Learning to trust my eyes and ears took years. But now, I’m old, and I do.
What I see looking at the President’s face and body language and what I hear from his mouth send chills down my spine. I’ve seen and heard it before . . . inside the gates of locked down psychiatric institutions.
As the President said during Friday’s press conference to shut up a reporter:
“Not good! Not good! Not good!”
Lord help us all.
- Gordon C. Stewart, Chaska, MN, Feb. 18, 2017.
Views from the Edge 
Gordon, I realized how you were using your expression, and I know that there will be no divine intervention. I agree with Barbara that there is no magic wand that will come about by praying that this mess will be gone and that good activism is coming about. For me, I must keep praying for God’s will for me to do what I can at this point. Although I am able to do very little, I will not give up.
Now that we are in Atlanta I see some changes that are far different from what was going on in NJ 20 years ago. Tom and I went to the movie “Birth of a Nation.” When it ended, an African American man in the audience hugged Tom as we walked out. Today as he left the grocery store, a man in front of Tom in the cashier’s line paid for Tom’s bottle of Gatorade for no reason other than being nice. For Tom and me, these are new experiences, and altho small in terms of what of going on in our government, I think they are indications that at some point something will change. But at the rate the polar caps are melting, I think it will be after.
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Cynthia, I love the hug and play-it-forward stories from Atlanta. Goodness and compassion do not stop or take sabbaticals. Compassion is one of the names for God. Never thought of God and Gatorade before. Will never look at Gatorade the same again! Cheers to you and Tom in a far better place and time than NJ 20 years ago. Love to you both.
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Thanks for your response! Sleep well. G’Nite!
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G’Nite, Cynthia. G’Nite, Tom. G’Nite, Atlanta.
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The saddest reply to “Lord help us all” –broke my heart cause I had never thought of it in this way…..He didn’t stop the holocaust so why would he stop this. And He didn’t create this—He created us who made this mess. I am no where near a religious scholar, but I don’t believe in the God of my youth. I know there is a force for good, and I am equally certain there is a power as great for evil. I wish there was a God I could pray to for guidance and help, one who would wave a magic wand and fix this….and on the other hand I see all the good activism that is coming as a result. I do wish for magic tho……
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Hi, Barb, I agree. The ending was not “Lord, help us all,” as in a prayer for divine intervention. It was in the manner of a statement of exasperation. The relationship of good and evil is the deepest puzzle of humankind, the knot that no one, IMHO, has untied. The God of your youth and mine, if s/he was a magic wand waver, was of our imaginations. Yet the magic wand fixing God is not the God of the Christian tradition. It’s something else. Only the God expressed most poignantly by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem of the powerless suffering of God can help. My two cents worth – at most. 🙄
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I have to remember that the Lord will help us but probably in his/her time.
Cynthia
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Maybe after the polar caps are melted? Not good! Not good! Yikes.
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Right, it will not be when we want or the way we want, but we know that God will still help us.
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Cynthia, Aha! VERY Presbyterian. Right now I’m just asking to maintain sanity, as in keep the anxiety in check, pay close attention to the people and things with whom I can make a real difference, and the courage to resist with wisdom rather than impulse. Wish we could get together for coffee.
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Me too, Gordon! (For the coffee)
And now I am a member of the Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, the Church that Stayed. It’s very socially active, and as the interim minister told me, the members are liberal, educated, and rich! I only fit on two things.
I’m too limited physically to do much at all, but I did join a women’s circle, something I said I’d never do. I’m even embarrassed to tell you that. At the meeting, one of the women (a wife of a minister) said that she can’t believe that the resurrection is real and wondered if anyone else felt that way. Others talked about different things, so I finally answered her question. My answer seemed to be accepted and liked by one person. I thought that perhaps others will become less afraid of questioning and saying what they think, so perhaps I can contribute in that way.
Which Bonhoeffer poem were you referring to? I still read them. And try to understand them!!
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Hmmm. Let me see. Which of the three are you not? 🙄 Love it that you’ve united with Central and have connected with the women’s group there. At Westminster-Minneapolis it was the WOW (Women of Westminster) who were always ahead of the congregation in theological reflection, bible study, and action. I’m not surprised. The Bonhoeffer poem is “Christians and Unbelievers” in which Christians find God weak and whelmed under the wicked, the weak, the aead, and stand by God in God’s suffering.” it’s in Letters and Papers from Prison.
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