Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Am I Annoying You?

“If anybody in this country is forced to undergo a single moment of discomfort, the person who caused it just must go away.” -- Bill Maher

True? I would tend to agree with Maher’s statement. I think back to my years in ministry and remember the times that making parishioners uncomfortable set the stage for a new appointment, just as did making the district superintendent or bishop squirm in their seats. Whether he meant to or not, Maher gives a cogent explanation for what happened to Jesus (and Gandhi, and Kennedy, and King, and …). Many former cabinet members are learning the consequences of giving King George “a single moment of discomfort.”

It’s the ultimate form of censorship: getting rid of those with whom you disagree. There’s a lot of that going on in our country these days, from the Dixie Chicks to Maher himself. It’s how I know that this blog is failing to live up to its name, because I can say anything I please and no one tries to stop me. Oh, that I could just piss the neo-cons off enough that they would come after me! Far more important, however, is that those who do have the national ear continue to agitate and provoke our collective conscience. We need those moments of discomfort.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

What Would Jesus Do?

As I tried to properly observe Memorial Day it occurred to me what a very fine line there is between honoring those who have given their lives in battle and glorifying war. It is the same razor-thin distinction between supporting the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan without condoning the wars they have been ordered to fight. The single most supportive thing that could be done for them right now is to admit that the U.S. invasion and occupation was a terrible mistake and bring them home immediately. The neoconservatives, however, have done a masterful job of twisting such a pro-troop, anti-war sentiment into one that is supposedly unpatriotic. I can’t help but wonder how the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld saber rattling would change should someone have the power to order the three of them to the front lines tomorrow.

I am increasingly offended by the contention that violence in any form can be justified as the “Christian” thing to do. How incredibly hypocritical it is of those who claim to take the Bible literally to contort Jesus’ life and teachings into any sort of justification for war. Oh, I know, the Church has been doing this since the time of Constantine, but that still doesn’t make it right. My opinion that the Bush Administration is immoral has been challenged, but I can only respond that the proof is no farther away than the Christian Right’s precious Bibles. Even the King James Version isn’t going to supply an “attack thy enemy” answer to the proverbial question, “What would Jesus do?”

Thursday, May 25, 2006

With Liberty and Justice for All

I believe that there is a direct correlation between equality and justice; empirically proving that belief is something that has thus far eluded me. It stands to reason that for justice to truly exist, everyone must be on an equal basis (perhaps this is why the scale of justice is the icon of the judiciary). Too often, it seems, the notion of preferential treatment being the determinant of so-called justice downplays the importance of equality.

I first started to really ponder this issue when I was in law enforcement and was exposed to the concept of “professional courtesy.” The thinking was that I should look the other way when a witness to an infraction if the perpetrator was able to produce a badge. Only when the violation is so extreme—as in the instance of a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who recently slammed into another vehicle at 119 m.p.h., killing four, while en route to “dinner”—that it makes cover-up an impossibility does the practice fail to be honored. There are a couple of pictures on my “photos” link showing local Metro and NHP squad cars parked with impunity in no parking zones. When one begins to sense that she or he is above the law in minor matters, what keeps that attitude from generalizing to more major issues?

Because I am employed by the District Attorney, I find myself at the epicenter of Las Vegas’ legal population. Well-dressed attorneys jaywalk, make rolling stops, and do so, I think, in the belief that the law doesn’t apply to them. We’re learning of what happens when this same attitude finds its way into our Congress and White House. Much of what is being done immorally and illegally in our country is by those who really believe that they are above the law. They don’t see themselves as equals with the rest of the population, and their arrogant notion that they are superior to the rest of us corrupts any sense of true justice for the masses.

Oh, I know, I’m just doing some sour grapes rationalizing because I’m not a member of the Bar.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Up or Down?

Why do the negative thoughts in my mind seem to surface so easily while I must intentionally focus on the positive? I’ve noticed this as I make my way to work each morning. I am alive and living in bounty. I am driving a nice car and am headed for steady employment. I have a loving wife and two beautiful daughters (and an outstanding new son-in-law). This should all add up to a state of perpetual giddiness, but instead I find my thoughts drifting toward everything that seems wrong.

I am in the habit of watching the local news as I am getting ready for work, and of watching the national news with my evening meal. Could this be influencing my outlook more than I realize? I justify my practice by believing that a good citizen must assume the responsibility of being well-informed, but what a journalism professor once said is so very true, “Dog bites boy! That’s not news. Boy bites dog! Now that’s news!” What am I to do with the inundation of information about the war in Iraq, the corruption of our government, and the warming of our planet? As I said, it seems irresponsible to just ignore these things but giving them any attention at all seems to give them mental dominance.

I want to have a more positive outlook on things. Still, I don’t want to be Pollyannaish in my world view. Is the cup half empty or half full? The truth is that it is both. To regard it in any other way is skewed. I don’t think that I’m ready just yet to give up my daily news fix, but I must learn to balance it with the wonder and awe of something like Rachel and Steve’s wedding. Their marriage is a very hopeful thing, and it is just as real as anything that generates despair. Whether I like it or not, it sounds to me like I’m embarking upon a journey of conscientious discipline.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Happy Anniversary!

Thirty-five years ago today Mary and I had no way of knowing that we would be living in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Coral Springs, Florida, Arvada, Colorado, Westminster, Colorado, Flagstaff, Arizona, Omaha, Nebraska, Burwell, Nebraska, Oakland, Nebraska, and finally Las Vegas, Nevada. While we anticipated that Mary wanted to teach, neither of us expected that on my way to the ministry I would work for Coca-Cola, New York Life, Team Electronics, Denver Dry Goods Company, L.R.S. construction, Western Federal Savings, Edgewater Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, and after a fifteen year stint with the United Methodist Church end up at the Clark County District Attorney’s Family Support Division.

We didn’t know that Mary’s father, Bill James, would die months before Rachel’s birth. We didn’t know that we would be blessed with a second daughter, Rebecca, while serving Trinity Heights United Methodist Church in Flagstaff. We didn’t know that my father would divorce my mother and essentially leave Rachel and Rebecca without any grandfather. We didn’t know that we would manage to travel from coast to coast, that we would endure Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, the Clinton impeachment, and now suffer the immorality of the Bush Administration. We didn’t know that Rachel would graduate Magna Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University and marry her soul mate one week later. We didn’t know that Rebecca would take her own unique journey to destinations as yet unknown, expanding our world through her adventures.

What we did know was that we loved each other, and that truth has been borne out over the years by the fact that we still do. There really isn’t a rational explanation for what we discovered in each other so many years ago; suffice it to say that it was genuine. How it is possible for me to love Mary more each day I do not know, I just know that I do. As I expressed at Rachel and Steve’s wedding, Mary and I invited God to sanctify our marriage that Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska, and God has remained the intimate, living bond between us that has brought us to this day, and will abide with us for as long as we don’t fail to revere the One that unites us. Thank you, Mary, for loving me, for befriending me, and for being my partner on this journey of the unexpected.

PS
There are some pictures of Rachel and Steve’s wedding at the ‘photos’ link. I’ll be adding to them as I have the time.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Hour Approacheth

The final countdown is on! Guests for Rachel and Steve’s wedding begin arriving today, and the numbers will continue to grow right up through Saturday. While this is definitely their day, I cannot help but remember the excitement of this time for Mary and me thirty-five years ago. One of my best friend’s mother recently sent me an old Polaroid of the “3 Musketeers” in front of his house getting ready to make the drive to Lincoln, Nebraska. Oh, the memories!

Isn’t that what a wedding is really all about? The act, I think, is initially setting the stage for a lifetime of memories together. The photographs (and now videos), the cards and gifts, all combine to stimulate the recall of the most sacred moment we will ever share. This act is that which literally perpetuates the species in its most civilized fashion. I know that it’s incredibly old-fashioned of me, but I truly believe that the increasingly widespread begetting of children out of wedlock explains the unraveling of our society and culture.

I must be quick to say that I do not understand marriage to be solely for the purpose of procreation. I do believe that it is designed to overtly and consciously manifest the genuine love between two people, and that it is from such an environment that humankind moves forward at its highest and most noble level. Obviously, I’m at odds with the wedding chapel culture of Las Vegas, but I find great hope in the future that people like Rachel and Steve are building. “Faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

Monday, May 15, 2006

P.S.

Yesterday’s focus was appropriately enough upon my mother, but I continue now with thoughts about my wife, Mary, the mother of our two daughters. I’m sure that Rachel and Rebecca already have an appreciation for the woman who does so much for them, but what they may not realize right now is, that as they mature and assume more and more responsibilities for themselves, their realization of just what a remarkable person Mary is will be amplified exponentially. For the last twenty-two years I have watched Mary time and time again give selflessly of herself to the end that her children are loved and nurtured. This maternal caring characterizes Mary’s presence in the classroom, as well, but no two people have benefited any more than Rachel and Rebecca.

Some things are just so obvious that they somehow get overlooked. Mary is the way she is because of her mother, who is the way she is because of her mother, and so on. I will be very surprised, then, if Rachel and Rebecca don’t turn out to be wonderful mothers, too. I’m sure that Mother’s Day was observed in all manner of ways yesterday, but I wonder if amidst the gifts and dinners there was the opportunity to pause in awe and wonder at the miracle of motherhood. I know that I am not alone in pondering the future of our country and of our world, but I do think that we many times fail to recognize the simple truths that could make all the difference about how tomorrow unfolds.

Thank you for your patience with the musings of this old man who spends forty hours a week trying to legally pry support out of parents to whom their children are apparently just a commodity for exchange. Yes, I know that the circle of life principle applies here, too, but I really don’t think things are going to get better until we begin revering the sacred institution of motherhood. We dads have our practical role in the scheme of things, but we will never experience the transcendent bond between mother and child. It is good that we observed Mother’s Day yesterday, but it will be even better if the observance continues today and tomorrow.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day!

It’s Mother’s Day, the hopefully happy occasion when we honor this earthly connection with our Creator. While it is true that not all women who give birth understand their divine role in the scheme of things, motherhood is the common thread woven throughout humankind. It is good and right that all children everywhere should express their loving gratitude to the one through whom God has given us life.

Perhaps the day is coming when such homage to a Petri dish will seem nonsensical, but for the present each and every human that inhabits the planet Earth has arrived by way of her or his mother. This is the undeniable reality of our world, and it is well worth contemplating the profound change for the good the human condition would experience if honoring our mothers—all mothers—became the universal hallmark of our species.

I know that I am blessed by a mother who has labored and sacrificed for the wellbeing of her children, just as I know that there is no way to ever repay her investment in me other than to be ever mindful of the debt of gratitude I owe her. Thank you, Mom, for being you, and for loving me. You have made my life wonderful, and I pray that this day will be filled with the love and the happiness you so richly deserve.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

It's My Way or...

The attitude of arrogant superiority—in a word, supremacy—must be one of the most destructive forces known to humankind. History is rife with examples of those who, justified or not, saw fit to impose their point of view upon others. Jesus’ greatest flaw of character, from this perspective, was his humility. Fueled by an absolute, unquestioned conviction in the superiority of their own opinion, supremacists pursue their own agenda to the demise of anyone or anything that stands in their way.

As our families more keenly focus upon Rachel and Steve’s now imminent wedding, we rejoice in the fact that neither of them finds it necessary to lord it over the other. I want to think that it has been a similar spirit of equality that has sustained Mary’s and my marriage of thirty-five years and that is now being passed on to the next generation, but Mary would need to be afforded the opportunity to affirm this notion (which may be difficult for her given her inferior computer skills). As I read over the vows that Rachel and Steve have chosen to exchange, my heart was filled with the joy of learning that they truly see each other as equals.

Their worldview as a couple is going to be challenged by a society that promotes and rewards supremacy. Their prospective places of employment are likely to be filled with such a mentality. And God knows that it is the nationalistic mindset of the America in which they live. The arrogant belief in one’s own superiority has insidiously permeated even the most basic of interpersonal relationships, a fact of which I was reminded only yesterday and which prompted these thoughts. I cannot be optimistic about humankind’s future until I see a conscientious move away from the “us against them” discrimination that inevitably erupts from the evil attitude of supremacy.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Lunch, Las Vegas Style

The spontaneity of blogging is foreign to this old preacher. The rule of thumb for sermon preparation was one hour for each minute of delivery. I endured plenty of preachers who apparently had neither heard of or believed in such a rule. Anyway, I'm beginning to realize that this form of communication is not amenable to ponderous discertations. It requires a to-the-point brevity that is going to be a new trick for this old dog.

My employer quite unintentionally set the stage for my experimenting with this new process. Our half-hour lunch breaks were replaced with a mandatory lunch hour (the reason given was that this makes it easier on the bookkeeper to keep track of our time; any accountants out there who can help me better understand this are welcome to comment), and so I find myself with a little time to kill each day after I've eaten.

Voila! The perfect time to throw out a few thoughts that haven't been very well thought out! I'm in the habit of reading TIME while I eat, and so at the very least this may afford me the opportunity to regurgitate some newsy items while digesting my meal. This should work out nicely since the Bush Administration makes me want to puke. Well, that should do it for today. Check in tomorrow to see what's on the menu.