusing on what happens when we reach down from the balcony and are nice.
The Extended Cut of “Unto the Least of These”
I may be thinking too hard now. The pain over my right eye suggests I am. It seems that if, when we demonstrate love, honor and cherish, treat with dignity, care for, encourage, sacrifice for and meet the needs of the least of these, it is as if we have done it for the King Himself, doesn’t it make sense that the degree to which we stereotype, categorize, judge, objectify, disregard and devalue someone, we have done it unto the King as well. . . Terrifying news for a guy like me who has spent a lot of time in the Balcony pointing finger at those on stage.
Our current Social media driven culture is a great example (although certainly not the only one). My phone and my laptop are just like the latest world changing tech developed by the boys at Muppet Labs. Designed to change the world for the better, but, if it falls into the wrong hands . . . Everyone has a voice and so, a quick and convenient outlet for their opinion, and also for their opinion of those who do not agree with their opinion or the opinion of their favorite influencer whose opinion they have adopted as their own opinion without really thinking about why other than that it feels or sounds right. Those who do not agree or that we find simply “offensive” are quickly dispatched, assaulted by a barrage of snarky comments from the Balcony, designed to force them off stage and back to their dressing room. The cool phrase right now is “cancel culture” but I like the way Leonard Sweet labels it, calling it a “Shaming Culture”. I mean let’s just call it what it is right?
This of course is the most efficient and easy way to handle ideas different to our own and individuals different to ourselves. Looking at context, having the discussion, getting to truly know someone, loving even those who seem to be my enemy. . . this all takes time, patience, listening. Much easier to just put people in boxes easy to understand labels – “All white suburban males are. . . “, “All vegans are also. . . . “, “Anyone who doesn’t post a statement on Insta about _______ must also be a ________”.
The Cancelling of Dr. Seuss
Recently, Dr Seuss Enterprises decided to stop publication of 6 Dr Seuss books because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” particularly in their portrayal of Asian and Black people. The books are all older in the pantheon and you probably haven’t even heard of at least 4 of them. I heard about this earth shattering news, not from the uber-objective professionals on television or even the internet, but in the school where I teach. For several days I heard kids talking about Dr. Seuss being a racist and that he was being “cancelled’ because of it. It is true that Theo Geisel developed a very anti-Japanese stance during World War 2, drawing editorial cartoons for the New York newspaper PM that were in line with internment camp mentality and depicted both Japanese leaders and “man on the street types” in what through today’s lens would be horrifyingly insensitive and racist style. Similarly inappropriate depictions are in the 6 books and so it is probably time to either change the illustrations or just shelve the books, which is what was ultimately decided. There is no arguing. You can take 5 minutes and find more articles, books and reproductions of Geisel’s work to support the shouts for shaming and cancellation of Seuss as a children’s literary stalwart. This is the easiest and quickest way to deal with the problem.
However, if we take the time to look at Geisel as a whole person we see that many of his editorial cartoons from the same era were anti-racism, anti-Jim Crow, “anti-Anti-Semitism” and anti-isolationism. Many challenge the America First rhetoric that kept America from entering the fray of WW2 earlier as well as many other ideas that we as believers in the resurrection might applaud. This of course makes it more complicated when trying to figure out what to shout from the Balcony doesn’t it? I wonder if it’s possible that people are more than just what we find offensive in the moment. I am not qualified to get into a discussion about historical context and the attitudes of the time that influenced Geisel as a man and as a cartoonist, but clearly something snapped for him when it came to Japan during WW2. However, several biographical articles I found including this one on the Reimagining Migration Educational website tell the story of Geisel’s evolution in this area. Having visited Japan in 1953 and touring the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as getting to know the people, Geisel’s understanding and heart apparently changed. His next book, the anti-isolation commentary, Horton Hears A Who was an allegory of America’s postwar occupation of Japan and contained a dedication to his “Great Friend, Mitsugi Nakamura of Kyoto, Japan.” His next several books included the anti-racism; The Sneetches, the anti-authoritarian; Yertle the Turtle, and the anti-materialism; How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Inasmuch: The Conclusion?
My point is not to defend Dr. Seuss or to excuse archaic ideals of how to draw cartoons and it is certainly not to excuse the xenophobic mania of American paranoia during WW2 or any other era including the current one. My point in telling this story is to show that our knee jerk response toward shaming and “cancelling” for lack of a better term does not allow for anyone to be flawed, to make mistakes or especially to grow. As believers in the Resurrection and the full Gospel of repentance,reconciliation and restoration, we should be the light in allowing for change. After all I’m pretty sure 2/3 of what we hold as the sacred texts of the New Testament was written by a guy who at one point in his life thought he was doing God’s will by directing the attempted genocide of the early followers of Christ. . . Ladies and gentlemen of the Balcony, meet Paul the Apostle.
Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist, author, and part-time philosopher, and another brilliant Italian. I wrote a little bit about his ideas on truth and science in “Truth and a Kiss” in 2017. To keep it simple he sees the only way to truly understand something is in the context of its interaction with other things. The lion can only really be understood in the context of how it interacts with the Zebra for example. An electron can only truly be understood as it interacts with other particles. He uses the analogy that we too often try to look at the world as a thing, something equal to itself when to truly understand it we must see it as a series of happenings, interactions. People are no different. We cannot truly understand someone unless we look at the happenings and interactions that shaped them, or better still engage in those interactions when possible.
I think that we don’t understand the world as made by stones, by things. We understand the world made by kisses, or things like kisses — happenings.
Dr. Carlo Rovelli
It is easy for us to shout from the Balcony. Waldorf and Statler’s schtick was to try and humiliate and embarrass those who took the stage hoping they would become so mortified that they would just walk away. Some fired back but often the onslaught was not worth the ammunition. By painting with broad black and white strokes others who are different from us, be it ethnically, religiously, politically, ideologically or any other -ly, or even those who step out of the boat as discussed in I Am a Balcony Muppet: the Introduction, we are able to quickly place them in neat self defined categories while avoiding the messy business of relationship and depth that stem from the kind of love God shows to us. Our friend Paul describes us as enemies of God, so rebellious many of us refuse to even acknowledge His very existence. . . the ultimate in cancel culture. . . Yet he sent His Son to die for us. We didn’t ask. We were not searching. With our backs turned and faces looking only in the mirror of self, He gave all that we may inherit all. That is the extent to which He “did unto us”. Before we can leave the Balcony or even see the need to, We must consider how we treat “the least of these”, to what extent do we offer forgiveness, justice, kindness and love, for to that degree have we done it toward Christ Himself. Inasmuch as He loved us, we must also love.
STAYED TUNE FOR THE B-SIDE OF I AM A BALCONY MUPPET 2!! While you are breathlessly waiting for it to drop like some kind of re-edit of a previously underwhelming major Superhero film (I see you Justice League), take a look at part one of this series if you haven’t already read it!! If you have, check out the Waldorf and Statler link in the final paragraph…Itis hilarious!
Dr. Seuss Went to War. (2012). Dr. Seuss Went to War. https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dswenttowar/index.html#intro
“Carlo Rovelli – All Reality Is Interaction.” On Being, Krista Tippett, 16 Mar. 2017, onbeing.org/programs/carlo-rovelli-all-reality-is-interaction-mar2017/. Accessed 29 Aug. 2017.
The Drum Speaks 