So this is christmas?

Many years ago john Lennon wrote a song by the same name. In this tune he asked the question "can we have Christmas without any tears"? It was a time of great upheaval. The war in Viet Nam raged on even when the situation did not look good. Young and the old were protesting the involvement. Politicians squabbled about when would it end. People's patriotism questioned causing more divisions within the Nation all lead to this song with the simple question this is Christmas.
Tonight at the beginning of the season of advent a time when all persons should make ready the appearance of the Christ child, we are hearing about more war, violence and destruction. President Obama will make a speech concerning Afghanistan at the mecca of all things military: West Point, New York. In that speech he made the case for increasing the number of soldiers going to this region. It was effective, it was compelling, and it is wrong.
Not because of the war nor the pressure from those who started this madness (under the guise of terrorism which Obama embraces) it is wrong because of the nature of this country: win at all cost. This attitude is what will eventually cripple the efforts of this man of color. War is no friend of any President but especially one that has to clean up after people who will not take the responsibility of their own mess. Waiting until after they leave office and throw boulders and accusations when their watch was filled with half truths and the deaths of many of our young people. This is the climate that a speech widening the war took place.
I am aware and wary of the consequences of September 11, 2001. I have had a son go to do his duty serving a country that still (in spite of the gains and election of Obama) has issues with persons of color and in my opinion has acted disgracefully toward veterans. This seems to be an ongoing misadventure but this is another blog for another day.

However we are speaking as an Empire protecting turf! Commentators as Beck, Hannity, and the fomenting Bill O'Rielly, to a person took Obama to task. His sin: not being Patton enough, imagine that; not forceful enough. It has been said before the United States is at a crossroad: either refocus issues or become the latest victim in a long string of Empires to fall. The issues are not the wars, leadership, the deals we must do in the geopolitical calculus of diplomacy. It is to find ways to climb out from the economic madness we find ourselves in. Unlike WWII when we had men under arms on two fronts, a workforce that literally overwhelmed the world, we are barely able to manufacture items on a competitive nature. The auto industry is over in this Nation the million persons employed will never be again. Now the work force is faster more driven and tech savvy. And we as people are not moving quickly enough to meet the challenges of a new world.
The obsession with wars at the expense of re tooling plants, in the effort to stop them here before they come; or, to make the world safe for democracy, when the opposite is true for Citizens should give us pause. Terrorism is not an issue. It is an event stemming from conflicts where the United States went with interest rather than fair play. Now in this era of advent we are seeing the American century coming to a close: the giant that was this country is teetering on the brink of collapse due to a lack of foresight, and honesty. To change means to reverse course and admit wrongs and say we are sorry. In the church we call it simply repentance the ability to not be over come by evil but overcome evil with good.
Let's hope we have Christmas without anymore tears.

When giving is not enough

This an odd title for a blog especially at the time of year. The time of giving, the time of concerns, when we look to the poor among us. When we a s a society express kindness to the "least of these". From now until the end of the year (or the end of the shopping season) media of all kinds will inundate our lives, with pleas, to matching funds, and to our sense of right and wrong to give. We will be reminded with subtle films as "It is a wonderful life" and The Christmas story and be glad that we have avoided Scrooge stinginess and dislike of the day (more on this in another blog) and feel the "joy" of his religious awakening!! We will smile at the Tint Tim assertion of "God bless us everyone" and the holidays will end until next year when the process starts again.

But is giving enough? Is the coin we give enough to relieve the misery felt by way to many persons especially now. Is giving enough when the emotional baggage weighing down the populace, suffering on the lack of health insurance, shelter, and employment? Is there the tendency to feel guilty at the thought that our giving is really not enough.

I ask this question because the truth is: as a nation of people we can not give anymore. It is not there. It is not working and the old methods of dealing with poverty have long sense evaporated. What all of us face is the fear (real or imagined) we are in the same boat. Everyone in the country is crash away from poverty. Yes even those who print the money!!!
Yet we give at this time of year. Maybe it is the panacea needed to comfort all of us: that we are contributors still, not takers. The ability to give still fills us with joy even in the midst of the poverty we are encased with. Later

Fourteen months

The time does not seem long, fourteen months and counting. It seems small until you do the math: fourteen months equals 420 days, 10,080 hours; when you do the math the weight of the time becomes evident. Again, it seems long and it is because it depends how you spend fourteen months. In jail, it is long, in the hospital, it is long as a free person it is just another day to occupy.
I can remember the first fourteen months. It was a different time long ago. The future was ahead the times of togetherness even in their difficulty were okay. Life as time moving was constant: the family dynamic grew challenges were dealt with, changes accepted as though it would change. It was magic! The interface of blending personalities dominated all of us those fourteen months. There were the firsts: thanksgiving a gathering of people and the roll eating contest, Christmas spent in the political balance of Grandparents that needed to do for the little ones. The glee on their faces as they tore into the Santa Clause experience and wondered out loud why the cookies were not touched. Then smell of that spruce tree a staple for the house for years to come (until we got the cat). New years day a beginning of another experience that marks the freshness of anticipation and ushers out completeness. A blessing to live to see and to have that opportunity to do better than the last year.
Life does continue it has and will no matter what the issues faced or the problems experienced. We grow, we age, we overcome, and, we fail; for life and living take all we have: it inhales and expands. And in time we run out of life, new days and years, and death snatches our security leaving a whole where we once stood,filled with the replacement and the cycle continues.
Fourteen months the bloom is off the rose the color has faded, and staleness is the brittle result. Fourteen months of the 264 total months of living, struggling, laughing, weeping, mending, and separating. Recovering from injury yet still here by grace undeserved.
I wonder in reflection and rethinking about this time. the truth is the months will continue to grow. Today is fourteen the future will be in years, then decades then no more time. The chasm that started as a tear in the fabric has breached the original cloth, no patch may mend it. There are no words to say or write as communication a stronghold between two has silenced, ceasing from renewal. All that is left is the farewell through intermediaries, the dung heap of all failures to grow.
One would think that the last fourteen would be canceled by the first fourteen, creation a product of one, the way it began. No such luck and no desire to try...fourteen months and counting, the end for a new start, freedom calls and we answer.

Losing the message

I have observed for the last months the Obama Administration losing the message of change. It is hard to believe that it has been a year since election day and almost a year into the term and the message of change has been lost. No longer do we see the rallying cry of change we can believe in. No longer does the president enjoy the comfort of settling in. In fact the polls see him slipping among those white independents he "needs" to scare the conservatives into action. Any momentum he had, capitol he amassed, is going south and quickly. How did this take place?
It is cynical to assert that the race issue has arisen, but let's be honest and fair: it was never that far away! In the back of the minds of MANY whites in this country the vote was still a lesser of two evils: one a man of color, the other just a man with a horrible running mate; who constantly proves she is so unqualified on a daily basis. Again, it should be a no brainer, this Nation so conceived in all good things is in trouble and we should have turned to another choice: change. But what happened? Are the issues too difficult to fix? Has the "American" century come to a close? Is this empire a paper tiger losing face as well as influence? According to polls yes, but is this the real story? I said earlier that the fear of a black man in charge drives the majority culture to unsettling positions: to whit, tea baggers, birthers, a new minuteman posse, and all of the old orders that slink around in the dark. The surge in America first is growing. The fear of a literal Black Planet has caused outbreaks of madness never seen. All last summer the ground work was laid for this moment: the arguments with Congressional leaders, the rallies of protest in Washington D.C. (yes the crowds were small but that is not the point, they came), culminating in the outburst of Representative Joe Wilson: "you lie" with no one protesting other than black folks.
This why I assert that the message of change has been lost. There has been an orchestrated, timely set of events to thwart the program and it is working. More and more the divide is gaining steam and the us versus them mentality is taking over. Health care, an issue that should be easy, is now in desperate trouble, and not from lobbyists. The trials of the terrorists of 9-11 in New york, a place that should hold these men accountable, is being assailed as a painful reminder of what happened. Again the message is lost due to these protracted issues that have nothing to do with the problem: getting the country back on track. My concern is that the longer a fight over messages goes on, the more Obama loses the argument. And this is disheartening, not because he is black, but because he has come into office with all the mess created by a predecessor who received a pass. So my prayer is that Obama's advisors right the ship lest it sink under the weight of indifference, which unfortuately will be a win for their side. Later

The aftermath of 2012

Tell me something: (okay it is rhetorical, I get it) why is it we spend more time following up after these apocalyptic films than parsing out their realities? It seems that persons are more interested in being frightened by this genre of film than looking at the History Channel and getting the real story from people that know a little something about this. This movie 2012 has to do with Mayan culture and the mythology of their view of end times. They have figured out when the world will come to an end using their system of astronomy (a postulation) . This is nothing new!! Humankind has tried for years to get an idea, a glimpse , a hint as to when this will occur. Theologians of every movement from Paul's letters to the Philippians, to the Mayans and the Millerites, now the Seventh Day Adventists; as well as others have wrestled with these issues.

Human nature as it is likes viewing the unknown. From the time we saw the horizon, civilization has asked the question "what is out there?" And at times we have gone to see, with great results, with failures, and with marginal success. The point is curiosity kills us and we like it. Wanderlust, exploration, all lead in time to a question: how does this all end? But the issue I have is that we always ask this question during times of crises. As an example many years ago there was a movie called "Birth of a Nation." It was not like 2012 or the Planet of the Apes trilogy, that spoke of the end of the world as humanity knew it. (I can still hear the vitriol in Heston's line, "get your dirty hands of me you ape" and in another blog I will deal with that loaded comment.) In some circles it would not be classified as "apocalyptic," yet it was. It depicted the antebellum South, the loss of pride, station, respect, nationhood; and how in the midst of carpet baggers and free blacks: the south rose again. Historically, no less a person than President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that this was "lightening in a bottle." Such is the nature of these films: they are lightening in a bottle, they are made to inflame passions, make us ponder the end of the world, or usher in an agenda which swings the pendulum back toward the center, or the right. It is against the backdrop of this agenda that films like 2012 are made. The premise is simple: the world is ending. Earthquakes, storms, disasters all take place around the world. Catastrophic events of cataclysmic proportion are wrecking the planet. The government is not to be trusted--it is literally everyone for themselves. The movie has many interpretations and warnings from environmental concerns, to nuclear usage, to biblical admonishments (I am laughing as I write this phrase and only a preacher would find it funny); however, the bottom line is we are in crisis mode. For the first time since the Depression, people are wondering if the end is in sight. Is this the end of the world as we know it? Is the way of life, philosophy and culture we enjoy ending? Do we face a debacle where the very foundation of all we hold dear must vanish? In the language of the new testament : We do not know. There is much more depth and madness the world must endure before the end. All we can do is to be rational and reserved and not take the pictures so seriously: the sky is polluted and dangerously so, but, it is not falling...yet

On a clear day

The day begins as others do, the dawn interrupts sleep. I often wonder especially when we have days that are cloudy why I can not just sleep in. Then the thought comes that I have a gift which must be used and made the best of. These are the days that are cloudy for me. I feel robbed at times. the overwhelming issues that are in my life, the great expectations, the cajoling, the oft times rudeness and rejection all affect the clearness of the time that I have been given. It is like this commercial where a child is offered a bike as long as they ride it in the square. The bike is cool but there is no real fun as the square is a prohibitive factor in the ultimate enjoyment. When the day is not clear for me it reminds me of subtle limitations and a need to refute or fight them. Then in times of despair the grind is so debilitating that the weight of institutional foolishness defeats the clarity needed to make decisions relegating me to an existence that makes me want to holler. And I can not throw up both my hands, even if I wanted to, needed to, should do, the reality is I can not do. It is the most miserable experience one can have to not quit because you can not. For quitting is the tonic of despair and once imbibed the taste never leaves. There will always be the bitter root of if I held out a week, day hour, or minute what would the end be. No it is in the cloudy day that clarity comes. Not because of any ante dote, clever saying, musing or encouragement. In this time of seeing beyond self we enter into the place of darkness, the final testing ground, where the result is pass fail. The only answer you have is stand or fall. The only relief is to make it through or succumb. To avail yourself of what you know to be true or to surrender to the mob, the conformity of others at the expense of who you are.
That is why when there are clear days I take in the moment. When the issues are so easy that solving them is stressless. That everyone agrees is a rare happening. I hang on to those moments for dear life, because at the next breath the winds change as they do, leaving you in the wake of excretions so deep and foul that it is only the sweet memory of bygone bliss that ensures there will be rescue.

Ordination

Every once and a while we are reminded on why we do what we do, and whose we really are. Today is ordination day. A day that we honor and launch persons to this peculiar calling called ministry. It is a grand time. It is an occasion that those who have gone before remember, and I mean remember. On that day everything slows down. In fact it drags out: all that takes place is hyper drive to others but not you. The songs, scriptures, even the sermon is slow until the actual act; then it hits you like a ton of bricks: you are ordained. The wave of emotion is not to be believed. It lowers itself as the spirit does leaving the residue of its covering that is amazing. You are ordained! The pinnacle of your ministry only it is fleeting. Long after the tears (and there are a lot of them) long after the congratulations, then you re left with the notion of what to do next. Because the Bishop has a surprise a church appointment with your name on it. Yes your name the weight of responsibility is now exponential: you have souls to deal with, lives that depend on you. No amount of training can prepare you. Prayers might sustain you but after ordination you are on your own, and God is good company.
I remember mine vividly. I smiled to myself as I went down memory lane, an event of almost 15 years ago. Then as i watched the ordinands, my eyes became wet with happiness and memory. The memory of the past and the potential before me, the struggle of this life and the casualties endured, the losses some small and unimportant; others too painful. Yet through it all I have learned that in all things God has called me and as I write this tears flow on the inside,as a public display would be to revealing to others.
So, the time to see where I am going approaches and I am full of expectation. Not that i want the largest but I want the challenge of a community, something that I have missed for 2 years. During these years I remember a picture seen long ago when life was pain free and the future was a figment of the imagination (what do we know at 20 anything????????!!!!!!!!!). It was called Monsignor. The scene at the end of the movie shows a reunification of the mentor now Pope and his mentoree returned to his office as Cardinal. When the two meet the Mentor reaches out his hand to allow the young priest to kiss his ring: a sign of respect for the office. In the beginning he shakes his hand (he is after all an American). But as the scene closes, he kisses the ring of the mentor. The Pope/mentor says you have changed, both of have. He inquires how isolation was for him: his pupil replies at first bitter, for blamed others for my failure (see the picture) a common theme that all of us have at sometime. Then it became ubearable, the easier, then acceptable, as I began to forgive myself. The Pope then says i need you, come back as soon as your affairs are in order. The Cardinal replies: I have done that already.
Like the cardinal I have experienced the bitterness of failure and blamed others, when it mine. And, during exile (that is the country) I held on to bitterness, and took it out on others (this is really painful, for those that know me). I have lost more than I care to loose but it was freedom for the good, and acceptance has allowed me to weep tears of healing. No matter what I am okay ready to go forth again into the vineyard flawed, but able too see clearly. This ordination day reminded me of what we really do, and I am grateful and have settled all my affairs.

It has been a long time

Have you ever missed something so much it makes you crazy or unstable? If you have then you know how I have felt since September12, 2009. That is how long I have had to wait to go to another conference. Another conference with out the funding from the local church as they are angry with authority. Cut off from any meaningful worship. Unable to give Communion the highlight of a Pastor's month, to say this has been an easy time belies the true emotion.

Now those reading this will say all things will pass, that you are burdened with more than you can bear, and that God will make away. The short answer is all of it is true. Those called to the high calling know that the race is given not to those who are strong or swift, but to those who endure to the end. Again true, but fir once i wish those who have had an easy time would be still, or better yet trod the gravel of life, experience or privation then return to those who have; then we can compare notes on the subject. This is not a "bitterness" rant, it is for lack of a better phrase an essay on how things happen in life. When we were younger never did our generation believe or think we would encounter such times as now. We graduated from school, went to work (at prearranged jobs via family members) or the University and in four years started a life work. It is ironic that we are not as credit worthy, or savvy as our parents. We as a generation have no money: there is plenty of credit but on the whole no money. The IRS (individual retirement accounts) are worthless and other securities were tied to such convoluted investment schemes (fraud) they are not worth the paper they are printed on. And we are struggling to make sense of how it all went bad.
So here we are putting the pieces of lives together, raising children grandchildren, with no job or security. To young to retire and too old to start again we preserver holding on for dear life. later

A change of pace

Every once and a while I like to do something different. So today I will not write in the conventional way. Nor will I take up alot of space. Today i will place a verse on the blog to laugh at myself. Hope that you like it and will see the humor as well as the concerns about relationship expectation. There will be a future blog on this called "All men are males but not all males are men". Later

I cannot compete
Many years ago I had a conversation with a woman concerning life’s consternations. At the time she lamented about her interpersonal relations. Saying to me that men said she did not meet expectations!
When inquired as to why their eyes took on a gleam. That is when she replied I cannot compete with whipped cream.
To my tender ears this was quite a revelation, but, since I was twenty something there was no hesitation. I asked her to continue she did getting madder by the thought, she lamented that she was a victim of a judgmental lot.
Her voice with fiery virturpretation raising a she spake, raking her competition for their lack of morals, their ignorance of being chaste.
Then in a whirlwind of words she turned men into males not have a compass of dignity succumbing to charms unveiled. Again she wailed and to me it sounded like a scream< I simply cannot compete with whipping cream.
Now as I look back on that conversation a victim of the times middle age where I am stationed I am in that position she was so long ago, now alone, divorced and all the children grown.
Seeking a new partner is extremely hard, the search for compatibility evades and a perplexity is in charge. Then in a flash a memory reminds me of that conversation had when naivety ruled my mind and there were no complications.
Now I stand the tables turned my story is not heard. I am the one who stands alone no sympathetic hearers. Now the expectations are assigned to me. I am the come rounder no easy way for me. In times of reflection the pain is real I understand; her anger at the thought of no one to hold her hand.
Turnabout is fair game the sauce good for the gander. The meaning comes to me I laugh at the fool I be, because like those before I cannot seem to compete with whipped cream.

Another crazy unleashed

Pastor Anderson preached a sermon to end all sermons. The upstart is that he wants to see the president dead. He quotes as a reference psalm 58 which is psalm of revenge. It is a scripture of violence for the wrong being done. David calls on God to punish those who are after him. Those who lie, deceive, plot and seek his life. This is an attitude that is part of the imprecatory psalms of the Bible. These writings are the lamentations of a person or people that find themselves in bondage or suffrage. They are integral to letting off steam and communicating to God hurts at the hands of those who are their adversaries.
The issue with this Pastor is not that he does not understand scripture (although you can with success argue this point of view) but the vitriol which spews forth masquerading as a sermon. As clergy our job is tell a congregation what the Lord says. To uplift downcast heads, sooth broken spirits, and to give comfort to those who are mourning. It is not however to demand the death of persons because you do not agree with them. The point with this pastor is the after effect he has on believers. I am sure that the secret service knows this church and its leadership. I am sure that the necessary precautions are taken on a daily basis. However after hearing (Iwill put the link in) this one has to wonder about the sanity of such a person claiming to be a person of God. Check this out and draw your own conclusions. They do have email so follow my example and write, not to condemn but to express your concerns. Later

Pastor Steven Anderson prays for Obama's death from ABC News TEMPE , Az. -- The United States Secret Service is speaking out about an East Valley pastor who is praying for President Barack Obama's death. Spokesperson Darrin Blackford said Monday, "We are aware of Pastor Anderson's comments and an appropriate follow up will be conducted." Parishioners leaving the Faithful Word Baptist Church Sunday carried not just their Bibles, but guns as well. Pastor Steven Anderson said he and his congregation have received death threats after a controversial sermon earlier this month."Guns are a great deterrent," said Anderson. "We haven't had any violence because people know if they come down here swinging a baseball bat, we're ready to protect ourselves." On August 16th, Anderson delivered a sermon titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama.."In it, Anderson admitted he prays for the president's death.It is a position he reiterated Sunday. "If you want to know how I'd like to see Obama die, I'd like him to die of natural causes," said Anderson . "I don't want him to be a martyr, we don't need another holiday. I'd like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer." The sermon so incensed Bill Demski he traveled from his home in Glen dale to picket Anderson 's 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning service in Tempe ."A man of the cloth wants to kill the president, how sick can you get," asked Demski. Yet members of the Faithful Word Baptist Church defended their pastor's opinion of the president. "If (Obama) thinks the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are obsolete, it would be better if (Obama) wasn't here," said parishioner Renee Houlihan. But Anderson said despite the threats, he has no plans to change his message."I'm not going to back down, I wouldn't be worth my salt as a preacher if I let popularity determine what I preach," said Anderson . To listen to Anderson 's sermon "Why I Hate Barack Obama," click here. One protester who didn't want to give his name was walking around with a rifle – in full view. One of the parishioners who attended Sunday night services at the Faithful Word Baptist Church was Christopher Broughton. "I actually moved to the area because this church was preaching the message I believe in," said Broughton. Broughton had an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle outside President Barack Obama's speech to the VFW at the Phoenix Convention Center earlier this month. The night before the speech, on August 16th, Broughton listened to Anderson 's "Why I hate Barack Obama" sermon. "I concur, I think we'd be better off if God would send (Obama) where he's going now instead of later," said Broughton. "(Obama) is destroying our country." When asked if he was advocating violence against the President, Broughton said he wouldn't answer the question directly. "I don't care how God does it, I'm not going into further detail than that," said Broughton. "It would be better now than later."
Susan R. Thorpe
Executive Assistant
Bromley-Heath TMC
30 Bickford St
Jamaica Plain MA 02130
617-445-8515- office
617-445-0329 - fax
Each day is a reflection of your past and
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Live Wisely

One year later

Tomorrow is the anniversary of being single one year. To most it would be another day, to others, a time of rejoicing, but for me this day will be one of extreme sadness but resignation. Why I hear some of you ask? Who cares others dictate? You are both right, it really is not an issue. The reason I am writing about it is therapy. The last gasp of a marriage that has gone south. The incredible end of a journey that had ups and downs, failures and successes, good times and bad. It is the final time I will allow myself s moment of self indulgence: the pity party syndrome: the need to exercise my spleen and discard the bile in my liver. So I take the time to say a few words of departure. The fact is I was married for 24 years, almost to the silver. However it should have ended at 17, pride will make you do and say a lot of foolish things to evade the truth. Truth the final obstacle to understanding that the end is past and that you need to get on with living. Yet facing the truth is often a barrier, a fence which is so carefully constructed that when it is over, really over, instead of standing on truth from both points of view (we all have truth) the tendency (in my case) was to use slogans transcending into overcome, adapt and adjust. I have since found that people do not choose to do that and that is okay. This realization does not diminish others but makes the playing field even, which in case we forget is what marriage is all about: evenness. The lack of understanding this point and the insistence that all issues can be solved by brute personality has lead to a separation and the divorce as the only option. My greatest sin in this union was my devaluation of another not in a mean sense, but in a climate of ignorance: in other words I did not have a clue as to what I was doing. Had I a clue I would have understood their cry to be let go. Live and learn. so now it is the task of starting over. I know they are alright they were this way when I met them. My hope for others is that you learn to listen: not react, not over compensate, or other defense mechanisms, traits or methodologies,they are so useless. Now to the real question: would you revisit the issue...NO, they are happy and that is my greatest joy!!!! So on this day (tomorrow it is official) I rejoice in freedom only to try again, a decision made with eyes open and heart also. Later

Do we need a Limbaugh

NBC had an interview with Rush Limbaugh last week. I did not see most of it as the fact they give air time to this individual is a blemish for the communicative ability of television. But on further review, I can see why he was interviewed. There is no doubt that he is entertaining ENTERTAINING a fact that is missed by most listeners. There is really no basis in fact for the foolishness he extols on the radio. He himself admits the bombastic nature of his work, yet millions tune into listen to this propaganda. His arrogance is so vast that he openly bragged about having the muscle to charge more money in his markets for advertising space on the stations he is broadcast on. This is not the point I am glad that he has the ability to fool persons into outrageous expenditures, wish it were me. However the point isn't with this finance comes the ability to control agendas, like buying a football team.
Last week Limbaugh was part of a consortium bidding on the Saint Louis Rams (Los Angeles Rams for those of you who would remember). As expected there was a cry of negativity that one would think the old time racist had come back from the dead to cause mayhem. Reverend Sharp ton, Jesse Jackson and others spoke of the need to keep a Limbaugh from the owners box. And as of this writing they have done so. Limbaugh was dropped from the group who might have a chance that they did not have with Limbaugh.
In the grand scheme of things this is not important to the good of the NFL who constantly exploits those who play, coach, manage or referee. What is interesting is that there is such an outcry especially from persons who believe as Limbaugh does. Remember these owners are not that liberal if they were then they would fight the Commissioner on policies such as dog fighting (do not get twisted I am not pro this barbaric conflict) as this is a past time of the rural south for many years. The reason I bring up this sad tale is that Michael Vick took the weight for a lot of people sins that still participate in dog fights.
Which is why we need Limbaugh. For all the bluster and attacks, persons have endured this is a man that really makes no difference in the country. He has a following of knuckle draggers who have issues. There are those who have sense: to exploit the aforementioned group of persons that believe that all we need to do is get rid of Obama and the "liberals" and all will be well. The issue for me is that I like Limbaugh!!! With all his stuff, loudness rudeness, and scare tactics, I like him. Because he reminds me of how far we have come but we still have far to go to rid ourselves our country and our Nationall. Later

The whole world' watching

Every time the detractors of Obama raise their collective heads, stymie a program do the wrong thing by lies, misstatements, and politics as usual God steps in and a Daniel appears. This week it was the Nobel Committee as the awarded the Peace prize to President Barack Obama. This a monumental achievement for this man of extra ordinary ability and a salvo against those of the NO party. It further separates Obama from the mundane and pedestrian thought and restores valuable capitol as world events unfold. His selection is a catalyst for the change that must take place if we as a world are to make sense of issues. Global warming is real and to face this brings peace and understanding to an argument beset by buffoons and the quasi intelligent. The wars of Iraq and Afghanistan must end. There was not one justification for loss of life American or other. The ruse of 9-11 and the triumphed up "terrorist" that flew planes into the World Trade Center building causing the invasion of Iraq has been discredited. It has raised the ugliness of rendition, kidnapping "enemy combatants" and using torture to illicit information is an abomination for the honor of the United States. The committee is not in my opinion interfering with policy (we have generals for this madness) but is speaking to a larger point: the effectiveness of a President to influence world opinion and reaction for the greater good.

This was the message for the world from the Nobel prize committee. That Obama's ability to rally all persons of the world for the activity of peace is needed at this time. In fact to be church like he was elevated for a time such as this. One would think that such an honor is a unifier but for some not so.

The usual suspects of anti intellectualism, racism, chauvinism and xenophobia all harmonized with their rising cacophony, a symphony of why him??? It is revealing to all the world the abject foolishness of these voices that disengage rather than embrace. From Glen Beck's blather (his arrogance will tell him to accept) William Kristol" screed "what has he done"?, and finally the septic tank of sewage Rush Limbaugh whose pejorative "agreeing with the Taliban"says more about their hate than their patriotism. In short when those a for mentioned do something other than vomit turgid phrases intended to inflame the passions of lunatics ammeeting of minds and concerns might happen.

Which is the point of the action by the Committee: the decision so early in the presidency of Obama might be the jump start for the world to stop and hear voices saying why? The world and its need for nuclear weapons is insane. The need by Iran and other "rogue nations" to arm themselves is disaster waiting to take place. We chastise the North Koreans, the Iranians, and others for wanting a bomb. We shudder at the fact that there are those who can create a dirty bomb a minor device that will poison cities for years to come. There are position papers that look at the possibilities of an exchange of weaponry, and, the aftermath is not acceptable, either in life or property damage. The fear of those in the world is real and might be the reason Obama was chosen to lay a foundation that addresses the problem with a new attitude a new diplomacy and a new resolve.

The world is watching what we do. It is not about the rise in troop levels in Afghanistan, nor is it the machinations of petty tyrants, or the bellicosity of Nations or the spittle of the lunatic right (and left but with moderation): rather it is the historical fact that one nation has used the bomb on another, and that atonement must be made, and who better, than a man of color whose history, parentage and gifts are suited to lead all in a new era of disarmament. Later

Education mess

I wonder if we as parents, grand parents or just concerned citizens understand why we can not do school right. This is not about education, or teachers, or even books. Enough has been written already. We know that there are budget issues. Some of these are the result of poor planning, others from poor administrators, and still others by Neanderthal parents or posers that interfere with the school system. No today i want to rail about the lack of decency and the regression of then most basic of items in short supply: toilet paper. What I hear you say??? That is correct: toilet paper. I saw on the news this morning that the schools were telling persons that their children need to bring this item with them. How does this happen? What is the rational for those who do budget for the year. What has become of the process when the most basic items for the management of the school go lacking or ignored? It is bad enough that in some districts there are not enough text books,or their is a shortage of qualified teachers, or even the closing of some schools because of repair, population or tax shortfalls. But to suggest that students bring their own toilette tissue is past sad it is tragic. What are we doing that this has become an issue? Have we as a parents become so fixated on the minor issues of religion, creationism, evolution, and please do not forget the cult of personality (Obama) that we have allowed this situation? Or have we lost sight of the process of allocations which allow the building of schools at the expense of basic needs? Maybe we should stop worrying about curriculum and tend to the business of provisioning the school. The additional burden of sending personal items to school with the children only adds to the frustration of parents and shows a lack of empathy for young people.

A new beginning

Every once and a while we need to try new things, go new places or just relocate in the same city. Either way the old saying is true, all work no play makes all of us stale. A new thing sometimes can be the the start of a fresh relationship. The stress of the same routine can drain all of our energy. When we hold on to relationships that are dead, jobs which have ceilings made of concrete or it is just time to move forward. The trouble is we do not. The pain maybe etched on our face, the lines heavy on our brow, tempers that we could control get out there any host of issues and we refuse to recognise that we need a change.

Why is that? After all change is a good thing is it not? To seek out new horizons is the stuff of growth. The human family is made up of explorers, driven by the knowledge of wanting to know. The human condition demands we seek out newness no matter what the cost, and leave behind the known even at the risk of life. This wanderlust exist in all of us and at times we must exercise it or de-evolve.
A new beginning starts with the admission that we are in a rut. That we have gone as far as we can in the current condition we find ourselves. Vacations, weekend travel is inadequate. We must go. The early explorers understood this, the pioneers felt this the need for the elbow room to rise and fall. And the reward was a new country previously unknown, an expansion into new lands, with new exposures and the satisfaction of achievement. A new beginning breeds fortune and fortune always favors the brave. later

We are missingthe point

The people of this country never fail to amaze me. For the past few days the media, opponents (political and racial) have bemoaned and bewailed Obama's trip to Copenhagen, to lobby for the 2016 Olympics for the city of Chicago. The hue and cry stems from the fact that he will be gone for 16 (that is right) hours to try to convince the committee to send the games to the United States, the State of Illinois, and Chicago!!! My gracious one would think that he went to stay like Bush lite did for FOUR DAYS to ogle and cheer as a teenager might do. The question for everyone is so what. It is the job of the President to lobby for the states no matter whose state is might be. Would some of these detractors raise the roof if he went to one of their states? I doubt it. However, there is a concern that i have that he is not paying attention to. The growing need of some citizens to carry weapons as ornaments everywhere they go. Of greater importance than the health care crisis or the wars on two fronts, or even the growing economic issues is the fact that the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about carrying fire arms in public. This madness. With all of the concerns that people have, and they are real. Why would the court entertain this knowing that their decision will cause mayhem in some places? This need to have weapons because the constitution allows it must in my opinion be tempered with the times that we live in. There are serious consequences on the rise if we do not deal with this issue and do it quickly. We as a country will suffer if we allow "cowboy" antic to surface. There is way too much violence and given the way we are situated the tendency will be to shoot first, with no questions asked on either side. This is not a Pollyanna idea. The job m,market is bleak, the numbers go up daily. All of us are two to three weeks form no job, no benefits, no unemployment, and homelessness. These are stressors that can take a toll, and in a lot of cases it already has. I shudder to think about this generation that has not come of age, the loss of home, stability and permanence will affect them in an adverse way. And we will not know the result for years. So we must be vigilant and prayerful that the court will not indulge in the fantasy of the old west and the right to bear arms. This society can not afford this. Later

Letting go

The story of the "Prodigal"son or daughter is one of the best stories in the new testament. It involves the letting go of children as they rebel or want to be free of the training, wisdom, or love parents have. It is a coming of age story that all of us go through although we may not understand it as such. The story is simple: son asks for inheritance, father gives the inheritance, son leaves, goes broke; comes back home and the father is excited for it. That sums it up in the nutshell. There are many interpretations of this story and the point of this writing is not theological but personal. I have been in a struggle of letting go as a parent. For years I have tried to the best of my ability and sense to raise two children in the age of madness. They are basically good persons. My daughter (both by adoption) has a wonderful personality, my son a loner. Both did reasonably well in school and due to the economy have been sporadic in working.


The point is when does parenting stop? How do we let go especially when we see our children going down the path of hurt and danger. Jesus said that we would never give our children any thing dangerous nor forsake them, but in the larger sense what do we do?? This is difficult for me. I have strive to be there understand and in cases help bind up wounds. However, it seems to fall on closed ears. The behavior is unsteady bordering on disrespect. The willfulness is unstable and debilitates all young people. And explanations pale in comparison.

However a suggestion was offered to me by a person I met in Starbucks. His suggestion to the issues facing young people revolved around video games. The matter was interesting: that decisions made by the young are more complicated than we know. Their comprehension of time is real or on going.That when we confront the process used to solve problems they are actuall in real or ongoing time. This is not how we think. Few of us are answering the question: what are we doing ...NOW, or looking at you tube or have the slightest idea of going viral. They do. And we are loosing the influence we need to shape them because of our lack of attention. I know this personally. And although I have a relationship with my adult children, it is not as it should be. The rerasons are difficult to speak on, but suffice it to say that all parents have a falling out before a falling in. My hope is that the fall out is temporarty and repairable before it is too late. Later

Then never ending journey

Blogging is about you. The you that is on a search for the answers that may never come. Time is spent in criticism, seeking, finding and loosing; such is the life story. Problem is while we are looking for the solutions to the issues of our lives, we encounter other problems that disengage our minds. Thus we never seem to find peace until maturity flows into us or we die: both seem to come at the same time! While it sounds oppositional it is sometimes true.
I call life a never ending journey because while we live there is always an opportunity to learn, absorb, and for the most part engage in this life. This is the true gift God gives humanity: the reason to see life from a whole lot of vantage points, react and then participate in the effort. What I find fascinating is the lack of this motif in our world today. No longer do we as a society encourage our young people to do things: play hard, loose, win, be taught life lessons. What scares me is the great amount of "failure to launch" persons now. In weekly magazines, news articles, and talk radio all we hear is how young people are still living at home within their families: after graduation form college! True the job markets are difficult but they have been for all generations. There will never be enough work or company towns ask the city of Detroit, Motown USA a once thriving city built on the backs of cars no longer.
Why this happens is for a number of reasons: changes in the work place, competition, designs just to name a few, but when we as a society refuse to change we stagnate and die. We go the way of other civilizations and replaced by those coming. This should not be inevitable. The country this important to the advancement of humanity, although flawed has to make a lasting impact. Not as fore runners best remembered because of their brutality or seeming contributions masked by the under belly of violence (Rome, Greece, Europe in the early period). The contribution is made in spite of the beginnings our ideas and ideals make us better: not the might of weapons the power politics we at times let loose. Our moral fiber induces others to follow and to question our behavior leading to a stronger society that is a beacon not a flickering lamp extinguishing due to lack of attention. This is a journey that never ends, the quest needed the unreachable star that calls us to a higher plateau, only to show us a new challenge a new road and the chance to say it was worth the trip. Later

Is change really believable?

I wonder as we go through this year if change is going to happen. There are so many road blocks preventing bills being passed it would be kinder if Obama would use the executive order to make the change possible. trouble is that another order from a different personality would over turn the effort even id it worked. The reason: it would not be right to enforce a law like this as when a new person takes over they can reverse the order with one of their own. No my hope is that the legislation will pass and that all Americans will have access to health care in the near future.

Which begs the question: why all the fuss. Health care providers are not against it, big pharmacology is hesitant, but change to cooperation's takes time. Even insurance companies that disagree with parts of it can adjust. Is it so difficult to manage? Is the real issue the "government run program argument"? Is it race the disease that brings comfort to both the extreme right and left? The answer could be none of the above. If so then what is it?

I believe the issue is fear. Blind fear that the problems in our nation are so large and have been ignored for so long, the effort to try to stem the tide is too great for the current government to handle. This appears to be so because of the vitriol you see on television. As an example, the exchange between Senator Kyle and the Chair of the Finance Committee Max Bacus. In an exchange reminiscent of High schools arguing on the playground,m there was the I need to say one more thing noise. The fact is that the same argument was made several times on the floor of the Senate. How many times does one make the same point without becoming a caricature?

This is the trend used by opponents that have no argument other than the government getting in the way. For once I wish they would honor the theme of country first rather than party, influence or dogma. People are still dying without help, still losing their insurance and most tragic, the children are becoming victims of a fiddle while Rome burns attitude. Later

Can one be too Concerned?

The question for the day is one that has puzzled me since I have been grown. I ask myself when are we too concerned for our own good? I write this in the plural because there have to be others like myself that struggle with this question. All too often people are in trouble, ill, or just down in the dumps, only to have folks come to their aid only to be told no. This is a serious question and I hope those who read will have a comment.



There is a book called 90 minutes to heaven which tells a story about a preacher that was clinically dead for 90 minutes and in that time he went and saw heaven. When he came back to life he had the memories of the visit. People were concerned about him but he was not forth coming as to taking their assistance. Now, in a larger sense apply this attitude to persons you may know. It gets rather ugly. There seems to be a fear that if people get to close one can become attached, and in the lonely hours of the night we reach put and there is nothing there. Okay I get it. I even wrote an essay about the dark nights of the soul.



But people, can we not reach out to others without fear? Has the need for human contact become so passe, discouraging, and tenuous that when inquires are made a brush off is what we can expect??? It seems this way unfortunately is a reality that exist all to often. I hate to say this but it seems that people are so afraid to be open that they shut everyone out.

Let me confess: I have been that way myself saying this does not make me a hypocrite it does mean however, that I understand the process. I do not like it. I understand the reasons, it gets lonely, bad, crazy and difficult when travelling by oneself. Having it all to do. Waking up at all times of the night, or resting but not sleeping (been there done that) and the fact is there is no one to hold, reach out to, cry with or find a degree of comfort. In effect we are alone and we can not stand it, although we put on a happy face, roll with the blows and cope. As a friend of mine ( a very very good friend) would say BS. the mind can only handle putting on a happy face, or singing "smile though your heart is breaking, smile though your heart is aching" for so long. We as persons do and must find the release valve or the coming explosion and catastrophe of our lives will come out. A rescue must happen least we become discouraged. There are some that will argue I can manage thank you, true we can and do, but no person is an island of themselves and it is part of who we are to find others.

I struggle with my demons and they win: this is a fact. But the great thing is faith is the subject of things hoped for even if we are blind to the evidence, or just not focused. In the times when I am the most anxious, tired full of rage, when my coping skill evaporates, or when I fall into a bigoted rant: God always sends a relief station to mute those voices. My prayer is others find the same avenue, and for those who mean a lot to me I am sorry, the past few days have been interesting. Later

Take a deep breath everybody

For the last few days and weeks all we have heard is how the programs presented by Obama's Administration will wreck the country. We have seen the inflated egos, the small numbers of tea baggers, the loons on either side of the political divide act out; and we are no closer to a solution than they were at the beginning of the summer. This is an unwelcome disaster for real persons who are in desperate need of health care. If the statistics are true (have no reason to doubt) then people are dying at the rate of 5 persons per day due to a lack of insurance, people are going bankrupt for the same reason and we all are fiddling like Nero's as the fire burns. I know that it is time for all of us to take a deep breath.

The question that is prevalent is the cost the real cost of doing nothing. We can speak of the future and the staggering cost for following generations. We have heard this song before can anyone say Medicare? The question is what would be the plight of senior had there been no medicare, or Medicaid, or other government programs? How would the standard of living compare then? All these questions should give us pause, to reflect on how so many of the citizenry depends on these programs to live. This is why I say take a deep breath.

Sadly if we continue in this contact sport of politics we are squandering an opportunity to do for the future what those in the 1930's and 1960's did for this generation. The time for bickering is about at an end. No longer can we stave off the inevitable: to do nothing is worse than the disease of fighting! Let us begin the healing process by doing the following things:
1. Dis miss all the lunatic fringes on either side. They add nothing to the conversation except the madness of their position, hatreds, mistrusts, and violence.
2. Make an honest attempt to talk and listen to the objections, soften your positions for the sake of all of us. While I am in favor of the public option and coverage without preconditions (I am a type 2 diabetic and my out of pocket insurance cost for coverage would be $575.00 per month) there has to be a compromise we can initiate.
3. Be members of Congress not politicians. Put party aside, ambition and constituent especially special interest. They will make the money in the long run.

If we keep on this track of self destruction the infrastructure of who we are as a Nation will collapse under the weight of indifference, and the future of those who follow will continue to decline. Later

Glen Beck super star

Time magazine has an interesting cover for next week the person of interest: Glen Beck or as Keith Oberman calls him: Lonesome Dove. The fact that he made the cover is an indication of the madness now running rampart in the country. Dubbed the king of angst (the German word translated anger) he is well know for the screed that is on Fox cable. He is not a journalist but is in the genre of another madman: Rush Limbaugh also noted for pollution on the radio.

Ordinarily I ignore these folks, they have an audience and most of them are part of the great unwashed, the uninformed, untrained, an uneducated. Sounds like an elitist position, you are correct it is. I personally find what these men do to be an abomination: they play on the fears of the above mention, they infiltrate hate groups and in general add nothing to the conversation of solution and dialogue. They are demagogues pure and simple. However their rhetoric has become more inflamed since the election of a person of color to the presidency of the United States of America.

Since Obama's elevation these individuals have become more vitriolic than ever. It is a daily ritual, they accuse without documentation, they inflame without thought, and if they are left unchecked they will usher in a time of trouble between races that might make the 60's look like a love fest, and for those that were alive at that time we know this was not true.

Persons like Beck and Limbaugh are in my opinion not responsible and are dangerous. Not their ideas, they really have none. Not their voice it is mundane, but the real fear comes from who will (not might) act out on their insane talk. I listen with wonder at the quantity of their words it is the stuff of distrust against Obama. He is a socialist, communist, a cultist and he hates white people despite the fact that he is a MULATTO a child of an African and a Caucasian, which means he is 50 % of each one. This has created a chasm in our country.

To be sure there are things we need to flesh out. There are concerns real concerns about the policies that are proposed. Health care is a problem for a lot of reasons. It can not be an easy road to travel trying to solve this impending crises. Yet there are no solutions just accusations.
The war and the threat of terrorism looms large, I was setting on my sofa when the jets rammed the World Trade Center, and I thought it was an optical illusion, until a friend called and asked me if I saw what I saw. Yet rather than offer support with skepticism (which is healthy) what we here is the lack of love for the country based on ethnicity, a bogus and horrendous charge.
To be sure health care is difficult and solving this will take effort and cooperation yet there is no such language from these individuals other than the canard of "socialized medicine" (can anyone say Medicaid and Medicare).

So with all their short comings and rudeness, what keeps them on the air? Simple answer: hate and fear. Hate that resonates from ultra right wing nuts. Those who wear guns carry signs, and talk about succession, those that compare the President as an illegitimate person or an animal. Those who say slogans such as we are loosing or country and we want it back. To these persons and others who are silent for fear they be exposed, make Glen Beck et al. superstars of the fringe that is growing and will not go away. Later

President Carter et al.

Well it seems the controversy will never die, and it should not. Again, a man of great accomplishment has spoken on the third rail of politics: Race. Calling out the attitudes that are rising up in this country. Are we surprised by this? I do not think so. What should concern us is the fact that it took so long to wake up in America. There are those who speak as if there was an acceptance of Obama, case in point Morning Joe. When President Carter spoke about attitudes he grew up with the spin is that it is a hard left thing: their guy is being pilloried and they can not stand it. So...here comes the race card. All those who write, Eugene Robinson, Maureen Dowd ect.. are doing the country a disservice by excoriating whites and racist tendencies, it is not fair; and remember that a lot of whites voted for Obama, again not fair. Really have we missed something in the news? Have we ignored the 24 hour recycling of what is happening now? Are we blind or so chauvinistic we ignore facts as they are. While it is so that the country was and is and will continue to be in an economic slow down, with people seeking for work or retraining, the truth is all of this happened before Obama took office. Yes it is his mess, but be aware and beware it was done on the other watch, but, I do not see persons reminding people that Bush and the ship of fools was at the switch. But in less than a year of first carrying out in place policies then trying to establish his own there has been a back lash by persons on the fringe affecting everything. we know who they are they are the 75,000 ( no the 2 million persons) that marched on 9/12/09 a day after 9/11. It was billed as a time to recapture the pride, patriotism, and cohesiveness in the United States, the out of many one attitude. However was that the message presented or lived out??? For all of the hype it turned into a slug fest of Obama bashing. Political dissent is as American as apple pie. The commentators correctly admonish all of us that we have not been kind to politicians. Granted and true: let remember Jimmy Carter was and has been vilified since 1980 because of a policy he carried out. But his words have weight he knows the attitudes of southern leaning persons. He is from the south and quit frankly knows racist attitudes when he hears them. In fact so do we. All of us should be ashamed for the actions of a few. The cacophony is so dissonance that all is heard are those who are ugly: let me be clear, there is reason to be concerned about the amount of money this will cost. And there are well meaning politicians expressing concern as to the future. We as people of the United States must be aware that our national security is at stake: we borrow too much money from Asia, Europe and the Saudis, countries that have interests also. To be sure it is a mess and we are not supporting the Administration like we should. Instead we hear voices of fools masquerading as the wise, maintaining (in the interest of entertainment) personality cults, brain washing and the misuse of children. Get a grip. The country is in trouble and you who live in the pseudo world of angst (ANGER) MUST DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Unless we heed the words of those who know we are doomed to repeat the failed policy of the past by marrying our future to it. President Carter has devoted a life to humanity, is in demand to be on the world stage among nations and is worthy of our respect, not condemnation. If only those who have gone no where could find a path we might have debate instead of the racket form immature persons. later

The Joe wilson outburst

I am back from conference and it was a great time for all. I have been given a temporary appointment for the church and I am awaiting my permanent post. So it has been at least a week since i have written any comments. Here goes.

I begin this blog with a question: Why is it that when white people make acerbic comments and they are called to account, they waver, apologise and become defiant? Take the case of representative Joe Wilson. He called the President of the United States a liar in open session. Now, there has been bad behavior before: they hiss, they boo, they cajole, they even show disdain (as if that means anything) but to be be verbal, is a sign of disrespect, even for a knuckle dragging miscreant like Joe Wilson. The fact that he has an animus for the health care plan is okay, it is the right of politicians everywhere to dissent. However, the passions (he claims they were out of hand right) got the better of him and the outbursts was heard around the world, literally. The question is why did this happen. Is he really that stupid? Or is he a racist? or is he like so many of those in Congress afraid to act and it is easier to point to Obama and say: he is black. This seems to work. It is the way they have done for years, just not in politics. An aggressive man he is Black. An assertive man he is Black. A man that stands for the family right to be a person HE SURE NUFF IS BLACK. All codes to alert the population that a man of color is loose threatening the status quo...the stereo type dissonance that strikes fear. A real fear that diminishes they entitlement of white positions. The fear that if this man makes the right decision people many benefit and that would be the be all and end all. It would signal the end of thoughts that are currently the basis of racist, classicist, attitudes. There is a reason that the comments of Joe Wilson are important. They are a signal of losing this country. What you say, how can that be? Easy if we take away the privilege of white Americans then what is left..nothing as far as they are concerned. It is so dis heartening that they election of this person has caused so much flack. Joe Wilson is the pus from the pimple of madness. His outburst made purely because of his hatred exposes the real America that the world sees and fears. They know the extent of this nations attitude toward the world and people of color in general. They know and understand the wretchedness of these oppressors who took what they willed under Manifest Destiny. These beliefs have not changed. Currently we are in two wars that have no significance what-so-ever.
This is why Wilson's outburst and other out cries confuse me. He had no outburst when we went to war with Iraq. There was a spirit of patriotism in the air: 9-11-01 more devastating than Pearl harbor. But when we went to the wrong country no one said a word. There was not a peep from Wilson when the cost was a billion dollars a week and there were no bid contracts, not one word. There was no sound no emotion as the casualties mounted: young persons coming back less than when they went, no word when the abuses became public, no sayings of concerns as we entered into to deficit spending. Now we hear the voice of this "passionate emotional" woman sorry man who has been censured for his outburst, please. Later

The times of the seasons

Many songs have been written about aging and seasons. There was the great Sinatra hit: "When I was 17", that reminded a generation of their impending age and the reflective tenor of the melody was evident as the verses transversed different stages of life. I am reminded of the song for several reasons. I have lived past 17, 35 and at 55 I can see the autumn of my life beginning to move toward winter...but not yet!!!



It is a blessing to live to see certain ages and more to surpass them. Each time mile stones are achieved, we ought to pause and reflect and then assist those coming up so they too can enjoy the these ages. That however is the problem: we are seeing more of our young people adopting an attitude of slothfulness than ever before. I will not blame the current thought of materialism, things are not destroying our young. Things are not affecting our character and things do not create violence. The motivation for things to occupy minds instead of demanding achievement has helped the young miss their potential. Too many young people are unprepared for life lessons: failure to accept limitations, recognizing that winning is not the only thing, but learning from failure is the great teacher. I am appalled that we give trophies out for participation. Not that this is a bad idea, but what does it really say? Does it teach the lesson that we fail as well as win. What about adversity? How do we instill in the young strength when it all goes bad?



There are seasons of despair and privation; there are times of depression and prosperity, and there are times when we are right and times when we are wrong...really wrong. It is in those times lessons are learned. It is in the cauldron, the kitchen the heat that we either quit or survive. To survive not only demands a person over come but to acknowledge how much more one needs to learn.

In the movie Annapolis, there is a scene where the boxing instructor explains why it is a requirement to learn the art of boxing. It was not to create fighters, nor to spur competition (there is enough of that naturally at service academies!!!!!). No the reason that boxing is taught is to see just how mentally tough you are in adversity. Sometimes we get whipped, and, it the recovery which is measured: how do you react when the going is rough? This is critical especially in a fight when the odds look bad. So it is in life for all of us: stuff gets, looks, and is bad! Many times in my life and in the lives of those close to me we have had to struggle with loss, privation and failure. And we have not had the support we needed at those critical times. Yet with the help of God and fellows that served as rams in the bush some how we were able to over come and not be overwhelmed.

That is the life question all must face. It is the travel we go through to be human. It is the reflection on a song we heard when we were much younger than before, and not a s wise as we are now! It is the anthem we sing as old age brings solace and sanguine moments and yes senior moments as we try to forget the pain life dealt. As the song ends we hear the singer say that they drank it all to the bitter dregs, reminding all that life has bitters mixed in to remind us that all is not easy nor should it be. Later

Education Confrontation

The more I see the way in which this country is devolving the greater my hope is that a new day is about to dawn. I say this because of the growing fear, madness, and insane rhetoric of individuals dominating the Republican party, the radio, and news media. All day long, all night long, we are assaulted by such vapidness as to not be believed. It is a daily ritual: someone somewhere is lambasting the Obama Administration for being a socialist front, with communist leanings. These knuckle daggers have driven a wedge into the psyche of Americana. The birthers, with their maniacal screed about the birth legitimacy; the commentators that believe the debt is too big and blame Obama for trying to solve the issue with stimulus proposals, finally the do nothing party of NO which stands against the efforts on bogus principles and proposes nothing to assist in anyway possible are driving all people crazy. Nothing seems to getting done.

This in the midst of the greatest run up of debt since Reagen years, where we saw deficits rise and when accountability was demanded there was a smile, a wink and the phrase "there you go again": and the people bought into it, saying nothing is wrong. Again after eight years of prosperity (the debt clock was turned off because of a surplus) we now have record red ink courtesy of Bush 43, or commonly known as Bush lite.

The reason for the background is that racism and hatred are not only alive but gaining steam. it is as if America has awakened form a deep sleep and recognized that a person of color is running the United States of America: and they can not stand it. For the record it is easy to add a disclaimer for Obama: he has been in office for less than a year and as Presidents go has done a lot better in organizing the government (no easy task). Yes there are issues and there are concerns, but, in this case as from other cases there seems to be more vitriol than before.
Case in point the upcoming speech to the Nations school children on September 8, 2009. The Tuesday after Labor day. Why the controversy? Some Conservatives believe (this is daft beyond comprehension) that Obama's address will "foist a political agenda" on the children. What? As John McEnroe would say"are you serious??" What agenda could there be? It is the ruse of these people to say buzz words (white folks are good at this remember busing years ago?) that inflame the great masses of unaware persons. Because there is a great tendency to knee jerk rather than engage, pustules of infection rise to the surface resulting in the spewing of pus on the landscape of debate. This poison is so deadly that six states (Texas leads the way should we be surprised) are refusing to air the speech. One wonders about the mind set of school officials to not do this especially since Bus 41 (read my lips) did the exact same thing in 1991. The dodge that is being raised about the speech are the lesson plans available on line , and the fact that Obama is encouraging students to write (this has changed) to help the president. This attempt to engage in an exercise of engagement and creative thinking is too much for some persons. They are advancing the proposition that the Federal government is invading the schools, or as Senator Steve Russell thinks: Obama is after a cult of personality. To muster a reply is not Worth the effort this thought is so dumb. What are people thinking? Not much, which is the issue. People have lost the ability to discuss issues, disagree with cogent argument and then come to a compromise. All we see and unfortunately are those who have no real grasp on any issue just there regurgitation of half truths. This was made plain on MSNBC this morning. There was the customary interview of opposite side on the speech in Texas (again why use these folks they are portrayed as not to bright, but then neither was Bush lite) a man with children and the President of an organization that was prop Obama's effort. When asked all the man could say was: nothing that is correct he spewed the normal conservative(reactionary?) line with no thought. It is time we stopped allowing these non thinkers to control the agenda: being out of touch with reality. All of us know they are limited in scope and knowledge. Thoughtful persons must stand up to these bullies of the mind and take them to task as to their positions. If this is done I bet they will fade away into the woods, hollows, and marshes where they live and deservedly so. Later

Why tatoo???

An interesting thing I have noticed : people love to be marked or tattooed. Now before I continue further let me confess: I have adult children with several!!! Now that is out of the way I will continue. I am not against tattoos, as my son declared one day telling me that my age was showing and my dislike meant that I was becoming a conservative!!! Anyone that knows me understands that I am as conservative as Jerry Brown or Ted Kennedy (may he rest in peace) hardly conservative. No, my angst is this: tattoos are a mark of passage for some professions, note ably the military and the navy in particular and not so much form the general population.

There have always been tattoos. Those who got them were different and we did not hang around those who got them. For one thing our parents were not found of people like this. And if you are a certain age you know where of I speak. It was a respect thing: you did not bring certain folks around your parents and you absolutely did not want them to know you knew persons like this less they felt you were not raised well or breaking out into a spot they could not control!! So is this the reason I am against tattoos? No my position stems from the fact that body art is not for everyone and in these times with the rise of hepatitis those who do this might be unwise.

Secondly it is unattractive!!! To see some of the decorations on people is well if you have seen them use your own adjectives for me it is just gross. Thirdly some of the persons I have seen just get carried away!!!!! My goodness I can get with a small or a moderate one but some take up an entire appendage (arm or a leg, chest or back, and other places I will not lower my fingers to type. Last and not at all least: when we get old (I use first person plural to include everyone, we are going to age) what will these tattoos look like on sagging skin, and are those who have done this exposing themselves to cancers??? Tye body is too precious a gift to be used this way. To use it as a canvas for colorization I do not think was the intended purpose.

All generation have their signatures on the culture. In our time (1970) the hair styles alerted people to the spectrum we resided in. The Hippies, Yippees, the Panthers all had distinguishing identifications; some were just expressions others a frightening visage. Yet even in the strife of that decade and before, people did not go over board with appearances. We still had to function in the society: we had to work, vote, dissent, and even change the world.

I worry about this generation to me they seem to be disengaged, not into real world situations, content to remain at home not launch into the water or strive to make a difference. Generations like these are unprepared to deal with issues. This is not to say that there are not those that are doing a great job, there are some. But I do not see the larger participation that is needed. Later

Then there is the addictive (I have heard people say this) property of the needle on skin. How this is pleasurable is a mystery to me. So why tattoo?? The short answer is I have no idea!! Are those who do it looking for attention maybe but some of the most attractive people i have seen who do not need one do it. Are they attention seekers: wanting to see who looks the best those folk might be narcissistic and that is a disorder.

Dazed

Relationships are hard theses days. The need to have companions grow as time passes us by. In youth it seemed we could always find someone or somebody. We went to proms. dances, formals and it seemed that everyone wanted to go. Time was when a young woman (or man) had no issues, we walked or rode danced got sweaty and went home. Not so any more. Now it is so political that it boggles the mind. No longer do we meet persons, or introduce ourselves or have others do it for us, now we internet and facebook, networks that have impersonality. This is how we live: under the rubric of being to busy, or trying to find the "right" one, we sell ourselves (or pay the fee) to let machines do our work for us. Knowing that at a click of a mouse we can lose a gay or girl in nanoseconds!!! Mercy no wonder we are so indifferent.

I am a victim of this. Trying to be in the search engine generation I threw my hat into the ring, only to have it tossed back tattered, torn and not looking like the hat I put there. My ego has been crushed. crumbled and I am weary of the exercise...HELP I Surrender, my flag is replaced with a white one. Never again will I adventure into cyberspace it is just to maddening.

To be brutally frank I blame social skills for this dilemma. The ability to work, play and engage others. When I was young (very very young) it was a section of report cards. It was not enough to make good grades, it was important (more so) that we were socially promotable. In other words getting along was not a matter of choice it was part of education. It was also a flag to identify issues all young people have. Not to condemn but to aid in their development. But in the age of machines where we are judged by cyber qualifications, those who fall outside the lines suffer. And maybe that is a good thing. Because for the most part a lot of these people are rather flimsy no better yet translucent. Anyway for those of you that can handle it go for it. The rest of us if there is a rest of us will put our feet up and enjoy the show. Later

Passages

This would have been my mother's 79 birthday. It is hard to believe that she has been gone from us (my siblings) for ten years. When you loose mom it is at times a real struggle not to live, or move on, it is the memories of those times that show up in ones mind.


You had to know Belva Katherine, she was a woman of substance and style, before it was cool to be so. in fact if you did not know better one would have thought she was a southerner rather than a mid west woman. She had an elegance about her and she had a laugh that infected everyone she met. Such was our mother.


Passages are like the roman god Janus: they us give an unique advantage, we can see forward as well as backward. Thus, we have the ability to reassess or confess life and our part in it. Passages are full of mistakes and positives; life is the ultimate balance. We strive to make good choices and bad ones always show up. This is why we have the curse of memory: the need to see truth other worldly, to put on the face of spin to make best light shine, when it blinds us.

Death reveals true life and light. There is no way to protect or pretend; no spin control, or words to soften the death blow. It is then what it is... over and done. Like the realization in Sudden, last summer when Aunt Violet faces the truth of Sebastian's, homosexuality and her incest, causing her to flee in madness a protection of truth. So we face the lobotomy of real life as we see passages of days, months, and years, older than we were yesterday, youth spent in the wicked pursuit of dreams deferred or denied, passages.

As I celebrate the memory of my mother I am reminded that others celebrate a passage. While mom impacted on lives in a small circle, another impacted the world. One loved locally the other international; one a teacher the other a lion rather a lionized personality given in death while in life treated with scorn. On suffered the passing unnoticed saved for those who loved her and she was loved with fervor. One dies in obscurity the other passes in the glory of myth buried by growing myths that take on a life of their own, but have the same sad ending: the truth is written by the winners in life and death.

So we will mark these passages in our own way and smile at the memories in our grief. Some will be private others public, some in quiet others in the noise that is Americana; some in the sharing of memories only one shares, while others will evaluate current events decoding to construct. All have purpose yet share one thing: loss the great equalizer of life, the end of life journeys. Later

The fight of solitude

We as people have the ability to adapt, overcome, and adjust. The blessing is that we are able to deal with life issues and heal from the battles fought. We are ill we get well, we are fired from positions, we find others. We marry and divorce that is the trouble some area. Finding relationships again. there is no formula for this. The number of dating sites on the inter net and television tell the story. How many people are gong it alone these days? What and who can we allow in our inner circles, the soul that cries out at night, the need for the warm fuzzy even if it just a phone call?? It is a journey that is full of ups downs pain and sorrows: it is the flight of the solitude. This flight or journey has lots of trials, life is like this. Many are the times we will experience the hurts and despair living brings. Not the temporary set backs or losses but the real breakdown of life itself. The experiences that as the philosopher said: if it does not kill us we will be stronger". The point is that we were strong to begin with which is why those encounters do not kill us. The fact is life is all about the solitude we face everyday. The decisions we make good or bad, right or wrong;life is living to the best of our potential. This lost on this generation of youth and younger adults. It is amazing to me that this generation has access to more information than anyone or other generation, information available at the touch of a button or on television, yet we find that they are for the most part unprepared and inept. This does not bode well for them as they approach maturity without a well defined skill set to compete in the global community. Many persons write with great regularity about our inability to compete in the world. They cite education, math and science in particular as well as a decline in writing skills. There is however no definition as to why this has happened. I argue that it is not the dumbing down test or the loss of prayer in schools (more on another blog) I believe our decline has to do with arrogance. The arrogance that believed the world would never catch up, the arrogance that this was the American century; the dominance of Pax America especially after world war Two. There was a time when the world was in recovery and the only place was the United States. Those days have ended friends and enemies alike are now competitors and they do it better. Their goods and services are of such quality that we now run trade deficits in the trading world. Their workmanship is such that buy America a standard of the past is just that: the past. It is true that there are tariffs that do indeed make American goods non competitive that is Nationalism, however, the trend of America's non competitive spirit existed before protectionism. I believe that people buy what they want, and if the quality is there the price is secondary.

So, what does this have to do with solitude? The answer is everything. We live in isolation because we can not express an argument to convince people that our ideals are worth fighting for. We as a Nation have abrogated our place on the world stage due to the growing incompetence of leadership on all levels. Our Nation allows a lassiez faire government with no principles to flourish. There are no priorities left to fight for, in short this nation is adrift.

What we must do now is to recognize our malaise and reorder interest. The phrase change must begin to mean something to us as a collective. There has to be recognition that what we are engaged in is not working, and is not adequate for the times in which we live. In short we must water the tree of liberty not with blood of patriots or kings, but with thought. This is our flight of solitude. Thought: a concentrated effort, a struggle to retool, a mind set to be reached: all for the purpose regaining who we are. We have lost the identity which defines us as a people. It is now or never the quest for identity search lest we lose our selves and be a shadow of the greatness we proclaim we have. Later

Needing to move

There are times that we come to ourselves and become change agents. There are times when we realize the need to move on, out up, or just leave. These are hard decisions to make and put in to action. The reason is we are resistant to difference:we love the sameness and security it gives.

In a book called "Who ate my cheese?" the author weaves a tale about attitudes and how they affect us. What we are prone to do and the out come of action realization: action no action, and action reactionary action. These types of attitudes are the reason our Nation is stuck on stupid. Recent events show that people want health care but the insurance company does not. Forget the attack ads on television just look at the deductible you pay, the premieums you struggle to deal with (they are automatically withdrawn from paychecks so you will pay them), yet time after time people look at the wrong things. We need to move. There is a need to stop the hem and haw personality of the little people that unrealistic sense of entitlement: repalce my cheese...NOW. The cheese is gone period and it is not coming back.



The persons who need help the most and who get the benefit of this care are themselves seniors. I am a amazed, they harp, lie, shout at, disrupt and make guttural sounds all in the affect to keep information from being heard. Media shows on cable actually put up with this madness filling the airwaves with the vitriol form deranged individuals, then when they are accurately called fascist, un American, and wrong, the reaction is to say the persons who call them that are hate filled HUH!!????? Case in point, Rep Barney Frank had a mad women ask an insane (literally) question about the "T-4 program" alluding to the extermination of the infirm. This to a Jew whose ancestors lived through the Holocaust (which she probably denies). When the answer given is too acerbic people took her side when in the meeting the crowd was clearly, CLEARLY dismayed at the question. What is wrong here? Have we as a people finally lost our collective sense of decency or has the slope become to slippery to handle? This is a question we must solve before there can be any movement to a solution. The stakes are way to high the cost to expensive if we do nothing. There is already a move from the insurance companies to reduce the co pay, to 65 %, while the deductible either goes up or remains the same. These are the issues we as Americans must face.

To be honest, I have some issues with the proposal: namely I have not seen it yet!! Is it still in committee yes it is. And to be sure, I have some concerns as all of us do: where will we get the funds; are we really looking at the numbers in realistic terms or is this another "rosy scenario" (you remember Rosy scenario from the Reagen years, the deficits that grew as we built bombs, planes and weapons of mass destruction to fight communism.)n that masks the real numbers that will scare everybody. Personally I do not blame the people that are thoughtful and say do we really need this? It is responsible to do so. I am not comfortable yet to agree with President Obama that to do nothing is unhealthy, saying that the cost to the economy is dangerously high. Prove it... all of you prove the point then all of us will follow the decision.

This is the author's point in "Who moved my cheese". That the cheeses has gone and we must be able to move to new places where the cheese is. To be innovative and mobile in mind to envision new ways of providing for all persons. If we can keep the present insurance then do so. If you have no insurance because it is not affordable then we as a society must make a way to provide options. To have 46 million, 20 million 10 million or 200,ooo uninsured it way to many.

We need to move and do it now, we need to make common cause and do it now. the war no longer is with weapons, it is with dollars, yen , euros, pesos, and who ever controls the markets controls the economy of others. Tie your shoes and put them around your neck the journey started already. Later

Changes

Several years ago an artist wrote a song called "Changes". The refrain goes" time may change me but you can't change time". I heard this in my mind so I am writing a blog about it. All of life is about change, the youth we have lost, the age that brings wisdom, the wisdom we wished for and now that we are old and fading well we work with the young hoping to instill a foundation. Changing all the time.



Some change is good and some unavoidable. Facing change sometimes brings out the worst in people. Civil Rights was change pushed by liberal whites (the word liberal meaning to set free in mind and spirit) not because there was great love for Black people but because it was right. History is full of the resistance to this change. People have been killed, jailed, cut off, threatened all because of change. And of course history has made its judgment on those who resisted change to hold on to tradition. Change affects everybody. Change is then mother's milk of growth, change makes room for these who need inclusion, or ideas to flower, and most of all to expand our personal growth.



Sadly, change has another face: the stone wall attitude. Frost proclaimed that good fences make good neighbors, the protection from encroachment on the status quo. I do not believe that Frost championed separation of races, creeds, and cultures; but, there are those who do. They have not died out or changed their minds, they live on in those they have trained. The Timothy McVeigh's, George Wallace's, and John Stennis of the world ( yes it is a world issue) still love and exert power. We need look no further than what is happening now to see that change and resistance to change is alive and well.



Changes should be welcomed and in many cases they are. Change makes life better: chemistry, medicine, transportation, exploration have added to the life, and breadth of this planet, unless there is that equality item, then change meets reactions called by other names: Communism or Socialism thing deconstructionism all codes for encroachments on "entitled rights".



I have lived through some of the most turbulent times in the modern era. I have seen great things: moon landings, the end of communism the unification of countries, passage of laws that free the human condition and I have been in awe of humanity's gains. But I have also seen the outcome of a peoples hatred in the guise of assassination, beatings, deprivation de facto jurisprudence and I wonder how much longer this will go on. How many more Haitis, Rwandas, South Africa's; South Centrals Little Rocks, must we endure for all of us to grasp we must change or perish?

The Obama administration is a case in point. A lot of work must be done to stem the tide of the economic madness we are in. Forget about fault because it goes back over the years and it was covered by policy that ignored the core problem in favor of the short term political solutions. To keep the illusion alive that America has no economic problem. Now that it is apparent we do steps to correct the issues have to be made. One would surmise that this attempt would unify the nation around the ideas . That honest, open, calm, discussions and arguments can be expressed because change of this magnitude must be bipartisan. We hear so much about debt for future generations that one would think a rational exchange of ideas would merit consideration. You would be mistaken for envisioning this Utopia.

Change we can believe in was a slogan now under attack by those opposed to change for opposition sake. let us state clearly: there should be healthy debate, this is the democratic initiative. However, to be oppositional without meritorious answers under minds the action needed. Planned misstatements of positions, rude interruptions, gun toting, sign carrying (by the young who have no idea why they do it) and the old alike does not stir debate, it debases it.

There has to be an uprising against theses groups that continue to plant seeds of hate and dim witted thinking. They are un American and the founding fathers (small capitols on purpose) would be ashamed, because too many ideals are dying, too many thinkers have receded to the background, and too many people are giving up. This is not America, this is chaos which along with amorality creates evil: a change we can do without. Later