“How Much Is Enough?”—Power

/

God’s power and ours/The uses and abuses of Power

The Gospel of Thomas

Boyhood deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ I, Thomas the Israelite, am reporting to you, all my non-Jewish brothers and sisters, to make known the extraordinary childhood deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ - what he did after his birth in my region. This is how it all started: When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. He was collecting the flowing water into ponds and made the water instantly pure. He did this with a single command) He then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows. He did this on the sabbath day, and many other boys were playing with him. But when a Jew saw what Jesus was doing while playing on the sabbath day, he immediately went off and told Joseph, Jesus' father: "See here, your boy is at the ford and has taken mud and fashioned twelve birds with it, and so has violated the sabbath."  So Joseph went there, and as soon as he spotted him he shouted, "Why are you doing what's not permitted on the sabbath?") But Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: "Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!" And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily.) The Jews watched with amazement, then left the scene to report to their leaders what they had seen Jesus doing. The son of Annas the scholar, standing there with Jesus, took a willow branch and drained the water Jesus had collected.) Jesus, however, saw what had happened and became angry, saying to him, "Damn you, you irreverent fool! What harm did the ponds of water do to you? From this moment you, too, will dry up like a tree, and you'll never produce leaves or root or bear fruit."  In an instant the boy had completely withered away. Then Jesus departed and left for the house of Joseph. The parents of the boy who had withered away picked him up and were carrying him out, sad because he was so young. And they came to Joseph and accused him: "It's your fault - your boy did this." Later he was going through the village again when a boy ran and bumped him on the shoulder. Jesus got angry and said to him, "You won't continue your journey." And all of a sudden, he fell down and died.  Some people saw what had happened and said, "Where has this boy come from? Everything he says happens instantly!"  The parents of the dead boy came to Joseph and blamed him saying, "Because you have such a boy, you can't live with us in the village, or else teach him to bless and not curse. He's killing our children!" So Joseph summoned his child and admonished him in private, saying, "Why are you doing all this? These people are suffering and so they hate and harass us." Jesus said, "I know that these are not your words, still, I'll keep quiet for your sake. But those people must take their punishment." There and then his accusers became blind.  Those who saw this became very fearful and at a loss. All they could say was, "Every word he says, whether good or bad, has become a deed - a miracle even!" When Joseph saw that Jesus had done such a thing, he got angry and grabbed his ear and pulled very hard. The boy became infuriated with him and replied, "It's one thing for you to seek and not find; it's quite another for you to act this unwisely. Don't you know that I don't really belong to you? Don't make me upset."

What Is the Gospel of Thomas?

Not to be confused with Acts of Thomas.

For the infancy gospel, see Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is an extra-canonical sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as AD 60 and as late as AD 250. Since its discovery, many scholars have seen it as evidence in support of the existence of a "Q source," which might have been very similar in its form as a collection of sayings of Jesus without any accounts of his deeds or his life and death, referred to as a sayings gospel.[4][5]

The Coptic language text, the second of seven contained in what modern-day scholars have designated as Nag Hammadi Codex II, is composed of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Almost two-thirds of these sayings resemble those found in the canonical gospels and its editio princeps counts more than 80% of parallels,[7]while it is speculated that the other sayings were added from Gnostic tradition. Its place of origin may have been Syria, where Thomasine traditions were strong. Other scholars have suggested an Alexandrian origin.

The introduction states: "These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down." Didymus (Koine Greek) and Thomas (Aramaic) both mean "twin". Modern scholars do not consider Apostle Thomas the author of this document and the author remains unknown.

Because of its discovery with the Nag Hammadi library, it was widely thought that the document originated within a school of early Christians, proto-Gnostics. Critics have questioned whether the description of Thomas as a "gnostic" gospel is based solely upon the fact that it was found along with gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi.

The Gospel of Thomas is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four canonical Gospels. Unlike the canonical Gospels, it is not a narrative account of the life of Jesus; instead, it consists of logia (sayings) attributed to Jesus, sometimes stand-alone, sometimes embedded in short dialogues or parables; 13 of its 16 parables are also found in the Synoptic Gospels. The text contains a possible allusion to the death of Jesus in logion 65 (Parable of the Wicked Tenants, paralleled in the Synoptic Gospels), but does not mention his crucifixion, his resurrection, or the final judgement; nor does it mention a messianic understanding of Jesus.

Origen condemned a book called "Gospel of Thomas" as heretical; however, it is not clear that it is the same gospel of Thomas, as he possibly meant the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

The main reason that this Gospel was excluded from the Canon of the New Testament is that it portrays a Jesus who is totally antithetical to the Jesus of the Gospels; in this gospel passage we see a mean, vindictive and destructive little child who use his powers to get back at those who thwarted him. This is no “turn the other cheek” kind of Jesus. The appeal at the time was probably to a particular group of early Christians who felt a certain amount of animosity directed at them, even perhaps persecution. So they invented a savior who not only was capable of avenging wrongs done to them, but capable of doing so violently. There may even be people today who are looking for a leader who will promise to use brute force against their enemies and who would use violence restore to them to the position in society they feel others have usurped. Jesus would never be that kind of leader. The four canonical gospels have taught us that God, though all powerful, would never use that power to wreak vengeance on wrongdoers. So the Jesus of this gospel would never be able to be reconciled to the Jesus of the four gospels we know….

Luke 4:1–13

Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Matthew 27:33–45

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way. From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Music Meditations

  • Pleni Sunt Coeli et Terra—The Ground by Ola Gjeilo
  • How Great Thou Art--Carrie Underwood
  • Holy, Holy, Holy—Donnie McClurkin (Gospel version)
  • Holy is His Name—John Michael Talbot

Opening Prayer

Jesus, teach me the temptations of power; help me to see them for what they are. Help me to recognize in myself the desire to control my life, to control others around me, even to control God, sometimes. Give me the strength to relinquish power when it is damaging me or others, and help me to know when it is time to stop hanging on to control so tightly. Give me the expansiveness to let others seek their own happiness and to let them make mistakes along the way. Help me to be kind and generous with the powers I possess, and use those powers in the building of your Kingdom.

Companions for the Journey

Power is the ability to make things happen. Power is being in control of our own lives and our own destinies. It is the ability to control others and bend them to our will. Power is part of hierarchical structures like government and church, and some say, families. Power is always present in relationships, both persuasive (or suasive) and coercive power. Sometimes we wield power over others “for their own good”—as when a parent limits unhealthy foods or TV time. Sometimes we wield power over others because it make us feel good, or important. Power and power structures are so much a part of our lives that we do even stop to consider how omnipresent power is, and how seldom it is critically examined or checked in the marketplace. Power is just a fact of life, and many of us spend our lives learning to figure out how to get it, keep it, how to live with the power that others possess, especially power over us. At an early age we learn how to navigate successfully the many layered and intricate power structures that exist, how especially keep others from taking power from us. We often measure success in terms of the amount of and kind of power a particular individual possesses. (Remember when Bill Clinton was asked why he got involved with a very impressionable, pretty and much younger staffer, even though he was a married man? His answer was: “Because I could.”).

Power is very seductive, especially instrumental or coercive power, which is why the temptations of Jesus in the desert were rooted in the almost irresistible invitation to wield the powers that were possible for him as God’s favored one.

If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. It will solve a lot a problems, and without any effort on your part, because you have the power to do so. Throw yourself off the parapet of the temple and make God show you how important you are to Him by sending his powerful angels to rescue you. I will make you ruler with power over all the known nations, second only to me….

And this was just the beginning. The celebrity that could come with the not-so-simple trick of turning water into wine, with healings and other miracles, the taming of the storms, the feeding of the five thousand, the raising of Lazarus, had to be resisted at every turn. Some of his disciples would have reveled in that power and their association with the Wonder Worker. But it was clear that the miracles of Jesus were not a magic act designed to wow the crowd into following him as a leader because of what he could do for them; or cow the crowds into fearing him because of what he could do to them. In fact, the Gospel of Mark has Jesus admonishing his disciples at every turn not to tell anyone of these miracles; Jesus, it would seem, did not want people following him because of his power to make things happen. Instead Jesus’ miracles were a heartfelt and loving response to the dire need that was revealed right before his very eyes—one he could not ignore. Often, he called on the help of his Father, indicating that what he was doing was his Father’s will. And at other times, as in the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus needed to rely on the cooperation and generosity of others to make something happen.

The kind of power that Jesus utilized was in service to his message and to the building up of the Kingdom. He had the power to attract all sorts of people, to respond sympathetically and generously to their needs and concerns, and teach effectively about love of God and love of neighbor. We call that suasive power, and it is different in that there is no intimidation, no coercion involved. People were free to accept to or decline his invitation to follow him. Of particular note is the rich young man who reluctantly declined Jesus’ offer to become a disciple because he was attached to the life he had and the goods he possessed. What is also unusual about Jesus’ suasive power is that he was very honest about the difficulties and dangers following him would entail.

What about power in our everyday lives? What kinds of powers are there, and is all power negative? On the other hand, how can power be misused? This is a spiritual study, not an academic one, and it is in no way complete, but it is part of a process by which we evaluate society’s arrogating to itself too much power and take time to evaluate our own personal enjoyment of or misuse of power. It is important to note that sometimes, various types of power overlap, and that we often possess or are denied several different types of power:

Coercive Power uses reward or punishment to compel or prohibit individual action. This could be physical or psychological. Threats of violence, incarceration, or inducements can be state sponsored or personal, legal or illegal, can be benign or abusive. It is unclear whether a threat to my kids that I was “gonna kill them as soon as I got my hands on them” or “If you just hang on a few minutes and behave I will buy you an ice-cream” fits in this description. It is clear that unless we suffer from the Stockholm Syndrome, it is hard for us to love what we fear. How free are decisions if made in an atmosphere of fear or bribery?

Formal Power is that power which comes from one’s position in society as head of a government, religion or family. It allows those people to make rules for others, to command loyalty, and sometimes allows them privileges that the ordinary folks do not possess. Throughout human history and in our own times as well, there have been many examples where this sort of power has been misused. Abuses and inequities have been glaringly obvious, from popes and potentates to controlling spouses and abusive workplaces.

Economic Power can be as expansive as control over financial markets or simply access to more resources than others have. This kind of power gives those with more money a lot more resources and options than poor people possess, whether it is the kind of dwelling they live in, the amount and quality of food they can afford, the schools they attend, especially as young children. Wealth brings opportunities for enrichment and comfort, for safety from physical and legal problems, can purchase expertise when needed. Wealth can provide a distraction from the cares of ordinary life sometimes, and give people a position in the social structure that is privileged and special. It can buy us out of discomfort, boredom, and the irritations of everyday living that plague most human beings. But when is economic power immoral? When is it too much? When do we need to address the inequalities of both ethnicity and opportunity that keep poor people poor? Do we simply say “the poor we will always have with us” and absolve ourselves of any responsibility for social justice? (More about this when we discuss wealth later on in the series)

Expert Power or Informational Power comes from have exceptional skills or knowledge that are needed and appreciated within a community. Those with special skills and talents can command more money, more attention, more “perks” than ordinary folk. Those with superior educations or specialized knowledge in one area often consider themselves or are treated as experts and sages in many other areas. Some of this specialized treatment may be warranted, some may not. We ourselves can abuse the respect people afford us on account of our talent, education or position.

Charismatic Power or Suasive Power is the ability to mold and shape attitudes, to influence behaviors of others. All great leaders have possessed this kind of power, and it has obviously been used for both good and ill. In ordinary life, we meet people with a special gift for leading, teaching, preaching, even entertaining others. Charismatic power has been abused by cultic leaders who use their particular skills to ensnare people into following their beliefs and then employing coercive tactics to keep them under their personal control. Jonestown is an example of this misuse of charismatic power, which then morphed into cultic power. But for the most part, the gift of suasive power is that it does not use coercion or any kind of power that lessens one’s freedom or ability to make choices on his or her own. Jesus is the example we cite when we want to look at the way someone can be invitational, charismatic, and powerful without being abusive or coercive. Jesus always invited, but did not command the participation of his followers. A great example for us…

For each of us the seductive part of power is the control it gives us in our everyday lives, from where and how to work and live to the freedom to associate with those we choose. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking we have powers no one really can possess. For example, we cannot change the past and we cannot change other people (except through some form of violence, emotional or physical). This can cause a lot of personal frustration. We can spend a lot of time railing on about the misuse of power in society, in religion, in government and the workplace, all of which allows us to avoid looking at the kinds of power we ourselves wield in those arenas and the power we use or misuse in everyday relationships. According to many psychologists, many couples’ arguments are, at the root, an unconscious struggle for who wields power in the relationship. Most of us want to be in charge and in control, and very often people argue and eventually work out the dynamic so it is equitable and balanced. Others live with relationships that are imbalanced, in friendship, work or family life, and it can create a lot of pain and may even be abusive. Some of the imbalance may come from economic power: the main breadwinner feels entitled to make most or all of the decisions, has special privileges, or has one set of rules for herself and another for the others in the family. Other power struggles often involve who controls a given schedule: is it the breadwinner, the main caregiver, the chief cook and bottle-washer? Is it the one who planned and organized the event and wants everyone to march to his particular drumbeat? Is it the one who always makes others wait until he has finished a certain thought, task or generally gets himself to move? There are many ways we try to bend others to our will: Do I withdraw my attention, affection and participation (it is called sulking) to starve people into submission emotionally? Have I ever played the martyr or used subtle remarks to put another on the defensive? Am I guilty of using my personal strength, my abusive language, my visible contempt to control others? Have I used my superior talent, knowledge or education to intimidate others? These are just a few, and if I look and my own personal arsenal, I could come up with many more techniques used to control others and get my way. For each of us, power is something we live with and utilize every day. The spiritual question, and it is a serious one, is how much of power is enough and how much power is just too much?

For a further discussion, see:

Weekly Memorization

Taken from Matthew 27:33–45…

You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

When I think of God’s power, what do I imagine it to be like? What role does power play in my relationship with God? What would bother me more—making God angry with me or hurting God’s feelings? Can fear and love exist together? What kind of powers did Jesus possess? How was he tempted to use them? What good did Jesus accomplish using the extraordinary powers he possessed? Did he ever use his power to hurt others? Is power always a bad thing? What good can power effect? How can power be misused? What is seductive about power? Who or what has power over me right now? (political institutions, social connections, religious leaders,family, workplace, our prevailing culture, my spouse or significant other, for example) What sort of power do we have that we do not even think about? (for example, the freedom to vote or not, access to physical or natural resources, access to healthcare, access to education etc.) How does power operate in the domination of others? Can you think of an instance where one human being has legitimate domination over another? Can I describe some moral or behavioral imposed on me by the culture in which I operate? Do those cultural impositions diminish or enhance my personal power? Is power always demonstrated in terms of physical force or coercion? Who has power in our society and why? Who is powerless in our society and why? As Christians, what is our role in making the distribution of power more equitable? Do I have any power right this moment? Over whom or what do I have power? What, to me, is the difference between power and control? Over what things or people in my life would I like to have control? How can someone exert passive control ? (Think of the two-year old who refuses to eat anything but popcorn, for example) Many couples say that their arguments often center around who has control in the relationship. Have you ever witnessed this? What are the power dynamics in my romantic relationship? What the power dynamics in my family? What are the power dynamics in my closest friendships What are the power dynamics in my workplace or school environment? What are the power dynamics in my relationship with God?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/ Relationship:

I write a letter to Jesus, telling him all the things in my life and in this world that I want him to fix right now. I need to take a little time and be specific. Then I take a minute and remember that all I need is for Jesus to love me, really love me. And he does. I think of all the things Jesus loves about me, most of which have not necessarily been my accomplishments, or the way I bent others to my will to get something done, or how effective I was at my work. Then I think of some other qualities that Jesus might find more loveable about me—some truly wonderful traits, others, not so much…. Can I understand that Jesus might love my dark spots, commiserate with me over my failures, mourn my losses? Can I remind myself that Jesus actually cares about me and about the world I live in, and hold me in his loving gaze?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

The powerless in our society are so easy to overlook. We all have a tendency to block out realities that make us uncomfortable or realities that we do not think we have the power to change. When Mother Teresa was asked how she coped with the tremendous numbers she encountered who were hopeless, starving, ill and desperate, her answer was “one at a time”. So when this passage asks me what I have done this week to give someone food, just one person, or what I did today to welcome a stranger, just one stranger, or what I will do this week to visit someone imprisoned by the state, by his ill health or by her own unhappiness, just one person, what is my answer? Do I think the powerless are somehow responsible for their own powerlessness? If so, does that get me off the hook? What small powers do I possess to put at the service of the Kingdom?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

It has been remarked that fanaticism preys on a sense of real or perceived powerlessness and promises to the disaffected a sense of power and vengeance if they but follow a certain leader or cult. Fanaticism effectively manipulates a frustrated will to power, so that, ironically, by submitting to the absolute control of “Dear Leader”, or by absolute obedience to certain restrictive norms, people hope to repossess the control they believe life or people have stolen from them, and may even hope carry out retribution against those they have considered the oppressors. An exaggerated sense of the unfairness of life and a real desire point out who benefits from this unfair system can lead us from irritation and disappointment to anger and violence. Can you think of examples from the world of politics or religion where this has happened? Has any person or group been scapegoated for the bad things that have happened in a certain time or place? Where does racism or sexism fit in to this scenario? Is there anyone in my life I am blaming for my own lack of power, and am I looking for a person or system to spearhead a revolutionary change? Am I wishing for a magical return to a real or imagined time in history when people like me would no longer feel overlooked or powerless? What kind of power do I think God possesses?

Poetic Reflection:

Merton captures so beautifully the belief that the power of God is not to compel people to act or punish them when they mess up, but wants only the best for us and the world we inhabit:

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the garden
Speaking to the sacred trees
Their branches bear his light
Without harm

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the ruins
Seeking the lost disciple
A timid one
Too literate
To believe words
So he hides
Christ rises on the cornfields
It is only the harvest moon
The disciple
Turns over in his sleep
And murmurs:
“My regret!”

The disciple will awaken
When he knows history
But slowly, slowly
The Lord of History weeps into the fire

—Thomas Merton “Cables to the Ace” (stanza 80)

Closing Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven and who are possible deaf: You hear our prayers; you see how impossibly weak they are— these words strung together, woven, stitched , knotted into shapes of futility. If our words were threads We’d dream of gold gowns But wake up wearing burlap. Lord, give us this day our daily hope Do you see? these hands once dreamed; our words once clothed kings.

—Ed Ingebretzen, S.J.