Good morning Boys and Girls!

Jesus Reporting today and Boy do I have a thing or two on my mind!

A very close friend of surrogate's - one of his closest friends, in fact - works for me. A fine Woman, who serves me and her parishioners in the Great Middle West of the United States of America - and a damn fine poet (I've read some of her work.) - sent surrogate the text of a letter she'd been given that is extremely disturbing to me. I don't know the name of the letter's child author and neither does surrogate.

It seems that last week, surrogate's friend attended a "Pastors' Appreciation Day" held at a private Christian School in her town. Since the daughter of one of her parishioners attends the school, she felt she should go. Plus, being relatively new to the area, I'm sure she felt the function would afford her the opportunity to meet fellow clergy folk from her area with whom she could...well, be appreciated!

Without going into specifics, suffice it to say that the experience was not entirely satisfying to our friend.

It seems that the bulk of the clergy folk who attended the 7:00 a.m. celebration were of the sort so common in that area of the country - as well as the ever growing Bible Belt - who have decided that they have a corner on the "Word of God" and what it's supposed to mean. If what they think flies in the face of what Father and, later, I intended? So what. It never even gives such silly men pause.
 
I will tell you that any interpretation of the Bible that encourages teaching "the SINful nature of people," that only Christians are worthy of God's eternal love, that discriminating against any group of human beings is acceptable to God, that women are to be seen but not heard in worship services, that I am going to return soon as a slayer of my enemies, (and on and on... all the usual hogwash!) is just plain...well, let's see? Way more horrible than just wrong. Evil! Yep. That's the right word.

And guess what? Just because some of these folks are terribly sincere in their beliefs doesn't mean diddly. You can sincerely believe that the Sun revolves around the earth if you want. It doesn't change the fact that it doesn't.

I can't do much about it except to tell those who will listen that the ONLY thing I want - that Father and I have ever wanted for the world, in fact - is for each of us to love one another - because of course, when love becomes the focus of a better sized chunk of the population, virtually every other problem known to the planet will take care of itself in the span what feels like a single heartbeat.

So. Part of this Pastors' Appreciation Day Celebration was to distribute letters from Junior High students of the school. This it the text of one of those letters:

.............

Pastor:
I appreciate you ministry toward the Junior High kids.  I'm sure that your message has made the kids realize how horrible their (sic) sinful nature is.  Your message made me realize that when I was in 7th grade.  It made me also realize the Lord's saving grace towards sinful people.  Thank you for your help.

.............

As I understand it, the sentiments expressed in this particular letter are typical of many of the other letters as well.

This letter makes me sad. I never wanted young kids sorrowful about their nature. You don't HAVE sinful natures people. Quit worrying about your "nature."  Adults, worry about your own behavior, and teach children to love one another and to behave kindly.  Reprimand them when you must, but for goodness sake, quit teaching children that they were "born bad."

Especially you parents and pastors out there? Focus completely on teaching people to love God and each other. That's an order.

Be good to everyone!

Email us at justplainoldjesus@gmail.com

Good morning Boys and Girls!

When I was a kid, both my Dad and my Grandfather had jobs that took them to lots of different car dealerships throughout the week.

They each worked for themselves, but they were in the same trade, and so the stories were always similar when they'd get together.

When looking back on those days, it strikes me as funny what stays easily accessible at the front of the memory box - the mental headlines to the rest of the story - and which "files", though stored in the same archive, are retrieved only after concentrating about a period of time or specific event.

Sunday mornings after church we'd stop to see my Dad's folks. I can still smell the bacon. Usually greeted by the dumbest cat I'd ever known, Midnight was one of thoses animals who loved to anticipate your next footfall - and then place herself in that exact spot. She caused my grandmother more than one serious fall, but lived to be 15 years old underfoot, so maybe she wasn't as dumb as all that.

One Sunday, my grandfather gave me a new record. A 45 titled "Camero" on one side and "SS 396" on the other. It was a promotional thing Chevrolet put together to promote the two models to young people.

Even at eight years old I knew the difference between a real rock and roll record and a promotional piece of fluff, and I accepted the disk with a "thanks Gramps" but I didn't expect much.

Sunday afternoon we were supposed to be quiet between the time we got home from Church and dinner. We could read or play a game in either my sister's or my bedroom, or even listen to music quietly, but we weren't supposed to be our normal roughhouse selves - out causing mild mayhem in the neighborhood - till after the big Sunday meal.

So, with the volume down, I popped the little doohickey into the hole and put the "Camero" side of the 45, by "The Circle" - a band that had had a hit or two by then - on my record player and by the time the first chorus came around, I'd turned it way up.

Always a music lover, that day I fell in love with a song for the first time in my life. It was incredible. Lush, a driving beat, rich harmonies in the vocals... I thought, what a waste! This could have been a huge hit! I still remember the hook line. "...the future of all the dreams of men and their machines is Camero...drive off into the sky, drive off into the sky...

The SS 396  song was pretty good too, and usually I can remember who recorded it. It was some Beach Boys type group that I'd also heard of, but for some reason the synapses won't connect to that particular memory today. I think the little guy who runs the warehouse in my head needs to be better compensated for his efforts (to perhaps inspire a better work ethic.) Or he needs to be fired and replaced.

I loved that record for the rest of my childhood and would play it for anyone who was willing to put up with my lengthy explanation about promotional records (as passed on to me by my older and wiser neighbor who actually had a garage band and who worked part time at Olympia Stadium where the Detroit Red Wings played, giving instant credibility to anything he said, since he'd actually met Gordie Howe...)

There's really no explaining the leaps of logic in the mind of a little kid.

...drive off into the skyyyyyyyyy!

be good to everybody.
 

Good Morning Boys and Girls.

surrogate here.

Last night I suggested to someone who had a paper due for a class this morning, and who was having trouble getting started because of a lack of ideas for an opening, to simply start writing. I suggested that ideas come to us more easily once we've started something.

What was amusing to me about my own advice, was that I knew perfectly well that I was having the same sort of problem myself, and had just an hour or so earlier confessed to another friend that I felt blocked. Knew what I wanted to say, in a general way, but just hadn't figured out how to say it.

Then, the idea sort of solidified, and I felt like maybe it was about to take shape based on a snippet of a conversation with another blogger buddy by using an example that was WAYYY off topic. However, after a little more consternation, that idea too, was trashed.

So I never got around to writing the damn post last night. This morning, after sleeping soundly, and waking up feeling completely rested, I sat down to write this as quickly as I could, knowing that certainly, by now the words would flow out of my fingers quickly, fluidly, and somehow, lucidly as well.

Two cups of coffee later. This is what you get. GRRRRR! To me, it's too important a topic to screw up on my part, so I'll wait to see if the day presents any brilliant jumping off points from which I can tell everyone that:

I'm very very worried about the way our country is starting to almost languidly accept the inevitability of continuing indefinately the current war we're fighting.  Also, we've seemingly accepted that other armed conflicts, similar to what we're waging now in Iraq, are in the offing as soon as some bogus justifications can be constructed and fed to us in the now tested and perfected manner they used to fool us into accepting this one.

How often do we even think about the war now? A lot? Sure, perhaps - but no where near as often as we all did a year or more ago. And yet, the casualties on both sides continue to pile up.

Please. Don't quit paying attention. If you think we're screwing up as a nation, don't be afraid to say so. Loudly.

If you think this war is justified? For goodness sake, start reading from sources other than those approved, paid for - and now in a new tactic -PLANTED, by the people who did the lying in the first place.

And, if you think only big mouth left wing idiots are against the war? Become one.

Be good to everyone.

Good evening Boys and Girls,

surrogate here- confused as can be...

Today I went to a carnival at a Catholic Church about a mile from here.

I've been to similar events over the years. A church near our family home had a fall carnival every year that my daughter looked forward to especially as an adolescent when she was old enough to go with her friends, and without Mom and Dad. But even when they were younger, we took both kids a few times.

I do remember that I wasn't allowed to attend similar Catholic Church carnivals as a kid, because my folks didn't approve of the bingo, gambling and booze that seem to be fixtures at such events. They had issues with Roman Catholicism though, so perhaps the denied permission was more of a protest on my folks' part rather than an panicked attempt to keep my sister and I from sneaking into the Vegas Tent and blowing our allowance betting on the wheel of fortune while downing Jello shots.

Today I discovered that the quaint little "Royal Oak St. Mary's Fall Extravaganza" my wife, kids and I attended was a mere pathetic imitation of what a big time Catholic Church blessed with vision, a good sized budget, hundreds of "Proud Parishioners" thrilled to be taking their turns manning midway games of chance booths, and a parking lot the size of a medium sized mall's can put on. This thing was really big. I heard they expect over thirty thousand people over the weekend Big, but very well organized.

I only found one thing at which to be annoyed. - And I feel guilty at being annoyed by it at all, but to be quite frank, it creeped me out big time and I'm not sure why.

The "Proud Parishioners" announced themselves as such by means of yellow lettering on the breasts of the purple tshirts. I got the impression that perhaps not all the parishioners wore these shirt, but that all who did wear them were in fact parishioners, and, happily, proud of it.

It wasn't the lettering on the front of the shirts that bothered me.

On the back of these tshirts, about three inches above the waist line (if someone had tucked in their shirt) was a full color drawing of the very carnival for which the shirts served as identifiers. Very well done illustration too. Yellow was the outline color, but it was a four color process deal and was extremely impressive. This also didn't bother me in the least.

No. What bothered me was the HUGE portrait of Jesus, arms outstretched in apparent blessing of the carnival that rose up from behind the drawing of tents, rides, booths and such entirely covering the rest of the back of each shirt.

A huge yellow Jesus, as though a detailed cloud, looking down , Mona Lisa smile in place, benovolently approving this blessed event.

Don't know why this creeped me out so. I know that many Christians believe that God and/or Jesus is everywhere at all times watching over our every move, so that wouldn't have struck me as particularly odd.

Maybe it was when I heard two of the Proud Parishioners talking about "the Take" the carnival brought into the Parrish every year... but I don't think so. It would be natural, I think, to get around to talking about money if you're part of the staff, or congregation after watching people by the hundreds line up at the ticket booths and fork over a buck or two at a time in hopes of winning yet another goldfish. No. It wasn't that.

Maybe I was upset by the assumption on the part of whoever approved the design that Jesus would automatically approve and bless this sort of fund-raising endeavor - though I have no way of knowing whether he would or not. Maybe though, the continued success of the event year after year (this was trhe 22nd annual...) gave enough proof to the "logo commitee to make them sure that Jesus had at least tacitly approved.

I think I'm grabbing at straws here.

Or maybe it was just me hearing my folks all those years earlier talking about the hypocrisy of a church running a Bingo parlor. Who knows.

Thoughts?

Be good to everyone.

surrogate here. Thanks to my friend Cathy who sent
this...
...and by the way, I'm not taking any sides in the
heaven/hell debate here folks... just thought it was
cute.

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
as I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
by the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
who made me sputter and gasp--
the thieves, the liars, the sinners,
the alcoholics, the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
who never said anything nice.

Uncle Bill, who I always sure
was rotting away in hell,
was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, "What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God make a big made a mistake?

And why's everyone so quiet?
-So somber? Give me a clue."
"Hush, child," said Jesus. "They're all in shock.
No one thought they'd see you."

Good evening Boys and Girls!

Jesus Reporting tonight.

This may sound preachy but hey, I'm allowed once in a while! Put up with this and I promise not to write anything this sappy for at least... um... how about a month? Just read this with an open mind if you will. Couldn't hurt!

So. Just came back from Starbucks with a friend.

While we were sitting and relaxing, enjoying each others' stories, at some point during a lull in our conversation I found myself inadvertently eavesdropping on a couple of great kids at the next table whose enthusiasm for their own talents and goals for their lives was so much fun to listen to that after a few minutes I started worrying about... well, the rest of us! It made me decide to say a few words to those who may not be so excited about life right now.

From time to time I'm still happily surprised by the number of people who, of their own accord, do the right thing -and for the right reasons - most of the time. I could cite lots of examples but, just trust me so I don't go on for ten pages.

It's wonderful, it's far more common than most folks think and it's what tells me that eventually, and not too very long from now, this planet is going to heal itself, get it together and quit being the big blue petri dish for hate, war, greed and all the other fear related foibles that today seem so firmly entrenched as the apparent spinal fluid of dear old Mother Earth.

The song of this world is alive in the souls of all of us, if we'd take time to hear it. Its many melodies and tempos, though seemingly different to each and every one of us has a constancy that is as old as Father, is as powerful as the sun's rays and as gentle as a lover's kiss.

That part of the spirit of the world can only be felt when we allow ourselves to be quiet and calm, and reflect on the blessing of life we've all been granted.

But oh man, when we do allow ourselves to hear and feel it, any uncertainty about our own value as critical cogs in this wonderfully complex machine can be wiped away in an instant.  And then, once again - if we allow it, the magic spark within us that Father gave us can light a path for our lives that make our dreams not only possible, but a reality waiting to happen.

And when enough people on this planet figure out that that very spark is fueled by the simple and willful act of loving Father and each other, this world can change in no time.

Be good to each other.

Good afternoon Boys and Girls,

surrogate here.

Two entire days.

For two days I've been trying to wrap my head around
how to write this post. I've started it three times
without coming close to saying what I was hoping to
get across. Think it's because I've been trying to
intellectualize something that just can't be - at
least by me.

A friend of mine has been targeted by a few idiots
because of his national origin. He's frankly tired of it.

And, it's begun to get under his skin and interrupt his thought processes to a point that I'll bet even he's surprised at. And, from what I understand, he's feeling little support from his friends which adds to his simmering.

I started to go at this article by looking at the
suffix "ism" in the English language. It, when added
to a noun, has come to usually denote sets of
beliefs having to do with the root noun - as in the
words racism, nationalism, crony-ism...
The resulting terms tend to have a negative
connotations to large segments of the population since
they end up expressing concepts that we associate with
preconceived ideas,  unearned or deserved
preferential status, or prejudices of one sort or
another.

After spending quite a bit of time looking at all the
words I could find with this particular dumb suffix,
and then trying to figure out a way to tie the
relevant terms to the point I was hoping to get to,
which is, by the way, that racism, nationalism and
even patriotism (especially if you add the word
"blind" before it), are all ideas that, for people
with with any smarts at all, have seen their day and
should be, by and large, relegated to the huge
historic dumping ground of outdated and outmoded ideas
along with forced segregation, fascism, and of course, the "Just Say No" ad campaign which singlehandedly spurred more joke variations (these on frying eggs) than any other failed government sponsored propaganda campaign until George W. Bush was elected to the White House.

Unfortunately, my logic was flawed and I couldn't make the connection that might have helped me make the point.

Next I thought I'd become a temporary apologist for nationalists and racists at least for the purpose of trying to understand their underlying motivations and fears. This was especially depressing, because seeking to understand and to some extent accept premises you know in your heart to be completely wrong, immoral and stupid tend to make one ill.

So.

I'm left to pity the Mad Cows of the world. (Yeah, I know the spelling is wrong.... let it be.) That's it really.

The way I see it, if these folks really believe, in their hearts, the hate they spew, they are to be pitied for utter stupidity.

And if, as I suspect, at least in some cases, that they know perfectly well that what they do (and pretend to believe) is repugnant beyond the tolerance of any real human being (and by that I mean - with apologies to my atheist friends - homosapiens with a discernible soul) then they are to be pitied for the incredible karmic smash they will inevitably suffer at some point in the future.

Be good to everyone.

Good afternoon boys and girls!

think it's time for a song. We haven't had a song in
a while...and damn it, I'm in the mood to sing,
sooooo, if the drummer would start for me... kind of
an easy cut time thing.... and, as usual to the tune
of "My Favorite Things" since most people know it -
and it's easy to spoof... here we go.



Maybe the news will be better tomorrow
- all of the killing will stop - far less sorrow
we'll call our soldiers home, let Iraq be
they'll work it out with the insurgency

hup 23, 223, 323 423...

The in-vasion premise, was flawed from the get-go
We al-ready knew, that Sa-dam had let go
of all of those weapons, he'd had for so long
Since George Herbert Walker had passed them along

But now...
Sadam, so the story goes, tried to kill Daddy
this really made G.W.B. friggen batty
So after the Trade Center thing had gone down
George screamed "Sadam did it" all over town

So suddenly we found he'd murdered his people
Sadam, like the Shah, had crossed over to evil
No longer our lap dog, we all seemed surprised
this guy we'd created, we all now despised

(Chorus - for Sadam)

Once OUR trusted, evil henchmen
worked for-the C-IA
He did what we asked him for twenty-odd years
then - time to put HIMMMMM a-way.


The fact it was pulled by by another old crony
was lost on or ignored, by this moron and phony

His lips keep on moving, but I just hear crying
He claims he does God's work, while more folks are
dying

Remember who bankrolled his first business f*ck-up?
Funny these Bin Ladens have become Bush suck-ups
or maybe it's George who is down on his knees
Giving all he can give them, just trying to please.

(Chorus - For Osama)

Once OUR trusted, evil henchmen
worked for-the C-IA
He did what we asked him for twenty-odd years
then - time to put HIMMMMM away.


Double-u's logic, is selectively twisted
His victims, like Bundy's are methodically listed
He won't trust a jury on medical claims
but on capitol punishment, he has other aims

Like many sick criminals, he justifies killing
Don't get where he gets it, he must find it thrilling
Some generals he praises shoot people for fun
Bet he'd love shooting folks in the back, on the run

(Chorus - For George)

He's OUR trusted, evil henchmen
Ignored-the C-IA
He's done what he pleases for twenty-odd years
It's time to put HIMMMMM away.



Okay... so it's a little rough. Shoot me.


Be good to everybody!

surrogate reporting briefly...

if you have the time, please read the article to which this link will take you.

http://alternet.org/envirohealth/20666/" title="http://alternet.org/envirohealth/20666/" target="_blank"http://alternet.org/envirohea...

Be good to everybody.

Good Morning Boys and Girls!

surrogate reporting here from sunny Florida.

I’m in the company of people who make me smile and as I type a strange little dish is cooking in the oven that smells just great.

Later today, a little north of here, the Superbowl will be played and around here, it seems that everyone is pretty excited about it. To me, any excuse to get together with friends is good enough, though I really don’t care much about the game. I’ll watch it though, like so many others…”for the commercials”  …and to see if anyone decides to “mess” with the FCC. From what I understand from an article I just read in the Miami Herald, things are supposed to be quite tame this year.

It’s funny to me how much of a controversy last year’s breast exposure caused considering everything else that was going on at the time. I thought it was a big diversion for the country done simply to get people to talk about anything but what really mattered. But then, I do have a cynical streak in me that I have to work to contain.  To me it seemed absurd that anyone would worry one way or the other whether Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake “staged” the event. It seemed rather obvious that someone did since I doubt very seriously that the “nipple jewelry” she was wearing  was something even a star type performer would normally be wearing if it wasn’t meant to be seen at some point.

Like so many other orchestrated diversions, this one did what I have a sneaking suspicion it was intended to do. It changed the focus of the public. From my perspective it wouldn’t surprise me if the same people who ended up being so publicly outraged by the event were, behind their backs and from their other hand, giving the okay - if not the order - for the prank to be carried out in the first place.

Like the irony of Ned Beatty’s speech in the movie “Network” so many years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised that, when push comes to shove, instead of “tampering with the primal forces of nature” we’ eventually find out that those primal forces, (- read “money and power”) were, in fact, simply using a couple of their corporate pawns to further their own real agenda - which was to get people to stop talking about the war as a bad thing for a few days, hours or minutes, or to keep us from questioning our own leadership for a while, or to interrupt the way logic is interpreted by the rapidly firing synapses in our continuously bombarded brains.

Like the thief who ends up justifying his trade because of the situations his life has lead him through, our own ability to simply recognize right from wrong is constantly under attack by the mitigating barrages and assaults on our ability to calmly think from the propaganda arms of the same power structures that seeks to control that ability within us.

So, beware, be aware, and always look through the machine-produced fog.

Be good to everyone.