Terry’s Ice Cream

While rinsing an empty half gallon carton of ice cream, I was reminded of a man named Terry who also rinsed ice cream containers before pitching them.

I don’t remember Terry’s last name. He attended the same church I did at that time, which was Eastern Avenue Free Methodist Church, pastored by Dick Keep, who long ago accepted a church appointment in Florida and by now must be retired.

I don’t remember Terry’s last name. He was a large, gentle man, a long-time church member. He died a number of years ago, asleep in his easy chair, in front of the TV; and though I don’t know, I’d like to think he was restfully digesting a big bowl of ice cream.

[2014-02-09]

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Some Christians refer to the departed as “rejoicing with the angels.” I don’t mind the idea of rejoicing, I just hope I don’t have to do much singing. An eternity of singing would be, well, characteristic of another direction some take when they kick the bucket.

[2014-02-09]

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When you share the same savior, you share the same foes (we're more alike than we think)

Pope John Paul II

Vial of Pope John Paul II's blood stolen from Italian church >

"As the late pontiff's blood would be difficult to sell, Italian police said it’s possible the thieves may plan to use it for Satanic rites."

I normally bridle at references to the Devil, but this is from NBC news and is real speculation by real authorities.

Forget for the moment that the pope’s blood is no different than yours or mine, or if there is a God or a Devil. There’s an old saying: you can tell a lot about someone by who their enemies are.

Fundamentalist Christians (my own background) often have a hard time accepting Catholics as brothers and sisters in the Lord, but when it comes to those who differ most stridently with us (and even enjoy it), it's the same people and ideologies.

Social groups that repulse each other often share some core qualities they don’t want to admit.

This is true of violently homophobic men, for example: Homophobia is often a manifestation of repressed homosexuality. See this article on Latent Homosexuality >

I’m not referring to an ideological difference, but a violent antagonism.

I am, if anyone’s wondering, 110% hetero.

Sorry, guys.



[2014-01-27]

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Pussy Riot is back in the news. I’m listening.

U.S. and Russian diplomats spar over Pussy Riot >

I wrote about Pussy Riot last August.[1]

I have a question for folks that like to dance nude on altars and through the Vatican: Okay, you have my undivided attention. What would you like to say?

I once told a friend that if I'd been born a few years earlier, I'd have been a Jesus Freak. He looked at me in all sincerity and said, "How is that different from what you are now?"

I grew up in a time when unlawful assembly, bra burning, and other sorts of nonviolent protest were common. I am, if many other things, an aging hippie, and proud of my generation's message. 

I was a child during that era, and so didn't develop the critical response to it that others did. I'm glad for that (so I can recall it fondly, uncluttered by adult cynicism).

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Judging by what I've heard, a core message of Pussy Riot is the antagonism of religion toward feminism, LGBT issues, and human rights.

I think some of their anger is misplaced. There are millions in pews every Sunday that share in some part of Pussy Riot's antiestablishmentism. Bulking religion into the opposition is myopic and unhelpful.

[2014-02-06]

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In the bubble, but not of it.

After returning from a New York conference, a former boss of mine said to me, "We are in such a bubble."

She popped it and moved on.

I am in the bubble, but not of it.

Truth is, we all are, all our lives. We often merge with larger bubbles or swallow smaller ones, but we are never outside our own, and always deforming to the shape of another.

[2014-01-12]

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[1]

My Position on P**** Riot > . I have some readers who probably appreciated the asterisks then, but with Russian social issues getting as much coverage as the games in Sochi, there’s not much point in my attempt at propriety.

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Studying the Gospel of John with Bethel Baptist Church

View of the sanctuary at Bethel Baptist Church in Erie, PA. This picture is from their website at bethelerie.org.

I grew up in Bethel Baptist Church and listen to their podcast every week. Recently a new pastor was installed, Rev Dave MIles, and I’m enjoying listening to him. I haven’t heard too many of his sermons yet, but I know him and have great respect for him.

Last Sunday he began a series on the Gospel of John; I’m really looking forward to this series, as it figures prominently in some fundamental disagreements among Christians.

I was going through Mark, but I will now start John. I'm using both the RSV and Living Bible at present.

⌐■-■ Sermons at Bethel Baptist Church in Erie, PA are streamed here >

d(-_-)b Dave Miles opening sermon on John is here >

BTW, I have no desire to critique or debate or comment on these. Just learn.

[2014-02-10]

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Athletic prowess and the size of one’s penis.

I was not a good athlete as a child, and I think I came to loathe sports because good athletes ridiculed me for this, as did popular culture, neatly confining my inadequacy within bright lights, hard surfaces, and stale locker room sweat, wherein naked teen boys paraded around pretending not to observe how well-endowed the other teen boys were.

I’m convinced if you could measure the genitals of male athletes and nonathletes, you’d find a correlation between athletic prowess and penis size. Not all the time, and not because there’s a biological connection, but because of the status usually assumed by the bearer and granted by peers.

And it figures not only in the locker room, but the bedroom and boardroom and every room in between.

If you’ve spent any time in a business meeting of any sort (school board, church, lodge, neighborhood), you can easily identify the dance between posturing and acquiescence. It less often features brains than bearing, height, weight, tenor, etc. We learn quickly as children where our strengths lie, and we develop and stock them in our defensive armory.

And there’s nothing especially human about it. Quite the contrary; it’s a primal trait throughout the animal kingdom.

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But back to the topic at hand: I made the mistake of loathing athletes as much as I loathe sports, and that was wrong.

Even so, it’s not wrong to insist that good athletes encourage kids to be more than good athletes, to promote (and model) education and citizenship.

That’s really all I wanted to say today.

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Oh, one more thing. Men have a political advantage over women, not because they are naturally any better, but because they have millions of years learning how this alpha-penis thing works. It’s not a coincidence that rape is a crime of violence (and not sex), or that a powerful woman is sometimes derisively regarded as “having a dick.” Just as we struggle to control our bodies’ enslavement to calories, fats, and oils, so we struggle to wrest it from anachronistic behaviors like this.

If we ask “Should we?,” the answer is a resounding Yes. If we ask “Can we?,” I’m skeptical.

This is just Clarence talking. I know there is hundreds of years of psychological study on this. Just thought I’d share my own unprofessional perspective.

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