Stars

 Looking at the stars reminds us that the present is the past. The present is continually slipping into the past and the past is always alive in the present.

Journey

 Greetings from my wellness/fitness journey. I just came in from my daily 20-mile run. I will do my supinator pull ups and my 50 one-armed pushups, alternating arms. I will have a spinach and kombucha shake and a few seaweed crackers. After my 15-minute power nap, I will do my 1-kettlebell and 2-kettlebell workouts. I hope to be an influential influencer one day.

I think everyone’s body should be a temple. Don’t you?

Attention

 Making art is not so much a means of getting attention as it is a means of paying attention.

Galileo

 Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Darwin, Einstein, Watson and Crick and Hawking, among many others, by challenging religion’s ideas of God, made scientific truth confront faith. Faith had the choice of locking away these scientific truths in a little box or facing them.

Facing them meant facing our human-made conceptions of God, believing that a deeper understanding of our reality could lead to a deeper understanding of God.
For me, God is a reality and a necessity, and it’s my job to find God.

Assume

 Correct me if I’m wrong, but should I assume that God made Gregg Abbott and Ron De Santis but not drag queens?

Should I assume that God wanted immigrants to stay in their brutal countries, terrorized by drug cartels, so they didn’t inconvenience Texas?

Should I assume that God is as afraid of LGBTQ+ people as conservative Christians are?
Should I assume that God privileged white people even though his Son was a brown man?
Should I assume that Jesus was just slumming when he hung out with lepers, prostitutes and the poor?
Should I assume that God put male legislators in charge of women’s bodies?

not art

 If it doesn’t challenge you to think, it’s not art.

Jesus today

 If Jesus was here today, he would, of course, be a teacher and a revolutionary. No one would recognize him because he would look quite normal, maybe even a little shabby. As expected, he would befriend the down-and-out. This time around, he would choose to appear as a black man with a beard and a modest afro. He would probably defer on miracles, choosing to show folks how miraculous the world is when you choose to love.

At first, he thought about choosing his disciples from the rappers, but in the end he selected 6 married couple immigrants from the Texas border. His Sermon on the Mount II was not so well-attended because everybody was at a Taylor Swift concert or a playoff game. He had a podcast in which he straightened out Gregg Abbott, Ron de Santis and Donald Trump. He was invited to a drag queen show and went. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
He was not crucified, but was assassinated by a fanatic in a drive-by shooting. 

Religions

 We need to be done with religions of power, religions of sectarian conflict, religions of material wealth, religions of rigid dogma, religions of the one true God, the religions of the saved.

We must build religions of love and compassion, religions that affirm our deepest humanity. 

World Dream

 

Children

 It would be a great accomplishment if we could guarantee that every child was respected, loved and given good health care and a good education. But it would not only be great, it’s essential.

We spend incredible amounts of time and money fighting crime, violence, drugs, homelessness and mental illness, but give less attention to a basic root cause—the broken child in the broken family.
We have no idea of the human potential being lost.
With the will, this is fixable.

HCA #16

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #16

Brothers and sisters in art,
A real artist brings all that they are into their work. To see a work art and come to a comfortable conclusion about it, will never unearth all that is in the art. Messages of craft, creativity, struggle, failure, insight, wavering and growth are all there to tussle with. Art is not just a thing, it is a small, human story.
When you look at a piece of art that captivates you, keep this in mind.

Almighty

 Any God is almighty, mysterious and complex. If it takes us a lifetime to understand ourselves and our loved ones, it takes at least that to understand God. It’s easy and comfortable to hold onto the God of childhood. But the God of adolescence, the God of young adulthood, the God of parenting, the God of middle age, the God of elder years and the God of near-death all await us. Fortunately, if we make the effort to reach up to God, God will reach out to us. God wants to be found.

Buffoons

 In praise of buffoons

Buffoons dance on the edge and invite you there.
Buffoons let you look at them so you can see yourself.
Buffoons soften wisdom.
Buffoons make silliness a virtue.
Buffoons package what’s right in what’s ridiculous.
Buffoons understand human dynamics.
Buffoons have the courage of the absurd.
Buffoons tell truth to the powerful.

Demon

 

To love

It takes character to love.

Loves builds character. 

HCA #15

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #15

Brothers and sisters in art,
Beware the cute
Beware the pompous
Beware what’s easy
Beware the critic who loves themself too much
Beware the empty spectacle
Beware losing faith in yourself

HCA #14

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #14

Brothers and sisters in art,
We must remember that as artists we are workers, craftsmen, thinkers, image makers and creators. We uncover the hidden.
Our tool tools are pencils, brushes, chisels, looms, potter’s wheels, hands, screens, cameras, presses, and computers.
We open eyes, provoke thought, unsettle, reveal truths and make beauty.
We’re essential.

Ten

 Ten Commandments for Humanity

1. Know yourself and forgive yourself.
2. Nurture your connections to others.
3. Do work that makes life better for others.
4. Use your mind for good.
5. Attend to your spirit.
6. Love the children.
7. Be generous and loving.
8. Be courageous in the face of disappointment.
9. Choose the right heroes.
10. Don’t be afraid of death.

LBGTQ Haikus

 LGBTQ Haikus

LGBTQ
Call it shameful and perverse
Crush them with the law

LGBTQ
Where’s the harm that brings such fear
Nature’s the culprit

LGBTQ
You know the truth inside you
No one can steal it

LGBTQ
Should not mean fear and danger
But welcoming arms

LGBTQ
Replace the poison with love
See human beings

HCA #13

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #13

You can always find artists dancing on the edge, where it’s exhilarating and dangerous.
Why not visit them there?
Listen to their better angels singing.

Whitehaven

 I live at Whitehaven, a well-manicured, gated community. Whitehaven is a metaphor for my mind, which is also well-manicured and gated. My white privilege allows me to have yard care and 24/7 security.

I am anxious when I have to go out because there are so many people who make me uncomfortable. What could happen to me?

I belong to the Whitehaven Republican Club and the Whitehaven Donald Trump Book Club. Like all members of Whitehaven, I own a gun. But only a few of us own AK-47s.

Our daily cocktail hour at Whitehaven brings me comfort—being surrounded by people just like me.

Soulless

 How can so many soulless people come to rule the world?

Dancing

Dancing

The first dance we danced
Our bodies were at the mercy
Of the saxophone player.
The second dance, spinning
The third, pressed tight.

We walked back to the table
Holding hands,
Our silence seemed forever,
Not knowing that we were each
Trying to think the other’s thoughts.

The next dance,
Near a year later,
We held one another
In uneasy intimacy.
It was their wedding DJ
Not ours,
And a hackneyed song.

I remembered looking deep into your eyes.
I saw a chance at us.
I tracked you down, invited you
To an intentional dance
We did, and finished the night

Dancing in bed. 

Penis license

 Every time you turn around, there’s another sex scandal, among the high and mighty as well among the ordinary folk. There are constant reports of rape, harassment, pedophilia, sex trade and infidelity.

There’s only one solution to solving this problem. Every male who has reached puberty must attend a certified Penis Care and Safety Course. When they pass the test at the end of the course, they get their penis license card. A photo on the license identifies the holder.
Any woman is legally allowed to see the license card and record the license number. The card is valid for the life of the holder, but can be taken for inappropriate behavior. For egregious behavior, the penis can be confiscated.

LGBTQ-trans