IS IT ABOUT MICHAEL VICK OR ME?

     The Philadelphia Eagles have placed Michael Vick under contract.  Already people were jumping off the Eagles bandwagon! How could you? I’ll never forgive you! He’s not worth the trouble!

     Let us clear some air here. I own three dogs. A Lab. an Australian husky-Lab mix and an English spaniel. I have had the pleasure of dog company all the seventy-five years of my life. I applaud the great work done by all the animal rights activists and by the ordinary people who rescue and care for animals. They deserve the credit and contributions they get. I’ve fished from time to time and watched fishermen break the snouts of little sand sharks and throw them back int the water and drown. I’ve shared, with you, the nightly news pictures of maimed, mangled and burned animals. Iam aware of the ugly practices of slaughter of some of the meat we eat. I am appalled by men’s cruelty to animals! Michael Vick turned this in to a business and he deserved the punishment he received. I’ve come to that conclusion based on the facts that I’ve been able to glean from the media. But what troubles me is that the outrage against him continues. Is it because we have forgotten what it means to forgive? Do we believe that some should never be forgiven? Is the work of forgiving just to difficult for some? Is there some other motive for continuing not to forgive?

     Forgiving is generally recognized as that quality of human spirit that removes indignation, resentment and anger which has proceeded from some perceived (accurately or inaccurately) wrong. Nations sometimes go to war because of some wrongly perceived offense which its leaders refuse to forgive. Indeed, some evil leaders use the “big lie” technique to arouse the anger of people so that the leader can get his or her own way, even though a calmer more rational nation would not agree normally.  Human beings are offended or angered, even to the point of violence, by some perceived wrongful act of another. It is I suppose a part of the human condition. I would venture a guess that such emotion grows from our primal “fight or flight” syndrome. If that be the case then why should one harbor resentment, nurture anger, constantly obsess about some indignity to ones self? Once we have made the decision to walk away or to “fight” there is no more need to be upset by the offense. To continue dwelling upon another’s wrong becomes an affliction. It consumes us, or more specifically erodes our good judgement. So when one forgives, he or she lets go, lays aside the wrong, does not allow the offense to enter into ones life journey decisions. It’s over. and a new relationship (of whatever nature and without anger, resentment or vendetta) begins. All humans err from time to time. If we are to live in some state of peaceful concordance then forgiving one another is a fundamental element of society. Otherwise, we will live in an ever increasing state of anger, resentment, jealousy and hatred. It will be only a matter of time before the hatred is acted out. I think the Vick affair is not on an earth shattering level yet, but it is on the verge of becoming very damaging to one individual. The breach of a levy begins with the trickle of a small leak!

     The point is that Michael Vick was sentenced in a court. He served his time. He paid all of his fortune for fines and debts. He says he is sorry and wants to begin again. There is nothing in that scenario that condones his crime, or even his overall conduct with regard to animals (or for anything else, for that matter). There is no reason to judge him as an evil man. Indeed, we do not make such decisions. We’re not here to judge our neighbor’s soul or spiritual worth. That’s the business of God. Our philosophy of government holds that a person is free to work out his or her own relationship with God. We believe, and constitutionally hold, that punishment is to be reasonably related to the offense, and scarlet letters are not part of our system. Punishment cannot be “cruel and unusual” says our Constitution. We claim that rehabilitation is one of the goals of our judicial system. One of the great failures of that system is that we, in fact do not rehabilitate, for in order to do that we would have to forgive and it’s not “politically correct” to forgive in these days of ours! That’s what is distressing about much of the reaction to Vick’s hiring by the Eagles.

     The man himself says that he has changed. He says he’s rehabilitated. He says he wants to start again. What is there about that that shows he’s not telling the truth? Where is there any evidence that what Mr. Vick says is not true. If we want to suggest that “once a liar, always a liar” then we join the empty headed who replace the brain power it takes to reach considered and factually based judgments, with no mental work and guessing. Such is the wherewithal of shysters. Those who would withhold judgment are perfectly entitled to do so, so long as they are not withholding just to continue unwarranted punishment.  The man has apparently done what our system of justice requires of him – pay the price and change your ways. Now it’s our turn, our obligation as a member of society, to give him, and those in similar situations, an opportunity to live as a participating member of our community.There is no evidence that once someone has broken the law that such a one will always break the law. There is no evidence that once someone has committed a heinous act that such a one will do so again. Every major religion, including Christian, Judaism and Islam, teaches that forgiveness is part of the spiritual journey to God. Each teaches that there is a divine call to forgive. The Gallup Poll finds that 94% of Americans believe that it is important to forgive. Forgiveness has been considered important not only in religious thought, but also in social and medical thought. Those who will not forgive do harm to themselves. Anger, depression and inner turmoil are often the fruits of such unforgiving natures. Those who do forgive find greater peace in their lives and they are freer to move on with good works.

     So, if we can forgive Michael Vick, and allow him to move on with his proposed life, we can move on with our concerns that men and women ought not abuse any of God’s creation: be it things, like forests, and oceans, and air; or be it fish, fowl or beast; or be it human beings, regardless of their definition by other humans. Let us give Mr. Vick the benefit of the doubt at this point. We, in doing so, are not condoning animal abuse, but rather we are supporting the noble belief that mankind has the amazing God given power of repentance, the power to change, the power move on and do good for others who also inhabit this small portion of God’s good creation.

 

The Grunt and Technology -A Reflection

     It all began, I guess, when someone wanted to keep a prized morsel from someone else who also wanted it! Then and there, in the dim distant darkness eons ago, the possessor and the wanter grunted. And so began the art of communication. One would think that humans were then the equal, at least, of animals, so they began to realize that different sounding grunts signaled different meanings.  We all know that over the years, the grunts were refined so as to develop the nuance of the grunter’s meaning. Thence came a sophisticate that thought it would be good if we classified our grunts so that each particular grunt would convey the same thought.

     Low and behold, there was speech! Well, not exactly speech but a refined set of grunts. This refinement probably developed according to the urgency of the situation. We all, well most of us anyway, agreed to that set of grunts having the same meaning. Children, of course, would still be permitted to claim they didn’t understand. Now so that Mother could leave a note for Johnny containing things for him to do when he came home from school, and a list of “honey do’s” for Daddy, we had to develop a way to preserve the grunts. Aha -writing. But people grunted with different accents. The grunts in Africa, Europe and America just weren’t the same. So a different sophisticate decided that the writing of a grunt should look the same (This was obviously before Babel!). Thus, came spelling! It was necessary to put the words signifying a grunt together similarly, thus the need for letters. When the letters were put together correctly, a particular grunt was indicated. Aha, correct spelling. 

     Well, time passed, and people saw the need for a correct order of grunts. They noted that some grunts modified other grunts. They began to see a new respect if their writings ordered the grunts in a more formal flowing manner. Thus came about grammar, parsing and the study of rhetoric. The ability of speaking well, convincingly and politely became a true art form. Those who mastered this art were widely admired. One simply did not communicate without applying this art form. Such was rude, callous and certainly no worthy of acceptance! 

     Then came along a “wise guy” who thought it would be a lot easier if all preservable communication did not have to be written by hand. So Mr. Gutenberg invented the printing press. It was an awkward but revolutionary development. Doctors loved it because no one would have to read their handwriting. But, as with all good innovations, we all finally caught on. Our hand writing no longer had to be smooth, cursively correct, or applied with an artistic flourish, because what we wanted to convincingly communicate or to preserve, could be just as well be printed. Then came along the typewriter. Our very own printer, although only highly skilled stenographers could properly manipulate them. And just to show us how little we knew, they reinvented their own wheel. They called it shorthand. It was, and remains, unintelligible to the unlearned. But because “to err is human” we had to invent an excuse for careless printing. Thus, “typographical” error. This was an allowed mistake, and was not deemed an error. So convinced of this were we, that when bigger printers came along, called presses (as in “Stop the presses”) a typographical was permissible. We even made the error more friendly by shortening it to “typo”. But even with the presses, we held on to colorful, forceful, effective, imaginative, artful, and sometimes “flowerful”, writing. 

     However, somewhere along the line, we began to tire of the work involved in written communication. Maybe it was easier and quicker to use the newfangled technology, the telephone. Maybe it was easier to “tell them when I see them”. Maybe it was easier to have one of those stenographers do it. But, whatever, we started to stop. After all, people were speaking in that new language they learned from radio and television. But then to get even with those steno’s for inventing a secret code, “so as to better take dictation”, they said, we developed tape recorders for dictation without shorthand. And, as if that were not enough, we discovered “the personal computer”! 

     Now, computers would relieve us of several tasks, but first we had to figure out how to use them. Our secretaries jumped right in, since they already knew how to type. We sophisticates who turned up our noses at such menial work as typing had now to learn how to type. We live in an age where we’re still not very good at it. We found, though, that we could communicate easily with the computer and no one seemed to care about spelling, grammar, rhetoric, proper construction or the like. If one could decipher the meaning, that was good enough. Then, on top of e-mail, came twittering, and i-fogging (did I get that wrong?!) and texting. There is a new sort of language now, I understand, that demands the fewest letters necessary to communicate to someone else, who also understands this “code”. ( I wonder if the secretaries got together on this?)  Spelling, sentence structure, grammar and what was once called effective writing are of no moment. The thought process seems to be boiling down to a basic evisceral norm – dare I call it a “return to the grunt”? It is, in all seriousness, rather sad to see literature, legal documents, speeches, and other forms of  effective, convincing and moving speaking and writing disappear. But I suppose it is simply the beginning of another cycle in communication! I cannot wait for the next several thousand years to see the  return of what I dare to call effective writing, and speaking. Imagine a President without a Speech prompter! The media would rejoice at least. Imagine a teen actually writing in long hand! Imagine being rapt in ecstasy this written communication! I have just one parting word—GRUNT.

Pentecost 2009

     Jacob, the tailor for a small town in Europe, felt he was mistreated in his Synogogue so he left it as well as some of his friends that went there. Some three weeks later the Rabbi knocked on the door of  Jacob’s home. Amenities were exchanged but once in the house nothing more was said by either for a long while. Then the Rabbi suggested they sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy the fire. An hour passed and nothing was said by either. Then the Rabbi got up and took the fire tongs and separated out a piece of coal still burning brightly. He took the piece of coal from the fire and placed it, apart from the fire, on the hearth. Both Jacob and the Rabbi watched the piece of coal. It started to burn less brightly. It got darker and darker, losing its heat. Finally it was just a cold black rock covered with dust and ash. Jacob stared at it for a moment, turned to the Rabbi and said, “I understand. I will return to the Synogogue.” Sometimes the most powerful lessons are the unspoken ones!

     We have just celebrated Pentecost. That Easter evening when God, the Holy Spirit annointed his disciples: Church. We, in our Church, read Acts 2:1-11. There are many in our time that claim to be their own church. “I’m a good person. I do good things. I talk to God. I don’t need a Minister, Rabbi or Priest to tell me what to do or how to be a disciple.” That may be true. However, did you notice, in the Lucan Acts, that the author wrote, “they were all in one place together.” (Acts 2:1) Earlier Luke had explained that the Apostles, some women and ”Mary the mother of Jesus’ were together with some of his brothers”, that is disciples. (Acts 1:13-14)  Later (Acts 1:15) the author writes there were “about one hundred twenty persons in the one place”. It was presumably there that the successor to Judas Iscariot was selected (the Holy Spirit was already in “that place”, guiding the selection). It was in that  place and in that assembly that, when the time had come, “there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind filled the entire house in which they were”. (Acts 2:2) “It filled the entire house”, not individuals. It seems that there was more of that spirit than there was people. It was more than some blessing of individuals. There was more than was needed to go around! Why would an intelligent, knowledgeable and skilled author so write if not to explain that is was not just individuals being blessed, but also the assembly, the group, the community as family. The house was filled by the spirit, not just the room or the people but the whole house. It was not a building that was being blessed but the gathering within that house. That’s why later we will see the individuals being fill with that Spirit. It was Church. The whole gathering, the Church, was greater than the sum of its individuals, its parts. Thus, this event is called by some the “birthday of church”. The grace, or empowerment, was something more than the individuals had already recieved. And, that included the Apostles and the Mother of Jesus! There is a power , a grace, a blessing present greater than any individual or any group of individuals. It is the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers the disciples of Jesus to carry out the mission He gave His disciples, then and now, and forever long as necessary. These disciples are just ordinary men and women who have committed to follow Jesus as He ask us to do.

     Then, to demonstrate the need for worldwide unity “tongues as of fire” came to rest upon each person there. (See also: John 3:8)  All understood, even though there was at least fifteen different countries represented, each limited to his or her own tongue. It was not because of the intelligence, insight, integrity or intuitiveness of these people gathered here that this occurred. It was by the power of being in this house, Church, where the Holy Spirit came to them. Indeed, the early Christians met regularly in homes, or house-churches. Lucan Acts is, I think, making it clear that grace, or divine empowerment, if you prefer, flows not just from Jesus to us as individuals, but also, and equally as significantly, from Jesus through Church to us, His disciples. Luke underlines this in Acts 2:4, “and they were all filled with the holy Spirit”, even though we know that many of those present had already been blessed by God, e.g. Mary and the Apostles. God is not just asserting a redundency here, but rather through Luke demonstrating a new and important reality, Church.

     We know that scripture was not written as history, chronicle or diary, but rather as the Evangelist John says, “that you might believe” (John 20:31) Why did Luke include this rather bazaar scene if not to emphasize the significance of Church and Jesus’s call to build Church. We’re not speaking of  majestic beautiful buildings, quaint colorful vestments or a powerful hierarchy. We’re speaking of Church: a gathering of people in one place, worshiping God, seeking to learn the truth of Jesus’s teachings and going out from that place to do something abput it. If Jesus had intended that the journey to salvation was simply through individual effort, then the whole book of Acts is an incomprehensible waste, because that book has as its keystone, Pentecost. The author builds to this event and then shows what happened after Pentecost, as the Church of Christ spread throughout the world. This Church grows from Jerusalem to Rome, from that house where they were to the whole world. We know from scripture and tradition, and we’ve heard over and over, that following thir participation in Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, through Church, emboldened the timid, encouraged the weak, empowered the marginalized and inspired the dull.

    

     But there was more to this Pentecost. Jesus, through Luke, is teaching us that it is not just a call to Church, but also, a call to unity, a call to harmony among nations, among races, among persuasions. Harmony, after all, is where different voices, or sounds, come together to make a new and deeper sound that none could manage on their own. So Jesus’s message here, where all those people who had gathered together in Church, although they were limited in understanding to their own language, was understood by all fifteen from what the Galileans said. Thus, this Church is to be worldwide, world responsive and world responsible. This Church is not mine or theirs, but ours. It’s up to us to bring all peoples  into a harmonious relationship. But the Pew Research Foundation reports that the number of people leaving the Roman Catholic Church outnumbers those joining by four to one. The Philadelphia Archdiocese’s Office of Research and Planning claims that only 24% of those registered in Philadelphia parishes actually attend Church services. And the same Office reports that the Archdiocese has lost 100,000 people over the last twelve years. Does that mean that this Church, whether you term it Catholic or not (I suspect that all of the “major religions suffer similar lost of interest), the Church born over two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, the Church that spread throughout the world, the Church that Christ founded, is no longer relevent? No, it means that we as a Church of Christians have lost sight of the significance of Pentecost. We have lost sight of the empowerment beyond the individual that comes from God to the person, through Church. We’ve lost sight of Christ’s call from scripture to bring all people into harmony with God and each other. We’ve lost sight of our need for Church not for temporal success and comfort, but for eternal membership and peace in the family of God.

     Now is the time, and wherever we are is the place to gather in harmony with all people and to turn our lives, our souls and our destiny over to the Holy Spirit. This is not easy or quick, but to harmonize all people will require that we adapt without jetissonong any of the teachings of Jesus the Christ. We will have to forgive without holding any sureriority over anyone. We will have to love (a willingness to give of self that another may be fulfilled) without limit, condition or reservation. It won’t be easy, but Jesus did it, and He called us to follow his example. (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:34) He reminded us that any burden of discipleship is a light yoke; that anydarkness will be dispelled by the light of Christ, and;  that any barrier will be overcome, in God’s good time, in the name of Jesus and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

     Robert Schultz, founder of the ecumenical monastic community of Taize, in France, wisely counsels, “Never resign yourself to the scandal of the separation of Christians – all so readily professing love for their neighbor, yet remaining divided. Make the unity of  Christ’s body your passionate concern.” When Jesus comes again, if He has to search in all the churches and communities of the world to find His people, His disciples, then we will have failed in the mission He gave us – the mission to bring all peoples into one family where God is Father, Jesus is Brother and the Holy Spirit is inspiration; to bring the world into harmony, preserving the God given differences among us, but willing to be one family in spiritual harmony, a family, or a Church, if you will, that is greater, in Gods eyes, than all its parts. then we also will be “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

The dog ate my homework

We’ve heard for some time now, that Congressmen and Senators were caught unaware of some of the provisions of the so called stimulus packages, because the bills were so long and complex they did not have time to read and digest all of the content. Now we can certainly be sympathetic with the awesome challenge of our federal and state legislation. Legislative bills are lengthy, cumbersome and difficult to understand. They’re usually drafted by experts in wording legislation and experts (dare I suggest ofttimes lobbyists) in such matters.

I know that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania history tells us that a law had to be passed requiring that every piece of legislation had to have in it’s title a clear indication of the content of the bill, and the bill could not lawfully contain any subject that was not in the title. It seem that so many legislators could not read such was necessary. I’m certain that there were then good people in these early legislatures, and the voters then probably knew that everyone they elected had difficulty reading, but that can hardly be said of today’s legislators.

What possible excuse can there be for voting for a law one hadn’t read? Such preparation certainly takes time and effort and, no doubt, some self education. That’s quite understandable.  An ordinary person makes a decision without thinking, we call it snap judgment, which is not good. A judge makes a decision without knowing all of the available facts, we call unfair. That’s not good either. A field officer in combat makes a decision without considering the available facts, and people die. that’s bad.  But a Legislator does not read, with some understanding, Legislation that effects freedom, or costs millions of dollars, or alters the playing field for business, and it’s treated not at all by the media and their analysts.

It is inexcusable for men and women who have been elected to protect, preserve and defend this country, to go about their responsibilities so half heartedly that they do not insist upon sufficient time for preparation to vote upon legislation, which would most certainly include reading proposed legislation for themselves. That such might be read by others and discussed is also understandable, but to fail to read proposed legislation for the legislators self is negligence of high order. It is in fact dereliction of duty. “I don’t have the time to read proposed legislation” is a more lame excuse than for a student to cry, ” the dog ate my homework”.

QUIET, LISTEN

This is my maiden voyage into the cyber-sea. I guess like a lot of people I think I have a lot to say. It’s just that I’m not certain any one cares to hear it. However if the tree in the middle of the forest doesn’t fall in the first place then no one will have a chance to hear it. So God bless the patient reader and thoughtful responder.       

We are so cought up in the hectic hassle of our world that we often miss the beauty which is there to be seen.                 

I used to really enjoy fishing from a small boat in the ocean or bays nor far from us. I can remember many of those days; the sky a cloudless blue, the sea a gentle rocking calm, the quiet comfortable breeze, and the company, when there was any, was good. Sometimes, you knew there was lots of activity just beneath the surface of the water. Intuitively you knew that the fish had to be there in abundance. But, after three or four hours I got not one bite! It was a great day, I rationalized. Truth be told, if I’d cought just one little fish it would have been a fantastic trip. I would be the conqueror of all those denizons of the deep on a day made for fishermen. The real truth is that I failed to appreciate the sublime beauty of peace and quiet that surrounds a small fishing boat out on the waters away from the cacophany of cities, sirens and sitcoms. I missed the opportunity of being alone, facing my self, my thoughts, my own reality.

I missed the truth beyond. Susan Boyle, a homely middle aged woman from Scotland,  just sang in an English “American Idol” type show. I’m sure that looking at her the judges and audience believed that she’d be just one more mediocre amatuer “sung and done”. But when she began to sing, It was as though an angel had touched everyone present. She sang a beautiful ballad from the show Les Miserables. Beneath a rather rough exterior (at least to those of us numbed and a bit jaundiced by sleek beauty in our women), there was an angelic voice that touched every heart that heard that voice. People cried, people stood and cheered, even before she finished, and then, realizing that they might miss one beautiful tone, the people were quiet. When she finished there was bedlam – applause, cheering, an audience standing with tears in their eyes. All present acknowledged pure excellence. Wether this lady will “win it all” or not I do not know, but I do know that for one brief and shining moment there was a touch of heaven on earth and no one ever thought to assess physical beauty or the statuesqueness of her presence. Such gifts are I believe, God given, so that we mere mortals can taste and see the spiritual reality that is eternal.

Yes, I believe that God in such moments of our lives gives us the gift of sensing what heaven is like. I think we all have the opportunity for such epiphanies, if only we remain sensitive to what is beneath the surface, whether it’s hungry fish or beautiful music. Such moments are special to us, even though others may fail to appreciate their significance. Such moments are available to us so that we can biuld a confident expectation of the eternal, that is, so that we will hope. Such moments are available to us so that we can share the peace and hope and love that God has shared with us. It doesn’t matter whether we are fishing, listening to great art, or just allowing some real quiet into our hectic lives. What matters is that we take time away from the exterior and the obvious, from the hustle and bustle, from the outside and pressing world and turn into our own souls, into the quiet of our own spirit, into the God who so loved the world that He became one of us, died for us and now calls us into the peace of our own immortal souls. Soooo, like the Railroad sign says, “Stop, Look and Listen”! Allow some quiet, calm and peace to reenter our lives. We will all be the better for it—-and closer to our God.

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