Believing

 Suppose we believed that there was a gossamer sphere high above the earth that trapped the souls of all the dead.

Suppose we believed that someone was tasked with recording every act of genuine love.

Suppose we believed that every leaf of every tree had its own name.

Suppose we believed that everyone had an inner voice that sang with beautiful intensity.

Suppose we believed that we were God’s well-behaved children.

Suppose we believed that a billion years ago evolution planned you and me.

Suppose we believed that humanity was one big dance.

Suppose we believe in the magic of believing.

Sing this

 Practice singing this song:

Ding Dong the Trump is gone

We dumped the Trump

The Trump is gone

Ding Dong 

The wicked Trump is gone

Ding dong he’s out the door 

His rump is kicked

He’s very sore

Hi Ho the Derrio

We went high when he went low

We kicked the rump of Trump away

Don't ya think?

 Donald Trump has earned a Biden landslide. Don’t ya think?

Donald Trump has earned a presidential library right in the middle of Disney World. Don’t ya think?

Melania won’t need all those clothes, so why not donate a bunch to Goodwill? Don’t ya think?

We can’t wait for Eric and Don, Jr. to write their dad’s biography. Don’t ya think?

Ivanka needs a new look for her new life—maybe a pixie cut. Don’t ya think?

Luckily, Jared will no longer be in charge of saving the whole world. Don’t ya think?

Rudy needs a much bigger role in the next Borat movie. Don’t ya think.

Mike Pompeo will finally have time to do Weight Watchers. Don’t ya think?

Betsy De Vos will report to the Principal’s office for a long stay. Don’t ya think?

Q

 Do we act like we are:

(a) God’s special creatures

(b) God’s private zoo

(c) God’s circus

(d) God’s failed experiment

(e) all of the above

The long history of evolution

 In the long history of evolution, nature has created life forms beyond counting. And here we are, its crowning achievement and its most intelligent species, on the brink of making itself extinct. How ironic is that?

We’ve been the chronicler of evolution, unraveling its past and unlocking its secrets. Now we are turning it on itself with dumb vengeance.

The Social Dilemma

 A number of people suggested I watch “The Social Dilemma,” which I recently did. It is very informative and very frightening in the way in which it lays out its arguments for the dangers of AI and the strategies of corporate tech.

For older people like me social media is not like the air we breathe as it is for younger people. What’s to be done to address the dangers of the effects of social media on our lives? What’s to be done to counter the way psychology is used to seduce and manipulate us?

For me, the answer is right in front of us. It’s making sure we do the demanding work of acquiring high personal standards and a clear moral compass. All of the intended assaults of social media can be defeated this way. 

Contemporary art and the media

 Contemporary art and the media

--Pay attention to how contemporary art and artists are used and portrayed in TV programs and you will see how contemporary art is seen in contemporary society.

Writers and actors hawk their latest efforts on late night TV. Where are the visual artists?

--Pay attention to how contemporary art is used as a backdrop, a status indicator, a foil in TV commercials and how no one pays attention to it or comments on it.

--Pay attention to how absent any coverage there is of contemporary art in the news media, except perhaps wall murals in the background. 

--Pay attention to whom local news media care about. A professional artist in a lifetime will not get the airtime that a high school quarterback will.

--The voice of the contemporary artist seems to bounce around within the visual art community but never really escape.

Apocalypse

 Humans have always anticipated and feared the end of the world. Now is the first time they could bring it about by their own hands.

We are in the midst of a slow burning apocalypse.

Change

 Change is fundamental to the nature of nature. There are always enough restless and creative human beings that human culture will always change.

Though resisting change may seem comfortable, fearing change is a waste of life energy. Embrace change as natural and inevitable. Look for the change that you can ride. Accepting change can be the change that helps you grow.

Faith

 

Galaxies

 Galaxies spinning languorously don’t notice us at all. Evolution splurges in diversity,

but didn’t intend us. Natural disasters don’t look at maps first. The tiniest particles of matter don’t know they live in our bowels.

We’re just not that important. Our glorious insignificance could make life trivial and meaningless, but instead we make making meaning life’s purpose. We tell our stories, make our discoveries, create our realities and buy our own delusions.

We don’t trample down hope or curiosity. Even if we are unintended, we intend.

That’s something evolution couldn’t expect, but we have delivered.

Some artists

 Some artists make art.

Some artists are art.

Black people

 Black people have gone from slavery to 3/5 of a person to emancipation to segregation to integration to free in a world of discrimination and white privilege. It’s clear there is still much work to do to tackle racism and inequality in American society.

In the same time frame white people have gone from hypocritical Christians supporting and benefitting from slavery to willing to die for the nation to supporting emancipation to working in the courts and the streets for racial justice, all the time pushing against white privilege.

What this says to me, and what is not often noted, is that the journey for equality for the black people is intimately linked to the achievement of white people of true Christian behavior and deep moral character.

Abortion

 With the potential elevation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, there is again much discussion of abortion. In all of this discussion, there is almost no consideration of the male voice and the male role.

This is odd since the male is an equal partner in the start of any pregnancy. Males play the major role in the drafting of legislation related to abortion. Men are the fathers, lovers, abusers, rapists, the ones responsible for child support.

The woman is legally given the right to choose the future of the child independent of the father’s wish to be childless or not. But once the child is born, the father becomes responsible again. The result is a large number of single mothers raising children, children without fathers in their lives and adequate financial resources.

The law tries to sort out issues of responsibility and consideration for the well being of the child if it is born or of the mother if it is aborted. And this to me is where the law struggles to determine the moral dynamics of any situation where abortion is considered.

Of course, human life is sacred. But that is not only an issue of abortion, but of hunger, war, human trafficking, economic deprivation and lack of health care. The legal, moral and ethical considerations regarding abortion are not easy. But men have a clear responsibility to approach this issue with a broad, empathetic, educated and open minded view. 

Excellence

 I’m in favor of as much art being put into the world as possible and of as many people as want to expressing themselves through their art. Social media and its range of public access have made it much easier for individuals to make themselves visible to wide audiences—think TikTok and Instagram, for example.

These expressions can be fun and entertaining. They can allow people to say, “This is me,” and “This is what I can do.” But they can also swamp excellence in a sea of mediocrity and make mediocrity seem like excellence.

I admit that this can seem elitist, but I don’t think it is. I believe human beings have improved their lives and deepened their understanding of themselves as a result of their search for excellence. (Excellence steers the boat, mediocrity rows the boat.)

Excellence is not mere talent. Excellence is not arrogance. Excellence is the consequence of hard work, focus, inspired vision, courage and unrelenting drive. The pursuit of excellence is a gift to all of us.

Humans

 Humans have been able to build amazing structures.  Unlock the secrets of the universe. Understand the biggest and the smallest pieces of matter. Learn how the body and the brain work. Create masterworks in all of the arts. Explore other worlds, landing human beings on them. Cure diseases and heal with great expertise. Feed and house billions of people. Lay out and maintain cities of complexity and grandeur. Fail spectacularly but never give up.

All this and we still struggle to love one another. 

In America

 Obesity in America?

Walk the candy, cookies, snacks and soft drink aisles in any American supermarket.

Race in America?

How many Americans would be comfortable living in a mixed race neighborhood?

Policing in America?

How many people voted against police levies and won’t come forward as a crime witness?

The land of plenty?

How many children in America are homeless and hungry?

Democracy in America?

Obstacles to voting, truth suppressed, dysfunctional Congress, flabby patriotism.

World leadership?

Allies uneasy, laughing at us behind our backs, emergence of China and Russia

COVID crisis

America being first at being worst.

Poetry

 

National Enquirer

 

Excellence

 

Perfection

 

The fate of art

 

VP debate

 

I'm a ...

 

Visual art teacher

 

Tell all books

 

 

Bucket list