Life sucks, but . . .

Let's face it, guys:  Life sucks.

I had an appointment with my counselor yesterday, and at the end, I said that right now, certain parts of my life just plain sucked.

Government shutdown?  Sucks.
Kid with autism?  Sucks.  (The kid doesn't suck, but dealing with autism day in and day out?  Sucks.)
Financial concerns?  Sucks.
Current events?  Sucks.

On the way to my car, I thought, Jesus' life sucked, too.

I mean, think about it.

No home of his own, sleeping on the ground, persecuted, criticized, betrayed by a friend and abandoned by the rest of them, convicted and executed for things he never did.

Sucks.

And that was when the following verse dropped into my mind:

"In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33, NIV)

I thought, That's it.  That is how you deal with the fact that life sucks.

"In this world you will have trouble."

Translation:  Life sucks.

Jesus never said that life would not suck.  Life is going to suck.  Period.  If it sucked for Jesus, the holy Son of God, it is going to suck for us.  Period.

"But take heart!"

You can translate that as "be brave, take courage, be courageous, etc."

Why?  If life sucks, and it sucked even for Jesus, why be brave?  Why can we have courage, take courage?

"I have overcome the world."

I have overcome.

Not, "I will," but "I have."

Jesus said all of this before the garden of Gethsemane, before he heard the muttering of the soldiers coming for him, before the torches lit up the trees, before Peter swung his sword and cut off Malchus' ear.

"I have overcome the world."

I wonder how many times he thought this while he was being marched towards Pilate, standing on trial, listening to everyone accusing him, lying about him, while the whip cut into his back and sprayed blood and bits of skin and bone on the ground.

My Merriam-Webster dictionary app defines "overcome" as a transitive verb meaning "to get the better of".  When I read that definition, I don't see a shiny Jesus holding up his hand and saying in this holy-sounding voice, "Take heard, I have overcome the world."

No, it's a Jesus that says, "Ha!  Gotcha!  I have overcome!  Yeah, things suck and they're going to suck, but guess what?  I'm the Son of God and I have gotten the better of things.  I win!"  Not an, "na-na-na-na-na-pfffth", but, "I win!  No one has gotten the better of me; I have gotten the better of the world.  Ha!"

John 16:33 isn't going to solve our financial problems.  It won't miraculously reopen the government or make autism easier to deal with.  But maybe, just maybe, it will put a new spin on the outlook that I have.

"I have overcome."

He has overcome.

He got the better of the world, and so will we.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Last night's speech, and other topics

I did not watch last night's speech by President Trump about the wall. 

I honestly don't know what to think about the wall, or about anything, because I am afraid of losing friends on either side of the aisle. 

I am afraid of being shamed for what I think, and unfortunately, there are people powerful enough to shame and silence others. 

I run conservative in my politics, and I feel like I am committing a sin by doing so.  I'm not "woke", and I'm not a social justice warrior, and I feel like those opinions are the only ones that count.  Anything that leans even a little bit to the right, politically, is to be silenced. 

I am afraid of losing my friends on either side of the aisle for what I believe.  I am afraid of being thought of as racist or bigoted, even by other Christians.  If I say "a", everyone else will say "b, c, d, e . . ." and I'm left with just saying, "Uh-uh-uh-uh . . ."

My little "squeak" gets drowned out by the screams of those around me.

I've said to my son that the only people who should have sex with each other are a man and a woman who are married to each other.  Am I wrong?  Because people use the Bible to teach that yes, only a man and woman who are married to each other should have sex with each other . . .and people also use the Bible to teach that a loving, same-sex relationship is okay. 

People use the Bible to teach that a woman shouldn't preach . . . and people use the Bible to teach that it's okay for a woman to preach.

People use the Bible to teach that you must be baptized in order to be saved . . . and people use the Bible to teach that you just have to "accept Jesus as your personal savior."

And then there are all the back and forths about the original Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic, the original audience, the context of the verses, the culture of the times . . . and I'm left feeling that I can't understand the Bible without a degree in theology and fluency in Biblical languages.

Then I'm told, "just love everyone and let God sort it out".  But sometimes, "love" is defined as "overlook my sin" or "don't tell me that what I am doing is wrong".  When you tell someone that they are doing something wrong, that's "judging", and we are not to judge (Matthew 7:1, yet another example of people using the Bible to "prove" that they are correct). 

I am supposed to "welcome the alien" because of the verses in the Old Testament that talk about "welcome the alien among you because you were aliens in Egypt" (my paraphrase.)  When we talk about deporting people here illegally, those verses are used to "prove" that the people who want to deport people here illegally are "hateful".  (I'm not going to tackle the topic here of children brought here by parents who came here illegally.  Because right now, I don't have an answer.) 

I am supposed to ALWAYS, without question, believe people who claim they have been assaulted.  If I say anything like, "I'd like to withhold my judgment until more facts come out," I will be accused of not believing victims.

The only women who are real women are those who are in the STEM professions or who are CEO's or high-powered lawyers or politicians.  Real women break glass ceilings and smash the patriarchy.  Real women don't get married or have kids because that's depending on a man for your worth and value, and by all means, you don't need a man for your worth and value!  If you want to have kids, okay, we'll let you have kids, but you'd better be back at that desk within six weeks.  Real women don't work in "traditionally female" occupations, like teacher, librarian, court reporter, secretary, waitress, because that's buying into the "traditional stereotype" of a female, and by all means, you do not want to do that, do you?  </sarcasm font>

In fact, if you as a woman have to get married, it's your husband that should stay home and take care of the kids while you go out and earn the living.

And above all, real women are STRONG.

I don't fit.  I don't fit any of this.  I'm not "woke", I'm not a social justice warrior, I haven't smashed a glass ceiling in my life and I'm not actively campaigning against the patriarchy.  But my voice squeaks in comparison to the gatekeepers of society and social media, and they have decided that people like me are to be shamed into silence. 

And frankly, I do not know what to do about it.  The fight just seems hopeless.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation

Say that again, Siri?

I like Siri.  I like the convenience of just saying, "Where is . . ?" "Can you . . ." I've asked her "what day of the week was  . . .?" mainly because when I proof, I need to make sure that the date is correct.  I've actually run across a couple of occasions where the day of the week did not match the date of the year.

But the disadvantage of Siri is that she's voice-recognition . . . and that leads to a few, shall we say, interesting situations.

Last year, during a cold snap, I was trying to figure out what the wind chill was.  I kept saying "wind chill" to Siri, and Siri kept translating it to words I was not saying.

One of the translations, I will not repeat here, because it garnered the following response from Siri:  "I hope you don't kiss your mother with that mouth." 

I got a reminder of Siri's translation abilities, or lack thereof, today when I spoke a reminder to her about a friend of mine.

Laura is a woman in my Bible study group who just discovered that she has an aggressive form of breast cancer.  She is fighting back just as aggressively.  (On her way home from her PET scan, she posted a video of herself singing along with the song "Radioactive", commenting that she was a bit radioactive after the scan!)  Today I saw a picture of her holding a martini glass filled with juiced vegetables.  Juicing is one of the weapons she's using in her war against cancer. 

Laura had her port put in today and had given people the time of her appointment.  So I asked Siri to "remind me about Laura's port".

The reminder that came up? 

"Laura sport." 

So I shared her response with Laura and she sent me back a laughing emoji. 

I wish I could tell Siri, "Make Laura's cancer go away," and have her say, "Your wish is my command."

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

What's the word?

In the last few years, I've seen that it's customary for people to adopt a "word" for the next year.  This word is one that they use to be their emphasis or their guide for that year.

Brian Hardin, from the Daily Audio Bible (www.dailyaudiobible.com) has adopted a word for the last few years.  Last year it was "hope", this year it was "maintain".

So, do I have a word for this year?

Well, yes . . . and no.

I have two words and a phrase for this year.  It's stuff I've been thinking about for some time, and it's about time I put the words into practice.

They are:  Foundation, fundamentals, and back to basics.

I've worried about several issues within Christianity over the last few years, such as, "Are we allowed to have instruments in worship?"  "What is the role of women?" and on and on and on.  Lately, it's occurred to me that answers to those questions aren't worth it if I don't have the proper foundation . . . which, according to I Corinthians 3:11 is Jesus Christ.

I can squabble about "women's roles", "instrumental music" and everything else, but what good is it if I am not building on Jesus? 

So here I am, picking up my shovel, and clearing away the rubble, leveling the ground for the foundation of Jesus, and praying that I will build on it with the proper materials. 

Happy New Year, all.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Shutdown

Unless Mighty Mouse swoops in and saves the day, we are 15 and a half hours away from a government shutdown.  Since my husband is a government employee, he will be placed on furlough and he will not get a paycheck until the government reopens.

We have already bought Christmas presents and Christmas dinner, and we have savings, assets, and a full pantry.  I can still proof, and my husband will qualify for unemployment.  And if the situation gets dire, we have good friends.  My husband and I will be fine. 

The whole issue boils down to Donald Trump saying, "I want money to build my wall, and if I don't get it, I'll hold my breath until I turn blue!"

Congress:  "Inhale, Mr. President.  Our favorite shades of blue are azure, turquoise, cobalt, and navy."

There is a reason why I refer to the children -- er, Congress, and why our President should probably be referred to as the toddler-in-chief. 

My disgust for American politics has reached a new high.  Or low, depending on your perception.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

German chocolate and the end of innocence

When Roz Fishburn learned that someone wanted a recipe for a layer cake made with German chocolate, she picked up her phone and dialed 527-4188.

By the time the other party answered the phone, she was out of breath . . . but not because she'd raced to the phone in order to make her phone call.

Between the time Roz Fishburn made her phone call and the time her party finally answered, she'd heard the following words:  "President Kennedy is reported to have been wounded by an assassin in Dallas, Texas.  There are no further details at this time."

The number 527-4188 that Roz Fishburn dialed belonged to radio station WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut; and the show she was trying to contact was "Mikeline."  This website, dedicated to Hartford, CT radio history, describes "Mikeline" as "WTIC's 'neighbors-over-the-backyard-fence' call-in program".  For a half-hour, between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., people around the state of Connecticut (and some outside of the state) could call either 527-4188 or ask their operator for the number Enterprise-9842.  On the air, callers asked for recipes, cleaning tips, or other household-related questions; other callers would call in and say, I know where you can find such-and-such.  

On the day Roz Fishburn made her phone call--November 22, 1963--announcers Floyd Richards and Bob Ellsworth manned the studio, taking phone calls from people asking about such things as the game of mumblety-peg, how to clean a tent before you put it in storage, and where to get directions for an Italian knitting machine.  The very first phone call answers a question about "how do I keep my garbage cans clean?" with a suggestion about "these new plastic liners".  (We now take plastic trash bags for granted.)

"Mikeline" began at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  In Dallas, Texas, it was 12:30 Central Standard Time.  At the moment Floyd Richards was greeting his listening audience, President Kennedy's motorcade was making its final turns through downtown Dallas, heading for the Dallas Trade Mart, where Kennedy was due to have lunch and make a speech. 

I've watched/listened to the JFK assassination TV and radio coverage posted on YouTube, and more than any other, this video shows just how ordinary that day was before those three shots that changed history forever.  No other video also shows the horrifying contrast between the chit-chat on the radio and the reality happening in Dallas that no one knew about yet.

The person who posted the video goes by the YouTube handle "Bertelevision".  Over the audio of "Mikeline"'s November 22, 1963 broadcast, he's superimposed pictures of what people were calling in about (for example, a picture of a garbage can shows up during the audio of the woman explaining about the new plastic liners). 

What he's also done is, in captions, post a minute-by-minute account of what was happening in Dallas at the exact same time "Mikeline" was being broadcast.  In fact, while the woman was talking about plastic liners for the garbage cans, the shots were fired at Kennedy's car, hitting JFK and Governor John Connelly.

Approximately 10 minutes into the broadcast, a woman calls in with a request for a layer cake made with German chocolate.  This was the recipe request Roz Fishman heard.  At the same time she was heading for her telephone, Jack Bell, an AP correspondent, finally got his hands on a receiver of his own and filed his account of JFK's shooting.  Unfortunately, Merriman Smith of UPI had already beaten him to the punch by grabbing the phone in the press bus and refusing to let anyone else have it.

At 1:55, after Floyd Richards listened to the question, "When is the best time to trim young maple trees?" Bob Ellsworth broke in with, "Floyd, I have something rather important from the WTIC newsroom in the form of a bulletin."  

He then read the announcement about JFK being wounded.

Floyd Richards and Bob Ellsworth, both blindsided, decided to take the next phone call, from the now-breathless Roz Fishman.  She said that the announcement just "took my breath away."

As she began to give the recipe, Bob Ellsworth interrupted with a second bulletin--announcing that President Kennedy and Governor John Connelly had been "cut down by an assassin's bullets".  

Bob Ellsworth, after saying that "this changes the complexion of many things", said that "we'll continue along." 

Floyd Richards said to Roz, you're in the middle of a terrible thing here; perhaps it's best to keep on going as best we can and for us to give the news as best we can.

Her response:  "I don't feel like it."

The sympathetic Floyd Richards told her, "that's fine.  Give us a call when you can."

By that time, the major networks were either on the air or getting ready to go on the air.  Within moments of Roz Fishman's hanging up, WTIC switched over to the NBC Radio feed, much to the relief of Richards and Ellsworth.

The period from November 22 to November 25, 1963, is often called the death of American innocence.  One can argue whether American innocence really died that day or if it had ever existed in the first place.

But when you listen to the WTIC broadcast of "Mikeline" with its questions about recipes and household hints, and read the captions showing the parallel events in Dallas, it brings home how the world, in less than half an hour, was totally transformed.  

I don't know if Roz Fishman ever called back with her recipe.  Perhaps, by the time the events of that awful weekend in 1963 were over, the world had just changed too much.  

German chocolate cake just doesn't seem that important when three shots in six seconds ended innocence.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Without a voice

I am without a voice at the moment.

Literally.

I caught a cold last week, got a sore throat, and then it developed into laryngitis.  I can make a low-sounding croak, and that's about it.  Yesterday I strained my voice canceling two appointments and I don't know if one of those people got or understood the message I left. I rescheduled an appointment for Friday (a PT evaluation) and just said I'll be there if I have to write stuff down; meaning, I'll be there if I have to write notes in order to communicate.

I did have errands to run yesterday, and it was interesting.  I did a lot of smiling and nodding; whispered at a couple of points, and worried if I was going to be perceived as being rude because I wouldn't talk to people.

It also made me wonder, how in the world do people cope who can't communicate?

No wonder people throw tantrums or scream or cry when they feel like they aren't making themselves understood.  It's frustrating to not be able to communicate.   I at least can write, and that helps. 

There's a deeper metaphor to all of this, I'm sure.  There are the those who are literally "without a voice", as I am at the moment; those who are physically unable to speak.  There are the deaf, who rely on sign language or texting or written notes.

And you can throw into the mix those without access to people who will listen. 

These are the ones cut off from society, those who plead for redress over and over again and who are not heard.  And although I have serious problems with those who resort to destruction of property, Martin Luther King had a point when he said that a riot was the language of the unheard. 

What do we do?  How do we give that voice to the voiceless? 

Right now, I honestly don't know.  I was going to add, " . . . and teach them how to use their voice," but I wonder if that comes across as paternalistic.  Would I only teach someone "how to use their voice" if I wanted them to only say what I wanted them to say? 

I'm lucky.  My voice will return sometime in the next couple of days.  For those without a voice, they may not be so lucky.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.