June 7: Judas and Childs, Guilt, Fairy Tale Friday

...I remember I asked old Childs if he thought Judas, the one that betrayed Jesus and all, went to Hell after he committed suicide.  Childs said certainly.  That's exactly where I disagreed with him.  I said I'd bet a thousand bucks that Jesus never sent old Judas to Hell.  I still would, too, if I had a thousand bucks.  I think any one of the Disciples would've sent him to Hell and all--and fast, too--but I'll bet anything Jesus didn't do it...

I haven't read too much literary analysis about Holden Caulfield's theological musings.  He seems to think about prayer and God and Heaven and Jesus a lot during the novel.  In the passage above, I think Holden is right on target with his thoughts about Judas and Jesus.  His schoolmate Childs has a very dogmatic opinion about Judas's fate (for his actions, Judas was damned).  Holden, on the other hand, embraces the idea of Christ as the great Forgiver, the One Who came to save, not condemn.  Jesus didn't punish Judas, in Holden's mind.  Jesus threw His arms around Judas's shoulders and embraced him.

Every human being does things that seem unforgivable.  Whatever you call them--sins or betrayals or trespasses or asshole acts--they stay with you, weigh on you, haunt you in the middle of the night.  I struggle with this kind of guilt every day of my life.  I still feel guilty for things I did when I was in high school (those little acts of cruelty teenagers commit against each other in the hallways and classrooms).  And I feel guilty about things I did (and didn't do) yesterday.  It's a pretty vicious cycle.

If I had Holden's belief, I would be pretty comfortable with the idea of forgiveness.  If Judas can be forgiven, anybody can!  I'm ashamed to admit that I don't have that strong of a faith.  Guilt is my constant companion.  And this guilt has nothing to do with any church or religion.  I think most people (with the exception of Charles Manson and his ilk) have innate moral compasses.  They know what's right and what's wrong.  A Christian church's or religion's greatest contribution to the human race is the idea of ultimate forgiveness.  If everyone could embrace this concept, I think the world would be a much kinder, gentler place.

I know this topic is pretty heavy for a Fairy Tale Friday.  I'm sorry.  It's been on my mind for the last day or so.  As I said, I'm great on guilt, not so great on forgiveness.  If they sold cat-o' nine-tails at Walmart, I'd probably own several and use them on a fairly constant basis (and not for anything fun).  It's one of my great deficiencies as a follower of Christ.

But, I need to lighten things up...

Once upon a time, a simple man named Gunther worked in the royal accounting office of the king's palace.  He was a diligent servant of the royal family, and his coworkers thought he was kind and gentle and generous.  And he was kind and gentle and generous.  But every day, at noon, he took his burlap sack lunch and went to the roof of the palace.  There, he sat and ate, watching the royal lake.

For you see, at noon, every day, the maids brought out the queen's undergarments and washed them in the lake.  Gunther enjoyed seeing the queen's bloomers and girdles.  And he enjoyed seeing the maids scrubbing them on the rocks.

One day, as Gunther was finishing his bologna mutton sub on the palace roof, the royal guards appeared and arrested him.  The day before, one of the wash maids had seen him and reported it to the king.  Gunther was thrown into the dungeon.  Two days later, the king had him beheaded.

Gunther's family fled the kingdom in disgrace, and Gunther was replaced in the royal accounting office by a Poison Apple iPad.

And Saint Marty lived happily ever after.

Who could resist a gander at these?