The past president is getting closer and closer to announcing a 2024 run.
What could be more awful than that!!!
He's a crook and a criminal and has nearly driven the country into the ground with his endorsed election deniers running for office.
Please save us from this!
What can we do?
Vote. Vote. Vote.
(Not three times, obviously, but keep out his folks from holding office.)
I'll be a wreck on election night--believe me.
The country and our democracy is on the ballot.
God help us.
Have I ever asked you if you've read him?
He writes novels about an on-again, off-again lawyer named Andy Carpenter. Carpenter inherited a fortune and doesn't like to go to court, but he pays his staff and gets roped into mysteries, mostly involving dogs.
Carpenter is co-owner of an animal rescue place called 'Tara's place' after one of his dogs.
I love dogs and dogs in books, so I'm a real Rosenfelt fan.
Try him out.
Especially if you love dogs.
Don’t mess with Jesus
If this wasn’t church, I would use another word for ‘mess’. (I’ll give you a moment to imagine what it might be!)
In today’s gospel, some Sadducees (who did not believe in the resurrection) come to mess with and try to trip us Jesus.
You can always remember the name of those Jewish officials who didn’t believe in the resurrection by remembering that that’s ‘sad you see’. (I know I’ve told you that before, but I couldn’t resist.)
They want to rope Jesus into not declaring the resurrection with a pretty complicated story.
In Mosaic law, if a man dies and leaves his wife but no children, one of the man’s brothers must marry her.
That was because women were essentially non-persons—they needed a husband or a son to support them.
In the Sadducees’ tale, the man who had died had seven brothers. Each of them, in turn, marry the widow and each of them, in turn, dies, leaving her childless. Then she dies.
Either the woman or the brothers had some pretty bad ‘karma’!
But in the next life, they ask Jesus, who will the woman be married to?
But you shouldn’t ‘mess’ with Jesus.
He answers their inquiry without hesitation.
Listen to what he says: “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor or given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”
And to add insult to injury, Jesus himself quotes Moses.
“And the fact that the dead are raised,” Jesus goes on, “Moses himself showed, in the story about the burning bush, where he speaks to the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
It’s not in today’s gospel, but the next two verses of Luke say: “Some of the teachers of the law responded, ‘Well said, teacher.’ And no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
So, don’t you dare try to mess with or trick or out-smart Jesus!
On a personal note—and one I hope you’ll reflect on—I’m a bit of an agnostic when it comes to the Resurrection.
I must admit, I don’t know what I think about that part of our system of belief and creed.
I have a priest friend who is on my zoom meeting every Tuesday morning who is as confident as all get out about the resurrection. Interestingly, he’s Jewish and converted to Christianity, but he obviously isn’t a Sadducee.
In the hundred or more times I’ve sat next to death beds, I’ve been assaulted by the patient’s family members about the resurrection.
I usually halt and stumble about verbally before saying, “I leave that up to God.”
And I do leave that up to God.
It is my hope to live a life ‘worthy’ of resurrection, if that is what is in store for me.
I’m much more fascinated with ‘this side’ of death than with the ‘other side’.
Feel free to report me to the Bishop—wouldn’t be the first time, for a variety of reasons—but I stand by what I think….I’ll leave that up to God.
I won’t ask you what you believe about the resurrection, but it is helpful to dwell on it and ponder it.
I’ll bring you to that moment of pondering by remembering the last prayer of the burial service.
And these words are said by the priest, facing the body or the urn:
“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend you servant. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of you own redeeming. Receive him/her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peach, and into the glorious company of the saints of light. Amen
Ponder, my friends, ponder…..
For the first time since 1947--the year I was born, so I know how long ago that was--there will be no Sunday game in this year's World Series.
Why, you may ask?
They didn't want to compete with the NFL for viewers!
Surprise, it's about viewers and money.
Isn't everything?
Competition is the name of the game of Life.
I wish it weren't so.
I wish we were all on the same level--everyone well paid, no uber-rich folks, no competition for status or wealth, just everyone with what they need to have a full and happy life.
Just wishing!
I guess that makes me a socialist.
I don't shrink from the title.
The poor and homeless shouldn't be poor and homeless in the most wealthy country on the planet.
Spread it out.
Take care of all God's children.
Let the immigrants in.
Unless you're a native American, you came from somewhere else.
Why shouldn't they come to us and be welcomed.
Socialist may not describe me accurately enough.
I'm not sure what would.
I like being indescribable.
I think I've said this before but I'll say it again: "I hate Halloween!"
At some point I must have told you about being nearsighted (nobody knew!) and wearing a mask and being, literally, 'spooked out'.
But what happened in South Korea is yet another reason to hate Halloween.
Almost 200 killed and hundreds more hurt when a crowd, celebrating the Korean form of Halloween, got out of control.
Can you imagine being stomped to death by other human beings?
What a great tragedy.
When did Halloween stop being for kids and have adults walking over each other?
Not a good Holiday.
We shouldn't even call it a 'holiday' since that is a form of 'Holy Day'.
Nothing 'holy' about it.
Pray for the victims in Seoul.
I play Hearts on-line against three artificial opponents--John, Lisa and Wanda.
I play 100 games most of the time--not all at once but over several days. I usually win between 86 and 90.
A live player has a big advantage over a machine.
But in the last several days, I've won the first 25 of the 100.
I've never won 25 in a row before!
It's making me a tad nervous.
Things usually go wrong at some point in the 100 games.
But not this time.
And though some of the wins have been come-backs, I've tended to win lop sided games.
What will I do if I don't lose?
I'll have to quit playing, I suppose.
We'll see.
Although I hate winter and the cold it brings, I really appreciate Autumn.
I sat on our back porch for 15 minutes this afternoon, watching leaves fall from the trees.
Nature is re-making itself into something new--though it comes ever year.
Leaves falling is like a slow motion ballet.
It is wondrous to watch.
Enjoy the falling leaves and autumn.
Enjoy and be glad.
Spring will come.
It really will.
And the whole cycle will begin again.
Thank goodness....
