Clowns to the Left of Me, Criminals to the Right…

 

I tuned in online today to listen to a panel of liberal political pundits whom I usually find engaging. I don’t always agree with them, sometimes their anger reads louder than the sense they try and make of things. All good 👍 we can certainly benefit from listening to other’s differing opinions. But what I was hoping to hear was a discussion of our ridiculous former criminal in chief’s fake golf meeting since I don’t watch media news. Alas, there was only a brief aside to that and instead most of the conversation descended into an attack on the US media’s coverage of the passing of Britain‘s longest reigning monarch. They protested that it happened a week ago, why is our media still talking about it? Stop already. Then THEY proceeded to talk about it for an hour. Mmm, okay. Just an hour of monarchy bashing vitriol and the lack of accountability in the case of Prince Andrew’s life of perversion and the monarchy’s history of genocide and on and on.  I’m sorry, Prince Andrew suffered no consequences?  In the past 70 years, the British monarchy has remained unchanged? We’ve given the passing of this 96 year old woman her due, now back to the self righteous anger business?  And did we not begin our grand US experiment in an anti monarchy republic by committing genocide, building our foundation of infrastructure and economy on the backs of slaves and continue to this day to see most of us taken advantage of and abused?  

This is the reality of our so called equality and freedom for all. This liberal panel was not all male and white folk, but I saw it full of righteous indignation and anger that was well sprinkled with hypocrisy. Entitled thinking is the issue for me I think. Entitlement comes in all colors, genders and walks of life. I’m better than you; my opinion is better than yours; I have more money so I matter more, however benign I may think I am being in any of those thoughts, that’s entitlement. For me, money is not the root of evil, the destructive notion that I deserve better than someone else is. I’m a flawed human being along with everyone, but my life is a continuous attempt of humility, service and kindness. 

Still no answers on Golf-green Gate. Maybe Drumpf and his old white men lackies were just exchanging cookie recipes?  Or maybe the old uncles were hoping that the mere sight of their powerful collective presence will keep fear instilled in whomever they think should be cowering before them. 

Oy. 

Empathy in the Eye of the Storm

There is a story I have from my NY Catholic Worker days in the 1980’s that I often return to. My whole time there was filled with blessings and challenges, happily as St. Therese says “All is Grace.”  This one moment stands out to me as perhaps my favorite. 

It was a day off for me, in the afternoon, I was on the pay phone in the hall talking to my brother John, people were milling about as was normal. All was right with the world, until it wasn’t.  Out of the clear blue, Sandra, who was sitting in the dark on a chair outside the laundry room at the end of the hall, lets out a long, blood curdling, primal scream. All at once, all in the few seconds after this many things happened simultaneously; people stop in their tracks, looking in the direction of the source of the scream, my brother John who had stopped talking on the other end of the phone says, “Uh, what was that?,” Arturo who was on the house comes running from the dining room like the SWAT team, looks furtively at me as I calmly point down the hall while I answer my brother on the phone, “I think it’s just Sandra having a reality check”, and that’s when the best part happened.

Reflecting Grace in a Pandemic

I’ve been sewing face masks of late and have been in constant battle with my long neglected sewing machine.

No worries, I keep adjusting tension, rethreading and all other tendernesses to get it working again. I may still bring it somewhere to be cleaned and oiled, but for now, it continues to spit it’s non-covid menace at me. By the Grace of God, I don’t seem to wish it ill or curse at it, I’m just merrily rolling along with only coffee in my system and Fleetwood Mac and Crowded House happily humming in my ears.

All of which reminds me that the very first time I recall my mother swearing was at her sewing machine. Total frustration made her face beet red and the shocking mutter of “S~*t!!” exited her sweet Irish Catholic lips. In the sixty three years I knew the woman, it was a rare thing!

I have to ask myself why I am not tempted to the same frenzy of foul language here and now? Well, I think to myself, I have the freedom of time. I have no deadline, also, no children, no husband, no meal to cook (bless you housemate D!), plus the aforementioned favorite tunes and coffee, making this project a pleasure.

 It makes the regular performance of motherly deeds that Mom did for us all the more remarkable. As hard as life could be, and it was hard, she strove to make it bearable, even a pleasure. What a wonderful grace!

What Cost, Love and Freedom?

I read a comment today on good old, non-partisan Facebook where a woman made the statement "Obama spent 8 years tearing down America..." and I stopped there.  Tearing down?  I must have misread that, but no.  I did not read on, I refuse to get sucked into the massive amount of comments that discourage me and inspire division.  I often avoid the comments sections on the Internet altogether.  This one gave me pause, though.  I do realize, though it is always a surprise, impossible for me to fathom, just how frightened and angry people are at the notion of true equal rights.  That every American is deserving of equal respect, equal opportunity and equal protection of these rights from OUR government.  I do go even further as an individual and a Christian and profess unconditional love and friendship to all, at least offered, though not always returned, not even within my Christian church.  

After 61 years on the planet, I still cannot understand why someone can have their toys in their sandbox, but not want to allow others to have their own toys in their own sandbox.  God bless America, oh - but not you, or you, or you...  It's my America and unless you walk, talk, pray and look like me, then you are not worthy of the same opportunities and protections.  And to have such vitriol for a man and his wife who had to fight, not just work, for strides in what we profess as American values is still beyond me!  You are free to hate, to think anything you like and I'll defend your right as a fellow citizen to do just that.  But shame on you for saying that we all are not worthy of the same rights in this country, in any country.  You will lose my respect, and if your hatred becomes physical, if I am not present to stop it myself, then I count on the law to protect the innocent.

What does it cost to truly live "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" for all of our diverse population?  Worthy or not, it is the government in which we pledge to live.  As tiresome as it is, it is the ideal in which I live daily as a citizen of the United States of America.  And as a follower of Christ?  Each day I remind myself of his life, his witness to love, his defense of the poor and innocent.  And each day I also remind myself how his life ended, nailed to a cross as a criminal and left to die because the corrupt, the hate filled and fearful were too threatened by his lesson of universal love. 

There is a Season, God Knows the Reason

Summer in America, year of our Lord, 2016.  "Think globally, act locally" I once heard Pete Seeger say.  Advice I've tried to heed.  I'd like to think we've come a long way, even in my few years on earth.  A bit over half a century and it looks as though humanity hasn't learned a thing.  My country and the world seem more troubled and confused about good versus evil than it has ever been, if the news is to be believed.  Ha, the "news."  So much violence, stupid and arbitrary inflicted between humans.  All children of God, of Allah, of the earth.  Brothers and sisters all struggling to play in the same sandbox.  The political climate of the earth and of the US seem more polarized than ever.

I reluctantly look at our current elections.  The US has been interfering with other countries elections for decades.  In the interest of what?  On our behalf?  And just who is this "USA" that's been doing these misdeeds?  Our government, whom we've elected to represent us?  And who are "we" these days?  If I'm to believe this election cycle, we're a collection of fearful, violent racists, homophobes, misogynists, liberals and socialists.  I don't even know what a conservative is anymore.  What's being conserved? 

 And now our government is clearly aiming it's shenanigans directly at all of us.  Why?  For whom?  Is it better than manipulating matters abroad?  I'm sort of losing the plot here...

So looking to today's readings at Mass from Ecclesiastes, I find it so very apt:

"Vanity of vanities! Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity!

What more does a man have from all his labor, as he labors under the sun?

A generation passes away, and a generation arrives. But the earth stands forever.

The sun rises and sets; it returns to its place, and from there, being born again,

it circles through the south, and arcs toward the north. The spirit continues on, illuminating everything in its circuit, and turning again in its cycle.

All rivers enter into the sea, and the sea does not overflow. To the place from which the rivers go out, they return, so that they may flow again.

Such things are difficult; man is not able to explain them with words. The eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the ear fulfilled by hearing.

What is it that has existed? The same shall exist in the future. What is it that has been done? The same shall continue to be done.

There is nothing new under the sun. Neither is anyone able to say: “Behold, this is new!” For it has already been brought forth in the ages that were before us.

There is no remembrance of the former things. Indeed, neither shall there be any record of past things in the future, for those who will exist at the very end.

All things have their time, and all things under heaven continue during their interval.

A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pull up what was planted.

A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to tear down, and a time to build up.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.

A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to be silent, and a time to speak.

A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace."

There is so much, too much to contemplate from Ecclesiastes about the evil and good to be found in humanity on earth, and God's part in it.  Our time here is very short.  I am sure of one thing;  I, we, will never get a handle on it all.  I always find myself coming back to my favorite passage in the Bible, Micah 6 - 

This is what God asks of you, only this: 

To act justly,

To love tenderly, and

To walk humbly with your God.

And in the end, that's all the handle I need to have.

A Brexit Musing from My Ex-pat Past

This puts it quite well, I think. The following quote is from a reader of the English paper Financial Times:

Financial Times

"A quick note on the first three tragedies. Firstly, it was the working classes who voted for us to leave because they were economically disregarded and it is they who will suffer the most in the short term from the dearth of jobs and investment. They have merely swapped one distant and unreachable elite for another one. Secondly, the younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries. We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied. Freedom of movement was taken away by our parents, uncles, and grandparents in a parting blow to a generation that was already drowning in the debts of our predecessors. Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, we now live in a post-factual democracy. When the facts met the myths they were as useless as bullets bouncing off the bodies of aliens in a HG Wells novel. When Michael Gove said 'the British people are sick of experts' he was right. But can anybody tell me the last time a prevailing culture of anti-intellectualism has lead to anything other than bigotry?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was living in Amsterdam in the late 1980's when Europe was putting the European Economic Community (EEC as it was then called) together and recruiting countries to participate. It was finally put into effect in 1993. I remember the biggest fears came from bigotry, fear of a more "open" immigration and the loss of individual national identities. The biggest hopes were all based on the benefits of shared job opportunities and the sort of security it could promise and promote.

It seemed to me at the time that it would give Europe, as a union the same sort of clout that we have in America. Our union is now almost 240 years old. Do we take the benefits of this union for granted? I'm sure I do. It is so very hard to balance our way of thinking - the intellectual vs the emotional. What are we grateful for? What are we afraid of? What can we work towards to effectively change to make it better for the majority? It remains our ongoing privilege and duty. Our emotions get so very overwhelming when we feel invisible, when we are frustrated beyond control. It is so very important to carefully consider the things which upset us before we act irrationally.

I've been thinking of this phrase this morning - "Don't let the bastards grind you down," or the phrase "Illegitimi non carborundum," which oddly enough originates in usage from British Army Intelligence (yeah, I know...) during WWII.

Now I need to give my brain a break and try not to think too terribly hard about our current elections dilemma of fear vs fact in the US. I think I'll spend the rest of today drinking from my "Keep Calm and Carry On" coffee cup. Thanks again for that, Carol!!

Goodness, For Goodness' Sake!

Listening just now to Liz McAlister's eulogy at Dan Berrigan's funeral, she quoted him as having said "We live in inexplicably evil times."  This really strikes me.  Yes, inexplicably, because we have had Christ and Moses and Buddha and so many other messengers of God from without and within.  We should know better.

How much good is born into our own hearts, how many people in our own lives, how many faiths, how many humans have lived in our history who have given us clear and inspiring examples of how to live?  How to play well with others.  We can all feast on the goodness of the earth.  What is it that makes evil so tempting?  Why does anyone "want it all" at the expense of anyone else having simply enough?  Why should anyone not be happy until they've taken all the toys from the sandbox?  And the violence? The hatred, fear and loathing of imagined enemies.  Our brothers, our sisters?  Imagination turned reality, when finally, we do become one another's enemy.

I just don't understand it.

What's so hard about being good?  We can see it, embrace it and live it.  Go ahead.  Spoil yourselves.