Love

 Love is a slow-acting drug. But stick with it, and it’s guaranteed to heal. Dosages vary with the individual.

Applause

 A scantily clad entertainer backed by dancers sings and twerks across the stage. The audience claps wildly. But who claps wildly for the sanitation worker who’s collected all your garbage reliably for decades?

A movie star gets made up, dressed up, given lines to say, and at the end of the movie, the audience applauds. But who applauds for the nurse who worked extra shifts and gave good care to your relatives and those of many others?

A tight end makes a touchdown catch and dances in the endzone. 60,000 fans cheer like crazy. But who cheers like crazy for the police officer who’s spent 30 years, often in personal danger, keeping the peace.

We have to be clear that we are the ones who create celebrities and make their wealth and comfort possible. And we are the ones who quibble and resist the taxes that support these public servants.  

 While Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus were on their way to Egypt, Americans were returning $120 billion of Christmas merchandise. All the gold was kept, but frankinsense and myrrh were not deemed particularly desirable gifts.  In fact, Walmart and Target are having real problems with myrrh storage.

Some people just kept the unwanted presents to regift since they knew the Circumcision was coming up.

Direction and love

 Children want play, but require direction and love.

Teenagers want freedom, but need direction and love.

Young people want adventure, that brings direction and love.

Middle agers want answers, that make direction and love authentic.

Seniors want good health, to enjoy the direction and love they’ve earned.

Redeems

 We know that the consequence of broad, deep and authentic love is some form of crucifixion. But we also know that crucifixion brings new life and redemption for those who are served.

Strangely, this is true of art. For art that is authentic and made with love, to be ignored is a crucifixion. But in its authenticity, it still redeems.

Invade

 Art isn’t supposed to look a certain way. It’s just supposed to invade you.

Noah's Ark

 Answers in Genesis Sunday Bible Quiz: Noah’s Ark

1. What was the best selling item in the gift shop on Noah’s Ark?

2. How was Tyrannosaurus Rex prevented from eating Mrs. Noah?

3. Did Noah ever help with cooking and cleaning on the ark?

4. How soon after the rains ended did Noah start to build his theme park?

5. How did the hippopotami find their way to the ark?

Christ-mas

 Ho. Ho. Ho. We’ve kicked the Baby Jesus out of the house. We’ve turned the stable into a game room. The Three Kings are quarantined somewhere by covid. We don’t even try to hear the angels singing. Luckily, we still have Rudolph, chestnuts, jingle bells and Amazon.

Still, we must remember that from the beginning of our human self-awareness, we have needed to create stories that tell of a new birth of hope and possibility. That never goes away.

Have a blessed Christ-mas.

Pledge

 Try this. Recite the Pledge of Allegiance aloud attentively. Then do what you are capable of to affirm what it says. That ought to take care of a lot.

Heads up

 Heads up, America. Yes, we are in hard times, covid times, inflation times, partisan times, dishonest times, angry times, violent times. But we are not in Afghanistan or Syria. We are not in Venezuela or Honduras. We are not in a raft on the Mediterranean. We don’t live by scavenging the garbage dump. We aren’t in a refugee camp or marching through the jungle with two kids. We don’t struggle to live on $2 a day. We aren’t repressed under autocrats. We are lucky enough to live in one of the best countries on earth.

So quit whining. Count your blessings and give some of them to others. Read something. Make something. Help someone. Do something.

AIG

 The recent discovery of a dinosaur egg in China has affirmed the connection between birds and dinosaurs. Research by Answers in Genesis has shown, in fact, that on the ark, Noah and his family celebrated Christmas with a dinner of stuffed dinosaur with all the trimmings. Noah himself was lucky enough to get the wishbone. A souvenir plastic dinosaur wishbone can be found in the gift shop of the AIG ark.

1857

 1857, and I’m standing in line at the Tombstone General Store. Bored, I check the headlines on the Frontier Enquirer:

“Sales of firewater skyrocket in Colorado.”

“Bordello madam says Billy the Kid is no kid.”

“Gucci proposes new ways to accessorize guns and saddles.”

“Texas legislature rejects bill that would make drunk horseback riding a felony.”

Gun and penis

 What would the world be like if, starting today, all crimes, atrocities and harmful behaviors that are the consequence of a gun or a penis, were never to happen again?

Face Yourself

 Today is National Face Yourself Day

When I was a young person, I read a quote from Lord Chesterfield to his son: essentially, whatever you do, do it well. Having low self-esteem and at the same time experiencing external high expectations, I was often struggling within myself. This lasted through my life until I figured out that the solution could only come from turning those external forces into internal measures of personhood. I determined the yardstick, and I had to measure myself by it.

We humans

 We humans invented gods and goddesses because we needed to. How else to make sense of mystery and to find a home for our spiritual yearnings. We can never be certain of the existence of the deities out there, but when they live in us, we know.

Spirit seed

 It begins with a spirit seed. If you don’t ever discover it, or are never encouraged to find it, you become a creature of the material world. The material world is external, seductive and, in the end, unreliable.

If you acknowledge that spirit seed, it will grow into something that will nurture you to inner strength and a surer sense of your humanity. But this journey is not easy, and it’s not supposed to be easy. Work, suffering, forgiveness and compassion finally bring you to that wise center of the soul.

Purchase

 I want to purchase your personal integrity. How much should I write the check for?

I want to reward you for the love you’ve spread. How much should I write the check for?

Mind

 To the attentive and curious mind, everything is a teacher.

825 AD

 825 AD, and I’m standing in line at the Quetzal Stop-and-Go. Bored, I’m reading the headlines of the Indigenous Enquirer:

“Finalists for the name of the Inca mountain retreat in Peru are Macchu Picchu and Macho Groucho. Citizens vote Tuesday.”

“Inca priests reject wheel concept. Say things will fall through hole in it.”

“Aztec leaders reject request for a Sacrificial Virgins Union.”

Panacea

 The best panacea for life’s misery and madness is a sense of humor. An extra advantage is that a sense of humor is a good soil to grow creativity.

Genius is propelled by talent, doggedness and fearlessness in the face of mysterious unknown. A genius explodes reality but still lives in the mundane reality we all share. Each of us has the potential for at least a bit of genius, which is only revealed when it is set free.

If you’re looking for a person of wisdom, look for someone who has experienced pain, failure and rejection but still is still fully alive in life.

Snappy Tee's

 

Webinars

 New Webinars for Senior Men

Advancements in Prostate Transplants (50 minutes)

Senior Strip Tease: Exercise, Flexerise and Sexercise (60 minutes)

Dangers of Senior Porn (35 minutes)

Romance and Bromance: Senior Living-It-Up (60 minutes)

Sex after 90 (2 minutes)

This guy Jesus

 This guy Jesus, you know the one Christmas was named after. Is it true he was born on Black Friday? That’s what I heard. I’m confused. One person told me he came to save mankind, and another person told he came to save the retail sector. I also heard that the 3 wise men arrived in a sleigh and that Santa was Jesus’ great-grandfather.

I also heard that to escape danger, Jesus and his family escaped either to Egypt or Disneyworld.  I know if Jesus was born again, I would visit him, bring my dog and bring him something fun and electronic. He’s probably gonna be born in a Motel 6.

Stupidity in America

 Stupidity in America is not just a big thick wall. It’s a reinforced concrete bunker in the desert stocked with Doritos and Mountain Dew.

Ancestors

 

1487

 1487, and I’m standing in line at the San Marco supermarket. Bored, I glance at the headlines of the Firenzi Enquirer:

“Dante Aligheri predicts most of us will go to hell.”

“Giant statue of nude male with little penis appears in government square.”

“Pope declares painting studios must be all male, except for nude female models.”

Try love

 We are attempting to confront and solve our major social problems—poverty, discrimination, racism, gun violence, abortion and more—with ideologies, laws, critical race theory, wokeness, court trials, books, social media, news media.

Who’s asking why we can’t love one another? And what can we do about that? It may seem naïve and simplistic, but it seems that these problems come out of an absence of love, a failure to be loved.

Sex

 Whose job is it to explain to adolescents that sex can be: reproduction, love, infatuation, pleasure, responsibility, communication, casual, intimacy, something for two fully consenting individuals, stress-relieving, not without consequences, life-changing, not porn, not what is portrayed in entertainment, more than libido, rape, not gender-specific, not free of cultural norms, non-consensual, not what determines manhood or womanhood, a sign of commitment, a decision of the heart not the hormones, perfectly natural, and all the other things human beings attach to it?

They shouldn’t have to learn the hard way.

True beauty

 Without discipline, attention and hard work, our understanding exists only of the surface of things. Their beauty is superficial. Without discipline, attention and hard work, we never discover the complexity, pattern, underlying structure and interconnectedness that are the hallmarks of true beauty. 

Balance

 For the past week, the local news has been saturated with news of football accomplishments. Coach and player interviews, excited fans, news anchors claiming everyone is hyped about this, and editorials explaining that “for three hours, sports brings us together.” There were also special reports on the mental health of young athletes.

All this may be relevant, but I have real problems with this narrow focus. Cincinnati has museums, a ballet, an opera, a symphony and artists all of international stature. Right now, there is an exhibition at the CAM of the work of an internationally known artist, Kara Walker. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra never fumbles. Young artists struggle with mental health problems. Does any of this make the local news?

Sports entertains, but the arts transform.

Authentic

Think about this. At birth, we are simply creatures. As children, we rely on the adults within our sphere to respect us, love us and guide us toward an emerging understanding of what it means to be a human being. As adolescents, we build on this guidance together with our educational lives to stumble our way to our first understanding of our human responsibilities. As adults, our task becomes to make our best efforts to become decent and authentic human beings. Some people fully reach this goal (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Some get close (a dedicated teacher). For some there is no chance (Donald Trump).

Reaching authentic humanity has nothing to do with wealth or fame. It’s a matter of the heart, and making the commitment to the work it demands.

Another shooting

 Another shooting, another dissection. The shooter was responsible. Were the parents responsible? Was law enforcement responsible? Were teachers responsible? Was the school responsible? Were bullies responsible? Was social media responsible? Will mental health care be responsible?

All these questions will be asked. But in every situation, there was a gun that shouldn’t have been in the hands of the perpetrator. And, in the end, it got there because of cowardly legislators, mostly Republican, who hide behind the Second Amendment with some outdated macho creed while gun money gets stuffed in their pockets.

Call them out. Make them accountable.

If only

 

Stop

 STOP:  Your whining and act.

LOOK:  For the beauty beneath the surface.

LISTEN:  To the wise voices not the marketers.

easythink

 In America we are now in the age of easythink. Easythink assumes that thinking is not hard work. Easythink is not concerned with truth. Easythink believes that the answer one wants to hear is always the correct answer. Easythink believes that the brain is a rigid structure trained to select only affirming information. Easythink opens up more time for leisurethink.

Doubt

 Doubt and faith are siblings, and they both take courage. Faith that hides from doubt is weak faith. Doubt nudges faith to look outside itself, to test itself. Faith affirms the fundamental need for doubt. From this arises healthy faith, always constant yet able to adjust to a world in flux.

Shooting

 Another. Then another. Then one more. Then one more after that. The next one? What? School shootings, a category in which America is clearly #1. Of course, the anxiety, the fear for the staff and children, the news coverage, the shooter, the victims, the police chief. Absent: the lawmakers, action on gun control, information on how the gun wound up in the hands of a teen, consequences for responsible adults.

I’ve worked on gun control issues, supported gun control organizations and written legislators—whose responses are usually flabby and lame. But still, this is the least we all can do.