I don't have the time

      So, last Sunday, July 18, one of the verses of scripture shared in my Sunday School/Connecting group was  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  It says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

     As a pretty solid Methodist, it is of course not the first time I have heard, read, shared this scripture.  Almost without fail there are questions regarding how may one actually pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.

     I have even been told it is not possible to pray without ceasing.  There are jobs to which we must attend and livings which must be made.  If one is of the mind that prayer must be incorporated into a busy life then this certainly presents a dilemna of time management.  However, the dilemna here is not one of time management but of priorities.  What if rather than incorporating our prayer life into our "real" life we begin to incorporate our "real" life into our prayer life?  Is it possible that instead of concentrating on careers or paying bills our concentration could be upon our prayers and their results?  

     If you consider prayer to be only a method of asking "Santa" God for stuff then praying without ceasing is not really a viable option for living your life.  Praying in this manner is also not a viable prayer life.  If you pray only in moments of desperation when you have failed miserably then you most likely would not even desire to pray without ceasing.  

     Prayer is a gift from God.  God has provided an easily perpetually available method to approach our sovereign.  Prayer is not an avenue for you to tell God what is happening, what you need/want, how or by whom you have been offended.  While all of those cited above may be incorporated in your prayer, the prayer itself is to permit you to relieve yourself of those concerns and anxiety which may result.  Prayer's purpose is not for you to advise God but for you to commune with God.  Neither is prayer a oneway conduit for you to express yourself.  You may also avail yourself of the opportunity to listen for, recognize, and incorporate God's response to prayer.  If, in your prayer, you recognize your need for God and acknowledge the sufficiency of God to address all concerns it follows you would accept and act upon the reply of God.  In that recognition you must realize the need for meditation and contemplation to discern and understand the response of God to prayer.

     Practiced sincerely and steadily this type of prayer life becomes the focus of one's life rather than just another call upon one's time.  This prayer life will become your "real" life.  This prayer life will affect your career choices and concept of "success".  Initially, one may feel there are sacrifices being made to live prayerfully.  This is merely a matter of familiarity.  Change is always feared and results in discomfort.  As Christians, and I realize this may surprise some people, even many, we are not called to live comfortably.

     And what about this "give thanks in all crcumstances"?  I'm tired, hungry, wet, alone, sad, aggrieved, homeless, betrayed.  What do I have to give thanks for?  

     Once again we encounter a difficuly in perception rather than reality.  The very nature of circumstances is they are temporary.  Just as the rest of life, the only constant is change.  The Lord has promised you, Matt. 28:20 ...I am with you always, to the end of the age.  Whereas the cirumstances in which you find yourself are temporary, the mercy, grace, and love of the Lord are infinite and eternal.

     

     

Testing; Bad

Here's a couple pf things Donnie has to say about Covid-19 testing.

“Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding."

"If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,”

If you think either of these statements is valid, you probably won't wear a mask.

Testing has no bearing on how many cases of infected people exist in the U.S. or anywhere else. The number of infected will be the same whether or not testing takes place.

“More testing only reveals more infections and therefore increases the numbers. In a way, by doing all this testing we make ourselves look bad”

No, it doesn't. You know what more testing does? More testing allows you to identify and care for victims. More testing and the resulting data allows us to more productively work towards an effective course of treatment/vaccine. More testing doesn't make us "look bad". More testing at least suggests we have some measure of concern/empathy for our fellows. More testing enables us to more readily identify and inform those who have been put at risk.

Screw 'em, screw 'em all

     An area sacred to indigenous groups is being destroyed for Trump's border wall.  Border wall construction in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is threatening a burial ground and other sacred areas. 

     Finally, the United States has a President who's not afraid to desecrate a holy site of the victims of genocide.

     He is not dissuaded from his purpose regardless of the pain suffered from bone spurs as he grinds his heel into the throat of the poor, oppressed, disenfranchised.

     He is no longer constrained to denying the opportunity of a better life to those attempting to escape the threat of death or protect their families from persecution.

     Now he can simultaneously condemn foreign nationals to the ravages of despots and dictators, while acting in a like manner.  These are national leaders he has praised.  He has even been quoted saying "where's my favorite dictator" at the Group of Seven Summit last year with regard to President Al Sisi of Egypt.

     There can be no doubt, this is the type of action desperately needed to #MAGA.

Jesus and POTUS

If you are a Christian Trump supporter please take the following to heart.  Thanks to beliefnet.com and ChistianPost for saving me a lot of time in locating the quoted and scripture.

POTUS: “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy! I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.”

Jesus: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

POTUS: "The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.

Jesus: "I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father. . .”

POTUS: "I love the old days, you know? You know what I hate? There's a guy totally disruptive, throwing punches, we're not allowed punch back anymore. . .I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell ya."

Jesus: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”

POTUS: “My whole life is about winning.”

Jesus: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

POTUS: "I'm not sure I have ever asked God's forgiveness. I don't bring God into that picture."

Jesus: “But I tell you, if you do not repent you will all perish as they did! Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

POTUS: "Women: You have to treat them like shit."

Jesus:  “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”

POTUS: "We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came."

Jesus: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

Who will enlist first, a Trump or a Mcconnell?

Saudi Arabia was attacked by either the Houthi who have claimed responsibility or Iran who is accused. I don't know who attacked the Saudis.

I do know 15 of 19 terrorists on 9/11/01 were Saudis. All you people carrying on about never forgetting, how you feel about American blood and gold being put in harms way to protect the Kingdom?

Saudi officials had impressed on the U.S. that they view the oil facility strikes as their equivalent to Sept. 11, according to an individual who participated in the call. There do not appear to have been any casualties in Sunday's strike.

We don't have a defense treaty with Saudi Arabia. We are under no obligation to defend Saudi Arabia and we should have no interest in getting involved in an escalating regional conflict between those two countries.

The purpose pf our military is to defend OUR borders and protect OUR freedoms. We do not have a defense budget greater then the next 7 largest combined to secure the economic interests of a foreign country that oppresses its citizens and addresses dissent by viciously murdering its citizens.

The U.S. military is not a mercenary force to be deployed to enhance revenues for us or others.

However, according to our President "They've (Saudi Arabia) been a great ally, They spend $400 billion in our country over the last number of years." And, unlike other countries, Trump said, Saudi Arabia does not want any conditions. "No. No," the president said. "Saudi Arabia pays cash."

Fantastic, what price would you call sufficient for the life of your son, daughter, spouse, sibling, or parent sacrificed in the service of a foreign despot?

The Commander in Chief of our extraordinarily well trained, committed and capable forces has not served 1 minute in the military. Regardless he has said "I think I would have been a good general, but who knows.” I know, he wouldn't have even made a capable private. He has previously had the advice of accomplished, knowledgeable, capable warriors on his staff. They have either been fired or resigned because according to the President, he is more capable in every field and endeavor. He does not want advisers, he desires only whimpering sycophants.

Lying for a Living

     The following is our President speaking to our fellow Americans.  This is a very scant collection just from the past 6 weeks.  Every chance he has, he misleads, prevaricates, and lies.  After 2 and a half years of this it is no longer reasonable to give "the benefit of the doubt".  I started to say it is no longer possible but, being familiar with many Trump supporters, that's just not true.  They have allowed and even enabled his lying for so long they now lie to themselves.  I think this must be a defense mechanism. 

     The following is not opinion, nor editorial.  It is direct quotes from the President of the United States and corresponding qualified data.  Would you hire someone who lies chronically?  Would you trust someone who appears incapable of telling the truth?  Would you build a relationship with someone whose default is to lie to you at every opportunity to ingratiate or aggrandize himself?

  Those questions are not rhetorical.

Environment

Donald J Trump:  “From day one, my administration has made it a top priority to ensure that America has among the very cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet.”

Context:  According to the latest Environmental Performance Index, compiled every two years by Yale and Columbia University researchers, America ranks 10th for air quality. Australia, Canada, Denmark and Finland have cleaner air.

Context:  There are signs that U.S. air quality is deteriorating. EPA data show that there were more days of polluted air during each of Trump’s first two years in office than during any of the four years before.

Donald J Trump:  “Today the United States is ranked — listen to this — No. 1 in the world for access to clean drinking water.”

Context:   The U.S. has safe drinking water, earning the highest ranking, according to the Environmental Performance Index. However, that distinction is shared by nine other countries, including Canada, England and Spain.

Context:  The fact remains that many Americans in rural and impoverished parts of the country lack safe drinking water.

Donald J Trump:   “Thousands and thousands of tons of this debris float onto our shores after it’s dumped into the oceans by other countries.”

Context:  Trump often places the blame on Asian countries. In fact, the U.S. is a leading exporter of plastic waste.  Last spring, when more than 180 countries agreed to tighten regulations on the global trade in plastic waste, the U.S. opposed the deal.

Voter Fraud

Donald J Trump, June 23, 2019:  " Take a look at Judicial Watch, take a look at their settlement where California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes."

Context:  California did not admit that 1 million illegal votes were cast.  In the settlement, announced in January, California and Los Angeles County election officials agreed to start the process of removing the names of inactive voters from that county’s registration rolls.

Auto Industry

Donald J Trump, June 21, 2019:  “Many, many plants are now under construction in Michigan and Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida. They hadn’t built one in decades and now they’re all over the place.”

Context:   It’s not true that the auto industry hasn’t built a new plant “in decades.”  Bernard Swiecki, director of the Automotive Communities Partnership at the Center for Automotive Research, knew of only two new assembly plants under construction or newly announced —  a Toyota/Mazda joint venture plant in Alabama (announced in January 2018) and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plant in Michigan (announced in February).  Swiecki has a list of the 12 assembly plants that have been announced in North America since 2009. Four of those were in the U.S., while eight went to Mexico and none to Canada.

Trade/Tariffs

Donald J Trump:  “They (Japan) haven’t bought our beef since the year 2000.” 

Context:  U.S. beef exports to Japan have exceeded $1 billion every year since 2012, and Japan has been the largest export market for U.S. beef since 2013.

Donald J Trump:  "We’re also taking long-overdue steps to stand up to China’s chronic trade abuses. Have to do it. Somebody had to do it. They’ve been taking out of our country, for many years, 500 billion — with a “B” — billion dollars a year. And somebody had to say “no more.” And Obama-Biden didn’t say it. They just let it happen. And, in all fairness, so did other presidents. We’re stopping it. It’s stopped."

Context:  The trade deficit with China has never been $500 billion. Trump has been exaggerating it for years.  The trade deficit in goods and services with China was $308.9 billion in 2016, Obama’s final year in office, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The highest yearly deficit under Obama hit $333.5 billion in 2015. But the trade deficit with China has climbed higher under Trump, reaching $380.8 billion in 2018, the highest annual figure dating back to 1999, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Donald J Trump:  "Talks with China continue in a very congenial manner - there is absolutely no need to rush - as Tariffs are NOW being paid to the United States by China of 25% on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods & products. These massive payments go directly to the Treasury of the U.S...."

Context: One of the latest papers published on the topic is by economics researchers from the International Monetary Fund, Harvard University, University of Chicago and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Using price data collected at the U.S. borders and at retailers, the researchers found “nearly complete pass through of tariffs” to America. In other words, little cost is falling on the Chinese manufacturers.

YES, I remember, do YOU?

     I remember being activated as a member of American Airlines Initial Response Group on September 11, 2001.  I remember having thousands of conversations over the next few weeks with family members, friends, and co-workers of the victims of these attacks.  I remember our country going to war in Afghanistan, now the longest military conflict in our history.
     I remember where the terrorists originated.  There were 19 of them.  15 were from Saudi Arabia.  2 were from United Arab Emirates (UAE), and 1 each from Egypt and Lebanon.
     Evidently the President of the United States has forgotten, or quite possibly has never been aware.  He is declaring an "emergency" in order to provide Saudi Arabia and the UAE with about $8 billion dollars in offensive weapons.  You may recall these countries were mentioned in the previous paragraph.
     He has attacked a freely elected member of the House of Representatives, Ilhan Omar as an enemy of the U.S. and Israel.  He used memes which attempted to connect her to the 9/11 attacks.  This has generated substantial hate and death threats toward her.  Omar was born in Somalia.  You may notice Somalia was not a country of origin for any of the 9/11 terrorists.
     The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), has been directly implicated in the death of Jamal Khashoggi.  Khashoggi was a permanent U.S. resident.  U.S. intelligence says MBS was responsible.  Like anything else the President finds does not agree with his world view, he has denied its validity.
     MBS has a relationship cultivated with Jared Kushner.  POTUS and his Trump Organization have extensive business ties with the Saudis.  In 2015 he even said "I love the Saudis. 
     We have provided the Saudis with myriad weapons with which to kill Yemeni civilians, including children.  Now, in order to maintain ties with and ensure he may personally enrich himself he has moved to arm and assist a nation which should be considered adversarial at best and a mortal enemy at worst. 
     I'll never forget.  Will you? 
     Apparently the President of the United States has.

Whaduyathink?