My friend Howard. . .

.  . is a very wise man

 . . . not that Howard.  Howard Bess. The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net. 

Howard says this week, and rightly so, that it's just plain impossible to leave religion out of politics. In fact, lots of Christians actually believe that American was formed by Christians and for Christians to be a purely Christian nation. In believing this, they think that the 'will of God', as they perceive it, takes precedence over all. In short, says Howard, they want control. Population growth is huge, air and water are becoming more and more polluted and we still sidestep the fact that this is all caused by fundamental religious conviction.  Howard says quite correctly that the Catholic church is a major polluter of the world through the promotion of population growth.

The recent misstatements on the part of a presidential candidate and a number of religious folks saying that the government is inhibiting their freedom of religion betray their ignorance. They can ". . . believe whatever they like, but when they propose that their doctrinal beliefs be made the law of the land, their beliefs become proper subjects of discussion in the political arena. . . " says Howard.

I can't speak for Howard, but from all I've read from him, he thinks similarly in this regard, but I, John Shelby Spong, Science of Mind adherents and a growing number of thinking, questioning, educated seekers do not pretend to know the 'will' of a 'God' based upon ancient texts, mistranslated and misinterpreted over thousands of years.  In fact, God to us is the ground of being.  It (notice I didn't say "HE") is a life-power flowing among all things, but first and foremost, from human beings.  So it stands to reason that anyone who holds an agenda to diminish the life of any human person, especially because they think that a book which contains the last word on the subject, tells them to, is very sadly mistaken. Likewise when they think that book entitles them impose some archaic social practices on the rest of the population, they once again err grievously.

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The time has come. . .

. . . to sing a traveling song. . .

 Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal led to Cash being inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several rock artists.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the "boom-chicka-boom" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." and usually following it up with his standard "Folsom Prison Blues."

Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption.  His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers, including "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called "Jackson"; as well as railroad songs including "Hey, Porter" and "Rock Island Line".

Cash, a troubled but devout Christian,has been characterized as a "lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges." A Biblical scholar,  he penned a Christian novel titled Man in White, and he made a spoken word recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament.  Even so, Cash declared that he was "the biggest sinner of them all", and viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man. Accordingly, Cash is said to have "contained multitudes", and has been deemed "the philosopher-prince of American country music".

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Two hour aloe baths . . .

. . . run by James . . .

 . . . HE ANSWERS THE TELEPHONE WHEN IT RINGS
DINNER AND CAVIAR
IN THE SUN OR RAIN
THE GLASS AND MIMOSA TREES
MAKE IT ALL THE SAME

FOUR VINTAGE AUTOS
SUMMER HOUSE
AND A PRIVATE PLANE
SO MUCH TO DESIRE
WOULD BE NICE
BUT YOU WON’T HEAR ME COMPLAIN
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING THAT’S HOW MY LIFE HAS GOT TO BE
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
THAT’S HOW IT MUST BE FOR ME
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING UNTIL MY WORK’S ALL THROUGH
TO BE WITH YOU
TO BE WITH YOU

IT’S OFF TO IBIZA NOW
FOR A WEEKEND FLING
TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO THESE THINGS
ITALIAN DESIGNER NAMES
IN MY SLEEVES AND CUFFS
IN SPITE OF SUCH EASY MEANS
LIFE CAN BE SO TOUGH


FOUR VINTAGE AUTOS
SUMMER HOUSE
AND A PRIVATE PLANE
SO MUCH TO DESIRE
WOULD BE NICE
BUT YOU WON’T HEAR ME COMPLAIN
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING THAT’S HOW MY LIFE HAS GOT TO BE
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
THAT’S HOW IT MUST BE FOR ME
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING UNTIL MY WORK’S ALL THROUGH
TO BE WITH YOU
TO BE WITH YOU

BUT ONE MAN’S TREASURE
IS NOT TO ALL THE SAME
THESE THINGS OF VALUE
LIKE PRIZES IN SOME GAME

DO YOU THINK THE MEASURE OF
ANY MAN SHOULD BE
HOW MUCH AND HOW MANY THINGS
HE HAS MATERIALLY
WHAT PRICE FOR YOUR SANITY
HOW MUCH WILL YOU PAY
WILL THESE THINGS BE HERE AWHILE
WILL THEY FADE AWAY

FOUR VINTAGE AUTOS
SUMMER HOUSE
AND A PRIVATE PLANE
SO MUCH TO DESIRE
WOULD BE NICE
BUT YOU WON’T HEAR ME COMPLAIN
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING THAT’S HOW MY LIFE HAS GOT TO BE
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
THAT’S HOW IT MUST BE FOR ME
I’LL KEEP ON WORKING
WORKING UNTIL MY WORK’S ALL THROUGH
TO BE WITH YOU
TO BE WITH YOU


WORKING
©1998 Raymond M. Jozwiak





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Even though . . .

. . . it's a digital download . . .

 If you buy it from Amazon, Japan, does that make it an

IMPORT?

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Deja Vu . . .

. . . all over again???

Do you know who said this?  (Not ABOVE.   BELOW!!)  Fortunately, he will not be our next president. . . not that he had a snowball's chance in hades. . . 

"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today. We are not done fighting."

Didn't we recently have a president this articulate?

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Even though . . .

. . . Rick Santorum is obviously unqualified, and his entire campaign is based upon inflammatory rhetoric, fundamentalist religion, and theatrics. . .

Just witness just some of the gems uttered by the Republican candidate:

 “. . . I think the Democrats are actually worried he [Obama] may go to Indonesia and bow to more Muslims. . . ”

". . . Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s OK; contraception is OK. It’s not OK. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. . . ”

" . . . “That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. . . "

" . . . Here is something Rick Santorum just said about global warming:  "The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is," he said. . . "

". . . A few days ago, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his foot in his mouth by saying “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money". . . “I looked at that, and I didn't say that. If you look at it, what I started to say is a word and then sort of changed and it sort of - blah - came out. And people said I said ‘black.’ I didn't," . . . “And I can tell you, I don't use - I don't - first off, I don't use the term ‘black’ very often. I use the term ‘African-American’ more than I use ‘black' ... I think sometimes you want to give someone the benefit of the doubt if it's a little bit of a blurred word. . . "

. . .BUT, upon hearing yesterday's news, I suddenly viewed Rick Santorum as . . . well, as a human being. . . 

". . . GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s campaign says his hospitalized daughter is recovering and could be released soon.  Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday that 3-year-old Bella could be released from a northern Virginia hospital by the end of the day. She was hospitalized Friday. Her father did not campaign Monday so he could be with his daughter, who suffers from a rare genetic condition. Bella was hospitalized earlier this year with pneumonia. Her father faces an uphill battle against front-runner Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum often says Bella wasn’t expected to live beyond her first birthday. . . "

I can't say "I'll pray for her"  because since I don't believe petitioning an invisible, omniscient, theistic and invasive being accomplishes anything (one of many areas where I disagree with Santorum).  But, I can say with all honesty and sincerity with regard to Bella, I hope all goes well.

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I hear ya' . . .

 " . . . From now on, we are enemies, you and I.
Because you will not enter me, with all my need for you;
because you scorn my attempts at virtue;
because you choose for our instrument
a boastful, lustful, smutty infantile boy
and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the Incarnation;
because you are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block you!
I swear it!
I will hinder and harm your creature on earth
as far as I am able.
I will ruin your Incarnation!

(from Amadeus (1984), Milos Forman)

L-STREET (from AMBIENCE & WINE)
©2011 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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