Reflections By The Bay

Friday, December 1, 2017

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW?

INTRODUCTION

Today’s first reading - Daniel 7: 2-14 - is a head scratcher. I’m glad I don’t have to do the first reading these days before the end of the church year. It’s written in apocalyptic language. I’ve heard people ask: “Was the person who wrote this stuff on LSD?”

Today’s gospel - for this 34 Friday in Ordinary Time - Luke 21: 29-33 - is 1,000 times clearer. We can all picture someone studying a fig tree - or any tree - and knowing what time of the year one is in right now. There is a world of difference in trees about to bud in spring and falling leaves trees if Autumn. Luke simply says: “Consider these realities.”

HOWEVER

However, when I began thinking about these readings - so as to come up with a homily - what hit me - was a question: “Where is the American mind right now - with all that has been - happening - this past year - these past few months - especially this past week or so?"

So the title of this - whatever this is - I can’t call it a homily - is a question: “What Are Your Thoughts Right Now?”

With all that is happening in our world - here, there and everywhere - I think we’re all doing a lot of thinking. What are you considering?

There’s the men in the Entertainment and Political world who have been outed for past sexual sins and behaviors and what have you.

There’s the tweets. There’s the comments about rockets and fake news and other news and what have you.

Then there were all those natural disasters in hurricane and fire season. I’m sure the people in Puerto Rico and the Islands and Texas are still dealing with their disasters - still big time.

I was thinking: wouldn’t it be a good idea if we jotted down 5 thoughts and shared those 5 thoughts with each other - listening - hearing them all out - and maybe commenting on them to each other after we’ve given our 5.

Here’s my temporary list which I might pare down to 5 if I have time?

Number One would be: I’m wondering if every male in the United States - right now - is stepping back in their brain and examining their sex history - their lives - their growth - saying inner sentences and blurts like, “Uh oh! Oh no! Wait a minute! I can’t believe this?”

Next I have been thinking about news? I live with folks - rub shoulders with others - who see and hear the same news as I hear, but we’re coming up with totally opposite viewpoints about the same news.

There is a world of difference between Fox News and CNBC News - between Lawrence O'Donnell and Sean Hannity.

Where’s the truth?

Do some news agencies try to get to the truth? Is that the main motive or is truth secondary - with the main motive to be getting better ratings and with greater ratings, does greater revenue result. Is that the main motive?

Thirdly, I’m asking: If A gets fired, how come B is not getting fired?

Why is the phrase “truth to power” being heard more and more and more in our public discourse lately? Have you noticed that lately?

I wonder if some public males got naked so others will recall the famous, “The emperor has no clothes on” parable? Wow that’s a curve ball. Well, do people self-destruct on purpose? I've often wondered about that.

Let me ask that question in another way: down deep does everyone have to be exposed to who and how they really are - especially if they down deep need to be caught in their sins - so as to pay for their sins or ask for help?

Will Jesus’ phrase, “Let him without sin cast the first stone” start to make an appearance?

Lately this is all about men, I ask, “Will something about women - in some other area make an appearance one of these years?” We hear lots of comments about women's power and lack of power. Should that comment be framed differently?

Obviously.

Women have power.

Obviously.

Women are blocked from powerful positions.

Men too?

People do that to each other.

When women or anyone who comes into power - have to face the struggles, temptations, the use and abuse of power - that comes with position? Where will women’s abuse of power show up? Are there nuances that men - as well as women - are not aware of? I don’t know. Just throwing out the question.

Being a priest, I also ask, “Do priests feel a bit of relief right now - unfortunately hearing about this latest round of abuse - having been through the child abuse crisis that began showing up big time back in the late 1980’s?

Okay, we still appear in the press and the courts and the movies and on TV series - and we priests still say, "Oh no!" when we hear about some person who has been hurt by one of us.

Will some helpful teaching or understandings from Christianity show up to help us all. Will there be more articles about grace - falls from grace - Mary being full of grace - Christ being the forgiver and teacher of what goes on in the human heart? Christ often talked about the within - that we are all flawed, cracked, broken - that we all have demons - that the place to pray and visit and clean out is our own inner room?

What’s with Islam? Come on Islam! Explain yourself better.

For the sake of transparency, I’m a Democrat, and I don’t pay taxes as a priest with a vow of poverty, so can I ask, “Who’s telling the truth? Is there a truth? I'm thinking about this tax bill. What’s the truth? Is it for those with Stocks? Or is for those who are lower middle class or what have you? Is all this about the party and / or the guy - so he / they can have one thing done besides a Supreme Court Justice. Therefore we're better than the last guy? Is that what’s really going on? I keep reading that the bill is not even finished being written yet.

Does anyone know the bottom line with the Russian stuff - will we get to that? Will that lead to impeachments and jail time for various folks?

CONCLUSION

So those are a few of my questions.

And are their answers that are as clear as a fig tree in spring or a fig tree in autumn?

December 1, 2017

THE STUBBORN LEAF

The tree shook, and shook,

but it couldn’t shake off - that

one last leaf - that one last

leaf - hanging onto - branch 17.

The tree said to itself, “Okay,

stubborn leaf, I’ll wait you out -

till you finally fall and you’re all

alone - on the cold, cold ground.”

However, the tree couldn’t shake the idea -

that it still had one last leaf - still hanging on -

still hanging around - so it finally said with

resignation in early spring, “Okay, you win!”

The tree realized - life’s big lesson: you don’t

always get what you want, when you want

what you want. It was then - and only then -

that - that last leaf let go - and with a last laugh.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

November 30, 2017

IN FAVOR OF GRAVESTONES:

PUTTING IT IN WRITING

Which do you want when you die?

To be buried in the green ground, with

a headstone - or tossed into the wind?

It would seem that writing -

carved - chiseled - words

into stone - would last longer

than words written in ink or on

paper. All things being equal,

I would assume that’s the

smarter way to say, “Hey,

I was here for a while. Read

my name and then find and talk

to someone who knew me.

Hopefully, they’ll say some

interesting things about me.

Okay, you want dust in the wind
or on the waters - but is this dust

on my window sill or on my car you

or was it the crossing guard

who used to stand there outside

of P.S. 40 on 60^th and 4^th Avenue?

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

November 29, 2017

LISTEN UP

Did you ever listen in

without knowing you’re listening in

to a conversation

between two people

on the next table?

Did you ever then

feel an, “Uh oh!

This is sacred space and I’m not

supposed to hearing what I’m hearing?”

Did you ever then wish you were

the proverbial fly on the wall

because you wanted to fly away?

Well, if you ever had that experience,

and that feeling, relax!

It's from a bygone time and era.

Why? Well today people are

walking around and talking around -

without giving a damn - who’s around -

on all these thousands and thousands
cell phones - all around us.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

THINGS BREAK

[Since both readings for this 34 Tuesday in Ordinary Time talk about statues and buildings - temples and holy places - breaking and falling down - I decided to write a short meditation entitled, “Things Break.”]

Cars crash, get scratched and dented, license plates rust, end up in junk yards…

Pipes break….

Skin wrinkles ….

Bodies - and body parts age, sag, weaken, get cancer, get arthritis, and eventually wear out….

Paper crumbles - writing ink fades and pictures fade - the aging process ….

Food rots ….

Whales die - some making it from 30 to 70 years - depending on the type of whale….

Hippos - some make it too 40 to 50 years of life.

Planes get mothballed in the desert of Arizona or get sold to 3^rd world countries ….

Moths and butterflies last 8 to 9 months of so….

Sparrows can last 3 years, song parrots -40 to 60 years or longer ….

Fences fall - and walls crumble ….

Roads get pot holes …..

Shoes get tossed or go to Goodwill….

Churches and banks - close and are abandoned - especially in the inner city….

Rubber wears out when it hits the road ….

Hammers break ….

Pottery breaks ….

Oak trees - some make it to 400 years - while some redwood trees make it to 500 to 800 or even 2000 years ….

T-shirts and jockey shorts - all underwear - wears out - gets holes and is tossed….

Umbrellas break and are blown apart on very windy days….

Milk goes sour…..

Cell phones and computers are replaced ….

Wood cracks - eventually - even in century old church benches - as well as bench cushions….

Wedding rings are pawned ….

Hair grays and sometimes disappears ….

Black plastic bags with lots of stuff gets picked up from big jumbo plastic containers and ends up in garbage dumps or recycling centers…..

We die and end up in cemeteries … lots of times with a stone with names and numbers on it - that longer than we lasted….

Jesus lived some 33 years of life - but remember as you come up for communion this morning, this Jesus said in John 5: 51 “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live fore ever….

November 28, 2017

SOMETIMES MY LIFE

Sometimes

I feel boxed in ....

Sometimes my life

is all straight lines,

no circles, no spaces -

that allow me to curve

and swerve my way out

of circumstances beyond

my control - requests - nags -

needs - others' poor scheduling -

emergencies - uh oh’s! - oh no’s! -

then again - I'm lying to myself - don't
we all, thank God, have that - sort of -
secret escape route - to that hide away?

Monday, November 27, 2017

Widow's Mite, James Tissot

BUT, WHAT ABOUT?

PUTTING YOUR

TWO CENTS IN….

TODAY’S GOSPEL: Luke 21: 1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people
putting their offerings into the treasury
and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
He said, "I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “But What About? Putting Your Two Cents In ….”

QUESTION

Are we obligated to put our two cents in?

We’re at a meeting - and someone makes a comment that irks and irritates us, are we obligated to speak up?

Answer: it all depends.

It could cause more mess than we sense necessary. But if we don’t speak up - but speak up behind backs - afterwards - well then, maybe that’s a, “No no.”

We see someone on the street, begging for a buck, and we could give them 2 dollars and make a sacrifice of a latte, then maybe that’s a “Yes, yes!” even though we think we’re being had - by giving a hand out.

Or to take away any feelings of guilt, we put our 2 cents in the poor box like the widow in today’s gospel.

MOVING AWAY FROM COINS OR TWO CENTS

Of if we move away from applying this story to just poor widows putting 2 cents into the poor box, we might discover some creative ways of being a better human being.

For example, a grandmother says to her granddaughter, “How about next Saturday, we make raisin oatmeal cookies?” Grandma noticed Priscilla wasn’t getting enough recognition by her parents and older sisters.

For example, a teacher spots in a kid - his or her ability to draw - spotting a drawing on the side of a test - and she goes to the art teacher and tells her about his kid - and this art teacher goes to the kid - and in time - this kid becomes an outstanding artist.

For example, Mrs. Malcolm did poetry in high school - but forgot all about it till her 60’s - till she picked up a book of Emily Dickinson’s poems in a garage sale - and she realized - even though she was a poor poet - she could put her two cents into the poetry mix of life - entered a creative writing course at the local high school - and has recited 17 of her own poems so far. Her husband doesn’t get them - but you should see the sparkle in Mrs. Malcolm’s eyes every Tuesday evening as she heads for poetry class.