ommm…………………

Something Dubya never did.

In the middle of the night President Obama went to Dover AFB to speak with families and salute the returning war dead.  I would not like to be in is shoes…if he just had the cojones to have them come home in the cabin, rather than cargo.  From Tom Mattzie’s blog on Huffington Post:

President Obama didn’t have to go to Dover. George W. Bush never went we’re told. Obama could’ve stayed back at the White House and kept some distance from the war–almost suggesting it is the responsibility of the former president. But instead he chose to put himself firmly in front as the Commander in Chief. He chose to create an image that will likely endure through his presidency and as part of his legacy. What a dramatic contrast to images from the last presidency of George W. Bush flying over Katrina or “Mission Accomplished” day.

Unfortunately, although it is only a few hours since the president returned from Dover, we should expect that the Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world will start whining about the president’s visit accusing him of exploiting the event. Their script is so predictable that I can write this just after 9 AM with confidence that they’ll do it. But our president should always be reminding the American people of the sacrifice our troops make.

As of a few days ago October has been the deadliest month yet for the war in Iraq–with 54 American soldiers making the ultimate sacrifice.

No matter what your political views are or your position on the wars, we should never forget those making the ultimate sacrifice.

Mr. President, thank you for reminding all of us.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-matzzie/obamas-salute-an-iconic-i_b_338203.html

“Umm, Mister Pope…”

“…I hear you want all our angry, reactionary, misogynistic homophobes?  You can have them!!!”

hmm?

This is all true.

Hello, I am your disease

I Hate meetings…I Hate higher powers…I Hate anyone who has a program. To all who come in contact with me, I wish you death and I wish you suffering. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the disease of addiction. I Am cunning, baffling, and powerful. That’s Me. I have killed millions and I am pleased.
I love to catch you with the element of surprise. I love pretending I am your friend and lover. I have given you comfort, haven’t I? Wasn’t I there when you were lonely? When you wanted to die, didn’t you call on me? I was there, I love to make you hurt. I love to make you cry. Better yet, I Love to make you so numb you can neither hurt nor cry. When you can’t feel anything at all. This is true gratification. And all that I ask from you is long term suffering. I’ve been there for you always.

When things were going right in your life, you invited me. You said you didn’t deserve these good things, and I was the only one who would agree with you. Together we were able to destroy all the good things in your life. People don’t take me seriously. They take strokes seriously, heart attacks, even diabetes, they take seriously. Fools. Without my help these things would not be possible. I am such a hated disease, and yet I do not come uninvited. You choose to have me. So many have chosen me over reality and peace.

More than you hate me, I hate all of you who have a 12 step program. Your program, Your meeting, Your higher power. All of these things weaken me, and I can’t function in the manner I am accustomed to. Now I must lie here quietly. You don’t see me but I am growing bigger than ever. When you only exist, I may live. When you live I may only exist. But I am here…

And until we meet again, If we meet again, I wish you death and suffering.

I am your friend

I am your friend, the only true companion you have.
I am with you when you are lonely;
I am with you when you are sad.
I am with you when you feel withdrawn and when the world is cruel.
I hide the heckler’s words and block the missiles thrown in ignorance and anger.
I shelter you from the storms and I shield you from your fears.
I am your friend. I walk with you daily and live in your thoughts.
I feed off your failures, I revel in your guilt.
I thrive on your shame and dance with your deceit.
I keep you in darkness and take pleasure in your pain.
I delight in your loneliness and wallow in your sins.
I laugh when you flounder and strike when you stumble.
I am your friend.
I relish in your anger and worship in your pride.
I feed off your compulsion and dwell in your isolation.
I am familiar with your weaknesses and abuse your denial.
I treasure your resentment and take comfort in your depression.
I am your friend
My name is “Your Disease.”

I am your friend. I hold out my hand and bring you faith.
I award you serenity and self-esteem.
I bestow upon you peace and acceptance.
I wrap you in love and tender the shield of knowledge.
I volunteer humility and shower you with confidence.
I bequeath spiritual growth, emotional advancement and physical revival.
I am your friend; I will lead you out of the darkness into the light.
I will carry you when you are weak and escort you through honesty.
I will provide tools for the battles and binding for your wounds.
I am your friend. I will teach you abstinence and release you from burden.
I will initiate forgiveness and I will foster willingness.
I will nurture ambition and claim back your life.
I am your friend.
My name is “Recovery.”

If Jesus were an insurance company

Lord, have mercy…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday.

+++++

(Bolding and underlining mine.)

Mixing ‘the races’?  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?  We are all members of the human race, fer-cryin-out-loud!  Geez, maybe I shouldn’t have married my Native American wife…because that’s mixing the races too!  Folks like Keith Bardwell make my skin crawl……….. 

Thursday struggles

Oy!  Such pain!  My left hip, lower back and major muscles make me feel like a bowl of pulled pork.  I haven’t felt this punky in a long time…like a week! grrrr.  I’m blaming it on my shoes. hehe  Sick sarc thinking, dontchaknow?

It’s the sarc paradigm working: Do too much, pay for it muchly.  I had hospital visits yesterday, a sick and whiny rector to deal with and a service of Evening Prayer last night that have left me with an energy level of 2/10 today.  I was to go with Dawn to an eldercare seminar today but felt worse after showering, which is unusual, so I’ve been laying low with the dogs.

We went to Winterset Ia, this past weekend for the Covered Bridges Festival.  Stayed at the new hotel in West Des Moines and woke up to snow Saturday morning.  Talk about a surprise with that coating of the frightful whiteful!  I did have the happy surprise of my life to turn around and see President Lincoln on the town square.  Being a huge CW/ALincoln buff, this was awesome.  He was in character, too.  I told him to stay away from Ford’s Theater and he looked at me curiously and said, “I’ll remember that…”

Sunday late evening 10/4

Busy morning at church.  Aside from preaching it was also the feast of Saint Francis so we had the annual BotB.  (Blessing of the Beasts)  I took 64 photos.  There were at least 24 dogs there.  Lots of cat owners and dual owners but all the cats were left at home.  No reptiles, birds, small mammals, fish or beasts of burden.  (cue Rollings Stones music)  It was lots of fun!       

Now I’m tired!  Standing so much for two services, with the addition of standing in the pulpit, left me racked with pain and disharmony.  Now I’m simply tired.  This Tuesday I’m off to UCM to talk to freshman nursing students about sarc and my experiences as a patient.  Two 50 minute classes, from 10-12.  I hope I’m not tired that day, but in a way seeing me feeling punky might give them an idea of how rotten sarc is. 

sermon notes 4OCT09

Insomnia, not illness related, but sermon related.  I’m preaching Sunday.  Nasty subject.  Divorce.  Tough sermon to birth…but it’s coming together.

Jesus in Mark 10:
“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (NRSV) 
“Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.”  (NLT)
“Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”  (The Message)

Pros ten sklerokardian–”For your hardness of heart”

mia sarx–emphasis on one (mia) not flesh (sarx)
nota bene: sarx root word for sarcoisosis

Q. What are the sacraments? A. The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.  BCP p857

Baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.

You cannot make Remembrance grow
When it has lost its Root –
The tightening the Soil around
And setting it upright
Deceives perhaps the Universe
But not retrieves the Plant –
Real Memory, like Cedar Feet
Is shod with Adamant –
Nor can you cut Remembrance down
When it shall once have grown –
Its Iron Buds will sprout anew
However overthrown –
            Emily Dickinson

One must say Yes to life, and embrace it wherever it is found – and it is found in terrible places…  For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock.  Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have.  The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us.  The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.
            James Baldwin