Keeping Up With the Times

I am old now.  I’ll be seventy-four years old tomorrow—that’s three-score ten plus 4—nearly three-quarters of a century old! I still try to keep up.  With the help of my grandchildren I am managing the new technology.  I read new books  (though I prefer old books tested by the passage of time) and I pay attention to what is going on around me.  I am trying to keep up in this ever changing world.  I think I’m still sound of mind, though that issue has been debated since the time I began to express myself, and is probably still being debated by many of my friends today.   My social media friends probably no longer even debate the issue.  They think I’m crazy and over the past two years or so they have considered “unfriending” me or at least “unfollowing” my rantings and ravings.  I don’t blame them a bit! 

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” I read a book called “I’m OK—You’re OK” (A Practical Guide to Transactional Analysis) written by Thomas Harris. The book distinguished three active elements in each person’s makeup and operative in our relationships:  the Parent, the Adult, and the Child.  The Parent personifies the “don’ts” and the “do’s” implanted in each of us in our earliest years.  The Child represents spontaneous emotion.  Both Parent and Child must be kept in proper relation to the Adult, whose function is that of dealing with reality—“to make possible freedom of choice and the creation of new options.”  We all have the Parent, the Child, and the Adult in us—creating unconscious behavior in our relationships:  “I’M NOT OK—YOU’RE OK”  (the anxious dependency of the immature); “I’M NOT OK—YOU’RE NOT OK” (the  “give up” or despair” position); “I’M OK—YOU’RE NOT OK” (the criminal position) and finally,  “I’M OK—YOU’RE OKAY” (the response of a mature adult, who is at peace with self and others).   

Keeping up with the times—I just read the following post on Facebook:  “Their words back to back…”

“I pray that our leaders will always act with humility and generosity.  I pray that my failings are forgiven .   I pray that we will uphold our obligation to be good stewards of God’s creation—this beautiful planet.  I pray that we will see every single child as our own, each worthy of our love and of our compassion.  And I pray we answer Scripture’s call to lift up the vulnerable, and to stand up for justice, and ensure that every human being lives in dignity.” (Barack Obama, Nat’l Prayer Breakfast, 2016)

“We had tremendous success on The Apprentice.  And when I ran for president, I had to leave the show.  That’s when I knew for sure that I was doing it.  And they hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place.  And we know how that turned out.  The ratings went down the tubes.  It’s been a total disaster and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again.  And I want to just pray for Arnold if we can, for those ratings, OK?” (Donald Trump, Nat’l Prayer Breakfast, 2017)

Yosemite National Park, 2016

“Be Not Afraid”

I am being visited again this morning by Jean Vanier through his book, “Be Not Afraid.” My paperback copy is falling apart and I must consider getting a new one. (It is still available through Amazon if you are interested). I’ve read my copy so many times that the binding has broken and the pages are loose, but the content remains as solid as it did when first written in 1975.  Indeed, the words may be more alive today than ever before because so many of us are afraid.  That fear has been fueled by xenophobia, bigotry, misinformation, and conspiracy theories in recent days.  Vanier’s prophetic statement has become reality in today’s America:   “Our political and economic structures [now] reflect our inner fears.”  

I believe fear leads us into our darker shadows as human beings and materializes into unbridled hate and scorn for all those things and peoples we fear.  Vanier hits the nail on the head when he writes, “Love seems impossibly distant” when people are afraid.  Perhaps this is why Jesus (who some of us believe represents “Love at the heart of all things”) said to many of those he encountered, “Be Not Afraid!”   Do not be afraid to love!  But we are afraid.  Can’t you see this in our present divide?  Can’t you hear it in the current rhetoric in both camps?  We are afraid to love!

“Our universe,” writes Vanier, “is a wounded universe, divided, suffering, with great despair and poverty, where there are many signs of death, division and hatred.  But all of these signs of death are taken up in the Cross of Jesus and transfigured in the Resurrection.  Our hope is that the winter of humanity will gradually be transformed to the bursting forth of love, for it is to this that we are called.”

When we are afraid we can’t really love, or trust, or believe, or hope.  Our deepest inner yearning is to be lovers, to be brothers and sisters one with another (we were made for this) but our fear prevents it.  Through Jean Vanier’s visit this morning, “He (Jesus) walks with me and he talks with me,” and he says, “I am here, I am with you, all of you, who are yearning to love.  Be not afraid.  Be not afraid to love.”

The coast of Maine, off Portland Head--2016

“Eruption to Hope”

This morning I am being visited by Jean Vanier through his little book “Eruption to Hope.”  I attended  a seminar led by Jean Vanier and Henri Nouwen at Catholic University once.  What a team they were together!  Jean, a Canadian Catholic philosopher, theologian and humanitarian is now 88 years old.   He founded L’Arche in 1964, an international federation of communities spread across 35 countries, for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them.  He currently lives as a member of  the original L’Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, France.

Many Christians find meaning in the hymn, “In the Garden,” written by C. Austin Miles and based on the Gospel of John’s resurrection narrative (20:11-18).  The refrain tells of a deep personal relationship with Jesus:  “And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

When I write of the visitations I experience with my “friends of the written word” in the early hours of the day here in my study, I think of that hymn.  Surely Jesus comes in these “friends” of mine and “walks with me…talks with me,” and tells me, through their words, of the sorrows and the joys and the “Love at the heart of all things.” Can you sense that in these words from Vanier?  

To bring peace to this divided world, we must find new means which can match the new discoveries of science and of violence.  We must break through our old styles and ways of life to create communities of friends where hierarchy is based not on birth, heritage, wealth and frequently unmerited position, but upon personal values of inner depth, life of the spirit and love and compassion….The day must come—if it doesn’t, we will all be smothered by an overwhelming movement of violence and despair—when…men of business must share with their workers as brothers and sisters and not as paternalistic benefactors, when lawyers and doctors must live amongst the poorer members of their community….The day must come when instead of creating large walls around our houses, we open large doors to welcome at our table the lonely, the old and the handicapped….If we believe in God, we must follow this inner belief and meet this God of love and of mercy and of tenderness and of justice.  It is He who calls forth in us a dynamism of the Spirit and who breaks down the barriers which have been built up on our land of fear.

Out of an erupting world, a world that is being unified technically but which remains so drastically divided, a new force will be born which will match the violence and give life to growing despair.”  And He walks with me, and he talks to me…and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.

Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica [2016]

As A Matter of Fact

Facts matter, or at least I think so.  They matter because they help us discover the truth of the matter—whatever the matter may be.  

Franklin Graham has become a self-appointed “pope” for some alleged Christians, attempting to help his followers understand Mr. Trump’s positions on many hot issues, including the recent executive order on “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.”  Mr. Graham declares “It’s not a biblical command for the country to let everyone in who wants to come, that’s not a Bible issue.”  This is nonsense if you take the Bible seriously.  I remember so well the Reverend Billy Graham’s (Franklin’s father) oft-repeated phrase:  “The Bible says…,” implying that the Bible had something to say about everything.  But now, says Franklin, how we treat refugees isn’t really a biblical issue?  Is that a fact?  See Zechariah 7:9-10, Deuteronomy 10:18, Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 25:34-36, and Luke 10.  Not only does the Bible have an opinion on the subject, but the subject of immigrants and refugees is at the very heart of the biblical faith. 

Some might argue (as has often been done by both religious and secular folk) that this stuff is certainly in the Bible (we ought to be nice to foreigners) in a religious way (whatever that means) but that has nothing to do with the present political, economic, and practical issues of our country.   Since the executive order is a political matter and since the government is not a religious institution, then is Franklin Graham saying that the Bible, “…has nothing to say about how governments should protect their borders. Oh really? You’re going with that?  Religion needs to stay out of the government’s business?  I know a bunch of people down at Planned Parenthood are going to be excited to hear this change of heart” (Derek Penwell).

President Trump says his executive order is about national security, that it is about keeping us safe.  But is the executive order about security, or is it about ideology?  We all want to be safe.  “But,” as Jim Wallis writes, “these refugees have already been thoroughly vetted.  They are mostly women and children who have had to flee situations of violent conflict….They are in danger; they are not a danger. They are refugees fleeing from violence, not the agents of violence toward us.  The world’s experts around the globe clearly contradict what the ideologues of the new White House are saying.”

Now what are the facts here?  Did you think I was going to tell you?  Facts aren’t somebody else’s statements or opinions.  Facts are facts, as a matter of fact.  

Hodgepodge Ramblings from a Salmagundi Mind

Hodgepodge can be defined as   “a confused mixture” or  a “jumble.”  Synonyms of hodgepodge include words like mismatch, goulash, hash, potpourri, etc.   The USA is a hodgepodge nation—a salmagundi (a salad of chopped meats, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables arranged in rows for contrast and dressed with a salad dressing).  The United States always has been and always will be a potpourri of religion, race, culture, etc.  Instead of naming this land we call home, America, we might have been more definitive and certainly more “politically correct” if we had named it Hodgepodge or Salmagundi.

Not only is my beloved country a hodgepodge, but I find my own thinking to be a hodgepodge as well.  For example, I am a strong advocate of the First Amendment, which includes many unique freedoms in this land of Hodgepodge,  including the right to peaceably assemble and to express grievances.  That same amendment also provides for the freedom of speech.  Salmagundi!!  Hodgepodge!! This means a Breitbart News editor has the right to speak at an event in Berkeley and students have a right to protest that speaker.  It means the KKK, the NAACP, the Knights of Columbus, the Baptists (all 300-plus types) and the Masons have a right to speak and to protest. Those who suggest that one side can’t protest or the other side can’t speak endanger our democratic system. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old man, but I believe that when we all begin to think alike or read from the same page (lose our hodgepodgeness) we are in deep trouble.  So don’t call me a “chronic protester” or a “hysterical crybaby” who cries and screams about everything, or unpatriotic, or an “opponent” or a “loser” or as “overrated” just because I don’t agree with you.  I cannot cash-in my deepest beliefs and climb on your particular bandwagon, because I believe in the land of Hodgepodge or Salmagundi.

Hodgepodge has even taken over the truth—we now have “alternative truth”  (MSNBC, CNN, FOX, etc.).  I know what Ms Conway meant when she used that term.  Don’t you?  We see things differently and from our own perspective.  Eye-witnesses to any event have different stories of the incident.  However, there remains TRUTH and FACTS and it is imperative in our land of Hodgepodge or Salmagundi, that we seek it, find it, and declare it.  That includes all “sides” of the mixture, for truth rises above the potpourri that we are.  This imperative to express truth includes the media of all “sides” to do the same.  Facts matter.  Truth matters.  In this hodgepodge of truth-sayers, we must be extremely diligent.

America the Beautiful

Every once in a while in these disturbing times, I am NOT embarrassed by my fellow Christians.  Every once in a while they break through the calcified bigotry and ignorance often found among the alleged followers of Jesus. I was delighted this week as The United Methodist Church (through the president of the Council of Bishops) spoke out against the so-called “Muslim Ban.”  “Today,” wrote Bishop Ough, “I stand with colleagues representing several faith traditions to strongly denounce President Trump’s widespread attack on immigrants and refugees. President Trump’s reckless, ill-conceived executive orders will divide families, impose a religious test for Muslims facing forced migration, penalize communities providing sanctuary and wall off the United States from our neighbors. These actions are expensive, unnecessary and profoundly antithetical to our values of compassion, dignity and justice for all individuals regardless of nationality, religious affiliation or legal status.”  

Every once in a while in these turbulent days, I am NOT embarrassed by my fellow Americans.  Rachel Maddow provided “good news” last night about the America I have known, served, and loved.  She spoke of the mosque burning in Victoria, Texas, and how a GoFundMe page on social media has raised nearly a million dollars from 20,000 people for the mosque’s reconstruction.  She spoke of the Jewish community in Victoria who have opened the doors of its synagogue for the Muslim community to gather and worship until such time as they rebuild their mosque.  

She spoke of this week’s “Texas Muslim Capitol Day,” an annual event when Muslims from all around Texas gather at the statehouse in Austin to hold a rally and meet with politicians.  Given last week’s travel ban for people from seven Muslim-majority nations everyone expected trouble.  (There was trouble two years ago, in 2015, at the Texas Muslim Capitol Day).  But this time hundreds of people (other than Muslims) showed up, formed a human chain around the capitol, and protected the Muslim rally from those protesters surrounding the event.  This happened in Texas, where a Texas state representative, just a few days before the rally, sent out letters to Islamic centers across Texas questioning the patriotism of Muslim leaders.

Why Are You Surprised?

If I did not view the present administration as one of the most dangerous and despicable administrations ever in our 200-year American experiment in democracy, I would be laughing uncontrollably at some of the reactions of those who voted for and those of us who voted against Mr. Trump.  I would be laughing at those who seem so surprised that President Trump would fire acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates hours after she announced that the Justice Department would not defend his controversial executive order temporarily banning all refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.   He bragged that he would “fire” people—why are you surprised? (Yes, folks, the President of the US does appoint the Attorney General and can “fire” the Attorney General.  And more than that, the president can determine that a prosecution by the Atty. Gen. might undermine our national security and order that prosecution not go forward).    Check out on social media what Jeff Sessions (appointed and awaiting senate confirmation to be the new Attorney General) asked Sally Yates when she was being confirmed.  He meant, of course, that she should say “no” to President Obama.  I wonder if Jeff Sessions will say “no” to Donald Trump? 

Why are you surprised about the immigration ban over the weekend?  Mr. Trump told you this is what he was going to do. The president has power under federal law to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens” if he sees them as “detrimental” to the national interests.  (The same law, however, says, “no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence,” but why are you surprised that this part of the law is being ignored?)  Mr. Trump repeatedly during his campaign ignored the First Amendment rights of those who opposed him and he continues to do so as president.  This is no secret! It has not been hidden and it is not hidden from any of us now. You should not be surprised.  He has called those who did not vote for him illegals, opponents, enemies, and the press as “dishonest” and most recently his “buddy” Bannon has said that the new administration sees the press as “the opposition.”  Why are you surprised?

Some people have been so surprised by the fact that Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders have not reacted negatively to the recent immigration ban (and all the other stuff).  Why are you so surprised?  Didn’t you see  Ryan, Cruz, McConnell and so many others (Romney, Perry) tucking in their tails during the campaign, and then snuggling up when Mr. Trump became the president-elect?)

Do you know anything about human nature?  Have you ever read the Bill of Rights or the Constitution?  Have you ever paid any attention at all to history?  Did you really listen to Mr. Trump during his campaign?  Why are you surprised?  I wish I could laugh at the varied reactions, but I cannot—instead, I cry.