Dear Fred,
Thanks for Frog Hospital.
Starting around age 5, my boy Danny, upon hearing a siren, would shout out: "God bless the people who need help."
This simple prayer has become my habit.
Takes a second.
No skin off anyone's nose.
Whatever the prayer's metaphysical effect, it has the demonstrable advantage of focusing attention on an ideal that serves people in need.
***
This morning at Holy Family Catholic Church -- and at every mass, every day, all over the world -- lectors guide congregations in magnificent communitarian visions -- ritual acts of "active imagination" which typically include "the needy" and often prioritize them.
Catholic Social Teaching
Bill McKibben: "The Christian paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong."
Aristotle On Democracy: Rule By The Needy
Aristotle On Democracy: Rule By The Needy
"We become what we perceive."
Not a single squawk-boxer (with the possible exceptions of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders) comes even close.
The most vociferous talking heads would en-chant us with "visions" of unrelenting self-interest, violence-as-default-solution, race hatred, contempt for the "undeserving poor," Islamophobia, projection of un-owned evil onto "the other" and "salvation" as a disguise for selfishness. (Such a good disguise that most people fail to realize they're deceiving themselves.)
***
I recognize and value the separation of church and state.
Without it, res publica would quickly be worse than putting The Tea Party in charge.
But getting back to prayer and the role it plays in community...
Next best thing to participating in regular -- and hopefully "mesmerizing" -- petitionary prayer would be for non-believers to recite The Preamble to the Constitution at least once a week -- "out loud" and preferably in groups.
Nor would it hurt to look closely at the deliberate choice of "we," not "I" nor "the minoritarian group to which I -- and my uncompromising friends -- belong."
Indeed, getting from "I" to "we" is the crux of our national challenge. "Pick up your cross America..."
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
I recommend particular attention to the phrases: "establish justice," "insure domestic tranquility," and "promote the general welfare" --- not because I wish to exclude or overlook "the common defense" but because:
1.) Americans often overlook the full scope of justice. Pope Francis does not. For his essentially catholic view, justice and mercy are interactive "synergents" insuring that large dollops of mercy maked justice more just and the totality of justice makes mercy more merciful. http://paxonbothhouses.
I've always liked this rendition of Shylock.
László Mednyánszky (1852–1919)
Shylock and the English "Edict of Expulsion," 1290 A.D.
2.) Americans are no longer "tranquil." They are, in fact, angry-mad and would benefit by contemplating The Founders' sense of "insuring tranquility" which -- hint, hint -- has nothing to do with police-state-fascism.
3.) And finally, Americans are oblivious to the Preamble's emphatic focus on "welfare" -- and not only "welfare" but "general welfare" -- whose active promotion is a central feature of America's "mission statement."
***
They say "a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest."
Not so.
When it comes to The Preamble of The Constitution, I am fully aware of "the rest."
"To form a more perfect union." Check.
"To provide for the common defense." Check.
"To secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." Check.
Lincoln understood these three enjoinders in spades.
He also understood "promotion of the general welfare."
"Lincoln And Promotion Of The General Welfare"
What do these ugly, tight-fisted, anti-communitarians "understand?"
Ben Franklin On Taxation
It is painful to contemplate the new generation of American "conservatives" blinding themselves to the ugliness they lay on "others."
With the above photo in mind, consider the following facts:
As a percentage of GDP, spending is now lower than it was during the Reagan Administration.
The effective tax rate is now lower than during the Reagan Administration. http://qz.com/74271/income-tax-rates-since-1913/
And, according to Forbes Magazine, Obama has spent less than any president since Eisenhower.
Who Is The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower?
Would You Believe It's Barack Obama
Forbes Magazine
"Do Republicans Do Anything But Piss, Moan, Bitch, Whine?"
"Do Republicans Do Anything But Piss, Moan, Bitch, Whine?"
"The Party of Personal Responsibility" Is "The Party Of Personal Irresponsibility"
Republican Rule And Economic Catastrophe, A Lockstep Relationship
American conservatives have grown brittle as old bones.
They have so little juice, such scant élan vital, that, by default, they rally their limited stores under the banner of miserliness, a trait intrinsically linked to its etymological twin: misery... the blight they propagate from sea to shining sea.
Bitter people bent on spreading The Gospel of Spite.
Pope Francis: What Christianity Looks Like When Believers Realize "God Is Love"
Dickens, Scrooge And American Conservatism
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/dickins-scrooge-and-american.html
Pax on both houses,
Alan
PS I think you would make a great TED talker Fred. Here's my "take..." "Philosophy is news that stays news" and TED Talks are attempts to contextualize "news" in a framework of philosophy. Whatever we think about TED, it remains the one place in the world where millions of people choose to sit still while heeding thoughtful lectures. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/05/ted-talks-ideas-worth-spreading.html Sure, "90% of everything is crud" but most Americans either design crud or satisfy themselves with it. (See Tea Party photo above...) Alternatively, I rarely have the feeling that TED presenters are devising crud. Whatever their delusions may be, they tend to use head and heart to craft talks that address the issues most important to them, talks that represent the distillation of their life's work, talks that will remain readily accessible "forever." With this in mind, I propose you create an 17 minute TED Talk. You might even enjoy taking your talk to a college "media" department -- or community television station -- in order to record it. Who knows? Maybe you'll submit it to TED and become an international sensation. You can give your repeatedly while traveling to exotic places as Secretary of State.
PPS I like your idea of showing John Kerry how to "get his hands on the soil." Here's a similar, no-nonsense, plain-as-potatoes TED Talk on that very topic. Dig in! http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-sex-starved-marriage-ted-talk.html
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 6:45 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
FROG HOSPITAL – Snark AttacksMarch 15, 2015By Fred OwensYou might think this is crazy, but I often wake up in the morning and wonder why John Kerry is Secretary of State and not me. I could do that job. True, he's taller and he has better hair, and he married well, but as for actual skill, I'm about even with him. I know a lot about tomatoes, for instance, far more than he does, but he speaks French and I don't.This is just one of those old stupid hippie ideas, so I never tell anyone, but I always thought we would have a better world if we took turns. Like John Kerry could take over my position at the greenhouse and get his hands on the soil. It would do him a world of good and he would learn so much. Likewise, I would be going on international jaunts to foreign countries and, as a diplomat, I would practice being nice to people I despise.All I'm saying is the people in charge get too used to being the people in charge, and I would like to see a turnover at the top. You hear critical abuse against the concentration of wealth and how those who have money just keep getting more money. I agree this is a problem.... But of equal concern is the concentration of power at the top, and I've been seeing some of same old tired faces making airport arrivals and waving to the crowd and answering a few questions from the media.Meanwhile, at the GreenhouseI am learning how to work in the heat....just move a little slower... Pause, stretch, drink a little water and keep going.....it was pretty hot at work today but I did all right, also I am part-time, from 8 until noon.I do a lot of shoveling and sifting of compost and peat moss, and the expert use of the wheelbarrow, and the skillful deployment of the rake...When I stand and transplant the tomatoes from the little pots to the big pots, I stand under an umbrella and listen to sports talk on my portable radio.AdviceAdvice to the people of Ferguson......fire everybody and change the name of your town to something innocuous like Glendale, then slip into peaceful anonymity.Advice to Obama, get over the GOP disrespect for you and their abuse of protocol. Ask them what they want, then tell them what you want.Advice to Israel. Don't vote for Bibi.Advice to everyone. When in doubt, do what Jackie Robinson would do......steal home plate.Read this essay by Amos Oz. He argues for a two-state solution in Israel. It’s an uncomplicated argument and easy to understand. Oz is not especially idealistic or too firmly wedded to any special agenda. His only bias is that he loves Israel and wishes to enjoy his life in that country.Watching the NewsA young friend said why do I watch the evening news. I said because I want to know all the bad things that are happening. She didn't understand that.When I was a kid at Catholic grade school, if the ambulance or the fire truck went by the school with the siren blasting, the sister would stop class and lead us in a prayer for whoever was having the crisis. The sister would say it didn't matter who it was, it didn't matter that we didn't know them, we would say a prayer for them anyway.So this is why I watch the news -- to hear about all the bad things that happen all over the world -- to have at least a moment of concern for people I will never meet, Maybe to be a little grateful that I do not have such trouble myself and that I made it through another day without war or natural calamity.No homework for grade school students! That’s what this writer advocates. I agree completely. I never had homework when I went to grade school, and I turned out all right. My kids had a little homework in grade school, but I never made them do it. Instead, I let them watch TV or told them to go outside and play. My children grew up all right and they are a credit to society, so that’s my proof.TED talks are for idiots with time on their hands.TED talks? I have spent more useful times in a doctor's waiting room, rifling through old magazines. This is one of those things I know instinctively. I have never been to a TED talk. I would sooner go to a convention of Baptists.What they will put on my gravestone -- "He never went to a TED talk or a Baptist convention. He lived as long as he lived and never wasted time on foolish errands."MOTH..... I would go to a MOTH talk if you paid me a $100, but I would bring my portable radio and some earphones and listen to a taped re-broadcast of Vin Scully and the Dodgers....... People actually pay money to hear MOTH talks, but if I had an extra $20 and a need for company I would go to a nice tavern and buy a stranger a good shot of bourbon -- you can hear some real sad stories that way.Loading the TruckYesterday I helped Oscar load the truck with racks of tomato plants. He paid me $30. It was kind of boring, but it didn’t take too long. It was a hot day, but we worked in the shade. We got all the racks on board and then he closed the door and got in the cab of the truck and started the engine. I stood in back to guide him out of the narrow space and onto the street. He said, “tell me if I’m getting too close to the tree.” I wasn’t sure what he meant about that, “what tree?” I said, but he couldn’t hear me over the engine. So he backs up, turning slowly, I am making graceful hand gestures of approval, yes, yes, come, come, slooow, yes, come, and then the cab roof brushes the tree branches and he looks up startled, then he looks at me quickly, like “you were supposed to watch the tree,” but these were little branches, and flexible, and the cab roof brushed them aside easily, so no damage was done, and he got fully into the street in reverse, and then he said “can you lock the gate?” and he took off. I locked the gate.Frog Hospital Subscription Drive. Your contribution of $25 is greatly appreciated. The Frog Hospital newsletter has been cruising down the Internet for 16 years now. I have tried to kill this newsletter several times – tried to stomp it out like the ember from an old campfire, or dig it up like a pestiferous weed, but it won’t die – Frog Hospital just keeps on going.So please send me a check. Your contribution keeps me from getting cranky. It helps me to maintain a detached attitude. Let’s keep it going….Go to the Frog Hospital blog and hit the PayPal button for $25, orSend a check for $25 toFred Owens
1105 Veronica Springs RD
Santa Barbara, CA 93105Thank you very much,Fred Owens--
No comments:
Post a Comment