SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Ed Sheeran - Masters of War (Acoustic Cover)

TUESDAY MORNING THOUGHTS

     If only Trump would disappear. Oh, there would be other troubles, that’s for sure. But the worst would be gone. That he has been allowed to get by with his idiotic nonsense for this long is a national disgrace. Democrats don’t know what to do. Only shows their ineptness. I for the life of me can’t figure out what is wrong with people. No better than Nazi Germany: we sit back and watch as he slides us into the primordial ooze. No agenda, only hatred, racism, paranoia, childish behavior, and the evilness to do whatever is necessary to make him and his rich friends richer, while the rest of us suffer. It is a play on everyone’s fear and insecurities. 

     I think it is time for us to take a page from the Puerto Rican people and hit the streets. Nothing else is going to bring Trump down. The Senate is filled with a majority of right-wing, rich white folks; the Supreme Court filled with a majority of right-wing justices; and the House filled with Democrats who are no better than moderate Republicans. Peloci would last two minutes at a progressive, liberal convention before she would be thrown out. The whole government is an impotent disaster. IT IS TIME WE TAKE CHARGE. In every state, every city, people should take to the streets, demanding new elections for the Senate, the House, and the Presidency. Everyone needs to be cleared out and the game started over. I can hear you. You say, oh, that would be complete chaos. I say, what the hell is the difference? We might as well go down swinging. Oh, they would shoot us, and gas us, and put us behind their fences, all in a desperate attempt to maintain their control and power over us. But we have the power of numbers. They can’t stop us all. Nothing is as important as stopping these maniacs. It has to be now, not next week or next month or at election time. The time is now. All of the progressive organizations wanting us to sign petition after petition need to get real. Trump and his merry band of followers don’t care how many petitions we sign. But they will care if we stop everything and don’t pay our taxes. Let all these hot-shots pay for the trillion dollar military budget they just passed. Let’s get the burden off of our shoulders and put it on theirs.

     The Call on this Tuesday morning is clear. The time is now, the indifference needs to end. We know what happens when everyone sits back and watches. We’ve seen it before.

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Amos Lee - Jesus (Live)

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE UNTO YOU.

The Golden Rule, which appears in one form or another in all religions, is the moral basis that binds us all together. What I wish for myself and my family is what I should wish for all people. Affordable healthcare; decent housing; education; a living wage; security in old age. That millions in our country lack these essentials is a testament to our shallow faith. It is an embarrassment to Christ to call ourselves Christians and allow this to happen.

PEEVER LAW #58

1 Singing the song and dancing the dance does not a good citizen make.

ON SUFFERING

ONE OF THE GIVENS IN LIFE. SUFFERING. YOU CAN'T AVOID IT. LIFE IS FULL OF IT. WE ARE BORN, GROW OLD, AND DIE. IN THE PROCESS, WE SUFFER. THERE IS NO GETTING AWAY FROM IT. WE ASK THE QUESTION: WHY DO HUMANS SUFFER? WHAT ARE WE TO DO? I TRY TO COUNTER SUFFERING WITH COMPASSION, BOTH FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS.SOME DAYS SUFFERING OVERWHELMS MY BEST INTENTIONS. IT BLANKETS ME WITH DESPAIR AND GRIEF. IN THOSE TIMES I LOOK AT MY WIFE, MY DOG, PICTURES OF MY TWO CHILDREN. THE GRASS, TREES, THE SKY. I SEE AN E-MAIL FROM AN OLD FRIEND. RENEW OLD FRIENDSHIPS ON FACEBOOK. THE WONDER AND BEAUTY OF IT ALL. ONE THING TODAY. TOMORROW ANOTHER. MY COMPASSION COMES FROM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IMPERMANENCE. FOR EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE, IT WILL ALL VANISH.  IT IS THIS MOMENT THAT I NEED TO MOST CHERISH. NOW. THAT IS THE MIRACLE. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"WHEN QUESTIONED BY AN ANTHROPOLOGIST ON WHAT THE INDIANS CALLED AMERICA BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME, AN INDIAN SAID SIMPLY, "OURS."

SMOOTH WRITING

CHARITY: GIVING. NO CONDITIONS. NO MANDATORY PRAYING. GIVE WITH NO EXPECTATION OF PRAISE OR PROMOTION. GIVE TO ALLEVIATE PAIN AND SUFFERING. NOT TO CAUSE IT. NO PUBLICITY. COMPASSION.