I am writing today first to all my friends and aquaintances who are Roman Catholics, and secondly, without any authority whatsoever, to all Catholics on behalf of all Protestants. In both cases, I want only to express my sorrow for what I believe has been a period of terrible suffering and embarrassment for both groups and the way they have responded to these problems with renewed faith and courage. From what I can tell, nothing will ever stop Catholics from practising their ancient and marvelous faith, not priests or bishops or blundering senior clergy, nothing.
Every Christian prays that through God's Grace he will be strong and faithful when the pressure points in life descend upon him. Last week may have represented such an event for many Catholics when the Vatican announced new rules for the handling of priests charged with sexual deviancy. Not only were the new rules the bare minimum that might have been expected, the Church's leadership gratuitously inserted into the mix the assertion that seeking the ordination of women is a sin equivalent to pedophilia! What a needless insult to 50% of the Church's membership! What an arrogant and clueless response to terrible problems that have been gnawing at Roman Catholicism. The next pope will need the skills and charisma of two John 23rd's.
We in the Protestant Church have long been plagued with scandal, but our more democratic forms of government make it much easier to deal with. In addition, Protestant churches that disapprove of the work of their governing bodies have ways to fight back. They can withold money, join another church or even go independent without fear of excommunication, eternal damnation and the like.
Many years ago, I spoke quietly and sincerely to a friend whose wife I had known forever. They were experiencing severe problems. I said only that I knew he was suffering and that I was sorry. He was courteous but denied that there was any discomfort in his life. I mention this only because I decided a long time ago, it was probably better to risk being indelicate than to appear indifferent. And so, dear Catholic friends, if I have displeased you with these words, please forgive me. Fools step in ...
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tea and Sympathy
On NPR this morning, a Michigan Teapartier was criticizing the groundbreaking for a new plant that in 18 months or so will be manufacturing Chevy Volt batteries and employing about 400 people. What was bothering him was the fact that the government had been involved in selecting the site and had provided some of the startup money. In his view government shouldn't be doing such things, even now when so many are unemployed.
To me his criticism meant several things. First is the fundamental weakness of the Tea Party movement: members seem to want doctrinal purity that is terribly impractical and won't work in a crisis. Give 'em sympathy, but let the system work out unemployment problems. Then came the realization that this country is impossible to run, particularly in this day of continuous news, opinion and bitter partisanship. There are probably 50 people for every Teapartier who think the government should be doing something much bigger and doing it faster. The hell with doctrinal purity, just give me a job. In the same vein, this guy was no one of importance; what was he doing on NPR? These thoughts were followed by the realization that Americans are very ignorant of how our system really works, despite all the talk about sausage being made.They don't like the fact that both Republican and Democratic parties bailed out the big banks, even if the government gets most of the money back. Have they been so focused on welfare queens all these years not to know that corporate welfare has always dwarfed human welfare, disability payments, food stamps, etc.? Forget about the trillions of dollars given recently to AIG, GM, Chrysler, the big banks and brokerage houses, corporate welfare goes back forever. Just as a reference point, start with the Mining Act of 1872 whereby big mining and oil companies can use government land for $5.00 and acre, take oil and minerals and pay no royalties! Think aid to tobacco and sugar companies, just to name a couple of biggies. I won't even mention companies involved in defense work, or broadcasting, but the Savings and Loan bailout of 30 years ago caused a little kerfufel coming in around $500 billion and might have been an indicator of things to come. Is it possible, what we're seeing today is also an indicator of something even bigger? If the reform bill about to pass congress is only the beginning, I'll be happy. There's much more to be done and huge hurdles to be overcome from the usual suspects who will be fighting for their special interests with their last breathes.
To me his criticism meant several things. First is the fundamental weakness of the Tea Party movement: members seem to want doctrinal purity that is terribly impractical and won't work in a crisis. Give 'em sympathy, but let the system work out unemployment problems. Then came the realization that this country is impossible to run, particularly in this day of continuous news, opinion and bitter partisanship. There are probably 50 people for every Teapartier who think the government should be doing something much bigger and doing it faster. The hell with doctrinal purity, just give me a job. In the same vein, this guy was no one of importance; what was he doing on NPR? These thoughts were followed by the realization that Americans are very ignorant of how our system really works, despite all the talk about sausage being made.They don't like the fact that both Republican and Democratic parties bailed out the big banks, even if the government gets most of the money back. Have they been so focused on welfare queens all these years not to know that corporate welfare has always dwarfed human welfare, disability payments, food stamps, etc.? Forget about the trillions of dollars given recently to AIG, GM, Chrysler, the big banks and brokerage houses, corporate welfare goes back forever. Just as a reference point, start with the Mining Act of 1872 whereby big mining and oil companies can use government land for $5.00 and acre, take oil and minerals and pay no royalties! Think aid to tobacco and sugar companies, just to name a couple of biggies. I won't even mention companies involved in defense work, or broadcasting, but the Savings and Loan bailout of 30 years ago caused a little kerfufel coming in around $500 billion and might have been an indicator of things to come. Is it possible, what we're seeing today is also an indicator of something even bigger? If the reform bill about to pass congress is only the beginning, I'll be happy. There's much more to be done and huge hurdles to be overcome from the usual suspects who will be fighting for their special interests with their last breathes.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Gracies
Having established unilaterally, in a recent blog, that what most people want in life is Peace, it's time to be more specific.
God will do what He pleases, of course, but in most cases I don't think the arrival of Peace comes with trumpets blaring. One knows he has Peace when he has received enough Gracies to know that Father is communicating.
What's a Gracie? It's a monogrammed favor from the Maker of Heaven and Earth. It's a hint, an act of Grace, but it is so subjective a thing that it has a little signature attached to it that clearly identifies it as being only for you. An example for me, for instance, would be a gift of music whereby I heard something I didn't know and fell instantly in love with it. That happened once with Mozart's Zaida and more recently as I was recovering from a miserable eye opertation and suddenly found much, much more than I had ever known was in Faure's Requiem.
What would a Gracie be for you? The interesting thing here is that we see everything so differently than the common stereotypes indicate, be they male and female or ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph, Type A or B and so on. People love each other for the most absurd reasons the mind can imagine. They worry about issues no on could guess. So a Gracie for one person might be a reference to a lock of hair or a pair of size 15 sneakers. What it means is that the Lord God loves you and knows you individually as his own and is telling you gently so as not to scare the living daylights out of you with horns and burning bushes. I'll trade you all the Presidential cufflinks in DC plus all the Papal blessings at the Vatican for one little Gracie, thank you.
God will do what He pleases, of course, but in most cases I don't think the arrival of Peace comes with trumpets blaring. One knows he has Peace when he has received enough Gracies to know that Father is communicating.
What's a Gracie? It's a monogrammed favor from the Maker of Heaven and Earth. It's a hint, an act of Grace, but it is so subjective a thing that it has a little signature attached to it that clearly identifies it as being only for you. An example for me, for instance, would be a gift of music whereby I heard something I didn't know and fell instantly in love with it. That happened once with Mozart's Zaida and more recently as I was recovering from a miserable eye opertation and suddenly found much, much more than I had ever known was in Faure's Requiem.
What would a Gracie be for you? The interesting thing here is that we see everything so differently than the common stereotypes indicate, be they male and female or ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph, Type A or B and so on. People love each other for the most absurd reasons the mind can imagine. They worry about issues no on could guess. So a Gracie for one person might be a reference to a lock of hair or a pair of size 15 sneakers. What it means is that the Lord God loves you and knows you individually as his own and is telling you gently so as not to scare the living daylights out of you with horns and burning bushes. I'll trade you all the Presidential cufflinks in DC plus all the Papal blessings at the Vatican for one little Gracie, thank you.
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