Senate Vote

Well, the US Senate decided to not discuss the bill proposed to provide jobs to folks who need them badly.  It's too bad that they won't even talk about it.  I don't know for sure, but it sure seems to me that folks out there have a real problem with anything proposed by our current administration.  I'm enough of a realist to know that no one has all of the right ideas about anything, but also, no one has all bad ideas either.  It would seem to me that at least folks could talk about it. 

I get the distinct impression that someone just wants the current administration to fail and really don't care how they go about it, no matter how bad things are for everyone else.  I have had experience with relatives in the Deep South and so much of the tone of the comments we hear from the "loyal opposition" has a familiar ring to it to me.  Too bad! 

Our biggest problem in this country today is that everyone thinks that they are the source of all wisdom and that no one else has any.  I think that is really wrong headed.  Having had the opportunity to visit other places, other peoples, and other cultures, I realize that we all are really one brotherhood and that talking is a really good way to get to the root of issues and develop an appropriate solution.  Sure hope that folks in DC wake up pretty soon and get to the business of fixing the problems.  I'm afraid what will happen to the the entire world economy if they don't.

How is it with you?

I muse about all of the happenings over the last several months.  It seems that the Arab Spring has turned into an Autumn Action here in the US as well.   What troubles me is how much the language of our political contestants is inflamatory and condemnatory about the other side.  Why can't we talk in civil language to each other and have a civil exchange of views.  What happened to discussion?  All I hear on the news channels is yelling and condemnation.  Is it not possible for us to talk any more?  Why must the other side be so demonized?  And, it's not just here in the US, but all over.  Eveyone seems to have to have their Satan to make their own position seem more reasonable, even though it actually is just a radical, except at the opposite end of the spectrum.  Perhaps, we really do need a calming influence in the center of US politics and world-wide, if that is even possible any more.  Maybe the Mayan calendar ending in a few months could be a good thing.  Perhaps someone could learn a lesson from what has happened and we could begin all over again.  God knows that we have tried this more than once to no avail.  Oh, well, keep praying and work for peace in your individual sphere.  Remember - humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.  Let's focus on the other's needs today.  Why not try that?

The National Budget

Today's current "discussions" in Washington, D.C. about the remainder of this year's budget and the new budget submitted by the chair of the House committee, appear to fail to take into consideration the impact of these ideas for reducing the public expenditures will have the poor and elderly of our country.  Many of these legislators profess to be Christian but seem to completely and totally (I know the same thing) the requisites of Matthew 25.  We have an obligation to care for the poor and less fortunate.  From what I read and hear, all of the current cuts take away from the poor, neglected, and elderly and give to the rich and famous.  There was a editorial in our local paper yesterday about how Congress is in the top 1% of the wealth and is taking care of the top 1%.  It's just wrong and just plain mean to be so calloused about the fate of the poor and marginalized in our country.  I certainly pray that both parties will come to their senses and realize that by taking care of the less fortunate, we raise ourselves up as a nation and have a much better chance of reviving our overall economy because we will be thinking of all rather than just the chosen few.  It really appears to me that the Middle Ages system of serfdom and lords hasn't really left us at all.  Let's all pray for some sense in our Congress and just a little mercy.

A time for peace

After the horrific attack on innocent persons this last weekend, I think that it is really time to carefully examine how we talk about each other.  I am not subscribing any one person for fault or blame except the gunman in this tragedy; however, I, as do many others, believe that the tone of our language toward each other, especially in political campaigns, leads some to believe that this sort of violence is justified.  We must speak more civilly of each other, even if we don't agree with their views.  For heaven's sake, none of us is the boogie man! 

Yes we do have credible differences about how to resolve the most critical issues of our time, but violence is never the correct way to resolve issues.  Whether you believe that such strong, vilifying language leads to this sort of physical violence or not, I think that we should agree that clear, reasoned debate and trusting in the intelligence of those who are listening to make the right decisions is a more prudent way to conduct our civil discourse. 

Naming and blaming is something that people do when they have no understanding of the issue nor a reasonable solution to it.  When we vilify someone, we try to make them out as the most evil person ever and the cause of all of our problems.  We have seen how this works in history over the centuries.  I seriously doubt that anyone in our country today has this much power.  Just look how Congress and legislatures can't agree on how to resolve some of our most pressing issues!

So, let's start today together in banning harsh, crude, and uncivil language from our everyday discourse.  Let's treat others as we would like to be treated.  Let's work together to transform our society in one who cares for each other no matter who they are.

And, let's pray for the victims of the tragedy and for all of us.  I suggest this prayer for  greatness of heart from PAX Christi:

Keep us, O God, from all pettiness;
let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding
and leave off all self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense
and meet each other face-to-face,
without self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment,
and always generous.
Let us always take time for all things,
and make us grow calm, serene, and gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses,
to be straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize
that it is the little things of life that create differences,
that in the big things of life, we are as one.
And, O God, let us not forget to be kind!
AMEN.

May God Give You Peace!