a few years ago on easter, first united church in vancouver’s downtown eastside carried a cross through the neighbourhood. it was a big, simple cross – and there were needles stuck all over it. the christ of the drug addicts. an image i will never forget.

there is much about the message of the new testament that i don’t comprehend. one thing that i get, though, is that jesus hung out and opened his arms to the underdogs – nah, to the dogs that were so low, they were kicked by the underdogs. he offered himself to the lowest and dumbest of thieves, to the cheapest of hookers, to the stinkiest of lepers.

if christmas is where this message of peace, hope, joy and love began, then to whom would jesus direct his message on the internet? who are the lowest of the low?

the spammers, the child pornographers, the trolls, the nigerian scammers.

peace, hope, joy and love to the nigerian scammers, many of whom are motivated by the desperation that grows in countries riddled with unimaginable poverty, disease and violence.

peace, hope, joy and love to the child pornographers, many of whom are driven by an appetite they don’t know how to control, and many of whom have had disturbing experiences when they were children. there but for the grace of god go those of us who have experienced some healing around such experiences.

peace, hope, joy and love to the trolls, who want to be part of the blogging community. they have strong opinions and strong feelings. they do something that many of us would secretly like to do – just blurt it all out.

and peace, hope, joy and love to the spammers, who are driven by a desire to find the pot of gold at the end of the internet rainbow. haven’t most of us had dreams like this, in one shape or another?

i don’t know any of you – spammers, child pornographers, nigerian scammers, trolls. again, that is the sign of the lowest of the low – they are nameless, faceless, we have no connection with them. so how can i reach out? how can we connect? how can we get to know each other? i was going to say, how can i reach out without getting hurt? but i don’t remember jesus saying that. so reaching out is risky …

perhaps a small risk i can incur is to let my guard down for even a moment. i think i’ll disable akismet for a few minutes. let at least some spammers in. see if there is a way of connecting.

merry christmas to all.

(photo by darcie of interestingness)