So, today MJ and I visited the Division of Motor Vehicles. It was time for me to renew my driver’s license. Also we needed to put a vehicle in our Trust. One of the nicest people at the Carbondale DMV is a red headed lady that has been there…it seems to me…for the past 25-30 years. She assisted us with the lengthy title procedure…and even brought me a clip board…as the old man grew tired of standing…to facilitate my not having to stand up, again, and walk to the desk. Good people make me want to be good. They inspire me to strive to be better…as the woman at SIUC told me after she had complained for over 1 hour regarding the performance of housekeeping at the University. She proclaimed…’Mr. Brooks…you could be better!’ I responded that I heartily agreed with her assessment and that I was going to conclude our conversation and set about her recommendation.

As I walked Campus this morning I was pleased to see many students preparing to welcome our incoming Class of 2021. They were excited regarding their mission…and their enthusiasm was contagious. The University is like the most lovely of Gothic Churches…it is nothing without its’ people. When our precious students are present at our lovely Campus…we are complete and whole and ready to set fourth on our great journey…

Safety should be of paramount concern for our schools that are either opening this week or next. Politics and political expediency should have no role to play in protecting our children. The first illogical premise to be thrown in the bin is that freedom to wear a face mask or not to is somehow directly connected to being free… The Delta Variant is spreading like a fire in standing corn…and Lambda is on its’ heels! Somehow we have the unusual idea that we modern and 21st Century people should not be dealing with a Black Plague from the 14th Century. We seem to feel that if we are canny enough or confident enough…that the pestilence will not touch us or our loved ones. In our supposed freedom…we have expanded our ignorance…

Churches beware. So we got a surprise with the Delta Variant of our 2020/2021 Pandemic. We saw it in the distance…in India. First we are primarily concerned that we and our close affiliations get the vaccination…or we have done our research and have decided to not get the vaccine at all…and then we wonder when much of the world neither have vaccinations or even have access to one if desired. Churches are in the mode of Covid Success With Vaccines…but the empirical evidence does not support this hypothesis. To remain open…is playing with prospective fire…that can not be contained. In many areas of our country the Virus is much worse than when we shut our doors in precaution and the motivation of safety for our congregations…

Life brings us many reversals. To set our cap on concrete certainty is a bit childish and naive. We are in the midst of a world-wide killing Pandemic…that we have only read about in our history books. As we read…we thought…how sad for those poor people… We are those people! We live in the day of incredible wealth and abject poverty. Those of us who have some resources…believe that our accumulated wealth will save us from the coming storm. Many of us have been told that god blesses the chosen with good heath and great wealth…while the poor christian…seeks shelter from the cold on a heating grate and food from the dumpster that is behind our favorite 5 star restaurant. Lies and loud and confidentially proclaimed political rhetoric will not shelter us from our persistent Pandemic. The unquestioned truth that we are all weak humans…who are susceptible to disease….and we…

grieve at loss…and who need each other desperately….the reality has been hidden from us by many of our leaders. We paint the the upstairs of our magnificent homes…while we smell the hint of acrid smoke…emanating from the basement..which is ablaze…

Move in is this week at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. The Campus is splendid under the August Sun. During my 32 year and 2 months and 3 week career…this was the most exciting time for me as a member of the University Community. For my life and my families’s lives…SIUC has been nothing but a blessing. I came to the University as a 20 year old who had a new wife and needed secure employment to make a life. When I reminisce on the carer opportunities and the educational benefits of my school…l am still awestruck and grateful. I discovered a place that accepted me for who I was and where I could grow both as a person and professionally.

Southern’s diverse community captured my imagination. On my first evening as a Building Service Worker I I worked alongside students from several countries. They were friendly and welcoming and I felt at home. During my first shift…I heard a resonate baritone bellowing…Brooks…Brooks…. When I found the source of the intonation of my last name…I first smelled the fragrant odor of cigar smoke…and then an African American gentleman. He told me to sit down and visit for a minute and I was reluctant to do so. Then, Jim, informed me that he was my boss and that when the boss invited me to sit down…I could feel safe in doing so.

Ducks and geese do not like the hot weather any better than I do. Today as i walked around Campus Lake I saw several endeavoring to locate a cool spot.

Campus seemed so large to me…43 years ago…now it seems like my home. I watch with great joy the many campus tours of prospective students and their parents. I smile at their wide eyed wonder and the excited looks on their faces. I recall the first class that I enrolled in 1980. I was full of excitement and fear. Excited to be enrolled at the University and fearful that I would not measure up.

When I think of Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale…I think of the transformation of Bradley Jay Brooks. I went in still seeking my life’s path…and I came out walking steadily on it…

SIUC is a microcosm of our world…and my affiliation with our Campus…made me a world traveller.

Hot is the take away word for the day. It is 90 degrees but it feels like 106. There is a heat advisory. Jonathon and I did house washing last week…none planned for this week. Too hot! It is reported that we humans have reached a crisis level for Global Warming. It is already too late to turn back the clock…there is only a small amount of time to lesson the catastrophic results from a super heated Earth. MJ and Aaron and Jonathon and I watched the glaciers in Alaska, calving, 16 years ago…many of those glaciers are now gone. We are like the people who are in our living room while our kitchen is on fire…we take comfort in the fact that we are. not burning…yet… I just received a news message that Covid 19 is spreading rapidly across my state, Illinois. We are a bit like the Emperor Nero of Rome…of whom it is said that he fiddled while Rome burned. We made Global Warming political…and now we live with the devastation of our shortsightedness and ignorance of the reality that was before our faces.

Our little planet is one of nine in our solar system. ‘The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy’s appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye.’ Wikipedia. Somehow we seem to think that our confidence in ourselves supersedes our brothers and sisters who are experts in their academic disciplines. It seems that the rooster that crows the loudest…garners the biggest flock of chickens. The Bully has been given the seat of honor and the learned man or woman with a servants heart…has been relegated to the back bench.

How often are things that we need to see…in front of our faces…and yet we do not see them? Our 2020/2021 Pandemic is not over. Why would we take satisfaction and political camaraderie with our neighbors and friends and fellow church members…in the fact that we have failed to get the Corona Virus vaccinations. My friend posted on Facebook that two of her good friends had been stricken with the Virus…they had not been vaccinated. Our Pandemic could become a plague of Biblical proportions…if we choose religious/political bombastic rhetoric over empirical reality… Why do we choose death over life? Have conspiracy theories so captured our minds and hearts that we would rather live in the Twilight Zone…than reality?

Confidence tell us that we are big stuff. Political theatre assures us that we are being misled by Dr. Anthony Fauci and the plethora of Epidemiologists and virologists and physicians that assure us that Covid 19 is real…and that it will make many of us deathly ill…and that it kills… Superheated religious proclamations take the place of medical professionals in our life actions. Simply put…we trust our preacher… more than our doctor…and we die for the misplaced allegiance…

I walk the Campus of Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale…for the past 43 years. You would think with that long term exposure I would have seen it all. Nevertheless…I see new things every day… Take time to look at your surroundings. I mean really look and contemplate what your are observing. Something new will pop out at you…that you had not noticed before.

Secrets are wonderful. Mysteries are marvelous. The sleuthing of the answer to a riddle is so very satisfying. When you die…the politician that you loved the most…will not attend your funeral. The preacher that you entrusted your life with…may preach your funeral and then go out for a fine dinner and plan his/her vacation. Think for yourself…open your eyes…wide…

Small is the word that describes we humans…best. We are giants in our own Super Ego…but we are midgets in the grand scheme of God’s creation. ‘But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.’ Luke 12:7. KJV

Jonathon and I engaged in round #2 this morning of the mildew removal on our siding. After my first adventure, on Thursday, I was amazed that my left eye did not hurt or sting when I accidentally shot a direct stream into it as I was trying to read the instructions for releasing the cleaner. I rushed into the house to rinse my eye…then I went back to work and was amazed that there was no appreciable amount of chemical that had. been released from the hose grip bottle. I thought, with a bit of self satisfaction, that surely the two $16 bottles that I had purchased would do my house 2 or 3 times over…with no doubt some to spare. Once the job had been completed I immediately showered…as I was still worried about the miracle siding cleaning chemical…and the fact that I had taken a direct hit in my eye. Standing under the cascading water…for at least five minutes, with my eyes open, they were truly bloodshot and irritated when the process was completed. I have worried about my left eye for the past 48 hours. Jonathon and I began the second application of the cleaner…and I noticed…again…that it was imperceptible the amount of soap that was leaving the small bottle. Upon a more detailed search…I discovered that I did not have the cleaning arrow fully engaged…and thus there was no chemical being applied to the house or my eye. Once it began flowing…it exited the bottle in record time!

Safety was of paramount importance after my Thursday…almost accident. I found 2 face shields for $16 apiece. I thought that they would be about $5 or $6. The gentleman who was assisting me told me that the face shields had been unavailable for a year due to Covid. There were only a few when I bought our 2. I had assumed that the face shields that I had seen in abundance during the height of the Pandemic were probably comfortable to wear. Well the Delta Variant of Covid has caused a terrible resurgence of the Virus and face shields are appearing all over town as the realization that we are far from out of the woods. They are hot and more difficult to breathe in than a face mask in my opinion. However Jonathon and mine were made out of heavier plastic that was suitable for chemical protection.

Real…is to be desired in today’s plastic society. One terrible thing that is extremely real is our Pandemic. What if we are not at the end…but the middle of the scourge? We humans have a short little span of attention. Especially we in the industrialized west want what we want when we want it… We are accustomed to people caring for our needs. We do not like to wait for anything. It is still difficult for me to believe…but many jobs are impossible to fill with Americans seeking gainful employment. When I was a lad I accepted any job that would hire me. I did not think that I was too good to work in manual labor. In fact I perceived that I might do so for my entire career. All work has dignity and value. But, we have been spoiled to accept the easy fix and the easy answer to life’s difficult questions. We have accepted that the accrual of money without an appreciable product to show for it…is smart business. We think little of debt or sound financial planning but rather prefer the buy now and pay later philosophy. Some of our politicians have no marketable skills but have fallen into $175 K annual jobs that they will likely never loose until then die. Many of these folks you would not hire for your beginning employment in your company. All that they have to do is ascertain what their voting base wants and then poly parrot those lies and conspiracy theories to the 750 thousand that they are elected to represent…and all are happy in their shared confused denial of reality…until they begin dying…

Edinburgh was a crucial part of our itinerary for our 2016 United Kingdom Exploration. We took a train from London to Edinburgh. We had visited Scotland, once before, as a land excursion from our United Kingdom Cruise in 2012. Our good friends, Margo and Jeff, had booked a wonderful flat for the six of us that was located along the hilly road that we took each morning to ascend to Edinburgh. The walk was an excellent manner to get our steps in…as I logged in excess of 10,000 steps per day…and more like 17,000 to 20,000 per day after ascending the hill in the morning and descending the hill in the evening and walking around Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival each day. The Fringe is one of the largest Arts Festivals in the world. There were hundreds of shows to see. They ranged from comedy to tragedy…and plays and singing and dancing and Avant-garde productions. We saw an enthusiastic young woman from Wales sing Tom Jones songs. Tom Jones is from Wales and my mom would not miss his television show in the 1960s. We watched a comedian who told us that he suffered from depression and especially so during the 11 months that he could not perform at the Fringe. There were pubs for wonderful Scottish Ale and outstanding Scotch of which we availed ourselves of a bottle. We attended a haunted tour, in the gloom of the evening, and the most unique lady, dressed as a ghost and all in white tattered garments, took us to some truly scary places.

Colin Mochrie, from Who’s Line Is It Anyway, was performing. I later learned that many famous comedians and stars got their start at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival…including Robin Williams and Monty Python. Our flat was large and comfortable. MJ and I slept in a bedroom that had 6 single beds. Aaron and Jonathon had their own bedroom…each. We met the owners, who lived next door, and they were lovely people. I often refer to the person that I met on our first dinner in Edinburgh. He was in a wheel chair and he asked me if I could help him up to a standing position to facilitate his ordering some Chinese food. I was happy to do so and thus ensued our conversation. He asked me how I was enjoying Edinburgh and I responded that for the little time that I had been in the city that I liked it very much. He expressed to me how happy that he was that we were visiting his city. The gentleman went on to say how much he had wanted to visit America…for all of his life…but that his Visa had. been denied…however he was going to reapply.

Edinburgh is a city of infinite layered history. The streets are built on top of other streets giving it a multilayered visit. MJ and I began walking up a three flight grouping of steps and deducted that we would be physically able to complete the climb…only to find that there were an equal number of steps at the top of the first grouping. There was a fascinating Flea Market in Edinburgh. I purchased a watch that was inscribed as a gift for ‘Bill’ and a wonderful shaving kit. Edinburgh was a bit like a waking dream…it was surreal and splendid…

The Military Tattoo is a singular experience and not to be missed! I read that both the Fringe Festival and the Military Tattoo have been canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the Pandemic. It is our plan to visit in 2022…if the Virus cooperates. The Tattoo is held on the castle grounds. The magnificence of the show is like something that you have never witnessed. With the columns of bagpipe players and the military and the young women dancing the Ceilidh Dance…the performance is a cornucopia for the senses. As we were leaving after the performance in 2016…I was referring to my neighbors as…Mate. Edinburgh…gets in you soul…and in your blood…

Fringe Festival is held in August as is the Military Tattoo. Like a magnet…Edinburgh draws us back to its ancient confines and mysteries. Scotland is a country that runs by it’s own time and clock. It is a country that recognizes it’s ancient past and yet lives in our present world. It is delightful and devious and good…and wicked…with measure…

In August of 2017 we traveled to New Mexico to visit Ira Kaye and Ron. Facebook has reminded me, this week, of what a wonderful time that we had visiting so many picturesque places in and around Santa Fe. There was a photo of me on the beautiful grounds of their condo. I looked rather dapper for an old guy with my Irish hat on and my seersucker shorts. The facility had the most wonderful hot tub that Ron and I visited twice during the week that we were there. There was also a golf course on the grounds of the condo association and a wonderful full bar for the occasional libation. My buddy, Carson, led us to the best Margaritas in Santa Fe…and we sipped them slowly to ensure maximum pleasure and enjoyment. Santa Fe is an artistic community and the residents and population are easy going people that are easy to like. They see the world from more of a spiritual side rather than from the side of how much money can I accrue.

We were in the hunt for hand woven wool table runners and hand woven wool rugs…the kind that you hang on your wall. We drove to Chimayo, New Mexico, which is noted for it’s hand woven wool products. ‘In 1680, the Pueblo Indians revolted temporarily ending Spanish commitment to the region. The Tewa Indians named Chimayo as ‘Tsi-Mayoh,’ after one of four sacred hills above the valley, which lies directly behind Di Santuario de Chimayo. The Pueblo Indians believed that they shared their land with supernatural beings.’ So we stopped at a weaving shop and watched with rapt attention and amazement as a woman was hand weaving a wonderful wool rug.

We were hooked. We came home with 3 different table runners. Later, MJ ordered a rug from a craftsman in New Mexico and we have proudly hung at the juncture of our Great Room and Loft. We attended the famous Sant Fe Opera and enjoyed it immensely. It was an open air performance of Die Fledermaus and we wore the opera mask to illustrate our opera bona fides.

New Mexico is compelling in its scenic beauty and the Native American Sprits of generations long past. It has a beauty that is unique and a spirit that is pervasive. Life seems simpler in New Mexico. The grandiose costume of modern life yields to the natural beauty of the earth.

Rings are a passion of mine. I remember, many years ago in St. Louis, Missouri that my friend Steve said that he knew Jay Brooks and that I would not wear a ring that had diamonds in it. MJ had sought to purchase for me a nice and flashy diamond ring for our wedding…that we could not afford when we actually were married. There was a smaller one and a larger one…I chose the larger one. And, so, we stopped at a Jewelry Store in Chimayho. I found the most fantastic New Mexico style ring for just over $100 and purchased it forthwith. It is a fantastic ring! I am wearing it today…

Our August temperatures are still temperate. So I thought that I would do a little, necessary work, around the ranch. Since MJ and I both have new Subaru Foresters…I have noticed the cramped parking space on my side of the garage. In fact on one occasion I tapped the drivers side door on a bookshelf that we had been storing for many years. It was time for the bookshelf to go. There was no room in the Inn…for it. Burris Disposal had to be called. The nice lady at Burris told me to put my bookshelf and my long folding table, that we had used at Thanksgiving for many years, out by the curb and her colleagues would pick them up this morning. So, as Jonathon and I pulled the tall bookshelf next to Ash Wood Lane…we subsequently found a table top to add to the mix and a nice piece of particle board. This morning just after I arose from my slumber…I looked out of our window to see if my items had been removed. The bookshelf was no longer there nor the nice piece of particle board. Remaining was the much used Thanksgiving table and the table top. I called the nice lady at Burris. She called the technician that was commissioned with the removal of my unwanted items. He assured her that he had not visited my house as yet. My lesson learned…book shelves and lumber products…are valuable…

Look, as the newscasters say in every other sentence throughout the day, what do you do when part of your garage clean-up is taken, under the cover of darkness, by a person whose books are strewn upon the floor…you look for more to remove for disposal. So, away went a massive piece of packing material, made from the precious particle board, and two by fours. And…our new window screens that came with our new house in 2001. We had saved the screens for over 20 years…knowing that none of them fit any of our windows…

Vinyl siding is very popular in the United States. It has taken the place of the, miracle , aluminum siding of my youth. Before aluminum siding there was weatherboard that had to be painted on a regular basis. Aluminum was groundbreaking due to not having to be painted. It has the color on it’s surface…but if you scratch it off…it is the silver color of aluminum. In any case…in my neck of the woods…the wealthy people had brick or stone siding. The upper middle class had aluminum siding. And we poor folks had weatherboard. Vinyl is colorfast. People love it due to having no maintenance. But is has to be cleaned. In Southern Illinois mold and mildew are prevalent. Thus after the August 2021 Great Garage Clean Out…the Wedge Wood Blue Vinyl Siding Project…began today. At Lowes, which is a humongous do it your self store in the U.S., I discovered some vinyl siding cleaner that…according to the instructions…all you have to do is attach it to your garden hose and spray your siding down and allow it to air dry. The green mold and mildew is supposed to magically disappear over the course of one week. It is promised to get better every day. No need for a pressure washer or an extension pole with a scrub brush attached to the end of it… We will see.

Home improvements are a bit therapeutic. There is something about getting up and out and addressing the little pressing concerns that occupy you mind…that is peaceful and helpful and satisfying. Aluminum is aluminium in the United Kingdom. When we first visited our UK friends I heard Jeff spelling his last name, Lest-zed. I thought that I was hearing things until he told me that the alphabet letter Z is not recognized in the UK.

A large component of life is work. It is a Hollywood Myth that a life of bliss has not work or manual labor involved. We humans get up in the morning to accomplish something. When we fail to do so…we are sad and ultimately morose. Action and movement are life. Our brains are stirred up and our souls energized by forward movement and accomplishment. A life of rest and refreshing ceases to be enjoyable…if there is not work involved…

My favorite summer month is here…August. I enjoy August because it is the penultimate month to the end of summer…September. I swear that I can feel a hint of autumn in August. For instance, this morning it is 72 degrees rather than 82. We have been experiencing several 90+ degree days with heat factors well over 100. August in the 1960’s was a pleasant time for me. I basically had 2 more weeks of carefree hours to wile away…and then it was either back to school or at least the preparation for returning to the classroom…took the majority of my last days of freedom. We stepped up our Pounds Hollow swimming forays to 4 or 5 days a week rather than 2. Pounds Hollow was nirvana from the relentless heat of hot and humid Southern Illinois. The cool waters of the Hollow soothed our souls and calmed our minds. It also was a lot of fun to float all over the lake and go beyond the guide rope set to remind all that once crossed…you are on your own. I was never a strong swimmer…but brother could I ever float. The sound of silence was peaceful and serene. The impression of being alone was immersive in the deep water where I neither could touch bottom but indeed had no idea of how far down that the floor of the lake was. The immeasurable water and my weak swimming skills…coupled with the fact that every now and then I could not seem to make floating on water work for me…brought a true excitement to the endeavor. When I would dog paddle for a season I would notice that my family and friends as well as the other swimmers…that were on the right side of the rope…were very small and difficult to distinguish who they were.

Buying new school clothes was a neat experience. Mom and I would travel to P.N. Hirsch Department store and look for all that I would need for the upcoming school year. I did not like blue jeans…so I did not wear any. I was a slacks person…and in the minority in that affection. I wore shirts with tails that were designed to tuck into your trousers. If you shirt tail was hanging outside off your pants…the teacher or the principal would tell you to go the rest room and tuck your shirt in. My hair had to be combed. I carried a comb in my pocket for this important purpose. If you wore a hat…and most of us did…you had to remove it when you entered the classroom. My friend, Jackie Brooks, began first grade at the same time that I did. For the first several days he forgot to remove his hat. When he would sit down at his desk the teacher would say to him, ‘Jackie, do not wear your hat in the house.’ He then would get up from his desk and take his hat to the cloak room.

Purchasing the notebooks and pencils and pencil sharpeners and all that would be necessary for a productive school year was exciting for me…for about the first week. After the first week of school…that was still in the summer…all I could think of was how hot it was in the classrooms. Schools did not have air conditioning…they had fold in windows. Opening windows, even large windows, when there is no breeze and placing a box fan in front of them is akin to having a gas forced air furnace blow hot air on you. I recall going to the principal’s office and it felt like walking into a refrigerator. I thought, ‘What is this?’ This was my first lesson in the inequality of life.

One of my greatest late summer and early school days pleasures was the mini-holiday we took to drive all of the way from Eldorado, Illinois to DuQuoin, Illinois…to attend one night of the Illinois State Fair. Now Illinois has 2 State Fairs and Southern Illinois is the lesser noted of the two. The Big Fair…or the Real Fair is held in Champaign, Illinois and is a 3 hour drive from Eldorado. My stepfather, Earl, said that the Champaign State Fair had nothing on the DuQuoin State Fair…and that an hour drive to get there was all that he was willing to do. The famous comedian and movie star, Bob Hope, often performed at the DuQuoin Fair…but I never got to see him…as the admission tickets were too expensive. The premier harness racing of the nation was held at DuQuoin, the Hambletonian. I loved what was called in those days…the freak shows. There was the headless woman and the man who transformed into a gorilla…before your eyes. We walked by a musical performance where women were dancing in their bathing suits and an African American man invited the pedestrians into the performance…if they wanted to see more… I mentioned to mom that the music was very nice…and she grabbed my hand tightly…and picked up her step. Often we would take our holiday to DuQuoin on Labor Day, which is the last day of the fair. Since we did not arrive until mid afternoon I wanted to squeeze every ounce of fair/fun that was in the annual event. On more than one occasion I would step up to enjoy a carnival ride and a grizzled man or woman would tell me that the ride was closed as they were preparing to break-down the machines to travel to their next fair destination.

September, especially in the middle and end of the month, brought the promise of fall. The Halloween decorations on the bulletin boards in our school…reminded me that my favorite time of the year had finally arrived. Soon my October birthday would be here again…that my friend, Jackie and I shared…as well as a last name, and I would be another wonderful year older…and soon to be an adult…I was certain…

‘I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.’ Ray Bradbury

Truth comes packaged in the most unique phrases. Or as a good friend told me one time, ‘Jay…you really do your own thing.’ I must confess that I was born this way. As a youngster I watched adults say some very strange and hurtful utterances and make some terrible and counterproductive decisions. Although I have been in the midst of authority figures all of my life…I regularly observed them uttering commandments or strong suggestions that were not in the interest of the people that they were speaking to. For instance for a minister or pastor to suggest that you give of your meager finances…until it hurts…and god will give you riches untold…is an abuse of power. Or, if a supervisor or manager personalizes their role in your work life…such as suggesting that they may have to cast you down to hell…that leader has relinquished their right to hold a management position.

You can be in the wrong place. If friends and colleagues do not appreciate you for your individuality…find new friends and colleagues. So many times we join a group or engage in an activity because it seems that everyone else is doing so. That is a poor excuse for a reason to follow the leader…said the lemming at the back of the line…

Comfort in your own skin…is a life long blessing. To seek the praise and affirmation of the reflection that stares back at you…is a vocation that is worthy of your employment. I never liked sports. I have a pond in my backyard that I have not fished in for over 20 years. I do not know how to play any card games…but Old Maid. I love writing and reading and photography and travel. I am a movie aficionado. If you are a human on our planet…you are my brother and my sister.

Fierce individualism and free thinking are my mantras. I am a christian for the past 52 years and I believe that Christ reveals himself to individuals and that there is no man or woman who has cornered the market on what, ‘God said.’ I think that churches should stir up their leadership and open themselves to new thoughts and new ways of worship and to ask themselves the hard questions on what it means to be a christian and what it means to be a member of a church…

Freedom is youth…and youth understand freedom… We understood as children that life is a mystery and that anything was possible if we only believed. We knew that we could be astronauts and travel to space. We understood that we could become authors and actors…and the scientist that cures cancer….and even the President of the United States…

Aaron came over and cut some of my most difficult weeds that are next to our backyard pond…just now. I always called the type of weeds that they are…Horse Weeds. Jonathon assisted me in some carpet cleaning this morning…they are good sons! Pastor Kerry preached an intriguing sermon this morning and one of the main take away points for me was…the complexity of God. A complex Creator created a complex creation. For instance, as Kerry illustrated in his sermon, King David, of the Old Testament, committed adultery with one of his leading warriors, Uriah the Hittite’s wife, and when Bathsheba became pregnant with their child…he sought to cover up his sin by ordering Uriah to go to his home. When Uriah refused the command due to his soldiers not being able to enjoy the comforts of their homes and wives…David commanded that Uriah be placed at the heat of the battle and that his comrades withdraw from him to ensure his death. God sent his prophet Nathan to tell David that God was aware of his sin…and David repented that he, ‘Had sinned before God,’…with no mention regarding the death of Uriah or the sexual abuse and perhaps rape of Bathsheba. Their first child died…but the second child was…Solomon.

Good things come from bad people. I have not met the person…and I will soon be 64 years old, who is entirely good…or entirely bad. The human creation is as varied and complex as the multitude of changing prisms of a kaleidoscope. I have done what is called ‘good things’ with several motivations fueling the enterprise. We desperately want life to be black and white…when it is almost always…gray. Former President Lyndon Baines Johnson was a champion of civil right and yet can be heard on tape using the N Word. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is a hero of the Civil Rights Movement and yet had to be cajoled and dragged to the cause by events transpiring in the south. Dr. Martin Luther King is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement…and yet his morality was somewhat akin to King Davids.

And, so, today we look for the morally pure and the ethically upright and person who has unfailing love for their fellow man…and we come up short. That is what this life is about…coming up short… The search for perfection in any human being…is an exercise in futility. The dogma or belief that if you are holy enough or righteous enough or if you fast enough or pray enough that you are going to become an elite member of God’s Holiness Club…with all subsequent Gold Club Members Rights…is not only folly but a perverse motivation for the exercise of a christian walk back to Jerusalem.

Some of the meanest looking people in the world have been my friends. Some of the seemingly kindest and placid and peaceful people in my world have been passive aggressive personalities. You can not judge a book by its cover. No one sees what is in the heart of a human…but God. We are all members of a large Theatrical Production called Life… Our roles are written with the nuances of the master writer. God knows how to write a hell of a story…