Category: Essay

Miracles: Yes or No

The central belief that all of Christianity hinges on, that of the resurrection from death of Jesus of Nazareth, is a slippery slope, at least. If one chooses to believe that miracle happened, it isn’t too far a stretch to believe in the feeding of the five thousand, or in the healing of the sight of the blind man, or the other miracles that Jesus was supposed to have performed in the Gospels. If you can believe in the resurrection, everything else is on the table.

And there is no shortage of miracles in the Old Testament either. The production of the stone tablets on the mountain after witnessing a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire, the plagues of Egypt before Pharaoh sets free the Israelites, the parting of the sea for the Israelites as they flee Egypt, the production of mammon in the desert to feed the Israelites, and so many more.

So if one believes in all the wonders of the Old Testament, is it such a stretch to believe in the resurrection? Not really. Or if one believes in the resurrection, why not believe in all the miracles of the Old Testament? It is a leap of faith on both counts, no matter how you look at it.

Can one be a Christian without believing in miracles? Well, if you don’t believe in the resurrection, it’s hard to claim that label. But if you do believe in the resurrection, you have no case against the miracles in the rest of the Bible. One can believe in Jesus’ moral teachings, and so be a follower of Jesus in a way, but some of the things Jesus is quoted saying, and the wonders he is recorded as performing, would have to be overlooked.

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Fraud or False Accusation?

My point of view on the matter is only a microscopic blip in the political universe. But I’m going to state my case for the record. There was no fraud according to every person that should know, except for the president, who should know better. The election was the most transparent and secure election ever, and Trump lost, fair and square. The few discrepancies that existed have been considered, calculated and declared irrelevant. The margin that Biden won the election by leaves no room for doubt. Nothing was stolen.

So, how is it that Trump, a pathological liar, is able to convince so many people that the election results were fraudulent? Why are members of Congress being targeted with hate, when they had nothing to do with it? It’s this big smoke screen of distraction that is created by Trump in his messages, anything but to accept defeat and admit false communication,

History has split apart into many pieces, and like many pivotal crises in our nation’s past, we may never know the truth about Trump. After the inauguration, he won’t really matter anymore. Whether he goes to jail, or loses billions in court, his time on the national stage is mostly over, and it is time for the country to move on to the next era.

So, let’s just move on…

My Day (in little blurbs)

Today I woke up and ate a pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookie then I went to Walmart then I ate Mexican food then I came home and laid on the couch with my cat, Zeeb.

Today I ate a chocolate chip cookie then I laid on the couch with my cat.

Today I went to Walmart.

Today I ate lunch at La Fiesta Mexican restaurant. Then I laid on the couch.

What did you do?

Back to Zeeb

Today I woke up then I got dressed then I brushed my hair then I went out to the kitchen and ate a banana. Then I made some coffee and filled a glass with water and took my medicine then I ate a pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Nothing like nutrition, right? Later I went to Walmart with Jackie and Bonnie then we went to La Fiesta for lunch then we came home. Later I made some decaf coffee and laid on the couch with my cat, Zeeb.

A Less Than Perfect System

What if what we’ve been taught is good is really full of flaws? Every human institution is full of humans, after all, and humans are full of flaws. And then there’s systemic flaws like bigotry and xenophobia that judge and legislate and institutionalize oppressive and exploitative structures and groups and rules and policies that hurt minorities and foreign countries and third world organizations. What if the church and the government and the military and the police and the schools and the judiciary and the prisons are so full of flaws that they can’t be redeemed by human effort? Will God intervene and make them better? I won’t hold my breath for that. and of course books and speeches and television shows and movies and works of fine art and conversations ad nauseam are full of flaws. Christians would call it sin. Everyone knows that we are all as individuals less than perfect.

Unpoetry in a Nutshell

Writing is writing honestly prickly going off on it them writing is creative and describing too you must look closely and never repeat unless you must so far so silly you must only go so far as the next word to choose you must not worry about the beginning or the end but just jump in and start that is a beginning in itself. Before you choose you must say to yourself it doesn’t matter where this goes only that it goes and don’t repeat because the only thing that is for sure is change. There is no meaning in a string of unrelated words other than the choice of each particular word it matters in itself yes but there is no syntax only random only absurdity no meaning but in each isolated choice of a word without making meaning in a sentence only in each word that’s it that’s the only step to avoid meaning that is the meaning what’s on your mind selected unrelated meaning only related sounds and appearance of words a collage of words no patterns just a smorgasbord.

The Usual

I’m sitting in a waiting room of an office building. I spend a good chunk of my life in waiting rooms, and in office buildings. So far, two people have asked if they could help me, and I’ve told them both that I have an appointment at 9:30. It’s 9:00 now. I hear men outside the door loading trucks. Not sure what they’re loading. There’s sounds of banging of metal. I hear a woman’s voice, and a man’s voice, inside the office. I hear men talking and laughing outside. I hear a television, perhaps an informational or instructional video.

There’s a sign on the front glass door, and another copy of the sign on the sign-in table, warning those with colds to stay away, so that staff are not exposed. The corona virus is in the news all the time, day and night with updates on new cases and quarantines. People are terrified of getting sick. I’m not sick, so I stay seated and wait for my appointment. I do use the hand sanitizer. You never know.

Days seem to fly by, but I agonize with moments where I have to wait—wait on doctors, wait on traffic lights, wait to pick up my wife from work, wait on dinner to cook, wait on bible study to start, wait on bedtime to give our pets their snacks. We have eight pets: a yellow lab, my wife’s guide dog; a brown chihuahua; a small, but chubby, orange cat; a fuzzy, but thin, orange cat; a black and white tuxedo cat; two grey cockatiels, and a green parakeet.

Our pets take up a lot of our time, attention, and energy. They keep us in a routine, and they keep us from moving around too much, as they like to lay in our laps. When one or both of our laps are occupied, we say, I need to do such and such, but so and so is in my lap. This excuse sometimes keeps us from getting up to get a snack, or it just might keep us from doing a chore, or doing a favor. The pets are the owners, we’re just staff, as they say.

Courageous Relationships (link to video)

www.saintpaulsumc.org/sermon/new-places-for-new-people-courageous-relationships/

Click on the above link to view a sermon by Rev. Dr. Kandace Brooks in which she challenges her congregation to step out of their comfort zones and reach out to others, to ask for help or to be of help, specifically to the mentally ill, suicidal, etc.