Amazing . . .

. . . without any grace whatsoever . . . 



(from https://www.factcheck.org/2019/06/anti-trump-protests-in-london-not-fake-news/)

". . . It’s possible Trump didn’t see the mass of protestors, as he said. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist, or that reports of such crowds are “fake news.”

USA Today reported that “[t]he protest route ran from London’s Trafalgar Square, past No. 10 Downing St. – Prime Minister Theresa May’s official office and residence – and on to Parliament Square, a large open green space across the street from the British Parliament.” . . . But “because of the way British police placed security barriers,” the newspaper explained, “[m]ost of the demonstrators were out of his sight.”. . . 

the Guardian, a British news publication, posted a short video of interviews with some of the protestors who gathered in those locations. (It also posted a longer video of people marching and listening to speakers criticize Trump.)

ABC News and CNN also published stories including a video and photos of more than a “very small” number of protestors holding signs with messages denouncing the president. There also was a parade-sized balloon depicting Trump as a baby, and a giant statue of Trump wearing an “impeach me” hat and sitting on a toilet with a phone in his hands.

NBC News reported that “[t]ens of thousands of protesters assembled in the streets of London on Tuesday” in what it said was the “largest of more than two dozen anti-Trump protests planned around the U.K. this week.” One of the groups that organized the demonstration claimed “some 75,000 people” attended the June 4 protest. . . . If so, that wouldn’t even be London’s largest ever gathering of Trump protesters. . . . “While thousands turned out, the protests were significantly smaller than the anti-Trump demonstrations that emerged during the President’s visit to the U.K. last July,” Time reported. The magazine said that time “[a]bout 250,000 people flooded the center of London, and an estimated total of 400,000 people protested across the U.K, resulting in a large-scale police and security operation, in which more than 10,000 police officers were deployed.”

. . . the president has a habit of labeling accurate news stories as “fake news.” This is yet another example. . . "

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A Little . . .

The ocean waves kill the beach
Wherever they please
So many places to reach
Yet still with grace and ease
Countless miles to cover
Before meeting another

Nesting, a wren adds a leaf
A home she foresees
no blueprint, plans and no grief
Construction marvel agreed
Seasons need no instruction
Each with its own introduction

A little at a time
Enough that you can do
All else will wait in line
Many different worlds
Can’t be moved at once

Sun shines so frequently
No invitation required
No schedule does she keep
She and the moon will conspire
You want your cake and to eat it
All in its place without misfit

A little at a time
Enough that you can do
All else will wait in line
Many different worlds
Can’t be moved at once

A Little
©2018 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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Winners . . .

. . . and losers . . . 

. . . with respect to honoring the arts (only) . . . 


“And today our nation has crowned her greatness with grace, and we gather this evening to honor five artists who have helped her to do so,”  - Ronald Reagan at a 1980s Kennedy Center awards ceremony. 


"What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate. " -Donald Trump 

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Seems . . .

 . . . to me



When I woke up today I had all that I want
Everything that I did brought desired results
How could this be? All the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.

But of course I am wrong.  How could I understand
When my society tells me how tall I stand?
Then I take it inside and wait for life’s kiss
Which is sure to arrive ‘cause I’m riding my bliss.

What did I do? The world holds me up
Invisible hands grant the nourishing cup
Have I found a way that has always been there?
It seems to me it came out of thin air.

The child waking up brings the old crone to tears
Pushing through my disguise see the tips of my ears
How could this be all the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.

When I blindly reach out to what I cannot see
Grace reappears and it rescues me
I’m not what I feel, I’m not what you think
I’m only what is and what isn’t in sync.

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Thin AIr . . .

When I woke up today I had all that I want
Everything that I did brought desired results
How could this be? All the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.

But of course I am wrong.  How could I understand
When my society tells me how tall I stand?
Then I take it inside and wait for life’s kiss
Which is sure to arrive ‘cause I’m riding my bliss.

What did I do? The world holds me up
Invisible hands grant the nourishing cup
Have I found a way that has always been there?
It seems to me it came out of thin air.

The child waking up brings the old crone to tears
Pushing through my disguise see the tips of my ears
How could this be all the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.

What did I do? The world holds me up
Invisible hands grant the nourishing cup
Have I found a way that has always been there?
It seems to me it came out of thin air.

When I blindly reach out to what I cannot see
Grace reappears and it rescues me
I’m not what I feel, I’m not what you think
I’m only what is and what isn’t in sync.

What did I do? The world holds me up
Invisible hands grant the nourishing cup
Have I found a way that has always been there?
It seems to me it came out of thin air.


Out Of Thin Air
written by John P. Graboski
(OHO rehearsal recording-
Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak are OHO)





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Finger Pointing. . .

(from Howard Bess)
"Vic Kohring lives in Wasilla, Alaska, the city made famous by Sarah Palin.  He served seven terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives.  He was convicted of accepting illegal gifts.  He served his sentence in prison and has completed his parole/probation without violations of any kind.  All his rights as a citizen have been restored.  He now wants to run for a seat on the Wasilla City Council.
    Bob Filner is the mayor of San Diego, California.  He served in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He served with distinction, but chose to leave Congress to run for the office of Mayor of San Diego.  It has come to light that he has been a habitual sexual harasser of women with whom he worked.  The charges are credible and there has been a loud cry for him to resign from his office of mayor.  He has apologized for his behavior and has no intention to resign.  He wants to be mayor of San Diego.
    Anthony Weiner was elected to the U.S. House of Representative seven times.  When he was charged with inappropriate sexting on the internet, he resigned from Congress and returned to New York City.  When Weiner returned to New York City he continued his sexting activities under a different name.  He has decided that he wants to be mayor of New York City. 
He has apologized for his sexting activities and promises never to do such things gain.  People are calling for his dropping out of the mayoral race.  To date Weiner refuses to be a drop out.
    I do not approve of Vic Kohring accepting illegal gifts.  I do not approve of Bob Filner’s sexual behavior.  I do not approve of Anthony Weiner’s sexting.  However, if I dwell on the things that upset me, I will be a miserable human being.  The Israelite/Christian tradition makes it abundantly clear that all human being are flawed and fall short of the potential of their lives. 
    Some well-intentioned human beings are hung up on cleaning up everyone’s flaws except his/her own.  I am very skeptical about “clean up the mess” politicians and am even more concerned about “clean up the mess” religious leaders.  I love the list of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul enumerates in his Galatians letter.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  I find no reference to judging and whistleblowing.  Judging and whistleblowing do have a spirit behind them, but it is clearly not the one that Paul calls the “Holy Spirit.”
    What to do about what is wrong in the world is a major topic in the Bible literature.  There is disagreement about what should be done.  There were devout people who thought their God advocated killing or seriously penalizing the wrong doer.  Several of the Old Testament prophets disagreed, and for Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth, punishment was counterproductive.  He was much more interested in restoring, reclaiming, and making the flawed persons whole.
    Of all the stories that Jesus told, the one of first importance is the parable of the Good Samaritan.  I would place the parable of the wayward son in the second spot.  The son blew family money on riotous living and made a fool of himself with women.  When he came to his senses, he went home where his father welcomed him and restored him to the family.  To accomplish this, the father had to extend an abundance of grace.  The extension of grace to the unworthy is an essential part of the Christian tradition. 
    Kohring, Weiner and Filner made fools of themselves, but that does not mean that their value as human beings has been discarded.  It may be that Vic Kohring will be a good city council member.  Weiner may make an excellent mayor of New York City and Filner may do a good job as the head of the government in San Diego.  Is there a place for grace in American public life?
    The United States is a nation of law.  However, it does not mean that we cannot be gracious within the framework of law.  Right now the mood of America is not to extend grace to anyone.  We have taken discretion from our judges and substituted mandatory sentences and absurd laws such as “three strikes and you’re out.”
    One of the great hypocrisies of Christians and their churches is their finger pointing and judging.  The foundation of the Christian Faith is not being right and pure but being gracious.  Our Faith calls us to be witnesses about a different way to live.  That way of life is gracious and restores the fallen. 
    If grace is good for any of us, it has to be good for all of us.  All of us must include Kohring, Weiner and Filner."
                   
(The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives In Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net)

  

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Compassion. . .

. . .

“There but for the grace of God,' said John Bradford in the sixteenth century, on seeing wretches led to execution, 'go I.' What this apparently compassionate observation really means--not that it really 'means' anything--is, 'There by the grace of God goes someone else.”
― Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

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Difficult. . .

 . . . yet simple. . .

 [When reading this, please do not interpret words like god, grace, divine, spirit and salvation as their archaic, pre-scientific definitions]
Glossary:  God = one universal mind (not 'Santa')
(from The Science of Mind by Earnest Holmes) 
"As the fall of man was brought about through his own act, so the rise of man will be accomplished through his own act.  God already Is.  Salvation is not a thing but a Way; the way of salvation is through the realization of man's unity with the Whole.  Grace is the givingness of the Spirit to Its Creation and is not a special law, but is a specialized one.  In other words, Grace Is, but we need to recognize It.  It is not something that God imposed upon us, but is the logical result of the correct acceptance of life and of a correct relationship to the Spirit.

We are saved by Grace to the extent that we believe in, accept and seek to embody , the Law of Good; for the Law of Good is ever a Law of Liberty and never one of limitation.  Limitation is not a thing, but is a belief.  Freedom is a Divine Reality while limitation is an illusion, a false belief.

Salvation is an act of man and not an act of God.  Man damned himself and man must save himself, if he ever is saved.  He will save himself to the exact degree that he stops damning himself.  He will live in Heaven when he stops living in hell.  He will be healed when he stops being sick.  He will become rich just as soon as he sops being poor.  He will become as God when he stops masquerading as the devil.  He will be happy when he stops being miserable. He will be at peace when he stops becoming confused.  He will be filled with joy when he stops thinking sadness.  He will live when he stops dying.  He will be perfect when he stops looking upon imperfection; and he will be saved when he stops damning himself.  HE WILL BE ONE WHEN HE STOPS BEING TWO.  MAN, MAN, MAN, MAN, MAN, MAN, MAN; "The great Thou--I--and the great I--Thou.""

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