Urban Predators Speak Out

  “I’m A Grunt of Humanity” wandering through the outskirts of the “Social Abyss” seeking a place that would embrace my existence and say, “Welcome Home!”  Yet what happens when suddenly forced out of native homeland (for whatever reason), at every door (sought, found, and knocked upon), one is greeted with “We’re presently busy keeping those that are different in their place.” With family and offspring facing the choice to “survive or perish” one has little options but to seek an underground railroad leading to a place professing a land of milk and honey; a land offering immigrants (permanent) and migrants (temporary) opportunities to invest and be more than what’s been left behind; a  land broadcasting "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" at its gate ( The New Colossus ) Thus, although at the initial expense of native inhabitants, its economic dependance on black slavery, its western expansion to become a nation between the Atla...

  While humanity’s capacity to imagine continues to evolve and deliver dramatic breakthroughs (e.g. technology, science, medicine, education, education, religion, enterprise and laws of governance), it continues to build rather than tear down the dividing walls (e.g. color, race, faith, and socioeconomic status). Thus, humanity continues in constant conflict with itself (e.g. the us vs them, the divine destiny of the privileged vs the underrated and excluded) with little regard for environment or investments toward future generations. But let’s gamble a walk on the wild side and consider how the arts (e.g. painting, music, movies), can depict, even amplify, the often overlooked past and cast a prophetic light on future possibilities. Remember Star Trek and its opening lines, “Space: The final frontier . These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise . Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone...

  “The kingdom is” (upon you, within you, in the midst of you), a constant concept spread throughout the gospel, is a statement many out of disappointment, anger and resentment come to critique and/or mock (especially among the sick, suffering and persecuted), saying “How many centuries have we heard that!”  Thus, many lose faith or worse, conclude “If God ain’t saving me, might as well live for self” and become victims, victimizers, or bystanders. Yet Jesus countered the issue saying, “ The kingdom of God does not come with observation ” (Luke17:20–21). Does that not somehow imply “The Kingdom” is not a destination to anticipate but a journey full of actions , choices and discoveries to experience and explore beyond the limits of self-gratifying means and ends? Justice is not an issue reserved for the kingdom to come. Justice is a matter to be addressed here on earth because it’s everyone’s sovereign right to coexist. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to strive toward such e...