Does Anyone Know What Is Going On?

It has been a long time since I have written anything on this blog or anywhere for I simply think --- why? It is the 'Sound of Silence' in the world --- everyone is talking, no one is listening.

Current crisis is in my opinion everyone's fault for we have too long thought is was okay to be conspicious consumers in this world --- hey, it is the way of capitalism (and no one who is a 'true' American can be against this wonderful economic system)that encourages people to buy, buy --- anything and everything --- sell, sell anything and everything for the highest profit one can get --- who cares if more and more people in the rest of the world starve and die because of our way of life! Now our own system is destroying our own country and a large portion of people, the lower class and the middle class (yup, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer)It is just like our form of government --- by golly it is good for everyone --- we have some 'god given' right to 'invade' another sovereign nation in the name of democracy. Hey that guy was a bad dude (however if he and his people were black and had no oil we would have left them alone to die).Once again --- the American people were lied to --- just where are those weapons of mass destruction? Somewhere in the very distant past I remember those who could never find out if there really where enemy vessels attacking anyone in Tonkin Bay. History is truly that which if we do not study and reflect on it -- we are truly going to repeat tragic and death dealing mistakes!

Oh on the financial crisis --- I think our politicans should hold their noses swallow hard and vote for the 700 billion to buy up the toxic waste --- credit is frozen and problem needs solving. As I said above we can point to some real greedy people who exemplify weaknesses in our way of life where greed has been truly encouraged --- it is the badge of 'success' --- but we all fell for it --- some of us, a lot of us simply were not 'destined' to ever get to the 'promised land'.

After 70 years on this place called Earth --- I am amazed that humanity still cannot accept one another, still labeling one another 'things', and then destroying one another --- simply amazing!

As an retired christian priest I am amazed at the thing we created called the 'church' --- what consumes their leadership --- oh yes, division, name calling, and hundreds of groups claiming 'they' have the answers. Well, dummies you have answers 180 degrees off from one another (way to go liberals and conservatives, whatever that means)all in the name of 'God' --- can we not see the sincere folly? We have failed to do the childlike things Jesus Christ asked us to do --- yet, we speak of things we truly do not understand but claim the truth is in us --- stupidity! Church has become the place where we want to feel good about our own little world and our own little problems --- the 'feel good' place we visit to get through out lives! I think our radical brother Jesus is not pleased --- I admit that I sincerely missed the mark and did not want to recognise the radical demands of really being a follower of Jesus Christ!

Hey just an old priest who wonders why we do not see that all of our problems have come to us by our own hand --- love one another, forgive one another, compassion, mercy, acceptance -- I am my brothers(sisters) keeper ---- yeah, we sure have accomplised these so let us now tell the world what is right and wrong!

Love is the answer --- unfortunately we have not a clue what that means!

I Started Here Sixty-Nine Years ago

I am sitting here wondering how do people keep up blogs and keep them interesting. Well it is true I simply read my kids blogs and their lives are very interesting to me. However, life seems to be going by so quickly for me that I seldom have time to check on life around me.

The voices I hear way too much come from the Media. Are they telling me what is really important? Whatever they are telling me is certainly filtered to what someone else thinks is the truth plus there is so much going on in the world every second it is mind boggling.

Random killings of students in our country; reports from around the world about places where groups of people are being murdered simply because they are from the wrong group or tribe; families in our country being notified their courageous loved ones have been killed or maimed in the Middle East for a war, that is not a war but is a war. Our troops should always and forever be honored --- our leadership --- well, once again we are seldom told the truth and may never know for sure why we started a war in the Middle East. You can check people at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Artesia, New Mexico ---I, from day one, thought it was a bad idea to 'invade' a country without even a pretext of backing a treaty and for WMD's that were not there! I strained meaningful relationships with friends in the church I served as pastor; not a fun thing to do!

From there I think about the politicos who are running for President of the United States. The number of candidates has dwindled. We lost some truth-sayers (they can never get elected).

What we have before us now I am not sure --- if I could pick and chose from various traits and some of their positions I might be able to come up with a meaningful candidate for me. I always respected McCain when he was a maverick but now at 72 years of age he wants to be President and he is no longer that needed maverick, he now is trying to bring together those he in my opinion rightly disagreed with throughout his career and he has embraced the war and economic ways of the current administration. The only changed position he openly admits to is: he has changed his mind about immigration and that the first priority must be to secure the borders. Well, since we will be fighting in the Middle East for 100 years I am not sure we will have the resources to secure any border. Then we have Gov. Huck, please, we had the attempted take over of the Republican Party by the Evangelical Christian Right who still want to tell everyone that their morals and ethics were going to be the ones for everyone, and by golly, let is change the Constitution to guarantee their moral majority agenda. Not a very good idea in my humble opinion.

By the way, I feel I have a right to say what I did in the last paragraph because I am a life-long Republican who does vote and found out that my party was highjacked a long time ago and middle-of-the road Republicans no longer have a place in the party and God-Forbid any liberals say they are Republicans.

Once again, I will end up having to vote for a Democrat because I have had nothing but trouble in the last 8 years with anything this Administration has done. Yes, some very bad things happened to the Bush Administration when it first started but they from those times forward have made one mistake after another at home and abroad. Now we have an America that is disliked and not trusted by many more in the world including many who were our allies. The President however is winning one war, the one on the Middle Class!

I hear a lot of people have become Independents --- well, that has been going on for many years for members of both parties have found themselves voting for the 'best of the lot' and certainly they are not in any one party and extremely hard to find. There are less and less people who are going to vote totally on party lives for there is so very little difference between them -- both parties are flip flopping like, about to be, dead mackerels.

Obama --- well, he will probably get my vote --- not because he is young (but that is not a bad thing) not because he is black (though I think it maybe helpful for the world to see we do accept minorities as leaders) certainly not because Queen Guru Oprah adorned him, for she is a 'legend in her own mind' and has made bad endorsements in the past! I will vote for him because he did see the folly of invading a country and 'saw through' the twisted intelligence reports and voted against going to Iraq. Obama also still speaks passionately about "Hope" and without it we are finished as a people. Hillary, well, she is a very intelligent women but she does not really connect with the middle class though she is sympathetic and she has been part of the Democratic machine too long and she just cannot match her husband's charisma. Oh, by the way, yes, I voted for Clinton both times --- and no, his private life did not bother me for his lifestyle was not very different than some others before him --- our culture simply has turned its interests to and 'Inquirer's" mindset, loving to get into other's private lives and dig up dirt.

Well, I started out 69 years ago in that house above and now retired and can admit I know much less that I ever thought I knew with all those years behind me.

Happy New Year

It is very difficult for me to conceive that it is really is 2008 I sincerely hope the world has a better 2008 than 2007.

We spent New Year's Eve at the home of my brother-in-law Chris Robinson's. Great food and fun for all. There were four young people present, Jeremy, Beth and their friends the Rigsby's. The young people spent good part of time playing 'XBox-360' --- "Halo 3" and "Guitar Hero".

Kelly and I convinced Chris and wife, Pam to allow us to buy Jeremy an 'XBox-Live' account. I cannot lie at 68, almost 69 years old, I have been known to hang around 'XBox-Live'. There may be someone older than I am on 'XBox-Live' but I have not met them, yet! My 'Gametag' is 'Gray Warrior' and sometimes I tell those I met during a game, that unlike them --- I bought my XBox with my 'Social Security'. I also for fun plead for mercy that they just beat up on an old man --- it never works! Even my oldest son TY, and his wife Karna, who also frequent 'XBox-Live', show absolutely no mercy to old Pops.

I am glad to report that my wife Kelly, who ended 2007 by having 'non-invasive' back surgery on her back is doing well. I cheered her on and also really thought the pictures of her two newly spaced vertebrae were very neat --- I think Kelly is about an inch taller which is great for a vertically challenged person! I will say in passing that sometimes they kind of 'soft sell' this kind of surgical procedure. Having to play 'Florence Nightingale' or maybe better put, Mr. Step-and Fetch it for a week, there definitely is some 'discomfort' for over a week however, in my opinion and I think Kelly, would 'now' agree that is has been and will be helpful for it has alleviated the almost daily back pain she has lived with for years.

Well, I have the rest of the week off from my 'part-time' (every day) substitute, teaching at Ruidoso High School. Though retired, I do work because I have to pay for all my 'big-boy' toys.

By the way, no, I have not quite figured out how to blog in an effective, well formed way. But remember it is hard to teach 'an old dog' new tricks.