Story People

Ferguson: 'We're Going to Shake the Heavens'

Ferguson: 'We're Going to Shake the Heavens'

A PRE-CHRISTMAS LESSON

Possessions. Holding on to what you have. Things. I carried a rock in my pocket for the last 25 years. A Petosky stone, found only in Petosky, Michigan, along the shore of Lake Michigan. I picked it up the summer of 1971. My wife and I were just married and working in Traverse City as camp counselors. It sat in a box for years until I stuck it in my pocket one day. Why? Maybe to remember the times. Maybe for good luck. A talisman never hurts. Forty-three years that rock spent with me. I LOST IT THE OTHER DAY. Like any possession, it can hurt if you are holding on to it too tightly.
Everything is temporary. It comes and it goes. You have to let it go. It's not yours. It was a pre-Christmas lesson. LEARN TO LET GO.

E-MAIL SENT TO EACH POA BOARD MEMBER:

TWO-TIER PROPOSAL DOWN AND OUT-FOR NOW

THE TWO TIER SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THE VILLAGE POA DIRECTORS WENT DOWN IN DEFEAT. IT WAS A DESERVING DEFEAT. HOPEFULLY, THEY WILL COME UP WITH SOMETHING MORE REASONABLE, PLANNED OUT IN THE OPEN, AND DISCUSSED, BEFORE BRINGING IT TO A VOTE. BUT I'M SORT OF DOUBTING IT. THEY DON'T STRIKE ME AS THE KIND OF GUYS AND GALS WHO TAKE DEFEAT VERY GRACIOUSLY. THEY HAVE THREE MONTHS TO FIGURE OUT THEIR NEXT MOVE, AND SO DO WE. THE LAWSUIT SHOULD MOVE FORWARD. PARTS OF IT CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT. THE NEXT VOTE WILL BE ON AN UN-LEVEL PLAYING GROUND, THE POA NEEDING ONLY 25% OF THE TOTAL VOTES POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE A QUORUM.

IT IS A TIME FOR HEALING. COMPROMISE AND SHARING OF INFORMATION SHOULD BE CALLED FOR AND HOPEFULLY ACHIEVED. A NEW PLAN SHOULD BE DEVELOPED THAT MOST EVERYONE WOULD BE COMFORTABLE WITH. TO TRY AND RAM THROUGH THIS SAME PLAN A SECOND TIME WILL RESULT IN UNNECESSARY CONFLICT AND LONG-TERM TRUST ISSUES. IT WOULD BE SOMETHING OF A DECLARATION OF WAR, WHICH I DON’T THINK ANYONE WANTS, AND THAT WE MOST CERTAINLY DON'T NEED.

I WOULD CALL FOR A MEETING WITH THE DIRECTORS AND CITIZENS SUPPORTING THE TWO TIER SYSTEM,  AND THOSE CITIZENS WHO ARE OPPOSED TO THE TWO TIER SYSTEM, TO SHARE IDEAS AND BANG OUT A PLAN THAT IS FAIR AND ACCEPTABLE TO BOTH PARTIES. ONE THAT WOULD MOVE ALL OF US FORWARD IN A UNIFIED AND LESS CONTENTIOUS MANNER.

RESPONSE FROM BOARD PRESIDENT:

Bruce,

On behalf of the POA Board, thank-you for your assessment of the assessment situation.  The Board will discuss available at the December work session.

Respectfully,

Keith Keck

President, Board of Directors

HSV POA

VERY THOUGHTFUL OF HIM.

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR

• I'm thankful I'm not a turkey.
• I'm thankful for a wife who has stayed with me for 43 years, sometimes for no good reason.
• I am thankful to have a daughter and son who remind me what life is all about.
• I am thankful to have lived another 14 years, so far, after a near death experience. Those 14 years have been sweet.
• I am thankful that we have been lucky enough to save some money and can enjoy retirement without constantly worrying about money.
• I am thankful both my wife and I had good and satisfying career's.
• I have peeved a lot of people over the years. I am thankful none of them shoot me.
• I am thankful that I will soon be enrolled, once again, in seminary. My quest to discover God continues after almost 67 years.
• Finally, I am thankful that I wake up each morning knowing that it is my responsibility to make the world a better place for someone. Each day, each of us is responsible for making the world just a little better.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING
THE PEEVER

AT THANKSGIVING

Amid football,
        family, and
        too much food,
    we pause quickly and without inconvenience
        to remember and to thank.
        We remember ancient pilgrims
                   who followed dreams of alabaster cities
                          and financial opportunity;
         We remember hospitable first nation people
                    who welcomed them, and then lost their land;
          We remember other family times
                     filled with joy and
                     filled with anxiety, and
                            old scars still powerful.
           We thank you for the U.S. venue of
                     justice and freedom,
                     and are aware of its flawed reality;
            We thank you for our wealth and our safety,
                     and are aware of how close to poverty we are
                             and how under threat we live.

We gather our impulse for gratitude today,
     grateful to you and to our ancestors,
     grateful to you for our families,
                                   our health,
                                   our government,
                                   our many possessions.

We gladly affirm that
   "All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above."
   But we yield to none in a sense of self-sufficiency,
        our weariness in needing to share,
        our resentfulness of those who take and do not give.

Your generosity evokes our gratitude,
but your generosity overmatches our gratitude.
    We are ready to thank,
         but not overly so;
     We remember our achievements,
                             our accomplishments,
                             our entitlements,
                             and our responsibilities
           that slice away our yielding of ourselves to you.

Move through our half measure of thanks
     and let us be, all through this day,
     more risky in acknowledging
          that we have nothing except what you give.

You have given so much---not least your only Son.
Gift us the gift of dazzlement and awe
      that we may rejoice in our penultimate lives
      and keep you ultimate all the day long,
            relishing the wonder of your self-giving love.


Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People

TWO-TIERED SYSTEM DOWN AND OUT-FOR NOW

THE TWO TIERED SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THE VILLAGE POA DIRECTORS WENT DOWN IN DEFEAT. IT WAS A DESERVING DEFEAT. HOPEFULLY, THEY WILL COME UP WITH SOMETHING MORE REASONABLE, PLANNED OUT IN THE OPEN, AND DISCUSSED, BEFORE BRINGING IT TO A VOTE. BUT I'M SORT OF DOUBTING IT. THEY DON'T STRIKE ME AS THE KIND OF GUYS AND GALS WHO TAKE DEFEAT VERY GRACIOUSLY. THEY HAVE THREE MONTHS TO FIGURE OUT THEIR NEXT MOVE, AND SO DO WE. THE LAWSUIT SHOULD MOVE FORWARD. PARTS OF IT CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT. THE NEXT VOTE WILL BE ON AN UN-LEVEL PLAYING GROUND, THE POA NEEDING ONLY 25% OF THE TOTAL VOTES POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE A QUORUM.

IT IS A TIME FOR HEALING. COMPROMISE AND SHARING OF INFORMATION SHOULD BE CALLED FOR AND HOPEFULLY ACHIEVED. A NEW PLAN SHOULD BE DEVELOPED THAT MOST EVERYONE WOULD BE COMFORTABLE WITH. TO TRY AND RAM THROUGH THIS SAME PLAN A SECOND TIME WILL RESULT IN UNNECESSARY CONFLICT AND LONG-TERM TRUST ISSUES. IT WOULD BE SOMETHING OF A DECLARATION OF WAR, WHICH I DON’T THINK ANYONE WANTS, AND THAT WE MOST CERTAINLY DON'T NEED.

I WOULD CALL FOR A MEETING WITH THE DIRECTORS AND CITIZENS FOR THE TWO TIERED SYSTEM,  AND THOSE CITIZENS WHO ARE OPPOSED TO THE TWO TIERED SYSTEM, TO SHARE IDEAS AND BANG OUT A PLAN THAT IS FAIR AND ACCEPTABLE TO BOTH PARTIES. ONE THAT WOULD MOVE ALL OF US FORWARD IN A UNIFIED AND LESS CONTENTIOUS MANNER.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Elie Wiesel

Fires Burn As Community Feels Pain of Injustice: Dispatches from Ferguson

Fires Burn As Community Feels Pain of Injustice: Dispatches from Ferguson



WHITE GUYS NEVER GET IT WHEN AN INJUSTICE COMES HOME TO HAUNT THEM.

BENEDICTION

WE ARE BEING CALLED TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
CHRIST SHOWED US THE WAY.
NOW IS THE TIME.
TODAY IS THE DAY.
MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR SOMEONE.
AMEN

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Beth Hart "Spirit of God" At: Guitar Center

SUNDAY MORNING MESSAGE: Embracing the Prophets in Contemporary Culture – Walter Brueggemann on ...

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Joe Bonamassa with Beth Hart - Sinner's Prayer

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

We Are Takers

You are the giver of all good things.
All good things are sent from heaven above,
rain and sun,
day and night,
justice and righteousness,
bread to the eater and
seed to the sower,
peace to the old,
energy to the young,
joy to the babes.

We are takers, who take from you,
day by day, daily bread,
taking all we need as you supply,
taking in gratitude and wonder and joy.

And then taking more,
taking more than we need,
taking more than you give us,
taking from our sisters and brothers,
taking from the poor and the weak,
taking because we are frightened, and so greedy,
taking because we are anxious, and so fearful,
taking because we are driven, and so uncaring.

Give us peace beyond our fear, and so end our greed.
Give us well-being beyond our anxiety, and so end our fear.
Give us abundance beyond our drivenness,
and so end our uncaring.

Turn our taking into giving … since we are in your giving image:
Make us giving like you,
giving gladly and not taking,
giving in abundance, not taking,
giving in joy, not taking,
giving as he gave himself up for us all,
giving, never taking. Amen.

--Walter Brueggemann, from Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann.

TWO-TIERED SYSTEM DOWN AND OUT-FOR NOW

THE TWO TIERED SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THE VILLAGE POA DIRECTORS WENT DOWN IN DEFEAT. IT WAS A DESERVING DEFEAT. HOPEFULLY, THEY WILL COME UP WITH SOMETHING MORE REASONABLE, PLANNED OUT IN THE OPEN, BUT I'M SORT OF DOUBTING IT. THEY DON'T STRIKE ME AS THE KIND OF GUYS AND GALS WHO TAKE DEFEAT VERY GRACIOUSLY. THEY HAVE THREE MONTHS TO FIGURE OUT THEIR NEXT MOVE, AND SO DO WE. THE LAWSUIT SHOULD MOVE FORWARD. PARTS OF IT CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT.

MIDTERM DOOMSDAY

MY SUMMATION OF THE MIDTERM ELECTION: THE END IS NEAR

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Wal-mart started selling "Vampire Home Defense Kits", including holy water, crosses, stakes, mallets, and a book of quick blessings to bar vampires from your door. The fact that these kits were generally useless didn't bother me nearly as much as the idea of holy water being sold at wal-mart.”
Molly Harper, Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs

Walmart Workers Worldwide Call out World's Richest Family for 'Shameful' Labor Practices

Walmart Workers Worldwide Call out World's Richest Family for 'Shameful' Labor Practices



AN ARKANSAS CREATION

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Cyrus Pembridge, the Never Land’s captain, was widely regarded as the most incompetent man to comman a ship since the formation of water.
“Who in the name of common sense would put to sea on that ship with that man in charge?” wondered Mack.
“Well,” Alf answered, “we are.”
“True,” Mack said.”
Dave Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers

THE FLUB-A-DUB AWARD

It would be interesting to hear how much the west and east gates ended up costing. That would be after repeated flubs at both ends. Incompetence was pretty much at the front and center of both projects. And this is why they want us to pay more dues.

The Super-Rich and Sordid Tales of Selfishness

The Super-Rich and Sordid Tales of Selfishness



Destined to get worse, with right-wing Republicans in charge of Congress. Any poor person voting for these idiots is going to get what he or she deserves. 

FROM FRANK LEEMING

Assessment votes will be counted Friday; 2 of 3 results will lead to options 

    November 15, 2014  – Votes cast on the two-tier assessment plan will be counted at a general membership meeting at 10 a.m. Friday in the Ouachita Room at the Ponce de Leon Center.
   There are three possible outcomes:
   1) A quorum is met and the assessment increase is approved.  With an extra $3 million, the POA will move into the new year using the Option II budget.
   2) A quorum is met and the assessment proposal is defeated.  This would put the Option I budget into effect on Jan. 1.
   3) A quorum is not achieved.  The board would have to decide by its Dec. 17 meeting whether to send the two-tier plan out for another vote, or try something else.  The Option I budget would begin Jan. 1.

Study: More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point in US History

Study: More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point in US History



Right-wing Republicans are bringing us to our knees, but there will be no begging or praying. Things are soon to change.

SUNDAY MORNING MESSAGE

BE KIND. BE CONSIDERATE. GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO HELP OTHERS. ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO GOOD. SMILE. BE POSITIVE. HELP THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN YOURSELF. CONFRONT THOSE WHO MAKE LIFE MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE POOR AND ELDERLY. DEMAND TO MAKE A LIVING WAGE. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND YOUR LOVED ONE'S. DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU. IF YOU ARE DOING YOUR BEST, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND LOOK ANY SON-OF-A-BITCH WHO IS TRYING TO KEEP YOU DOWN IN THE EYES AND REFUSE TO LET THEM DENY YOU YOUR HAPPINESS.

THE WEB OF LIFE

There are no easy problems. Everything seems connected to everything else. The web of life has been woven tightly and reverberates with every move. To focus on a single problem with hopes of solving it is a distant memory. The complexity of our world requires problem solvers to look beyond singular solutions and envision multiple answers to complex problems, any one of which may need to be brought forward only after it has been discussed how it will affect our great-great-great grandchildren. Most of our problem solving takes into account only us. We are not visionaries. We tend to be reactionaries. Ethanol is a good example of our short-sightedness. So, for that matter, is our insistence that war can bring about a peaceful world, or that guns can make us safer, or that drugs will go away if we put every user and seller in jail. All are elementary miscalculations make by short-sighted thinkers.

7 Ways to Get Happy—Without Costing the Planet by Sarah van Gelder — YES! Magazine

7 Ways to Get Happy—Without Costing the Planet by Sarah van Gelder — YES! Magazine

He Bore All This Upon His Body: Rest In Peace Tomas Young

He Bore All This Upon His Body: Rest In Peace Tomas Young

THE MID-TERM ELECTION BLUES

Democrats got what you might call an old fashioned ass whooping last night. Annihilated. Completely and utterly humiliated. This became possible because most Democrats are trying to be moderate Republicans, including the President. If you want moderate and right-wing Republicans to be in charge, you are going to vote for the real things, not a Democratic impostor. Democrats are failing to tell a story that is different from Republicans. We do not support the rich getting richer; we are for gun control; we are pro-choice; we are against perpetual war; we support social programs to help the poor; we should be demanding universal health-care; raise the ceiling on social security; make corporations pay their fair share of taxes; and quit apologizing for being liberal. If Democrats cannot spell out a different story for the American people, they should just let the Republicans be in charge. Maybe whine a little. But forget about winning elections. You can't beat the real thing: a right-wing, white, Republican, Christian, male, who was not properly potty trained until age 27.

OH CRAP!

Cotton wins. Good night Irene. If you are poor and voted for Cotton, you're going to get what you deserve. And it is not going to be pretty.

ANSWERING THE E-MAIL

-Dear Peever: Do you think college athletes should be paid? Rick.
Dear Rick: They are. What do you call free tuition?

-Dear Mr. Peever: Do you think there is a way to save the environment? Sally.
Dear Sally: Yes. Eliminate mankind. This can easily be done by hiring Monsanto.

-Peever: Under what circumstances would you consider voting Republican? You seem like a staunch Democrat. Carol.
Dear Carol: Being a Democrat is not high on my list. However, voting Republican is not on it at all.

-Dear Mr. Peever: What do you consider the most important thing for humans to be doing at this point in our history? Harry.
Dear Harry: For the second time in history, we need to climb out of the primordial ooze.

-Dear Peever: Seems everyone in the government is proclaiming how successful they have been in getting people back to work. What do you think? Jim
Dear Jim: Do you always believe everything you hear from the government? Minimum wage jobs caused mainly by the welfare to work system, which moves people from the poor to the working poor list. The Chamber of Commerce loves this arrangement. I think it stinks.

-Dear Mr. Weik: Any thoughts on Arkansas at this point?
Dear Linda: Yes. Send help. 

Dear Bruce: What about the election? Any thoughts? Mary
Dear Mary: It scares me. Too many right-wing, Republicans taking a shot at becoming a politician. These people aren't politicians, they are vultures, taking advantage of the poor. Their only purpose is to give to the rich capitalists that support them. With all the voter suppression going on, it could be "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie. 

Dear Peever: What is with all the negativism? You don't seem to like anything? Can't we just all get along?  Mike
Dear Mike: No. My name is not the Peever for no good reason. Twenty-two years, and the magic is still there.

COTTON IS SHRINKING IN ARKANSAS

DON'T PUT COTTON (TOM) IN THE DRYER. HE'LL SHRINK UP TO NOTHING. NOT MUCH SUBSTANCE TO THIS COTTON. THE ONLY THING ABOUT HIM THAT I KNOW OF FROM HIS COMMERCIALS IS THAT HE WAS IN THE MILITARY, WHICH SEEMINGLY IS THE SUM TOTAL OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER. HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING BUT VOTE AGAINST MOST OF THE CITIZENS IN ARKANSAS. HE IS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY THE KOCK BROTHERS, WHO WILL OWN EVERY VOTE HE WILL EVER MAKE. I CAN ONLY HOPE THE CITIZENS OF ARKANSAS ARE SMART ENOUGH TO DUMP THIS COTTON BEFORE HE RUINS A BUNCH OF PEOPLE'S LIVES. I PERSONALLY BELIEVE COTTON IS TOXIC WASTE.

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

You creator God
              who has ordered us
              in families and communities,
              in clans and tribes,
              in states and nations.

You creator God
            who enact your governance
               in ways overt and
               in ways hidden.
             Your exercise your will for
               peace and for justice and for freedom.

We give you thanks for the peaceable order of
     our nations and for the chance of choosing---
            all the manipulative money notwithstanding.

We pray now for new governance
     that your will and purpose may prevail,
     that our leaders may have a sense
             of justice and goodness,
     that we as citizens may care about the
             public face of your purpose.

We pray in the name of Jesus who was executed
     by the authorities.

Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People

THE TRUTH IS PLAIN TO SEE

• GOD CREATED ALL MEN EQUAL. ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THIS HASN'T SPENT MUCH TIME IN A MEN'S LOCKER ROOM.
• IT IS FAR BETTER TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE. AND I'M GOING TO FALL FOR THAT.
• IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THE TRUTH. BUT IT'S NOT SO GOOD TO ALWAYS TELL IT.
• REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE GOING UP. THE ONLY THING THAT EVER GOES DOWN IS YOUR PROPERTY VALUE.
• IF WE GET WHAT WE PAY FOR, OUR CONGRESSMEN SHOULD TURN INTO GOLD.
• HERE'S THE THING. IF SOMEONE TRIES TO HAND YOU THE TRUTH, RUN.
• ANOTHER ELECTION. MORE NONSENSE.

RIGHT-WING RELIGIOUS ALERT

HAVE YOU THREATENED YOUR CHILDREN WITH ETERNAL DAMNATION TODAY?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I DON'T THINK THERE IS INTELLIGENT LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. WHY SHOULD OTHER PLANETS BE ANY DIFFERENT FROM THIS ONE?"

Bob Monkhouse