Words, Thoughts, Musings

Cathy passed me in the kitchen one day this week, and I overheard a long sigh. Seems to happen a lot these days. The hotter it gets, the more virus infections explode, the more restrictions to an already restricted lifestyle happen, the more sighs are born. The isolation that slips in the door each day and says, “Hi… think I’m gonna stay awhile.” Sigh. The big old long sigh says a lot. This phenomenon seems an obvious product of these times. The big old long sigh. Try one right now. There you go. Welcome aboard. Experts say negative emotional states, …

Well, it lets in the breeze, Keeps out the flies, When my Momma’s coolin’ Some apricot pies. (The Old Screen Door, Joe Pat Hennan) “She was allowed to see this place, one that would likely be ruined by the 21st century as time went on… places like these were extremely hard to find these days. A world of wood-burning cookstoves and the waxy smell of Paraffin, laundry hung out to dry, rusty steel bridges over streams that reflected the bright blue skies, apple pies left out on windowsills… “ (Smog City Rebecca McNutt) Simple things. Where have they all gone? …

So, I was reading a devotional this morning and the writer made an innocuous statement about being a “Christian.” I don’t know why, but once again I reflected on why I don’t particularly like labelling myself as a “Christian.” I prefer to call myself a “Believer.” What’s up with that, you may ask yourself. It’s all about labels. I’m in… you’re not. Too often I hear the word Christian thrown around like it describes some sort of exclusive club, or clique, and only the anointed few get past the security guy at the door. “Sorry Bob, if you ain’t got …

“We don’t want to change. Every change is a menace to stability.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”― Leo Tolstoy Change. How’s that for a word to create that empty feeling inside. What kinds of things do we seem to hate… like change? Well, uncertainty, for one. How about not knowing? Fear of the unknown. Then there’s always guilt. “Damn, I did it again.” Or loneliness. Sometimes we like being alone. Just not being lonely. Then there’s good old rejection. Know anybody who just loves being rejected? Or sadness. Don’t …

So, I’m sitting in the dim, muted, light of our little church. The church is empty. Quiet, except for an occasional swishing of the wind outside. Light flares through the stained glass windows on either side of the pews and does little to brighten the space. Thanks to the virus pandemic this sanctuary has been empty for weeks. The organ sits mute. Probably wondering where its friend John has gone. I’m at the church for some minor Junior Warden errand that surely could have waited. I think I just wanted to stop in and see how church was feeling, after …

Well the Governor of our state, Arkansas, has re-opened the place. Restaurants, salons, barber shops, gyms, and perhaps churches. The re-opening urge is in fact sweeping the states, urged on by protests and yes, ugliness. Selfishness abounds. Protesters armed with automatic weapons in the Michigan Senate chambers. Michigan legislators actually wearing bullet-proof vests. Huh? Stillwater, Oklahoma rescinding their order requiring masks in public places, three hours after it went into effect, as retail employees were threatened with physical violence by citizens. One employee was threatened with a gun. This is selfishness on a grand scale. I saw a protester on …

“It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded, who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, and more desolation. War is hell.” ― General William Tecumseh Sherman So, we roll into another week. A week that looks to the casual observer, much like the previous week and the one before that. They all begin to merge into an amorphous mass of discomfort. But for the thousands and thousands who name themselves victims, or caregivers, or health workers, or first responders, in our current crisis, it is much more than that. …

Little did we know… On Ash Wednesday What a phrase. “Little did we know” It lies at the very heart of the concept of uncertainty. What a blessing though. Think for a moment how disconcerting your present might be, if you did know the future. Such was our state of awareness on February 26, 2020. Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season. Little did we know how different our world would be at the end of Lent. Easter Sunday, 2020. Who could believe such a change awaited. Six weeks and a few days. Doesn’t sound like much time, really. …

Donald Trump claimed that the US “suffered no casualties” from the Iran missile attack, which was a reprisal for the US drone strike assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani. But a spokesman confirmed 50 injuries had occurred. Questioned later about reports of brain injury, Trump downplayed their severity: “I heard that they had headaches. And a couple of other things. But I would say, and I can report, it is not very serious.” Michael Kaplen, the chair of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council said that he was “shocked at the ignorant statement” made by Trump. …