I have come into the world as light, so that no one who believes in me need remain in the dark. Yet, if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him—for I did not come to judge the world but to save it. Every man who rejects me and will not accept my sayings has a judge—at the last day, the very words that I have spoken will be his judge. For I have not spoken on my own authority: the Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and what to speak. And I know that what he commands means eternal life. All that I say I speak only in accordance with what the Father has told me.” J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
In Remember the Titans the head coach makes very clear to the players in training that THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY. It seems to me a major characteristic of conservatism—especially Trumpian conservatism—is an adamant conviction that the workplace is no democracy. Every employee must accede that at any moment on the job an employee is subject to a strong boss's determination of disciple which to be effective must be inherently not subject to appeal. Many people understand that there can be situations that require intense micromanagement--if when in an emergency I am being guided in by an expert pilot over radio how to safely land the plane. Yet many also understand that a good leader requires exceptional empathy and great capacity to listen and receive helpful input from within sources using multiple communication directions. Communication must never be viewed as legitimate and absolute only when directed downward. Would that any individual could have such totally reliable perception and understanding. I have often found it curious that Russia chose the NRA to infiltrate US politics. There are gun owners virtually solid in their belief that gun ownership is centrally about hunting and sports. There is however another mindset regarding gun ownership. In more recent years the NRA has evolved into propagandizing a highly ideological message that sounds a circle-the-wagons mentality. I tuned into a speech given by a high official in the NRA last year. The whole speech was circle-the-wagons ideology. I was shocked for I had never thought of the NRA this way--as source of a scary and threatening propaganda Last week Trump hinted of a violent reactionary uprising. Clearly, Trump and the new ideological NRA were sharing the same book of divisive diatribes. Finally, the hard core leader/employer hierarchy shares the conservative-right evangelical mindset They see the faith as sternly serious-- judgmental and autocratic. You mainline Christians, they hold, are totally outside the fold of faith and since we conservative evangelicals know the very mind of God, you defective ones simply don’t measure up to us the truly saved. We, of course, the most humble on earth can't help but feel--you understand--that we select few are among that relative small group knowing fully God's mind and are thus enabled to perceive clearly who is and is not saved. We understand the great deficiency of mainline Christianity and...no need to ask...we will pray that someday you may join us in being among the truly righteous. Print Page
I have always loved universities and have been jealous when classmates to the left of me and to the right of me ended up attending drop-dead prestige schools for further studies while I nervously hoped and prayed that some state school would inadvertently end up accepting me because the registrar made a snap decision in order to leave early one day. I suppose there’s hardly a youth alive that at some time or other didn't wondered how the birth-stork got it so wrong as to deliver him to such an ordinary and underfunded set of parents. What I’m trying to say is that when we stop counting our blessings and focus instead on what we take uncritically to be the unadulterated good fortune and glowing success of others, we are on ground beneath which vast sinkholes lurk to swallow us whole. One of my most favorite exercises in my university studies was to address efficiency/effectiveness trade-offs. That is, in business or government (or in our personal lives) we can be sorely tempted to sacrifice long-term effectiveness for the sugar-highs short-term efficiencies can offer. And wouldn’t you know, it is at this juncture in which purpose and integrity become key-- a totally unprincipled person has huge advantages in getting things done speedily and efficiently due to the absence of their needing to weigh conscience and ethical considerations. So therefore, we can look at others with great penis envy for the impressive size of their brand-new toys. With a little discernment, however, we may in fact find that we do not subscribe at all to their underlying nihilism—expressed as "those who die with the most toys win." In fact, we may find such a view repugnant and antithetical to our own beliefs. ======= Efficiency (get it done right here, right now!) can trash the insights of portfolio theory…yet finding a vehicle to employ "all the love we can give" can be excruciatingly inefficient and time consuming and, most importantly, require a sustaining grounding in faith. Nevertheless, somehow, I feel much more secure within the intricate tapestries of faith than when boldly blazoned upon the garish banners of absolute and centralized power.
Sadly the Trilogy Is True: the trinity of evil--Ignorance---Tyranny--Fanaticism
Once To Every Man and Nation ~ James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891 Stanza 1: Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, [*some great decision], offering each the bloom or blight,And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light. Stanza 2: Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied. Stanza 3: By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back; New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth, They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth. Stanza 4: Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong; Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong; Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own. * God’s new Messiah________________________________________ This hymn was quoted by Rev. Martin Luther King at the conclusion of his speech, 'Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence' in April 4th, 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City, USA. (https://www.greatchristianhymns.com/once-every-man.html)
(Personal note: When my father was a student at Union Theological Seminary he attended Riverside Church....and much appreciated the sermons of Harry Emerson Fosdick. Fosdick wrotethe hymn in this blog.)
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MLK's peroration in Riverside Speech:
We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says: Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word (unquote). We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on." We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message -- of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.
As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated: Once to every man and nation comes a moment to decide, In the strife of truth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, God’s new Messiah offering each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light. Though the cause of evil prosper, yet ‘tis truth alone is strong Though her portions be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. And if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream." https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
First check out video below......Caution---don't be too eager in feeling vastly superior to the timid and shabby chicken liars of Twain's America WE AS A NATION ARE OLYMPIA GRADE SILENT LIARS ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW OF ALCOHOL'S BATTALION OF ILL EFFECTS INCESSANTLY COVERED NEUROTICALLY BY LYING INDUSTRY PROPAGANDA. YOU ARE WELL AWARE THAT IF I CHOSE TO DO SO I COULD HERE EMBED VIDEOS AND RECITE FACTS THAT COULD FULLY COMPETE OR EVEN EXCEED THOSE OLD MOVIE CLIPS OF TOBACCO SMOKER'S WITH CHESTS SPLIT OPEN AND LUNGS PITCH BLACK PERMANENTLY DAMAGED BEYOND SAVING. I COULD THEN MOVE ON TO SAD CASES OF TOBACCO CHEWERS WITH GROTESQUELY DISTORTED FACES DUE TO BONE AND DENTAL DEGRADATION. YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW ONCE WERE HELL BENT ON THE HEADY LIE THAT YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO AS YOU PLEASE BECAUSE IN ANY CASE IT WILL AFFECT ONLY YOU.----JUST HOW WELL, MY FRIEND, DID THAT LITTLE LIE WORK OUT? CONSIDER EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES RAISING MILLIONS AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. WOULD THEY SPEND A SINGLE MINUTE SERIOUSLY CONTEMPLATING TAKING ON THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY? HELL NO THEY WOULDN'T...BECAUSE AFTER THAT, THEY ARE CERTAIN THEY WOULD NEVER BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS A CANDIDATE. BUT MY FRIENDS OUT THERE DETERMINED TO STOP WINKING AT WEALTH AND POWER AND ADDRESS FOR REAL THE WIDESPREAD SUFFERING INFLICTED BY ALCOHOL, PLEASE CONSIDER KEEPING ME IN YOUR PRAYERS. KEEP THE FAITH WITH ONE ADDITIONAL LITTLE THING IN MIND. THERE WAS ONCE A SURE TO LOSE CANDIDATE IN THE 40'S WITH HUGE OPPOSITION--EVEN WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY. THAT VERY CANDIDATE STOOD FRONT AND CENTER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS--MAYBE YOU TOO WERE TAUGHT ABOUT THAT LITTLE SURE-TO-LOSE GUY --HARRY TRUMAN. LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN....IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THAT PAINFUL FACTS ALSO DESERVE A MOMENT OF FAME A Little Motivational Music Print Page
Republicans always seemed to leave behind a whiff of condescension and a deep desire to resolutely lay down the law for shallow folks like me
pontificate (verb) preach, hold forth, lecture, expound, pronounce, sermonize, sound off, harangue, dogmatize, moralize formal declaim, perorate colloq. lay down the law, spiel (Chanberrs Thesarous 5th ed)) ======================== None Dare Call This Treason...Just Have a Drink and Swim Like a Frog in Heating Water a Bit Longer ...
-===================== "Give 'em Hell, Harry!"Truman could mince no words......I too shared the perception that Republicans always felt superior to riffraff like me--and consequently could leave behind a whiff of condescension
========================= You may find this of special Interest...May I also serve you a relaxing drink?
The Good Book makes one thing very clear--better not mess with the humble in spirit or station.
-------------- Jitterbug defined (Chambers Dictionary 13th ed.): nervous person, scaremonger or alarmist Oh my, you thought the Donald was the last word in scaremongering silliness. You ain’t seen nothing yet! You know my intent is to make very clear it is way past time for phony capitalists sequestered in fool’s gold towers to be exposed for what they truly are—nervous Nelly control freaks who want to play god (little disposable worm, you’re fired!) and dispense with any sort of due process review. They seem to truly believe that all capitalism boils down to is manipulation of inert property; and whoever owns the inert property at any given moment in time has absolute right to control all human capital inherently needed to make the inert asset productive and valuable over time. The understanding of our democracy is that the human capital asset at its core is inherently not for sale though its services can be ostensibly rented through payment of wages. The underlying capital assets of personhood (intelligence, productivity, creativity, spirit, and self-esteem) always remain personhood assets endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. I present this as a rationale for respectfully granting all a right to 3rd party review—due process—in matters of fundamental importance to the well-being of personhood. Since our US Constitution guarantees due process in terms of democratic governance, it becomes a ludicrous joke if due process applies assiduously to a loitering citation while remaining totally irrelevant to a vital and central aspect of our daily lives--workplace governance. As should be obvious to all but nervous Nelly jitterbugs, this has nothing to do with socialism. Rather than infringing upon personhood--as some deem socialism does, having 3rd party review (or due process) profoundly endorses personhood rather destroying it. Likewise, a vast number of employers have seen the necessity and wisdom of such reviews to protect personhood as well as promote internal organizational trust, vitality, and health. -------------------
Thursday, July 29, 2010 [from blog of that date] My blog today is something I wrote on 2/25/1999: Will it last? --So far it has. Will it last? This feeling I have that at its core, My country is better than the credit it gets. Am I the only one daily amazed by the depth and breadth Of simple kindness and humility before a common mortality? Maybe it's where I work--at a civic center rather than an abortion clinic. Maybe it's where I go to church--where people greet, not simply meet. Maybe it's where I went to school--a professor I love could think lowly on his feet. Maybe it's the family I'm in--family reunions bring everyone in. Maybe it's the city I call home--a little sad but with deep wells of hope. Maybe it's the young friends I have--they teach me everything old. Maybe it's the friend that died--unscathed in my love by tragedy. Maybe it's technology--I've never been convinced that it's a prison guard. Maybe it's that my patriotism's bought and paid for by the goodies I get. Maybe it's my health, my time of life, subconscious defenses, a little instability. Whatever it is may it continue day by day until I'm dead, For it does make a difference how I'm treated and the faces I meet, And the sense of a purpose etched from the beginning of history, A Promise Land, a place where people council in prayer, To do better than exist and just get by, But to trust and triumph in a Divine Will. ============== Today (April 4th) I add this comment: It’s time for America to thoroughly appreciate that the creativity behind science is that of God himself and that humble servants of God include earnest scientists and those who constructively use the insights of science to bless God’s creation. This human effort is one of the highest forms of worship during which mankind and God join creative, loving forces. May those forces led by God himself bless America. (And those whose hearts are ignoble rather than noble, stand down while those who know true joy and productivity have a field day in that national park commonly known as God’s Country.)
[Next two paragraphs a quote from Grammarist - link can be found at end of quotation] If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen is a proverb, which is a short, common saying or phrase that gives advice or shares a universal truth. We will examine the meaning of this proverb, where it came from….. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen is an admonition which means if you can’t stand the stress, pressure or difficulties of a situation, then you should remove yourself. The unspoken idea here is that removing yourself from the situation makes room for someone else who is able to stand the pressure or difficulties to take control. The term if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen was popularized by U. S. President Harry Truman, who was in office from 1945-1953. Truman was a plain-spoken man who hailed from Missouri. He credited Judge Buck Purcell of the Jackson County, Missouri Court as the originator of the proverb. The phrase is often shortened to if you can’t stand the heat, the assumption is that the listener already knows the ending of the phrase. Many proverbs are rendered in this way, as they are so commonly known that the speaker only needs to invoke the first part of the phrase for the listener to understand the meaning. https://grammarist.com/phrase/if-you-cant-stand-the-heat-get-out-of-the-kitchen/ ---------------- Matthew 5:16 (NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. -------------- Psalm 100 New King James Version (NKJV) A Song of Praise for the LORD’s Faithfulness to His People A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. ---------------------------------
The above commentary (from Grammarist) upon the proverb used and popularized by President Truman (If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen ) remarks that “heat” can include a complex of “stress, pressure or difficulties of a situation.” I think a job certain I am not cut out for is that of cook at Waffle House—a position of incredible stress as line servers en mass bark orders at you; all the while you have five things cooking at once on the grille. Now to this stressful workload can be added dense forests of negative attitudes leveled by all. I am well aware that the Presidency is some sense undo-able even by the most qualified. President Obama clearly was a highly competent and cool leader. But consider that his youthful daughters had put in their faces daily that many people hated their father AND DID THEIR BEST TO MAKE HIM APPEAR GROSSLY EVIL AND totally INCOMPETENT—maybe not even a true American. I THINK AS President I would look for lots of effective helpers. Like Obama will strive to carry on despite insulting put-downs aplenty. Yet I will determine to “let my little light shine” while asking our Great Creator to guide my steps. Let’s face it, we can’t always be Mr Rogers in a tranquil little kitchen. Lord I pray lead me to be less than a “uniformly judicial Mr Goody two-shoes” never varying in speech or action—but especially in speech. Just know up-front that I may not perfectly fit into your pre-packaged notion of a “Uniformly Polished and Erudite Mr President—the Cool Charmer who never raises his voice.” Sometimes--for me at least--righteousness will involve high spirits with sparks flying all-which-way rather than a seamlessly buttoned-down and polished Mr Ice. ------------------ ------------------ Print Page
