As I sit here contemplating our individual, beautiful and remarkably brief existences here under this God-blessed but frankly struggling River Tree as we celebrate our parched but still remarkable early-fall weather, my increasingly feeble mind is troubled by our apparently somewhat skewed perceptions on the concepts of faith and commitment.
If we believe in God, surely we must believe, embrace and commit to love and justice for our fellow man … all our fellow beautiful, God-blessed human beings. And, even if we don’t believe in or understand the potential for God or a Savior, we must surely understand and embrace the concepts of moral- and ethics-driven strictures that should and must guide us through our incredibly brief lives as human beings.
To let ridiculous “political” labels and their puerile advocates interfere in any way with that ethics- and morality-driven love and the justice which it demands is frankly just abhorrent. It’s literally making a cheap and facile game/ competition out of our beautiful faith and God’s immaculate love — i.e., “Hey, I can only love and care about those who wear the right kind of deodorant or drive the right kind of vehicle, or happen to be born on the right plot of dirt. Anybody else can just go to, as we used to say when I was a kid: ‘H-E double-hockey- sticks.’”
In all honesty, our beautiful God, and the justice and love which He asks of us would seem to demand (at a minimum):
■ A living wage for all human beings that would allow a family to raise their children with basic human dignity.
■ Freedom for all of us to live, not only where we might wish, but where we have the maximum opportunity to provide for our beautiful, God-blessed families.
■ A commitment to saving our beautiful, irreplaceable home — our Earth, the only home for our beautiful and beloved children.
■ Expedited justice for all human beings; never just for corporations and not just for the incredibly wealthy, but especially for all who have been harmed, damaged or desecrated by the despicable action of others.
■ A fair and equitable voice in their own governance by all human beings — but let’s be frank, with a clear understanding that corporations and the wealthy have amassed an enormous ability to manipulate us for their monetary benefit.
■ The absolute right to a free and functional education for all, so we may actually exercise our rights, ensure justice for ourselves and guarantee our potential to govern ourselves to ensure a beautiful and productive future for ourselves and our families.
Damn, I’m old and feeble, but I can’t see how we cannot enthusiastically and prayerfully embrace these rights and moral precepts if we truly embrace God and love. I firmly believe that our blessed God lifts us up and embraces all of us and our so infantile, brief, facile and febrile lives. Why? Because despite all our failings, fallibilities and frailties, we are His beautiful children — and He loves us with all His heart. We welcome you all to journey with us in God’s embrace, under the River Tree.
