Reading Today . . .
“I must confess. I could use some rest. I can’t run at this pace for very long.”
That lyric from Jimmy Buffett’s, “Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season” (A1A 1974) explains a bit of my distance. I’ve been away from this blog, somewhat intentionally, unsure if my ramblings, theological ranting, observations, or creativity continue to interest me as well as anyone that visits the site. This distances has happened before with my journal pre digital age and blogs. A question I ask clergy that are the primary preachers in their congregations, “Do you ever get bored with your preaching? If so, do you think that comes through to your people?” I think a form of that question applies to all vocations and even 9-5 jobs. It’s my responsibility to aware of the freshness and new opportunities of my vocation. Can one tire of being curious, empathetic, pastoral, or prophetic? Sure.
I think Buffett’s lyric is applicable to our culture, journalism, religion, economy, and our politics. How long can people stay attentive to the substantive questions surrounding the behavior, decisions, and misrepresentations of the POTUS, his Cabinet, and Congress? The President’s philosophy for business and governing, if you can classify what he and the Republican led Congress do as “governing”, is a mix of 3 Card Monty and a Roulette. I think the current manifestation of Republicanism at the Federal level, and here in Oklahoma, are comfortable with reigning and have no idea or interest in governing. They most often demonstrate what the President said during the campaign, “to the victor go the spoils.” That does not uphold the ideals of our republic nor democracy. The majority must be concerned with the voice of the minority and their experience. The Constitution is designed as a check to monarch or dictatorial leadership that does not seek out and work with the minority voice(s) to co-govern the Republic. Somehow, that has been forgotten. Maybe you can’t test for it.
The President’s Cabinet Secretaries are required to produce their taxes, but we still do not know how the President, his family, or business are profiting from his tenure as President in real time. And, I have no doubt that Trump is profiteering in real time rather than waiting until after his Presidency to write a book, do speaking engagements, or whatever former Presidents do to earn a living. An example: his many trips to Mar a Lago and how he raised the fees to join the club when we won the election. He is the poster child of immediate gratification. He is learning that he cannot run the United State Government like his business and if he ever able to do so completely, it will take decades for people of goodwill to clean up the mess. The Republican members of Congress that are retiring know that having enabled this President is wrong, and I think hope that private life will ease their guilt and being responsible by their constituency and the writers of history. Not that they deserve to be personally disparaged, but they do deserve the factual blame and retirement removes themselves from the possible accountability of the ballot box.
I must confess. There is much to do. More than can be done in this day. I’ve got to work the muscles to manage the pace, my pace, and steer clear of the clickbait that monetizes attention and imagination. However you do it, stay centered.
Some of the things I’ve read today.
Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsulate, of Pope Francis
Generation X — not millennials — is changing the nature of work
Stephanie Neal and Richard Wellins, CNBC.com (April 11, 2018)
The History of White Power
By Kathleen Belew, Opinion, The New York Times (April 18, 2018)
Nine Reasons People Aren’t Singing in Worship
Kenny Lamm, Church Leaders (April 2, 2018)
‘Roseanne’: When a Punch Line Feels Like a Gut Punch
Kelvin Yu, Television, The New York Times (April 13, 2018)
Payday Lenders Convening At A Trump Resort Are Met By Protesters
Greg Allen, All Things Considered, NPR (April 18, 2018)
Why Can’t We Fix Puerto Rico’s Power Grid
Adam Rogers, Wired.com (April 18, 2018)
You Can Go Home Again
Michael Smerconish, (April 18, 2018)
South Philly native David Brenner once joked that when he went out to my current neighborhood, the Main Line, he was surprised to see that every other house was missing. My visit to our house reminded me that’s not all that’s absent. So too the sort of memories that were re-kindled by our going home. The kind that exist only when living in close proximity to others. My kids don’t have neighborhood stories like those that I cherish. That’s the steep price they have paid for acreage and comfort and only time will tell whether it was worth it. The good news is that you can go home again, if only for 15 minutes.