I Am Not a Piece of Plastic

About 40 years or so ago, while I was earning my Master of Science in Social Work degree at the University of Louisville’s Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work, one of the ongoing dialogues regarded the unjust nature of the “plastic society” that was and is the norm of the United States.

Plastic, as you know, is inexpensive and therefore disposable. So we dispose of all sorts of containers made of plastic, easily broken toys we give to our children, bags in which we carry our purchases, etc. American society has so bought it to the idea that things are disposable that we create even automobiles, appliances, houses, and much more that are made not to be permanent but to be used up and subsequently disposed of as trash. Sentient beings such as pets and even we ourselves have come to be seen as disposable once our society judges them (us) as no longer having intrinsic value.

We Americans have exported this concept that everything and everyone is disposable to the entire world—a world culture that is based on the monetary worth of things—all things—including human beings.

As I have grown older I have come to realize that I am seen as a plastic “thing.” For example, the United States Veterans Affairs bureaucracy has treated me as a commodity negating my humanity. I qualify this statement by emphasizing that, for the most part, this is not true of VA medical staff. It is quite true of those bureaucrats with whom veterans must deal in order to obtain the promised medical care. One of the ongoing “jokes” I have encountered since I began my association with Veterans Affairs goes:

Thank you for serving. Now, how can we fuck you today?

I have experiences of having my humanity denied, of being treated as a commodity by the Department of Veterans Affairs; I have heard many stories from and about other veterans who have experienced similar treatment.

Many of us have sought justice within the VA. The usual result is that our pleas to be recognized as human beings have been ignored. “Rules” are more important to the bureaucrats than justice, compassion, and humanity.

This injustice and dehumanization goes far beyond the federal bureaucracy of the United States. It is in the corporations of this world, using up their workers and then disposing of them like pieces of trash. It is intrinsic to capitalism and the class system of the United States that has been exported to the entire planet. It is a basic cause of poverty; of genocide and slavery; of the abuse of women, children, the elderly, the physically and emotionally ill; of people smuggling; of racism; of every form of human exploitation.  

My request—my plea—is simple: recognize that we are human beings, not things to be manipulated and disposed of like pieces of plastic. This plea is on behalf of all sentient creatures on the earth. We need a prophet to deliver us from injustice and slavery!

(YHWH) said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” ~ Exodus 3.6-10

Here am I, Lord. Send me.

Sunday Thoughts: The Bishop’s Candlesticks

The Bishop’s Candlesticks

But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. 

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ~ Luke 6. 27-34 (NRSV)

I still do a lot of blogging these days. Since my movement is restricted by a need for oxygen and a bum leg, much of my awake time is spent writing blogs. I suppose one could say that blogging has become my media of ministry. For example, a while back a blogger posted about an incident that had him questioning whether he had done a good deed or been scammed and made a fool of. That reminded me of a decision I made many years ago not to be concerned about being conned, and so I wrote an article about it.

I have been scammed and conned by many folks, often when I knew what they were up to. I made decision to give unconditionally to these folks after I read Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (I have yet to see the newly produced film) and thus gained a new understanding of the 6th Chapter of Luke. The story in Les Misérables  that so enlightened me I have labeled “The Bishop’s Candlesticks.” Here is that story as I remember it:

The protagonist, Jean Valjean, after being imprisoned for about 20 years for stealing bread to feed his family, is released but, as an ex-convict, can find no work and is himself on the verge of starvation when he comes upon the residence of a bishop and seeks food from the Bishop’s servants. The Bishop himself invites Valjean into his home and provides him the hospitality of dinner at his own table and a bed for the night. When it comes time to retire, the bishop sends Valjean up to his room with one of the two very expensive silver candlesticks that grace the bishop’s dining table to light his away.

The following morning the servants of the Bishop awaken him with the revelation that not only has their guest departed before breakfast, but he has taken the costly candlestick with him. Later the same morning the police arrive at the Bishops residence with Valjean in custody and inform the bishop that they found the ex-con in possession of the candlestick that was recognized as belonging to the bishop. They asked the bishop to identify the candlestick so that they may charge Valjean with the theft.

The Bishop speaks directly to Valjean rather than the police. He says that he is sorry that Valjean, his guest, departed before sharing a fine breakfast with the him. The Bishop then hands Valjean the mate to the candlestick he had stolen, saying, “You forgot this, my friend. I gave you both candlesticks. What good is one without the other?”

The police release Valjean, who at that moment is changed by forever by the Bishop’s benevolence. He leaves with both candlesticks, walks to a nearby town, sells them, and using the proceeds, becomes a wealthy factory owner, known for his honesty, generosity, and just dealings who eventually becomes mayor of the town.

Of course, there is much more to the book, but this story that I have told many times. I usually use it as a story that I tell without commenting upon it, thus allowing those who hear it glean whatever they need.

Blessed  are those who have ears to hear and faith to act. Amen.

Once upon a time there was a young knight...

Once upon a time there was a young knight who had just graduated from dragon slaying school. He donned his new armor, picked up his shield, sword, and lance and mounted his beautiful warhorse. He then went looking for damsels to rescue and dragons to slay. 

He came over a hill and below him in the valley he saw a beautiful, young (almost naked) damsel, chained to a rock, with a fire-breathing dragon on the ground before her.

The knight was filled with compassion for this damsel in distress, pull down the visor on his helmet, and charged the dragon. Now, this dragon just happened to have been drinking a bit too much mead... 

so before long the knight was dismounted from his warhorse, and having laid down his shield, stood with one foot on the dragon’s neck and his huge sword raised above his head ready to decapitate the beast. 

Then, before he could strike, something hit the knight on the back of the head and he toppled to the ground. And there, standing over the knight holding his shield (with which she had just brained him) was the unchained damsel in distress. 

She put down shield and said to the dragon, “Look, Boopsie, if you can’t do better than this I’ll just have to get myself another dragon."

The lesson? As the drama triangle of Victim, Persecutor, and Rescuer plays itself to the end, each player ends up in a different role, as with the story above. In the beginning:

Dragon = Persecutor

Damsel = Victim

Knight = Rescuer

By the middle of the story (game) the roles have changed, so that:

Knight = Persecutor

Dragon = Victim

Damsel = Rescuer

By the end, the Knight has become the victim of the damsel. 

The moral: Rescuers usually end the game as Victims.

However, rescuers-become-victims can themselves be rescued, sometimes in unique ways (its in their karma):

Unfortunately this story has played out in my life many times. One could suggest—and they have—that that I refrain from taking on dragons. However, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “I cannot not preach the gospel.” Myself, I just cannot turn my back on people I perceive as being persecuted, even though at times it has cost me dearly, financially and emotionally. 

For more about the psychology/theology of the above, may I suggest:

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Generousity and Compassion, Part II

The wisdom of being compassionate and generous:

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” 
~ Lao Tzu

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
~ John Wesley

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children... to leave the world a better place... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”  ~ The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ~ Albert Pike











“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta 









“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” 
~ Albert Einstein

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama

“He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.” 

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." ~ Winston Churchill

An Act of Compassion

[Don Stivers]

Not a shot was fired for over 90 minutes when Sergeant Richard Rowland Kirkland leapt the wall at Marye's Heights at Fredricksburg, VA to provide a moment of relief from the savagery of war to his fallen enemies.

Generosity & Compassion, Part I

Today I find myself in need. My 11-year-old automobile requires $1250.00 worth of repairs. I have applied at all of the usual lending places with the exception of those damnable “payday loan” establishments. (I did that once and will never do so again). So, I have been asking family and friends. Thus far I have raised $300.00 and hope to borrow the remainder before the deadline of the end of May.

This post is not about my need. It is about compassion and generosity. Several of the friends I asked simply do not have the resources to lend to me, However, one who does—even the entire amount—responded with the words: Times are tough for everyone. His words have tumbled around my mind since I heard them:

All of my life I have been generous—generous to an extreme, some folks think. I have given to all who ask, no matter how much I have; often denying myself so I could meet the needs of others.

I do not think that my generosity has been to an extreme. I rather believe that I have not been compassionate and generous enough in my life. There are still people in need. Even in these last years when each month I struggle to put bread on my table, I give whenever and as much as I have.

My sister and sons believe that such giving is crazy—that I am crazy. Some of my friends chide me for giving to those who scam me. But I would rather give to someone who is conning me than withhold what I have from someone with an authentic need. Moreover, perhaps my giving freely has brought about changes in people’s lives, even those who would steal and defraud me.

Many sources have directed and informed my sense of generosity. One, The Bishop’s Candlesticks, which I have used in as an illustration in several sermon is taken from Les Misérables, the novel by French author, Victor Hugo. Specifically, I have learned from a section of the novel that has been called The Bishop's Candlesticks:

  Jean Valjean, having just been released from imprisonment after nineteen years is required to carry a yellow passport that marks him as a prisoner even though he has already paid his debt to society by his time in prison. Rejected by innkeepers, who do not want to take in a convict, Valjean sleeps on the street, which embitters him

  Eventually, the benevolent Bishop Myriel
 of Digne takes him in and gives him shelter. However, in the middle of the night, Valjean steals the bishop’s silver and runs away. 

He is quickly apprehended by the gendarmes and returned to the bishop’s home. Rather than condemning him,  Myriel  rescues him by claiming that the silverware was a gift and  gives him his two silver candlesticks as well, chastising him in front of the police for leaving in such a rush that he forgot the candlesticks, the most valuable pieces.

After the police leave, Bishop Myriel "reminds" Jean Valjean of the "promise," which Valjean has no memory of making, to use the silver and the candlesticks to make an honest man of him. Valjean subsequently does become honest and a pillar of the community in which he settles.

I pray that my generosity and compassion has turned some lives around, even though I have never asked anyone to make a promise to me. I have told folks that at some future date, when they have the resources, that they will share them with others as they have received from me.

This is the first of a two-part blog post. The second will appear on or about Tuesday, May 22^nd.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. 

The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own. ~  Lao Tzu 

A Grand Memory

Today I visited a video that I've not seen in years. Wow! I had forgotten how much this eleven year old performance touched me -- touched me then, touched me now.

As I watched it over and over again, I found I had tears running down my cheeks. They were tears of joy remembering the empathy and love expressed in those days before the reign of George W. Bush. They were tears of sadness at how much we have lost--so much compassion, so much community, so many of the performers in this video. They were tears of hope; hope for the children and for the future of this world.

I invite you to watch it, remember, feel the empathy and love and compassion, and hope:

Shalom, my dear friends.

Fissures

fis·sure

Pronunciation: \ˈfi-shər\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin fissura, from fissus

Date: 14th century

1 : a narrow opening or crack of considerable length and depth usually occurring from some breaking or parting
2 a : a natural cleft between body parts or in the substance of an organ b : a break or slit in tissue usually at the junction of skin and mucous membrane
3 : a separation or disagreement in thought or viewpoint : schism s in a political party

The doc came by yesterday and told me that this crack in my skin beneath my right heel that has been painful and making my walking difficult for the past few days is a fissure. It's a crack in my skin just like in geology is fissure is a crack in the earth's crust.

I don't know what it takes to heal a fissure in the earth's crust, but my doc prescribed a salve to apply to the fissure in my heal for two days, which is to be followed by daily applications of petroleum jelly until the dryness goes away, if it ever does. Sounds OK to me except that, do to my obesity, I not only can't see the fissure in my heel, but I can reach it to apply any meds. Of course, I'll have my caregiver apply it tomorrow, but that means that I'll be able to follow the doc's instructions three times a week rather than three times a day.(Sigh)

Another kind of fissure is the kind that ruptured during the recent earthquake in Haiti. From the little I understand of the geologic dynamics of the earthquake, it seems that Tuesday's earthquake along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault only ruptured along very small portion of the fault, creating a roughly 375 mile-long fissure in the earth. That represents only about 10% of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, which could rupture at any time. Wow! That's frightening to me.

At times as I have watched the destruction and suffering caused by the Haitian earthquake, I have imagined myself as a Haitian victim of quake: home destroyed, separated from family and friends, hungry, thirsty, spending my energy attempting to locate and rescue those victims trapped by the debris of the quake. I have prayed many prayers and shed more than a few tears for the people of Haiti. The quake and fissure that ripped through their island home points out to me how insignificant is the fissure on my heel.

Now is the time for healing these fissures--or, at least in Haiti, healing the people.

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), composed a hymn entitled “In Haiti, there is anguish” with lyrics to be sung to the music of the popular hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus. I played and sang the hymn yesterday afternoon. If my computer's audio were not still screwed up, I would have shared my guitar rendition with you. However, you are most lucky! With no audio, I'll share the lyrics as I received them in an email yesterday:

The general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Setri Nyomi, today sent the hymn to all of the organization’s member churches with the suggestion it be sung at services this Sunday along with prayers for the people of Haiti.

In his message Nyomi says, “I am sure you too have been stunned by the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that we woke up to yesterday.  Haiti has been through so much and our hearts bleed to see them go through yet another major crisis with such a heavy loss of life and so much destruction.” 

The hymn lyrics are reproduced here below:

In Haiti, There is Anguish

ST. CHRISTOPHER  7.6.8.6.8.6.8.6 (“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”)

In Haiti, there is anguish that seems too much to bear;

A land so used to sorrow now knows even more despair.

From city streets, the cries of grief rise up to hills above;

In all the sorrow, pain and death, where are you, God of love?

A woman sifts through rubble, a man has lost his home,

A hungry, orphaned toddler sobs, for she is now alone.

Where are you, Lord, when thousands die—the rich, the poorest poor?

Were you the very first to cry for all that is no more?

O God, you love your children; you hear each lifted prayer!

May all who suffer in that land know you are present there.

In moments of compassion shown, in simple acts of grace,

May those in pain find healing balm, and know your love’s embrace.

Where are you in the anguish?   Lord, may we hear anew

That anywhere your world cries out, you’re there-- and suffering, too.

And may we see, in others’ pain, the cross we’re called to bear;

Send out your church in Jesus’ name to pray, to serve, to share.

Tune:  Frederick Charles Maker, 1881

Text:  Text: Copyright © 2010 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.  All rights reserved.  Permission is given for use by those who support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

God Is...

Impart as much as you can of your spiritual being to those who are on the road with you, and accept as something precious what comes back to you from them. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Liz, the author of the blog Finding Life Hard published a post today that was inspired by a blog post written by someone else regarding the nature of God.

You really must read Liz's post, Follow me and be persecuted, to understand the context in which I am writing because my words are based on a comment that I posted to Liz's post. (Ain't this blog overlapping weird?)

The blog post that began this chain reaction is a story (Life Cut Sort) of the unfortunate death of a young woman following cosmetic surgery in the blog in the blog, nickhereandnow. The post ended with the words:

This dreadful saga of incompetence and misfortune certainly undermines belief in some benign creator watching over us and keeping us from harm.

Liz's post is a response those closing words. Her theology is excellent as she examines the love and support of God through the good times and bad times, centering on the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross. (Matthew 16:24)

The following is an edited version of the comment I made on Liz's blog.

You've probably heard the saying/joke that "in the beginning God created us and we have been repaying the compliment ever since."

I think that Albert Schweitzer rather confirmed that in his theological work, The Quest of the Historical Jesus . We humans tend to picture God/Jesus/Moses/Mohammad in the light of our own lives and cultures and expectations.

Personally, I believe that another name for God is "Love". I see God as just and compassionate and unconditionally loving. I find in the suffering of Christ at least a wee understanding of my own pain as a human being.

I am very aware that not everyone believes the way I do; through years of pastoring and several thousand sermons I have also come to realize that it requires experience and spiritual growth for one to change his/her view of God and, yes, life.

There was a woman who I pastored for over 11 years who had grown up in a very fundamentalist cult whose teachings were that God is angry, judgmental, and vindictive. After 10 of the 11 years I was her pastor, she said to me as she left a worship service,

"Rev. Nick, there is something about the services here that I don't understand. I am supposed leave church feeling convicted of my sins and I leaving here feeling forgiven and even good about myself."

I understood her frame of reference. And I appreciated her compliment.

P.S. ~ Since I have quoted Albert Schweitzer, Alex would not forgive me if I didn't share one of Schweitzer's most important words:

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.