Moyers On Wright - A Voice Of Sanity

From Bill Moyers' Journal:

....Many of you have asked for some rational explanation for Wright's transition from reasonable conversation to shocking anger at the National Press Club. A psychologist might pull back some of the layers and see this complicated man more clearly, but I'm not a psychologist. Many black preachers I've known — scholarly, smart, and gentle in person — uncorked fire and brimstone in the pulpit. Of course I've known many white preachers like that, too.

But where I grew up in the south, before the civil rights movement, the pulpit was a safe place for black men to express anger for which they would have been punished anywhere else; a safe place for the fierce thunder of dignity denied, justice delayed. I think I would have been angry if my ancestors had been transported thousands of miles in the hellish hole of a slave ship, then sold at auction, humiliated, whipped, and lynched. Or if my great-great grandfather had been but three-fifths of a person in a constitution that proclaimed, "We the people." Or if my own parents had been subjected to the racial vitriol of Jim Crow, Strom Thurmond, Bull Connor, and Jesse Helms. Even so, the anger of black preachers I've known and heard about and reported on was, for them, very personal and cathartic.
....

But in this multimedia age the pulpit isn't only available on Sunday mornings. There's round the clock media — the beast whose hunger is never satisfied, especially for the fast food with emotional content. So the preacher starts with rational discussion and after much prodding throws more and more gasoline on the fire that will eventually consume everything it touches. He had help — people who for their own reasons set out to conflate the man in the pulpit who wasn't running for president with the man in the pew who was.

Behold the double standard: John McCain sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, the war-mongering Catholic-bashing Texas preacher who said the people of New Orleans got what they deserved for their sins. But no one suggests McCain shares Hagee's delusions, or thinks AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuality. Pat Robertson called for the assassination of a foreign head of state and asked God to remove Supreme Court justices, yet he remains a force in the Republican religious right. After 9/11 Jerry Falwell said the attack was God's judgment on America for having been driven out of our schools and the public square, but when McCain goes after the endorsement of the preacher he once condemned as an agent of intolerance, the press gives him a pass.
....

Which means it is all about race, isn't it? Wright's offensive opinions and inflammatory appearances are judged differently. He doesn't fire a shot in anger, put a noose around anyone's neck, call for insurrection, or plant a bomb in a church with children in Sunday school. What he does is to speak his mind in a language and style that unsettle some people, and says some things so outlandish and ill-advised that he finally leaves Obama no choice but to end their friendship. We are often exposed to the corroding acid of the politics of personal destruction, but I've never seen anything like this, this wrenching break between pastor and parishioner before our very eyes. Both men no doubt will carry the grief to their graves. All the rest of us should hang our heads in shame for letting it come to this in America, where the gluttony of the non-stop media grinder consumes us all and prevents an honest conversation on race. It is the price we are paying for failing to heed the great historian Jacob Burckhardt, who said "beware the terrible simplifiers".

I grew up in that same south in the same period as Moyers. He writes the truth. I've quoted nearly the entire transcript, but I beg you to read the rest or watch the video here. As I've said before, Bill Moyers is national treasure, and I don't know if we will see his likes again in the media, probably not in my lifetime.

For another voice of sanity in the midst of the madess, I refer you once again to Rmj at Adventus, who can't let this go any more than I can let it go.

You'll Never Know - Alice Faye

MadPriest has a send-in-your-song contest to see which of the favorite love songs of his readers will win a play from his vast collection of recordings - 50,000 songs, he says. I have more than one favorite love song, but I sent in "You'll Never Know", sung by Alice Faye (not Frank Sinatra or Dick Haynes) as one of my favorites. Now he's in pain and can't post often, and who knows when he will get back to the contest, and, in any case, I may not win a place of honor. Alice sang the song in a movie, "Hello, Frisco, Hello" in 1943. I saw the film at the tender age of nine, but I was already a full-blown romantic. I loved the song at the time, and I have loved it ever since. Alice, with her lovely and sexy alto voice, sings the song beautifully.

Since I was feeling impatient waiting for MadPriest, I searched for and found the movie clip of her singing the song on YouTube. Praise be! I even remembered that in the movie, she sang the song on the phone. John Payne starred opposite her in the film.

Alice married Phil Harris, the band leader in 1941, and their marriage lasted for 54 years, until Phil died. They had two children named appropriately, Alice, Jr and Phyllis. The word was that Phil liked his booze, and he joked about it himself. I don't know how much substance there was to the story, but it didn't affect his marriage nor his longevity. Alice and Phil both loved New Orleans, which, of course, endeared them to me. Can you believe that Phil's original first name was Wonga? Maybe that was the source of his comedic side.

Here's the link to her bio and to Phil's.

"China Prepares for the Olympics :>)"

I love it.


I hope you guys like to share.


I hope we all like to share.

From Doug, who says as far as he knows, these are real.

Elaine And Pain

MadPriest has a pain in the neck. I have a pain in the knee. All of this is getting to be a large PITA. I offer this bit of dialog from "Seinfeld":

ELAINE'S OFFICE - DAY

Elaine is sitting at her desk smelling a pen.

ELAINE (thinking): This pen smells really bad. So why do I keep smelling it? Is it too late for me to go to law school?

There's a knock on the door and several co-workers enter with a cake.

ELAINE: What is this?

MALE WORKER: You were out sick yesterday, so we got you a get-well cake.

FEMALE WORKER: It's carrot. It's good for you.

WORKERS (singing): Get well get well soon, we wish you to get--

ELAINE: Stop it! That's not even a song! I mean, now we're celebrating a sick day?

MALE WORKER: I think it's nice.

ELAINE: What? What is nice? Trying to fill the void in your life with flour and sugar and egg and vanilla? I mean, we are all unhappy. Do we have to be fat, too? Not you Becky, I know you have a slow metabolism. I don't want one more piece of cake in my office!

Another worker enters late.

WORKER (singing): Get well, get well soon--

MALE WORKER: It's not happening.

They all start to leave disappointed.

BECKY: Can we still eat it?

So much for pain. Get thee away from us, Pain! I want laughs!

Do go and offer prayers and sympathy to MadPriest. He's worse off than I am.

Photo from Wiki.

"Embodied Fel(in)icity"

Today's must-read is from Tobias at In a Godward Direction. The picture above is none other than Her Royal Highness Augusta Victoria, who reigns at the rectory.

Speaking Of Knees

With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. She hit her first home run, which cleared the center field fence.

But it looked like the shortest of dreams-come-true when she missed first base, started back to tag it, and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch-runner could be called in, and the homer would count as just a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned their home crowd in Ellensburg by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count - an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

First baseman for Central Washington University, Mallory Holtman:

"In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman said, "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run."

Link to the story from Ann, who said, "I love this story - one because of the action and two - because I love softball and baseball."

I love it, too. Thanks, Ann

From CBS News.

New Napa Valley Wine

California vintners in the Napa Valley area, which primarily produce Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio wines, have developed a new hybrid grape that acts as an anti-diuretic. It is expected to reduce the number of trips older people have to make to the bathroom during the night.

The new wine will be marketed as..

PINO MORE

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

I'll bet even Dennis, the former wine merchant, doesn't know about this one.

From the ever faithful Doug.

All About Me

With the run of news about folks with life-threatening diseases and difficult surgeries and all manner of other serious troubles, I feel rather self-indulgent posting my complaint. For the past three days, I have been housebound, because of a painful knee. I didn't fall or injure myself, except that I noticed a twinge in the knee when I was getting out of the bathtub the other day.

Later that day, as I was taking my walk, my knee began to hurt, but like a dummy, I didn't stop and head for home until I was at my turnaround point. By the time I got back home, the knee was quite painful. The next day the pain came with force. I haven't hurt this much since I broke my shoulder several years ago. Walking, standing, sitting down, lying down, no matter, it hurts. When I bend the knee or straighten it, the pain is excruciating. I can barely hobble along holding my leg stiff.

I like to take a day or two to see if nature or God will resolve a problem before rushing to the doctor, if the problem is not life-threatening, probably another dumb decision, in this instance. Anyway, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. If you will, please pray that he will find the problem and that it can be treated, preferably without a knife. Thank you.

UPDATE: From Ann comes word that St. Roch is the man for knees if you care to ask the saint to intercede.

UPDATE 2: I'm sure it would be helpful if Rowan, Scout, Clumber, and Grendel could lick my knee.

UPDATE 3: I saw the doctor, got a steroid shot, and now we shall see.

Feast Of The Ascension

Miniature from Rabbula Gospels (Mesopotamia, 6th century)

READINGS:

AM Psalm 8, 47; PM Psalm 24, 96
Dan. 7:9-14; Heb. 2:5-18; Matt. 28:16-20

COLLECT:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong has posted a sermon which he titles "Liberationist Sermon for Ascension Day, May Day and International Workers' Day". That covers all the bases, don't you think? Here are a few excerpts, but please click the link and read the whole sermon.

I love the Church Calendar. The high days and holy days, and especially the seasons of the Church year. They make me feel comfortable and part of something very ancient and which will continue, hopefully, long after I’m gone. Every year the liturgy, attached, as it is, to the calendar of the Church, leads me on a journey which is paradoxically, both, always the same and, if you are open to the Spirit of God, always full of novelty and new experiences.
....

The first season of the church year to evolve was Easter. The feast days of Easter Sunday, Ascension Day and Pentecost have been celebrated for over 1700 years - we don’t know exactly how long because we don’t have the records to give us exact dates. It seems almost certain that the season of Easter ran from Easter Day to Pentecost before 300 A. D. And that is the period of time we keep to today.
....

On Ascension Day, the Church, however you wish to define it, is handed over to us. It is the parting gift of Jesus. With the Church comes adult responsibility but, on the Day of Pentecost we will discover how God will help us take on that responsibility. Easter is not yet over. Hang on in there just a little while longer.
....

There is another theme in today’s commemoration that I would like to draw your attention to as I finish this sermon, as it is a very important them for us. This year, Ascension Day has fallen on the 1st. of May. That’s purely coincidental but it’s also very useful for our education. It is May Day, an ancient festival on which we look forward to the Summer and hope for clement weather that will bring us a bounteous harvest.

If today wasn’t Ascension Day, in the Roman Catholic Church they would be celebrating the feast of Joseph the Worker and it is, most definitely, the International Day of the Worker on which the working people of the world celebrate the fact that they are people of value and when they hope for fairer wages and for precious time to be returned to them to be enjoyed with their families, friends and, in some cases, with their god.

We Christians should celebrate these festivals as well. We should celebrate May Day and pray for a bounteous harvest, especially at this time when how much we’ve messed up our environment is becoming increasingly apparent. We should celebrate with the working people and share their hopes and burdens because Jesus tells us to. But, as Christians, we also have our own hopes, and on this day when we commemorate Christ ascending to his Father, our hope, our great and certain hope, is that he will return to his people to gather in the harvest at the end of days. And our hope, as always, is that he will come soon.

Image from Wiki.

"Mission Accomplished"

Today is the fifth anniversary of George W. Bush's appearance on the aircraft carrier to announce "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq - a milestone, surely.

U.S. Troops Killed: 2003 - 139; 2008 - 4063

U.S. Troops Wounded: 2003 - 542; 2008 - 29,000

From Greg Mitchell at the Huffington Post:

Feel free to dust off all the great quotes from that day, such as Chris Matthews gushing over Bush, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." As Bush spoke before the Mission Accomplished banner, American casualties stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded. That was nearly 4000 lives lost ago, and a Rand Corp. study released this month reveals that we now have 300,000 vets with mental problems of some sort.

Just to remind you: The jet landing with Bush emerging in his flight suit and cod piece, it turned out, was a pure stunt. The White House had said that the Abraham Lincoln was too far offshore for the usual helicopter landing, but when the big moment arrived the carrier was only 30 miles off San Diego, an easy trip by copter.

Yes, "a pure stunt". That covers it. At the time, I had a brief quarrel/disagreement with my neighbor, because I said that I thought that Bush looked like a buffoon. My neighbor protested vigorously, saying that it was a great moment for Bush and for the troops and that it would serve to boost their morale immeasurably.



Our president in his great moment.