However, what you will notice throughout the show is the use of Christianity as a running theme. With every season is a different rendition of its theme song Way down in the hole. The lyrics are as follows:
“When you walk through the garden, you gotta watch your back.
Well, I beg to pardon, walk the straight and narrow track.
When you walk with Jesus, he’s gonna save your soul.
You gotta keep the devil; well you gotta keep him down in the hole.”
More evidence is the use of Christian art and references throughout the show. You will often see churches in the background and religious icons in the homes of the characters. There is a moment when one of the shows lead characters, Detective Jimmy McNulty, played by English actor Dominic West, asks a bartender if they have any Jamison’s. The bartender asks if Bushmill’s is okay, to which McNulty responds “That’s protestant whiskey!”.
Currently I’m only in the show’s third of five seasons, but I’ve been inspired to reflect on something I noticed in second season. If you haven’t seen The Wire’s second season, there are spoilers from here on out. I would like to highlight a character we meet in the show’s thirteenth episode; his name is Ziggy. When you’re first introduced to Ziggy, and the following episodes he’s in, it is not hard to outright hate him. Ziggy is mouthy, fowl, bull-headed, and unintelligent. He’s smaller in stature which suggests his adverse, aggressive, and annoying attitude merely exists to hide feelings of insecurity.
Ziggy also belongs to a polish, Catholic family of dock workers The Sabotkas. Through his job at the docks, Ziggy ends up smuggling large amounts of imported goods to a warehouse owned and operated by an international crime syndicate run by a man known as The Greek. When Ziggy is cheated out of money when smuggling imported cars, he snaps. All of his insecurity surfaces when he takes a gun, one he only used for show, and murders the warehouse manager and one of the employees, an innocent bystander. Ziggy’s erratic and idiotic behavior climaxes at this point.
What follows, however, is outside of the usual behavior. He allows himself to be detained by police and signs a confession of guilt. For some reason the taking of life to satisfy his own woundedness wasn’t enough and he repents. In his most virtuous moment, when he finally gives up, it inspired me to think: Can Ziggy become a saint?
We’ll first begin with a personal favorite. St. Moses the Black lived during the 3rd century A.D. in Egypt. He was dismissed from being a slave of a government official for suspected theft and murder. Those suspicions would be supported when later he joined a traveling band of cut-throat thieves. One night when he was stealing sheep, he eluded authorities by hiding with a colony of desert monks. What do you think happened next? Moses was deeply moved by their lifestyle. He lived a life of chaos in pursuit of temporal goods, but the monks Moses encountered lived a peace that only derived from total detachment. He joined their community, and later in his life, even became their spiritual leader, and ordained as a priest.
When a band of marauders came to loot their monastery, St. Moses advocated that his brothers refrained from violence. Instead of protecting the monastery, St. Moses and a few other monks welcomed the thieves...and they were all killed.
When I first read about St. Moses and the means by which he died, I have to admit, it left me rather light-hearted. I think I even found it comical. It is another example of the far reaching influence of God. Most Christians have no problem believing that the presence of God spans the entirety of the cosmos, but we’re unanimously taken back when he reaches the human heart. For some reason, Alpha Centari is much closer than the heart of a sinner. Think of the people who you would consider “least likely”. He uses these people to mock the “genius” of humanity. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways" Isaiah 55:8.
Our next saint is particularly bloodthirsty. St. Vladimir lived in Rus, modern day Russia, and was the bastard child of the grand duke of Kiev. Although he was also the grandchild of St. Olga, her example was lost on him in his early life. St. Vladimir inherited the city of Novgorod, but lost his seat in a civil uprising lead by rivaling family members, the usual. After gathering an army during his retreat to Scandinavia, he returned, took back Novgorod and then some, particularly the rest of Rus.
Vlad was also a practicing pagan, not like those winter and spring solstice pagans. He founded temples and erected statues to the gods Perun, Dazhdbog, Simorgl, Mokosh, Stribog, and company. His rule was accompanied by a constant path of violence as he continued to unify (Rus)sia. After a successful military campaign, Vlad believed it fitting to offer human sacrifice to the pagan gods, as you do. One particular incident was when Loann, son of a devout Christian by the name Fyodor, was chosen to be offered to the gods. Fyodor protested with these words:
“Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God — He is worshiped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devilsI”
The situation subsequently took the course of the usual clichés, by inspiring a pagan hoard to massacre all the Christians living in Rus. This mass persecution, however, brought Vlad to reflect on the self-sacrifice of these people of faith. He then set out a commission into the surrounding countries to investigate various faiths of Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity. After learning that the Muslims abstained from alcohol, St. Vlad exclaimed “Drinking is the joy of all Rus'. We cannot exist without that pleasure." His commission eventually found themselves within the Hagai Sofia experiencing the Divine Liturgy. “"We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations.”They were convinced.
Vladimir’s inclination towards Christianity didn’t eradicate all of his previous habits. When asking Emporer Basil II for his sister Anna’s hand in marriage he mentioned that, if was rejected, he would bring his armies upon Constantinople. Basil II agreed to the wedding if Vlad was baptized.
After marrying Anna, Vladimir celebrated in the desecrating of all pagan temples on their journey back to Rus. There is debate over the methods of conversion that took place afterwards. Some sources say that Vlad threatened the people of Rus with death and forced the population of Kiev into a lake to all be baptized. Other accounts say that the people felt liberated from paganism and were eager to convert to Orthodox Christianity. The truth is probably somewhere between the two accounts.
It’s easy to impose our modern sensibilities to events that took place millennia ago. I don’t suppose he will be a patron on inter-religious dialogue, but let’s try to take the most from this character. We can see through his very imperfect example the call to evangelize. I can imagine his plain and undeveloped train of thought that, if Christianity is true, then it is true for everyone. His methods should not be imposed, however he did have zeal; Vladimir of Kiev would have to give up a harem of 300 women. If that’s not evidence of holiness on some level, I don’t know what is.
Our next example is one that we have all been introduced to, and will continue to be, every Easter season:
9 Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." 40 The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? 41And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:39-43.
We know very little of the penitent thief. He has different names in various denominations. He is Demas to the Coptic Church, Rach in the Russian Orthodox and Dismas to Roman Catholicism. It is his words, the words of a petty criminal, that we all recall on the last Sunday of the liturgical year “"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.". We cannot talk about saints with sinful pasts without bringing ourselves into the conversation. I admit, this was not the destination I planned on arriving to when I began writing, but here we are.
We can criticise those in society who, by whatever circumstances, have led a life a part from the law or a popular code of ethics, but we have all failed to harmonize and imitate God’s love. If there is still hope for you, then there is hope for Ziggy, there is hope for those who are beyond our own contrived limitations
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51: 17
With the re-election of Obama, many Christians have expressed their disappointment, anger, and hatred. If you were to judge the current state of the entire world by the example of these Christians, you would deduce that there is no hope for humanity. Recently during an airing of “The Catholic Guy Show”, the podcast's host, Lino Rulli, in the wake of the American elections mentions his disappointment but also comes to the conclusion that, as a Christian, he needs to love Obama.
Some would argue that, because of his pro-choice stance, Obama's views are just as criminal as any common gangster, but the show took an unexpected turn when callers came on the air and stated that, despite their disappointment of the results, their disagreement with his policies, though they will protest against those policies, they will grow to love him as the person he is. As the popular Christian adage goes: “Love the sinner; hate the sin”.
If our the level of our sin is a representation of the love we have in our lives, would it not be logical that we need to love these sorts of people more fervently What if it was this brand of Christianity Obama came into contact with. What if, like the desert monks, we would find joy in detachment. If we took the good qualities from St. Vladimir, we would see no obstacle are too great for God. And, if finally, we were more like Ziggy and St. Dismas,and affirm that we have been rightly convicted and repent. Imagine the landscape of our society if we placed ourselves into the correct context: law-breakers in need of savior.
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