Saint Jimmy Gets My Vote

"In order for us human beings to commit ourselves personally to the inhumanity of war, we find it necessary first to dehumanize our opponents, which is, in itself,
a violation of the beliefs of all religions."

-- President Jimmy Carter, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, 2002

My Kind of Christian: President Jimmy Carter

Although I'm as much a Buddhist as a Christian, if I did manage to slip past the Swiss Guards to cast a vote with the Canonization Crew, I'd be pushing to add another Saint James to the fold -- once he arrives at the Pearly Gates.

I'd nominate President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter for Sainthood.

Although my candidate is still alive and well at age 93, in the world of politics ya need to start campaigning early, right?

Of course, I realize there are some hurdles here.  The Catholic Church may have to do some soul searching to canonize a non-Catholic.  Yet, it seems to me that Pope Francis might just be the guy to get the ball rolling.  He seems to be serious about trying to be a real Christian, not just the Godfather of an powerful and wealthy institutional bureaucracy, right!? 

The Christian Right, Isn't.

If the Original J.C. hadn't opted for Resurrection back in the day, I think He would be rolling over in His grave listening to the prattle of the contemporary Viper's Brood that proclaim that they are Christians these days while simultaneously expousing Intolerance, Warfare, and the Unbridled Greed of Free Market Capitalism.  As these folks continue to rant and rave about immigrants and cut public assistance to those in need, as they praise warfare and a militarized police force, I wonder if they ever really read that Bible they're thumping. 

Like, for instance Matthew 25:31 - 46 might be a good place to start.

Here the Divine Liberal tells it like it is, clearly proclaiming the sacred nature of compassionate action in the world.   As He'd already stated earlier in that chapter,  worshiping Jesus isn't the key to Heaven.  (Many will call me Lord, Lord).

What is that key?  It's simple.  It's how you treat your fellow human beings. 

In the imagery of a final Judgment Day, Jesus proclaims the moral imperative of unconditional generosity toward the stranger, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the prisoner -- and the karmic consequences of failing.  Be loving and generous? Your on the Team.  Treat the unfortunate shabbily? There'll be hell to pay.  Why?  Even in the King James version the bottom line is crystal clear: "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."  

The Bottom Line?

As many mystics, sages, seers and hippies throughout the ages have affirmed, Jesus wasn't just being metaphorical when he said that.  The great Hindu sage Mahatma Gandhi made the same point when he said, "If you don't find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further. "  With an open heart and clear mind we see can see it for ourselves.  We are, each of us, interconnected rays of the One Love that pervades the Universe. 

Jimmy Carter seems to have clearly gotten the Word.  God is Love.  Unlike the folks on the so-called Christian Right, he has dedicated his life to actually following what Jesus was saying.   Pat Robertson, the Moral Majority, and their ilk?  IMHO, not so much.

So, how about it?

Time to go Ecumenical.   Let's do it!

Jimmy Carter for Sainthood!

Do I hear an "Amen"?
Yours in the Spirit of Truth and Love,
Brother Lefty

P.S. A Caveat:  Like Pope Francis, Bless his Heart, has said, "Who am I to judge? 

Passing the Torch...Passing the Hat

 " ...Indigenous people's are not the one's who are causing climate change... Indigenous peoples protect Mother Earth. We defend our mother because she is our Mother, because She gives us food. She gives us the air that we breath. She gives us the Amazon. And the Amazon is not just important to Indigenous Peoples, it is important to the whole world." --- Ninawa Huni Kui, President of the Federation of the Huni Kui.

On Democracy Now!, December 10, 2014

 Democracy Now! had been covering the UN COP Climate Summit in Peru and in her own inimitable style Amy Goodman is getting to the Heart of the Matter.  

For the past two days, Amy and her crew have given voice to the Indigenous People of the World, the people closest to Mother Earth who have always born the brunt of the Horror of Capitalist Industrialization as it has spread --and continues to spread throughout the globe in search of profit.  ( I ranted a bit about our history of that in the US in a Thanksgiving Day Rambling On: Thanks -- And No Thanks.).

Yesterday was Gender Day at the conference, and I'd like to share a stirring seven minute piece as Indigenous Women from throughout the hemisphere gathered to share their stories of hardship, and yet still envision a future free of the destructiveness of fossil fuel extraction and the other continued blasphemies of rapacious, earth-destroying, Capitalism run amuck.  

Then I want to pass the hat for Nolumbeka Project, a local Native American Advocacy Group intent on preserving the 12,000 year old legacy of Earth Connection and Sustainability of New England's First Peoples.  (The clock is running out on Valley Gives Day, an online fundraising campaign in this neck of the woods.)

So, here in Western Massachusetts, I've been involved with Nolumbeka Project for the past couple of years.  I won't ramble on too much about them at this point, but they are intent on passing the torch: Preserving the Tribal Heritage of this region's First People, honoring the Sacredness of our Mother Earth and al her myriad beings.  Please take a look for yourself at what they are up to -and throw a few bucks in the hat if you're so inclined. 

Time being what it is.  There is now 2.5 hours left in the Valley Gives Day Event.  But, who's counting -- unless it's you, and want to make your Gift count!
Thanks,
Brother Lefty

Thanks --and No Thanks.

Some Personal Reflections on Thanksgiving Day, 2014

"Oh, Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me, I am small and weak,  I need your strength and wisdom." -- from a prayer
by Lakota Chief Yellow Lark, 1887
(Entire Prayer)

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children." 

-- Ancient Native American Proverb

The three day feast that brought together 90 Wampanoags and the 50 surviving Pilgrims to a feast at Plymouth Plantation in 1621 has become part of the Mythology of American Democracy.  

Unfortunately, this idyllic tale doesn't portray the stark reality of the Holocaust that ensued as European colonists descended on this continent bringing with them a harshly judgmental Christianity and the European concepts  of Private Property and Capitalism.

Although the set of Democratic Ideals set forth in the Preamble to the US Constitution reflect humanity's universal quest for a just society, "our forefathers" also brought forth on this continent disease, death, domination, and the destruction of a Way of Life that understood and honored humanity's relationship to Mother Earth, to the Great Spirit and to the Circle of All Life.   The Indigenous People's practiced a more advanced Spirituality, an Ethos of connection and sustainability. Our forefathers brought with them, instead, the Unbridled Greed buried in the belly of Capitalism, and the myopic worldview of fundamentalist Christianity with its mindset that reinforces our separation from one another, from the natural world, and from our spiritual connection to all that is.  Through force of arms (including germ warfare and the power of "law"), the bad guys won.

Unfortunately for Mother Earth and her myriad beings, they still are.
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Lest We Forget: It Seems the Good Die Young

(I'm sitting here in tears listening to soul singer Marvin Gaye's rendition of "Abraham, Martin, John" as I write this.  
You may want to as well.)

My fingers were fumbling at the keyboard in typing class that day in 1963, exactly 51 years ago, when the teacher from across the hall came into the room and whispered in Miss Jefferson's ear.

Her face turned white.

The other teacher left and Miss Jefferson broke into tears as she announced that President Kennedy had been shot and taken to a hospital in Dallas.

No one said a word.

Moment's later the other teacher returned. He didn't have to say a word.  His face, a portrait of horror and helplessness said it all.  We knew.  He knew we knew.  Holding back tears, he shrugged awkardly, turned -- and left. 

The unimaginable had happened.
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