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Writing about what I have been reading and encountering in the media. |
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WELCOME TO MY BLOG! I comment on things I am reading, thinking about, encountering in media, and spiritual issues. I hope you will find something interesting. PS. I love feedback... |
| These are the days of apostles The days of the Apostles were very much like today. There was rapid social change due to the coming together of people of many cultures related to the expansion of the Roman empire and related increase in trade and travel. There was violence. Jesus was crucified with others and his crucifixion was totally political in origin as opposed to being the result of him engaging in serious crime. They didn’t have AR15 rifles, but they had many other ways to torture and kill. Before the Pentecost that we celebrate today, the Apostles had daily contact with Jesus. It is probable that they had a good understanding of the nature of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, we have no way of knowing exactly what each apostle experienced at the moment they became aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit that day. I suspect they were astonished at the very least. It might not have been the same as having their hair on fire, but there were flames over their heads. They had become like candles and the flames did not go out in the rushing wind. The people who gathered there were from many nations and spoke many different languages. At that moment, they heard what was being said in their native tongues. Was that the apostles speaking in various languages, or God translating what was being said for each individual? The writers of the Bible chose to think of it as the Apostles speaking in different languages. In any case, all those people took in new wisdom in an amazing way that they understood and didn’t forget, and that people still talk about two millennia later. In this way, Christianity was born. One Pentecost Sunday, many years ago, I was in a large, urban gothic revival church, The nave or sanctuary was shaped like a cross with the chancel, that is the altar and area around the altar, in the middle, a small chapel to the left of the chancel and a baptistry to the right of the chancel area. The baptistry had a font, much smaller than what is used here. There were many sconces each with a single-lit votive candle on the wall behind the font. The choir, seated on a balcony in the back of the sanctuary, was organized around a core of 6 professional singers and lead by an outstanding organist playing a first-rate pipe organ. They had chosen a modern piece that sounded like rushing wind and many voices singing in different languages. It was quite mystical and moving. As the music reached its climax, a votive candle fell from the baptistry wall and crashed to the floor. The feeling I experienced was immediate and intense and my thought was “I’m not ready, Lord.” What if today, we have our own experience of the Holy Spirit? When I was a teen, I asked my pastor why people believed that God would speak only through the Bible. It seemed to me that this was very inefficient and not especially effective. I found the Bible very hard to understand, and still do. I have to get out reference books and then think, and then do Google searches, and still, sometimes I feel uncertain that I have understood what I read. But the newspaper is a whole different thing. I have no trouble understanding it because it is written at a fifth to tenth grade comprehension level and in contemporary language that people easily understand. Now, we have multimedia communications. I think that the creator and sustainer of the multiverse can figure out how to communicate to us through these media which may actually be a gift from God. A few years back, there was an earthquake on the east coast of the US. It damaged the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. Some Christians saw it as a sign from God that homosexuality is bad, and others saw it as a sign from God that LGBTQ+ people should be accepted. If it was a communication from God, it didn’t get through very clearly. Again, I think God is capable of better than that. You all know the song We are one in the spirit, we are one in the lord with the chorus, and they will know we are Christians by our love. Is it not true that we believe God is acting through us when we show compassion, offer help, or just show respect for others? If that is the case, the Holy Spirit is very active and communicates with and through each of us every day. It is time to be astonished. Those apostolic flames are burning over our heads all the time. Are you ready? Are we ready? What do we need individually and as a faith community to be ready, to feel ready for the Holy Spirit to act through us? Take a moment now and think about what can prepare you to show your love effectively. It may be something you have, receive, or do but it may be something you need more of, or something yet to be available to you. If it is something you already have, then it would be something to give thanks for. If it is something you need, then it would be a request. Now pray your way into sharing grace of the Holy Spirit. {image # 1445398} |
| I see that I have been neglecting my blog and its readers. I have been writing a lot, but not here. There were visitors, obligations, and old-fashioned procrastination involved. So here I am, ready to say something. The January 6 Committee of the House of Representatives has televised 3 hearings. So far, they have presented witnesses, all Republican conservatives, and/or people from the Trump Administration and orbit. They have made a few key points: 1.) Donald Trump knew he lost the election. 2.) Donald Trump knew the Eastman plan was illegal and so did Eastman but they followed it anyway. 3.) Mike Pence was badgered and threatened by Trump to follow the plan to decline the Electoral College certifications. 4.) Mike Pence consistently refused to comply for a month but never told the public until he actually refused. 5.) Although VP Pence's decision was pivotal, it was not heroic in that he simply did what the Constitution required. 6) Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi would have been killed had they been caught, and Pence came to within 40 feet of being captured by the mob. 7) Eastman, Mayor Guliani, and Sydney Powell were the only close advisors who agreed to support the Eastman plan, but no one actually took action to stop it or to inform the public. 8.) The danger Trump and the Republican Party et.al. pose to American Democracy persists. Meanwhile, here in Howell County Missouri, there is a front-page flap in the Howell County News about an employee of the Boys and Girls Club who identifies as gender-neutral and instructed 4th-grade children to use the neutral "they" or "Captain" when addressing them and each other without notifying parents that this was going to happen. The adult instructed the children they wouldn't be boys and girls, just kids this summer. One family withdrew their children from the program. Another asked that their child be placed in a different group. Subsequently, the parent who complained publicly has taken intense harassment and received threats. I think this would have gone better had parents been informed ahead of time, but I think there still would have been a flap because people like to flap their jaws. So do I, but this is not worthy of the front page of any paper. It is painful and personal and a sign that our culture is changing in response to recent scientific discoveries, even here in the quiet out-of-the-way corner of America where people hate to change. Happy Pride Month and Happy Juneteenth everyone! May our Constitutional Democracy survive to celebrate again next year. |
| Another School Shooting: Uvalde, Texas, 5/24/22. "We must acknowledge reality. This must not be a normal thing in the USA or anywhere. There is this relentless thing that guns are sacred. This is idolatry. There is not a reason in the world to own this type of gun except to do shootings like this. I live in hope. I know human beings have the capacity to do better. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'the arc of a moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.' But it requires people to make the arc bend."Jon Meacham, Presidential Historian, in an interview on MSNBC, the Eleventh Hour, 10:30 PM 5/25/22. On the heels of shootings in Buffalo at a grocery store and California where a gunman went after Chinese Christians at worship, an 18-year-old shot his grandmother and then went to the elementary school his grandmother had worked at in 2020, in the school district he had attended and shot 2 teachers and 17 fourth graders to death wounding 19 others. This happened in a state that responded to previous mass shootings by removing almost all restrictions on gun ownership. A candidate for Governor, Beto O'Rourk, confronted Governor Abbott about these laws he signed and told him until you do something to stop this, the blood is on your hands. None of this will be news to most who read this. I don't know about you, but I am so disgusted. I am embarrassed to say I am American. We say we are a democracy, but a minority has hijacked the Congress and is interfering with its functioning. Even though 90% of Americans support some form of gun control, we don't have it. We are told this is the doing of the NRA. They do contribute a lot to the problem. However, Congress, the Republican portion of the Senate specifically, is unwilling to even debate the problem let alone vote it up or down. The rest of the "western" world is shaking their heads and thinking we are crazy. A friend in England asked me once if I wasn't afraid to travel as I might get shot. We deserve that view of our homeland. I wonder if "crazy" might be an accurate description of the USA today. Directly after listening to Jon Meacham, I heard a commercial for medication to control bi=polar depression. It sounded like how I feel: "a dark fog." However, I am not suffering from bipolar depression. I just want the government to start governing. I simply want a few restrictions that will protect us from angry 18-year-olds who are impulsive. I want people to quit saying mental health workers, can control this mass shooting behavior. We cannot. We are not magicians. We can only change what the client wants to change. There is no way around that fact. We need laws and law enforcement to keep AR15 arms out of the hands of those who would shoot their grandmother in the face, then kill a classroom full of 4th graders and their teachers. |
| My friend, Bruce Carr, a fellow poet, has passed away. He had been ill for a long time. His illness required specialized care unavailable locally and so none of us had seen him for some time. Of course, COVID contributed to that. I doubt you ever heard of him. But now you will. Bruce was a native of Mountain View, Missouri. I met him when I joined the Mountain View Poetry Society. Bruce liked to lead and had a strong influence on the poetry society for many years. He was very good at helping us critique our own work. He was energetic and creative. He also provided leadership at the Yellow House Community Arts Center in West Plains, Missouri, and organized a number of poetry readings in the area. Bruce also studied photography and showed a special interest in photographing flowers. He loved music and participated by playing a ceramic hand drum. In general, he was creative and followed a different drummer in everything he did. He supported himself as a restaurant kitchen manager and cook. Of course, with that level of creativity, some of his endeavors did not work out so well and his loyal friends saw him through those times. He had loyal friends because of his generosity and loyalty to them. In the end, his illness took him from us long before his death. I am sad to say goodbye to Bruce but glad he is no longer stuck in a body that just didn't work anymore. Safe travels, Bruce. I hope you are greeted at the pearly gates by an angel driving a ragtop car and playing your favorite music on the radio as they drive you to the creative corner of heaven. |
| I am having a lot of trouble watching the news between the machinations of the Republican Party and Supreme Court and the Russian war on Ukraine, I am horrified. The Supreme Court has never before removed a recognized and existing Constitutional right. Furthermore, the current court is setting this decision up to be a precedent to remove other rights including affirmative action, birth control, and choice of marital partner. They are setting it up to take away voting rights of women and people of color. This could lead to removing property rights as well. It is rule by the minority. The most conservative 6 members of the court were appointed by Presidents who were elected by the electoral college after not receiving the majority of the popular vote. Just focusing on the abortion issue, the government has placed itself in the exam room with a woman and her physician. This is not a legitimate government function. For decades the Republicans have fought against universal healthcare on the grounds that the government has no right to regulate healthcare. The nominees to the Court who are working to strike down Roe v. Wade lied to Congress to get on the court. They are lying to us about how the Constitution works and they are doing so fully aware that they are lying. How do I know they are aware? Because they asserted loyalty to traditional views of the Constitution in their confirmation hearings. About Ukraine, I am so sad for the citizens that are displaced, being held captive, being tortured, and murdered so Putin can exert power just because he wants to. I feel sad for the Russians who are losing soldiers without even knowing the truth of the action. I am grateful that we are supporting the Ukrainians but equally horrified that we are in the middle of something so very wrong. Even more troublesome is my awareness that our government is headed for a Putin style of authoritarianism. I could go on and on, but this is enough for now. Thank you for reading. |
| Holmberg, Charlie N., Star Father,(Star Mother book 2), narrated by Karen Chilton, Audible, 2022. For reasons I don't understand, I love this author's work. The book is fantasy. A mortal woman falls in love with a god, the sun, and goes on a quest to become immortal so she can be with him forever. The quest presents her with both helpers and grave dangers. There are several "godlings" and other humans involved and the protagonist has a loyal cousin who supports her flawlessly. This is totally frivolous reading and I enjoyed it as much as I have all of her books. |
| BOOK Reynolds, David S., Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography, Blackstone Publishing, unabridged audiobook, narrated by John Lescault on Audible. 10/29/2019. Author, David Reynolds, presents a very detailed history of the cultural influences that impacted Walt Whitman’s writing beginning with his childhood in rural Long Island, NY, and through his various moves, relationships, economic activities and always focusing on his writing goals. Consequently, this is not just a biography, but also a history of 19th century American culture. Whitman initially immersed himself in popular culture with the goal of representing the people of America in a positive light. His first publication of Leaves of Grass is the result of this effort. Over time, his perspective changed. This reflects normal personality development in a very intelligent and curious man. The changes are chronicled in the various editions of Leaves of Grass as well as many, many essays and newspaper articles and editorials, and letters to and from various friends, relatives, fans and critics. The audible version is a little over 28 hours, the longest book I’ve ever listened to on Audible. There are many redundancies which help with remembering important points but are also a bit annoying. One of the influences is the Swedenborgian religious movement. I had never heard of it so I looked it up and learned that it is a small, Christian sect that exists even now with about 5,000 members. As I understand it, they see the Trinity differently in that they believe that it is aspects of one God rather than God in three persons. They believe that the second coming is an ongoing process happening all the time in the form of souls “dressed in bodies” moving through life as persons. They believe that if you are in touch with the holy spirit, your soul is God incarnate, and you don’t have to know anything about Christianity for this to happen. They believe in an afterlife but describe it differently. I found what I read about them quite interesting and can easily see this thinking in “Song of Myself.” Whitman was interested in the theater and visual arts as well as literature. He started a few businesses but didn’t like running a business and did not stick with any of them. He volunteered in the hospitals serving Civil War troops and this had a profound influence on his development as a person. He also worked for the Federal Government in Washington, DC for a number of years. He had a unique marketing style for his books which seemed to work. He was also a pillar of his family of origin, financially supporting a brother and a sister who were both mentally ill in some way. There is so much information in this book that I could go on and on. I encourage you to read it yourself as it is very interesting and full of good information. |
| Waterhouse, Lin, Bred to the Bone: deadly secrets at Hunter's Mill, W&B Publishers, Kernersville, NC, 2017. This is Lin Waterhouse's first novel, a mystery, full of interesting characters. It takes place in a small town in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri and primary activity focuses on Hunter's Mill, owned and operated by retirees from Chicago as a tourist attraction. The protagonist, Caroline, is a retired teacher who volunteers at the mill, and who is interested in history and genealogy,. Therein lies the problem for her. There are actually two mysteries, one involving the contents of a safe found in the attic of the mill, and the other, concerning the death of a visitor. This novel is rich with a sense of place and the conflicts outsiders who move to small Ozark towns often encounter. Very realistic, interesting and enjoyable, this is a light read, great for unwinding at the end of the day. |
| On this day of amazement, Let us experience renewal of faith as all around us, nature experiences renewal of life. Please awaken our understanding that as we walk into the challenges of our lives we are never alone we are always loved and no matter what mistakes we make we will be forgiven and strengthened as we strive to right the wrong we have done. Please grant us the faith that Jesus demonstrated, the faith that Mary Magdalene experienced, the faith that sustained Jesus’ mother, Mary. Such is the faith that makes hope possible. Lord, please let the light of your love shine through our actions as we strive to continue Jesus’ work. Amen |
| BOOK Smith, Alexander McCall, What W.H. Auden Can Do for You, (narrated by William Neenan) Audible Studios, 10/18/13. Mr. Smith, when writing the novels about Isabel Dalhousie, frequently quotes Auden. In this small book, he provides a brief biography of Auden focusing on his writing. Smith shares what he admires about Auden and why. Excerpts of some poems are included with a discussion of their meaning to the author. I enjoyed this book and found it very interesting, but wish the poems referred to had been included in their entirety. Consequently, I bought and read a book of Auden poetry which I discussed in detail on February 28, 2022. This small book is a great introduction to Auden. |
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