Wednesday, October 30, 2013

One-way Love (grace) reverses the "Kramer"--A brief tribute to PZ

Christian terms--such as grace, mercy, atonement, justification--often fall upon deaf ears.  This deafness could be due to the person listening, or the deafness could be because of the message delivered.  Paul Zahl realizes this, and he is constantly using new terms to describe Christian principles--this allows me and others to hear Christianity afresh.  This allows the Good News to work upon my egotistical, Pharisaical heart.  So, what is the "Kramer?" (I presume that Kramer is PZ's take on Karma.)

The "Kramer" in PZ's parlance is the "generational curse."  You can see the sins of the parents visited upon the children.  Parents who commit suicide have children who commit suicide.  Parents who are controlling have children who are controlling--and turn the control back against the parents when the parents age.  Parents who go to prison have children who go to prison.  The list goes on and on.  My view of God dictates that it is not God who visits the curse upon the future generations, but rather the parents.  This is also my experience.  This is also the road that I was headed down--visiting my sins upon my children.

PZ says that our purpose in life is to reverse the Kramer!  He says that this can be done by expressing to others the grace that God has expressed to us.  This often takes the form of courageous action in the face of long-standing, psycho-genetic patterns which reap destruction in families.

Thanks to the message of One-Way Love (PZ's term) that I heard from PZ commencing in January, 1998, and continuing through mid-2004, in his Thursday morning Bible study, the Kramer has been reversed, and is being reversed, in my family--not just with our children but also with a prior, and within the same, generation.  I'm cautious about saying this, because I think we are foolish to claim temporal victory over the wages of sin.  As Luther said (paraphrasing): "We will be sinners until we die, but we are at the same time justified."  The victory doesn't mean that my children are going to turn out perfect--they won't.  I'm not perfect, and they won't be perfect.  It doesn't even mean that they won't have significant issues in life--that is part of living down here.  But they seem to understand One-Way Love--they seem to understand the Good News--they seem to love others in a way that I never did at their age.

This breaking of generational curses doesn't happen without a spouse that is on the same page.  PZ says that his wife, Mary, has been a huge influence on their sons.  He attributes their goodness to Mary.  Notably, each of their sons is in full-time Christian ministry.  More importantly, each of their children proclaims the radical grace of God in the face of man's innate sinfulness--that is the true message of Christianity.

Debbie has been my stalwart help-mate in beating back the Kramer.  (In calling her my help-mate, I am exalting her, not subjugating her role to mine.  The term used for help-mate in Genesis (ezer) is the same term that Abraham used in describing his relationship with God.  God was Abraham's help-mate.)  Debbie shocks me sometimes with the degree to which she gets grace.  It is so helpful to each of us to view a situation or relationship with two sets of eyes that are looking through grace-colored glasses.

In our family, grace has not only impacted our children but also our siblings and parents.  Grace has a way of going places and rectifying relationships that seem intractably broken.  Grace has a way of going places where it's not even wanted.  I am so thankful to God for exposing me to the message of One-Way Love that PZ has steadfastly proclaimed in the face of opposition, criticism, and worldly failure.  This message has revolutionized our relationships with our parents, siblings, friends, and co-workers.  This message has now been taken up by Paul and Mary's sons in immensely powerful ways.  This message is now making inroads into institutional Christianity.  This message is the only hope for the world.