As I write this, tomorrow is the beginning of Lent, a time of penitence and preparation.
I am aware of my sins. They pass before me like an never ending parade. How can I be ready to celebrate Easter in my current condition?
I prepare. I ask for forgiveness. Tomorrow, I will receive the ashes on my forehead. They are an outward sign of repentance and mourning. Only God knows the real condition of my heart. Only He will know if I am truly repentant.
Tonight I read an article by the Rev. Canon Dan Webster. In the article he quotes Kierkegaard: "Am I a follower of Jesus or an admirer?" If I'm honest with myself, I think on most days I'm an admirer. The quote continues: “A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached,” wrote Kierkegaard. “He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.”
I desire to be a follower, not an admirer. The choice is mine.
This Lenten season, I strive to become a follower. I look forward to Easter morning, to the resurrection, to new beginnings.
21 February 2012
18 February 2012
Invisible People
On Thursday morning, I help prepare and serve breakfast for those in need. The usual Thursday volunteers include a priest and a nun, a semi-chronically homeless person and myself. We're volunteers with Dorothy Day House in Berkeley. Everyday, dedicated people get up early and make sure 180 or so of our neediest neighbors get a basic, healthy breakfast.As my fellow volunteers and I were traveling from the kitchen where we cook the food to the dining room where we serve the food (that's another story), we talked about our guests. We wondered when their lives went off the rails. What were their dreams as children? When did they lose those dreams?
Many of our guests are the people you pass by on the sidewalk everyday and don't even notice. They're anonymous. They're invisible. And, as Jesus reminds us, they're our neighbors.
Some of our guests need help, but resources for the poor aren't available. National interest in helping the poor doesn’t seem to exist, either. The poor are unable to afford lobbyists to advocate Congress or state legislatures on their behalf.
I think there's a difference between meeting a need and solving a problem. As volunteers, we can meet a need. What we can't do is solve the problem.
To solve the problem, we have to start seeing the poor. Then, we have to start seeing the poor as our neighbors. We have to realize that the poor are just like us. They too have hopes and dreams. They want shelter, food, security and opportunities. They want to dream about a future that's better than their present.
If the words of the prophets of old are true, then what God will judge this nation for is not whether we allow marriage equality for all, but rather for how we treat the least of these in our midst.
Stephen Colbert so poignantly reminded us: “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”
13 February 2012
Pandering
Pander: to do what somebody wants, or try to please them, especially when this is not acceptable or reasonable (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).
I don’t think I’m stretching the truth too much when I say that most politicians will say just about anything to get elected. After all, it’s well known that presidential candidates run to the extreme wing of their respective parties during a primary and start running more to the center of the party during a general election.
Case in point: Newton Leroy Gingrich.
Mr. Gingrich, who is never at a loss for words, has said some remarkable things in the last week or so. Starting with the promise to have an American permanent base on the moon by the end of his 2nd term (talk about having a positive outlook), to vowing to preemptively striking either or both Iran and North Korea should he feel the need to do so, to stating that he would direct his State Department to both recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the American embassy there.
Nothing about jobs for the vast majority of Americans who are both unemployed and actively looking for work.
Is Gingrich assuming that he’ll have an Republican congress following behind him like a lost puppy? Or is he going to enact his legislative agenda via executive orders?
But I’d like to focus on just one of Gingrich’s outlandish promises - the colonization of the moon. Because no matter what you call it, establishing a permanent base on the moon has the effect of colonizing the moon. Say what you will about Gingrich, he’s not stupid. But, I have to wonder if he really thinks that by no later than 2021, when he supposedly leaves office following his 2nd term, we’ll have the infrastructure in place to support permanent habitation on the moon? And what about the so-called “Moon Treaty” (formerly known as Agreement Governing the Activities of the States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) which prohibits any one country from laying claim to the moon and instead provides for international jurisdiction? Conveniently for Gingrich, the United States never got around to signing that treaty. For that matter, neither did any country that has an active space program. Of course, a permanent base is going to require protection which will effectively mean the militarization of the moon. Does he imagine neither Russia or China will care about what we’re doing up there? I have a feeling they will care. I imagine they would have a strong reaction. I imagine they’ll be concerned about a military base located on the moon.
While this might be good news for the possibly thousands of engineers and technicians who have experience working on space programs (assuming that the private contractors that Gingrich envisions developing the necessary hardware to support his vision actually hire unemployed former NASA employees), what does this mean for the rest of the unemployed Americans who are looking for work?
Well, we’re SOL. Again.
If, for some reason, Gingrich is elected to the presidency, I don’t believe he’ll follow through with this pledge. First of all, I don’t think he meant it when he first said it. He was simply trying to raise the hopes of unemployed (or soon to be unemployed) NASA employees in hopes that they would vote for him. Second, does he think Congress will appropriate the funds necessary to support this boondoggle? And while he dreams of private contractors taking the lead, will a government agency have oversight? Who will ensure the safety and well being of the astronauts/colonizers who embark on this mission?
I don’t think he has the answer to these questions. I don’t think he really believes this is feasible. I think he’s pandering.
Don’t we deserve more? Don’t we deserve politicians that have real solutions to our very real problems? Mr. Gingrich doesn’t seem to offer a realistic solution to our national problems. We deserve more, we deserve better.
Let’s hope Newt and Calista never have the opportunity to redecorate the Oval Office.
I don’t think I’m stretching the truth too much when I say that most politicians will say just about anything to get elected. After all, it’s well known that presidential candidates run to the extreme wing of their respective parties during a primary and start running more to the center of the party during a general election.
Case in point: Newton Leroy Gingrich.
Mr. Gingrich, who is never at a loss for words, has said some remarkable things in the last week or so. Starting with the promise to have an American permanent base on the moon by the end of his 2nd term (talk about having a positive outlook), to vowing to preemptively striking either or both Iran and North Korea should he feel the need to do so, to stating that he would direct his State Department to both recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the American embassy there.
Nothing about jobs for the vast majority of Americans who are both unemployed and actively looking for work.
Is Gingrich assuming that he’ll have an Republican congress following behind him like a lost puppy? Or is he going to enact his legislative agenda via executive orders?
But I’d like to focus on just one of Gingrich’s outlandish promises - the colonization of the moon. Because no matter what you call it, establishing a permanent base on the moon has the effect of colonizing the moon. Say what you will about Gingrich, he’s not stupid. But, I have to wonder if he really thinks that by no later than 2021, when he supposedly leaves office following his 2nd term, we’ll have the infrastructure in place to support permanent habitation on the moon? And what about the so-called “Moon Treaty” (formerly known as Agreement Governing the Activities of the States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) which prohibits any one country from laying claim to the moon and instead provides for international jurisdiction? Conveniently for Gingrich, the United States never got around to signing that treaty. For that matter, neither did any country that has an active space program. Of course, a permanent base is going to require protection which will effectively mean the militarization of the moon. Does he imagine neither Russia or China will care about what we’re doing up there? I have a feeling they will care. I imagine they would have a strong reaction. I imagine they’ll be concerned about a military base located on the moon.
While this might be good news for the possibly thousands of engineers and technicians who have experience working on space programs (assuming that the private contractors that Gingrich envisions developing the necessary hardware to support his vision actually hire unemployed former NASA employees), what does this mean for the rest of the unemployed Americans who are looking for work?
Well, we’re SOL. Again.
If, for some reason, Gingrich is elected to the presidency, I don’t believe he’ll follow through with this pledge. First of all, I don’t think he meant it when he first said it. He was simply trying to raise the hopes of unemployed (or soon to be unemployed) NASA employees in hopes that they would vote for him. Second, does he think Congress will appropriate the funds necessary to support this boondoggle? And while he dreams of private contractors taking the lead, will a government agency have oversight? Who will ensure the safety and well being of the astronauts/colonizers who embark on this mission?
I don’t think he has the answer to these questions. I don’t think he really believes this is feasible. I think he’s pandering.
Don’t we deserve more? Don’t we deserve politicians that have real solutions to our very real problems? Mr. Gingrich doesn’t seem to offer a realistic solution to our national problems. We deserve more, we deserve better.
Let’s hope Newt and Calista never have the opportunity to redecorate the Oval Office.
Cookies
Over the holidays, the parents went on a trip to Europe. The children stayed with their other parents. The child that is a high-school student decided to have a party at the house and invited a few friends over. In this day of instant communication, some of the “few friends” had invited a few more friends and soon there were over a hundred young people in the house and out on the street. They were quite loud. One of the neighbors called the police and the party broke up.
A few evenings ago, the high-school student (accompanied by his youngest siblings who wanted to hang out) knocked on our door. He had with him notes and plates of cookies. He apologized for the disturbance. He explained how the the party had gotten out of hand and seemed genuinely remorseful. We weren’t the only neighbors he was going to visit that evening.
His act of contrition helped restore my faith in his generation. Even though I am probably 40 years older than he is, I remember being his age. I would have been mortified if my mother had made me bake cookies, write a notes of apology and deliver both cookies and notes to my neighbors. He learned a valuable lesson. He learned we don’t live in the world in isolation. We need to be cognizant that often, our individual actions negatively impact our neighbors and when they do, those relationships need to be restored. He made a mistake, he owned up to it, and he made amends. I know many adults who could learn a valuable life lesson from this young man.
Thank you. And, thanks for the cookies.
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