Last night I slept in my bed rather than the living room chair for the first time since Saturday night. The stormy weather (at the moment it is 58 F) has cooled off my bedroom.
I still have no information of the repair of my air conditioner, but I should be cool in the house at least another day; the weather is forecast to remain cool until Saturday, when the high is forecast as 88 F.
For the past few days my glucose level has been the lowest (lower than what is healthy) it has ever been since I began testing about a month ago. I wondered if that was because I have been too hot to eat?.
When I told that to Dan-el, the nurse who now visits me weekly, this morning , she went over the symptoms of Low Blood Sugar. Yep! Exactly how I've been feeling and the result of me not eating.
It sadden me to hear of the death of David Carradine. I appreciated him as a human being, full of life and a roll model for many. When will the media talking head stop using the phrase this president and speak his name? That phrase was developed during the last administration to distinguish the then president from his daddy. I believe it is time to bury it. I am still applauding President Obama’s Cairo speech. I wonder how the Muslim world is responding?
Etymology: Hindi paºit, from Sanskrit paºita, from paºita learned
Date: 1672
1: pandit
2: a learned man: teacher
3: one who gives opinions in an authoritative manner: critic
As I read and hear the words of the today’s media pundits regarding the presidential candidates, I am amazed that the political-know-it-alls find faults with everyone. Allow me to modify that: the pundits find faults with candidates whose political philosophy differs from their own.
As I pondered the pundits I remembered something that took place during my first year at Eden Theological Seminary. I was in a class taught by Dr. Walter Brueggemann, one of the leading Old Testament scholars of the second half of the Twentieth Century.
Dr. Brueggemann stated that Israel viewed David as its greatest king. And I asked Why? since King David was far from perfect: he was a liar, a thief, a rebel, a bandit, an adulterer, and a murderer, to name a few of David’s less than perfect qualities.
King David Covets the Wife of Uri'ah Who He Then Sends to His Death [See 2 Samuel 11]
The Prophet Nathan Confronts King David [See 2 Samuel 12:1-14]
I shall never forget Dr. Brueggemann’s response. He said throughout the history of the Judeo-Christian God and humanity, God has always chosen humans who are less than “perfect” to serve God. The one exception was Jesus, the Messiah, but he really doesn’t count, since Christian theology informs us that Jesus is God incarnate.
Now, if God selects humans who, like King David, are far from perfect to be God’s servants, why do today’s pundits spend so much time pointing out the imperfections of candidates for office?
I am outraged! Not by former President Carter’s meeting with Hamas, but by the reaction of the United States’ politicians and press. What is it about our nation that prefers military force and threats to diplomacy and negotiation? Why are peacemakers uniformly vilified in the United States? Why do we prefer war to peace?
When I received the above political cartoon in my email this morning, we clicked to the Daryl Cagle’s site that publishes U.S. political cartoons—HERE, if you want to look—and reviewed what the cartoonists drew about the Carter/Hamas dialogue. Every cartoon without exception maligned both Jimmy Carter and Hamas.
Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization whose actions infuriate and sadden me. Yet, I have learned from much painful experience that no one—no individual, no people, no nation—ever succeeds by using violence. Hamas will fail unless it modifies its objective to destroy Israel; Israel will fail using an “eye for an eye” policy of violence against the Palestinian people. Negotiation and peacemaking can succeed!
I thank President Carter for his efforts at peacemaking. And I humbly add my blessings to God’s blessings to this fine gentleman—I emphasize the word “gentle.”
I thank God that peacemakers do exist, even as the war mongers persist:
There will be oil to heal the wounds, and there will be olive branches to wave when peace arrives. ~ Palestinian pastor Mitri Raheb
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds, The Mercy-giving, the Merciful. . . . O Lord, Lead us from hate to love and from violence to peace, from fear to trust and from despair to hope. Enable us to eliminate poverty, prejudice and oppression so that peace may prevail with righteousness and justice. . . . Amen
~ Dawud Ahmad Assad, Council of Mosques, USA, New York, NY
OGod Source of Life, Creator of Peace. . . Help Your children, anguished and confused, To understand the futility of hatred and violence And grant them the ability to stretch across Political, religious and national boundaries
So they may confront horror and fear By continuing together In the search for justice, peace and truth. . . . With every fiber of our being We beg You, O God, To help us not to fail nor falter. Amen
~ Rabbi H. Rolando Matalon,
This we know: Fear can yield to faith, hope can reignite Rage can cease, hatred can be melted. . . . Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children To see You in each other's eyes. Merciful One, spread the canopy of your peace over us, Over Israel, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth.Amen
~Rabbi Sheila Weinberg, Jewish Community of Amherst, Amherst, MA
There has been a lot of discussion by talking heads on TV (and radio, even though I can’t see their heads) in the last several days leading up to and since Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record to become “baseball's new home run king.”
Most of the talk has been about Bonds and steroids. One of the most interesting (to me) talking heads pointed out that, when Bonds and other athletes began their steroid régimes, steroids were considered the same as other body building products, such as protein powders and vitamins. It was only after the producers of the steroids began peddling them to young athletes, he said, and the potential of serious health problems from their use and misuse became apparent that prohibitions began to be established. (I’ve not done any research to confirm this).
Regardless of the history of baseball players and steroids, I suppose it is always traumatic when a hero's record is broken. I remember back in 1961 whenRoger Maris’ 61 home runs set a new major league season record, breaking Babe Ruth's previous mark of 60 home runs set in 1927. There was not only the sadness of The Babe no longer being #1 in the records book, but there was also the question of fairness of Maris' record because modern baseball teams play more games in a season than they did in Ruth's day.
Bonds may be the new record holder, but that doesn’t mean we’ll forget Hank!
Cho Seung-Hui was referred to a mental health facility in 2005 after officers responded to accusations he was suicidal and having inappropriate contact with female students, police said Wednesday. (CNN.com)
With media coverage now centering on the life of Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui and especially his mental health, I have heard TV talking heads, read blog posts, and received emails warning that we must beware of people whole are possibly mentally ill--people who could be described as being loners, quiet, friendless; people who may express anti-societal, "dark" or politically incorrect notions. It rather reminds me of the same frenzy that occurred following the September 11th attacks when Muslims and folks of presumed Middle Eastern ethnicity were targeted by frightened Americans.
I believe that it is important that people do not over react in a Salem-like witch hunt for folks who suffer from one of the numerous forms of mental illness. The best way to do this seems to be to provide accurate information.
May is Mental Health Month and May is close enough that the few links below can begin the education process that the month is designed to provide. Please gather the facts and spread them far and wide that, for example, people who suffer from some form of depression are not homicidal.
This is personal for me. As you know if you've read Nick's Bytes for very long, I'm one of those who suffers from clinical depression and I am not a killer. And I do not relish the idea of someone bashing me in the head with a baseball bat (as was done to one of my Sufi friends immediately after 9-11 because he wore a turban) because I am melancholy!
As always, I appreciate your comments and feedback.
Links
Virginia Tech Tragedy: Tips for Educators, Students and Parents from Mental Health America
What is being called by CNN the "worst mass shooting spree in U.S. history" took place today. As I am writing this post, a news conference is being held by officials on the Virginia Tech campus Blacksburg, VA. The "body count" (a term used by CNN and much too reminiscent for me of Vietnam media coverage) is now 33 dead and perhaps 29 wounded.
As I sit here typing while listening to the mostly argumentative and often absurd questions asked by reporters, I wonder at the training and intelligence of newspersons. The accusatory nature of many of the questions, expecially coming from one reporter (female voice) and the second-guessing by others, make it seem as if the campus administration and law enforcement are the culprits.
I learned when I was an army officer gathering and evaluating intelligence information that the picture of what actually happened is not immediately obvious. There are now bits of information available, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece must be evaluated for accuracy and relevancy and then placed in its appropriate spot the puzzle. This will take time. For example, at the moment it is not confirmed that the person who killed the two students in the dorm in the early morning was the same person who killed the others in the classroom building about three hours later.
One of the last questions, which I have yet to hear asked and which may never be asked and probably never adequately answered is: What is it about this time of year that leads to mass deaths here in the United States. It will be three days from today, April 19, 1993, will be the anniversary of the siege on the Branch Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas, that ended with 81 people dead. It was April 19, 1995, when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was bombed, killing 168. What is it about this time of year that leads to horrible massacres in the United States?
But the facts of what happened at Virginia Tech are for the future. Now is the time to mourn--and pray.
For the past few days my glucose level has been the lowest (lower than what is healthy) it has ever been since I began testing about a month ago. I wondered if that was because I have been too hot to eat?.
It sadden me to hear of the death of David Carradine. I appreciated him as a human being, full of life and a roll model for many. 
When will the media talking head stop using the phrase this president and speak his name? That phrase was developed during the last administration to distinguish the then president from his daddy. I believe it is time to bury it.
I am still applauding President Obama’s Cairo speech. I wonder how the Muslim world is responding?
