Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

The great way

As I traveled this weekend I listened again to Wayne Dyer’s, “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your LIfe.” The chapter of the Tao Te Ching which Dr. Dyer spoke of that really caught my attention was the 30th.

Of all things, soldiers are instruments of evil, Hated by men.
Therefore the religious man (possessed of Tao) avoids them.
The gentleman favors the left in civilian life,
But on military occasions favors the right.

Soldiers are weapons of evil.
They are not the weapons of the gentleman.
When the use of soldiers cannot be helped,
The best policy is calm restraint.

Even in victory, there is no beauty,
And who calls it beautiful
Is one who delights in slaughter.
He who delights in slaughter
Will not succeed in his ambition to rule the world.

Contrast this ancient wisdom with our war on terror. This weekend at our Franciscan meeting I spoke with a friend I made last year and we spoke of the culture of death that pervades our country and how in ancient times knights returning from the crusades were required to spend time on retreat to atone for the sin of killing other men. Maybe post-traumatic stress is a natural reaction to this ungodly act.  There is no way that killing a brother can be made right. We are all created by the same force, by the same creator and no one has the right much less the duty to kill another. It is unnatural and unholy.

Posted on

Fuel prices

Tonight I filled up my gas tank. My little car need 12 gallons of gasoline and the total bill came to $44 and some change. Eight years ago when Bill Clinton was president it cost $20 for the same amount of fuel.  Most of the members of Congress and our executive branch don’t give a damn about what we’re paying for fuel. Truckers who haul most of our food and other items to market are paying between four and five dollars a gallon for diesel fuel.  I finally saw some Democrat from Oregon do a little tongue lashing on the floor of the Congress today. I wish our anemic representative would do the same, but I doubt he will as he’s a Republican water carrier for the current nincompoops in the White House.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKP8HhkCzMw]

Posted on

Real American hero

Much has been made of Rev. Jeremiah Wright ever since some of his sermons were taken out of context and smattered across the front pages of newspapers, tabloids and other media outlets. Last night I listened to Fr. Pfleger defend Rev. Wright as a man of faith and a man who loved his country but had the courage to speak truth to power when his country was wrong. I wanted to check on what Fr. Pfleger had said and so I did some Googling tonight and my results reinforce Fr. Pfleger’s assertions. Rev. Wright is a decorated veteran of the United State Military having served first with the United States Marines and then later with the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. Having been a Corpsman myself I can attest that service in the Hospital Corps is not only voluntary but courageous too. You can read more about Rev. Wright’s service to our country here.

I find the ad hominem attacks of Rev. Wright and his character to be repulsive and what’s more many of the commentators initiating these attacks have no record of military service themselves. There is a major difference between prophetic Christianity and pathetic Christianity. It seems to me that Rev. Wright has put the cross on top of the flag rather than the flag on top of the cross. He is being attacked by partisan hacks who are carrying water for entrenched corporate and political interests.

Posted on

Fr. Pfleger

I never heard of Rev. Michael Pfleger until tonight, but I sure love what he has to say to this pugnacious reporter from one of the major media outlets, who was trying to get this priest to denounce Rev. Wright. This seven minute video clip is worth your time. This man of God deflected the hate and turned the reporters own words on himself.

Fr. Pfleger reminds me of this quote from Oscar Romero.

A church that suffers no persecution but enjoys the privileges and support of the things of the earth – beware! – is not the true church of Jesus Christ. A preaching that does not point out sin is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel’s call.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0wvQMqSzTM]

Posted on

Micah 6:8

A couple of days ago I was in Plains, GA. I stopped by the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and was very moved by everything I read and saw of the former president. A video I watched at the visitor center, narrated by Charles Kuralt, stated that the Inaugural Address delivered by President Carter made reference to the biblical prophet Micah.

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” –Micah Continue reading “Micah 6:8”

Posted on

Soteria

A couple of days ago I left home with Georgia on my mind and this morning I’m going to return to a place that really only exists in my heart. Last night I arrived after nearly an eleven-hundred mile journey to Albany, GA. Thirty-five years ago I arrived here in dress blues with my seabag and another hospital corpsman. We were fresh out of United States Navy Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, IL. Continue reading “Soteria”

Posted on

Bunny fluff

Today I awoke to a covering of white stuff that Fr. Bob at the Mountain called “bunny fluff.” Bob said that any snow that falls after April 1st is referred to as bunny fluff. It works for me. My ride over to Mass this morning was typical as I made my way down the Ischua Valley towards Olean, New York and then east on Route 446 to the Village of Cuba and then on Interstate 86 to Friendship, New York and then to Nile and Route 1 to Mt. Irenaeus. It’s a route I know well. The further south and east I got the less of the bunny fluff I saw. Continue reading “Bunny fluff”

Posted on

Website of Unknowing

Last night following a search for more contemplative reading material I came across a truly lovely site that I’d like to draw your attention to. It’s author works in the bookstore at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, GA. It’s title, Website of  Unknowning, invited me to explore it in some detail. It’s author, Carl McColman has authored a number of books. After visiting the site and reading his insights I’d like to travel to Conyers, GA and visit the monastery.

Posted on

Mysticism

Mysticism is nothing more or less than a love-driven way of knowing God, that is centered in direct, immediate experience of God’s presence—as contrasted with the efforts of our minds to think through, capture, and describe the object of our belief in clear language, theological subtlety, or scientific precision….

“A mystic,” Peers wrote, “is a person who has fallen in love with God. We are not afraid of lovers—no indeed, all the world loves a lover. They attract us by their ardor, their single-mindedness, their yearning to be one with the object of their love.”

Mysticism is a way of living that makes this consciousness of God’s presence the shaping context, the compelling energy of our lives.–John Kirvan, God Hunger

Posted on

Terribly profitable

This week in Congress, General Petraeus, told our representatives that we have to pause on the draw down of our troops in Iraq. Iraq is not really any safer than it was a year ago when we were told that we needed to surge our troops in order to bring stability to the country. I didn’t watch the testimony. I’m sure I would have been sickened by the baloney. I’m a bit cynical after growing up during the Berlin buildup, a draftee during the War in Vietnam. Continue reading “Terribly profitable”