Entitlements

What is an entitlement? Most of the time this is the code word from pundits and politicians for programs of social uplift that benefit most Americans but especially those most unable to care for themselves. Over forty years ago Martin Luther King said, “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

An entitlement is not a military base in Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, Arizona or New York that provides federally funded jobs for civilians or military alike. We can wrap that spending in the American flag and call it patriotic. The public financing of weapons programs as far as the eye can see is not an entitlement program either. That’s national defense for a country that’s been at war with someone or something for 72 years. An entitlement is not a subsidy paid to a farmer not to grow crops. Entitlements my friend are only a return on your tax dollar.

“How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” –Psalm 82

Non-cooperation and redemption

The following clip taken from the movie Gandhi is one of my favorites and it’s one I think of often. The United States imperial power controls Iraq & Afghanistan and we view our presence there as essential to the peaceful operation of those two states when in fact we are a foreign power and though the puppet regimes we have in place seem to want us to stay there are no doubt citizens in both countries who wish we’d leave. Gandhi and India’s witness to history is powerful. Without firing a shot they removed the British from India. It took a lot of work and many Indians lost their lives at the hands of the British including the famous massacre at Amritsar but eventually the British left and through it all India and Britain maintain a cordial relationship. Throughout it all Gandhi chose not to demonize the British but to redeem them. That is the best possible consequence and one that is worthy of emulation everywhere.

 

Weather prayer

One of my favorite movies and historical characters was George S. Patton. My Dad actually served with General Patton in Europe. During the fighting in France when American forces were battling the Nazis and poor weather the general enlisted the chaplain to compose a weather prayer. I need a test prayer for on Monday I must take one more test at the test center in Erie, Pennsylvania. Success on the test will insure a school building leader certificate for me. I was going to give up on prayer in my desperation to pass the test but my wife and a good friend have counseled otherwise. The following clip is taken from the movie, “Patton,” and it’s one of my favorites.

Still water

I’ve come here to think, to brood perhaps to lick my wounds. I’ve come up short again trying to pass the New York State School leadership exam. I passed one with flying colors and missed the other by 2 points. God I hate losing and failing. Two points might as well be two hundred. I got a 4.0 at St. Bonaventure University in the Education Leadership program and I am having difficulty with the darned exam. Does an exam make a leader? Sitting here next to the Genesee River soothes my soul at least for now. I had lots of people praying for me but I guess it either wasn’t enough or it wasn’t God’s will. I’m not praying on these things anymore. Emerson said that “every wall is a door.” I’m looking for the door now and maybe I’ll find it next to this river. It’s quiet here and solitude is what I crave.

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The Great Bell

“Please help me. what am I going to do? I can’t go on like this. You can see that! Look at the state I am in. what ought I to do? Show me the way.” As if I needed more information or some kind of sign!

…suddenly, as soon as I had made that prayer, I became aware of the wood, the trees, the dark hills, the wet night in my imagination, I started to hear the great bell of Gethsemani ringing in the night…

A Merton Reader, ed. by Thomas P. McDonnell, (New York: Image Books, 1989) 128

This quote is one of my favorite Merton quotes and it comes from “Seven Storey Mountain.” I have felt this emotion strongly in my life and especially lately and that’s why it resonates so profoundly. I’m listening for the bell with the ear of my heart.

Send Thy Peace

Sufi Prayer by Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace. Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously. Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts. Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy thy bliss. Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all in the thought of thy grace and mercy. Send Thy peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish. Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we Thy children on earth may all unite in one family. Amen.”

Thirty-one US Navy Seals were killed yesterday in Afghanistan. We too have killed many Afghans. My prayer is not for a winner or loser but for peace itself. Send thy peace, O Lord!

Soaking up silence

This is picture of Mary Queen of Peace whose statue occupies the crypt underneath the chapel here at Mt. Saviour.  It’s beautiful here this morning. The only sounds are birds, baa-baahing of nearby sheep and the rustling branchs above my head. Twice in a week’s time I find myself at a Benedictine monastery. God, I love the stillness & quiet. There is peace in silence and I think God is in there too. God us where it’s noisy too I’m sure but it seems easier to hear in silence.

St. Columban’s

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I love it here along Lake Erie. Only the sound of the waves in the background and the rustle of leaves overhead break the silence. I have come here to pray and rest today. My heart is full of questions and here in the silence of this holy spot I hope to hear his voice. Like St. Benedict I am listening with the ear of my heart. I love it here along this beautiful great lake. Quo vadis Domine?

A thousand words

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It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Tonight my wife organized a picnic for my mother-in-law who has been a patient in a local nursing care facility for almost a year now. It was really great picnic and was attended by our two nieces one of whom is pictured hugging me. Her name is Reanna and like her sister Danae came to our family almost ten years ago. They are precious young ladies and tonight was one of those special moments. She loves to tell “knock-knock” jokes and I was playing along with her which pleased her. Today was a day when I needed a hug from an angel and Reanna provided that assurance.

The Spirit of the Lord

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” — Luke 4:18

Does that sound like current political rhetoric? No, it’s radically different. Jesus was not a member of the Chamber of Commerce, nor would he have been at home in either political party. He loved everyone and wanted us to do the same. He had a special place in his heart for the poor and disenfranchised. His message is and was active and provocative. He ate with tax collectors, sinners of all kinds including prostitutes and nowhere in any Gospel does he demonize anyone even the Romans who murdered Jews for blood-sport during his lifetime on earth. The quote at the beginning of this reflection is recorded in Luke’s Gospel at the beginning of his ministry. I don’t know when he actually said it, but more importantly he proclaimed it with his life and even to the point of death on the cross. Jesus was about radical mercy and forgiveness. That’s a trait we need more of not less. The historical Jesus was a Jew, but the transcendent Jesus is neither Jew, Christian, Muslim, slave or free.  The mystical Jesus lives in our hearts and his message is beyond dogma. He is the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world. You don’t have to decide for Jesus. It’s already been decided.  He is the alpha and the omega.