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It’s a pretty funny world that we live in.

It turns out that the quintessentially all-American slacker-guy character on those clever FreeCreditReport.com commercials isn’t American at all. He is a French Canadian from Quebec by the name of Eric Violette. Complete with French Canadian accent. The ads were not filmed in a suburban basement in Cleveland or a seafood Restaurant in Omaha. They were filmed in Montreal.

Who’d thunk?

It is, of course, the nature of TV to present the world as allusion, as perception, as the shadow of reality either as we hope it would be or fear it actually might. It is why we love it so much, because it sets us free from the hard truths of the real world, grants us escape both from the boredom and the perils of daily life.

Which is why the TV world is starting to invade the real world. Because we know that it’s much more fun, much more thrilling, much more safe, and much more pleasurable than real life. Given the choice between the life I’m living and the one I’m watching on the TV, I’ll take the TV.

And it’s simpler. Easier.

But not this week.

We call this Holy Week, these all powerful, history-shaping events of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. The Triumphal Entry, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion. Events that are beyond historical, more than real. Days that define us no matter how we obfuscate. The Resurrection. Reality that cannot be contained within the stark boundary of what we know. Or even imagine.

Jesus looks down from the cross and mocks our simulated sufferings, our feigned indignations, our imaginary hardships. Our self-pity rings hollow in the face of his wounds, his blood, his death. The cross calls us harshly and directly back to reality, it calls us to put to death every self-deception, every false nuance, every cleverly misspoken word, every outright lie.

Dr. Luther taught us that a right understanding of the cross requires us to “call the thing what it actually is.” (Heidelberg Disputation) So, this week (at least) let us rather call things what they are.

· The phrase “in the crosshairs” is, in fact, a violent metaphor which has no place in constructive public debate and does not belong on the lips of people who aspire to be leaders in this country or any other.

· “No” for the sake of no is obstructionist, regardless of your convictions.

· Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation, it is a crime with neither excuse nor exemption. It deserves to be treated as such in every circumstance.

· If the cost of reconciliation is land, continuing to build new settlements is not a commitment to peace.

· "Christian" and "militia" are contradictory, not complimentary, terms.

It is the nature of politicians, human beings all, to not mean what they say. It is the failure of a TV addled generation that we accept it. It is why we do not progress as people – if we say nothing, then to do what we say is to do nothing. But thanks be to God for the gift of grace, for now he does what he says. Love is not word or concept, it is an amazing reality, plainly visible on the cross, daily available in the living and resurrected word.

As He practices what he preaches, so let us strive to do the same. Let us call ourselves what we truly are – debtors to his compassion and hopers for the resurrected life.

A good Holy Week and Happy Easter to all.