Mimi

On Sunday our baby girl turns 41!

It's hard to believe I've lived this long.

Her name is Jeremy Johanna Bradley. But the first 6 months of her life she was the world's worst baby. Crying to be held, not wanting to be held, fussing and crying over everything. If she had been our first born, we wouldn't have had another.....

Josh, who was 3, would sing to her: "Jeremy, mimi, mimi, mimi...."

So, she became Mimi.

At six months something flipped in her brain and she became the world's best baby--seldom crying, always happy, loving all of us and life itself.

She has been sweet and dear ever since. Like me, near the middle of the 'extrovert/introvert' scale, a little more introverted than me, but not much. My career and calling forces me to be an extrovert, but on my own I am deeply introverted.

Mimi is a joy and a wonder. I love her without reserve. And she has brought Tim and Eleanor into our lives to make us more whole.

Eleanor will be an only child, I assume. Like me. But I find myself drawn to other 'only children'. We share some deep and important things.

But Eleanor will have three older Bradley girls cousins who will guide her through the maze of being a girl growing toward womanhood, just like my cousins did for me growing to be a man.

Whenever I regret not having siblings, I just talk to someone who has them. That cures me of my pain!

Happy, Happy Birthday, wondrous girl/woman who is my daughter.

You have given me more joy that you could ever imagine.

Truly....

Racism is a thing

I grew up in the southern most county of West Virginia, The state split from Virginia over the civil war, but there were slaves there.

We were far below the Mason-Dixon line.

I never went to school with black kids until my senior year of high School. The next year, the schools merged. The Black school sent over 4 athletes and three smart girls to begin the transition. This was in 1964, for goodness sakes, a decade after Brown vs. the Board of Education.

I knew racism up front and in my face.

My only Black friend as a child was Gene Kelly, a 40 year old man who worked for my Uncle Russell in the H and S supermarket where I worked. His wife was Russell's homemaker and cook, so I knew her as well. But no others.

I know what racism looks like, feels like, even smells like.

And our President is a racist.

I think most of us knew that subliminally from the day he announced for President and called Mexicans 'rapists'.

Many of us knew that when he was the head of Obama's 'birther conspiracy' theory.

But after this week we all know it's true.

Telling those four women of color to go back to 'where they came from'--when three of them were born in Minneapolis, Detroit and New York--was beyond racism and sexism to utter nonsense.

AOC, one of the 4, represents the district of the President's birth and childhood.

Good Lord, what are we to do?

The House of Representatives, with 4 Republican (brave people) and one Independent joining all the Democrats, passed a non-binding condemnation of the President tonight. Slim chance the Senate and the quaking, frightened Republicans will approve.

Something needs to happen.

I've been hesitant on Impeachment.

But no more.

Impeach him, for the Good Lord's, and our sanity's sake!

Now....

I learned my lesson well

I haven't been to Costco for so long I had forgotten why I hadn't been.

But we need a new air conditioner soon for my office, which, with the help of a fan, cools the whole downstairs and I had a $230 Costco cash reward because I charge every thing I buy on a Costco Visa card. So off we went.

The Costco in Waterbury usually has two winding roads up a hill to the sprawling parking lot. One was closed to traffic. I felt resentment since the one that was closed is the one I always used.

The parking lot was a nightmare. Don't any of these people have something they should be doing on a Monday late morning?

We parked about a quarter of a mile from the store and trooped over. As soon as I showed my credit card and went in, I remembered why I haven't been in so long.

The huge, huge building and the absolute glut of 'stuff' made me instantly claustrophobic. I know that's supposed to be for small spaces, but it's my fear of large spaces. I just remembered, what I have is agoraphobia--'fear of wide spaces'.

I grew up in the mountains where there were few places wide enough for a football field. The first time I drove through the mid-west I thought I was going to cry I was so scared of the endless vistas. I've always lived in cities or hilly places so it doesn't often strike--but Costco brings it on.

I could hardly breathe for the crowds and the open space-enormous. It bothers Bern too, so we found and air conditioner as fast as we could. But she wanted to see if they had the expensive dry dog food we feed Brigit. She knew I was freaking out, so she left me in an aisle and went looking. She was gone maybe five minutes but it felt like 15. I couldn't think straight but knew I had to go to the bathroom.

Costco literally scares the s*** out of me!

On the way home she told me while I was in the bathroom, she almost freaked out. Seemed to her like half-an-hour when it was less than 10 minutes.

I could breathe again when we were out of the parking lot.

Part of it is the crowds and enormous building--but another part is that it is all a cathedral to consumerism.

Hard for me to bear.

If you needed proof....

If you needed proof that the current administration, headed by He Who Will Not Be Named, is callous, racist and un-American, all you need to know is that they scheduled an ICE raid for a Sunday.

ICE has a job to do, I know that--they need to keep bad people out of our country. But this raid is not against "bad people", it's against people who came here fleeing for their lives thinking this was still the "land of the free and the home of the brave". They just want a better life--like my ancestors, and probably yours, did.

And to choose to do this on a Sunday--the day of worship and rest for Christians of all stripes--is outrageous.

Do do it at all is an insult to my ancestors, and probably yours, but to do it on a Sunday is an outrageous black eye to people like me.

Some Democrats want to abolish ICE. I'm not sure I do. I just want them to 'do their job' and remove undocumented criminals from our midst--not people like my Great Grandfather Jone or Great-Great-Great Grandfather Bradley who came to this country to find a life worth living.

I am out of my mind that the administration and ICE is doing this. But I am out of my mind and heart and soul that they are doing it on a Sunday.

Giving thanks

This afternoon I did the first ever 5:30 p.m. Saturday Eucharist at St. James in Higganum. They're going to try it for a while, twice a month. There were more people there than last Sunday, so it may be a winner. Still summer, we'll see.

We had a silent prayer of thanksgiving at the end--to give thanks for all God's gifts to all of us and each of us.

So, I came home and found this Thanksgiving Sermon and thought I'd share it with you.

Give thanks. Always. Give thanks.

THANKSGIVING SERVICE

          Do not 'worry', Jesus says in tonight's gospel. Do not 'worry' about what you should wear or eat. “Worry,” I believe, is the opposite of 'being thankful'. That is why Jesus tells us not to 'worry', because Jesus wants us to be thankful.

          In my tradition of Christianity, we celebrate the “Eucharist” on each of the Lord's days, each Sunday and many other times we gather as the People of God. “Eucharist” in Greek, means “to give thanks”.

          Giving thanks, it seems to me, is the very heart of being a Christian.

          The older I get, I have told people, the fewer things I find I HAVE to 'believe'. I think I've got it down to the basics of my creed.

          *God loves me (and US) unconditionally. Everyone, no matter how twisted, or even evil, is a child of God. I believe that.

          *Treat others as you want to be treated. No matter what. I believe that.

          *Welcome the stranger always, even if the stranger may mean you harm. I believe that.

          *Give to those in need—always and however you can. I believe that.

          *And this: be thankful always, for everything, even things that challenge you and give you pain. Be thankful always, for everything. I believe that.

          Not that many years ago, there was the song and the saying, “Don't worry, be happy.” I would change that to “Don't worry, be thankful. Always.”

          Consider the lilies of the field....Consider the birds of the air....

          Why should we worry? We should be thankful.

          In our Eucharist service, there is a prayer after communion. It is a prayer of thanksgiving. But it is very general. So often, I invite the congregation into a time of silence and ask them to give thanks to God in their hearts and minds, for the many gifts God has given to each of us and all of us.

          In my heart and mind, in that silence, I picture my family and my friends, the people of the congregations I serve and have served, my dog and cat and parakeet, the freedom and prosperity of my life, my life itself, and all the good those I know and love have done in this dark-ling world. I sometimes give thanks for Key Lime Pie and sausage gravy and biscuits, but the seems a little selfish.

          But that's the thing—being thankful for God's goodness isn't selfish at all. Key Lime Pie and sausage gravy and biscuits are gifts that merit our thanks.

          Remember, in my short list of beliefs, I said to be thankful for everything, always.

          It pains me, in a way, that we get so involved in being thankful in November of each year when we should be 'thankful to everything, always'. All the time. Every moment of life, we should be thankful. 

          Don't worry, be thankful.

          Consider the lilies of the field, consider the birds of the air...they do not worry, they do not fret. And we are worth more to God than flowers or birds.

          Be thankful.

          I practice the prayer of the heart—also known as the “Jesus Prayer”.

          It is a prayer of breath—and since we breathe always, we can pray always.

          The Jesus Prayer goes like this: as you inhale, you say in your mind and heart, “Jesus Christ, Son of God” and as you exhale you say, “have mercy on me a sinner.”

          It's that simple, as simple as breathing, which we do all the time.

          But some time ago, being an Episcopalian and not being fond of being reminded I am a sinner, I changed the way I prayed the Jesus prayer.

          I started saying, in my heart and mind, as I inhaled, “Lord Jesus Christ” and as I exhaled “thank you so very much”.

          When I'm driving, I pray that. I give thanks with every breath.

          We should, I think, give thanks, not just at this time of year, but with every breath.

          Why don't we try it for a minute or so? Join me in paying attention to your breathing, what keeps you alive. We should give thanks for breath as for so many things.

          Join me for a while.

          When you breathe in say in your heart and mind: “Lord Jesus Christ”. And as you exhale say in your heart and mind: “thank you so much”.

          Let's try it, if you don't mind.

          Inhale: “Lord Jesus Christ”.

          Exhale: “thank you so much”.

          Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Give thanks always. Don't 'worry', give thanks.

Amen

 

Growing up with baseball

I'm sure I've told you that some patriot gave my father and several of his buddies tickets to a World Series game in New York when they were soldiers waiting to sail to England.

The only major league game my father ever saw was between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. He decided that which ever team won would be 'his team'. The Yankees won.

So I grew up in southern West Virginia as a Yankee fan.

The sportscaster on channel 6 in Bluefield would begin his broadcast by saying, "let's see who the Yankees clobbered."

This was Ford and Mantle and Maris and Kubeck and Richardson and Skowren and Elston Howard's Yankees. They clobbered a lot of teams.

This year the Yankees have the second best record in baseball, just below the now Los Angeles Dodgers.

And they're doing it with lots of injuries to major players and lots of heroics from very young guys.

Could the Yankees be rebuilding their dynasty? I hope so.

(Here's a secret: I hate, I mean 'hate' the Red Sox! That could get me in trouble with lots of people I know and like in Connecticut. But it's true.)

The Red Sox are playing the Dodgers tonight. In spite of my father's loyalties, I say, "Go Dodgers!!!"

And the Yankees are clobbering Toronto 4-0 after 7.

Go Yankees!

I love them.....Sorry Boston fans....

HWWNBN gives up!!!

The President (He Who Will Not Be Named) today announced he's giving up on getting the "Is this person a Citizen of the U.S." question into the 2020 census.

The Commerce Department days ago accepted the Supreme Court's ruling and is already printing the form without the question.

That question would have caused a remarkable under count of Hispanics and affected the distribution of money and House of Representatives seats to many states. That was the President's plan all along.

God bless Chief Justice Roberts who has become the swing vote on the court.

And long may Justice Ginsberg live so the President can't appoint another justice before the election.

As tenuous as it is, it feels like the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives are all that stand between our country and the abyss.

I hate to sound so negative, "half full" being my middle name (that's for Charles), but just like in parts of California, the ground is very shaky these days.

And, please God, Democrats quit fighting!!!

I'm a democratic socialist, but beating the Incumbent (who will not be named) is more important right now than doctrinal purity. I hate to say that because I agree with Bernie and AOL and all the ultra-progressives, but we democrats have to get the priorities straight--that means taking back the Senate, holding and increasing the House and winning that other house (the White One).

Focus people.

Focus and organize and fight.

The abyss is near.