i am reading the book of mark

it is a separately issued as a small booklet

with an excellent intro by nick cave (no less…who gives it two thumbs up!)

so here we are

one of the five books that really are of interest to me from the bible

the others being matthew luke john and revelations

i do not care for st paul

he is a authoritarian type laying down his rules

the very opposite of our man

now this reading of mark that i will write about begs many questions

i will say that most christians ruin it for christ!

in a typically human fashion we have taken this mans words and

whilst claiming to follow him

we have done the very opposite

so many hindus have said

if you are christians why dont you follow his teachings??!!

and it is a question that needs answering

why the very most “christian'” of people nowadays would dismay christ no end

i mean do you think if christ were to meet say W

he would say good on you mate , youve really understood my message…!

if you think the answer is yes then you should stop reading this now !

cos that aint the message i’m picking up from this guy i’m reading about….

i’m not reading about some timid law abiding traditional picket fence type here

i’m reading a truly wild revolutionary troubled anguished cat

who is basically the ultimate socialist you can imagine

because he already digs that material possessions are traps

and you need to free yourself of lust for stuff

buddha knows that

krsna knows that

sjk knows that

you cant straddle both worlds easily baby

you gotta let it all go!

another thing people say is do you believe in jesus?

and according to whatever i say bombard ya with the pros n cons

history says this

some historian says that…

i dont fucking care!

i dont care if he existed or not…can you believe that?

i cant even begin to answer the question do you believe in jesus?

what?

do i believe in all the accretions and spin doctoring of the church . nope!

i reckon the boy buggering priests have just about put me off …howabout you?

the great wealth and arrogance of the popes

the evil they have done

the witch hunts and suppression of knowledge

the persecutions and maimings …all in jesus name!

for christs sake

yet still the same types are using christs name to justify all the things he reviled

i reckon christ (if he existed) would hate napalm, bullets, sanctions, a-bombs, mines, tanks etc

i reckon he would love charity and help for the aged and poor

i reckon he would advocate tolerance and understanding

yet the geezers masquerading as christians are dealing you out the very opposite!

ha ha that my friends is a great wonder right there…..

there is however from i what ive read so far

the possibility that i am not understanding the bits

that advocate tycoons and wars being good things

perhaps it got lost in my translation

so whether i believe in  jesus  or not….

the question is not framed properly

one must read this book mark with an open mind and heart

can you forget for a moment the idea of some faux historical accuracy

and dig this cat

this brilliant cat at conflict with everyone

with the disciples

with the big knobs in the temple

with the average joe

with the local kings n queens

i tell you this

( i ve read the bible before, i am re reading it now)

jesus and krsna have many things in common

an evil king who murdered infants to avoid a prophecy

but who was not successful in stopping these gods from materialising

and their ability to both confound and fulfil the religious laws of the time

both of them broke the rules in almost everything they did

this is the mark of a true hero a true genius of love

and they both died unfitting deaths for such great and beautiful men

do i believe they actually existed like you and i exist?

like i exist here in my blog?

or like i exist here in bob luries book?

or as i exist in martys amazing recollections in the reissues ?

or as i exist in my songs ?

does it matter?

when i am dead will my life matter as long as my songs make people happy?

so yeah the book of mark

jesus

hes healing people

hes pulling a big crowd everywhere

hes starting to piss people off too

people dont like this kinda healing, give all yer money away stuff!

i tell ya i dont envy jesus his gig!

his own disciples can be the most flaky doubtful crowd ever

after all he does theyre still not sure

they still misinterpret his wishes

no one seems to understand what hes trying to do

what the fuck is he trying to do?

well hes not really sure is he

i mean remember he is a human being

with every temptation and every failing to overcome

he loves people so much he cant help healing em!

he starts healing em and how can he stop?

with his compassion he has fallen into a trap

are they listening or do they want healing n miracles?

its all outta control from virtually the word go

devils unmask him in the street

he performs more exorcisms than youve had hot dinners in the first five minutes

i mean mark sets christ down and hes immediately running

no away in the manger stuff no childhood

did christ go to india?

i’d say he deffo went somewhere n studied something

cos when he suddenly appears getting baptised johnny the baptist can dig it!

i am not fit to do up the catches on your sandals! says j the b

and dig this , this beautiful phrase that christ uses in raising a deathly girl

talitha cumi 

he says in aramaic i guess

man that phrase i never noticed it before

that phrase seeing it written down there

as jesus the most beautiful cat ever

with his heart full of soul

the man of sorrows

and he says in this most beautiful language this magical spell

talitha cumi

maiden rise! it is in english (but thats fucking hopeless!)

oh god how christ loved people

how he loved it when they showed faith and courage

how dismayed at the hard heartedness of the local rightwing mofos

ruining it then as usual

as it is now

same as it ever was!

the wicked kings

the bloated emperors

the cruel ignorant soldiers

the scheming priests

the clueless mob who would eventually turn on him

man his world is full of snakes

and so few ladders

always he is seeking solitude and prayer

he is worn out by all this

doesnt seem like he asked for it but what is he to do…?

he has to glorify god….

now here is a tricky thing

as we realise jesus is a victim of his zeitgeist like all men

he spoke about his father but his father is all our fathers too

but i find it very hard to reconcile JC and crankypants Jehovah

who has every nasty quality in spades that you dont want in yer deity

i mean the israelites are his chosen people ok

but where the fuck does that leave me?

yeah anyway i dont approve of all that rubbish in the old testa

that aint no good book….its a bloody and boring mythology of a desert tribe

that freely borrows from all the myths that came before

and quite nasty in a lot of places!

however with mark

there is something brand new afoot

a revolution

its not the miracles and healing

even without that

its something else

an indiscernable wonder that somehow exists between the words

i will bring you more as i read more

i am a pantheist

i dig all gods because they are part of the one true immanent god

a god so fucking transcendent he makes jehovah look like vanilla ice

this particular transcendent god speaks through jesus to me

but he speaks through krsna to me

and the beatles too

i believe this more than i believe anything else

god is great beyond greatness

and we are tiny parts of this

everything is

so open your heart

and be a part

not apart