>My Post for today is the following that I received from a good friend.
I hope you enjoy it and see Mexico as I do and as Linda describes in here.
Glenn+
One Journalist’s View
> By Linda Ellerbee
>
>
> Sometimes I’ve been called a maverick because I don’t always agree with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream all the time. The stream here is Mexico .
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>
>
> You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, it’s true drug wars have escalated violence in Mexico , causing collateral damage, a phrase I hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent people, some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed.
>
>
>
> But that’s not the whole story. Neither is this. This is my story.
>
>
>
> I’m a journalist who lives in New York City , but has spent considerable time in Mexico , specifically Puerto Vallarta , for the last four years. I’m in Vallarta now. And despite what I’m getting from the U.S. media, the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel as safe here as I do at home in New York , possibly safer. I walk the streets of my Vallarta neighborhood alone day or night. And I don’t live in a gated community, or any other All-Gringo neighborhood. I live in Mexico . Among Mexicans. I go where I want (which does not happen to include bars where prostitution and drugs are the basic products), and take no more precautions than I would at home in New York; which is to say I don’t wave money around, I don’t act the Ugly American, I do keep my eyes open, I’m aware of my surroundings, and I try not to behave like a fool.
>
>
>
> I’ve not always been successful at that last one. One evening a friend left the house I was renting in Vallarta at that time, and, unbeknownst to me, did not slam the automatically-locking door on her way out. Sure enough, less than an hour later a stranger did come into my house. A burglar? Robber? Kidnapper? Killer? Drug lord?
>
>
>
> No, it was a local police officer, the “beat cop” for our neighborhood, who, on seeing my unlatched door, entered to make sure everything (including me) was okay. He insisted on walking with me around the house, opening closets, looking behind doors and, yes, even un der beds, to be certain no one else had wandered in, and that nothing was missing. He was polite, smart and kind, but before he left, he lectured me on having not checked to see that my friend had locked the door behind her. In other words, he told me to use my common sense.
>
>
>
> Do bad things happen here? Of course they do. Bad things happen everywhere, but the murder rate here is much lower than, say, New Orleans, and if there are bars on many of the ground floor windows of houses here, well, the same is true where I live, in Greenwich Village, which is considered a swell neighborhood — house prices start at about $4 million (including the bars on the ground floor windows).
>
>
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> There are good reasons thousands of people from the United States are moving to Mexico every month, and it’s not just the lower cost of living, a hefty tax break and less snow to shovel. Mexico is a beautiful country, a special place. The climate varies, but is plentifully mild, the culture is ancient and revered, the young are loved unconditionally, the old are respected, and I have yet to hear anyone mention Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Madonna’s attempt to adopt a second African child, even though, with such a late start, she cannot possibly begin to keep up with Anglelina Jolie.
>
>
>
> And then there are the people. Generalization is risky, but— in general — Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you smile at them, they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the street, they greet you back. If you try to speak even a little Spanish, they tend to treat you as though you were fluent. Or at least not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers track me down after leaving my wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had someone run out of a store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty cents. I have been introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a day dedicated to the dead as a recognition of the cycles of birth and death and birth — and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming a woman — with the same joy.
>
>
>
> Too much of the noise you’re hearing about how dangerous it is to come to Mexico is just that — noise. But the media love noise, and too many journalists currently making it don’t live here. Some have never even been here. They just like to be photographed at night, standing near a spotlighted border crossing, pointing across the line to some imaginary country from hell. It looks good on TV.
>
>
>
> Another thing. The U.S. media tend to lump all of Mexico into one big bad bowl. Talking about drug violence in Mexico without naming a state or city where this is taking place is rather like looking at the horror of Katrina and saying, 0Damn. Did you know the U.S. is under water?” or reporting on the shootings at Columbine or the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City by saying that kids all over the U.S.. are shooting their classmates and all the grownups are blowing up buildings. The recent rise in violence in Mexico has mostly occurred in a few states, and especially along the border. It is real, but it does not describe an entire country.
>
>
>
> It would be nice if we could put what’s going on in Mexico in perspective, geographically and emotionally. It would be nice if we could remember that, as has been noted more than once, these drug wars wouldn’t be going on if people in the United States didn’t want the drugs, or=2 0if other people in the United States weren’t selling Mexican drug lords the guns. Most of all, it would be nice if more people in the United States actually came to this part of America ( Mexico is also America , you will recall) to see for themselves what a fine place Mexico really is, and how good a vacation (or a life) here can be.
>
>
>
> So come on down and get to know your southern neighbors. I think you’ll like it here. Especially the people.
> ***
>
> wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Ellerbee
>
> http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/ellerbeelin/ellerbeelin.htm
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Today is June 4. Forty-three years ago today Scottie and I were married. As the days dew closer to today I wondered how today would be for me. Somewhat to my surprise today has been a beautiful day. I arose after one of the best night's sleep I have had in a long time. And I woke up just feeling good, very good --physically and emotionally. Somehow today was a day of thanksgiving, not regret; a day of remembering good times and of recalling events that were so special to us.
Sure I still get the "blues" from time to time, and I expect I always will. And In a way I hope I always will.
As I said to my daughter today, there is a point at which grief gives way to wonderful memories that you relive and today as I look at the picture on my dresser of her in her wedding dress instead of tears, I feel a warmth and comfort. She now lives joyously among "the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven" and I am sure she too is thankful for all that we shared together. It seems that while you are grieving you feel separated from one another. But when the time comes and the grief is replaced with thanksgiving you feel re-united; curiously enough, it's not a denial of the loss, but an embracing of it.
I share this in my blog today in the hope that others who suffer the loss of a loved one will know that with the love of those family and friends and angels whom God sends your way a day does come when your grief heals and is replaced with what I have experienced today, and carry with me most days.
June 4--it is a good day!!
Glenn+
Sure I still get the "blues" from time to time, and I expect I always will. And In a way I hope I always will.
As I said to my daughter today, there is a point at which grief gives way to wonderful memories that you relive and today as I look at the picture on my dresser of her in her wedding dress instead of tears, I feel a warmth and comfort. She now lives joyously among "the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven" and I am sure she too is thankful for all that we shared together. It seems that while you are grieving you feel separated from one another. But when the time comes and the grief is replaced with thanksgiving you feel re-united; curiously enough, it's not a denial of the loss, but an embracing of it.
I share this in my blog today in the hope that others who suffer the loss of a loved one will know that with the love of those family and friends and angels whom God sends your way a day does come when your grief heals and is replaced with what I have experienced today, and carry with me most days.
June 4--it is a good day!!
Glenn+
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
My thoughts on Judge Sotomayor, et al.
I have been hearing so much crap from the Conservatives about her appointment, I feel compelled to add my two cents.
IT IS THE JOB OF SUPREME COURTS TO MAKE LAW:
I am sick and tired of hearing people, many of whom are lawyers, insisting that the want a Supreme Court appointee who will APPLY the law, not MAKE law.
In our legal system we have several ways laws are made: One is by the vote of elected bodies, City Councils, State Legislatures and the US Congress. The Second is my the decisions of Appellate Courts. Appellate Courts are all State Courts of Appeals and State Supreme Courts, and the United Sates Courts of Appeals, and the U. S. Supreme Court. Every time an appellate court publishes an Opinion in one of the official sets of books that record such Opinions their decisions declare one or more principles of law, and some of those principles MAKE NEW LAWS addressing issues that have never been addressed by a legislature, or by any other court. This then becomes newly made law. Lawyers cite that newly made law in their briefs, and other courts will rely on that new law until and unless that new law is overturned by a higher court.
Many of the issues that come before a Supreme Courts are issues of law that have never been decided before, or they have been decided by a lower court of appeals and the Supreme Court is asked to review the lower court's decision. These are called Cases of "first impression". This is how our "Common Law" system works.
Now to be fair, in making new law Courts must be very careful in the legal reasoning they used to do so. They just can't create a new principle of law out of whole cloth. The new principle of law must be a logical deduction that results from the reasonable implications of established principles of law. Those established principles of law are called "precedents".
So let's be clear: one of the primary jobs of a state Supreme Court and the U. S. Supreme Court is to MAKE NEW LAW.
MEDIA REPORTS ON LEGAL MATTERS ARE OFTEN MISLEADING:
Another matter: When the media reports the decisions of Supreme Courts they emphasize the outcome of the case, not the reasoning of the court. In doing so they often distort what the court really did. .
For example: (this is a hypothetical, not a real case) Suppose a State legislature passes a law permitting gay couples to get married. Suppose also that a law suit is brought alleging that in the process of passing that law the legislature failed to hold public hearings which the Plaintiffs say are required by state law (relying on AN INTERPRETATION of a state statute.) The case goes to trial and the trial court finds that indeed the legislature did not hold public hearings. But the trial court interpreted the the state statute in question to mean that the legislature is not required to hold public hearings.
The case is appealed on an issue of the interpretation of a state statute: Does that statute REQUIRE the legislature to hold public hearings before it can vote on such an issue. The case goes up to the State Supreme. Court. The Supreme Court rules that the statute DOES NOT require the legislature to hold public hearing, therefore the new law permitting gay marriage was passes in a lawful manner. The Press then reports the outcome of the case with a headline: "State Supreme Court Supports Gay Marriage". Actually the Supreme Court said nothing about Gay Marriage. All they said was that the legislature did not violate the law in the way tghe voted on and passed the statute that permits Gay Marriages.
The point here is that people have to be careful relying on the press' reports on legal matters. Time and time again the media reports on court decisions in a way that gets the most attention, not necessarily in the way that is accurate.
JUDGE SOTOMAYOR'S FAMOUS QUOTE:
Apparently in a speech a number of years ago Judge Sotomayor said that she hoped that an experienced Latina judge would render better decisions than a white male judge who did not have her experience of life.
I certainly have no way of knowing what she meant, and I do not pretend here to do so. But as I heard that quote, here is what it made me think of.
Before any appellate court, including a Supreme Court decides a case they read the briefs submitted by the lawyers and then they conduct oral argument on the case. During the oral argument as the lawyers make their their arguments to the court, the judges interrupt the lawyers to ask questions. The point of these questions is to help the judges better understand the facts of the case and the legal issues in the case and to help them project how any decision they might render will play out in the real world.
The questions a judge thinks to ask are shaped by that judges experiences in life as well as their legal experience. Therefore, a Latina judge, or an Africa-America judge, who grew up in "the projects", or a Native American Judge, who grew up on an indian reservation will undoubtedly ask questions that a white upper middle class male judge, who was born and raised in Marin County, California would never think of asking (and visa versa). The questions that judges ask and the answers they get from the lawyers shape their understanding of the case. And, their understanding of a case influences the decision they render So, in some kinds of casss the minority judge will ask better questions than a non-minority judge. In other cases the non-minority judge may ask better questions.
Why no one else has proposed such an interpretation amazes me. We wont know what she intended to say until the hearings occur. But I would not be surprised if her explanation isn't similar to what I have suggested here. Time will tell.
Glenn+
IT IS THE JOB OF SUPREME COURTS TO MAKE LAW:
I am sick and tired of hearing people, many of whom are lawyers, insisting that the want a Supreme Court appointee who will APPLY the law, not MAKE law.
In our legal system we have several ways laws are made: One is by the vote of elected bodies, City Councils, State Legislatures and the US Congress. The Second is my the decisions of Appellate Courts. Appellate Courts are all State Courts of Appeals and State Supreme Courts, and the United Sates Courts of Appeals, and the U. S. Supreme Court. Every time an appellate court publishes an Opinion in one of the official sets of books that record such Opinions their decisions declare one or more principles of law, and some of those principles MAKE NEW LAWS addressing issues that have never been addressed by a legislature, or by any other court. This then becomes newly made law. Lawyers cite that newly made law in their briefs, and other courts will rely on that new law until and unless that new law is overturned by a higher court.
Many of the issues that come before a Supreme Courts are issues of law that have never been decided before, or they have been decided by a lower court of appeals and the Supreme Court is asked to review the lower court's decision. These are called Cases of "first impression". This is how our "Common Law" system works.
Now to be fair, in making new law Courts must be very careful in the legal reasoning they used to do so. They just can't create a new principle of law out of whole cloth. The new principle of law must be a logical deduction that results from the reasonable implications of established principles of law. Those established principles of law are called "precedents".
So let's be clear: one of the primary jobs of a state Supreme Court and the U. S. Supreme Court is to MAKE NEW LAW.
MEDIA REPORTS ON LEGAL MATTERS ARE OFTEN MISLEADING:
Another matter: When the media reports the decisions of Supreme Courts they emphasize the outcome of the case, not the reasoning of the court. In doing so they often distort what the court really did. .
For example: (this is a hypothetical, not a real case) Suppose a State legislature passes a law permitting gay couples to get married. Suppose also that a law suit is brought alleging that in the process of passing that law the legislature failed to hold public hearings which the Plaintiffs say are required by state law (relying on AN INTERPRETATION of a state statute.) The case goes to trial and the trial court finds that indeed the legislature did not hold public hearings. But the trial court interpreted the the state statute in question to mean that the legislature is not required to hold public hearings.
The case is appealed on an issue of the interpretation of a state statute: Does that statute REQUIRE the legislature to hold public hearings before it can vote on such an issue. The case goes up to the State Supreme. Court. The Supreme Court rules that the statute DOES NOT require the legislature to hold public hearing, therefore the new law permitting gay marriage was passes in a lawful manner. The Press then reports the outcome of the case with a headline: "State Supreme Court Supports Gay Marriage". Actually the Supreme Court said nothing about Gay Marriage. All they said was that the legislature did not violate the law in the way tghe voted on and passed the statute that permits Gay Marriages.
The point here is that people have to be careful relying on the press' reports on legal matters. Time and time again the media reports on court decisions in a way that gets the most attention, not necessarily in the way that is accurate.
JUDGE SOTOMAYOR'S FAMOUS QUOTE:
Apparently in a speech a number of years ago Judge Sotomayor said that she hoped that an experienced Latina judge would render better decisions than a white male judge who did not have her experience of life.
I certainly have no way of knowing what she meant, and I do not pretend here to do so. But as I heard that quote, here is what it made me think of.
Before any appellate court, including a Supreme Court decides a case they read the briefs submitted by the lawyers and then they conduct oral argument on the case. During the oral argument as the lawyers make their their arguments to the court, the judges interrupt the lawyers to ask questions. The point of these questions is to help the judges better understand the facts of the case and the legal issues in the case and to help them project how any decision they might render will play out in the real world.
The questions a judge thinks to ask are shaped by that judges experiences in life as well as their legal experience. Therefore, a Latina judge, or an Africa-America judge, who grew up in "the projects", or a Native American Judge, who grew up on an indian reservation will undoubtedly ask questions that a white upper middle class male judge, who was born and raised in Marin County, California would never think of asking (and visa versa). The questions that judges ask and the answers they get from the lawyers shape their understanding of the case. And, their understanding of a case influences the decision they render So, in some kinds of casss the minority judge will ask better questions than a non-minority judge. In other cases the non-minority judge may ask better questions.
Why no one else has proposed such an interpretation amazes me. We wont know what she intended to say until the hearings occur. But I would not be surprised if her explanation isn't similar to what I have suggested here. Time will tell.
Glenn+
Monday, June 1, 2009
QUE TAL?
It has been quite a while since I posted anything. Actually I have been pretty busy and when I'm not busy I find it easier to do other stuff than to sit down and write. I really intend to be a little more disciplined about this.
Last Sunday was my last Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit. The past four months that I served there as the Interim-Vicar were a gift from the Holy Spirit to me. For one, it allowed me to slide into retirement instead of jumping into it. The truth is, I had planned a trip right after I left good Shepherd at the end of January. I had thought of going to Hawaii for a few weeks. I have never been there and it seemed like a good time to go, prices are down, etc. I had to put taking a trip on hold when the Bishop asked if I'd like to be the Interim-Vicar at Holy Spirit and help prepare the way for their new Vicar who would arrive in June. At first I was little disappointed about not having at least a week or so to get away before jumping back into the saddle. But once I got re-connect with the people at Holy Spirit I didn't miss the trip one iota. They welcomed me so graciously and made me feel truly wanted and needed, and that I truly had something to share that they really needed. There is no better experience in life and I am so grateful for every moment I was able to spend with them.
I also had the blessing of finding a new friend in the person of their new vicar, Julie O'Brien. We were able to talk over a lot of things about being a soon-to-be-ordained priest generally, and about starting her ministry at Holy Spirit. Sharing that experience with her, a person I came to truly respect and admire for her obvious gifts, her loving heart, and her great sense of humor.
Now I am getting ready for my trip to the Olympic Peninsula for the Arizona Highways Photo Workshop next week. I got a new Canon 5D, Mark II camera and I am learning my way around it slowly. It is a fabulous camera. For the camera buffs out there, I read some reviews on it before buying it and learned why it creates such marvelously sharp images. It is not because of how many mega pixels it has, though it has 21.1; it is because the mega pixels on the sensor are larger that in other cameras, except for the professional models. The larger pixels capture more light, leading to finer detailed images. I can't wait to experience it for myself.
Well that's enough for now. A few random thoughts and I am ready to call it a day.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Music plays a very important part in my day and in my life. I have a very eclectic muscial taste. Mostly I like vocals with good harmony. It doesn't matter if its country, or pop or oldies. I like the experience of good harmony. For me, singing in harmony with others is one of life's great spiritual experiences. I sang in a Barbershop Quartet, as well as in our high school choir. Later I sang duets for parties in college with an old college friend. During the years I was the youth minister at Grace Church in Tucson, I helped form a music group from our high school and college kids that traveled around Arizona and around Colorado visiting churches and performing a wonderful repertoire of Christan music, much of which was written and arranged by one of the college kids in the group. I did not perform with the group, I just sang in practices with them..
But music has always been an important part of my life in general and my spiritual life in particular. Often when I have my prayer times I sing songs that are prayers of love and praise. Most of the music that I listen to isn't religious, but it is about life and love and joy and sorrow and loss and hope, all things that ae holy to me. Nat King Cole, Paul Simon, Peter, Paul and Mary, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Wynnona, Celine Dion, James Taylor, Phil Harris (whom only old folks will remember), the Mills Brothers, the Statler Brothers and many other are on my iPod. I envy other cultures, like the Germans,and the Irish who sing in their pubs and beer halls. To have a few beers and to sing with some friends, I can't think of a better way to spend an evening.
Well, these truly are just random thoughts, but again, that is all I said it would be.
Sing more, and sing more often, especially sing in harmony with good friends. It is good for the soul.
Glenn+
It has been quite a while since I posted anything. Actually I have been pretty busy and when I'm not busy I find it easier to do other stuff than to sit down and write. I really intend to be a little more disciplined about this.
Last Sunday was my last Sunday at the Church of the Holy Spirit. The past four months that I served there as the Interim-Vicar were a gift from the Holy Spirit to me. For one, it allowed me to slide into retirement instead of jumping into it. The truth is, I had planned a trip right after I left good Shepherd at the end of January. I had thought of going to Hawaii for a few weeks. I have never been there and it seemed like a good time to go, prices are down, etc. I had to put taking a trip on hold when the Bishop asked if I'd like to be the Interim-Vicar at Holy Spirit and help prepare the way for their new Vicar who would arrive in June. At first I was little disappointed about not having at least a week or so to get away before jumping back into the saddle. But once I got re-connect with the people at Holy Spirit I didn't miss the trip one iota. They welcomed me so graciously and made me feel truly wanted and needed, and that I truly had something to share that they really needed. There is no better experience in life and I am so grateful for every moment I was able to spend with them.
I also had the blessing of finding a new friend in the person of their new vicar, Julie O'Brien. We were able to talk over a lot of things about being a soon-to-be-ordained priest generally, and about starting her ministry at Holy Spirit. Sharing that experience with her, a person I came to truly respect and admire for her obvious gifts, her loving heart, and her great sense of humor.
Now I am getting ready for my trip to the Olympic Peninsula for the Arizona Highways Photo Workshop next week. I got a new Canon 5D, Mark II camera and I am learning my way around it slowly. It is a fabulous camera. For the camera buffs out there, I read some reviews on it before buying it and learned why it creates such marvelously sharp images. It is not because of how many mega pixels it has, though it has 21.1; it is because the mega pixels on the sensor are larger that in other cameras, except for the professional models. The larger pixels capture more light, leading to finer detailed images. I can't wait to experience it for myself.
Well that's enough for now. A few random thoughts and I am ready to call it a day.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Music plays a very important part in my day and in my life. I have a very eclectic muscial taste. Mostly I like vocals with good harmony. It doesn't matter if its country, or pop or oldies. I like the experience of good harmony. For me, singing in harmony with others is one of life's great spiritual experiences. I sang in a Barbershop Quartet, as well as in our high school choir. Later I sang duets for parties in college with an old college friend. During the years I was the youth minister at Grace Church in Tucson, I helped form a music group from our high school and college kids that traveled around Arizona and around Colorado visiting churches and performing a wonderful repertoire of Christan music, much of which was written and arranged by one of the college kids in the group. I did not perform with the group, I just sang in practices with them..
But music has always been an important part of my life in general and my spiritual life in particular. Often when I have my prayer times I sing songs that are prayers of love and praise. Most of the music that I listen to isn't religious, but it is about life and love and joy and sorrow and loss and hope, all things that ae holy to me. Nat King Cole, Paul Simon, Peter, Paul and Mary, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Wynnona, Celine Dion, James Taylor, Phil Harris (whom only old folks will remember), the Mills Brothers, the Statler Brothers and many other are on my iPod. I envy other cultures, like the Germans,and the Irish who sing in their pubs and beer halls. To have a few beers and to sing with some friends, I can't think of a better way to spend an evening.
Well, these truly are just random thoughts, but again, that is all I said it would be.
Sing more, and sing more often, especially sing in harmony with good friends. It is good for the soul.
Glenn+
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Hi Folks,
QUE TAL?
It has been a few days since my last post, but there hasn't been a lot to talk about. But there are a couple of things I'd like to share.
Last Monday I went to a Pain Management doctor about the problem I have been having with pains shooting down my left leg and the numbness in my left foot. I had thought it was a sciatic nerve problem. The doc quickly determined it was probably not a sciatic nerve problem, but rather a form of neuropathy, perhaps caused by a vitamin deficiency. During the examination the doc had some questions about the medication I take for my arthritis pain, in part because I was taking fairly large doses of Tylenol, which is hard on the liver. She suggested I try a new medication called Rysolt E.R. I started taking it on Tuesday and almost immediately I noticed a dramatic relief of the arthritic pain in my feet that has been so debilitating for so many years. The difference was so dramatic that I was afraid it wouldn't last. All week long I kept expecting the pain to return, but it never did, even whe the barometer dropped yesterday. A drop in the barometric pressure almost alwaysmade my arthritis very painful.
Before I started the Rysolt, if I was on my feet for any period of time, like even an hour, my feet would throb so, that I would just have to get off them. And they would hurt like that until the next day. I wasn't able to walk any real distance, even walking a mile would be enough to have me hobbling around.
With the new medication I am trtying out various activities. I haven't gone for a long walk yet, but I will today. Today I will walk for a half hour and see how it goes. Then, assuming that goes well, on another day I will go for an hour and see how that goes. But by everything I have experienced so far I expect it to go just fine. What a blessing this will be when I go on the AZ Hywys Photo Workshop next month. I have been wondering how I would handle the walking that I know will be a part of the trip, but now I think it wil be OK.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Recently I was in a conversation about the current economic crisis. we talked about how GREED had been the major cause of this current situation. People shared their own stories of how they had personally seen banks and mortgage companies lose all sense of ethical responsibility in the drive to make as much as they could as fast as they could. We talked about how ethics is not even taught in the Business colleges of our finest universities. Greed at the corporate and business level was only part of the story. Personal greed had driven people to think they could buy what they could not afford in the purchase of their homes, coupled with running up massive amounts of credit card debt only to learn that the credit card companies manipulated their "rules" to "trick and trap" people by arbitrarily raising the int erst rate and imposing unfair penalties.
Then it occur ed to us that many , if not most of the people who caused this climate where the only guiding ethical principle was GREED, where people who also attend church.
Surely many of the executives of these banks and mortgage institutions and credit card companies consider themselves to be "Christians". I'll bet that many of them are even leaders in their churches, serving on vestries, boards of trustees. Many probably even teach Sunday School or lead groups that do outreach projects, etc. Yet somehow they walk out the church door and put on their professional hat and never even think about whether what they are doing is right or wrong, about whether there are any moral aspects of what they do in their businesses; they never consider the social responsibility of their business decisions. The just worship the god of "profit at all costs".
I don't know if this circumstance is an indictment of the churches, or the people or both. But it seems to me to be undeniable that far too many "believers" are really " hearers of the word and not doers". I think sometime our theology of "salvation by faith" gets interpreted to mean," what one does ion their professional lives doesn't matter, as long as they "believe"in God. Maybe as church leaders we set a bad example. We practice our own form of greed when we place a huge emphasis of "growing the church". The "successful church" is one that keeps getting bigger and bigger as more and more people to attend and more and more people increase their giving so that we can spend hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars building bigger, fancier church buildings, and buying more and fancier church stuff. Then after building the new beautiful building and after we fill it with new and even more beautiful church stuff, we have a bake sale, or similar event to raise a couple of hundred bucks to donate it and call it our "outreach program". The church is often as self-centered, and greedy and self-deceiving as the banks and the mortgage institutions and the credit card companies have been. We deceive ourselves by saying that we are "bringing people to Christ". Is that really what we are doing when those people we "brought to Christ" go out and live their processional lives guided only by unbridled, unrestrained, and unconscionable greed. Have we brought them to Christ or have we just brought them into the religious version of what the rest of the world is doing?
Something to ponder.
Adios for now
Glenn+
QUE TAL?
It has been a few days since my last post, but there hasn't been a lot to talk about. But there are a couple of things I'd like to share.
Last Monday I went to a Pain Management doctor about the problem I have been having with pains shooting down my left leg and the numbness in my left foot. I had thought it was a sciatic nerve problem. The doc quickly determined it was probably not a sciatic nerve problem, but rather a form of neuropathy, perhaps caused by a vitamin deficiency. During the examination the doc had some questions about the medication I take for my arthritis pain, in part because I was taking fairly large doses of Tylenol, which is hard on the liver. She suggested I try a new medication called Rysolt E.R. I started taking it on Tuesday and almost immediately I noticed a dramatic relief of the arthritic pain in my feet that has been so debilitating for so many years. The difference was so dramatic that I was afraid it wouldn't last. All week long I kept expecting the pain to return, but it never did, even whe the barometer dropped yesterday. A drop in the barometric pressure almost alwaysmade my arthritis very painful.
Before I started the Rysolt, if I was on my feet for any period of time, like even an hour, my feet would throb so, that I would just have to get off them. And they would hurt like that until the next day. I wasn't able to walk any real distance, even walking a mile would be enough to have me hobbling around.
With the new medication I am trtying out various activities. I haven't gone for a long walk yet, but I will today. Today I will walk for a half hour and see how it goes. Then, assuming that goes well, on another day I will go for an hour and see how that goes. But by everything I have experienced so far I expect it to go just fine. What a blessing this will be when I go on the AZ Hywys Photo Workshop next month. I have been wondering how I would handle the walking that I know will be a part of the trip, but now I think it wil be OK.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Recently I was in a conversation about the current economic crisis. we talked about how GREED had been the major cause of this current situation. People shared their own stories of how they had personally seen banks and mortgage companies lose all sense of ethical responsibility in the drive to make as much as they could as fast as they could. We talked about how ethics is not even taught in the Business colleges of our finest universities. Greed at the corporate and business level was only part of the story. Personal greed had driven people to think they could buy what they could not afford in the purchase of their homes, coupled with running up massive amounts of credit card debt only to learn that the credit card companies manipulated their "rules" to "trick and trap" people by arbitrarily raising the int erst rate and imposing unfair penalties.
Then it occur ed to us that many , if not most of the people who caused this climate where the only guiding ethical principle was GREED, where people who also attend church.
Surely many of the executives of these banks and mortgage institutions and credit card companies consider themselves to be "Christians". I'll bet that many of them are even leaders in their churches, serving on vestries, boards of trustees. Many probably even teach Sunday School or lead groups that do outreach projects, etc. Yet somehow they walk out the church door and put on their professional hat and never even think about whether what they are doing is right or wrong, about whether there are any moral aspects of what they do in their businesses; they never consider the social responsibility of their business decisions. The just worship the god of "profit at all costs".
I don't know if this circumstance is an indictment of the churches, or the people or both. But it seems to me to be undeniable that far too many "believers" are really " hearers of the word and not doers". I think sometime our theology of "salvation by faith" gets interpreted to mean," what one does ion their professional lives doesn't matter, as long as they "believe"in God. Maybe as church leaders we set a bad example. We practice our own form of greed when we place a huge emphasis of "growing the church". The "successful church" is one that keeps getting bigger and bigger as more and more people to attend and more and more people increase their giving so that we can spend hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars building bigger, fancier church buildings, and buying more and fancier church stuff. Then after building the new beautiful building and after we fill it with new and even more beautiful church stuff, we have a bake sale, or similar event to raise a couple of hundred bucks to donate it and call it our "outreach program". The church is often as self-centered, and greedy and self-deceiving as the banks and the mortgage institutions and the credit card companies have been. We deceive ourselves by saying that we are "bringing people to Christ". Is that really what we are doing when those people we "brought to Christ" go out and live their processional lives guided only by unbridled, unrestrained, and unconscionable greed. Have we brought them to Christ or have we just brought them into the religious version of what the rest of the world is doing?
Something to ponder.
Adios for now
Glenn+
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hello Y'all,
This is just a quick note as I am about to leave for the EFM graduation for the class I have mentored this last year. Last evening I was invited to coin in the graduation ceremonies for the class Jack Robertson mentors. It was a moing event. Jack had prepared a marvelous liturgy complete with the Litqany for Ordinations, a commissioning of the graduates as entrants into a new Ministry of Service, followed by a Eucharist and fabulous dinner. Bill McNulty, one of the grads was not there because he had to return to New Jersey for the summer, so we called him on the speaker phone and included him in our toasts and the reading of a essay he wrote about his EFM experience. It was an evening full of laughter and an few tears, but mostly it was filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I am sure the ceremonies this afternoon for my class will also be a moving and rewarding experience for all. We are not having a liturgy, but it will be full of laughter and some touching moments also.
People who have not had the EFM experience cannot appreciate how deep the bonds are between the participants. ach class becomes a special community of seekers and sharers. (if that is a word).
It has beena pribilege for me to be a part of both classes. I have substituted as the mentor in Jack's class when he had to be away, as well as mentoring my own class. Plus everyone involved is a member of Good shepherd and being with them is a heart warming experience.
This evening Mike and I are invited to the wedding of one of my wife's' hearing impaired students. This young lady has completed not only high school but college as well, My wife taught her from the time she was about 6 years old and we have all watched her grown into a bright and beautiful young woman. I know if Scottie were here she would be beaming with joy and pride.
Most of her students wee multiply handicapped and improvements we small and and the goals they could set for them were very modest. But this young lady was, and is, brilliant. Her hearing loss is her only physical challenge, and watching her develop and grow was I think the most rewarding experience of her entire teaching career. I am thrilled to be invited to the wedding reception this evening and I know ow I will have a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, wishing Scottie could be here.
Well, adios y'all for now. I gotta' run.
Glenn+
This is just a quick note as I am about to leave for the EFM graduation for the class I have mentored this last year. Last evening I was invited to coin in the graduation ceremonies for the class Jack Robertson mentors. It was a moing event. Jack had prepared a marvelous liturgy complete with the Litqany for Ordinations, a commissioning of the graduates as entrants into a new Ministry of Service, followed by a Eucharist and fabulous dinner. Bill McNulty, one of the grads was not there because he had to return to New Jersey for the summer, so we called him on the speaker phone and included him in our toasts and the reading of a essay he wrote about his EFM experience. It was an evening full of laughter and an few tears, but mostly it was filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I am sure the ceremonies this afternoon for my class will also be a moving and rewarding experience for all. We are not having a liturgy, but it will be full of laughter and some touching moments also.
People who have not had the EFM experience cannot appreciate how deep the bonds are between the participants. ach class becomes a special community of seekers and sharers. (if that is a word).
It has beena pribilege for me to be a part of both classes. I have substituted as the mentor in Jack's class when he had to be away, as well as mentoring my own class. Plus everyone involved is a member of Good shepherd and being with them is a heart warming experience.
This evening Mike and I are invited to the wedding of one of my wife's' hearing impaired students. This young lady has completed not only high school but college as well, My wife taught her from the time she was about 6 years old and we have all watched her grown into a bright and beautiful young woman. I know if Scottie were here she would be beaming with joy and pride.
Most of her students wee multiply handicapped and improvements we small and and the goals they could set for them were very modest. But this young lady was, and is, brilliant. Her hearing loss is her only physical challenge, and watching her develop and grow was I think the most rewarding experience of her entire teaching career. I am thrilled to be invited to the wedding reception this evening and I know ow I will have a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, wishing Scottie could be here.
Well, adios y'all for now. I gotta' run.
Glenn+
Monday, May 11, 2009
Hello Everyone,
QUE TAL?
I spoke today with a good friend who read my last blog entry and wanted to add a "Comment". Unfortunately she found it was more difficult than expected and decided to just send an email instead. Actually the process for entering a comment is not easy, so if you wish to respond to anything I write, please just send an email to me at frnlaw@msn.com, and on the Subject Line put the word "Blog" so that it gets through my junk filter.
A wonderful group of people at my former parish, Good Shepherd in Cave Creek, have started a wonderful ministry of providing Holy Communion to the residents at a nearby retirement residence facility. I am honored to have been asked to take part and today I had my first service there and it was delightful. One of the things I was most impressive was the people who organized this didn''t just set up a schedule for the services, they personally attended and greeted and genuinely loved those residents who attend. I conducted the service, but their presence brought the warmth and the caring hearts that were essential to the entire experience. It was a wonderful community to worship with. Thank you, Jesus!!
Yesterday I received the itinerary and additional informational material from Arizona Highways about the Photo Workshop I will be attending in June. We are going to the Olympic Peninsula. There are nine participants signed up for the Workshop. We will have a lead photographer who is a featured photographer for Arizona Highways, George Stocking. He will have two assistants, so the ratio of participants to leaders is 3:1. We will be moving to different locations every day and every night. I think we only that one location where we stay more than one night, The workshop last 5 days. My good friend and fellow clergy person and photographer, Jack Robertson, is attending the workshop with me and we will stay over three extra days to take advantage of the opportunity to be in such a glorious location to photograph. My niece, who has spent many vacations in that area recommended that we spend our extra days on one of the "Gulf Islands", which is a group of islands on the Canadian side of the water. These island are picturesque; they have great B&B's and everything you need is close by, unlike Vancouver Island or even Victoria. This trip is a retirement gift from the Good Shepherd parish community and what a blessing it will be.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
I have been listening to a lot of music lately and when I visited the retirement community today a few songs came to my mind as I left. One is a song by Mary Chapin Carpentar called "Grow Old Along With Me". The lyrics are an invitation to one's beloved that they share all of what it means to grow old together. Another is a John Denver song called "Poems, Prayers and Promises" and in that song there is a line that says "it turns me on to think of growing old".
As people get older they experience many pains and many challenges, loss of hearing, loss of eye sight, loss of memory, and often debilitating health issues. Getting old is not for sissies.
Ours is a society that values youth, and especially having youthful "appearance" when youth is a distant memory. As a society we seem to value appearances over reality. Just look at the ads for youthful cosmetics, skin treatments and surgeries. As one of my children once said: "Dad, it isn't whether you win or lose, its how you look that counts."
Other cultures are less concerned with such superficial appearances, they value inner qualities like experience and wisdom, things that only come with time and age. Someone pointed out to me once that our culture has no term for older people that is not pejorative. We call them "elderly", "senior citizens", etc. This same person said that some "primitive cultures"value their older people call them "the long livers". To call someone "a long liver" has the connotation of one who has survived; and who doesn't want to be a survivor? To be survivor one has to possess many very positive qualities, not the least of which is courage. I don't mean to over-romanticize getting older. Survivors have scars and often they live with a great deal of pain, physical pain and emotional pain. But "the long livers", the survivors are "the victors". They are the ones who have come through it all and won "the victory of life". And they have brought with them the lessons they learned along the way, lessons we need to hear and learn from.
Today I met "the long livers", the victors and I was privileged to worship with them today and I look forward to the next time. Thank you, Jesus!
Glenn+
QUE TAL?
I spoke today with a good friend who read my last blog entry and wanted to add a "Comment". Unfortunately she found it was more difficult than expected and decided to just send an email instead. Actually the process for entering a comment is not easy, so if you wish to respond to anything I write, please just send an email to me at frnlaw@msn.com, and on the Subject Line put the word "Blog" so that it gets through my junk filter.
A wonderful group of people at my former parish, Good Shepherd in Cave Creek, have started a wonderful ministry of providing Holy Communion to the residents at a nearby retirement residence facility. I am honored to have been asked to take part and today I had my first service there and it was delightful. One of the things I was most impressive was the people who organized this didn''t just set up a schedule for the services, they personally attended and greeted and genuinely loved those residents who attend. I conducted the service, but their presence brought the warmth and the caring hearts that were essential to the entire experience. It was a wonderful community to worship with. Thank you, Jesus!!
Yesterday I received the itinerary and additional informational material from Arizona Highways about the Photo Workshop I will be attending in June. We are going to the Olympic Peninsula. There are nine participants signed up for the Workshop. We will have a lead photographer who is a featured photographer for Arizona Highways, George Stocking. He will have two assistants, so the ratio of participants to leaders is 3:1. We will be moving to different locations every day and every night. I think we only that one location where we stay more than one night, The workshop last 5 days. My good friend and fellow clergy person and photographer, Jack Robertson, is attending the workshop with me and we will stay over three extra days to take advantage of the opportunity to be in such a glorious location to photograph. My niece, who has spent many vacations in that area recommended that we spend our extra days on one of the "Gulf Islands", which is a group of islands on the Canadian side of the water. These island are picturesque; they have great B&B's and everything you need is close by, unlike Vancouver Island or even Victoria. This trip is a retirement gift from the Good Shepherd parish community and what a blessing it will be.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
I have been listening to a lot of music lately and when I visited the retirement community today a few songs came to my mind as I left. One is a song by Mary Chapin Carpentar called "Grow Old Along With Me". The lyrics are an invitation to one's beloved that they share all of what it means to grow old together. Another is a John Denver song called "Poems, Prayers and Promises" and in that song there is a line that says "it turns me on to think of growing old".
As people get older they experience many pains and many challenges, loss of hearing, loss of eye sight, loss of memory, and often debilitating health issues. Getting old is not for sissies.
Ours is a society that values youth, and especially having youthful "appearance" when youth is a distant memory. As a society we seem to value appearances over reality. Just look at the ads for youthful cosmetics, skin treatments and surgeries. As one of my children once said: "Dad, it isn't whether you win or lose, its how you look that counts."
Other cultures are less concerned with such superficial appearances, they value inner qualities like experience and wisdom, things that only come with time and age. Someone pointed out to me once that our culture has no term for older people that is not pejorative. We call them "elderly", "senior citizens", etc. This same person said that some "primitive cultures"value their older people call them "the long livers". To call someone "a long liver" has the connotation of one who has survived; and who doesn't want to be a survivor? To be survivor one has to possess many very positive qualities, not the least of which is courage. I don't mean to over-romanticize getting older. Survivors have scars and often they live with a great deal of pain, physical pain and emotional pain. But "the long livers", the survivors are "the victors". They are the ones who have come through it all and won "the victory of life". And they have brought with them the lessons they learned along the way, lessons we need to hear and learn from.
Today I met "the long livers", the victors and I was privileged to worship with them today and I look forward to the next time. Thank you, Jesus!
Glenn+
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