#without god

Watching someone else’s argument.

Like overhearing a couple fighting at the store. We get a fragment (out-of-context) from some long-running dispute.

You and I have no stake in it. The only reason it draws our attention at all is that it’s loud.

It’s kind of hard to be interested in something like that.

That’s what today’s Gospel can feel like. With Jesus and the Pharisees sniping at each other. About obscure traditions. Again.

We’re watching someone else’s argument. And it’s kind of hard to be interested.

So why would St. Mark bother telling us about it?

While it may take the form of someone else’s argument, it actually shows us one of the most subtle ways that faith can go bad.

All the things that the Pharisees are doing? The stuff that Jesus is on them about? They’re not bad things. They’re actually things that were part of the Jewish law.

Commanded to make intentional breaks in the life of a believer. To create places and moments in everyday living to reconnect with God.

The Pharisees were supposed to be living that example. To show people that it could be done. That was their ministry.

So people could see the peace and power of a life focused on God.

A life lived that way is a blessing. And a powerful witness.

Jesus isn’t calling them out for that. Jesus is on them for losing sight of the point of what they were doing.

They weren’t doing the things to keep themselves connected with God. To show others the peace and power of a life focused on God.

They were doing them for power and influence. Their service wasn’t about God anymore.

From the outside, people saw the Pharisees still doing the things that God had commanded. It created a very positive impression for them. If you didn’t look too closely. One that gave them power and influence.

For them, the service was about them. It was little more than a means to power and influence.

Which, as Henri Nouwen points out, can only lead to one place, “service outside of God becomes self-seeking, and self-seeking service leads to manipulation, and manipulation to power games, and power games to violence, and violence to destruction — even when it falls under the name of ministry.”

void without the face of God

as a daily guide

to correct an errant path

that leads to still darker realms.

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TUNE LOW, PLAY SLOW

A Scrapbook

~Pics: Rita Fevraleva | Films: Occult Worship Productions~

Since last year, we've been bringing you on-scene photo reports from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, thanks to the the lens of Rita Favreleva and other locals. We covered the Sludge Convention and received first-hand accounts from Acid King and Elder about their trips to the Russian Federation.

Tune Low, Play Slow IV was an all-dayer held in Moscow on September 30th, 2017. A companion event, Slow Now Mercy, took place the day before in nearby Saint Petersburg. Last go 'round, Salem's Pot headlined Tune Low, Play Slow. This year, the mighty Dopelord commanded the stage, joined by Dutch dark rockers Gold. The Russian support did not disappoint. Long time doomers will recognize names like Without God and Crypt Jaintor, but bands like ИЛ and Electric Jezus (who shared a split last year, released new records of their own this year) are well worth adding to your playlist. For those of us an ocean away who couldn't attend this riffapocalypse, we can certainly live vicariously through the beautifully chaotic visuals that follow. Enjoy the show...

DOPELORD

GOLD

ИЛ

WITHOUT GOD

ELECTRIC JEZUS

CRYPT JAINTOR