Trump and Pigpen

One of my favorite comic strips growing up was “Peanuts,” by Charles M Shultz. “Peanuts” gave us $0.05 therapy from Lucy's stall on her lawn. Lucy's crush on Schroeder who was a master pianist on a child sized piano. There was Charlie Brown who has become an icon of losing whether it was captaining the baseball team, or kicking the football which Lucy always pulled away, or having his kite eaten by a tree. And there was Snoopy the most remarkable Beagle in the world. Finally, there was Pigpen. Poor Pigpen, a cloud of dust and dirt surrounded him no matter what he did. He could not bath it off, or keep it off.

It was Pigpen who got me to thinking about DJT and the chaos which swirls around him. He cannot help it. He can go out and read from a teleprompter once but he is like a big fish being reeled in fighting all the way. As soon as it is done, he says something foolish or inaccurate or caustic, or unprofessional. He can't help it. Why? Because his mind is in chaos. That is why his primary way of communicating is through Twitter. His brain can hold only 280 characters at a time. Then it is on to something else which can be tweeted in 280 characters. I am a little troubled by a President whose knowledge on any subject can be distilled to 280 characters.

Never having been a “Tweeter,” it is profoundly troubling to me that diplomacy, serious national issues, legislative matters, leadership thoughts have in our time followed the President's folly of tweeting without any real sense this medium allows for thoughtful reflection, wisely, well crafted statements, or a meaningful addition to anything going on. Instead, it is generally incendiary, knee jerk, mean spirited, and adds nothing to the public discourse of anything. This is nothing new for Trump.

Well before he was president, he tweeted. He somehow believed Americans needed to know what he was thinking at any given moment about any given thing. What thoughtful Americans learned was he was not good at thinking. He could not analyze a situation, he could not frame a perspective, he could not add to the collective wisdom of the moments but instead just jab, criticize achievements of others, announce his biases for all the world to see if anyone bothered. His perspective was uninformed, rooted in a myriad of biases, barely tolerant of others he shared the planet with, and studied over time was chronically contradictory.

Truth is, Trump tweeted his unstable feeling believing they were opinions worthy of showcasing and sharing. They weren't then and sadly, they aren't now. I would go so far as to say, his tweets are like the mirage of water on the hot summer pavement--illusory and shallow.

Since my brain has made that connection with the fictitious Pigpen engulfed in dust, I will see DJT in a swirl of chaos both within and without.

 

Kenosha And Trump

 I learned this evening President Trump plans to go to Kenosha, Wisconsin Tuesday for reasons I cannot fathom. Well, that is not true. I know exactly why he is going. He must be re-elected at any cost. His incendiary presence will only make this worse. One reporter said Trump is hauling gasoline on Air Force One to a fire.

However, he believes it will be another photo op demonstrating he is the “Law and Order” President. When such words fall from his mouth it is a mockery of law and order. This man throughout his childhood and adult life has never found a rule he would not break, a law he could not get around, a lie too big to tell, and basically expect the world to believe him. So, his run for re-election in 2020 is “He is the law and order” president.

The folks in Kenosha don't need more grief from his grandstanding and posturing. The truth is that what begins in a peaceful protest with the best of intentions can spiral out of control because the folks at the back of the protests are gangsters who use the cover of peaceful protest to burn, rob, and steal. So such actions set in motion a diversion of the story line. The story becomes the damage not the man who was shot. In a sense, Jacob Blake is lost in the story of the civil unrest and the chaos and damage.

Trump's presence will not be helpful in the least. First, he has the empathy of a snake and is about as cold blooded. Additionally, he will put Secret Service Agents and local law enforcement off of their already challenging jobs to protect him. If he wants to show empathy, he should head west to California as it is burning but he won't because the governor of California is a Democrat and Trump has spent a good bit of time demonizing Democratic Governors, and Democratic Mayors. More than that, there is little political capital to be made walking with people in California who have lost everything.

In one newscast I heard, a reporter referenced the book by a Republican strategist, “Everything Trump Touches Dies.” I am getting a clearer picture of why that is the case. Trump has the instincts of a killer shrimp. And following his instincts defeats him every single time. The men and women who have come into his orbit in the White House are forever tainted or politically destroyed. His instincts to move into casinos in Atlantic City landed him with 5 properties all of which have filed for bankruptcy and sit vacant. His bid to run for president was initially a whim to increase the value of his “brand.” What he didn't know was that some people would take him seriously, and he would in fact win the Republican nomination, and then the Presidency. The problem? If he had read at all anything about the blood sport of politics, he would have realized every affair, every sleazy backroom deal, every inflated financial statement, every tax return would become scrutinized as never before. That is what happens when you are in the public eye. While Trump was just a New York City oddity and eccentric, he did not get much scrutiny. However, all that changed when he became the candidate and then the president.

So, the reality is that Trump must win. He always has to win. This time, this election determines whether he stays safe in the White House for four more years or faces all the criminal charges awaiting him as the perhaps the most famous criminal since Al Capone. That is, if he survives Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The President Was Responsible for my Mother's Death

My Mom died Saturday morning, June 27, 2020 because of COVID-19 not from COVID-19. I hold this President responsible.

Let me explain what I mean. Mom did not die from COVID. She passed away on a Saturday morning in her sleep. She had not been to the hospital, or was ever exposed to COVID. However, because of the incompetent way this Administration refused to move aggressively to stop the virus in its tracks, communities and nursing homes had to develop plans for keeping both their patients and staff safe. Baptist Memorial which is now a part of Buckner Benevolences, went into lock down. As you might remember in the first spread of the deadly virus, nursing homes were the site of multiple deaths. So Baptist Memorial locked down Mom's Sagecrest nursing home. What that meant was that visitors were turned away, no one but staff, medical personnel were allowed in. All routine activities such as the beauty shop, exercise, eating with other residents over lunch was stopped. So patients in the nursing home were cut off from each other and family.

When a family member goes to the nursing home, if they have family support and visits, their lives are enriched and for the most part prolonged. However, when everything stops, the mental health of residents deteriorates.

After lock down, Mom quit answering her phone on Saturday morning. This long standing appointment had been our habit for over 20 years. Each Saturday morning, about 8:30, I would get a cup of coffee and call Mom and chat.

She started to hallucinate and be disoriented and confused. She called me one afternoon and I was unable to pick up, but when I called her back, she was very confused. She told me she was homeless, had no money and was with others who were homeless too. It was a heartbreaking call, but patiently I walked her back to reality and reassured her she was not alone, the friends with her were not homeless, and she had everything she needed.

Medical folks recognize that as ICU psychosis. So little changes in the ICU that often patients loose track of time, visitors are restricted, and they struggle mentally and emotionally. That is what has happened around the country with folks who are in nursing homes. My brother and his family were finally able to visit through her window, but the trajectory was already set. When her condition worsened, the facility allowed Jim and Linda to come in and sit with her a while. She slept and occasionally opened her eyes. Jim came again, but got less response, and in his last visit, the Doctor said she was placing her on “end of life care.” She died the next morning.

When we calculate the death toll of COVID, my mother will not be in that number. She did not die with the virus, she died because of it. There are thousands of others who have the same story. Nursing Homes doing the best with the hand they were dealt, vigilantly protecting those in their charge, but isolating patients as the best way to protect them. However, for many, that effectively began their move to death.

I say this to point out some everyone of us should know. This President and his administration has failed this nation. His failure to act swiftly, decisively, with the input of scientist and trained medical professionals had unleashed a scourge on this nation which continues to this day. Every day you have to wear a mask is a token of the failure of this President and his administration. Every death from COVID is on him(180,000+), every death because of COVID is on him. The economic downturn and the loss of millions of jobs are on him. The inadequate leadership, the chronic failure of empathy, the nepotism, the corruption, the squandered opportunities to make the world a better place are on him. The mistreatment of illegal immigrant children is on him. The undermining of our institutions like the Supreme Court, the Justice Department, the United States Postal Service, Education, and on and on. It is all on him.

Because of the failure of this President and his party, states, cities and counties are having to find their own way and do what is best for all. Today, I scheduled a visit with a treatment team to hopefully be a part of a COVID vaccine. That is something anyone can do. More than likely, there are trials being run in your area. Some of whom they most need are people of color and those with underlying conditions.

At this point, it appears to me that for millions of us, a vaccine is our only hope. 

Pro life and Red Herrings

I cannot escape the idea that “Pro-life” is a red herring.

Tough words in our time. However, let me tell you why this idea even popped into my head.

First, being “Prolife” requires little of a person. They may give a miserly amount to a “Pro-life Pregnancy Center,” and proclaim proudly one is “Pro-life,” but little is required beyond that.

We may stand with our church which is “Pro-life” but do little beyond that.

Let me tell you why I believe “Pro-life” is a red herring. First, because of the number of foster kids straining the foster care system. Currently in Texas there are 29,927 kids in foster care, and 3,378 waiting adoption. “Pro-lifers should be lining up to make sure every child has a stable home and a safe home. That has not happened, nor will it happen because one is a slogan, the other is a commitment.

“Pro-lifers” are most associated with abortion and the efforts to make such procedures illegal. I note that stand is a focused intrusion by the Federal government into the bedrooms of America. Imagine Congress enacted legislation which limited the size of a family to one or two children. We would be outraged. The government has no business telling us how many children we can have. They have no business telling that we have to have children. However, that is not how we feel about abortion. Rather it is somehow alright for the government into intrude into the personal life of a woman telling her she must carry the child she does not want. So, again where are the “Pro-lifers”lining up outside the Abortion clinics offering to raise the unwanted or inconvenient child? That is real “Pro-life.”

Real Pro-life would also support the Legislature allocating enough funding for the broad area that could be called Children's health and safety such as: Child Protective Services department(chronically underfunded and short staffed); expanding Medicaid while allowing providers to have a reasonable return for their treating Medicaid clients(instead of lining the pockets of insurance companies who are paid handsomely to manage an ever shrinking budget); the Chip program for low income families which has almost been gutted by the Legislature; foster care system which never has enough safe homes for kids removed from their families; and state funded programs which target at risk kids.

“Pro-lifers” would stand against the every cycle of Legislative sessions which always want to cut Medicaid moneys, early childhood support, and criminal justice abuses. Real “Pro-lifers” would support living wages for families which are always on the brink of not having enough. “Pro-lifers” would recognize the inequity in the criminal justice system, and instead of constantly cutting services within the prisons, would recognize it is in the best interests of society to help rehabilitate an offender knowing that most will exit the system at some point. Punishment alone does nothing but foster anger and rage. “Prolifers” would realize prison is an expensive treatment track for those with mental illness. Currently it costs $30,000.00 a year to keep a person incarcerated in Texas. For the mentally ill, $5,000.00 invested locally in adequate services and support would net a savings of $25,000.00 per client. “Pro-lifers” would also realize that community mental health in Texas is done on the cheap, continually shrinking financial support for mental health-mental retardation centers across the state. Texas would rather give billion dollar grants to billion dollar companies to move to Texas than to help the folks who are already here and struggle with decent housing, jobs, health and mental health care.

Real “Pro-lifers” would have an uneasy conscience about the death penalty as practiced in Texas. I have been a strong supporter of the death penalty because I believe there are some crimes so heinous, so cruel, so base the criminal deserves to pay with his life for what he has done. The connection forged in horrific crime between the criminal and the victim family is finally broken. Those of us who have worked in the prison setting and the unique setting at Polunsky Maximum Security Prison which now houses Texas death row, know that while law enforcement, prosecutors, juries, and judges can lock these folks away, they cannot contain the evil within. Security officers, mental health clinicians, medical providers and their families deal with the shadow cast by these criminals. So while the allusion of containing the evil is thought to be satisfied by prison. It is not. The alternative of life without parole only makes it worse.

However, watching death row offenders up close and realizing some had been on death row for 20 years or more, some who were sentenced for crimes they did not commit, or were mentally retarded or mentally ill at the time of the commission of the crime, have made me more skeptical of how Texas practices the death penalty.

Three great concerns for me relate to how Texas chooses to house DR offenders. When Death Row housing was moved to Polunsky, DR offenders were single celled with only 1 hour or 2 at most out of their cell. Depending on which security team was on duty, communication between cells was often prohibited. Over the years of being single celled in a very small spartan rooms caused many to sink into mental illness. My term for it was “Puddling.” It meant their humanity or what was left of it melted in that harsh environment or puddled.

Second, sentencing and execution were often years apart. There was no swift justice, but it was not unusual for men(our unit was men) to be waiting 10+ years for execution.

Third, there were enough innocent men who were ultimately proven to not have committed the crime. Evidence was withheld, some crime scene DNA was never processed, or simply law enforcement got the wrong man.

I am not saying that “Pro-lifers” would necessarily support life without parole for heinous crimes, but that we would act humanely, treat the offenders humanely, and provide the maximum amount of safe interaction while they wait for their execution.

At a certain point, the focus shifts from them to us. If we are unjust, inhumane, mean, vindictive, that value is amplified in our culture. I love the way Martin Luther King expressed it, “If to defeat the beast we become the beast, then bestiality has won.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. 

Chinese and Racism

 Last night Anna and I did date night at our favorite bbq place in Round Rock, Liberty BBQ on Main Street. So many of the sides for bbq are high in carbohydrates so it is difficult for me to enjoy a low carb meal. Liberty has two sides that are low carbs, and they have great bbq. After that, we stopped by our HEB to get our groceries and while we were in the store, our granddaughters called from Taiwan. We texted them and told them we would be home shortly and having unloaded the groceries, washed and sanitized them, and put them away, we called.

It was Friday in Taiwan and Karen and the girls were finished with quarantine. So, they had moved to the family home in Taipei and the girls were running around outside finally. So we visited for a while and Zoey aged 4 talked to us about going to school. She was ready and she was excited. She also attempted to teach Grandpa and Granny her Chinese name. It was hopeless for me. But Zoey was patient and watching her teach me her name in Chinese was really something. Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Chinese are reported to be some of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.

I remember when Tim and Joseph were in East Asia as journeymen, the language to be learned was Mandarin Chinese. Both picked it up more easily that I could ever have anticipated. I did not have that gift. I took Spanish for a year in high school, Greek for three years in college and seminary, Hebrew for one year, and was still unable to speak anything but West Texas English and that somewhat poorly.

It is always a joy to talk to my granddaughters. Those of us who have known only boys through several generations, find girls and interesting change of pace. First, girls giggle, squeal and that at very high pitches which tend to make dogs in the neighborhood bark. Boys, of course are not like that. My closest encounter with a group of girls was in my first church when I took our girls to Girls In Action Camp because I was the camp preacher for the week. I was totally unprepared for the experience. On the way to the encampment, two girls were sitting in the front seat with me, and some man's name came up and the girls said, “Oh he is so hot!” Since these girls were 7 or 8, I was shocked. That was only the beginning. I endured the week, enjoyed most of it, but my ears were never the same. One of the things our GA Camp director had planned was a pottery demonstration from a local potter who was affable and handsome in a rugged sort of way. The girls went wild. I was shocked. Think 1978 and the girls in training bras(I have never understood that term) were absolutely besotted and they were not old enough to be discreet.

Then today, I worked with three clients and found myself again reminded of my call at this time in my life. In a phrase, I am called to the “care of souls.” J.I. Packer references us as “embodied souls,” and I get that. The care of souls is larger than a category, a position, a title. It is like Jesus, “the work of on the way.” So many of the Lord's contacts were “on the way.” It was not just confined to a sermon, a healing service(which are not referenced in Scripture), or a teaching time. He was a dispenser of gospel and grace on the way from one place to another. I get that. It has taken a long time to see that and understand that, but I am beginning to get that. So when I check out at the grocery store, I make a point of speaking the names of those at the register and the sacker. I ask how they are doing, and I make sure they know how much I appreciate their work in these times. It is literally “the care of souls.” So as I worked today, I kept always in the front of my mind and heart, these are people, very special people for whom Christ died.” It is a lesson I learned walking the halls of prison. It was a great temptation to get jaded, suspicious, detached from the work, so I said again and again as I walked the halls, as I met with offenders through their sick calls, “These are people for whom Christ died.” I must say, the church in America has forgotten that simple truth. We will never meet a person for whom Christ did not die. Therefore, they are of infinite value and worth and deserving of our respect.

I have also plowed on through “The Warmth of Other Suns,” which is a remarkable, historical story of three families from the South who fled Jim Crow and moved either north or west. At this point in my journey, I struggle with the guilt of “why didn't I know this was happening?” Why didn't I see what was plainly staring me in the face?” The truth is that in the African American community, I think, there was such fear about reprisal, the best course of action was to say nothing and adjust to the system of repression and oppression.

That grieves me. It grieves me because I am an incredibly curious person. I want to know and to learn. As a child, with the woman who cleaned our house and cooked my meals I wanted to know why she could not sit down and eat with me, but somehow, I was warned away from pushing the issue any further. I still remember, painfully, that conversation and ask myself “why didn't you ask why it was not done?” I do not fault Mae, because she had learned the “proper way” to be around her white employers.

The truth is I have always been curious. I want to understand and be understood. However, here is this gaping hole in both experience and life where I did not know but because I did not know it appeared to be support for what was unsupportable. This is not a criticism of the African American community, but they kept their suffering to themselves. They trusted few outside their community. They adjusted their lives to what they believed was the reality at that time.

This, however, is a different time. And in my heart and mind, it is time for the white Christians to learn about the oppression our African American brothers and sisters have labored under from the beginning of America, first in slavery then in Jim Crow. We must first lay a foundation of trust, and then sit at their feet as they teach us about their experience in America. It will not be a pleasant course of lessons, but it is required if we are to move beyond our present crisis. And frankly, it falls woefully short when we say, “Well we need to let bygones be bygones!” Or, “That was then and now is now!” Or, “I did not have a part in what happened in the past!” Or, “Well, that is not how I feel!” The truth looms like a large shadow over the present depriving many African Americans of opportunity, education, and success. The roots are ancient, but still sustain the life of racism.

In our part of the world, Round Rock, Texas, we have a lot of old live oak trees. Their roots are deep in the earth but the tree lives because of the deep roots. These trees have survived the droughts of Central Texas for at least a hundred years. They are the “life” of the tree. That is the parable of the plight of our African American citizens. The roots of racism are deep, they are profound, and they have sustained the generations of racism which have come down to us. They have allowed the oppression of a particular group of people long after slavery was ended. The sad reality is that oppression continues to today.

It is past time for it to end.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. Remember, we are nowhere near an end to this pandemic.

It's Time

As I have read the “Warmth of other Suns,” I have realized I really don't have any real understanding of the lives of African Americans and their history in America. So, until I get “up to speed,” conversation has no context or credibility.

It is easy to only see the “now” or think we see the “now.” The truth is “now” is the result of the history that has brought our African Americans to the place they are “now.” So unless we understand the history, we honestly cannot have a meaningful conversation.

At some fundamental level we know this. Our familiarity with our American history sets the context for our values and our family history. It affirms the values passed down through the generations. It has shaped the people we are and how we have lived our lives. It is the lens through which we see ourselves, our relationships and our world.

My chest fills with pride when I read about my forefathers standing up to the King of England and all his troops. My reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which I have both learned and studied throughout my education: elementary; secondary; college; and to some extent graduate school. I know I have been able to practice my faith without any fear of government intervention or control. I remember my secretary in a former church passing me a letter from the IRS saying that they would be asking for the membership list from our church. She asked me what she should do. My response was simple, “We will not comply. They have no reason to know who is a member of this church.” She raised the concern about what if we don't comply. I simply said, “Then I guess I will go to jail.” It was not long until the letter was withdrawn and up to this moment the issue has never come up again. I live in the freedom and confidence given me in the Constitution but more pointedly in the “Bill of Rights.”

However, suppose those noble documents on which our nation was founded, did not apply to you. Everything written in the Bill of Rights was for others. The basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were not afforded you. Rather, from the earliest memories you had, you were taught and told you had no rights, you were not equal to white men and women or children for that matter. You place was assigned on the basis of your skin color as were the rights you were allowed to have never forgetting what few rights you did had did not necessarily mean you could exercise them everywhere or anywhere. Suppose you were often maligned, cheated, stolen from, and oppressed by the whites who shared space with you but not welcoming or affirming.

Suppose you were schooled in the realities you could not dream of a better future because the culture into which you were born continued, even after slavery, to steal from you the “American Dream,” or make it off limits by limiting education, by restricting most from affording or attending college, by selecting which jobs you could do and which professions you could not pursue, by making travel almost impossible and in the South tied the share cropper to the land keeping him either poor or in debt. Suppose every day in numerous ways you were reminded even at your best, you were less that the worst white man.

Truthfully, before we can have a meaningful conversation about the future of race in American and racial equality, white folks like me need to know the history and the experience of African Americans in the same space we have inhabited but not the same world. Until we are willing to pay the price to learn, to have our hearts broken by our inhumanity to the African Americans in our midst, our failure to see and speak, our cavalier attitude about the plight of millions of Americans who still struggle for the same equality we have experienced as a birthright, we cannot have a compassionate, responsible enlightened conversation about equal rights, justice, institutional racism, the truth behind the Black Lives Matter movement, and the tragic death of too many Black men at the hands of law enforcement.

America has some wonderful ideals and goals, but sadly, has chosen again and again to kick the can of “equal rights” further down the street. We did this with affordable insurance for all, we have done it with immigration reform, we have done it with tax reform.

It is time to stop pushing the issue down to the next generation. It is time to resolve a poison which has leeched into the soul of America, that has marked our stance of “human rights” for the world as hypocrisy when within our borders, we deprive so many of the same basic human rights.

It is time to face the issue, to see in the face of every African American a person of as much worth and value as any other person in this nation. It is time we strip away the laws and culture that has too long enforced a caste system where African Americans are less in value than whites. It is time to repent, really repent in the church for our support of racism and institutional racism that exists today.

It's time. Actually, it is way past time.

 

Idolatry and the Religious Right

Let me offer up a different narrative from what you might be hearing from the Religious Right.

Allow me to reference Jeremiah 37:1-2 “ Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.”

The Old Testament is full of passages about the idolatry, the lack of justice, and the absence of compassion of Israel, and finally Judah. References are made to treaties with Egypt instead of trusting in God.

What makes this passage significant for consideration is that beginning in the late 1970s a movement began by the religious Right to turn the morals of the United States back to a “God fearing” nation which they taught we were before that time. Their primary focus was on the social evils of homosexuality, abortion, and pornography. This war raged with little success until 2015 when evangelical religious leaders made a deal with the Trump candidacy for favorable appointment of conservative Justices to the Supreme Court, and more conservative judges on the federal benches, and support for social reforms in exchange for their support which they freely gave and continue to give.

The problem is multifaceted: The special relationship America is supposed to enjoy with God is a myth not supported by Scripture. It is a rewriting of American history. In the Scripture, God has made a covenant with two peoples: Israel or the family of Abraham, and the new Israel, the church of the Living Christ. There is no Biblical evidence for a special relationship between God and America. Second, the focus on the culture(the cultural wars) shifts attention away from the struggling Bride of Christ specifically, the Church in America. In counseling we call this “the identified patient” which means the family has pushed forward someone as having problems to mask the real problems often in the marriage relationship. That is what the religious right has done. They have set a standard which the Church in America has chosen not to observe. Divorce, abortions, sexual brokenness are right in the midst of the church in today's America. Yet, we shift the focus to a culture which is largely lost expecting the lost to be more righteous than our own people.

For me, some of the most enduring words of Scripture in the Old Testament follow Solomon's dedication of the Temple. You might recognize a part of the passage, but I will reproduce the context as well: 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace,

 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This is an enduring Word from God that really never goes out of date. However, it has often misapplied. This is both an indictment of the people of God and the way back from disobedience and judgment.

So here is another narrative. Suppose God is judging the church in America for their idolatry and immorality. Suppose He is judging the false prophets who have embraced another instead of the Living God. Suppose instead of praying and calling out to God, religious leaders have motivated their church members to turn out the vote in order to save “Christian America.” Suppose we have come to a critical point in our national life and now we are reaping the whirlwind. An incompetent president, wild fires in the West, hurricanes on the coast, COVID-19 moving through the nation, joblessness impacting a significant part of the nation, race riots around the country, an economy in free fall. And what are our religious leaders doing? Preaching about how America needs to come to God. The reality is much simpler—even Biblical.

The answer is hiding in plain sight. “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The forgotten truth is not that America is a Christian nation, but that God has given America a vibrant church which when it grows cold and indifferent, God's people have called out to Him, and He has answered with revival and spiritual awakening which always, without exception permeates the culture. If the American culture is in crisis, it is because the American church is in crisis. That is Biblical.

Everything else is opinion and speculation.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. 

The Pandemic and Teens

While everyone is probably experiencing some strain as we move through this pandemic, we are getting reports that indicate teenagers are having challenging times dealing with the long summer break, sports grinding to a halt, isolation, and the overall disruption of their normal way of life. There are some good reasons why this may be the case.

First, most teens are finding their way into social circles which form around classes, school, sports, extracurricular activities, church youth groups. These groups are more than just wasting time or hanging out. It really is about socialization, learning to relate to others, listen, work together, respect differences, and of course confide in others who have proven to be trustworthy. So, much of that going away is huge.

Teens are also orienting away from the safety of their family which is a good thing. Most parents want children to be able to manage life and its duties and opportunities when the student leaves home. And most parents want their children to leave home when the time comes. In our traditional cultural setting, the student becomes more autonomous as they move closer to high school graduation. Going on to university is another step toward self determination and autonomy. All of that has been disrupted.

The usual break from school and university is a great time for a summer job which of course provides spending money and more. The closing down of the economy and the summer restrictions on how many can be in one place at one time, limits the opportunities for students to begin making and managing money. Movie theaters in our area have not reopened and they were constantly a source of youth employments.

The level of cultural anxiety is heightened because of the uncertainty surrounding how COVID is playing out in our community. Jobs are being lost putting some families at risk and the anxiety of parents about paying bills, paying rent, mortgage payments, and food can pass on to the teen. Even if parents attempt to work together and try to keep home appearing as normal as ever, children of all ages pick up on the tension and anxiety.

The wise cautious approach many churches are impacting youth in powerful ways. The social contact, the safety of the youth group, the opportunity to explore and understand ones own spiritual growth through study, worship, sermons, and conversations are powerful influences in a culture that does not share a teen's Christian values.

So what are parents to do to help their teens?

First parents can reassure their teens this COVID issue will not go on for ever even when we are unsure when life may get back to a more normal normal.

Second, parents can work with one's teen friend's parents to arrange some safe, small gatherings where they can meet up and be together. The socialization at school or sports are not easily reproduced, but small gatherings can help fill that void. The contacts or “gatherings” can cut across all the student's interests and friendships. Many teens are more connected with some, but enjoy the company of classmates, or sport team members. So make those gatherings a priority. Throw in some pizza and soft drinks and your can have a positive experience.

Lead your teen to get outside into nature. Spending much of the day staring at a TV/Computer screen whether for class work, or video gaming, is no substitute for getting outside and exercising whether it is riding, biking or walking. There is a fundamental connection between our person and nature. Nature has a way of calming us, lifting our mood, and helping us feel more positive and less depressed.

If you are a believer, the opportunity to process how one moves through challenging time recognizing often in the losses, the uncertainties, the changes which have stripped away many of the things we have routinely taken for granted, becomes a time for gratitude for what we had, confidence in our God, and expectancy for what the future will bring. It is also a good time for parents and the teens to share some meaningful Scriptures that speak to them and us in these days. Such times can also make us more powerful prayers looking to God and calling on God to heal our friends, lead the scientists to find the workable vaccine, give our leadership courage and wisdom to guide us during this time, and be with our church leaders as they try to lead in these demanding days.

The reality is our culture of busyness which has everyone going in different directions and meeting up at the end of the day, has changed. For parents of teens, it may be a time to enjoy that child more as you watch them mature, as you learn to transition to talking adult to adult, as you see and affirm how they are managing these days. It is also a wonderful time working on being more available, approachable, and more trustworthy in the eyes of your student. Many families have spent more time together as a family in the last six months than they have spent in the last several years.

So reconnect, lead the family to live in hope, be sensitive to what each child needs knowing that teen needs are in some ways radically different that the other children in the house.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind 

Paranoia and Skepticism

 

I find myself at an odd juncture with the American experience.

Before I worked in the prison outside Livingston, I had several experiences with paranoia and delusional thinking. In all of those experiences there was a etiology of mental illness. The paranoid individuals were off their medications. The delusional were suffering from delusions, jealous type; which meant each believed his/her spouse was cheating on them. Of course in the mental health department we dealt with serious mental illnesses either from schizophrenia, psychosis, schizoaffective disorder, or psychosis. Folks who were burned out on coke and meth could also meet criteria for those disorders already referenced.

With that background, I am more and more convinced that a large minority slice of our culture is suffering from a paranoia born of fear and mistrust of our government and leaders of our government, focused on Democratic leaders in particular. I would also suggest this began before 2008 and has been exacerbated by Fox media and other right wing folks like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and others of the same ilk. Hannity and Limbaugh both have little education beyond high school but know everything about everything--conspiracy wise.

The Clintons were the first to catch the ire of the religious conservatives primarily because of Bill Clinton's sexual addiction—and because of his rejection of the conservative agenda. Both offended them, because they believed he somehow tarnished the purity of this nation and refused to address their moral agenda. They seemed to forget that grudge when they tapped DJT to bestow their endorsement and blessing upon.

Conspiracy theories as it relates to our government are sown in the rich ground of doubt where the lies of a government often focused narrowly in one area(Vietnam) give license for skepticism about everything that comes from the government. While lying seems to be a risky propaganda tool, leadership seems to default to that when afraid to trust the people who put them into office.

So the culture we have today has been pushed further down the road of relativity and skepticism by this last Administration un-led by DJT. The lack of leadership on COVID-19 can be laid at his feet. First, dismissing it as a real issue, then downplaying it's lethality, then declaring sheltering-in-place, then punting to the governors, never wearing a mask while undercutting his scientists and their counsel, prescribing bizarre cures and potions, then pushing to reopen the economy too soon, and never expressing any empathy or responsibility for the 170,000+ US deaths from COVID. Over the weekend, the President issued an emergency order overriding FDA protocol for a plasma infusion protocol not yet completely tested for patient safety for treating COVID. He is all over the map in his failure to lead on this issue and now two tropical storms are headed to the Gulf, about 240+ wild fires are burning in California, and the economy is struggling with more than 50,000,000 people filing for unemployment since the beginning of the year. Civil rights has raised its head again and this time will not stop short of racial equality for all. Oh, and Putin's Russia is paying a bounty for American soldiers killed by the Taliban.

DJT's cabinet is riddled with yes men/women and vacancies filled by temps, and there is no one at the helm of the ship of state which at this moment is in a life threatening, ship sinking storm both domestically and internationally. And our President, he is worried about keeping his tax returns secret and winning another four years in the White House—because as stupid as he is, he knows the minute he is no longer president, he will be sought, arrested and tried for offenses from treason to money laundering for the Russian Mob, wire and mail fraud and a host of other crimes.

So, it's a good time for Republicans to take a break from doing nothing to celebrate—doing nothing and nominating the most incompetent, under prepared, ignorant, crime ridden and mentally unstable occupant to ever hold the office of President.

Now, aren't you glad Trump is leading us through this time.

Education in the Black South

Today, JD and I drove to Buda(don't even ask) for him to have an interview for an Amazon Driver. Amazon has seen incredible growth through the pandemic, and so they cannot open delivery warehouses fast enough. The Round Rock warehouse is 3 months from completion, but there will be a need.

While JD was interviewing, I moved deeper into this very troubling book recommended by our pastor, “The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic story of America's Great Migration.” I share my pastor's recommendation because it is the true stories of Southern African American families who were oppressed after slavery to keep them in “their place.” In southern culture “their place” was a lower caste than the whites, and in every way subservient to white southerners.

Today, I was reading about a family of black educators. I found this stirring because education has played such a large place in my life and my family. My father often said he had a third grade education, but aspired for his sons to graduate from college. It was important for our family and set a course for goals and aspirations that was handed down to my sons.

This family story was especially compelling. In fact when I got home from our trip for JD's interview, I pulled down my Permian High School Annual to check if my remembrance was correct. It was. Even though the Civil Rights movement had some victories with Dwight D Eisenhower, and Lyndon B Johnson, when I entered grade school our schools in Odessa were still segregated. That did not change until 1980, long after I had left high school and had finished college and seminary.

I remember some African American students at Howard Payne College, but few at seminary.

The history I was reading in the “Warmth of Other Suns” made my heart sad. The story of this educator, his wife who was also a teacher, and children was set in Monroe, LA. Interestingly, I had a beloved aunt and uncle who lived in Louisiana out of Opelousas on a former plantation. As much as I loved them, I could never understand their bitterness and hatred toward the Blacks where they lived.

So, here is a nutshell of the story. The father had a BA from a black college, and because of that he was called Professor Foster or 'Fessor Foster. He functioned as the Principal of all the grades. He had 1200 students in the all black school from 1-12 grade with one teacher per grade level. Every year, he would take a flat bed truck with several students to the back parking lot of the white high school. The white school was throwing out last year's books, and the kids would help Foster pick them up, stack them, and carry them back to their school. It would be their texts for the next year. The text books had missing pages, many without covers and many with doodling in the margins. That was good enough for the black children. One time there was a fire in the basement of the school and the school district would not help replace what had been turned to ash. So, the parents out of their meager incomes had to resupply what had been destroyed. It is also good to note history and government books told the noble story of the white southerners, with little mention of blacks.

As I read this material there are several things that crossed my mind and even more my heart. First, I am ashamed that I did not dig deeper into this great cultural divide that existed even in the somewhat remote West Texas. Why would our maid not sit down and eat with me having prepared my lunch. She just said it was not done. Mom had little to say when I told her the story of the conversation. It was actually not much of a conversation, I asked, she said no, I asked again, and she finally said, “It is not done.” I did not understand but now, stripping away the poison of slavery and what followed with the Jim Crow culture, it is becoming more clear and even more sad.

I also believe this history is a huge fail, a huge fail for the Christian church in America which, in my opinion, has not fully faced their part and their sin in the oppression of black families from the moment they were captured and put on slave ships for America. Black men and women, Black teenagers have been shot and hung for something as little as not replying with “Sir” or not getting off the narrow sidewalk when a white person approached. Countless thousands have been subjected to mob justice from men too ashamed to show their faces so they covered themselves with white robes and white hoods and made a mockery of the Cross. Jim Crow laws attempted to oppress those who had been freed and they were preyed on by white land owners who allowed share croppers to work the land, but always kept the books.

I believe the anger and rage I saw in my time working in the prison is a direct result of this oppression, the continual injustice, the ongoing lack of opportunity, and the disproportion of wealth that still exists between the races. I see it in the riots and property damage of today. I don't approve of it, but I see it. A culture of suppression and oppression does not just “go away.” It does not immediately lift the stigma of a culture, or automatically open doors of opportunity and appropriate education when 300+ years of social impoverishment, lack of kindness, lack of respect, lack of basic human dignity have not been accorded to a people group whose only “defect” was being born black.

These days of Black Lives Matter, is both a bold statement and a call to people of faith to allow God to work in our hearts, and reach out with hearts opened wide, expansive with kindness and repentance to a people who have born the heat of day, the crushing burden of being different, and still found hope enough, faith enough, courage enough to move into the next day.

Wash your hands, wear your masks for others, and be kind.

 

The Failure of Leadership

 The stalemate over another stimulus package which would impact millions of Americans for good shows me some profound losses in our life together as a nation.

The first thing it highlights for me is the loss of compassion for a significant part of our American family and work force. We are unable or unwilling to attempt to understand what it is like to have lost a job or business to COVID, and languished without work for several months. For families living modestly there is little savings, little financial cushion, and growing anxiety over house payments in arrears, rent overdue, utilities left unpaid, and an economy that is struggling to regain the pre-virus momentum.

Add to that the stress of single parent families who struggled before the pandemic and children with food insufficiency and no regular access to nutritious food. Slowly over time, public school leaderships have accepted a sad reality: many children depend on school to provide breakfast and lunch. Absent those resources, children are vulnerable and go to bed with empty stomachs. It is also a feature of our culture that schools provide not only a safety net for children who are not being fed, but children who are not safe. Public schools are often the source of child abuse reports because alert teachers, counselors, nurses see the signs, the symptoms, and as a result take the necessary steps to protect the children.

Additionally, our lack of compassion is demonstrated from the top down in leadership at every level who justify legislative gridlock, and politicize a virus which early on could have been contained were it not for making everything about COVID a political issue. So, here we are 6 months into this pandemic, and adequately paid leadership constantly try to do as little as possible to lead this nation to get on the same page, understand the truth about this pernicious disease, take the challenging steps to stop the spread, treat those infected and rebuild our economy. What do they hope to secure with their gutless leadership and spineless lack of progress? Re-election!

All of these failures begin with a lack of compassion. The unhealthy give and take about reopening our schools is another indication of our cold blatant lack of compassion. I hear a lot of posturing but not much shared concern about the safety of children, teachers, and school employees which are necessary to make a school function as an adequate learning environment. Having grown up in public schools, used public schools to raise our children, and having teachers in our family, I am deeply concerned what is driving the effort to reopen schools has more to do with politics and the upcoming election that what is safest for all. Truthfully, I don't think what is best for the child or the adults in the school is driving the move to reopen education.

The lack of compassion, in my mind, is coupled with the loss of the dignity afforded the world of compromise. That is to say we have drifted to a place, a very dangerous place, where leadership refuses to negotiate or compromise. So, with a diverse population of over 328M gathered from all point of the world, speaking over 350 languages, from different cultures, religions, economic and social statuses, different educations and professions, living in 50 different states and five territories scattered around the world it is foolish to believe one point of view, one philosophy, one economic theory, one political theory can fit everyone who is a part of this nation. That is why compromise must be at the heart of our governing bodies do their work. Gone are the days (apparently) when working together to get a “win-win” situation is possible. So, we are continually hitting unyielding brick walls when budgets, policies, laws must be “our way” or no way. It has become a “we win,” “you lose” script. But the glaring truth is we are all losing.

Finally, we have lost the real meaning of representative government. The House of Representatives is comprised of 435 members drawn(supposedly) from regional districts to represent the constituents in Washington. The Senate has 100 senators (two from each state) representing the states in the union. That is not what is happening and has not happened in some time. At the close of an election, the person elected becomes the person who “represents” everyone in the district. However, somewhere in the last few years, there has emerged a “base” which must be catered to, donors who must be catered to, rigid party lines which cannot be negotiated or varied from. What has been lost is the sense that “my representative” really cares about me if I am not of his/her party or his/her base. Rigid, doctrinaire “take no prisoners” governance does not need many more steps to be autocratic and from there to tyranny.

Simply, “the people's business/interests” have been lost in the swamps of power. What we are lacking is real leadership at every level who is willing with great courage to say, “Let's move together and toward the higher ground where compassion, compromise, and inclusion work for all.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind.

Beginning a Journey

As a part of my response to our pastor's series which began Sunday on Race, I have begun reading Michael Emerson's book “Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America.” The second book arrived today. “The Warmth of Another Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.”

All you pastors on my FB feed, should be encouraged that a member of any church is challenged to read beyond the time in Bible Study and Worship.

I have become slowly aware of a truism: “those who write the history, control the history.” Many folks today in America are skeptical of the “mainstream” media, primarily because, in my opinion,” of the assault on mainstream media over the last twenty years because folk don't like how their viewpoints are portrayed in the mainsteam media. As a retired pastor, I know I was sometimes frustrated with the lack of understanding of our particular faith and polity. However, in the broad scheme of things, my quibbles were few.

However, delving into some of the biographies of our early presidents—particularly US Grant, I jumped off into a body of information/history I believe I was never exposed to. That body of information and history was what actually happened in the South after the war between the states. Reconstruction in my education consisted of how the “North” oppressed the Southern States with rules and regulations which were seen as mean or harsh. What I did not learn, was the extraordinary ways Southern States went to in attempts to minimize and oppress the former slaves who had been newly freed. I was shocked at many how Blacks were killed at the hands of Whites during this time. Ron Chernow in his biography of US Grant, perhaps for the first time, exposed me to the Southern efforts to contain the influence and freedom of the newly freed slaves.

With that experience in my sails, I come to some more information to which I was never exposed. Isabel Wilkerson writes about a great migration that honestly I do not remember ever having heard about or read about. From 1915-1970 almost 6 million people fled the South to the Northern and Western cities hoping for a better life. What I do remember are the “Dust Bowl” years but never this particular migration. I guess in a nation of 100M, the movement of Blacks out of the South could escape notice. More than that, I believe it is that maxim: “Those who write the history control the history.”

There are a couple of reasons why this maxim is important. First, writers always write with a bias. They may strive to be neutral and “unbiased” but I believe that is impossible. It just is not possible. Even before we speak or write, what we have seen or heard is processed/filtered through our eyes, our values, our faith, our bedrock principles. That is why we cannot just depend on one source for our news.

The migration of 6 million African American from the South was not a newsworthy story to be written. It was not something the “mainstream” might be interested in, or for that matter anyone but Black Americans.

As I delve into these two books, I expect to be confronted with my own prejudice, and my own racial bias which I did not see or care to see what was happening all around me.

However, with that said I have always been one who wanted to know the rest of the story. So this journey will be enlightening and uncomfortable.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. 

Race and Faith

I awakened this morning at about 6:00a.m. I had planned to be up by 6:15, but anticipating the day, I awakened early. This was my first day on the “stream team” and we are beginning at Cityview to slowly go back to services in the building. The service was at 9:00am, and I was to be there at 7:30. So, I had time to make me some coffee and clear the cobwebs from my head, and get to the church on time. As a member of the “stream team” my role at my camera is critical—as you might imagine. When things are critical, you send in a veteran, right? Well, actually, I am the one who operates a “jib” camera which simply means I get to slowly sweep from one place to another. I provide motion. All other cameras are somewhat fixed when the team leader switches to them. This was my premier presentation and I wanted to make sure I had it right. The stream leader came over to me and went over the simple nuts and bolts of what I would be doing. Basically, I was to very slowly move the camera in a certain way at a certain time. I totally understood from a long history of watching folks get used to video. He asked, “Do you understand what I need?” To which I replied, “Sure, you don't want me to give everyone motion sickness and have them throwing up on their couches.” He smiled.

My oldest son, Tim would call this “inappropriate humor” as opposed to “appropriate humor.” Sadly, I am more of an expert in “inappropriate humor” than the other. That is not to say my humor is ever crude, sexual, or rude. Rather it emanates from deep within and sadly I can't help it. It just bubbles up. I would say in my defense that if a conversation with anyone doesn't end with them taking away a notable “Chancellor” ism, I feel I have failed the conversational expectations.

So my “stream team” leader knows my name. When one works on the “team” the worship music is a “wash” because you have someone in your ear during the whole time. However, at the jib camera, you don't have a station to man during the sermon so you can sit down and listen.

I have looked forward to this series since I heard it announced. COVID has blurred my sense of time, but I needed this series. Our pastor will be leading us through a series on race and faith. Frankly, I need this because the older I have become, the more this issue has weighted on my heart. Perhaps it is the feeling there is more I could have done as a faith leader to move our people to a greater compassion and openness to people of color. Perhaps it is the weight of years which tell me nothing will change unless we make it change. Perhaps it is the reality that Christians are both the impediment and the hope of racial progress in this nation. I don't know exactly when it was in the prison that I put it together that black men abandoned the Christian faith for the Muslim faith because it gave expression to their anger and angst. They had been betrayed not by God but by His people.

My travels around the world have not been as extensive as some but more than most but during those travels I have come to understand I have never met a person who Christ did not love or for whom Christ has not died. There were days I walked the prison halls knowing that each person I saw, each life that was being poured out in that prison was someone for whom Christ died. So many were black men, far more than was representative of the culture. So it really struck home to me today when our pastor quoted a black pastor friend of his who told him, “If one of your teens gets arrested for drugs—he will end up in rehab. If one of my teens is arrested for drugs, he will likely go to jail.” And I knew the rest of the story—and from there to prison.

I trust my pastor to follow the Spirit's leading and in these days of strife, demonstrations, and violence, it is really time—past time for the People of God to face this lingering, smoldering, explosive issue of the racial disparity which has dogged this nation from its beginning. The bill has come due, the time is now, we cannot kick this can further down the road. It is time for people of courage to face the incredible profundity of the issues, repent, and move forward to a better future for all.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. 

American Elections the New International Sport

I was unaware until Friday and today US elections in November had become an international sporting event. It seems Russia is working for Trump and China is working for Biden. I was aware that Russia interfered in our 2016 national elections by disseminating false information, but I was unaware this would be the case again this November. I have also been concerned about the lack of outrage in every quarter of our nations life.

I guess I naively believed that such knowledge of what happened in 2016 would create such a tsunami of voter fury and outrage that something would have been done in Congress to prevent this from happening again ever. Foolish me! Now not just being satisfied with corruption running through Washington like the mighty Mississippi, our election process has been compromised like a “Banana Republic” south of the border on which a small wall has been built.

So, Congress cannot agree. Children often cannot agree because their small minds cannot fully see the options or comprehend the stark realities of the failure to compromise. Apparently, we thought we were electing Representative and Senators, but apparently not. We have sent children to Washington. And sadly, children who are not up to the awesome tasks of this time.

Children's games often take the same course. If it is a 2 team game: tag/touch football, soccer; basketball, baseball, sides are chosen and play till either it is dark, the kids get bored, or supper is ready.

This isn't that.

Governing this nation, until 2017, the leader of the free world, is not child's play, nor is it a game. It was and never has been a game. Real lives are decided by what goes on or fails to go on in Washington. Men and women serving our nation are deployed at great risk to themselves and great impact on their families. Budgets are proposed which spend the tax payer's money to move our nation forward from agriculture to technology. Currently scientists are working overtime to find treatments and a vaccine for COVID-19. This is not a game. The body count mirroring the ineptness of Washington is adding up. 5M today infected with COVID-19 and the death count at 162,000. Much of this can be laid at the feet of an inept White House and a tepid Congress.

But, our elected leaders play at it like it is a game. Single parents, two parent households, teachers around this nation and front line medical and first responders are working their best to move us forward during this time. But, Congress cannot play well together. Congress cannot work together. Congressmen and Congresswomen, Senators cannot see further than their party line so each day,moms and dads wake up with bank accounts on empty, small businesses shuttered without any significant rescue, mortgages need to be paid, rent needs to be paid, and Congressmen and Congresswomen cannot agree. This is not sandlot baseball. This is real life which is crushing real people.

In my life, I have lived through one shining moment(if you will) of national unity and that was after 9/11 and Americans were slapped in the face with the reality that enemies wish us harm, but together we are the strongest nation in the world. It seems now only to be a moment in time. A fleeting moment.

I wonder what we need to happen to take us to the point and place where we see in each other more than just people, but rather, neighbors who together wish life and health and security for this nation of which we are a part?

Historically, as a nation, we have been willing to put our shoulders together, push and pull together in order to move the freedoms and security of this nation more toward what our founders --not completely understanding-- the life and liberty enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights waiting sometimes impatiently to be fully realized.

I would suggest that if our representatives both House and Senate are not up to the challenge of working together for all Americans, right now, in this time of national distress, please, please go home and let us find someone else who can shoulder the task.

Wash your hands, wear your masks in consideration for others, mind the gap and be kind.

 

The Virus that Shows Us....Us

There is no doubt this time in America is a stressful time. Our whole way of life had been turned upside down. Our basic way of life—to go where we want, when we want, and how we want has been seriously abridged.

I also feel we are seeing the limits of our personal, familial, and social discipline. That is, we have little compassion for doing what is best for others if it intrudes into our routine, or privilege, or rights.

On the way home from taking some food out to a family we went to church with in Livingston because all were down with covid(four in the family) we talked about how we are handling the overall changes.

I expressed to Anna I had developed a routine that was really working well for me before COVID because I was doing a lot of exercising three times a week, deepening relationships at our new church home, working with veterans which I care deeply about, and then everything ground to a halt. Anna moved home and continued to work from home since that time. I am not sure I would not go crazy in that little room from which she is operating. But, she does get to come out for lunch and we sit outside (always good therapy) even in the heat.

I, on the other hand have had to put off most of the veterans who were referred to me because they either do not have the computer or smart phone to do therapy through a portal, or they are not good candidates for that kind of therapy at this time. Some have serious underlying conditions. So we are treading water.

Last night I went up to the church because it was praise team rehearsal and I understood I was supposed to be there. Not that anyone in their right mind would push me out in front of a group of people with a microphone in my hand gyrating to the beat of the music. I am sorry, you probably can't unread that or un-visualize that in your mind.

Apparently, Cityview is going to attempt to reopen to a small group of people Sunday morning for one service. I am to run one of the cameras. However, it was really a joy to be in the room Thursday evening. Truthfully, it is the most folks I have been in the room with in the last couple of months. So that was good. There is an atmosphere which pervades even the practice of learning music and songs, and preparing for worship. I keep going back to the pope who said he was more afraid of Luther's hymns than of his sermons.

What I do know is that we will move through this and hopefully, we will move through this together and perhaps even more determined to take the time to develop community and be inclusive to all those for whom Christ has died. Perhaps the church will learn that worship is a privilege previously unappreciated in our culture because it largely costs us nothing. We can take or leave it, until it is gone for a long stretch of time. While everything churches are doing in the meantime are good, it still ends up like “kissing your sister.” It never really takes the place of together, hearts in worship voices in praise, ears eager to hear and learn.

Perhaps from this season of limited activity, we can see the world, our neighbor differently. Perhaps we can learn new lessons of acceptance and community. Perhaps we can be more vocal with our gratitude and less vocal about the inconveniences. Perhaps we can learn the “magic” of gratitude and saying it out loud. Perhaps we can find ways to actually help our neighbor and even enjoy the expansiveness of Jesus's view of “my brother.”

Perhaps when the next generation comes on the scene, they can observe the camaraderie, the compassion, the solidarity of this time and note it was forged in the midst of COVID. Perhaps they will notice like our parents and grandparents who developed resiliency from the depression and two world wars, we too became better, more “other centered,” and kind than previous to this world wide epidemic. Perhaps the long term effects of this virus may humanize those we have found so easy to demonize; to give grace to those who previously merited our judgment, to love those who were never included in the tight circle of those we cared deeply about.

COVID is not about just a virus. It never has been just a virus. It is an object lesson staring us in the face day in and day out. Either we work together toward the common goal of eradicating this virus and taming its spread, or people we love and care about, people we respect and look up to, people who have been our neighbors for more years than we can count, people whose greatness has touched our own in the classroom and life, people who have been like giants among us will die because, we were unwilling, unable, uncaring enough, to think of the life of others before the convenience to ourselves.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind. 

The Surprise of Grief

This evening I went to Cityview for the “stream team.” Prior to Cityview, I would have thought “the Stream team” was a group of guys who went trout fishing together in Colorado.

I am aware that on the cusp of being old—well ok, already having arrived at old, technology is really amazing. Trying to reactive my software of “Simply Speaking” which I used when my right shoulder had reconstructive surgery, I discovered I has lost the dvds, but more than that, the practice software I use Google Suites, particularly Google Documents, offers the same technology. Now knowing it is out there and making it work—two different things.

On the way to the church this evening, for some reason, I was thinking about Mom. Grief is like that. You are on the way to somewhere totally unrelated to your loss, or you are thinking about something totally unrelated to your loss, and bam! It is right there.

I have never been able to understand the way my brain works, and even learning more and more about how my brain works does not fully explain—how my brain works. Yet, this I know, something deep within me, connected going to church with my loss and for a moment I was right back in the grief of my loss.

I do know enough to know this is the landscape of grief. It seems to come out of nowhere, and cuts you off at the knees, and you will never really ever make the connection your mind made when it connected those two thoughts.

Perhaps it is my mom was the one who took me to church. She is the one I sat with in church. She was the verbal spiritual guide in our family(my Dad, like many men are shy about their faith but it is real to them none the less). This was the first time I had actually been in “church” since she died. And this was only for a rehearsal for Sunday.

There are some things I know about grief. I know it has a course to run. No matter how much I may deny it, or dismiss it, it must run its course. I know that grief will show up in the places I have associated with my loss. The body remembers when I don't. I know that such times are necessary and therapeutic if I am ever able to work through my loss. I know there is an end point that can only be reached by walking through the dark valley overshadowed by death. I know that as David shared with us, “You are with us, Your rod and Your Staff they comfort us.”

So tonight was a step, an unexpected step, but a step none the less. 

COVID and the Upcoming Elections

Shelter in Place for Williamson County along with Travis County was ordered March 24, 2020. Roughly, 5 months have come and gone and initially, we were able to slow down the progress of COVID. May 1, 2020 the state was to begin reopening and mostly what followed after that was pretty predictable. Virus cases spread, deaths from the virus spread, and now roughly 5 months after the first efforts to contain the virus, we are no where near containing the virus. Throughout the state and nation, it is obvious the USA does not have a good handle on controlling this pandemic. Today the US death counts stands at 160,000 with 4.9M infections. Texas has a death count of 8,121.

One of the most obvious reasons is people across the country are listening to politicians instead of people who know what is going on. That is the problem and I personally can understand the problem. This administration and his party have continually told us not to trust those nefarious scientists because they are a part of a world wide conspiracy to do what?

Now, at some level, down deep where our little boats float on the water, we know dismissing the opinions of professionals and listening to non-professionals is not the smartest step. That is why you don't go to your mechanic to be diagnosed with a physical problem. That is why you bypass the flower shop and go to the people who can replace your worn out tires. That is why you don't call a lawn guy to fix your plumbing. And you might look at me and say, “Why would anyone do that?” To which I would reply, “Exactly, why would anyone do that, but day in and day out, people swear by the talking heads on their favorite cable news while ignoring the scientists and medical researchers devoting their lives to saving lives. If your relative believes what Sean Hannity says, and as a result puts themselves and others at risk which leads to getting COVID which leads to their early death, do you really believe you could drag Hannity into a court and prosecute him for “malpractice?” No, you couldn't, but he is free with his opinions that can put well meaning folks at extreme risk. It is why I believe folks like Hannity are toxic.

Another truth is the United States would benefit from an overhaul of campaign laws which currently allow non-stop campaigning, never ending money streams and mind numbing rhetoric going on and on.

There are some things I want to know about candidates. First I want to know what they have done before running for office. That is important to me. Second, I want to get a sense of the principles which guide them, the character which endures from year to year, and if they are people of integrity. When I have heard enough to settle those issues for me, I am ready to vote. Here is why. The representatives and even the president we elect in November may take office in a totally different world than the one I framed when I cast my ballot. Talk all you want about “what you gonna do” “what you wanta do” “your next great big idea” but the truth is, you may never have the opportunity to put those forward. No one(except for the Obama Administration) saw a pandemic in 2020 engulfing the world. No one foresaw a crippling shut down of the economy to try to get a handle on the pandemic.

It is foolish to believe(to me) that great leadership can tell you what they are “gonna do” and manage to make it happen. Dreams are valuable but the day in and day out of making reasonable laws that guide our society and culture is pretty tedious work. A lot of times it is thankless work.

So until this pandemic is corralled, workable vaccines are available to all who need and want them, small business owners get the help they need to survive, folks who have been laid off because their job is not there, pretty much everything else to me is smoke and mirrors. I learned that trick as a parent. When we would approach a McDonalds, I would get the kids to look out the other side. Smoke and mirrors.

Wash you hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind.

Living by the Truth

I did a Face Book live today on my personal FB page speaking to the man in the White House. It was fun to research, write up and record.

Over the last 20+ years, I don't believe I have ever had the time to research topics which were important to me. I do now, and continue to be amazed at what can find on the web. Now I would suggest there are two or three levels of information accessible on the net. I can access really technical information for which I have no background to understand. Medical information, brain science information, technological information, law, and the list could go on. The second tier I would put practical information which has allowed me to fix the bumper on my car, change out two garbage disposals, change out elements in the electric ovens, patch cracks in the walls, and know how to treat some of the plants which have we have in our yard. The last tier is composed of lies, conspiracy theories, pseudo science, and discarded ideas which still live on the web.

Sadly today, the bottom rung on the tiers is where far too many people are hanging out. There are favorite websites which post the most ridiculous and unbelievable falsehoods yet get into the mainstream with gullible people moving it around. You might even liken it to the COVID-19 virus. Such partial truths, complete untruths, bizarre statements, and other silly information are passed by contact from one person to another and today, given social media, it is almost unstoppable.

I find that such social media dissemination inexcusable for Christians. It is inexcusable for Christians to have a part in spreading false information which when posted leads gullible people astray. More than that, we cannot excuse ourselves because we follow a leader who spouts lies, misinformation, and partial truths on a daily basis. We are ultimately responsible for what we do with our lives, our lips, our social media posts. We cannot brush responsibility off onto someone else.

Part of the reason we have over 4.85M people diagnosed with COVID-19 with deaths now at 158,000 and climbing. Because folks chose to believe the “conspiracy theories” about COVID being nothing more than another kind of flu, thousands have died as a result of that fatal lie. Perhaps that does not mean anything to you if your family has been untouched by this virus, but because this country chose to diminish its lethally, the death toll continues to rise. More than that, nursing home residents around the country have been sent to their rooms, the nursing homes have locked down, and the very thing seniors need to maintain their mental health is being deprived to them—because it was not taken seriously by our government.

Let me spell out some of the falsehoods which have cost us the lives of 158,000 Americans. This total represents people of all ages. Just tonight, I learned of a fire fighter—a young man who leaves behind a wife and two middle schoolers because he died of COVID. Since he contacted the virus at home, his family cannot access funds which are set aside for “deaths while on duty.” This public servant is not alone. The refusal to cooperate with city and county governing bodies when they have issued “when in public wear masks” orders have put more and more people at risk.

Another falsehood/lie has been to impugn the integrity of the World Health Organization. If you have any doubts about them, take the time to read about their work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization This United Nation's agency has coordinated the pandemic from the beginning. They are not some mysterious organization controlled by Russia or China. Instead, through their regional offices, they have helped nations combat this virus and others.

Another falsehood is the virus will disappear. We heard that prophecy for April, then for this summer, and then by late in the fall. The truth is it is not going away until it is contained, treated, and hopefully folks have a vaccine and are vaccinated.

Another falsehood is that vaccines on the whole are unsafe. I have lived through a polio epidemic, SARS, MERS, and on and on. When there has been a vaccine, lives have been saved. The fact is there is no conclusive research which shows there are problems with vaccines.

The point is, believers need to seek the truth(not what feels true to them) listen to those who are experts in their field, and follow their guidance. That is at the core of our faith: the truth; love for God; and love for our neighbor. You may believe you or yours are not in danger of the COVID-19, and you might be right. However, if one truly loves God and loves his/her neighbor, we will make every effort to protect their health. If wearing a mask is what is needed, we will wear a mask. If social distancing is what is needed, we will socially distance. If washing our hands helps contain the surface spread of the virus we will do that. That is not a Christian's duty, it is a believer's obedience to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Wash your hands, wear you mask out of love for others, mind the gap, and be kind.