Loki Gets No Grace (Story)

Last fall I attended an interfaith convention where Linda presented the following song at the bardic circle. Within a matter of hours, I had a story response to the question asked in her song. Both are shared below.

Linda's Song calls attention to the way some Christians behave, judge and condemn others (even after we profess that Christ is the only Judge). The story that follows shares just how far the Love and Forgiveness of Yeshua / Jesus extends. Both hold a good message to share. :D

I've heard it said, that Jesus loves you.
I want you to know, that I love you too.
Let no one say, that I turned down a friend.
So I went to see if Jesus loves me too!
Went to see if Jesus loves me too, went to see if Jesus loves me too!

Oh, first I went to find him at the Pearly Gates,
But the man at the door didn't like my face.
I turned into a nun, said do you like me now?
He said: "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"
"No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!" "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"

So I turned into a mouse, snuck in the back.
There were harps and clouds all over the place.
Asked an angel where to find the Christ.
He said: "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"
"No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!" "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"

So I turned into a girl, dressed in white lace,
Sweetly said as I kissed his face,
"Why, if he loves me, can't I get to first base?"
He said: "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"
"No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!", "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"

So I went to the man, sitting on the throne
Saying "Can I date your son? With permission embrace?"
He was not amused, angels gave me chase
Saying: "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"
"No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!", "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"

Well they say Jesus loves me, but if that's the case
I can find no proof, not a single trace.
I don't like his friends and their Master Race
Saying: "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"
"No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!", "No, Loki no, Loki gets no grace!"

I've heard it said, that Jesus loves you.
I want you to know, that I love you too.
Let no one say, that I turned down a friend.
So I came to see if you would love me too.
Came to see if you would love me too, came to see if you would love me too.

I don't live in a church, I won't kneel in a pew.
I won't save your soul, you don't need me to.
I just want to come and laugh with you,
Saying I'm Loki and I'll play with you,
I'm Loki and I'll play with you, I'm Loki and I'll play with you!

____________________________________________________________________________
The Response

After the above song was spread far and wide, a message came from Heaven to clarify a few things about what happened. There are many of Jesus' followers, even in the ranks of Heaven, that do not know everything that Jesus does. This led to misunderstandings. If you read the above lyrics, clearly Loki never had a chance to ask Jesus the question directly.

So, right after Loki was bounced out of Heaven, Jesus paid Asgard a visit. Being a gentleman, Jesus had previously asked Odin's Permission to enter Asgardian Realm, and Thor met Jesus at the entrance. One look at all that Jesus brought with him and Thor's eyes lit in mischief as a sly grin crossed his face. "Oh, this is going to be good!"

Jesus smiled pleasantly and asked Thor, "Do you think you could keep Loki occupied for a while?" 

Thor's eyes shone as he laughed and toyed with his hammer. "Of course I can! Oh LOKI...!"

As Thor took off in search Loki to distract him, Jesus ventured to the place where Loki had set up residence, leaving something for him there to discover later.

Several hours later, Loki arrived at his home, ragged and sore, doggedly trying to escape Thor's notice for the time being. Upon arrival, however, his jaw dropped.

Now you see, Jesus has the advantage of being the Creator's Son. So after Loki's escapade through Heaven, Jesus approached his Father and asked for a favor. Still fuming a bit, His Father let Jesus have His wish. Jesus wanted unicorns... lots and LOTS of unicorns. "Not the small goat kind that was documented in the Middle Ages, Abba, nor the perfect equine kind that is often pictured today. I want something different," He explained. "Abba, have you ever seen the TV show My Little Pony?"

When Loki arrived at his little corner of Asgard, there were hundreds of thousands of these brightly colored little ponies everywhere. Some sang. Some danced. Some played silly games like four-hoofed care-bears. And they ALL farted rainbows and did other things on his nicely manicured lawns and gardens.

Fuming, Loki made his way -- stepping carefully -- across the grounds and stormed into his abode. Only to be met with another surprise. There were white teddy bears of every size imaginable crammed into any and all open spaces. Each had a big red heart emblazoned across its chest.

But the worst part was that they all spoke. The moment Loki slammed the door they ALL started up - HUNDREDS of them - in UNISON. "I Love you. I Love you. I Love you. I Love you. I Love you..." 

Within mere moments the words were a mantra Loki could not get out of his mind. He searched the first few in range only to maddeningly discover that there was no off switch nor any way to remove the batteries. The chant continued.

Right in the center of the room was the biggest teddy bear of all, bearing a note written in an elegant hand. Loki tore the note from the bear's heart and read:
 

You may receive Forgiveness' Grace,
Just like any other
May you never once forget, Loki,
I love you like a brother.
~ Jesus
P.S. Your turn!

For you see, Loki and Jesus have this game of "tag" that has gone on for centuries. Of course, when Loki approached the throne, God the Father KNEW all this. His rebuke and the angel chase was just His way of making it perfectly clear to Loki that Heaven was out-of-bounds. 

Where will the next turn take them? 

The ball is in Loki's court... ;)

Twitter Trolls

A friend who is new to Twitter came to me with a problem. I wanted to share my response, in case my readers face similar.

Twitter trolls will happen, no matter what you do. It's sad, but some insist on trolling as a way to get their kicks. Don't let them irk you.

I usually investigate to discover why the person attacks a tweet that is not addressed ("@") them.

For this particular troll, he is a frustrated Atheist / former-Christian, who is mad at God because God didn't turn out to be the way he wanted. He also suffers from poor health, which only adds to his frustrations and beliefs that if God really was there and really CARED for him, none of this would happen.

Because he now believes that God doesn't exist, he can no longer take his anger/frustrations out on God - so he targets others (particularly Christians) to troll instead.

So you have a choice:

(1) You can try to get into a theological debate, which will only increase his animosity and attacks. He will continue to "dis" you (is that still a term?) and bring in reinforcements by including other Atheists. They will join in trolling you until they drive you in tears from Twitter. You will not get them to listen that way as the ego can only listen to another ego. And egos love fighting with one another.

(2) You can block him, so you don't see any of his tweets, which helps buffer you from his attacks. This, however, gives his ego a boost. Trolls count "blocks" as "points" in their game. It depends on how much your ego wants to let them "win" that stupid game.

(3) You can ignore him; pretend that his tweets do not exist. Shunning does work. Eventually he gives up and goes away.

(4) You can continue to treat him with kindness, love and respect. He will continue to belittle what you say, but at the same time you are teaching through example, rather than through words alone.

On social media sites, you show others - even those you don't realize - what it is to walk in Christ's steps. What it means to forgive and turn the other cheek.

The lyrical Blessing that came to mind: "May good health return; may you wear a gentle smile. May laughter and Love fill your heart all the while." Feel free to use it. I can't claim full credit anyway, as the Spirit helps me.

May your days of trolls be few

May the Spirit guide what to do

~ ESA

Weeds and Wheat (Parable)

There once was a field planted with the finest seeds of grain.

The sun shown down gentle and warm. The ground, freshly tilled, remained moist with the gentle washings of the rain.

Soon the spouts began to grow, bright and green, as they stretched toward the sun.

As the spouts grew, the weeds snaked their roots under the tilled soil and sprouted their own kind in the field.

Concerned for the grain, the field hands took action.

They heated the plants hoping to scorch the weeds. Many wheat stalks withered. The ground became dry and bitter; roots were pulled up when the wind buffeted the field.

The field hands spread poisons hoping to kill the weeds that way. The wheat itself also sickened, many stalks never gaining the head that grain reaches in its maturity.

As a last resort in their vendetta to kill the weeds, the field hands viciously attacked the field, cutting down stalks of wheat as well as weeds, leaving both to wither and die rootless on the side.

At last the weeds were gone. A fraction of the wheat remained in the field, ready to be harvested.

When the landowner arrived, he looked dismayed at the remaining wheat.

His eyes tearfully moved to the piles of wheat cut and cast with the weeds on the side, the lines of wheat that had sickened and never matured, and the remnants of the wheat that were scorched so badly, they never had the chance to grow.

"What became of the crops I planted?" he inquired of his field hands.

"The weeds had gotten into the field, Master. But don't worry," they added proudly. "We got rid of them."

The landowner wept bitterly...

______________________________________________________

Let those who have ears, hear.

~ESA

Weeds & Wheat (Parable)

There once was a field planted with the finest seeds of grain. The sun shown down gentle and warm. The ground, freshly tilled, remained moist with the gentle washings of the rain.

Soon the spouts began to grow, bright and green, as they stretched themselves toward the sun.

As the spouts grew, the weeds snaked their roots under the tilled soil and sprouted their own kind in the field.

Concerned for the grain, the field hands took action. They heated the plants hoping to scorch the weeds. Many wheat stalks withered. The ground became dry and bitter; roots were pulled up when the wind buffeted the field.

The field hands spread poisons hoping to kill the weeds that way. The wheat itself also sickened, many stalks never gaining the head that grain reaches in its maturity.

As a last resort in their vendetta to kill the weeds, the field hands viciously attacked the field, cutting down stalks of wheat as well as weeds, leaving both to wither and die rootless on the side.

At last the weeds were gone. A fraction of the wheat remained in the field, ready to be harvested.

When the landowner arrived, he looked dismayed at the remaining wheat. He cast his eyes to the piles of wheat cut and cast with the weeds on the side, the lines of wheat that had sickened and never matured, and the remnants of the wheat that were scorched so badly, they never had the chance to grow.

"What became of the crops I planted?" he inquired of his field hands.

"The weeds had gotten into the field, Master. But don't worry," they added proudly. "We got rid of them."

The landowner wept bitterly...
______________________________________________________

Let those who have ears, hear.

~ESA 

Ben Stein Commentary

This is a copy of a commentary I found recently that I wanted to share with the posts above and below. This was written and read by Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning.

- ESA 

 __________________________________________________________________________

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees "Christmas trees." I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
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It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. it doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

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I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat!
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Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
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In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
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Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her, 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentlemen He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
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In light of recent events... terrorist attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
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Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide.) We said an expert should know what he's talking about. We said OK.
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Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'We reap what we sow.'
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Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
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Are you laughing yet?
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Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list beacuse you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
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Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
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Pass it on if you think it has merit.
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If not, then just discard it...no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
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Ben Stein