mermaidcamp
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@Pontifex Francis
March 18, 2013
— 1 Comment
Pope Francis has the twitter handle of the Vatican now, and this is his first tweet:
“Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me. Pope Francis.”
His style is matter of fact. He keeps asking for the people to pray for him. He breaks out and kisses babies. I think he is a very smart and astute cookie. The Jesuits are big into discernment as a key to practice. The order teaches ways to recognize the activities of the spirits in action in everyday life. They devote a good deal of time and effort into understanding the emotions and the spiritual meaning in the details. They listen for the voice of God. It is most tempting for the human ego to impersonate the Creator, rather than deeply search for divine guidance.
The Catholic church needs now to both listen to the membership and discern what is spiritually best for the world. A closed, authoritarian, dogmatic institution has the need for a live wire to bring it back to awareness. The first deliberate steps taken by Pope Francis (who I believe is named for both Francis of Assisi and Francis Xavier) signal a new direction. I am neither Catholic nor a fan of any church, but I do appreciate discernment. He seems ready willing and able to bring fresh discernment to a troubled institution. He has already changed the vibe.
Race Riots
March 11, 2013
Tulsa race riot 1921
Race riot Tulsa 1921
My father, Richard Arden Morse, was a bit of a racist, but did not have any idea of his own pedigree. His great-grandfather came to New York from Ireland during the potato famine with his O’Byrne parents and siblings, who dropped the O’ to assimilate. When asked, my father would say he was Scots Irish. This American term refers to the Ulster Scots, who have all those Orange issues in Northern Ireland. A little flash of orange ribbon drives these people, and their neighbors, completely batty. You would need to be born in Ulster to understand this, I think. The troubles are a completely local phenomena, although both sides have supporters elsewhere.
Richard Arden was born in Independence, Kansas on Feb 18, 1920. In December of 1920 armed violence broke out between white and black citizens of that town. It was a very small town, and this had to be a big impact on the area. In 1921 the city of Tulsa, where I was born, was host to one of the most violent of race wars of all time. The Tulsa racial violence of 2 June, 1921 was distinctly ignored by Oklahoma official history until very recently. I only lived in Tulsa for about 4 years, and my dad also left Independence with his family to live near Ponca City, Oklahoma during his school years.
He was for sure Irish, and when Mr. Scott married Ms Byrne, he was trending Scot again. However, I do not think he knew what any of this meant. I believe that my father’s racial prejudice was a karmic and cultural affliction. He did not openly dislike anyone because of race, but his actions betrayed his deeper ethics. To his credit, he and my mom made an effort not to pass the racist culture on to my brother and me.
Bridget OByrne (1808 – 1880)
is my 3rd great grandmother
James Oscar Byrne (1840 – 1879)
son of Bridget OByrne
Sarah Helena Byrne (1878 – 1962)
daughter of James Oscar Byrne
Olga Fern Scott (1897 – 1968)
daughter of Sarah Helena Byrne
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Olga Fern Scott
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse
Bridget O’Byrne was typical, but lucky. She survived the passage to New York, and most of her kids did also. She had a home in upstate New York. Sarah Helena, her daughter in law, wrote the notes I used to start my tree. The O’Byrnes of Wilna, Jefferson, NY gave their estate to a Catholic church there, and left the records of their family history with that church. A treasure hunt awaits me in upstate New York that may reveal all the Irish information I can handle, including Bridget’s family name. The Catholics of Wilna have my bingo card, and I am grateful.
On the Bus or Off the Bus
December 27, 2012
— 2 Comments
Merry Praksters
There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all – suspicion. –Demosthenes
How can we cultivate a healthy sense of disrespect and suspicion that is mindful of and careful with the opinions of others? We see no mature examples set by politicians. Religious leaders all teach healthy disrespect for worldly authority. Some religions teach that all worldly authority is to be shunned because of the wicked nature of it. The nuns on the bus dissing the Pope showed healthy suspicion of politicians trashing the poor to be elected by the rich. There was a saying that resonated back in the hippie world. “You are either on the bus or off the bus.” The phrase came from the book The Electric Acid Kool-Aid Test by Tom Wolfe. We also talked constantly about revolution, and the end of the empire. Bob Dylan, The Dead, Angela Davis, Black Panthers, SDS….. it was all very meaningful….and then it faded like morning dew in a folk song. Perhaps these nuns were hippies who never lost the baby faith.
Event Planning: End of the World for Americans
December 19, 2012
— 2 Comments
The American Dream of EOW is like all things in our world. It ironically stars Charlton Heston as the celebrity Head Horseman of the Appocalypse. All attention is given to sets, costumes, and rehearsals. While wildly distracted with what you will be wearing to Armegeddon you completely ignored the fact that the Anti Christ is your banker. You failed to see the signs of impending doom even when the horses of the Appocolypse thundered down Wall Street, veered off to the Jersey Shore, then set up a camp in Connecticutt. Denial cum negligence.
Notice that the Catholic Church, blazing a trail into excellent customer service for those who desire express service at this important time , has set up the @Pontifex twitter account. The NRA, a religious institution of massive power in the US, is taking a look at being open to the idea (a vitriolic debate about) of banning assault weapons for casual use. Congress is redesigning itself as a newly reborn baby dysfunction, while the world knows the political power in Washington resides on K street, so it hardly matters who goes to Capitol Hill. There is not even a flimsy disguise of that fact.
The folly in all of this is that it is based on not only ignoring reality (the negligence part), but also on the belief that human beings will cast, costume, write, direct, and produce the EOW. Ask your local Jehovah’s Witness. They can tell you, as they have been, what the Bible says about this particular subject. It is their specialty. They have a boutique religion for EOW, preparing all the Witnesses for the eventual probability that they will not even be in the rapture group. If the EOW is handled with the style and grace to which my fellow Americans have become accustomed, the USA will truly miss a once in a lifetime opportunity to go out representing liberty and justice for all.
Just as a hypothetical question, what are you planning to wear? The Swiss have practical advice. They say that the last suit has no pockets. They mean that you will not be taking your CHF to the rapture, because a new kind of value will be established that is superior even to Swiss Francs. Imagine that. The guys below are not only well dressed, but they have a full explanation for everything. This is the special season in which we can ask not,” Are you ready for Christmas?”, but “Are you ready to meet your maker?”
For a Good Time Follow @Pontifex
December 13, 2012
— 3 Comments
Pope in his ride
Be still my heart. God has given us something so much funnier than the Book of Mormon on Broadway. To follow the Pope’s Twitter stream is to be enlightened to the cosmic joke. All is revealed in these tweets. I have laughed until I cried several times. The pope himself tweeted about 9 times yesterday, but the fans had some extremely funny things to say. That is all I can tell you. Just do it. Cats on the internet, get back. Trending Bennie Is with us. Et cum spiritu tuo. In the words of the artist formerly and once again known as Prince,, “You can be the president. I wanna be the Pope. You can be the side effect. I wanna be the DOPE.” You can’t touch @Pontifex, this is one thing we all have to admit. The tweep’s got soul.
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