NEWS FROM THE WHINERY
Boy, it's hard to be thankful this year. The economy is in the crapper. The weather is changing for the worse. And, most of all, I'm 3000 miles from my Mom and Dad.
I don't know why this year is any different than the other forty or so Thanksgivings I've been away from my parents home. It just is, somehow.
I think one of the reasons is that I've decided to move back to Maine next year and I'm subconsciously counting the days. I had made this decision earlier this fall after a 'too close for comfort' car accident in San Antonio. This brought into perspective just how vulnerable we were. I have, in my cocky, self centered way, been living under the illusion that I could handle anything that came up. I had done all of the research, make the proper arrangements, and covered all of my bases before and during our sojourn to Mexico. All of my planning was for the care of my wife. Medical care, housing, domestic help, creature comforts, these things I planned for and provided with some success. What I so blindly avoided was the possibility that something could happen to me. I didn't plan for an unthinkable event that would leave me unable to continue being the full time care giver and protector of the person who relies on me for everything.
Another thing that makes me more melancholy this season than in others is the reality that, at 85 years old, my parents have only a few more seasons for me to be with them. It seems strange that I so easily postponed, canceled, ignored, or rationalized away so may holidays during the past few dozen years. And now, seemingly all of a sudden, I need desperately to be with them. I think I'm just lonely. It is discouraging, sometimes, to live in a community where I am the outsider, and knowing that no matter what I do or for how long I live here, I will always be the outsider. The gringo with the exorbitant (by Mexican standards) income without needing to labor. The hombre who doesn't speak Spanish but expects everyone to understand him. How pitiful I sound.
I just realized how selfish I seem, pathetic really. Me, me, me. Well I guess in an essay intended as an expression of feelings the focal point should be the author.
On an up note, we are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for the people here in Mexico who have become our friends. Our neighbor and landlady and her live-in “friend” will be here. They spent all afternoon taking over the cleaning of our furniture and hanging new flower baskets outside. Also attending is our housekeeper and her two teenage daughters as well as the boyfriend of one of them. This is the group I use to celebrate my milestones. They joined us for my latest birthday and when we went out to a restaurant with our friend, Brian, who came from England for a visit. Yep, that's correct. Two times in two years. (sounding pitiful, again)
Largely because of television, the people here in Mexico know of and understand, at a rudimentary level, what Thanksgiving Day is and what it is meant to celebrate. They see President Obama pardoning a turkey and smile without really knowing the symbolism. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is watched with the same anticipation of Santa's arrival as in the States. The children at the market who want to practice speaking the English they are required to learn tell me how George Washington saved the Indians from the British and that is the true meaning of Thanksgiving. I want to correct them but their story is more interesting than the one I learned when I was their age.
So, later I will roast the Butterball I bought in Texas, candy the carrots with just a hint of chilies , mash up the sweet potatoes with some of the maple syrup we took off the table at the Cracker Barrel restaurant last summer in Fort Worth, and prepare the Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix according to package directions. I'll stuff the celery stalks with cream cheese and olives, plate the pickles and cranberry jelly, and warm the store bought pumpkin pie while we eat. Carolyn and I will know the symbolism of these dishes. And I'll beam as I offer the Thanksgiving blessing for the first time as a minister of God.
And, I'll smile to myself in the awareness that I have so much to be thankful for that I am ashamed for whining so in this essay.
May the blessing of Jesus the Nazarene be upon you and yours today, tomorrow and all of the tomorrows to come. Happy Thanksgiving.
"people should have to pay to go to church and theater should be free"
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
PRAY FOR AMERICA
Nothing, absolutely nothing,
happens in God’s world by accident.
God doesn’t make mistakes
These words are the cornerstone of my belief system. They come from my ‘other’ bible, the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. These words are the inspiration for my personal recovery, both physically and spiritually. It’s difficult to apply these words to yesterday’s horror in Texas, however. I spent some time in the armed services and went through combat in Viet Nam.
I can understand the need to take lives to protect one’s self and those whose lives are entrusted to you. I can understand police activity that involves the use of deadly force in order to “protect the domestic tranquility“. I understand that this is part of the world in which we live and I trust that these actions are all part of a plan, the nature of which I do not have the need or ability to know.
What I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around this morning, is the purpose in the killings and wounding of unarmed people who were waiting in line to defend me and our country. I’m having difficulty accepting this terror as part of a plan of my loving, benevolent God. It all seems so senseless.
It’s things like this that really test my faith in God and His plan. I have to fight off the instinct to demand explanations and insist that this horror make sense. I truly have difficulty letting God take care of His world and my part in it.
What I have to remember is that I’m understanding exactly everything I’m supposed to at this time. I’m exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I’m who I am meant to be, right now.
There is a purpose. There is a plan. And there is no reason to believe that anything is not precisely as it is supposed to be in God’s world.
Dear God, thank you for granting me ignorance of Your wisdom, the gift of pain and grief, and the benefit of Your love. I trust You , absolutely. I ask that You provide these victims and those around them only that ignorance, pain and grief, and love they are able to benefit from. May the teaching of Jesus the Nazarene guide us through these next few days. Amen.
happens in God’s world by accident.
God doesn’t make mistakes
These words are the cornerstone of my belief system. They come from my ‘other’ bible, the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. These words are the inspiration for my personal recovery, both physically and spiritually. It’s difficult to apply these words to yesterday’s horror in Texas, however. I spent some time in the armed services and went through combat in Viet Nam.
I can understand the need to take lives to protect one’s self and those whose lives are entrusted to you. I can understand police activity that involves the use of deadly force in order to “protect the domestic tranquility“. I understand that this is part of the world in which we live and I trust that these actions are all part of a plan, the nature of which I do not have the need or ability to know.
What I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around this morning, is the purpose in the killings and wounding of unarmed people who were waiting in line to defend me and our country. I’m having difficulty accepting this terror as part of a plan of my loving, benevolent God. It all seems so senseless.
It’s things like this that really test my faith in God and His plan. I have to fight off the instinct to demand explanations and insist that this horror make sense. I truly have difficulty letting God take care of His world and my part in it.
What I have to remember is that I’m understanding exactly everything I’m supposed to at this time. I’m exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I’m who I am meant to be, right now.
There is a purpose. There is a plan. And there is no reason to believe that anything is not precisely as it is supposed to be in God’s world.
Dear God, thank you for granting me ignorance of Your wisdom, the gift of pain and grief, and the benefit of Your love. I trust You , absolutely. I ask that You provide these victims and those around them only that ignorance, pain and grief, and love they are able to benefit from. May the teaching of Jesus the Nazarene guide us through these next few days. Amen.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
VETERAN'S DAY 2009
"Let us give thanks to God for the land of our birth with all its chartered liberties. For all the wonder of our country's story:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For leaders in nation and state, and for those who in days past and in these present times have labored for the commonwealth:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For those who in all times and places have been true and brave, and in the world's common ways have lived upright lives and ministered to their fellows:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For those who served their country in its hour of need, and especially for those who gave even their lives in that service:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
O almighty God and most merciful Father, as we remember these your servants, remembering with gratitude their courage and strength, we hold before you those who mourn them. Look upon your bereaved servants with your mercy. As this day brings them memories of those they have lost awhile, may it also bring your consolation and the assurance that their loved ones are alive now and forever in your living presence."
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THOSE WHO GUARD OUR FREEDOMS
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For leaders in nation and state, and for those who in days past and in these present times have labored for the commonwealth:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For those who in all times and places have been true and brave, and in the world's common ways have lived upright lives and ministered to their fellows:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
For those who served their country in its hour of need, and especially for those who gave even their lives in that service:
Reprise: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
O almighty God and most merciful Father, as we remember these your servants, remembering with gratitude their courage and strength, we hold before you those who mourn them. Look upon your bereaved servants with your mercy. As this day brings them memories of those they have lost awhile, may it also bring your consolation and the assurance that their loved ones are alive now and forever in your living presence."
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THOSE WHO GUARD OUR FREEDOMS
Shame on Maine
Well, as expected, the fear mongers and promoters of ignorance succeeded in clouding the issues and convinced Mainers to violate the civil liberties of a whole segment of our population. That's right, like it or not, homosexuals are a growing segment of our population and they don't have equal protection under the law.
In fact, marriage it is a civil matter requiring a government license, and recorded in a government courthouse. Marriages are civil actions with civil rights and regulations. There is nothing “church”, religious, scriptural, or sacred, about it. If this is confusing, try to get married without a marriage license issued by a government officer.
Everyone who wants to believe that a wedding is sacred is welcome so to do and they would be supported by scripture and most churches. However, some time in the distant past, marriages were confused with weddings which are preformed by clergy and sanctified by God. And this somehow transformed a civil act into a religious one.
It is possible for the government to recognize and protect civil rights to equal protection under the law without clouding the issue with religious interference. No one can perform a marriage without special government permission, even clergy. Judges, Justices of the Peace, Clerks of Courts, some wardens of prisons, and a variety of other civil officials can perform marriages. Even ship's captains can do it. WHY? Because these people, by virtue of their civil authority, have permission from the government. Some (albeit, most) clergy can marry people, too. But it has nothing to do with their religious affiliation, religious beliefs, or God. All clergy must present their credentials to a government authority to be reviewed and judged to be sufficient. Even when a couple is wedded by a member of the clergy, that clergy must sign the official government document for the marriage to be valid.
So what have the voters of Maine done to "protect" the institution of marriage? Nothing! Nothing but restrict a segment of Maine residents from being afforded the same civil rights as others. All of the scriptural, spiritual, religious, and moral arguments do nothing but obscure the fact that some of Maine's residents continue to be blocked from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to equal protection under the law.
"people should have to pay to go to church and theater should be free"
In fact, marriage it is a civil matter requiring a government license, and recorded in a government courthouse. Marriages are civil actions with civil rights and regulations. There is nothing “church”, religious, scriptural, or sacred, about it. If this is confusing, try to get married without a marriage license issued by a government officer.
Everyone who wants to believe that a wedding is sacred is welcome so to do and they would be supported by scripture and most churches. However, some time in the distant past, marriages were confused with weddings which are preformed by clergy and sanctified by God. And this somehow transformed a civil act into a religious one.
It is possible for the government to recognize and protect civil rights to equal protection under the law without clouding the issue with religious interference. No one can perform a marriage without special government permission, even clergy. Judges, Justices of the Peace, Clerks of Courts, some wardens of prisons, and a variety of other civil officials can perform marriages. Even ship's captains can do it. WHY? Because these people, by virtue of their civil authority, have permission from the government. Some (albeit, most) clergy can marry people, too. But it has nothing to do with their religious affiliation, religious beliefs, or God. All clergy must present their credentials to a government authority to be reviewed and judged to be sufficient. Even when a couple is wedded by a member of the clergy, that clergy must sign the official government document for the marriage to be valid.
So what have the voters of Maine done to "protect" the institution of marriage? Nothing! Nothing but restrict a segment of Maine residents from being afforded the same civil rights as others. All of the scriptural, spiritual, religious, and moral arguments do nothing but obscure the fact that some of Maine's residents continue to be blocked from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to equal protection under the law.
"people should have to pay to go to church and theater should be free"
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