The Catholic Church continues to wallow in the horrendous crimes of pedophile priests under the protection of bishops and cardinals. The pope expressed his outrage, and pain and used the word crime, but no solutions were offered. Rarely are priests prosecuted for their crimes. An internal tribunal created by the pope in the past disbanded in part because of the resistance within the Vatican. A board engaged in the process, that included two victims of abuse, was ineffective, and the abuse victims both resigned. This is a global problem that is not something that can be fixed by the institution of the church itself.

If Pope Francis wants to change the church, he needs to turn it inside out. An international tribunal should be established with the right and the authority to investigate, indite and convict and sentence criminals and their protectors. Pope Francis should open up the Vatican records so that all crimes in the past 50 years and their records are available for investigators. Treat it like a war crimes tribunal. These crimes should have no expiration date. Victims have a life sentence of dealing the impact of the crimes committed by pedophile priests.
By taking such action, he could show the world a serious intent of exposing and eradicating a cancer within the church. Going further, it is also necessary to start fixing the church. It is stuck in the middle ages. Only men can lead the church, is a falsehood of great impact. Is not the piety, intellect and wisdom of women equal to that of men? Women in leadership may bring a greater emotional intelligence to policy and preaching, as well as policing of the institution. Furthermore, this belief that at ordination there is an ontological transformation of man into some higher more-god-like being is ridiculous and dangerous from a physiological and sociological standpoint.

There is much evil in this world, and the Catholic Church could be an institution that shows the world a better way, but this is not possible while it is wracked with an evil within, such that it preys on its youngest most innocent members. The church has been exposed with another round of criminally indicting reports, and I’m sure more is to follow. How much more of good Christian donations are going to go to silencing victims with payouts, and protecting criminal priests? How many good and pious people are going to shy away from an organization that is so flawed. How many great priests are having to face congregations and apologize for the crimes of so many others. How many victims’ lives are ruined forever?

I’m disgusted with the institution as it exists today. I’m sure many others are as well. I do pray for the victims and pray that Pope Francis takes some real action to fix the institution and put criminals in jail where they belong.

I’ve been asked lately given so many changes, if I’m happy.  Sounds like a simple question, and beyond the simple yes I am, I thought it interesting to think about what does happiness mean.

After some thought, it seem to me that happiness is a state of being in the moments of life feeling that you are understood, that you are appreciated, that you are somehow moving forward, in understanding, and in creativity.  For only through growth in wisdom can we ever have that feeling of moving toward a higher being of ourselves. In our moments, do we find joy of humor, of beauty, of physical exertion, of social interaction, and joy of watching the success of others, the fun of kids (there is where pure joy is), such that the annoyances of life, which could be many are washed away by the good and joyous in our lives?   An article I was reading on annoyances, said that sometimes it seems as if language was invented so that we could complain to each other about minor annoyances.  Besides being somewhat of a humorous thought, I do think there is a good point here, where we make minor annoyances something greater, and thereby more painful for ourselves then they should be.

I think that a blocker to happiness is being too absorbed with annoyances, or worry about future problems, or past failures to enjoy the moments we are living in, and appreciate our accomplishments. I also believe that being understood and being loved for who you are is vital to a sense of self-worth. We can only stand in front of mirror and say, hey I like that person so much. We all need some affirmation from others, and we need others to understand us.  We need to appreciate accomplishments of our own and others.  Certainly it seems that this sense of worth, as well as the ability to enjoy each moment is a good way to define happiness!

 

 

Mile Seven

We climb through ever thinning sky

Millions of us, each day we fly

Now approaching mile seven

Just that much closer to heaven

Imagining clouds as memories below

Horizon purple with sun’s dying glow

Chasing sunset into the West

Close my eyes and try to rest

And loving thoughts to be shared

Prayers certainly now to be heard

Like a million others closer to heaven

As we’re leveling off at mile seven

 

A Million Years

In a million years’ time, what of us will be sustained

Will we be wiser, calmer, or maybe devolved, even untamed

Will we think of our species as human, or another name

Will we give voice to thoughts, will numbers be the same

I think there’s hope for a higher form of mind and discourse

But, laughter must survive, a sense of beauty, and love of course

 

 

Memory Clouds

 

Memory clouds give shape to a vast sky

Those fluffy thoughts in our mind’s eye

Darkening storm clouds please abate

Just blow away with memories we hate

Rather great memories, bring joy of past to sunset’s glow

Harboring thoughts of all the love we know

Giving way to starry sky’s clarity at night

As memories of life collect in a billion points of light

Our world spins faster with now more time behind

Then which lies ahead, clouding memory and mind

Blessed to look at clouds from both sides in our time

Still they fascinate and memories illusions come to rhyme

And tomorrows clouds of anticipation do reappear

Each morning as sunrise of present is near

A new day of opportunity for friends to know

A new set of colorful memories to bestow

 

 

Avoid the Raging Storm

 

First, he sells conspiracies untrue

Blame them for what is ailing you

More loudly he entrains

Hate, mistrust all the same

We will be great again

It is us versus them

Fear and fervor, call them names

Create enemies, make false claims

Wave of discontent, a rise to power

All the others will be made to cower

Fight the truth with louder lies

Discredit the press and their allies

Take over courts, they must serve us

The nation, the people in him will trust

His will is the nation’s, and their ruin

Soon this ego, this bluster is all our undoing

And the war will end, millions and he too will die

And yet his hate lives on, and still his flag will fly

So, we let another, and another, and more will try

And they come to us with their own special lie

But the story is always audacious and the same

It’s untrue, but they give the enemy an ugly name

Our belief of innate superiority fans flames of the fire

The system failed us, and a faux hero is our heart’s desire

We must learn from history of fascism’s form

And avoid the next coming raging storm

 

Creative Worshiping

 

Did not ancient creators value enterprise

As they invent and apply the wheel and realize

That they had reduced work as had the lever

Did humanity recognize those that were clever

Did we thank them for extraordinary contribution

As the wheel of work turned another revolution

Was Whitney valued later for the cotton gin

Did we multiple work output over and over again

Bosch and Haber found nitrogen from air they could mine

And Borlaug in praise gave us wheat hybrids to stop famine

 

Do we appreciate the value of light in hours of night

Was Edison worshiping when his experiment showed us light

Do we know that Tesla ensured transmission to the home

Electricity, so with a flip that wondrous light is shone

Was it Marconi’s worship or his electromagnetic thought

Of wondrous voices of our love ones he brought

For Bell, whose invention allowed us to hear

Our loved ones as if they were ever so near

Did Schottky and chorus of others make transistor small

So that we can carry in our pocket friends and family all

Are theories of Shannon a form of worship applied

Such information we can decipher, for which we relied

 

Wondrous creations with no thought of wealth

Scientist with discoveries to enhance our health

Salk and others exceeded the result of an iron lung

Nobel prizes are a way their praises can be sung

And evil dragons of heart disease can be slayed

By Ersek patented stent, properly played

Or how about the ancients that found pain relieved

Surely, they felt it important and they must’ve believed

That chemistry was worship of sort indeed

Born of alchemy and experiment, creativity’s seed

And what of today’s medical research investment

Is it wealth, or is creative worship the enticement

We should never accept that medicine is good enough

Encourage our youth to be creative and be of the right stuff

 

Did math and physics always exist awaiting discover

Was it creative to find great mysteries under cover

Did Newton worship the beautiful necessity of gravity

Did Einstein praise time and unbound it through relativity

Would we know of a universe and our place

Without Galileo describing Earth correctly in space

What of atoms as the nature of matter, small units, individual and distinct

Ancient philosophers describing the nature with thought and instinct

Dalton would use to define why elements react in ratios of numbers whole

Would Thompson have discovered electrons and their wonderous role

Would Bohr and so many that helped find order in the universe of small

Corollaries fascinate between the grand universality of space, atoms and all

 

So too creativity of words, imagery, thought should be defined

As worship of the human soul, granted by God, but continually refined

Artistry brings out understanding, and thereby wisdom and emotion

DaVinci worked relentlessly on a smile, that was nothing short of devotion

Did Shakespeare merely entertain or was he saying we should examine our souls

Was Hemingway also challenging our understanding in For Whom the Bell Tolls

Did Dali bring us images that look deeper into our conscience collective

As music, rhythms and lyrics and melodies explore our world objective

Doesn’t Dylan and Taylor create music and lyrics to inspire

Is not music part of God’s expectation for a joyous choir

Did He not plan for us to laugh with mirth

So creative comedy must too have great worth

 

Creativity is like finding your way through a thick and dense mist

Dedication, insight, perseverance and yet the fog continues to resist

Appreciating the work of so many that came before

They found a way through the mist and to discovery’s door

They build on each other’s success, creations and insight

Creatively worshiping is humankind’s God-given right

 

We have the right and honor to be creative in our own way

And we can give honor to creativity through inventive ways everyday

Decorating a room to give all who see it some beauty and delight

Find a way to curiosity, or simply showing a child wrong from right

In ways that are creative and induces life-long learning

That creative spark that sets others toward discovery yearning

Whether we paint, write, discover, or creatively repair

Using our talents to create is as human as breathing air

We appreciate the grand creations of communication, transportation, light at night

We appreciate medical understanding and practice, math, and physics brought to light

And we appreciate the opportunity to enjoy music, and the beauty of art and rhyme

As the wheel of creative work, production and progress affords us that worshiping time

 

Today we think little about how electricity gets into our homes, how food on such massive scale is grown and processed to feed billions of us, or how much discretionary time we enjoy as we are entertained.   We live in a time of scientific and technical marvels.  We live as we do because of the passion and dedication of creators.  Science, technology and the business environment and structures, especially the laws and regulations that govern capitalism, to incentivize the industrialization of creations that make our lives so much better.  My friend Parker, caused me to think quite a bit about this, he said that creation is a form of worship.  That is an interesting thought.

As an example he mentioned Norman Borlaug, and his invention of hybrid wheat that helps ensures that the human population has no reason to experience famine as we had witnessed in the 1960’s.  A very good article I was reading this morning addresses the history of wheat, https://www.economist.com/special-report/2005/12/20/ears-of-plenty.

I have more to say on this, but today’s post is being interrupted by a very exciting British Open.

Enjoy!

 

 

The Sun Forgot to Go Down

 

It’s summer for little boy’s

The sun forgot to go down

So, let us play with our toys

 

The fireflies not glowing yet

The birds are still singing

There’s another boy we just met

 

Down the grassy hill we run

Kicking a ball swinging a stick

It doesn’t matter we’re having fun

 

Can we play while the sun still sees!

Summer sun forgot to go down

We’re having fun, so, mommy please!

When the Ground Gives Way

 

Pops hit his ball badly

…into the cabbage patch and sighed

I saw it all happen

… so I went in, confident I had it eyed

But it’s not so easy

… the vegetation hiding all

So, a bit of searching

… then I find that errant ball

Next, I find no ground

… after just a step on my way out

In a flash I’m on my side

… certain I’ll be broken, I give a shout

Then I realize, I’m OK

… just embarrassed I had shouted “aye”

But, geez it’s scary to fall

… when the ground gives way!