Well, that didn't go over well

 When I told Bern I was going to give up my cell phone, she yelled at me for 10 minutes or so.

Well, 'yelling' isn't exactly right. She talked harshly at me to tell me all the reasons I shouldn't do that.

When I told her I didn't get many calls, she responded (rightly) that I don't give anyone my number. I don't.

She told me a man my age needs a phone with him in his car.

Which is probably right.

She accused me of wanting to live in 1985--which I admitted was true--I was 38 and it was a great year.

So, I won't be giving up my cell phone.

And I will give more people my cell number.

And I'll try, as best I can, to live in 2021....

 

Will it never end?

I just watched a news video from the Colorado House where a speaker referred to a black member as 'Buckwheat' and then had the gall to call it 'a term of endearment'. The Speaker called a recess, Lord love her.

My three Baltimore grand-daughters are mixed race. Their mother (a Judge in Maryland, by the way) is a second generation Taiwanese American. I fear for her and her daughters during this time of Asian hate crimes.

I served churches for 30 years that were either African-American or had a large Black and West Indian membership. At St. John's in Waterbury we also had a Hispanic congregation and a Hispanic priest.

I have been part of a couple of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Cheshire (which is, unfortunately 90% or more white) but most of the participants were white.

Not everyone white is involved in hate and racism, but too many are.

What did the last President call African nations? "Sh*t hole countries!"

Hopefully the Biden administration will make some progress.

But 'some' progress is not what's needed.

'Total elimination' of racial hate is what's needed.

Will it never end???

 

My cell phone

 I'm thinking about giving up my cell phone.

Almost nobody calls me on it, except my cousin Mejol, and she can use the land-line #.

Perhaps 2/3 of the calls I get show up as "Scam Likely".

I don't have email on it, on purpose, so that's no problem.

And it would save money for my old age home!

People do text me from time to time, but I never respond.

Plus, I seldom have it with me.

I take it on Sundays when I'm doing services, just in case something goes wrong with the car--but never carry it on short journeys, like to the stores.

Sometimes I forget where I put it for a few days and have to call it to find it.

Only thing I like about it is the alarm that I use when I need to get up for something earlier than I would naturally.

But I could get an alarm clock for much less than the phone costs.

Maybe I'll give it up.

I think I'd be happier without it.

It's mostly a pain to own....

Bern moved the plants

Bern moved the plants she keeps inside for the winter out on the deck a few days ago.

Our deck looks like a garden.

Vines, ferns, plants and flowers all against the side of the deck that looks East.

I have nothing to do with plants--all Bern's deal.

I remember when we lived in Morgantown and Bern went to New York to be in several off Broadway plays, I let all the house plants die.

She was pissed when she came back and saw the carnage.

Alas.

I also got offered a job as Priest in Charge today.

I accepted.

It's only year by year, which is good for me because I may be loosing my marbles before long!

I am old.

My knees make me walk like I'm drunk and I bump into things.

I should go have them looked at, but they don't hurt--just throw off my gait.

I sleep a lot--from 11p.m. to 9 or so a.m. each day.

And I often open a cabinet and wonder why I did--or open the wrong cabinet when I knew what I was looking for.

Age is not a gift in many ways.

But I think I know what I think and believe more clearly than I did as a younger man.

Some good stuff and some not so good.

But Bern's plants give me joy.

 

my name

 It's James Gordon Bradley.

I thought I'd look up what my names mean.

James, the name of one of Jesus' disciples, means in Greek, "replacer". But in Latin "Jacomus" means 'may God protect.

Gordon means "a round hill".

Bradley means "a broad meadow" or a "broad lee".

So my name means "May God protect a round hill in a broad meadow", or something like that.

Not bad, I think.

Not bad at all.

Some things to ponder

Ever so often, I like to share some of the quotes given me by the Mastery Foundation--for whom I lead "Making a Difference Workshops" for years, and soon again, I hope.

These are what I've chosen for this blog.

Don't just 'read' them.

Ponder them.

Spend some time with them.

Let them move and challenge and shape you.

Happy Pondering!!!

"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."--Jean-Paul Sartre

"Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.--Rumi

"If one does not have wild dreams of achievement, there is no spur even to get the dishes washed. One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.--May Sarton

"The first duty of love is to listen."--Paul Tillich

"Our Druidic ancestors welcomed every child with the words: Here come God again.--Fr. John Cullen

"Imagination is more important that knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world...."--Albert Einstein

"When starting out to build a world, One starts first with oneself."--Langston Hughes

"Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Religion isn't where your mind is. Religion is where your ass is."--Phillip Berrigan, SJ

"Make yourself a light."--Buddha's last words to his followers.

Ponder on....

 

This afternoon

I was out on the porch this afternoon and saw a huge-huge mosquito fly by.

Well, not everything about things getting warmer is good.

I also heard a bird call that, though I'm not a good whistler, I got to respond to my whistle three times!

I saw our next door neighbor, Mark, push his bike out in his bike riding gear. 

"Getting ready for the Tour de France?" I asked.

He laughed. "Not nearly," he said, though I know he rides more than 20 miles whenever he goes out.

I talked to Bern about 'ordering out' for dinner since she cleaned the house today and it's her turn to cook.

She said she couldn't think of anything she wanted but had some frozen bean soup from last week.

It was a good meal. Soup, salad, corn muffins and fried zucchini. 

I admired Bern's back yard, so full of flowers and bushes and other plants. Lovely.

The back porch and deck in the Spring is a great place to be.