Parties

Both political parties are fragmented and dysfunctional. They squabble internally and believe that the dominance of the party is the ultimate goal, leaving the people in a limbo of problems which don’t get solved.
Since the parties control the money, the election apparatus and have the support of the wealthy, there is no room for a viable third party. We currently find ourselves with Trump and Biden. Trump is totally unacceptable in terms of competence, character, leadership and policies. Biden has accomplished many things, but questions of health and mental status hang over him.

So this is what our current of national government offers us. Whatever happens, I believe Americans have enough faith and resilience to weather it. 

HCA #25

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #25

Brothers and sisters in Art,
The truth of your art lies in you.
The integrity of your art lies in you.
The art you make and leave behind cannot tell the full story of your journey in art. That story is in you and is only partially told in the artwork.
So be true to yourself and make integrity your message in the work.

Victims

 Americans are victims.

Victims of comfort.
Victims of slick advertising.
Victims of consumerism.
Victims of celebrity worship.
Victims of spectacle.
Victims of excess.
Victims of dysfunctional politics.
Victims of too many guns.
Victims of the easy out.

HCA #24

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #24

Brothers and sisters in Art,
Artists must be evangelists for art.
Abandon your studios and galleries where the significance of art is known.
Go out into the streets and schools and speak about art with patience and passion.
Who knows better than you the power of creativity, the necessity for beauty and the way the world must be revealed.
Evangelize.

Trump

 We can’t measure politicians simply as politicians. We must measure them by the competence and character that drive their ability to be effective leaders. Consider Donald Trump. He has never been loved and doesn’t know how to love. He is a taker, not a giver. He is a narcissist in a “me world” who enters his speeches looking for the acclaim of the audience rather than acknowledging his audience. He demeans his opponents. He wants power but plays the role of a victim.

Many of his former staff have abandoned him, criticizing him as a leader and a person. His business practices have recently been found to be illegal. His treatment of women is contemptable.
I can only assume that he affirms the beliefs and values of his followers. But I can’t see how any true Christian could find anything to support in him.

Alabama

 The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that embryos are individuals. As a result, embryos are guaranteed an education and teachers must prepare for teaching them. An embryo that is frozen for 15 years can get a driver’s license. An embryo that has been frozen for 18 years can vote.

At some point, an embryo will be able to smoke and drink.
Gay embryos may not marry.
The issue of transgender embryos is, at this point, is still undecided.

Conscience

When we are nothing more than flesh, we can kill, maim, torture and abuse if we are without conscience.
When we are without love, we can demean and demonize the other if we are without conscience.
When we deny the humanity of others, we can exploit them if we are without conscience.
When we deny the sacredness of others, we give up our own conscience.
People tell one another: Grow a set of balls. They need to say: Grow a conscience.

Throughout time, humans have looked for God in many places—nature, religion, the heavens, the church, even the street. To my mind, God is in the conscience of human beings. 

HCA #23

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #23

Brothers and sisters in Art,
Persist.
You have little control over what society makes of your work.
But you have complete control over the strength of your voice, your desire for excellence and what your art discovers about beauty and humanity.
Persist.

Autocrats

 The little soulless autocrats continue to accumulate wealth and power, no matter the cost to anyone. They don’t understand that nothing they gain by their evil motives will ever fill them up, ever make them human. So how do they gain so much wide control over their worlds? What about the good ones?

The good ones, who understand what it means to be a human being, call us to live what they live. They are the ones we crucify.

HCA #22

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #22

Brothers and sisters in Art,
Embrace your strangeness. It is the basis of your vision.
Dance on the edge of things. This is where the new bubbles up.
Sing your compulsions. Give them a stronger voice.
Affirm beauty no matter how strange it is.

Navalny

 Alexay Navalny, dead at 47. One more example of a great soul, a courageous human being, killed by the forces of brutal power. His spirit will endure. Give a thought to him today and what his life has meant.

Taylor

 Climate change? Not now, I’m listening to all of Taylor Swift’s songs.

Gun violence? Sorry, I don’t want to miss any Taylor/Travis kisses.

Child hunger? Maybe later. I’m trying to help Taylor make her second billion.

Homelessness? Well, why not give each one a Taylor T-shirt.

War? Not for me. Taylor brings me to Happyland.

V Day

 I hope this Valentine’s Day brings you more than chocolates, flowers, dinner out or even diamonds. I hope it brings you an honest gesture of authentic love.

Love

 Love is a virus.

Love is a tsunami.
Love is a missed opportunity.
Love is a demanding taskmaster.
Love is a delusion.
Love is a group activity.
Love is a search for God in us.
Love is a tough nut to crack.
Love is what makes it all worthwhile.
Love is a seed planted with care.
Love is a sign of strength.
Love is the foundation of our shared humanity.
Love is our life’s work.
Love is the only thing that will save us.
Love is what makes us human.
Love is irrational.
Love is a sign of courage.
Love is an act of reverence.
Love is a gift.

Don't ask

 

HCA #21

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #21

Brothers and sisters in Art
They will come seeking the comfortable, the familiar, the easy, the pretty, not knowing that these will soon have nothing more to say.
Give them the provocative, the unsettling, the eye-opening, the questioning, knowing that these will always engage and always reveal something new.

Mental

 It is my experience that a serious mental illness is never cured. It is held at bay by willpower, therapy, support and medication. Mental illness is a shadow that is always with you, and the shadow and its person often flip in the reality of the ill person.

The brain of the ill person conjures an alternative reality that clashes with the reality most of us share, a reality that can be dangerous to themselves and others.
There has been much written about creativity and madness. They share the emergence of new and unsettling realities. Sometimes, though, these two human capacities come together in a fruitful way for society, if not for the individual.

Man?

 So what is a man?

Family man
Ladies’ man
Gentle-man
Man for all seasons
Man of the world
Macho-man
Man of his times
Man with a plan
Man of the year
Man of the hour
Manly man
Real man
Marlboro man
Man child
Company man
Dance man
Gay man
Con man
Little man
Big man
Old man
Young man
Police-man
Fire-man
Rich man
Poor man
Love ya man
So many choices.

HCA #3

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #20

Brothers and sisters in Art
The cathedral of art is a soaring space, bathed in color and light and rich in symbolism. In it the world is revered, unraveled and made sacred. It is a space of visions, of reverence for the good and of piercing the skin of reality. Sit and let your thoughts find their home. Let the notes of the organ pull at you. For that time, become art.

HCA #19

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #19

Brothers and Sisters in Art,
They will ask you for a pleasant picture, but give them art.
They will ask you for something comfortable, but make them think.
They will ask you for something pretty, but give them something of true beauty.
They will ask you what it means, but tell them the answer comes free with the art.
They will ask you for a picture of something, but give them a vision.
They will tell you they don’t understand it, but tell them understanding unravels over time and that’s why it’s art.

HCA #18

 Holy Church of Art

Sermonette #18

Brothers and sisters in Art,
We cannot all be glorious saints of art, nor do we all have the fortitude, but we can all joyfully plants the seeds of art, nurture them with our creativity and watch them bloom into gifts for the world. We can courageously face our own humanity and give back our understanding to the world. We can affirm that beauty, as wild and sublime as it may be, is more important than wealth and power.

Draw

 

Good

 How does an individual choose to become a person who resists doing wrong, lives with decency, has compassion for others and acts out of love?

There are many people like this.
Imagine the kind of society we would have if we could answer this question.

Trumpty

 Trumpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All of his horse’s asses and all of his yes-men
Couldn’t put Trumpty together again.

imagine

 Imagine you are a snowflake, unlike any other.

Imagine you are a sun, light years away.
Imagine you are a sperm, anxiously awaiting your mission.
Imagine you are a cicada, patiently counting the 17 years.
Imagine you are a monstrous dust storm, crossing the Sahara.
Imagine you are bit of coral, slowly dying.
Imagine you are bug in the hand of a child.