Rev - BBC 2, 10 pm
It was great. A sensitive and funny portrayal of real clergy life and ministry...A vicar friend of mine, also married to a vicar, commented that he '...thoroughly enjoyed Rev. on BBC2. So rare to see vicars portrayed this accurately and this sensitively. If the whole series is this good it'll be fab...' (Thanks MVS)
You can watch it again on iPlayer here
Further thoughts on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
I have re-read the passage and further thoughts on it, musings if you will, are below... I broke the passage down to highlight how specific the tasks and requests given by Jesus to the 70. We should note that they are sent to places that Jesus intends to go. He goes still... so must we...~~~
1. After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore
2. ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.
Go on your way.
3. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
4. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
5. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.
6. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid.
7. Do not move about from house to house.
8. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”
‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’
The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'
~~~~
Final thoughts...
The ministry of the sent disciples is an extension of Jesus’.
Sense of urgency to the story
No dawdling says Jesus
Eat what is put before you - don’t do the usual rounds of hospitality. Eat the food even if it is unclean
Take no bag, no money - also alludes to a reliance on God. No (money) belt.
Go like lambs - be vulnerable like the Lamb of God.
It is assumed that houses and towns will be receptive to the Gospel. There is a sense of expectancy. They can expect rejection too.
Peace in Luke/Acts is another word for salvation. Peace can be given, received, accepted or rejected. It is a gift of God freely offered to all...
The Word as a Wordle for Trinity 5
Luke 10.1-11, 16-20After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”
‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’
The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'
~~~~~~~~~
Here is the text and Wordle of Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 10. I am struck by the juxtaposition of Jesus' very specific call to the disciples about the nature of their mission - to go cannily and '...carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near...' with the Wordle which highlights the words 'house', 'town', 'rejects' and 'Lord.'
Is God opening up a discussion about urban mission in the 21st century where house after house, town after town, culture after culture in contemporary Britain seem to reject Jesus and his teaching...
Republican Sabotage, it's really happening...
This is too good an article to just link to, So I'm gonna give Theda Skocpol the bragging rights to it and post so you can comment. Thanks to TPM also.
We dems are talking about this republican sabotage but who is stepping up to the plate to stop them? Most of us here in our little blogs have said the same thing as Ms. Skocpol, but she says it so well, worth reading again and again....
Republicans are Undercutting National Economic Recovery -- and Dems Need to Say So 24/7
By Theda Skocpol - June 24, 2010, 12:18PM
The same old story happens again and again. Dems in the House pass reasonable legislation, and Senate Dems dicker with centrists and Republicans over "compromises," weakening the legislation step by step over many weeks, only to find zero Republican support in the end.
The public has no idea what is going on, and just blames Democrats, who appear to be in charge in DC. Now it is happening gain with vital public spending for national economy recovery -- state aid, unemployment relief, and adjustments in taxes and Medicare payments. This legislation is not just important to this or that group. It matters for keeping any semblance of national economic growth going, for creating and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The President, Congressional leaders, and Democrats of all stripes should be yelling day in, day out, that REPUBLICANS ARE SABOTAGING NATIONAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY. AND PREVENTING JOB GROWTH, JUST FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE. That should be the message all the time, led by the President. Stop the murky compromises and the whining about "helping the unemployed." Stop pretending this is about the deficit -- nothing will hurt the deficit more than delayed economic growth. Say what it happening in terms of the national interest.
Republicans are not "compassionate" toward the unemployed, complain Democrats and bloggers. Sorry, folks, that is not what is happening here.
It is past time for President Obama to pin the tail on the Republican obstructionist elephant -- and do it loud and clear all the way to election day. So what if a few conservaDems are part of the problem, too? The real issue is 41 Senate Republicans who will not help the nation's economy recover fast, because they want political advantage. Say so.
read more here
We dems are talking about this republican sabotage but who is stepping up to the plate to stop them? Most of us here in our little blogs have said the same thing as Ms. Skocpol, but she says it so well, worth reading again and again....
Republicans are Undercutting National Economic Recovery -- and Dems Need to Say So 24/7
By Theda Skocpol - June 24, 2010, 12:18PM
The same old story happens again and again. Dems in the House pass reasonable legislation, and Senate Dems dicker with centrists and Republicans over "compromises," weakening the legislation step by step over many weeks, only to find zero Republican support in the end.
The public has no idea what is going on, and just blames Democrats, who appear to be in charge in DC. Now it is happening gain with vital public spending for national economy recovery -- state aid, unemployment relief, and adjustments in taxes and Medicare payments. This legislation is not just important to this or that group. It matters for keeping any semblance of national economic growth going, for creating and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The President, Congressional leaders, and Democrats of all stripes should be yelling day in, day out, that REPUBLICANS ARE SABOTAGING NATIONAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY. AND PREVENTING JOB GROWTH, JUST FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE. That should be the message all the time, led by the President. Stop the murky compromises and the whining about "helping the unemployed." Stop pretending this is about the deficit -- nothing will hurt the deficit more than delayed economic growth. Say what it happening in terms of the national interest.
Republicans are not "compassionate" toward the unemployed, complain Democrats and bloggers. Sorry, folks, that is not what is happening here.
It is past time for President Obama to pin the tail on the Republican obstructionist elephant -- and do it loud and clear all the way to election day. So what if a few conservaDems are part of the problem, too? The real issue is 41 Senate Republicans who will not help the nation's economy recover fast, because they want political advantage. Say so.
read more here
god Reagan said what?? Listen carefully conservative Obama haters.....
and don't say awwww shucks, we don't hate the man we hate his policies! Well, did you hate the Reagan policies?? Of course you didn't!
Thank you Rachel Maddow for highlighting President Obama's first 18 months. The media does NOT talk about these accomplishments enough, all they want to talk about is the negative and that's why liberals like myself get anxious, and impatient, and annoyed by the slow pace of things. We need to remember the past and why we elected Barack Obama. We have a capable man who is giving his damnedest so we can have a better future. The man is not perfect, no man is, but he is our president and we should respect that and stand behind him in good times and bad. Look at the alternative! Republicans have promised Americans they will repeal everything Obama has done thus far, is that the direction we want to go, backwards?? They have told the voters they will sit on their hands and work hard to destroy the president, but what they are doing is not destroying Obama they are destroying the lives of you and me, can't the righties see that?? NO, because Glenn Beck talks to them about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, so the sheep follow the lies and the hate and the fear. They want to go back to the comfort of the cowboy rule. They would rather have a warmonger cowboy in the White House then a black democrat. Sad and pathetic....
.Don't give up democrats, NEVER forget what this country was like under republican reign. Fight like hell to move forward, don't believe the lies. Keep reminding your fellow bloggers why the country put a democrat in the White House and why we must keep him there....
Thank you Rachel Maddow for highlighting President Obama's first 18 months. The media does NOT talk about these accomplishments enough, all they want to talk about is the negative and that's why liberals like myself get anxious, and impatient, and annoyed by the slow pace of things. We need to remember the past and why we elected Barack Obama. We have a capable man who is giving his damnedest so we can have a better future. The man is not perfect, no man is, but he is our president and we should respect that and stand behind him in good times and bad. Look at the alternative! Republicans have promised Americans they will repeal everything Obama has done thus far, is that the direction we want to go, backwards?? They have told the voters they will sit on their hands and work hard to destroy the president, but what they are doing is not destroying Obama they are destroying the lives of you and me, can't the righties see that?? NO, because Glenn Beck talks to them about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, so the sheep follow the lies and the hate and the fear. They want to go back to the comfort of the cowboy rule. They would rather have a warmonger cowboy in the White House then a black democrat. Sad and pathetic....
.Don't give up democrats, NEVER forget what this country was like under republican reign. Fight like hell to move forward, don't believe the lies. Keep reminding your fellow bloggers why the country put a democrat in the White House and why we must keep him there....
This is the kind of man I am looking for...
to be our next president, Ed Schultz. His fired up personality, the way he can tell the American people EXACTLY what the republican party is doing to us, gets me so fired up I could punch every republican obstructionist square in the face and not feel one bit sorry! Who else is telling us the thugs have killed the unemployment extension AGAIN?? You don't see our Dem leaders on TV after the vote telling us these thugs are ruining the lives of millions of Americans out of work in the worst economy since the great depression!! Well, okay, you are seeing a few of the Senators on Ed's show but they sound defeated!! Why is a 57 to 41 NOT a majority vote to pass the bill??? I know people but FIX it so it is a majority vote!! The thugs are crying about unemployment insurance extensions and deficits again, BUT will fight for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%!!! When I read these stories and watch Ed's show I get sick to my stomach, especially when new polls come out saying the country prefers Republicans to take control of the House and Senate!! What country do these people live in??? This is about Republicans and Democrats, there is a clear distinction between the 2 parties when it comes to the economy. Educate yourselves Independents....
The Leverstock Green Big Lunch 2010
The Big Lunch is an initiative that began last year, the brain child of the Eden Project in Cornwall. From their own website:
The Big Lunch began life as a wild seed at The Eden Project. We believe the world can get better by working together, with nature, optimism and common sense.
We know that when people get together, we become more positive and start to sort out some serious stuff. By simply having some fun on one day in July, we can build new friendships that we can enjoy for the rest of the year.
The Big Lunch is a chance for different generations and backgrounds to hear each other out and share stories, skills and interests. It's the start of a journey into rebuilding our communities. We call this phenomenon ‘human warming’.
For most of us, doing The Big Lunch is simply about having fun and sending a message to the establishment that we're not all going to hell in a handcart. But there are many of us who lead lonely lives or at least more isolated or anonymous lives than we’d like. The stats don’t make easy reading but if we want to turn them around, we need to hear them:
* Two million more single person households by 2019.
* More rich, poor and ethnic ghettos than ever before.
* 7% annual drop in trust between neighbours from 2003-05.
* Social trust in the UK halved and now among the lowest in Europe.
So, you might think a street party is the last thing you’d do to tackle crime, domestic violence, homelessness or children in poverty. But as a catalyst facing up to tough issues, it works, as anyone who took part last year knows. When doors open up, people open up and neighbourhoods open up, from sleepy hamlets to hyper estates.
It seems to me that the drive behind the Big Lunch is stuffed full of Kingdom values and the justice of God.
Last year the Church of England encouraged parishes to take part. On their website they said:
Churches are being encouraged to grow their own produce – or use local food – and break bread with their own community as part of the Eden Projects nationwide ‘Big Lunch’ this summer...
... [T]he Big Lunch aims to bring communities – both rural and urban - together to create a new sense of neighbourhood and make the most of what they have on their own doorstep.
With a Christian presence in every community the Church of England is keen to tap into the event and support community ventures or host their own.
Dr Jill Hopkinson, the National Rural Officer for the Church of England, said this would be a chance for churches to celebrate with their communities: “The rural church has always been deeply involved in its local community and this is a great way to show it. The Big Lunch is an opportunity for rural churches of all denominations to work together to encourage gardeners, support local farmers and food producers and have fun with the whole rural community.”
David Shreeve, the Church of England's Environment Adviser, said: “Many churches already organise parish lunches for their congregations on Sundays. The Big Lunch brings the opportunity to extend these and offer a welcome to others in their communities. If this can include using church land to produce some of the food then that would be a real bonus...'
Last year in Leverstock Green we also held a Big Lunch with some 70 people coming to build community, to deepen friendships, to commit to local living and and join the fun.
We are holding another one this year on July 18th from 12 noon in the church yard. As we share together and get to know one another we are also standing against poverty, we are standing up for our community, we are standing on a road that leads to sustainable living and justice for the whole of creation. Why? Because these things matter, not just to us because we a re nice, but because they buy into God's vision of how humanity should live:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Why not join us?
McChrystal is out, Petraeus is in...
President Obama has relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his duties as the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, after McChrystal was quoted criticizing top White House officials in a Rolling Stone article, according to a White House official.
President Obama named Gen. David Petraeus to succeed McChrystal as top war commander in Afghanistan.
Will this be a first for the rightwing bloggers to say a positive word about President Obama?? We'll soon see....
Think Progress says...Conservatives are likely to cheer Obama’s decision. Yesterday, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol advised Obama to “ask Gen. David Petraeus to give up his CENTCOM post and take command of the war in Afghanistan.”
But the asshole commenters at Fox.com say this...
"I just got finished reading the highlights of General McChrystal's career. This man is an American Patriot of the highest order. Since 1976, he has served with distinction and honor. The audacity that an incompetent, America hating loser of a president can terminate him makes my skin crawl. Barack Obama has no clue of how to prosecute a war, nor how to govern a country. America is in great peril as a result of the November, 2008 presidential election."
"How does an illegal alien get to fire a General?"
And I will end with this noble comment from one sick M F'er ....
"It is time for the military to remember to what their first allegiance is to; The Constitution of the United States and not to the President or Vice President. It is time for the military to take matters into their own hands and remove the traitors that occupy the White House, The Blair house, the Halls of Congress, and the Supreme Court of the United States; and Return the Nation to the Federalist Republic that the Founding Fathers created and intended our nation to be. Anyone who promotes SOCIALISM, as a choice for America, is an enemy of the States and Citizens of the United States and needs to be dealt with charges of High Treason and upon conviction executed as appropriate.
May God restore the mightiness of the United States, with His grace!
Pro Deo Et Patria!
These are Americas Fox Patriots!!
President Obama named Gen. David Petraeus to succeed McChrystal as top war commander in Afghanistan.
Will this be a first for the rightwing bloggers to say a positive word about President Obama?? We'll soon see....
Think Progress says...Conservatives are likely to cheer Obama’s decision. Yesterday, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol advised Obama to “ask Gen. David Petraeus to give up his CENTCOM post and take command of the war in Afghanistan.”
But the asshole commenters at Fox.com say this...
"I just got finished reading the highlights of General McChrystal's career. This man is an American Patriot of the highest order. Since 1976, he has served with distinction and honor. The audacity that an incompetent, America hating loser of a president can terminate him makes my skin crawl. Barack Obama has no clue of how to prosecute a war, nor how to govern a country. America is in great peril as a result of the November, 2008 presidential election."
"How does an illegal alien get to fire a General?"
And I will end with this noble comment from one sick M F'er ....
"It is time for the military to remember to what their first allegiance is to; The Constitution of the United States and not to the President or Vice President. It is time for the military to take matters into their own hands and remove the traitors that occupy the White House, The Blair house, the Halls of Congress, and the Supreme Court of the United States; and Return the Nation to the Federalist Republic that the Founding Fathers created and intended our nation to be. Anyone who promotes SOCIALISM, as a choice for America, is an enemy of the States and Citizens of the United States and needs to be dealt with charges of High Treason and upon conviction executed as appropriate.
May God restore the mightiness of the United States, with His grace!
Pro Deo Et Patria!
These are Americas Fox Patriots!!
if it was my funeral...
Here goes, it is time to get morbid.
There have been a few funerals around my world recently. I won't mention whose, as anyone reading this can probably guess if they know me. At these funerals, there are some peculiar practices that -if it where mine- I would probably not like. No, I think of something else entirely.
Sometimes, there is a bit sermonizing at funerals. It is usually about the need to accept Jesus so you can get into heaven when you die. Apparently, this is sometimes accompanied by a full on altar call. So after everyone remembers the deceased, there is a need for the minister to make sure everyone is going to get to heaven too. It seems to make sense. If the Gospel is about going to heaven when you die, then what better time than a funeral to make sure everyone gets to heaven when you do?
Now, don't think that this practice is wrong. Yet, if it were my funeral, I think I would resurrect from the dead right then and give the minister an earful. I am not a fan of altar calls in general. Now altar calls at a funeral seem just plain thoughtless. It is as if evangelical ministers do not know how to do much except evangelize, and they only way they know how is via altar calls. It seems a tacky -and perhaps even manipulative- practice.
Christians believe in things other than making everyone Christian, right? We believe things beyond "go and preach the Gospel", right? We have entire traditions of devotions, practices, and above all hope, yes? Wouldn't some of those be more appropriate for a funeral? This leads me to my next thought...
At many funerals there is a lot of talk about heaven. The soul of the deceased is in eternity with God. The deceased may even still be with us in spirit and watching down. I am reminded of the old Family Circus cartoons in which a ghostly apparition of the deceased grandfather happily watches his grand children from the clouds. This hallmark image of heaven is what is so often invoked at a Christian funeral.
In contrast to altar calls, please do think that this is wrong. This is not what the Bible teaches. It is not what Christian hope is. This is not what Christians are supposed to believe about life-after-death. As one blogger put it, this belief is a second rate consolation prize compared to what God really has for us.
Paul speaks of the redemption of the the body (Romans 8:23) and elsewhere he talks of the raising for the dead (1 Corinthians 15). This is not some metaphor for salvation. This means that our bodies, which are now cursed by sin and will die, will be physically raised up and returned to perfection with the rest of God's good creation some day. It is for this reason that early Christians dug catacombs for their dead, rather than burning them. Their bodies were simply to sacred to be burnt on a Roman funeral pyre.
I think of it this way: my last earthly memories of my late grandfather were when he was tired, sick, old and unable to remember our names. He was so weak that he could not swallow applesauce. But when the dead are raised, his body will not suffer anymore and stroke that so damaged his mind will be of no consequence. I do not think of my grandfather as floating on the clouds watching my life right now, but I look forward to telling him all about it when the dead are raised on the last day.
At my funeral, this is what I want people to talk about it. We can forget about an altar call. We can forget about souls floating to heaven. Whenever I die, and am buried in the dirt, I want whoever speaks to emphasize the future bodily resurrection. That is what I look forward to with the entire Christian world.
I guess that wasn't so morbid after all, huh?
Word as a Wordle for Trinity 4
Here is the Wordle of Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 9.51-62, the text of it follows below.51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’* 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then* they went on to another village.
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60But Jesus* said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'
I am struck by the Wordle which highlights the words 'Jesus', 'Lord', and 'go.' Those three words for me point to Jesus' desire to go, to be active in the ministry that God has given him. I am reminded of that passage from Isaiah 55:11,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Jesus is active in proclaiming and showing the love of the Lord, of God, in Word and deed and none of Jesus ministry is fruitless. Even the most hopeless of Gospel situations, spoken into by Jesus, ring aloud with the hope of resurrection.
And yet this section of the Gospel seems to be a passage about barriers to that active proclamation of the Gospel. He is rebuffed by a Samaritan village and when he is the disciples instead of responding in love, or just ignore it, respond by asking whether God should punish their hardness of heart. Yet those closest to him have misunderstood the hospitality of the Gospel which offers even the Samaritans - the most despised of near religious cousins to good Jews - the fullness of the goodness and grace of God.
The barriers are also placed by Jesus himself. Even reasonable requests for social etiquette - saying farewell, burying the dead - are unreasonable when confronted by the Gospel. A Gospel which consistently asks the disciple - are your priorities consistently God-ward? Where is your treasure?
Jesus seems to say that family ties, friendships, work are all important, they are lifegiving and enriching now, but in the economy of eternity they count for nothing in the face of an offer of eternal life.
Jesus says - hear and accept the offer of Life from the Lord God - or not... and watch it go on by, head down, onward to those who will receive it....
Puppy Search 2010: A Possible Conclusion
I often blog serious stuff here, sermons and the like, but I thought I would share something different and perhaps a little more personal.
As a family we have been looking to increase our family, already fairly full with 5 of us, by getting a puppy. We hoped that this would be good especially for our boys, but in fairness for all of us.
My darling wife has been doing a lot of research and reading, and a number of weeks ago now found what we hoped was going to be a good breeder and a good puppy. All we went well - we visited, paid a deposit, and finally collected Hetty (don't ask)
a name chosen by son number 2. We brought her home to much joy and celebrating. Our lives were much richer with her in them.
Sadly, all did not go well, as after a visit to a local vet for her vaccinations, we discovered she had a significant heart murmur and the vet told us that we should return her to the breader. We ummed and erred over this for a day or two but eventually decided that this was the right thing to do.
It is amazing how attached we got to Hetty so quickly. She had a lovely nature. Having to tell our kids what we needed to do was one of the single hardest things I have ever done.
Our sense of bereavement continued for days...
We have since then kept our eyes and ears open for new litters, and then finally we found one not so far away in High Wycombe. We went across to see the litter and meet their owners on Saturday.
The pups are beautiful and the mother is attentive but also very happy for others, namely us and the kids, to pick up and play with her puppies. We got on well with the owners too who were warm and welcoming and clearly church-goers - the statue of Jesus and icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary gave it away!
All in all we are delighted and a deposit cheque hits the post in the early part of this week.
In the meantime, if you would like to join us in our countdown, the owners of the pups have a blog which you can view here with video, pictures and anecdotes about the litter...
P-day here we come!!!
As a family we have been looking to increase our family, already fairly full with 5 of us, by getting a puppy. We hoped that this would be good especially for our boys, but in fairness for all of us.
My darling wife has been doing a lot of research and reading, and a number of weeks ago now found what we hoped was going to be a good breeder and a good puppy. All we went well - we visited, paid a deposit, and finally collected Hetty (don't ask)
a name chosen by son number 2. We brought her home to much joy and celebrating. Our lives were much richer with her in them.Sadly, all did not go well, as after a visit to a local vet for her vaccinations, we discovered she had a significant heart murmur and the vet told us that we should return her to the breader. We ummed and erred over this for a day or two but eventually decided that this was the right thing to do.
It is amazing how attached we got to Hetty so quickly. She had a lovely nature. Having to tell our kids what we needed to do was one of the single hardest things I have ever done.
Our sense of bereavement continued for days...
We have since then kept our eyes and ears open for new litters, and then finally we found one not so far away in High Wycombe. We went across to see the litter and meet their owners on Saturday.
The pups are beautiful and the mother is attentive but also very happy for others, namely us and the kids, to pick up and play with her puppies. We got on well with the owners too who were warm and welcoming and clearly church-goers - the statue of Jesus and icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary gave it away!All in all we are delighted and a deposit cheque hits the post in the early part of this week.
In the meantime, if you would like to join us in our countdown, the owners of the pups have a blog which you can view here with video, pictures and anecdotes about the litter...
P-day here we come!!!
Shelby calls for Haywards resignation...
I'm not saying a word about Hayward on his yacht because you righties are prepared to slam Obama for playing golf now aren't ya?? Someone needs new PR...
Shelby also called Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) assertion that BP was owed an apology “dumb.” He also invited Barton and Rand Paul — who defended Barton — to come down to the Gulf and “see what’s happening.”
Is Shelby calling Barton's apology to BP dumb, or is he saying Barton was dumb for apologizing?
Furthermore, while conservatives have begun attacking the Obama administration for being too tough on big business as a result of the pressure on BP, Shelby pushed back and echoed progressive calls for strengthening regulators:
SHELBY: We need hands-on regulation in this area. Maybe we’ve learned some things — that we can’t take shortcuts. … A lot of it is common sense — and not let the industry run way ahead of the regulators. The regulators have got to be on top of the industry, not the industry on top of the regulators.
Are the GOP'ers getting nervous? There has been a ton of anger down there in the Gulf region. Are they backtracking now because an election month is looming? We'll soon see how dedicated these Gopers are when it comes time to vote on new regulations!
Think Progress has some great commenter's, here's a few I agree with:
Marie says:
Some repugs have seen the writing on the wall insofar as their defense of BP — even Haley Barbour said today that he “misunderstood” how the $20B in escrow was going to be dealt, and now that he knows, he thinks Obama was smart to do it.
Yeah, right — the only thing these guys are trying to change is that their sympathy and defense for BP is NOT shared by their constituents. They can collect $$$ from the industry, but if they still can’t get enough votes to be reelected, they have trouble.
Barton, Paul and others who have come to the aid and comfort of BP and the industry are on the wrong side of this.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
New England Indy says:
Yeah, right — the only thing these guys are trying to change is that their sympathy and defense for BP is NOT shared by their constituents. They can collect $$$ from the industry, but if they still can’t get enough votes to be reelected, they have trouble.
Barton, Paul and others who have come to the aid and comfort of BP and the industry are on the wrong side of this.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
New England Indy says:
The Joe Barton episode has sure put the fear in the repugs. I guess they know now that protecting corporations at all cost is too costly. This whole “shakedown” meme was agreed upon by repugs before Barton said it. Imagine having a platform that you cant make public for fear that it will look bad.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
And I will close with a little from Rahm.....
June 20th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
And I will close with a little from Rahm.....
Marie says:
Rahm Emanual said today: Obama will make clear to voters the fundamental differences in how each party would govern, focusing on energy policy, Wall Street reform and economic recovery.
Republicans will side with big business, big banks, and big oil — Dems will side with people and our future.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Republicans will side with big business, big banks, and big oil — Dems will side with people and our future.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Naming and shaming at Geresa...
A friend of mine was speculating what linked this morning’s Gospel reading to Father’s Day. I hasten to add that you wouldn’t expect it to, but anyway... The link between the demon possessed man this morning’s Gospel reading and Father’s Day is that he was driven out of his mind and he wouldn’t go home... until he was commanded to at least!... Da, dum, tish!
The city of Geresa is to the south east of the Sea of Galilee, in what would have once been an area with predominantly Jewish settlers but by the time of Jesus it was pretty mixed. There was a huge Roman city called Jerash in the area, and presumably the swine were to feed the Romans.
The disciples would probably have been extremely reluctant to go with Jesus to this place. It was outside their comfort zone, the Jewish people were pretty superstitious, becoming unclean if they touched various things like someone who had died, or pigs, or even if they touched a woman during her period. So in a country with so many foreigners it was possible that there were all sorts of horrible things to be fearful of. And in this passage there are the pigs and the demoniac.
The demon shouts aloud ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’ The demon in the man proclaims aloud knowledge we take for granted that the disciples had only just begun to get a sense of... that this man, Jesus of Nazareth was more than a Rabbi.
The disciples have been with Jesus a while now and heard Jesus teach about God’s kingdom and love, but in these chapters of Luke’s Gospel, they are beginning to see the power of God at work in him. This encounter stands in a line of miraculous events and teaching in the Gospel - calming of the storm, healing of the centurion’s servant, the raising of the widow of Nain’s son, the forgiving of the sinful woman we heard about in last week’s Gospel reading and the healing of the man with the withered hand. The demon proclaims what has been known in eternity, that Jesus is the Son of God, with the power of God at work in him.
I am intregued by Luke’s little aside that the man was under guard and bound in chains. This man was as incarsarated as he could be, and yet the demon or the man or both long to be free - the man occasionally breaks the bonds and runs out of the city into the wild - the spiritual realm, the realm of angels and demons. The liberation that the man is offered by the demon is only a pale imitation of what Jesus offers them both - liberation.
Another interesting thing to note is that Jesus asks, presumably the demon, it’s name. Legion.
In the Bible, the power to use someone’s name is the power to control or completely understand them. It is interesting that for a certain generation of people - being known by their first names was never an option. It was disrespectful. When I was a child, we had elderly neighbours who lived over the road - I knew their names were Tom and Elmer, but they were always Mr and Mrs Nicholson. Always. In Genesis, Adam not only names all the animals, giving him dominion over them. God himself, when asked his name by Moses replies enigmatically ‘I am that I am.’ So Jesus asks for his name, and the man gives it - Legion. The word Legion means six thousand soldiers, and the man is identified completely by his Legion of demons. In naming the man, the control of Jesus feels like a good thing, like something that is healing and restorative.
The restoration Jesus offers isn’t just psychological or spiritual, as in being healed, the man is restored to his community too. Following the healing the man is seated at Jesus feet - like Martha - sat as one who learns from a Rabbi. The man is healed, but the Greek word is saved, as he also now has a right relationship with God through Jesus.
The people of the town were terrified by the exorcism. In a way I can see why, but on the other hand should they not have been rejoicing? It is one thing believing in God, it is quite another thing to see him in action so to speak it is awe inspiring. It can be terrifying. We would respond in just the same way because our lives are very ordered and distant from a God who is confined to a tidy hour or so on Sunday morning. It is a fearful thing when God steps into our ordered lives and shakes them with His divine presence.
Is this why they sent Jesus away? Possibly, but I suspect that it might have had more to do with economics - they preferred swine to a saviour. Possessions, even at the cost of possession, are more highly valued than this once demon possessed man.
Was this episode a failure? By no means because Jesus leaves behind a disciple who longs to go with Jesus but instead is given a mission - go to your home and tell of how much God has done for you...
Two final thoughts. Firstly, I do believe in demons as spiritual entities in a Biblical sense, but also I believe that demons can be a spiritual expression of the reality of the world. Our lives can be completely consumed, obsessed by, addicted to any number of different things physically but their impact is so often felt spiritually, at our core, in our hearts. This morning’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus longs to liberate us from the things which bind and possess us and with which we demonize each other whether that’s attitudes, politics, habits or substances. God longs to free us to be the people he made us to be - named as his beloved sons and daughters.
Secondly, at the heart of this story is the love of God. God’s love encounters this man in Jesus and sees him transformed. The man is then sent by Jesus with a specific task - ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. Proclaiming the all transforming love of God is not for the a job for the specialists - clergy et al - but for all of us whose lives are touched and turned upside down by Jesus.
With heartfelt thanks to Simon Robinson and Lesley Fellows...
The city of Geresa is to the south east of the Sea of Galilee, in what would have once been an area with predominantly Jewish settlers but by the time of Jesus it was pretty mixed. There was a huge Roman city called Jerash in the area, and presumably the swine were to feed the Romans.
The disciples would probably have been extremely reluctant to go with Jesus to this place. It was outside their comfort zone, the Jewish people were pretty superstitious, becoming unclean if they touched various things like someone who had died, or pigs, or even if they touched a woman during her period. So in a country with so many foreigners it was possible that there were all sorts of horrible things to be fearful of. And in this passage there are the pigs and the demoniac.
The demon shouts aloud ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’ The demon in the man proclaims aloud knowledge we take for granted that the disciples had only just begun to get a sense of... that this man, Jesus of Nazareth was more than a Rabbi.The disciples have been with Jesus a while now and heard Jesus teach about God’s kingdom and love, but in these chapters of Luke’s Gospel, they are beginning to see the power of God at work in him. This encounter stands in a line of miraculous events and teaching in the Gospel - calming of the storm, healing of the centurion’s servant, the raising of the widow of Nain’s son, the forgiving of the sinful woman we heard about in last week’s Gospel reading and the healing of the man with the withered hand. The demon proclaims what has been known in eternity, that Jesus is the Son of God, with the power of God at work in him.
I am intregued by Luke’s little aside that the man was under guard and bound in chains. This man was as incarsarated as he could be, and yet the demon or the man or both long to be free - the man occasionally breaks the bonds and runs out of the city into the wild - the spiritual realm, the realm of angels and demons. The liberation that the man is offered by the demon is only a pale imitation of what Jesus offers them both - liberation.
Another interesting thing to note is that Jesus asks, presumably the demon, it’s name. Legion.
In the Bible, the power to use someone’s name is the power to control or completely understand them. It is interesting that for a certain generation of people - being known by their first names was never an option. It was disrespectful. When I was a child, we had elderly neighbours who lived over the road - I knew their names were Tom and Elmer, but they were always Mr and Mrs Nicholson. Always. In Genesis, Adam not only names all the animals, giving him dominion over them. God himself, when asked his name by Moses replies enigmatically ‘I am that I am.’ So Jesus asks for his name, and the man gives it - Legion. The word Legion means six thousand soldiers, and the man is identified completely by his Legion of demons. In naming the man, the control of Jesus feels like a good thing, like something that is healing and restorative.
The restoration Jesus offers isn’t just psychological or spiritual, as in being healed, the man is restored to his community too. Following the healing the man is seated at Jesus feet - like Martha - sat as one who learns from a Rabbi. The man is healed, but the Greek word is saved, as he also now has a right relationship with God through Jesus.
The people of the town were terrified by the exorcism. In a way I can see why, but on the other hand should they not have been rejoicing? It is one thing believing in God, it is quite another thing to see him in action so to speak it is awe inspiring. It can be terrifying. We would respond in just the same way because our lives are very ordered and distant from a God who is confined to a tidy hour or so on Sunday morning. It is a fearful thing when God steps into our ordered lives and shakes them with His divine presence.
Is this why they sent Jesus away? Possibly, but I suspect that it might have had more to do with economics - they preferred swine to a saviour. Possessions, even at the cost of possession, are more highly valued than this once demon possessed man.
Was this episode a failure? By no means because Jesus leaves behind a disciple who longs to go with Jesus but instead is given a mission - go to your home and tell of how much God has done for you...
Two final thoughts. Firstly, I do believe in demons as spiritual entities in a Biblical sense, but also I believe that demons can be a spiritual expression of the reality of the world. Our lives can be completely consumed, obsessed by, addicted to any number of different things physically but their impact is so often felt spiritually, at our core, in our hearts. This morning’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus longs to liberate us from the things which bind and possess us and with which we demonize each other whether that’s attitudes, politics, habits or substances. God longs to free us to be the people he made us to be - named as his beloved sons and daughters.
Secondly, at the heart of this story is the love of God. God’s love encounters this man in Jesus and sees him transformed. The man is then sent by Jesus with a specific task - ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. Proclaiming the all transforming love of God is not for the a job for the specialists - clergy et al - but for all of us whose lives are touched and turned upside down by Jesus.
With heartfelt thanks to Simon Robinson and Lesley Fellows...
Limbaugh, Limpballs, Limpy, Drugster,
Limbaugh: "[T]his is going to be used as a little miniature slush fund." On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed, "When we last heard from the leader of the regime, he said that an independent, third-party person will be handling the $20 billion payout to people in the Gulf of Mexico." After noting that Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation Kenneth Feinberg would oversee the escrow fund, Limbaugh said, "The guy works for Obama, he's a czar, but somehow this thing is going to be sloughed off as some sort of independent agency he's going to head up? How stupid do they think we are, folks?" Limbaugh later added:
Who's going to get this MONEY??? LIMPBALLS wants to know!!!
Union activists??? ACORN PEOPLE???
HOLY FUCKIN' SHIT!!! Is this asshole serious???
UPDATE:
Did you read Immoral Minority? Its on my sidebar, check out his post on Bill Randall. Here's some of it.......
Bill Randall, a North Carolina Republican candidate for Congress, is calling for a "thorough investigation" into whether President Barack Obama's administration colluded with BP to allow the Gulf oil spill.
"There were procedures that were violated by BP that the federal government signed off on, safeguards that decades of engineering wherewithal and knowledge told them that this way the way to do it," Randall told reporters earlier this week. "They intentionally bypassed that and the safety was compromised."
Randall continued: "I’m not necessarily a conspiracy person, but I don’t think enough investigation has been done on this. Someone needs to be digging into that situation. Personally, and this is purely speculative on my part and not based on any fact, but personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion."
What's going on with those teabagging morons?? I don't listen to Limbaughs show but I can bet this will be his next subject !
Look, the government's in charge of this. I want to know who's going to get it. Who's going to get this money? Union activists? ACORN people? Who's going to get this money? Let's keep a sharp eye on who Feinberg gives this money to, because I'm telling you, this is another bailout fund called something else, and we'll see who gets it. If Obama's past is prologue -- and it is -- then this is going to be used as a little miniature slush fund. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/16/10]
Who's going to get this MONEY??? LIMPBALLS wants to know!!!
Union activists??? ACORN PEOPLE???
HOLY FUCKIN' SHIT!!! Is this asshole serious???
UPDATE:
Did you read Immoral Minority? Its on my sidebar, check out his post on Bill Randall. Here's some of it.......
Bill Randall, a North Carolina Republican candidate for Congress, is calling for a "thorough investigation" into whether President Barack Obama's administration colluded with BP to allow the Gulf oil spill.
"There were procedures that were violated by BP that the federal government signed off on, safeguards that decades of engineering wherewithal and knowledge told them that this way the way to do it," Randall told reporters earlier this week. "They intentionally bypassed that and the safety was compromised."
Randall continued: "I’m not necessarily a conspiracy person, but I don’t think enough investigation has been done on this. Someone needs to be digging into that situation. Personally, and this is purely speculative on my part and not based on any fact, but personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion."
What's going on with those teabagging morons?? I don't listen to Limbaughs show but I can bet this will be his next subject !
they really are going all out for the teabaggers!
Look what's new in your friendly neighborhood conservawackotive blogs! They call it Ten Bucks Friday, but I'll call it Dumbdown Friday...
With 40% of the vote, Sharron Angle wins in the first weekly "Ten Buck Fridays" Poll. Please send $10 to Sharron Angle today. Help defeat Dingy Harry in Nevada. Retire the Senate Majority leader!
Who will win next week? Be sure to check out RK's Sunday post to make a nomination for next week's poll.
Isn't this cute?? They have their own little game started to help elect TEABAGGERS! I won't publish the blogs that are promoting this Ten Bucks Friday thingy, don't want to embarrass anyone...
So far in this one blog there are 6 or so comments saying what a great idea, plus promises to send money to help out the great Ms. Angle. Good lordy they have lost their minds.....
We should start up a donation game too for our side, anyone have any ideas??
The more they scream the better off WE are....
Think Progress has helped with this post:
Last night, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of Republican House members, fired off a statement declaring that the $20 billion dollar negotiated by BP and the Obama administration for victims of the oil catastrophe in the gulf is a “Chicago-Style Political Shakedown.” Echoing this sentiment, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) told BP executives that he is “sorry” for Obama’s “shakedown” of their company.
This morning, ThinkProgress traveled to Capitol Hill to interview lawmakers about the escrow fund. Several members of Congress, like Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), agreed with the RSC’s criticism of the fund. Even though Fleming’s home state of Louisiana has been devastated by BP’s spill, Fleming attacked the administration for not trusting BP and for daring to “take control of all the money from BP.” Asked about Barton’s apology to BP, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said any lawmaker has a right to “do what they want”
Let's be clear, rightwingers are screaming President Obama hasn't been a true leader during this Gulf disaster. They are screaming how incompetant our president has been these past 50 plus days, they say he is partying, he is playing golf, he is entertaining thugs at the White House while the Gulf is in peril!!
Wingnuts are saying this agreement with BP will lead to the Obama administrations TAKEOVER of BIG OIL!! "BP agreed to paying all costs for this disaster, so why did Obambi(thats what they call our president)have to resort to a "shakedown" with BP?" OKAY, so wingnuts trust BP, they think an agreement, a handshake, will be good enough. An AGREEMENT with BP is NOT a BINDING CONTRACT. What President Obama did yesterday was worthy of praise and wingnuts will go down in flames for this criticism. They are standing with big oil and slapping the faces of the people in the Gulf whose lives are changed, probably forever!
Wingers wanted President Obama to be involved, to be a leader and take control, but when he does and does a good job they backtrack and start the criticizing. No oil company with the terrible record that BP has deserves to be trusted by our government and our people. What Obama did was the right thing and the wacko right can keep screaming, all of America can hear them! YAY!!
Last night, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of Republican House members, fired off a statement declaring that the $20 billion dollar negotiated by BP and the Obama administration for victims of the oil catastrophe in the gulf is a “Chicago-Style Political Shakedown.” Echoing this sentiment, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) told BP executives that he is “sorry” for Obama’s “shakedown” of their company.
This morning, ThinkProgress traveled to Capitol Hill to interview lawmakers about the escrow fund. Several members of Congress, like Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), agreed with the RSC’s criticism of the fund. Even though Fleming’s home state of Louisiana has been devastated by BP’s spill, Fleming attacked the administration for not trusting BP and for daring to “take control of all the money from BP.” Asked about Barton’s apology to BP, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said any lawmaker has a right to “do what they want”
Let's be clear, rightwingers are screaming President Obama hasn't been a true leader during this Gulf disaster. They are screaming how incompetant our president has been these past 50 plus days, they say he is partying, he is playing golf, he is entertaining thugs at the White House while the Gulf is in peril!!
Wingnuts are saying this agreement with BP will lead to the Obama administrations TAKEOVER of BIG OIL!! "BP agreed to paying all costs for this disaster, so why did Obambi(thats what they call our president)have to resort to a "shakedown" with BP?" OKAY, so wingnuts trust BP, they think an agreement, a handshake, will be good enough. An AGREEMENT with BP is NOT a BINDING CONTRACT. What President Obama did yesterday was worthy of praise and wingnuts will go down in flames for this criticism. They are standing with big oil and slapping the faces of the people in the Gulf whose lives are changed, probably forever!
TP: He announced the $20 billion dollar escrow fund, funded by BP, to compensate some of the victims of this catastrophe. The Republican Study Committee put out a press release last night saying it’s a Chicago style power grab, do you agree with that sentiment?
FLEMING: I do because what we have seen from this administration is whenever something like this happens — look at automotive industry, financial industry — what they do is take control of dollars then they begin to disperse them along political agendas. And we’ve seen this happen before, and it looks like its the development here. BP has said, time and time again, that they will process all legitimate claims, we have no reason to believe they won’t. Why does the administration feel like it’s got to take control of all the money from BP?
TP: So Congressman, the Republican Study Committee last night said that the $20 billion dollar escrow fund is just another Chicago style politics kind of power grab. Do you agree with that, do you think that’s a fair characterization?
JORDAN: I’m, look, I’m always worried about this unprecedented involvement by the government in the private sector and look, BP obviously made some mistakes, but do we really believe the Federal government is going to do a better job?
TP: What do you think about Joe Barton in the hearing this morning, he said ‘I apologize’ to the BP executives for the escrow fund, saying again it’s a shakedown [...] Do you have any kind of reaction to a member of Congress apologizing to BP executives?
NUNES: Look, every member of Congress represents seven, eight hundred thousand people and they can do what they want.
Wingers wanted President Obama to be involved, to be a leader and take control, but when he does and does a good job they backtrack and start the criticizing. No oil company with the terrible record that BP has deserves to be trusted by our government and our people. What Obama did was the right thing and the wacko right can keep screaming, all of America can hear them! YAY!!
Funeral address for an ordinary man...
Here is a version of the address I delivered at the funeral of JH on Wednesday this week. JH died quiet suddenly aged 58. He was a top bloke - always calling 'hello mate!' as I went to the shops locally. He never called me Simon. We never exchanged more that that, and yet he was surrounded by knowledge of the love of God. It was a special service...
~~~~~~
In the name of Jesus Christ, who carries our burdens, and gives us rest. Amen.
The JH we are gathered here today to remember with each other before God, in some ways would hate today, being centre stage so to speak, because J, when he was at his best was an ordinary, much loved, down to earth, hard working chap. It's worth mentioning that ordinary here for me, for J, is not second best or something derogatory, but to do with the normal everyday good people we are sat amongst this afternoon.
J is much loved - the sheer number of you here today are testimony to the man. Today we are remembering a man of few words but somehow his 'hello' was worth more than that. We remember the J who would help out. We remember the J who strove to show a love that was patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, nor arrogant, nor rude to borrow Paul's words from our first reading.
In some ways I am hope J would have related to Jesus’ words that we heard today too. Jesus speaks those words at a time when the concerns a person had were real concerns, problems and issues about life that affected life at its core. The words speak of a life lived and engaged at a very personal, very real level, a life and level shared by countless other people over the years.
Our world is not ordinary and down to earth but complex and difficult and we worry about things as a result. Often we might look back through slightly rose tinted glasses to a time when work was hard but the rewards were real and tangible - good times though.
Jesus lived in a world where the biggest issues in a person’s life were the immediate, the ordinary, the results of hard work. And he spoke in language that the folk around him could understand.
Imagine you live in the 1st century, in Palestine. You listen to Jesus speak about the presence of God in the ordinary everyday things of life, and he tells you of working yeast into flour to make dough, he speaks of scattering seeds on the soil, he talks of weeds and of bushel measures. He speaks to you in simple terms using words that the ordinary, hardworking, everyday people like you can understand, words that tell you about your world, and that relate to your life. J would understand.
Jesus talks to us with words that ordinary, working people understand. And it is with the same language that he brings us his gospel, his good news. Listen again: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
To you who labour from dusk to dawn, to you who struggle to put food on the table, to you who find life hard to deal with, to you who wonder where you fit in, to you who fear local crime and abuses of the people in power who keep you down; to you whose concerns in life can be a matter of life and death, his words are words of incredible comfort and promise. For you are weary and burdened, and you long for rest, you long to escape the yoke that your world has placed on you and be free to be you and to be loved...
So Jesus’ words are words of comfort, for all who have lived since they were first spoken. For they form a promise, for us. Jesus’ words speak to everyone. Jesus Christ offers refuge from the burdens of the world, and his offer is simple and to the point. Today God’s love which is patient and kind extends again to John and to us, offering all of us the ordinary, working people of the world like J, well earned rest in him. Amen.
~~~~~~
In the name of Jesus Christ, who carries our burdens, and gives us rest. Amen.
The JH we are gathered here today to remember with each other before God, in some ways would hate today, being centre stage so to speak, because J, when he was at his best was an ordinary, much loved, down to earth, hard working chap. It's worth mentioning that ordinary here for me, for J, is not second best or something derogatory, but to do with the normal everyday good people we are sat amongst this afternoon.
J is much loved - the sheer number of you here today are testimony to the man. Today we are remembering a man of few words but somehow his 'hello' was worth more than that. We remember the J who would help out. We remember the J who strove to show a love that was patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, nor arrogant, nor rude to borrow Paul's words from our first reading.
In some ways I am hope J would have related to Jesus’ words that we heard today too. Jesus speaks those words at a time when the concerns a person had were real concerns, problems and issues about life that affected life at its core. The words speak of a life lived and engaged at a very personal, very real level, a life and level shared by countless other people over the years.Our world is not ordinary and down to earth but complex and difficult and we worry about things as a result. Often we might look back through slightly rose tinted glasses to a time when work was hard but the rewards were real and tangible - good times though.
Jesus lived in a world where the biggest issues in a person’s life were the immediate, the ordinary, the results of hard work. And he spoke in language that the folk around him could understand.
Imagine you live in the 1st century, in Palestine. You listen to Jesus speak about the presence of God in the ordinary everyday things of life, and he tells you of working yeast into flour to make dough, he speaks of scattering seeds on the soil, he talks of weeds and of bushel measures. He speaks to you in simple terms using words that the ordinary, hardworking, everyday people like you can understand, words that tell you about your world, and that relate to your life. J would understand.
Jesus talks to us with words that ordinary, working people understand. And it is with the same language that he brings us his gospel, his good news. Listen again: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
To you who labour from dusk to dawn, to you who struggle to put food on the table, to you who find life hard to deal with, to you who wonder where you fit in, to you who fear local crime and abuses of the people in power who keep you down; to you whose concerns in life can be a matter of life and death, his words are words of incredible comfort and promise. For you are weary and burdened, and you long for rest, you long to escape the yoke that your world has placed on you and be free to be you and to be loved...
So Jesus’ words are words of comfort, for all who have lived since they were first spoken. For they form a promise, for us. Jesus’ words speak to everyone. Jesus Christ offers refuge from the burdens of the world, and his offer is simple and to the point. Today God’s love which is patient and kind extends again to John and to us, offering all of us the ordinary, working people of the world like J, well earned rest in him. Amen.
This is that time...
when I wish I was a writer and could put into words how proud of President Obama I am today. This picture is from my very first blog post last August and it's time to use it again!
This was in my inbox, this is what happened today at the meeting with BP.....
News Alert: BP apologizes for oil spill, sets up worker compensation fund
02:47 PM EDT Wednesday, June 16, 2010
--------------------
BP apologizes to the American people for the damage caused by a gushing leak from a blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and announces the creation of a $100 million compensation fund for oil workers who are out of work because of the catastrophe.
The oil giant also said it would work to fix all environmental damage to the gulf and will not pay its quarterly dividend to stockholders as part of its commitment to pay for damage.
Earlier today, BP and the administration agreed on a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate claims brought against the company for oil-related damage.
All you rightwinger's who criticized President Obama's speech can eat crow today. They really should have waited til after this meeting to post about how stupid, and terrible a president Obama is. They must be so embarrassed! Ya think? Nah, nothing embarrasses them and they would NEVER admit their mistakes anyway. But today President Obama showed BP who is boss, I hope I don't hear the word arrogant from the wingnuts, if I do it will only prove their desperate need for the president to fail. Barack Obama will not fail, get over it!!
News Alert: BP apologizes for oil spill, sets up worker compensation fund
02:47 PM EDT Wednesday, June 16, 2010
--------------------
BP apologizes to the American people for the damage caused by a gushing leak from a blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and announces the creation of a $100 million compensation fund for oil workers who are out of work because of the catastrophe.
The oil giant also said it would work to fix all environmental damage to the gulf and will not pay its quarterly dividend to stockholders as part of its commitment to pay for damage.
Earlier today, BP and the administration agreed on a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate claims brought against the company for oil-related damage.
All you rightwinger's who criticized President Obama's speech can eat crow today. They really should have waited til after this meeting to post about how stupid, and terrible a president Obama is. They must be so embarrassed! Ya think? Nah, nothing embarrasses them and they would NEVER admit their mistakes anyway. But today President Obama showed BP who is boss, I hope I don't hear the word arrogant from the wingnuts, if I do it will only prove their desperate need for the president to fail. Barack Obama will not fail, get over it!!
Barbour and Gingrich, buffoons on parade...
Barbour Is Concerned That Escrow Account Will Cut Into BP’s Profits: ‘It Bothers Me’
It was announced earlier today BP has agreed to the 20 Billion in an escrow account for the Gulf victims. I believe negotiations are still going on so I'll probably update tonight. Think Progress has this to say...
Sticking with the “Obama is a socialist” meme, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called the account a “redistribution of wealth fund.” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) also thinks it is a bad idea. Although he noted on Fox News last night that BP is “saying that they have the ability to pay and that they will pay,” Barbour expressed concern that BP will lose some profits:
In fact, throughout the oil spill disaster, Barbour has come to BP’s defense, downplaying its impact, blaming the media for his state’s economic woes, and even encouraging tourists to come to Mississippi’s oil contaminated beaches. “BP has never said no to any requests we have made,” he said. “I’m not going to complain.” Indeed, Barbour probably won’t complain because he owes the oil and gas industry for his rise in politics.
Yes I stick by my previous assertion, Barbour is a buffoon...
This is what we are dealing with on a daily basis from rightwingers....another headline from Think Progress...
When asked about Obama’s prayer for the Gulf, Gingrich says he ‘hopes he means it.’
Last night, Obama delivered a national address on BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. “We pray for the people of the Gulf, and we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a greater day,” Obama said. This morning, Fox and Friends invited former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to find fault with Obama’s prayer. The hosts asked Gingrich — whose new book warns that progressives are trying to impose a “secular socialist machine” — about some content in Obama’s speech “that you might’ve found surprising, his references to God.” Gingrich expressed skepticism about Obama’s intent. “Well, I hope he means it,” he said. Host Gretchen Carlson then went on to say that “some people are analyzing that this morning as…disingenuous from a president who does not go to Church on a regular basis”
yea and I'll go on to say, "who are these fuckin creeps on this fake news show? Maybe someone should analyze them to see just how disingenuous they are! "
It was announced earlier today BP has agreed to the 20 Billion in an escrow account for the Gulf victims. I believe negotiations are still going on so I'll probably update tonight. Think Progress has this to say...
Sticking with the “Obama is a socialist” meme, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called the account a “redistribution of wealth fund.” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) also thinks it is a bad idea. Although he noted on Fox News last night that BP is “saying that they have the ability to pay and that they will pay,” Barbour expressed concern that BP will lose some profits:
BARBOUR: If BP is the responsible party under the law, they’re to pay for everything. I do worry that this idea of making them make a huge escrow fund is going to make it less likely that they’ll pay for everything. They need their capital to drill wells. They need their capital to produce income. … But this escrow bothers me that it’s going to make them less able to pay us what they owe us. And that concerns me. … [I]t bothers me to talk about causing an escrow to be made, which will — which makes it less likely that they’ll make the income that they need to pay us.BP made $163 billion in profits from 2001 through 2009 and nearly $6 billion in the first quarter of 2010 alone. As the Washington Post noted, in the early days of the spill, BP paid $17.5 million per day while the company made on average $93 million per day in the first quarter.
In fact, throughout the oil spill disaster, Barbour has come to BP’s defense, downplaying its impact, blaming the media for his state’s economic woes, and even encouraging tourists to come to Mississippi’s oil contaminated beaches. “BP has never said no to any requests we have made,” he said. “I’m not going to complain.” Indeed, Barbour probably won’t complain because he owes the oil and gas industry for his rise in politics.
Yes I stick by my previous assertion, Barbour is a buffoon...
This is what we are dealing with on a daily basis from rightwingers....another headline from Think Progress...
When asked about Obama’s prayer for the Gulf, Gingrich says he ‘hopes he means it.’
Last night, Obama delivered a national address on BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. “We pray for the people of the Gulf, and we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a greater day,” Obama said. This morning, Fox and Friends invited former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to find fault with Obama’s prayer. The hosts asked Gingrich — whose new book warns that progressives are trying to impose a “secular socialist machine” — about some content in Obama’s speech “that you might’ve found surprising, his references to God.” Gingrich expressed skepticism about Obama’s intent. “Well, I hope he means it,” he said. Host Gretchen Carlson then went on to say that “some people are analyzing that this morning as…disingenuous from a president who does not go to Church on a regular basis”
yea and I'll go on to say, "who are these fuckin creeps on this fake news show? Maybe someone should analyze them to see just how disingenuous they are! "
Oval Office Speech....
I liked the Oval Office speech last night.... I was disappointed to hear all the criticism from the left especially MSNBC hosts like Olbermann. Fox used Palin as their expert analysis .....a half-term, half-assed dimwit...Goodfuckingrief!
What did they expect from a 15 minute speech? He said all that needed to be said in that time frame. The one thing he could have reminded the people listening is that Congress is full of oil sucking whores and they are the reason we have no Energy Bill! Other than that, I liked it.....
What did they expect from a 15 minute speech? He said all that needed to be said in that time frame. The one thing he could have reminded the people listening is that Congress is full of oil sucking whores and they are the reason we have no Energy Bill! Other than that, I liked it.....
He's on his way...
I am just loving this new poster designed by www.churchads.net.Many soon to be parents proudly show their scan photos to all and sundry, some even post them on Facebook. It seems odd to me because in so doing, something so intimate and private is made public... Just like the Christmas story...
I know that there is already a bit of controversy about the campaign, but I love it because at it's heart we are reminded that Christianity takes our humanity seriously. In Christ, God takes us as we are...
Word as a Wordle
Here is Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 8:26-39, as a Wordle.
I am really struck by how the key words in the passage are 'Jesus' and 'demons' and how having these two highlighted identifies the spiritual war between God in Jesus and the powers of darkness that lies at the heart of this reading. The starkest of dichotomies.
I am really struck by how the key words in the passage are 'Jesus' and 'demons' and how having these two highlighted identifies the spiritual war between God in Jesus and the powers of darkness that lies at the heart of this reading. The starkest of dichotomies.
Postcard in my pocket...
I have a postcard in my pocket which I carry with me every where. It comes from from Bjärka-Säby_Castle which is now inhabited by a community, affiliated to the Pentecostal church in Sweden, led by Peter Halldorf.The surroundings of the castle are majestic. The sense of the presence of God in the castle is awesome. It is mostly a retreat/conference centre but at the centre's heart is a Pentecostal/Orthodox expression of Christian faith.
It is impossible is adequately express here the sense of God there, and yet the postcard in my poscket reminds me of how I felt when I entered the 'Upper Room' at the top of the castle where the community share in a neo-Monastic pattern of worship with the Eucharist at it's heart.
The postcard in my pocket is an icon of Pentecost. It was written especially for the community. I love it because it references visually back to the events recorded for us in Acts 1. But I love it, because it is a contemporary expression of that outporing of the Holy Spirit.I have taken that story back to the UK as a memory, as a story and as an image. All three continue to inspire my own Christian journey.
Anne Frank, costly (not cheap) grace, and the forgiveness of God
Yesterday, 12th June, would have been the 81st birthday of Anne Frank. Anne was born in 1929 and she lived with her sister and parents lived in Frankfurt in Germany until she was four. In 1933 in Germany, the Nazi party came to power and the family moved to Amsterdam to escape the persecution of the brutal Nazis.After a few happy years in Amsterdam, World War 2 broke out. The Netherlands never expected to be attacked by their neighbours, but the country was invaded and taken over in 1940. Now the Nazis’ policies against Jews would be put in place there too. Anne and her family went into hiding. It is during this time that she kept her now famous diary.
Anne’s story does not have a happy ending. After they had been hidden away for over two years, without being able to go outside or make loud noises – Anne and her family were betrayed. They were taken by the Dutch police from their hiding place and were sent to concentration camps in Eastern Europe. All of the family, except Anne’s father, perished there.Even in those desperate times, Anne always believed in the true goodness of people.
“It’s difficult in times like these; ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”
The possibility of believing in the goodness of people, even in the grim reality of Nazi occupation and concentration camps, is something that many of us struggle with still. And yet, a fellow concentration camp resident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, also passionately believed in human goodness, but it was a goodness that needed to be restored. He once said
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
What Bonhoeffer is getting at, I believe, is that there is a difference between believing that we are good at heart and knowing it. There is a gulf of a difference between telling ourselves that we are alright, and being told it by God through Christ’s death on the cross for us. That difference is measurable, quantifiable, tangible...
In our Gospel reading this morning we hear of Jesus sharing a dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s house. The meal would have been in the very fashionable Greco-Roman style, the guests reclining at the table. In the shadows of the surrounding colonnade, it was permissible for the poor to gather, waiting for the occasional morsel or the chance to ask some favour of the rich. From the shadows comes this unnamed woman who silently washes Jesus’ feet with tears of repentance and dries them with her hair, then annointing them with ointment.
As far as Luke, the writer of the Gospel is concerned, we have never encountered this woman before and neither has Jesus, and yet we are left in no doubt of the intention of her heart, by the shedding of her tears and the actions of her hands.
This woman did not seek the cheap grace that Bonhoeffer wrote about. She knew where Jesus would be, she shockingly brakes all of the social codes by leaving the colonnade to draw close to him and Jesus equally shockingly brakes the religious codes by allowing her to touch him. Their interaction is hugely costly for both of them. But what has she got to lose? Nothing, for her reputation is already in tatters - Luke tells us she was a woman of the city and a sinner - draw your own conclusions. Yet she has reached rock bottom. She can go no further. She knows deep within her being that she can regain a sense of her own worth, her own inner goodness and God-given dignity, through this man Jesus. And so she comes. She offers him all that is left of her in her brokenness. In return, he offers her all that he has, the restoring love and forgiveness of God himself. Renewed, restored, forgiven and loved she turns and leaves.
This friends is the miracle of God. God doesn’t wait for this woman, for any of us to be good in heart to love us; he doesn’t wait for us to think we are now somehow more loveable for us to be loved. The story of God and people throughout the centuries is of a God who just loves us - with all the lovely bits we show each other but also the bits we daren’t even show ourselves.
The ointment of the Gospel is poured on the life of this woman by Jesus, forgiving her sin and turning her life around. This woman walked in there weeping and longing for recognition, forgiveness and hope, and she walked out of there a changed woman. I believe the change in her must be somehow directly related to the list of names at the end of the reading this morning. Somehow the change in this woman following an encounter with Jesus, affected and impacted the lives of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Chuza, Susanna and many others.
What have we got to lose? We are loved unendingly and eternally by God. He sees our heart. He know what we show others and what we try to hide. He sees even that. In seeing that stuff he does not judge us, but loves us all the more and longs for each of us to be freed from it - free to love and be loved. This morning, reclining around this (Eucharistic) table with us, he offers us not a cheap grace that costs us nothing, but full and lasting forgiveness that cost him everything a love and grace that will if we let it, still transforms us and our world. Amen.
~~~~~~~~
Then just prior to the invitation to receive the Eucharist...
As I have been preparing this a song has been going round my head, It is Elton John's - 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word.' Strange that. Sorry seems in some ways to be the easiest word - easy to say. Harder to mean or demonstrate. The sorrow of that woman, through the forgiveness of Jesus, transformed her life in a way that affected others. Jesus saw the intent of her heart by the shedding of her tears and the actions of her hands.
There are times when our lives can become more full of the stuff we don’t wish to look at let alone show anyone else. You know when you are in those times when someone asks you how you are and you reply ‘fine’ looking away, avoiding eye contact with a knot in your stomach.
This morning, Jesus reclines with us eating around this table. As he offers bread and wine, he calls silently to each of us, as he did to that woman. Jesus longs for us to come to him. offering him the hearts he alone sees, and in return he offers not cheap grace, but forgiveness and eternal love.
This morning he sees the intent of our hearts, but wants to see the intent of our hearts through the action of our hands...~~~~~~
At this point people were invited to receive the Eucharist, and then on their way back to their seats, if they wanted to, to express their desire to receive the forgiveness that that woman knew in their lives themselves, by taking a post it note and sticking it to the ultimate symbol of forgiveness - the cross. A rough guess says there are some 50 notes
It doesn't make sense for conservatives to despise progressives.
What does Progressive mean? Who are the Progressives and why do righties hate us??
"At its core," John Halpin writes, "progressivism is a non-ideological, pragmatic system of thought grounded in solving problems and maintaining strong values within society." Progressivism is practical and driven by the values that define America morality and have made our country stronger and better. It's a dynamic concept giving the leadership of an up-and-coming generation of politicos - you - the tools to make this nation's future brighter for all.
So, while conservatives fear change, Progressives see the world as ever changing and we welcome that change. And while conservatives will dispute this...it's true, progressives don't simply ask "How can government help this situation," but "with the tools we have, both public and private, how can we solve this problem?" Isn't that what conservatives say about themselves?
Many here say President Obama is a Pragmatist, Yes, good thing. Progressives are pragmatic and flexible. Has Obama been different than Bush when he realizes he needs a change of strategy and doesn't fear changing course? Do we want a president who can do just that? Progressives are "free of ideological structures that tie leaders to strict policy courses". Why would conservatives fear this kind of progressive leader?
Conservatives who claim they are the real patriots are so wrong. They accuse progressives of being un American, unpatriotic, when the truth is progressivism is about pragmatism and FAIRNESS, very American wouldn't you agree?
Conservatives accuse progressives of lacking morals, the truth is progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility. We believe in maximizing human freedoms and helping the members of our society achieve their full potential.
We believe power, wealth, and information must flow freely rather than be concentrated in the hands of a few so that ALL citizens have the means to contribute.
So, by now if you rightwingers are reading and trying to digest this truth, lets compare conservatives of today's society to progressivism.......
Progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility, and promote respect for ethical values.
Compare that with the false and empty chants of compassionate conservatives, who gladly engage in reckless and unjustified war; deny gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans their rights as citizens; condemn working families to a cycle of poverty; and err on the side of big business over public health and nature's untouched beauty. These are the same 'principled' conservatives who whole-heartedly defended the most crooked legislator in decades, Tom DeLay.
Progressivism is a living tree of pragmatic problem solving....
Progressives have to stand up and define the future of the progressive movement, founded firmly on the principles that make this nation great.......
Progressivism is uniquely American
While some may think that to be a progressive means to be in favor of big government, in fact a true progressive would say they believe in “power to the people.” They see the government as the elected representation of the people and feel that the government ought to be more responsive to the needs of the people.
Progesssives platform includes social justice, pacifism, environmentalism, and human rights. They believe in the democratic process via more direct voter control and they champion consumer rights.
The Progressive Magazine, founded by Robert LaFollette in 1909, is considered to be the primary voice of the Progressive movement. That magazine is still published monthly today, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary bash in Madison, WI.
Current Progressive editor Matthew Rothschild has taken over LaFollette’s role (with a few editors in between) as the “voice of the Progressive movement.” In his “Editor’s Note” in the anniversary issue (April, 2009), Rothschild called the magazine “the articulation of a mission.” Then he went on to quote LaFollette’s words from the first issue of the publication:
100 years ago! Now tell me conservatives, why do you despise the progressives, it makes no sense...
"At its core," John Halpin writes, "progressivism is a non-ideological, pragmatic system of thought grounded in solving problems and maintaining strong values within society." Progressivism is practical and driven by the values that define America morality and have made our country stronger and better. It's a dynamic concept giving the leadership of an up-and-coming generation of politicos - you - the tools to make this nation's future brighter for all.
So, while conservatives fear change, Progressives see the world as ever changing and we welcome that change. And while conservatives will dispute this...it's true, progressives don't simply ask "How can government help this situation," but "with the tools we have, both public and private, how can we solve this problem?" Isn't that what conservatives say about themselves?
Many here say President Obama is a Pragmatist, Yes, good thing. Progressives are pragmatic and flexible. Has Obama been different than Bush when he realizes he needs a change of strategy and doesn't fear changing course? Do we want a president who can do just that? Progressives are "free of ideological structures that tie leaders to strict policy courses". Why would conservatives fear this kind of progressive leader?
Conservatives who claim they are the real patriots are so wrong. They accuse progressives of being un American, unpatriotic, when the truth is progressivism is about pragmatism and FAIRNESS, very American wouldn't you agree?
Conservatives accuse progressives of lacking morals, the truth is progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility. We believe in maximizing human freedoms and helping the members of our society achieve their full potential.
We believe power, wealth, and information must flow freely rather than be concentrated in the hands of a few so that ALL citizens have the means to contribute.
So, by now if you rightwingers are reading and trying to digest this truth, lets compare conservatives of today's society to progressivism.......
Progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility, and promote respect for ethical values.
Compare that with the false and empty chants of compassionate conservatives, who gladly engage in reckless and unjustified war; deny gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans their rights as citizens; condemn working families to a cycle of poverty; and err on the side of big business over public health and nature's untouched beauty. These are the same 'principled' conservatives who whole-heartedly defended the most crooked legislator in decades, Tom DeLay.
Progressivism is a living tree of pragmatic problem solving....
Progressives have to stand up and define the future of the progressive movement, founded firmly on the principles that make this nation great.......
Progressivism is uniquely American
While some may think that to be a progressive means to be in favor of big government, in fact a true progressive would say they believe in “power to the people.” They see the government as the elected representation of the people and feel that the government ought to be more responsive to the needs of the people.
Progesssives platform includes social justice, pacifism, environmentalism, and human rights. They believe in the democratic process via more direct voter control and they champion consumer rights.
The Progressive Magazine, founded by Robert LaFollette in 1909, is considered to be the primary voice of the Progressive movement. That magazine is still published monthly today, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary bash in Madison, WI.
Current Progressive editor Matthew Rothschild has taken over LaFollette’s role (with a few editors in between) as the “voice of the Progressive movement.” In his “Editor’s Note” in the anniversary issue (April, 2009), Rothschild called the magazine “the articulation of a mission.” Then he went on to quote LaFollette’s words from the first issue of the publication:
In the course of every attempt to establish or develop free government, a struggle between Special Privilege and Equal Rights is inevitable. Our great industrial organizations [are] in control of politics, government, and natural resources. They manage conventions, make platforms, dictate legislation. They rule through the very men elected to represent them.LaFollette then went on to say that the “battle” against corporate takeover of government “will be the longest and hardest ever fought for Democracy.” That was 100 years ago. Progressives today are still fighting that battle.
100 years ago! Now tell me conservatives, why do you despise the progressives, it makes no sense...
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