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.
Category: Essay
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.
Real Talking
Real talking goes both ways it’s conversing communication I’m interested in you and your life I’m glad you are interested in me I’m interested in telling you about me and my life so it goes not just polite but engaged and can I do anything for you and is there something we can do together I hope so because I like you and you are important to me
Created Beauty, Destroyed
Create from nothing, a body and soul, with a spirit inside, the image of God; and animals, with the spirit in them; though this fallen world makes some animals violent, sick or neglected. It’s a shame really, and our soil, water and air are all becoming polluted and unclean. Do you think there is any hope for the earth? Violent crime is lower than ever but people are being imprisoned for drugs at a record high. It’s big business for the criminals and the government. Howard Thurman said that institutions do what is in their interest, even churches; so, I say the government is prosecuting drug possession like it’s murder, in order to perpetuate itself.
Blah Blah Blah
Snort, please. referendum on fleas cause a bush to shrink by cutting it with a hedge trimmer. mountains glide inside my own carnival ride. How do you manage to stay so trim while eating chocolate chip cookies and Doritos? I exercise every day, not. Do you walk away because you are frustrated or disgusted? I like eating whatever. It’s hard sometimes to eat the right things.
Sunday Times with Pets
This one is sitting in a comfy chair with a tuxedo colored cat getting into this one’s lap and then squirming around and digging his claws into this one’s stomach or leg and he gets up and walks away. And this one has a brown chihuahua with long skinny legs and pointy ears in this one’s lap also. Outside on the back porch the other one is giving her yellow lab a bath because she got wet and then played in the dirt and mud. She jumped into a wagon full of muddy water three times before the other one dumped out all the muddy water. Then she just played in mud puddles. The other one is pruning and repotting her plants in the back yard. Her yellow lab is tied to a table on the porch while she dries off after having a bath. The other one will probably need a bath too after she’s done digging in the dirt.
Thinking While Waiting
This one was thinking about how something to purchase something with has slipped out of this one’s fingers once again. This one and the other one continue to have something in their savings account, but not much of anything in checking. The other one gets something to purchase things with from her employer in a week. They’ve conserved what they can. The other one thought of the idea of transferring something to purchase things with and when the automatic transfer goes through, the things to purchase things with will be replaced. So that is the plan. This one just went to the place that sells groceries and bought Italian sausage and tiramisu. This one is waiting for the other one who is talking with P about things that are on her mind. Hopefully the tiramisu and sausage will stay good in the machine used to travel to different places. The air conditioner is on, but the electrical sparking device is running low. Hopefully it. Will hold out until the other one gets the thing to purchase things with.
Stopping One’s Being
This one spoke to L yesterday about another one. This one said this one was losing sleep sometimes. Sometimes this one needed to take a sedative to relax. L said it would be good to do that until things settle down. Sometimes anxiety can come from apprehension of something that is going to happen. We also talked about this one’s search for something to do some of the time that would provide a living. This one asked L about a question this one read on an application for something to do sometimes that would make a living. The question concerned information that was protected by law, according to L. They had no right to ask that question even if they sold items that stop one’s being. This one has considered stopping this one’s being at times. And this one has been in places for those who try to stop their being. But that is not their business, according to L.
Stumbling along the sidewalk 