Personal Responsibility

I have written on this topic before, but the recent news around the suicide of a bullied teen in MA brings renewed need to comment. I just noted a story on MSNBC about parents at an emotionally charged meeting demanding that staff at the school be held accountable - and I imagine it entirely possible that parents of some of the nine fellow students might have been at that meeting, screaming for someone else's blood in this situation - though I personally couldn't have shown my face in that gathering, had one of my two children been involved. Once again, I think this is a sign of the lack of personal accountability in this country at this point in time. We will bring ourselves down if we don't start understanding that our teen-aged children are old enough to understand right and wrong, and when they choose wrong, if often means we as parents failed miserably in our teaching of those concepts to them, though not always, I will admit. They also are old enough to bear the consequences of their actions. In this case, these teens need to face stiff legal penalties for their parts in causing one bullied young woman to take her own life -- this is also true of the teen who bullied another by way of the internet until that young woman took her life.

We have a growing problem with aggressive behavior running unchecked in our society - fueled, I believe, by the number of "hero" figures - rock stars, movie stars, athletes - who act out, and, seemingly, are not punished if not rewarded for that behavior. I can't help but think of Big Ben in Pittsburg, PA, though I'll admit that I'm also worldly enough to know there are women who will pick a wealthy, well-known figure in order to claim something happened that didn't, because they figure they're going to get something out of it. I think of NBA stars pulling guns on each other in a locker room, and according to the stories in the news, the one with the loaded gun went free, while the one with the unloaded gun is facing the consequences "because he's a bad boy." Guess what, if he's a bad boy, that's because the system has encouraged that attitude and behavior.

Since I was a teen myself, I've heard the talk on sports teams of the "enforcer," whose job is to make the other team pay for "nasty" plays. In basketball or hockey, it's someone willing to physical damage to another deliberately in order to send a message. Fortunately, baseball seems to have learned it's lesson, though brawls do still happen. Injuries such as Joe Thiesmann experienced will happen, simply because someone is paid to stop someone else from scoring, but we have witnessed countless occasions when a play is over, everyone is letting up, losing focus on the way back to the huddle, and BOOM, someone's down and injured. WE pay to watch that, my friends! WE want to see the blood, the pain. How many times have we heard someone way, it's not a hockey game without a brawl or three?

When our children grow up in that environment, watching movies increasingly graphic, and NO ONE TELLS THEM IT'S ALL PRETEND, they will grow to think that behavior is acceptable. My children watched those movies, too, sitting right next to me, while I pointed out that when the director called, "Cut!" the actors got up and walked away, but in real life, they laid there and died!

Wake up, people! Parents need to take responsibility for training their children, or stop yammering about it when someone else does! Everyone person is responsible for their actions, and the consequences there attached! If parents won't teach right and wrong, and won't allow churches and schools to do it - with parental support -- this nation will kill itself by way of angry young people who have no real concept of right and wrong. Perhaps instead of asking for staffers at the school to be fired over this, the parents of the children involved should stand trial right alongside their children. Perhaps that would get people thinking!

Angry? You bet I am, because I've been on the side that tries to help, and gets blasted for doing it, because "it's the parents' right to train their children." Well, then train, and stop playing couch potato parent, full of pills or booze, while your children learn only the ugly underside of what it means to be a human being! You enjoyed the act of procreation, so now act like persons who are indeed responsible and TEACH YOUR CHILDREN!!

I won't sign off, "Peace" on this post, because I think people need to start thinking seriously about how badly our country looks right now with all of this going on - and think about their attitudes toward their young! I really do!!

Extremism

I'm realizing that I'm proudly part of this nation's political system called at different times progressive, liberal, "socialist." I believe that our country was founded on the principle that a person was free to determine their own faith stance, and not have to worry about a group in power dictating whether or not they could practice that faith - and yes, I also believe there are limits that are rightfully placed on that freedom. I believe that extremism in ANY of it's varied forms is wrong - be it Islamic, Jewish, Christian, or related to the birth gifts of an individual someone doesn't like (if they even know nothing about that person).

This morning I noted a news story about one of our nation's law enforcement organizations raiding the facilities of Christian militia - with the notation that one of those raided sites had called another to seek a hiding site. Now, why are you calling for a hiding place, IF you aren't doing something wrong? If the police showed up at my apartment and demanded to search, I would step back, because I know I'm doing nothing that would get me in trouble.

I keep listening to the political pundits from the right, yelling about the Islamic extremists, and defending home-grown terrorists who have decided murder is justifiable to support their particular politico-religious point of view. I don't care if it is someone who fires a rocket blindly into Israel, who uses tanks to destroy the homes of innocents because they SUSPECT the homes are being used for attacks, who put pipe bombs in a plaza filled with people celebrating the human spirit and enjoying the athletic endeavors of the best of the best, or someone who uses a high powered rifle or hand gun to shoot that "damned" abortion doctor - extremism is extremism, and it is wrong.

I've worked hand in hand with Jews, Christians and Muslims to address social issues in more than one of the churches I've served over my 30+ years of pastoral ministry, and found them all to be people of faith, concern and a desire for a better life. I've worked with so-called straight, gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals - again finding them just as appalled by those of any of those persuasions who abuse they positions of power to abuse persons under their care.

Face it, people, there are good and bad in every group, every nation, every persuasion. So, let's stop acting like only "my" point of view is valid, only "my" faith perspective is right. If we learn to work together, we will find a lot of this nation's problems being answered as they were meant to be answered.

Peace!

Image is EVERYTHING

Once again, I'm surprised by the appearance that image is everything - particularly in the current political climate. A big example is the GOP position that Democrats are for big government - the fact? Current levels of federal government involvement in our lives is a direct result of 8 years of GOP control of the whole legislative system, and building a continuing influence through appointments to the judicial side of government.

Watching Hardball with Chris Matthews tonight, I was struck by the clips he played of Presidents and Senators from both parties going all the way back to Tricky Dick. Health care reform is an old and continuing need for this nation. It is an embarrassment that while we call our nation the best in the world, we are one of a very few, if not the only, industrialized nation without a national health care system that provides health care to all citizens.

It's also embarrassing to hear health care providers admit they defraud the insurance companies by overcharging for supplies! And we wonder why health care is so expensive? Why is it that our representatives cannot come up with enforceable regulations to stop fraud in our health care system? Lobbyists!

That old evil that has always been around, and that we are warned about even in the Hebrew Bible - the love of money -- increase the bottom line over all other concerns - short cuts in production of medicines, in treatment programs, over-charging insurance companies or the government, turn away the people who most need the coverage to help with the cost of conditions that just soak up money because of our system. That is just wrong!

Blind Bigotry

One of the on-going sources of pain in my faith life is the manner in which Israel seems unable to see or feel the pain they cause the rest of the world by their blind, unthinking, unfeeling, arrogant hatred of the Palestinian community - nor can they seem to see how they perpetuate the things done to the Jews by the way they treat these people they displaced much as the Germans displaced people when they were in their wars of conquest. Nations like the US try to reach out and find a peaceful way to allow Israel and the Palestinians to live, each in their own lands, and Israel plays a teasing game of "Of course we'll enter peace talks," and "Hurry, build another invasive settlement in direct violation of previous agreements!"

And tonight I saw another story that just confirms this. The Vice-President tries to restart the peace talks that Israel said they wanted to restart, and they announce the start of construction on another settlement. To quote a show my son used to loved to watch on TV, "Doh!"

I recall an incident from some years ago, when a colleague of the Episcopal persuasion went to Israel, returned to the states and spoke of his experiences, describing the treatment of Palestinians that at the time were still allowed into Israel for work and shopping - and comparing some of the tactics he saw as similar to the Gestapo treatment of Jews under Hitler - dragging people off buses because they were Palestinian, stopping them on the streets for no other reason than that, brutality, insensitivity to persons acting normally. A Jewish colleague came to me later and demanded to know if that other had called the Jews Nazis. I spent a good bit of time calming my Jewish colleague and finally was able to get the concept of "treatment similar to" across.

Many of the Jews I've known in this country are as perplexed by Israel's policies and action as are non-Jews. And I find myself simply unable to comprehend that inability to see how badly they are damaging their image in the eyes of the world - and another analogy of current affairs lifts its ugly head, that of the Republican party that cannot seem to see how out of touch their views are with the majority of this nation's citizens, while they continue to plow the same furrow over and over again, offending more and more people by lies, hate, bigotry and so on.

God gave us brains to think with, hearts to feel with, and hands to help our brothers and sisters in this life. When we won't think, can't feel, and hurt instead of helping - what message to we send to our God? What message do we send about our so-called faith?

Peace!

Civility in Public Life

What is it with people in our society that have lost power? I'm thinking of a story I just read on Yahoo News about a "Tea Party" speaker from eastern Washington state who said a Democratic senator from her state should be hanged, then claimed her remarks were taken out of context. Out of context? Lady, if you said it, you should be so ashamed of yourself that you withdraw from public life completely!

We claim to be the best country in the world, but we have lost the sense of civility and the understanding that we only accomplish our full potential as a nation when we work together respectfully! When the so-called leaders of our government feel free to use such language, when one party or the other decides they will become obstructionist rather than loyal opposition, then we fall from our perceived lofty heights. If we, as a nation, want the world to look up to us, we need to rediscover what it means to be a nation that can reach out to all our many parts, we need political commentators that are able to see the good in persons of leadership rather than tearing at them and their positions like mad beasts, we need to stop seeing surface things like skin color, party affiliation, gender, mental or physical ability, or even sexual orientation or religion - WE NEED TO SEE THE PERSON - and accept them as another member of our great big extended family - because we all know we don't get along perfectly with our family members, but we still love them and seek to keep good relationships with them. That also needs to be part of our civil discourse!

I have been a member of both the Republican and Democratic party, and I've complained about the actions of both. But I have never been more ashamed of a political party than I am right now with the Republican Party that has become, truthfully, the party of NO! And how they can continue to let hate-mongers like Limbaugh and Beck and O'Reilly to speak for them, fill their public image with insane, unthinking and unceasing lies about what is currently happening in our country - I'll never understand. There are bad people in both parties, and no politician is every above the law - though some obviously think they are - so we truly need, as citizens and voters, to show that we will no longer stand for those who deal in hate, lies and deceit. When a politician lies, cheats, or is shown to be in the pocket of special interest, we need to vote them out of office!

My father became so disenchanted with politicians years ago that he stated would no longer vote for and incumbent, because incumbents seemed to always be in the pocket of someone. I'm not ready to go there, but I do believe we need to send a strong message to Washington and our state capitals that we will no longer tolerate the current climate of hate and distrust. I do not believe Evan Byah was doing his best for the country this last little while, but I do believe his comments about voters needed to send a stronger message to Washington, specifically the Senate.

Dad: The Second Time of Saying Farewell

I'll try this again! I wrote this earlier and the computer somehow deleted it. Dad, are you channeling again?

We got home from work the day before our weekend began, and soon after my wife's sister called to say their father had died peacefully after a morning of good spirits and humorous interaction with the staff of his nursing home. We actually worked that night, and everyone was very supportive, with the store manager telling us we could have 3 days of bereavement leave if needed - and we took them up on it to follow our weekend.

We flew to Idaho on Thursday, offered our support and comfort to Mom, and I prepared to do the service - having learned from my beloved that my earlier offer to do the service, they refused because they thought it would be to difficult for me to do. I drew on my years of experience as a pastor, memories of my interactions with her Dad and how he helped me get through my seminary theology courses and gave insights while I was actively pastoring churches.

Our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson arrived very early Friday morning and we got some quality time with our grandson, Justin Lee. Our daughter and son-in-law arrived later Friday, and we got good time with them as well. Two of my wife's cousins came with their spouses and some good sharing happened with them as well.

The service was a mix of the serious and the humorous, using a couple of Dad's pet phrases - "Where have you been?" to start the service, "We're off like a dirty shirt." when the service was over. It caused some memories of my own father's funeral, and memories of my interactions with Mary's dad through the years.

One of the most amazing things about this man born in 1914 was his amazing openness to new insights and new science within his faith expression - open to the beginning of inclusive language shown in the beginning of table grace, "We thank thee, our Father, our Mother . . ." and his willingness to welcome persons traditionally shunned or persecuted by the church. If only more could learn to be more like Dad!

So, Dad, farewell, until we meet again! Because I have no doubt we will see one another again!

Peace!

Hard Work

I have been reminded recently about the old adage that hard work pays off - how? I'm at a lower weight now than I have been in over 2 decades thanks to the work I'm doing as an overnight stocker for Wal-Mart! I've been wearing a smaller belt my loving wife and daughter bought for me one day when I forgot a belt working for Walgreen's - and my pants kept sliding off my hips! Two days ago, I buckled it in the last notch it came with without even sucking in my stomach! And the smaller pairs of jeans I bought to work at Wal-Mart can be pushed down over my hips quiet easily while zipped and buttoned!! Cause for rejoicing, let me tell you!

I've tried diets, and lost to gain it back, but that was also when I was in a job that was very sedentary - as opposed to this one, where I'm most usually on the run from the time the nightly meeting is over until I'm ready to clock out.

See, regardless of your goal, hard work does pay off - though not always in the way we hoped! I don't want anyone to think they can work hard and gain a miracle just because of my success at losing weight. I'll give you an example from our family history - my wife had a cousin whose wife was diagnosed with cancer. She was a very strong and conservative Christian who believed her prayers would result in God healing her (she had four children and a husband who was a doctor), and refused treatment because of her beliefs. I think, knowing them, she worked hard at her approach - and died! Sometimes you just need to given in and see that doctor, and trust their expertise in the area of your health! Sometimes, as in my case, I'm simply accomplishing part of what they told me, and reaping the benefits! More exercise has a huge impact on health.

May success follow from your hard work! Peace!