Something Happened....

 

When I was 12 or 13 years old, “Something happened…and now (after all these years) I know, He…She (God, Jesus, Spirit, A Love at the Heart of things—Something?) touched me and made me….What?  The song says “and made me whole”. But, no, I’m still, even now, at nearly 80 years old, seeking wholeness.  No, He/She touched me and offered a way…a path…His/Her way.  I was to follow. But the nature of the adolescent years is to go “my way” and so I did.

Four years later, Something happened…and now (after all these years) I know, He/She touched me and reminded me of the path.  That second touch was convincing.  I followed as best I knew how, but often wandered off on my own (doing my own thing).

Another four years went by.  Then, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…again!  Unlike the blind man in the Gospel story, who required a “second touch” in order to see…this was my third!  (Or was it?)  I still couldn’t see clearly, but felt an overwhelming urge to enter the Christian ministry, and so I did.  Even so, the “following” was, and always has been a challenge.  

Seven years later, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…again. Another five years went by, and Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me.  Then, ten years later, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…urging me to follow more closely.

How many times has “Something happened…?”  I often think of only those “big moments”—those moments when Something happened that literally changed my life, my path, my journey.  

Something happened,…and now I know (after all these years) what Albert Schweitzer meant when he wrote:

“He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side; He came to those men who knew Him not.  He speaks to us the same word:  ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill in our time.  He commands.  And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn Who He is.”

My New Dog....

During the past year and a half many friends have suggested I get a dog, a cat, an aquarium of goldfish,  or something,  to keep me company.  I appreciate the concern and the suggestions, for I know they are offered with love and care.  But, a dog, a cat, an aquarium of goldfish, or whatever, would be an added burden, rather than a comfort.  

A dog requires food, a daily walk, and visits to a Vet.  Forget the cat—I’ve never cared for cats!.  An aquarium requires cleaning and fish need to be fed.  If I wanted to go somewhere I’d have to find someone to care for the dog (or take it with me).  Someone would have to feed the fish, too, for it is difficult to take an aquarium on a trip. Such responsibility and work is more than I want to take on these days.

Yet, I want my friends to know I appreciate their suggestions.  So, I am pleased to share the news that I now have a dog—thanks to my daughter, Rachel.  I asked her to find me a dog that would not shed, or require food, a daily walk, a bath, or visits to the Vet, etc.  Amazon had just such a dog and “Tipsy” arrived at my home last week.  

"Tipsy" 

Please be assured that I am not tipsy!

Another Definition of Inflation

We are currently experiencing economic inflation.  In the world of economics, inflation is a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.  When prices go up, our purchasing power is reduced.  Our reaction is complaint!  We feel the pinch and we don’t like to be pinched, especially in our wallets.

There are manifold reasons for this present dilemma. Whatever those reasons may be, they are not limited to the United States.  Economic inflation is happening around the world.

There is another definition of “inflation” that has nothing to do with economics, but has much to do with our attitudes.  It is the action or condition of being inflated, like the inflation of a tire or a balloon.  This definition applies to our American mentality.  We suffer from an inflated “right” to comfort, both in our lifestyles and in our wallets.  We are a spoiled people.  While folk in Europe and other places around the world have been paying a small fortune for gasoline for years, we have not!  “To Europeans $4 a gallon is nothing.”

This inflated “right” to comfort (in every sense of the word) has been with us for a long time.  We want everything, but we don’t want to pay for whatever that “everything” is!  Ninety percent of all the consumable goods produced on the earth are devoured by a fraction of the world’s people who live in one country:  the United States of America!  Enough said.

Holodomor

While reading The Trials of Harry S. Truman by Jeffery Frank last week, I became aware of the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932-1933).  It is amazing how much we don’t know!  I had never read or heard of the Holodomor—a term coined using the Ukrainian words for hunger (holod) and extermination (mor).

The Holodomor was a man-made famine.  It occurred when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin tried to collectivize agriculture in Ukraine (then a part of the Soviet Union).  The Communist Party forced peasants to relinquish their land, personal property and housing to collective farms.  This policy was resisted by the Ukrainians.  Rebellious farmers, towns and villages were prevented from receiving food (the “police” took everything edible from them).  They were not allowed to leave the Ukrainian republic in search of food.  

The result:  3.9 million Ukrainians perished from hunger.  Mass graves were dug all across the country—just as they are being dug today.  

Yesterday, May 8, 2022, 2:15 PM ET — “A UN official said that Russian forces are stealing and destroying grain in Ukraine, which may result in food shortages there and around the world.  Warnings of famine carry an echo of the Holodomor, when the Soviet Union’s decision-making resulted in the deaths of some 5 million people across the U.S.S.R., at least 3.9 million of whom were Ukrainian.”

Mother's Day 2022

My mother was also the mother of my six siblings.  She was born in 1919, and graduated to a new realm of existence in 2014.  Mom was unique, beautiful, wise and loving.  I miss her.

My Mother in 1960.

My mother in 2012

I’m grateful for the mother of my children today as well.  I use to tell my children, especially on Mother’s Day, that she was my wife, not my mother.  She was their mother, but on this day, I join my children in “missing” her.

Give Thanks for Everything

I’ve been cooking for a long time.  It isn’t a new thing for me.  What is “new” is cooking a meal for just me!  I’m not a big “left-overs” enthusiast so it has been difficult to cook for just “one,” and avoid eating the same meal for the next three days.  I found a solution to this problem when searching through the cupboards last year.  I found the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.  My mother-in-law gave it to us years ago, but it never got much use.

The George Foreman grill is a portable electrically heated grill promoted by two-time world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.  Introduced in 1994, over 100 million grills have been sold nationwide.  Foreman didn’t invent the machine—he simply endorsed it.  According to some, Foreman was being paid 40 percent of the profits on each grill sold, earning him $4.5 million a month.  His estimated income from the endorsement has totaled over $200 million.  Not bad!

After finding the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine my dilemma about cooking just for me has been resolved.  A kabob, a pork chop, a few shrimp, a piece of chicken, a steak, a hamburger, a cheese sandwich, vegetables (like asparagus),  a hotdog, etc. “for one” are easily done on the grill.  Cleaning the grill is easy because of its non-stick surface.  It takes just minutes to grill almost anything.  No leftovers. No pots and pans to wash and dry.  The Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine has been a great boon in cooking just for me.  And…if a guest shows up, I can cook enough for two!

The Apostle Paul admonishes us to “give thanks for everything.”  I’m thankful this morning for the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine!

Shun No One!

 “Shunning can the act of social rejection, or emotional distance.  In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group…”. (Wikipedia)

Jesus shunned no one as best I can tell from the Gospels.  William Stringfellow discovered this same thing. “He shunned no one,” Stringfellow wrote, “not even adulterers, not even tax collectors, not even neurotics and psychotics, not even those tempted to suicide, not even alcoholics, not even poor people, not even beggars, not even lepers, not even those who ridiculed Him, not even those who betrayed Him, not even His own enemies.”  Jesus shunned no one.  

The Bible, when really heard, speaks of this world in which you and I live—not some make-believe world, not some “not yet existent” world, not some imaginary world.  The Bible speaks of this world, the world we know and the world we live in, with all its goodness and beauty, with all its ugliness and filth, with all its confusion.  And—if heard—the Bible tells us, that it is in this world (and its history) where God is present and evident.  It is this world into which God comes, this world for which God cares, this world where God is with us, this world where God resides. It is into this world that Jesus came.  It is this world where Jesus has already lived our life, already died our death, and has already risen from our death.  God is here and may be known in the bedlam, in the ugliness, in the greed, in the goodness of this world where you and I live.  

God was in the world and the world knew Him not.  Jesus, however, knew God to be in our midst and helped us see what he saw and experienced.  What is God like?  The best I know is that God is like Jesus.  God shuns no one—not in the 1st century and not in the 21st century.  God does not shun Democrats or Republicans, not Trump, Obama, or Putin, not even Hillary, not even immigrants, not even homosexuals or drug addicts, not even you and me.  God  does not shun those who betray God or those who are enemies of God.  God  is like Jesus, and shuns no one.

Jesus did not try to disguise anything about this world as it is.  He knew there was darkness and light, evil and good, and said so.  He knew there was war, suffering, peace, disease, security, pain, health, lust, hate, arrogance, forgiveness and love, and said so.  His followers know this too—for they are given the gift of Jesus:  the gift  to discern God’s presence in the world, to live in the grace of the Resurrection and to know the secret of life, which is all bound up in that unequivocal assurance that we are loved by One who loves all others.  This enables me to love myself, frees me to love another, any other, and every other.   Hard as it is to do—we who claim to be followers of Jesus are not to shun anyone!