At the rsik of sounding Grinchlike...

I want to point out two things that increasingly annoy me about the Christmas season.

1.  The plethora of really bad, unnecessary, cheesy, "Christmas" music that is foisted on un in virtually evey public space and across big swaths of the radio dial.  

Don't get me wrong, I just had an enjoyable evening at the MN Symphony last night, and I grew up waiting with joyous anticipation for the day my parents brought out the Christmas music LPs, so it's not Christmas music in general.  It's the artists who throw together a 'Christmas" album to fulfill a contractual obligation or as a cynical way to get their fans to buy another record.  Recently, I've been taken aback by people who sing the lyrics of the religious Christmas carols, yet who's lives and words demonstrate that the lyrics they sing don't mean anything to them.   (The last is a bit of a pet peeve of mine and probably a little to much of a "grumpy old man" thing)

2.  The breathless rush to fold, spindle, and mutilate the nativity story so that it gets crammed into whatever the current progressive political narrative is.   I have absolutely no doubt that I will hear how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were "homeless" refugees when they were looking for lodging in Bethlehem.   Or that they were illegal immigrants when they fled from Herod's persecution to Egypt. 

Look, the nativity story is a beautiful, amazing example of God expressing His love for humanity by sending the perfect, blameless Lamb.  Instead, it's being made into a prooftext in a tawdry attempt at political gain.

Flattering, sweet, creepy, disgusting

I’ve posted about this before, but I’m not sure which of the above most accurately describes my feelings about a blog writer who is clearly obsessed with me (and Art).   Any suggestions about how I should feel having a blog where at least 2/3 of the posts are about me (until they are deleted to hide the evidence)?    I guess evidence might help in case I’m accused of lying, but why in the name of all that’s holy would I make this up?

Ya know)

It’s strange that all the folx who were adamant that every business must provide any service demanded of said business, are silent when Twitter suspends the accounts of conservatives with no warning and no explanation.  

Interesting, not really.    The double standard is so common that it’s sumply expected.

We’re not all that.

“Jesus never had a problem with people who knew their shortcomings; He didn’t tolerate people who faked it. Once we get real with where we actually are and our desperate need for Him, He’s got a person He can do something with.”

I think this is more true than ever in our current climate.   Where people insist that humanity is intrinsically good (born pure, sinless, and perfect), where culture and social media decide what’s right and wrong.   

Maybe there’s something to simply, humbly, admitting that we’re sinful, broken people who desperately need a savior.    Maybe it’s ok to be real and transparent about our failings and shortcomings.    

I know that the more I have someone or a group of people that know all my shortcomings, the more free I am to focus on God.   

Stuff

Two things.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about how gerrymandering benefits the republicans, yet the same people have no problem believing that Orange County somehow magically turned 100% blue.

If you were confronted with 2/3 of your friends who intensely believe something to be true, even though there was absolutely zero evidence that demonstrated the truth of their belief, what would you do?

?

So revoking Acosta’s WH pass because he wasn’t going to surrender the microphone is interfering with his “freedom of speech” and quashing “freedom of the press”, but a violent mob of dantifa thugs  going after Carlson’s family isn’t.  

I get that one is government and the other is a pack of wild leftist thugs, but it’s clear that the thugs want to silence Carlson, while the WH doesn’t want to silence Acosta as much as to deny him the press room stage.

Sometimes Bob Goff just nails it

“If you want a report card on your faith or your life see how you are treating the people you disagree with the most.” 

A strange new world

I’ve never been foolish enough to believe that what happens on the internet is real life, but I do feel like I’ve cultivated some relationships online that I wouldn’t have had any other way.   People who I’d certainly try to connect with if I’m ever near them.

One of those people is Dan.   There are many things I disagree with Dan about and have for years and years.   But I honestly believe that I would enjoy the opportunity to sit down over beverages or with guitars with him and hang out.   Just like I do with other people I disagree with.

Yet somehow after more years of commenting on each other’s blogs, vast numbers of emails, prayers for each other, and sympathy in times of hurt, that all means nothing.     It doesn’t even get me the privilege of an opportunity to “prove” that I’m a real human being.   It certainly doesn’t exempt me from lies being told about me or attacks on my character.  

But that’s ok.   Jesus calls me to love others no matter how they treat me, and I’m going to try to do just that.

It’s still early

It’s still early, but it’s not too soon to wonder what sort of excuses will be offered for the lack of a blue wave.

I’m sure there will be many.

But I’m pretty sure that none of them will involve poor strategy or offensive behavior on the part of the DFL.

A little Charlie Daniels for y’all

“I have prayed and I have voted

That is the limit of my ability to effect this election.

God’s will be done.”

Contradictions

For quite some time, we’ve heard people who espouse a certain political philosophy say things like the following.

Vote for women because they are women and we don’t have enough women in positions of power.
Vote for African-Americans because they are African-American and we don’t have enough African-Americans in positions of power.
Vote for Asians because they are Asians and because we don’t have enough Asians in positions of power.
Vote for immigrants because they are immigrants and we don’t have enough immigrants.
Vote for gay people because we don’t have enough gay people in positions of power.


But all of those things get thrown out the window the minute anyone representing any of those categories decides to run with the wrong political party affiliation.     Now the message is, in order to stamp out racism, boat against black, Asian, and Hispanic conservatives. In order to stamp out sexism, vote against women conservatives.

I’m beginning to think that the goal has never been to advance the interests of the various ethnic and gender groups, but to use members of those groups to advance a political agenda.

 How about this radical idea, vote for people who share your values, who have integrity, who have good character, and who want what’s best for all Americans.  Instead of mindlessly voting because of the letter that comes after their name on the ballot.

Unbiased

Back when I thought that I’d spend my life in the media, they hammered us with the need to be unbiased and objective.   I guess that’s not the case any more.

“In a phone call to @JohnJamesMI's campaign, Brenda Battel, a reporter for a Michigan newspaper, thought she hung up the phone then says: "Man, if he beats her (@stabenow)… Jesus! F*cking John James. That would SUCK!"”

Of course it’s nit racist to believe that the POC beating the white person would “SUCK”.

More wisdom about voting

I am a Christian person, so I think of the Gospel in precisely these terms. The world gives us a million false and contradictory stories about the nature of reality, and each of us (for our own reasons) believes a few of them. (Nobody could believe all of them). The Gospel comes along and says, “Forget about all those other stories. Here’s the story you’re actually living in.” And in the truest story, you don’t have to be afraid, or proud, or self-indulgent, or self-protective. You don’t have to be right. You can say “Oh, what a fool I’ve been.” Then, for the first time, you can stop being such a fool. You don’t have to be the boss. You don’t have to be a victim. You don’t have to jealously guard whatever power you have managed to consolidate. You don’t have to find your sense of self in your race or your gender or your social class or your political leanings. You don’t have to be the hero of the story. You don’t even have to be the main character.

But if the best stories awaken you to the larger, truer story in which you find yourself, there are other stories that shrink your world. These stories convince you that you need to be afraid, that you are a victim, that if you don’t hold tightly to your power or your rights (or, alternatively, if you don’t scrap for more power and more rights), you are doomed, along with everybody you love, and the “other” will triumph over you. These stories try to convince you that you are surrounded by enemies. The villains in these stories are so one-dimensional, the us-and-them dynamics so oversimplified and stereotypical that you would never tolerate them in a work of fiction; you’d throw the book across the room. And yet somehow we let these melodramas shape our sense of what kind of world we live in.

When I look around our political landscape, I feel a little nostalgic for an era when Orwell’s “long words and exhausted idioms” could have seemed like a major threat to democracy (if, indeed, such an era ever existed). Much more serious are the threats posed by very specific, very concrete stories that lie about who we are and how we fit into the world—stories that lie about our fellow human beings, most of whom are just doing the best they can to get along in a world that can be pretty hard to get along in.

Today is election day in the United States. I don’t know what your options are where you live. Some districts have better options than others. But whatever you choose, I hope you don’t choose it because some politician has stirred up your fear and outrage, then offered himself up as the solution to your fear and outrage. We’ve got to start telling better stories—not for the sake of wishful thinking, but because the better stories are true.

You live in a better story than the ones the world is telling you. Take courage.

Voting

I’ll add excerpts throughout the day, as well as some thoughts by others, but I’m going to start with this John Wesley quote from a piece by Scott Sauls.

“For people who will vote, I urge them to vote for those they judge most worthy, and to speak no evil against the person they voted against, and to take care that their spirits are not sharpened against people who voted on the other side.”

“So then, as we in the United States anticipate the election of another new slate of leaders, perhaps we can take a step back and remember a few things.

First, the shoulders of a president and a house and a senate are fare too small to carry a government. Remember that the government is already resting on the shoulders of the Prince of peace. His kingdom is already here, of the increase of His government there will be no end.

Second, the kingdom of God is above this world, and is not of this world. God plays by a different set of rules. His ways are often contrary to ours—and always higher than ours. Remember how little Jesus and the apostles ranted against and panicked over the secular, anti-religious, power-thirsty, and blood-thirsty Caesars of their day. Not once that I can recall. Can you? When face to face with Pilate the governor, who had the power to crucify or set him free, Jesus said, “You would have no power unless it had been given to you from above.” About Herod, the most powerful leader in the land, Jesus called him a fox. This was not a term of endearment or flattery. Rather, it seemed more like a flippant dismissal, even as he was on his way to the cross.

And to us, Jesus never says stand up for your rights. Instead, and into a hostile, anti-religious political climate, he says things like “Blessed are the persecuted” and “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”

And to God what belongs to God.

Third, and to Jesus’ point that all power held by all earthly rulers is given by God alone—The American public will vote this week as it does because God, in the mystery of His providence, has already cast the deciding vote.

Fourth, the heart of every king and ruler (and house member and senator) is in the hands of God.

Fifth, believing people need to be praying for, honoring, speaking well of, and submitting to their leaders. Romans 13, written to Christians living under the heavy, anti-religious, violent fist of the Roman Caesar, says that submitting to government (except when it violates conscience to do so) is a moral imperative. And so is restraining the tongue when we are tempted to curse or speak ill of this leader or that leader.

Sixth, let’s remember that, with very few if any exceptions, Christianity has advanced and flourished most when the state was against Christianity, and it has languished and suffered most when the state was for Christianity.”

“So then, if you are devastated or irate over the outcome of this week’s election, relax. We only need, and already have, one Messiah, and He will not lose this election.

And if you are ecstatic about an election outcome, relax. Take inventory. We only need, and already have, one Messiah, and He will not win this election.“

Could it be?

Could it be that all of the “mindlessly vote straight DFL, or we’ll verbally attack you,”, screeching is an admission that there is no actual positive reason to vote DFL?   I’ve seen a lot of political ads this season and virtually none of the DFL candidates are campaigning on anything that they claim they’ll accomplish.    It seems to me that campaigning on “The other guys are so bad you should hold your nose and vote for us.”, isn’t exactly “Ask not what you country...”, nor is “Morning in America” or a “Bright shining city on a hill”.   It’s simply pandering to hatred for “the other”.  If a few corrupt old white guys stay in office, and if a few minority women get trampled in the stampede, that’s just collateral damage.  

Is it possible, after being unable to put forth a candidate or a positive vision that was unable to beat the worst GOP candidate in modern political cal history, that doubling down on hatred and vitriol might not be a winning strategy?   That maybe only being against everything isn’t a compelling rallying cry?  Maybe demanding that people vote for your candidates “no matter what” isn’t the best option.   Maybe inentity politics writ large, doesn’t work.    Maybe demanding people’s votes, while excluding their voices won’t be as effective as y’all think.

I don’t know.  I know I’m going to vote on character first and party affection second and see how it plays out.

No matter what the results, I suspect the vitriol, name calling, hatred, division, and lies will be a tsunami of the blue wave peters out.