Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Garden in Mold


Texas weather is a hoot. No rain all summer, now almost no days of sunshine. The result is a moldy garden. There is a black fungus growing on the eggplant's leaves. The tomato plants that made it through the summer have lost all the foliage on their summer growth. Only the tips of the plants have leaves. The okra is under siege from aphids.

The newly planted tomatoes do seem off to a good start. The plants have new growth and one has set some tomatoes. So far, the blight affecting the other tomatoes has not found them. I am harvesting onions and okra.

The one miracle is an artichoke. This died, I thought, in July, but new shoots and green leaves have appeared. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The birdhouse gourd has exploded with growth. Leaves the size of dinner plates cover the ground and shoots have reached the top of all the adjacent trees. However, I do not see any gourds growing.

My latest additions are cilantro and parsley which have settled in nicely, even though I stepped on the cilantro the day after I planted it. I need to do more planting, but it keeps raining. I will just have to wait.

Photo by hoeguk

Report On 'Nones': In U.S., Ranks Of Those Who Don't Identify With A Religion Are Growing -- Courant.com


The Hartford Courant reports on a study by Trinity College on the people that don't consider themselves part of an established religion. The conclusion of the study is that this segment of the population will continue to grow. I agree, but not as much as the study believes.

The study finds the most "Nones," defined as "the irreligious, the unreligious, the anti-religious and the anti-clerical," in the 18-29 year old range and conclude this will lead to equally big increases in the future because this age bracket will indoctrinate their children with their lack of belief. I know from experience this conclusion is flawed.

When I was between the ages of 18-29, I was a Deist. I did not attend any church and was skeptical of any faith. I did read books that explained different world religions but never from a believers standpoint. Yet in my thirties, I became a Christian.

I think many of today's Nones will eventually find a faith, though not necessarily any of the great world religions. I believe we are hard-wired for faith and so eventually become part of one. I would include atheism as faith - a faith that God does not exist.

The media today portrays faiths, especially Christianity and Islam, only at the extremes. The Muslim is too often seen as a hate crazed jihadist, while the Christian is too often seen as the anti-intellectual, narrow-minded, bigoted zealot. These portraits of the faithful is bound to turn off the unbeliever from even investigating a religion.

We have a need to belong that sports now fills for many in America. Perhaps the biggest worship services take place in the fall in football stations nationwide. Many sports fans are true worshipers, falling in adoration at the feet of their favorite sports star.

Those that believe in God need to rebel against the media and sports. We need to insist that a balanced view of the faithful be on the news and pundit shows. We must provide a place to belong, not in competition with sports, but in addition to. Belonging must provide benefits and obligations, rewards and challenges. America has been dumbing down religion for too long. Now, we must use mind and body to bring the gift of faith to Americans. Moderates of all faiths have been silent too long. Speak up!

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

Monday, September 28, 2009

Spider Crawls on Pope Benedict XVI's Face During Prague Address


Arachnids know no awe. To read the full story and see a video, click on the title above.

In Texas, we have taratulas, not really dangerous, and black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders; both are very poisonous. I can remember waking at night and watching the brown recluse spiders or fiddlebacks scuttle for their hiding places. There is nothing like finding one squashed on your pillow.

Even if not poisonous, spider bites can be painful. I have been nailed more than once by a non-venomous spider. The Pope was very lucky.

Luck is just a nickname for God.



Photo by aviplot

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Texas Board of Education To Decide: Christian Nation?


The Texas State Board of Education(SBOE) is in the process of selecting new textbooks in social studies which includes history, geography and economics. One area of controversy is the religious views of the founding fathers. In a San Antonio Express article describing the issues, the SBOE is seen as leaning toward designating the United States as a Christian nation. Part of the problem seems to be that the SBOE's expers seem to be prejudiced and in favor of the Christian designation.

I am no expert on this nation's early history, but I have read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and biographies of several of the founding fathers. My impression is that they are a mixed bag as far as beliefs. Many were Christians, but a large number were deists. Having been a deist myself, I know that they were not Christians. Deist believe in a clockmaker God, a God who created the universe, set it in motion, then relaxed to let it run. The deist belief is far from a God that would come to this world himself to redeem it.

I do not understand this desire to limit the diversity of the Founding Fathers and change history. Saying that the United States was founded as a Christian nation betrays the school children of Texas. Distorting history does not help them. Is the assumption that most will never study these subjects again? I can only assume so. How sad.

What do the Christians on the SBOE fear? Christianity has flourished for almost two thousand years. We do not need to change history to help the faith. Such action makes Christianity appear weak, needing government to maintain its place in the United States. Christians need to remember that Christ message was one of victory. God does not need the SBOE to succeed.

Photo by cloudsoup.

Billboards draw criticism from religious community | detnews.com | The Detroit News


The Freedom from Religion Foundation has posted anti-religion statements on various billboards in Detroit and other cities. To see all the possibilities click here. Clicking on the title of this post will send you to The Detroit News article on the billboards in Detroit. While some residents of Detroit may find the billboards offensive, others see them as increasing the debate about religion in public life.

I feel that any advertisement that calls attention to faith and God is good for all religions because what the faithful need to fear is indifference, not dislike. Too many people in this country have, at best, a cultural belief in a supreme being but no personal experience with God. These billboards will make people think about the role of faith in our national life. The atheist is far closer to God than someone who never thinks about faith.

These billboards do have a pernicious result. I have noticed that atheists like to portray Christianity in its most conservative form. Fundamentalism is easily caricatured and ridiculed. These billboards will cement that image in the minds of non-believers. Christians are already portrayed in simplistic fashion by the media. These billboards enforce the worst image of the faith as anti-science and anti-intellectual; Christianity is neither. Believers need to make our viewpoint heard. We must contact the media and demand a balanced view of all religions, not just ours. The time has come for the truth to set us free.


Billboards draw criticism from religious community | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Shared via AddThis

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Dawkins on Evolution



In this video,Richard Dawkins primarily talks about evolution. At the very end, he acknowledges something that is seldom heard on television: the admission that sensible Christians believe in evolution. I would state this a different way: mainstream Christians believe in evolution.

To demand that one believes that God created the universe as stated in Genesis puts human limitations on God. The message of Genesis is we are God's creation. The mechanism of creation in scientific terms was not available to the Genesis writers. Why limit God to the world view of the writers of this ancient text? Modern Christians understand that God is not limited by either time or space. What are eons to humans may well be all one to God.

The media tends to present only the most conservative representatives of Christianity: anti-evolution, anti-gay, anti-Obama, and anti-government. Such conservatives provide the inflammatory sound bites that the media love so much, but they provide only a caricature of Christianity. I would challenge the media to provide true representatives of mainstream Christianity and any other faith.

Richard Dawkins says one thing I totally disagree with in this video. Priests get their beliefs from the Bible, biologists get their beliefs from facts. No one can know the basis of another's belief, not even Dawkins. Yes, for many Christians the Bible plays a key role. For others, faith comes the evidence of changed lives or a personal experience with God. Only the most conservative Christians would say their belief depends only on the Bible.

Christianity is a complex faith founded on a simple command: Love God and love your neighbor. Far too many Christians interviewed by the media or selected as religious pundits are on the fringes of the faith. As the great faiths of the world intersect more and more, it is important that the mainstream of each be portrayed accurately.


H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations


The time has come for all of us to consider our place of worship and our faith community in regards to the H1N1 (swine) flu. If you click on title you will go to the federal governments guidelines for faith communities in regards to the H1N1 flu. Some states are already implementing guidelines for their state's faith communities. I am unaware of any guidelines issued by the State of Texas.

Communion can be an issue when a common cup is used. Precautions may need to be taken. Passing whole loaves of bread from which a piece is broken can also be a problem if people need to grasp the loaf to break off a piece. My church being Baptist does not use a common cup or loaves of bread usually. Nowadays, we use individual plastic cups that hold only a thimbleful of grape juice (no wine in a Baptist church), and tiny squares of compressed "bread". Those that prepare the wafers and cups must be mindful of their own health. Hand washing is still the best preventative.

I think the biggest issue for worshipers of all faiths is the closeness to a great many people. Most worship services bring people into close proximity. The flu virus can be easily passed in such an environment. The individual must be aware that "he is his brother's keeper" and refrain from attending when the individual feels the least bit unwell. Church leaders can remind their congregation of this obligation.

Wearing a mask is not particularly effective to prevent flu unless it is worn by someone who has the flu. Part of the problem is that masks lead to a false sense of security and a failure to wash your hands as frequently as you should. Hand washing is the number one preventative.

In my own church, great store is place on shaking hands with those around you at the beginning of the service. This is considered a way to promote fellowship. Handshaking is an ideal way to promote the incidence of the flu. I think greeting others with some phase such as "Peace be unto you" is far better.

If some form of greeting is wanted for newcomers to the place of worship. I suggest using healthy seniors as greeters. People over 65 are less susceptible to the flu and well-suited to greet both members and newcomers. Of course, anyone who has had the flu and recovered fully would be an ideal greeter.

The younger clergy need to be mindful of their own health. Standing at the door shaking hands with congregants as the leave is not the best idea now. Places of worship do not need their leaders in the hospital. The worshipers should understand the substitution of an older person to bid them farewell.

The H1N1 flu has not proved as dangerous as first feared, but it should not be ignored. Seasonal flu is not all that pleasant either. Get vaccinated and take reasonable precautions, so that we all can worship in good health.

H1N1 flu virus by CDC


H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations

Shared via AddThis

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Call

TheCall

Shared via AddThis


The message speaks of Convergence and subtly attacks President Obama. The statement that he was silent on the National Day of Prayer is false. President Obama issued a national proclamation for the Day of Prayer. The Justice Department has defended the National Day of Prayer in a lawsuit brought by an atheist in Ohio. What President Obama did not do was hold a prayer breakfast and make the day a political spectacle like his predecessor, George Bush. Somehow, this makes him less a Christian.

The essay then goes on to emphasize President Obama's statements in reference to Islam. The message neglects to mention that President Bush made the same kind of statements. Both Presidents were attempting to distinguish radical Islam from moderate Islam and to acknowledge the presence of Muslims as citizens of the United States. President Obama statements were not made because he is a secret Muslim; what I take the implication to be. The other implication is that that Islam is somehow aligned with evil (dark powers). I believe I worship the same God as Muslims although they call him Allah. A Christian should never engage in such rhetoric which could incite some deluded souls to violence against Muslims.

Christians have our own history of violent excesses that I believe as a whole we have moved beyond. Now violence only exists on the fringes in such areas as the antiabortion movement. Lou Engle, who is the author of some of this, is part of the antiabortion movement. I believe that he sees threats of violence and evil in Islam because he has seen the same in the radicals of the antiabortion movement. He knows what extreme views and rhetoric can produce.

This message plays into the fears of Christians and calls attention to the Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. Somehow this gathering is seen as a threat because the Muslims would pray that the White House become a Muslim house. I see no difference in that and the call to prayer at the end of this message asking that Christianity be supreme. People of faith want their religion to be victorious and all to see the light that they believe is their own.

I am no different. I am a Christian and believe that Christ is the truest revelation of God. But, I believe that God reveals himself in all religions and that there are many paths to the truth. When Jesus says that all come to God through Him, I believe that is true. Jesus is God in action, the God we can meet. However, that does not mean we have to believe as a Christian. Jesus simply imparts a truth: He is the part of God that ushers us into eternity whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other.

The section titled "Here is The Call" reveals the true nature of this message: the desire to convert all Muslims to Christianity and the belief that the spiritual powers behind Islam must be restrained by God. This call to prayer is a call for Christian supremacy. The implication that Muslims are not to be respected because their faith is guided by dark powers. There is only a short step to believing that Muslims are evil. To me, the underlying message is akin to antisemitism and just as bad.

We should pray. Christians have a model prayer that Christ gave us. There is nothing in that prayer that puts us above others. Instead, we ask deliverance from evil and forgiveness for our failings. I will pray on September 25th for God to forgive me for failing to love as God wants us to. I will pray for the well-being of my Muslim brethren.


This same discussion with some added features can be found in another blog post.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Call for Concern


The email message below was sent to every member of my Sunday School class by another member. Such messages as this are reasons I am no longer attending regularly. The Islamic Day of Prayer (Muslims to Pray for 'Soul of America' at U.S. Capitol Event - washingtonpost.com Shared via AddThis)has become a target for right wing Christians and a way to attack the President.

The message first speaks of Convergence and subtly attacks President Obama. The statement that he was silent on the National Day of Prayer is false. President Obama issued a national proclamation for the Day of Prayer. The Justice Department has defended the National Day of Prayer in a lawsuit brought by an atheist in Ohio. What President Obama did not do was hold a prayer breakfast and make the day a political spectacle like his predecessor, George Bush. Somehow, this makes him less a Christian.

The email then goes on to emphasize President Obama's statements in reference to Islam. The message neglects to mention that President Bush made the same kind of statements. Both Presidents were attempting to distinguish radical Islam from moderate Islam and to acknowledge the presence of Muslims as citizens of the United States. President Obama statements were not made because he is a secret Muslim; what I take the implication to be. The other implication is that that Islam is somehow aligned with evil (dark powers). I believe I worship the same God as Muslims although they call him Allah. A Christian should never engage in such rhetoric which could incite some deluded souls to violence against Muslims.

Christians have our own history of violent excesses that I believe as a whole we have moved beyond. Now violence only exists on the fringes in such areas as the antiabortion movement. Lou Engle, who is the author of some of this email, is part of the antiabortion movement. I believe that he sees threats of violence and evil in Islam because he has seen the same in the radicals of the antiabortion movement. He knows what extreme views and rhetoric can produce.

This message plays into the fears of Christians and calls attention to the Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. Somehow this gathering is seen as a threat because the Muslims would pray that the White House become a Muslim house. I see no difference in that and the call to prayer at the end of this message asking that Christianity be supreme. People of faith want their religion to be victorious and all to see the light that they believe is their own.

I am no different. I am a Christian and believe that Christ is the truest revelation of God. But, I believe that God reveals himself in all religions and that there are many paths to the truth. When Jesus says that all come to God through Him, I believe that is true. Jesus is God in action, the God we can meet. However, that does not mean we have to believe as a Christian. Jesus simply imparts a truth: He is the part of God that ushers us into eternity whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other.

The email uses the controversy over a 17 year old runaway to slam Islam again. The story of Rifqa Bary is not as stated in this message. She may well be a young woman incited to run away from home by Christian zealots who hate and fear Islam. Up to now, there is no evidence that her allegations are true or that she is in any danger. Yet, this email says she is a sign that Muslims in America will be converted to Christianity.

The section titled "Here is The Call" reveals the true nature of this email message: the desire to convert all Muslims to Christianity and the belief that the spiritual powers behind Islam must be restrained by God. This call to prayer is a call for Christian supremacy. The implication that Muslims are not to be respected because their faith is guided by dark powers. There is only a short step to believing that Muslims are evil. To me, the underlying message is akin to antisemitism and just as bad.

We should pray. Christians have a model prayer that Christ gave us. There is nothing in that prayer that puts us above others. Instead, we ask deliverance from evil and forgiveness for our failings. I will pray on September 25th for God to forgive me for failing to love as God does.

The last off this pernicious email is a calendar of events supplied by Lisa Crump with the National Day of Prayer, a private organization. Among other things, it betrays a pro-Israel bias. President Obama is referred to as Mr. O, surely an attempt to belittle him. Finally, the calendar states that the Chinese flag will fly over the White House. This is simply not true. The Chinese are planning to fly their flag nearby, but not at the White House. This is another attack aimed at President Obama.

God does not bend to our will. God has his own agenda. Our duty as Christians is to seek his will, not our own. My only fear is that gullible Christians will be swept up in this fear driven and hate filled movement against Muslims and President Obama. Even then, though, I trust God. He is not bound by time or our petty disputes. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Photo by dbking


Subject: A Call for Concern
.
Plan to join this urgently called National Prayer Conference Call on Thursday 9/24 regarding the subjects below
7:30-9 pm EASTERN
6:30-8 pm CENTRAL
5:30 -7 pm MOUNTAIN
4:30-6 pm PACIFIC
712-432-0233 Pass Code 637# (NDP)
Please forward as you are led and able. If you are called to fast with this urgent time of intercession, ask the Lord about these 3 days: Sept 24th, 25th and 26th.
Urgent Call to Prayer: Signs of the Times

Convergence

It is critical that the church in America understands the times and what needs to be done now. The natural things speak of the invisible. Natural happenings on the earth are revealing something that is going on in the spiritual realm. There is a great spiritual conflict with a rising tide of Islamic boldness being manifested. Several happenings are converging this week. First of all, our President has recently proclaimed, honored, encouraged the Muslim holy days of prayer and fasting called Ramadan. He was very silent on the National Day of Prayer but very vocal on the support of Ramadan. Interestingly at the same time a major Christian leader of the Emergent Church called for forty days of fasting and prayer in the same Ramadan period with the goal that the church will better understand our Muslim friends. We are all for understanding but we must have spiritual discernment as to the spiritual dark powers that are being invoked into our nation.

Cause for Concern

At the same time, on the 25th of September, Muslims are calling for a Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington DC (
http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/). They are calling for 50,000 Muslims to gather and pray on the DC Mall. This is the exact word of one of the Sheikhs who is leading this historic gathering, “Muslims should march on the White House. We are going to the White House so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the White House will become into a Muslim house.” These are not empty words. They speak of a dark spiritual intent and a coming day of great trouble to America.

A Divine Moment

Now one of these events is enough to awaken us to this significant throbbing moment, but when they all converge it becomes a massive spiritual alarm that must be responded to by the praying Church. However, I believe in this moment of divine providence God has raised up on the stage of history a little “Esther” that if we pray and fast for her she could be a major voice to expose the dark under-belly of Islam and radiate a bright hope for a day of salvation for Muslims in America.

Headlines

On Monday, Rifqa Bary, a young 17-year-old woman, will be in the headlines of US news. Four years ago, while living in a very devout and radical Muslim home, Rifqa met Jesus in a powerful way as her savior. She hid her conversion, began praying secretly, and began hiding her bible from her parents. Then, on Facebook, her love for Jesus was exposed to the radical Muslim community in Ohio. Rifqa’s father demanded that she renounce Jesus or he would kill her as is commanded by the Koran. As a radiant believer in Jesus she refused to renounce her Lord and fled to Orlando where she was taken in and cared for by a Christian Church and family. Now, the father is appealing to the courts to bring her back under his custody. Major television networks have already covered her story. How must the Church of America respond in this moment for our sister who is a part of the Body of Christ?

A Major Sign

This convergence, I believe, is urgently summoning us in the midst of the rising tide of Islamic influence in America to recognize that our God is above every god and that if we return to Him with all of our hearts and call upon Him with fasting and prayer then God could use what the enemy meant for evil to bring about a great day of salvation for Muslims in America, of which Rifqa is but a major sign.

Here is The Call

First of all, we cannot be passive as a Church to let these kinds of developments go on without being challenged in the spirit. Our fight is not against Muslims, it is against principal intities, powers, and forces of darkness. We are calling the Church of America at the end of Ramadan, from September 21st through 25th, to five days of concerted prayer. On Monday, we must pray that God would grant supernatural wisdom to the courts so that the testimony of Jesus would be proclaimed and that the best situation for Rifqa and her family would take place. We must pray for Rifqa to be bold in proclaiming Jesus that even thousands of Muslims would hear and be awakened to the love of Christ. She has already said that this is not about her but about many Muslims coming to Jesus. We must pray for her lawyers who are being bullied, threatened, and challenged on every side.
On Friday, September 25th, the Muslim Day of Prayer, we are calling the Church of America to fast and pray that Muslims would be moved by the Holy Spirit, convicted by the testimony of Christ, and even be visited by Jesus in dreams. We must pray that God would restrain the spiritual powers behind Islam and grant us the great awakening that we desperately need for America. (Just look at the Dome on the Rock in Jerusalem - once was "ours", now "theirs".)

Let us hear the call to prayer and not miss this moment,

Lou Engle
The Call
CRITICAL EVENTS
  • 9-1-09 - The US began its turn in holding the rotating presidency of the 15-member UN Security Council. The role of president involves setting the agenda, presiding at its meetings and overseeing any crisis.
  • 9-14-09 - The new assembly of the United Nations opened with the new president of the General Assembly - the ambassador from Libya.
  • At an unknown-to-me-at-this-time date - Obama will address the UN General Assembly followed by the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. He will also host a luncheon for visiting sub-Saharan African heads of state, another one for the dozen top UN peacekeeper-contributing nations, as well as host the traditional US evening reception for world leaders.
  • 9-18-09 - The Jewish New Year begins (5770)
  • 9-23-09 - See You At The Pole prayer rally on high school campuses.
  • 9-22 or 23-09 - Obama has called a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York. This meeting will require Netanyahu, defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Lieberman to be absent from Israel over the New Year Festival - an obvious snub of this major Jewish celebration. It is expected that yet more pressure will be placed on Israel to give up land in that tiny country for "peace" to people who have vowed not to accept peace until Israel is obliterated.
  • 9-23-09 - Obama will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
  • 9-24-09 - Obama is scheduled to chair a Security Council session on global nuclear disarmament, the first such event by the 15-nation body.
  • 9-24/25-09 - The G-20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will meet in the Convention Center in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. O will host this meeting. The primary purpose of this meeting will be to address the world monetary crisis.
  • 9-25-09 - 50,000 Moslems will gather opposite the ellipse in front of the White House for prayer with the intent of praying to Allah for victory and that the White House become a Muslim House.
  • 9-30-09 - The 30 days of Ramadan end.
  • 10-1-09 - The Communist Chinese flag will be allowed to fly at the White House.
  • On-going - Security agencies are on high alert for terrorist activities as the FBI plans and conducts more raids in New York City.
Sent to advance the Kingdom of God and His divine purposes in this hour.
AGAPE! Lisa Crump, NDP Task Force, Director of Prayer Mobilization

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Garden in the Rain


We had gone for almost five months without significant rainfall. Most rain showers delivered just a tenth of an inch of rain. Plants and trees died from lack of water and 60+ days of 100 degree or more days.

This changed with almost a week of rain. My garden received close to three inches of rain. The temperatures were blessedly cool; days in the 80's and nights slipping into the 60's. The air conditioner was turned off and windows opened. How wonderful!

The basil I had just planted is flourishing as are the cactus and succulents recently added to the yard. The vegetable garden is not as happy. The first night of rain came with gusts of wind. Next morning, my healthiest tomato had blown over cage and all. One of the stakes holding the cage in place had broken and the other stake had bent under the load.

I made my way into the garden, sinking into the mud over my sandal's soles. Squishy, brown mud oozed up between my toes. With difficulty I straightened the cage and set it down with the one stake holding it in place. I found another stake and anchored the cage securely.

I checked for damage to the tomato plant. It seemed none the worse. No branches were broken although many had shifted location. Then I saw my bell pepper. I had planted it too close to the tomato anyway. Now, its main stem had been broken, but not torn. The top of the stem was now at right angles to the base. The only pepper on it was deep in the mud.

Gingerly, I picked the pepper. The base was cracked, but it will be usable sliced. The plant was another matter. I contemplated bringing the pepper upright and splinting the main stem. As I stared at the pepper, I suddenly realized that the top was bent out of the shade of the tomato and into the sunlight. Once more I examined the stem. There was no break in the skin. I decided to leave the pepper as it was. I'll see what happens. At least, it will get more sun.

As the rains continued, I noticed my eggplants' lower leaves yellow and fall off. A black fungus crept over the green ones. The aphids multiplied: light green ones and fuzzy white ones. Two of the tomatoes began to decline. The okra retained its top leaves, but looked more like a thin cane that a vegetable.

When the rains finally stopped, I squished aphids and cleaned out dead leaves. One eggplant listed to the south dramatically. I pulled it upright and pressed soil around it on the south side. There were two more fruits set on the eggplant. Whether from my pollinating efforts or the cool weather, I don't know.

After a day of sunshine, the garden is improving. The okra has more leaves and the eggplant is blooming. The toppled and restaked tomato plant shows no sign of damage. The bell pepper also seems to have improved with new leaves and blooms spouting. The odd 90 degree angle is hardly noticeable.

Soon, I will start my winter garden.

Photo by Bukowsky18

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Joe Wilson, Barack Obama and the South

I am a sixth generation Texan. Born into a family that was steeped in the Southern tradition of bigotry and faith, a very strange combination. Love God, but not your fellow man.

I was saved from that narrow minded racial hatred by a mother who threw off the beliefs of her childhood and a Yankee grandmother who saw everyone as a friend. I have come home as a child to play with a Navajo boy whose mother my mother befriended. I have come home to a houseful of Buddhists cooking on our stove because theirs had quit and my grandmother opened our kitchen to them. (The ashram was across the street.) I have come home to find the welfare mother next door being taught to cook by my grandmother. I have come home to be invited to the birth of our next door neighbor's child in their front bedroom.

From my mother and my grandmother, I learned that everyone is a neighbor and to follow Christ's command to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. I am so grateful for that lesson. That does not mean I like everyone. No race has a corner on good or evil. I know I can encounter saints or devils in any color.

Wednesday evening, I watched President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress. When he was interrupted by a rude outburst, I caught the Southern accent. I knew that Southern bigotry had struck again.

Later, the press announced the name of the Southerner, Joe Wilson. I do not know much about this man except that he is a Congressman and comes from South Carolina. I doubt that he is an overt racist. I doubt that he believes he has any problem with race. Yet, he chose to interrupt a speech of the first black President of the United States. I believe that he is heir to the deep racial bigotry that still eats at the heart of the South. Hidden now, but perhaps more virulent.

Racism still lingers just below the surface of every day interactions between Southerners. This racism is not conscious, but ingrained, characterized by racial jokes and casual slurs. The subtle assumption from the past that blacks are not capable of intellectual activity still lingers. A black quarterback at the University of Texas led to whispers and suggestions that he had a lot of white in him. This racism rises from the great need of human beings to have someone to look down on, someone to feel superior to, someone to make their condition seem less barren.

In the South, poor whites were duped into hating blacks by a white ruling class that played the need for superiority for all it was worth. This racism had the desired result. Poor whites voted with rich whites instead of with poor blacks. In many cases, poor whites voted against their own interests rather than share a common cause with blacks.

The Republicans use this racial tactic today. Health care is a perfect example. Here illegal immigrants become the target of hatred and fear. Many whites would rather have health care reform defeated than chance that some illegal immigrant would game the system and receive medical care. They would continue a system that limits access to health insurance (preexisting condition means denial of insurance), limits payments (maximum amount of payments capped), and denies medical treatment on technicalities.

What would Jesus say to us about the sick child of an illegal immigrant? Let them die? Or heal them? Who is our neighbor?

There is an amazing mentality even among well educated Southerners. I have had graduate degreed friends tell me that slavery was not that bad, that as a whole the system was good for blacks. They will concede to individual cases of extreme cruelty and excess, but tell you on the whole slaves were well taken care of and had little worries because food and shelter were provided. Of course, when I ask if they would like to be a slave, the answer is no. I wonder what Joe Wilson thinks about slavery?

Many Southerners are ready to refight the Civil War. Not militarily, but politically. Republicans cling to the issues that divided the country, race and wealth. Then race concerned the civil rights of blacks and wealth the riches derived from black labor. Now, race deals with denying access to upward mobility for minorities so that wealth can be accumulated from the fruits of their low wage work. Again, illegal immigrants show the hypocrisy. Deny illegals benefits, but live in the houses they build for less than minimum wage or eat at a restaurant whose prices are low because the kitchen staff consists of illegal immigrants paid a pittance.

When southern Republicans are afraid of losing an election, they play the race card. Not overtly, but with great skill. Just as in the days after Reconstruction, they scare poor whites with the image of their black or brown neighbors as the other, as different, as someone who wishes to take from them, as someone who has suspect values and a desire for a different America. The image of President Obama as a foreigner is an example of this gambit.

Southern Republicans will make outrageous statements to rally those that fear the federal government. Governor Perry stated that Texas should secede from the United States because the federal government was taking over everything. People believe such outrageous statements because for years they have been fed the idea that centralized help is evil. Only a state is fit to look after its citizens.

Too many Southerners live in world created not by fact, but by their desires, desires articulated by right wing commentators, politicians and ministers. They live in a world that does not exist, but is real to them. In their world, President Obama is part of a Muslim plot to destroy the United States. His health plan is just another step in Muslim plan to control everyone in the United States. Their world makes them very afraid. Their fear makes them vulnerable to the demagogues of the right. Their fear may truly threaten this nation.

We must remember the angels message at the coming of Christ: "Fear not."

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Gardeners Are Such Fools


The heat has broken. Now, we only have days in the nineties and nights dipping near seventy. Mornings are really lovely.

Last week we had the first real rain since early spring. I got an inch and a half of the wet stuff. The garden is so much happier.

The reprieve from the August heat and lack of rain has raised my hopes for a fall garden. I am removing dead plants and preparing the ground for new plants. A friend who gardens in one the community gardens is busily cleaning out his plot. He will plant for fall soon. Gardeners are such fools.

Another friend passed two basil branches (basil picture above), well rooted in water, on to me. I planted one under the bird bath in the front yard, far from past basil failures. The other plant went into the vegetable garden in back. This time in the flower bed at the edge of the garden where the sunburned remains of forget-me-nots still litter the ground. The only plant that survived from spring is a hybrid wandering Jew. This plant has produced a beautiful rosette of leaves that seems not to mind the heat and lack of water.

I have two tomato plants to be put in the ground, and I will try the Japanese shiso again. I think I will add mint to the circle under the bird bath and more herbs in back. Once it is cooler, I will add some leafy vegetables to the garden. I want to grow some catnip near the water faucet in front, but I fear the cats would soon eliminate it.

On the east side of my house there is an extremely dry area with poor soil. Nothing has grown there all year, not even weeds. Of course, I could not stand that bare soil. Now, I have planted a variegated, thornless prickly pear, an ordinary prickly pear (right), an echeveria (below), and a volunteer plant with bright pink flowers, rescued from a neighbor who was going to mow it. My struggling kalanchoe and some rooted sanseveria leaves complete my attempt to bring life to that dead area. I will see what happens.

Gardeners are such fools.

P.S. My eggplant has set fruit.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Keith Olbermann and Dan Savage


"I’m sure they don’t want to hear this from me because I’m an avowed atheist but my dad was a Roman Catholic deacon and my mom was a minister and I went to the seminary and I was confirmed in the Catholic church. I’ve read the Bible backwards and forwards and there’s a lot in there, a lot that Jesus had to say about taking care of the sick, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, visiting, not executing the prisoner and nothing about capital gains tax cuts, nothing about denying health care coverage to American families and American children and nothing about this sort of insane opposition to a democratically elected president.

They really have hi-jacked Christianity and are giving it a bad name. The reason we see spikes I think in more and more people who no longer associate themselves with any religious faith or belief is because now to say you’re Christian in America means you are saying I am in the same boat, the same bat crap crazy boat with Michelle Bachmann. And a lot of even nominal Christians don’t want to say that any more or cultural Christians don’t want to say that any more."

The above quote is from Countdown on MSNBC on September 1, 2009. The speaker is Dan Savage. I agreed with most of his statements that evening, but totally disagree with his statement that "to say you're a Christian in America means you are saying I am in the same boat, the same bat crap crazy boat with Michelle Bachman." I am a Christian. I have no problem saying that because I and the majority of Christians know that our faith is not the same as Michelle Bachman's.

I believe Mr. Savage and the media would like the statement to be true because it reinforces a stereotype of Christianity that the media perpetuates and that atheists prefer. The stereotype of the anti-intellectual, the Bible-is-literally-true Christian. A stereotype that is easy to ridicule.

Mr. Olbermann loves to ridicule the religious right and too many times all Christians. His views of Christians seems to always portray them as right wing loonies with equally strange religious beliefs. Of course, I admit there are plenty of examples to support his remarks, but these are not the majority of Christians. Mr. Olbermann seldom if ever offers a more sane view of Christians.

Mr. Olbermann is not entirely to blame for his one-sided view of Christians. Most of the media portrays Christians as far right zealots. Interview after interview is conducted with those Christians who will produce the most audience-grabbing sound bites, people on the fringes of the faith, not those in the solid core of the faith.

I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and a scientist's view of the world. I believe in evolution and stem cell research. I am an left of center independent who supported Hilliary Clinton. I believe in Christ as the truest manifestation of God in our world, but not the exclusive manifestation. I am a Christian. I believe in God the "I am", the Creator, God as love, the Comforter , and God in action, Jesus Christ. Three in one: "I am love in action."

I would challenge Olbermann and other commentators to interview a mainstream Christian, not an atheist, to discuss what Christians think about issues of the day and the far right of our faith. No one can hi-jack Christianity. The media can portray only a sliver of what the truth is, but the great center continues. God does not need us, we need God.

Those of the left make a mistake when they ridicule Christianity as a whole. Rather the center of the faith should be allowed to speak, to reassure those who do not understand what it means to be a Christian. Christ made it very simple to understand: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. He did not say it would be easy to do.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Our God -the Golden Idol of Gratification


I fear for our country. As a nation, I fear we have lost our heart. Why should people suffer because they are too poor to pay for health insurance? Yet, as a nation we have turned our backs on such pain. We let insurance companies make life and death decisions based on profit and loss. There is no compassion or nurture in the counting of dollars.

People fear health reform because what they have may be taken away. The majority would be satisfied even if the minority dies. We put our lives in the hands of corporations yet fear our own government. We are a nation that has lost its way.

Christ asked us: "Who is your neighbor?" We have answered: no one who costs us money. Our second television is more important than a child's smile whose pain has been relieved. We are so afraid of being cheated that we turn away all. Is it time to ask why in a nation of conspicuous consumption so many struggle to survive?

We are a self-centered nation. Our goal is wealth. Our God has become the golden idol of gratification. We pay those who defend our nation, but not enough. We would rather have the money go to private mercenaries with exorbitant fees because this is free enterprise, not government. Our corporations look only at the bottom line, not the worker at the bottom.

We must remember that we are the Samaritan, that we are our brother's keeper, and that we are judged by how well we treat the least of those among us.

Photo by marissas23