Ascension

Last Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension. I talked about it in my sermon today.

The world view of the 1st century is difficult for us to understand. Heaven was 'up there', the flat earth was 'down here' and hell was 'down there.'  A three tiered universe.

We know better. 'Up there' is the vast expanse of interstellar space. We live on a round planet circling the sun. And 'down there' is hot lava at the center of the earth and dirt and rock and water on the way down.

But I do think 'ascension' has something to teach us.

We can 'rise above' the madness and pain and confusion of the world.

And our ascension depends on our love.

Fear is the great divider--what is at work in our world today, pitting people against people who are 'different'.

Love is the great unite-er, letting us recognize that 'the other' is just like us. That all people are children of God no matter what their race or religion or place of origin.

We are all One.

We need to rise above the fray and know that and live that out.

Only that love--from God to us to others--will bring sanity and peace and unity.

Love, beloved.

Love.

Just that. Nothing else.

Ascend with me.....

OMG NOT A LIE FROM REPUBLICANS?

Oh, so the reason, we were told, for adding a Citizenship question to the 2020 census was to make sure voters of color were accurately counted.

That's what the administration has argued in court.

Now, recently deceased Thomas Hoefeller, Republican expert on gerrymandering's hard drive landed in the hands of his estranged daughter and she found a document that said, unequivocally, that a citizenship question would work to the advantage of Republican lawmakers by reducing answers from minority groups!

The President's lawyer's said that they had no knowledge of Hoefeller's work, but lawyers opposing the question pointed out that a written document sent to the Supreme Court directly quoted Hoefeller's recommendation in his writings of how to best phrase the desire for the citizenship question to make it palatable to the courts!

The GOP telling a lie--I'm aghast!

And being very satirical.

Half of what we hear from the Republicans all over these days (like 'loving life' while taking away women's rights and not funding poverty and education projects for those who get born) and more than half of what The President WWNBNed says are lies.

I'm not shocked at all. Something is rotten, not in Denmark, but in the Republican Party.

And rot must be rooted out.

New England Spring

It has been rainy and cool. We usually have air conditioning by now--it's almost June. But I just took the dog out and the temperature on the back porch is 44 degrees.

Our yards have responded to all the rain by being glorious.

We have 4 rhododendron trees and all have larger blossoms than I've ever seen. (We didn't plant them, but they are the state flower of West Virginia, by the way.) And the purple irises, dozens and dozens of them, are in their glory in the front.

The ferns and ground cover in the side yard are wondrous.

Florida is in the worst heat wave in May history.

The mid-west is full of water and more tornadoes than ever.

I said, joking, to some friends, that nature was punishing the Red states.

They agreed.

I'll take 44 and rain any day over 100 degrees and floods and tornadoes.

And not having to turn on the air conditioning is a blessing.

New England is the place to be.

my father was a Republican

A rural farmer until he left home for the coalfields. A member of John L. Lewis' United Mine Workers Union--yet unmistakably (and, inexplicably), my father was a Republican.

Yet, if he came back from what some people (not me) call "a better place", he wouldn't recognize the Republican Party of his life-time.

Today was a "he said/they said" day.

Robert Mueller, what a surprise to hear his voice, said clearly and beyond contradiction, that his report 'could not' indite a sitting president and 'could not' say that president did not commit a crime!

Clear to me. There was evidence but Mueller, because of the rules as he understood them, could not accuse the president of criminal behavior for which their was evidence.

That was clear as day.

And then the president tweeted--he seldom 'speaks' except to contradict allies, as he did in Japan about North Korea--'case closed'.

And Rudy, of course, joined in.

And no Republicans, except the guy from Michigan, had the guts to object and say, 'hey, the Special Council is leaving this up to us in Congress to dig deeper....'

My father's Republican party, if nothing else, had guts.

They weren't always right, but they stood up for what they thought was right.

He wouldn't know who these people are. My father would be flabbergasted and horrified.

He might even have voted for a Democrat.

At least I hope he would have.

Memorial Day

We had a great day--our friends: John and Jack and Sherry and their son, Robbie came for an early dinner.

We had grilled vegetables and green beans and potatoes and wondrous steak from the grill. Wine for Jack, Robbie and me. A torte, watermelon and cheesecake. Both Bern and I forgot to put out the salad I made so we're having Salad tonight as a main course.

These are long time friends. John from college, Jack and Sherry and Robbie from when we first came to CT. Robbie grew up with Josh and Mimi--he's the oldest of the three.

Jack is a Navy Veteran, so it was he who we honored yesterday.

Never mind that his two postings were Alaska and Cyprus! He's a veteran never the less.

A good time with good friends and lovely weather and fine food and drink.

What is better than that?

Longing for peace

And I don't mean "vs. War", though I long for all our troops to be out of conflicts as well.

What I mean is Peace like in relaxation, calmness, lack of anxiety, trust.

What I mean is I long for a different President and a different political place to be.

I long for Twitter to be closed down--I don't want to know what he's thinking at 5 a.m, or ever.

I long for ugly nick-names to be outlawed. "Sleepy Joe" is ridiculous. Biden is one of the more animated people I see. Calling the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana (whose name I haven't quite managed to spell) "Alfred E. Newman" is more an insult to the President than to Mayor Pete.

I long for 'lies' to be called 'lies' again and not ignored and supported by Fox News.

Face it, I long for 'no-drama Obama' or even the second George Bush.

I just want to be a proud American and not be assaulted by non-sense day after day and worry if John Bolton is going to take us into another long, unwinnable war.

I want to be part of the world-wide-economy and not be in trade wars that hurt us.

I want people to quit complaining about how Game of Thrones ended. I liked the ending, thank you.

I want a Memorial Day dinner with my friends without any of us fretting about the future of the land we love.

Peace and quiet and common sense. That's what I want.

It doesn't seem outrageous to want that.

Peace and quiet and common sense.

Just that.

Nancy vs. HWWNBNed

The administration released a video on the President's and stupid Rudy's twitter feeds that had been altered to make it appear Nancy Pelosi couldn't say two sentences in a row. Rudy kind of apologized but not the President.

(Note: I capitalize President because I respect the office, not the current office holder!)

The battle between the Speaker of the House and the President is epic.

Walking out of a meeting about infrastructure after three minutes. Calling for an 'intervention' by the President's staff and family. Questioning each others' mental health. Saying the President is involved in a 'cover up' right before meeting with him (which he is, by the by).

It's Ali vs. Liston.

What a battle.

 But I think Nancy is getting the better of it all.

I read an article in The Atlantic today about how the President has his fingers in one of those finger traps we used to get. The harder you pull, the more stuck your fingers are. You have to be cautious, slow and deliberate to get your fingers out.

No one has ever said the President is cautious, slow or deliberate.

Go, Nancy!!!

Go, Nancy!!!!