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John Danforth is a retired Republican Senator and until tonight I didn’t know he is also an ordained Episcopal minister. He has written a new book that is entitled, “Faith and Politics. I read an exceprt of it at MSNBC. I think it’s worth your time. Click here….

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faith, politics, john danforth

Today I finally got the nerve and faith to go for my first ride in a Blanik L13 glider. This was my fourth trip to the Finger Lakes Soaring Center in Dansville, New York. This is a glider pilots’ eyeview of a tow plane. Our tow plane was similar. It was a Piper Pawnee and it did a great job getting us to 2000 feet AGL (above ground level). Following a short ground roll we were airborne. I lost track of time as the ground slipped away beneath our aircraft. Tears of joy filled my eyes as once again I had the priviledge of leaving behind the earth and literally soaring toward the clouds. There was no lift today and our trip back to ground began as soon as we released from the tow plane. Soaring is a unique experience even for a veteran pilot. Only the sound of rushing wind and the chatter between the pilot and I punctuated the stillness of powerless flight. I signed up for three introductory lessons and some ground school. My only regret is that I let fear hold me back from trying this sooner. Peace.

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soaring, pilot, dansville airport

Steve Bogner has a great link to an online retreat. I’m hoping that you vist both Steve’s blog and this retreat. It was through a virtual visit to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert that my own life was changed a dozen or more years ago.

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online retreat, spiritual

“Captured combatants and civilians who find themselves under the authority of the adverse party are entitled to respect for their life, their dignity, their personal rights and their political, religious and other convictions. They must be protected against all acts of violence or reprisal. They are entitled to exchange news with their families and receive aid.” This sentence comes from a part of the Geneva Conventions which are under attack by the Bush Administration. I’ve done some reading and the original intent of the Geneva Conventions was to provide a minimum standard that attempts to provide for the dignity of the human being in time of war. It is somewhat akin to Catholic Social teaching. The belief in the dignity of the human person. Catholic Social teaching asserts that every person is precious and that life must be protected and supported from conception to natural death. It asserts that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

Enter the Bush Administration and its “War on Terror.” Paradoxically a man who once said that Jesus Christ was an influence on his life wants us to believe that not all life is sacred and that in special instances and circumstances certain humans may subject other humans to certain types of interrogation techniques which might yield information that the captor deems useful. There are some people like Colin Powell, John McCain and others who think this sort of thinking is blurring the lines between what separates us from the terrorists.

I agree with General Powell that we are crossing or have already crossed the line. We have killed just as many innocents as the terrorists. I think we’ve actually killed more people in Iraq and Afghanistan that were killed here on September 11,2001. It really doesn’t matter what I think. What can I do? I can only change myself and what will that change be? I don’t know what my response should be. Is there anyway that individuals can work for peace and the restoration of human dignity to all people. Food for thought. Peace.

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geneva convention, war on terror

Today marks my one year anniversary of surviving a pulmonary embolism. A year ago my future was very uncertain. I was reading Psalm 91 in a hospital bed at the nearby Olean General Hospital. I had great medical and nursing care. I met a number of great people who don’t get enough credit who acting as God’s agents saved my life. I was rescued from the brink of death by modern medicine. Who should I thank then? Is it God or man? My own answer is God made man, therefore it was God acting through his creation which saved my life. How many people do you know that separate the sacred from ordinary everyday life and in so doing miss the presence of the creator in their daily life. St. Francis of Assisi was one person who was attuned to the presence of God in all that he did and all that he witnessed. Try to develop the habit of looking at all that surrounds you as brother and sister in this creation. St. Bonaventure spoke of the “fountain fullness” of God. The world is just brimming over with the fullness of creation. How often I miss the forest because of the ugliness of a few trees.

Do yourself a favor. Turn off the television, disconnect yourself from the Internet, take a deep breath and reflect on the kingdom of God that lives in and around you. Deo gratias. Peace.

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st.francis, st. bonaventure, fountain fullness, creation

St. Francis is supposed to have said, “Preach the Gospel everyday and only use words when necessary.” At work today a couple of co-workers were having a discussion over who was “saved” and who wasn’t based on their particular doctrinal understanding. One is a Roman Catholic and the other a Baptist. The Baptist person was insisting that if a person hadn’t accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour in a public profession of faith then this other person was going to hell. Of course the Roman Catholic person was repelled by this thought since this is counter to all that Catholics profess. It’s a foolish argument and only God really knows the answer if there is one. Their both darn fine co-workers and I was only listening and chuckling until the Baptist person made some remark about homosexuals being condemned because of their sexual orientation.

At that point I asked this person where in the four gospels Jesus said anything about homosexuality. The person began to quote from Deuteronomy and I said, “wait a minute, I said Jesus, not the Old Testament.” There was a flurry of comments back and forth. I asked this person if they were observing the dietary laws in Deuteronomy and they looked at me astounded. I don’t think that was part of any Bible study they had been in. I’m not sure anything was accomplished by the exchange of ideas because religious debate causes such discord that people can’t have religious debates without rancor.

Isn’t it amazing that religion which is supposed to bind us to each other really can drive wedges between us? Do you really think that Jesus came to start another religion or do you think that he came to show us how to live in relationship with each other. Do you think he came to condemn homosexuals and the folks who live outside our comfort zone or did he come to bring us together? Shalom!

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jesus, religion, st.francis

Today I received an email from Russell Testa, the Animator for Peace, Justice and the Integrity of Creation for Holy Name Province. The subject of Russ’s email was the growing tragedy in Darfur. I don’t know much about Darfur and the genocide, but I do know that it isn’t getting much coverage here because we have bigger fish to fry like the midterm elections, the war on terror and other partisan bickering. Darfur doesn’t get much attention I suppose because maybe they don’t have anything to contribute to world economy. They are just very poor people dying and poor people don’t get much shrift these days. Remember the poor in New Orleans who drowned last year and after a couple of weeks on the front page we moved on to bigger stories. Our news is shaped by the people telling the stories and for some reason this story doesn’t seem to concern our news providers. There is some coverage but only a fraction compared with all the people dying there everyday. Russ Testa’s email asked us to raise awareness and so that is what I’m doing. Here is a link to an article in today’s Washington Post about the speeches by George Clooney and Elie Wiesel at the UN.

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darfur, genocide, holy name province, justice, peace, creation

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world — that is the myth of the “atomic age” — as in being able to remake ourselves.–Mahatma Gandhi

That seems a pessimistic assessment to an idealist like me but maybe that’s all we can really expect is incremental change one person at a time. One of the Mahatma’s other quotes I like is, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Peace.

Welcome to my new blog site at WordPress.com. Thanks for visiting. I’m considering moving here from Blogger. I’ve been with Blogger for nearly two years and well maybe it’s time for a change.

One of my daily exercises is watching the Colbert Report. Comedy Central makes no claim about its accuracy. The only difference between cable news and the Daily Show and The Colbert Report is that the latter two shows are billed as entertainment. The substance is approximately the same. If you didn’t a chance to see last night’s piece on the Path to 9/11 follow this link.

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infotainment, entertainment, news, daily show, colbert report