I'm Beginning to See My Problem with Colin Kaepernick

I think I've begun to figure out what bothers me about Kaepernick's protest and especially the followers...

When I got out of school in 1985 I couldn't find a job in my field, Reganomics decimated hiring in Higher Ed. Does any of this have to do with my "winning personality?" Maybe, but five years later, after throwing drunks out of bars for a few years I found an entry level job. Thank you David Shellberg and Lamar Community College.

I worked eight and a half years in Lamar and three more at the University of Arkansas, ten years of that was spent working with low income students and students who would be the first in their family to earn a Bachelor's Degree. Statistically speaking, people who qualify for these programs are more likely to be people of color, but don't believe for a minute that there aren't a lot of white children who fulfill those qualifications too.

So here's the deal. These programs, and the nearly 2,800 like them are a part of the United States

Click here for the Department of Education TRIO Homepage

Department of Education's TRIO programs. These programs include Talent Search, Upward Bound, Veteran's Upward Bound, the Talent Search Math Science Initiative and a few others. They help students whose families are less likely to get their kids into higher ed into Higher Ed and on toward graduation and even graduate school.

These program's are a part of President Johnson's War on Poverty. That's right, that "Redneck Som-Bit from Texas" Johnson, the President who made sure the Civil Right's Act didn't die with Kennedy on a Sunny day in Dallas worked to make sure kids who never considered higher education not only considered it, but had the support and the tools to succeed.

These problems have existed for hundreds of years in America. So why in the world are we paying so much attention to this guy? I'm sorry, he's a Johnny come lately to the party with the assets, the charisma, and the authority to do more than just whine. I've done more for race in America after someone called one of my regular customers who was black "The N-Word" in the bar I managed than he did and that took fifteen minutes.

I have sat in rooms full of people who could do more with what he makes in a single game sitting on the bench to further justice in America than he has ever dreamed. I've done more working ten years in higher education working with students and working to secure the jobs of the people delivered services to these students.

People aren't actually talking about race or society or justice, they're talking about Colin Kaepernick. He's more of a distraction. Colin Kaepernick doesn't need to keynote a discussion on race, he needs to go to a regional or national TRIO convention and see what people are doing to move toward a just society. He doesn't need to talk, he needs to listen, he needs to pay attention, and he needs to get involved and maybe put some of that money where his mouth is.

By the way, these are federally funded programs, you know, the federal government, That thing he protests by taking a knee. And I thought taking a knee was how a football player gives up on a play. All hat, no cattle. All protest, no action. Sorry Colin, spend ten years as an Upward Bound counselor helping kids get into college, which you seemingly took for granted, then you might have a better idea what the problem is.

Then you can go to your gated community and your swimming pool and tell the world how bad life is for people of color.

IS THIS ANY WAY TO LIVE?

It seems this is the way we live according to the RNC, living in FEAR! Is this anyway to live? You'd think inflation was 17.8%, unemployment was approaching 25%, the Gross Domestic Product was shrinking, and the crime you read about in Batman was what was happening. Is this any way to live?

For one, we don't live like this. We don't. Life isn't perfect, not by a stretch, but if all we do is watch the new on TV (and it doesn't matter what your brand is) you're going to be scared to death. It's how they keep you coming back for more. Between the 24-Hour news cycle, the pundits who feed it, and the politicians who fuel it up, keeping us living in fear keeps them in power and wealth. Do you think they'll give any of that up easily? No.

Unplug. Read The Atlantic Monthly, read The Economist. Read stuff with tables and without pictures. Get a magazine that doesn't have articles about Kardashians in it. If we don't, we'll end up living in a world Lenny warns about...

Conditioned to hate and them to blame
Their search for God is just the same
Machines for hearts, how warped a view
Forgetting that they're human too
Waiting like a branded steer
Who first will launch the burning spear
When every day may be your last
You think we'd learn from our past

I living in fear, I living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
I living in fear, I living in fear
Ouh yeah yeah yeah yeah

People say history repeats itself. The joke that comes from that is that's not true, historians repeat each other. Actually, the quote is "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

In this case, it's true, historians do repeat each other... because history has repeated.

Is this any way to live? No, it's not. Beware

Pastor Paul's Federated Flash Newsletter Article

I've been thinking of violence, shooting, U2, Don Henley, Greg Abbot, Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Jesus lately. Yes, my mind is a messy, messy place. God bless my dear friends. Here's this week's newsletter article for the Federated Flash.

Dear Friends in Christ,

There are so many days lately when I want to hang my head and cry. On Sunday at about 11:00 I prayed for First Responders. I prayed “for police and military. For those who stand in harm’s way and say ‘not on my watch.’” I said this not knowing that a half hour earlier, just as I asked us to remember our baptism, police in Baton Rouge were being met with a hail of bullets. How many times must we pray for victims of violence? Pray for police who are victims of people who deem the police their enemies? Pray for civilians who are victims of police run amok?

Friends, most of the people in our society are good law abiding people, police and civilians alike. Nearly all really. But the people on the fringe are getting the attention for the evil they wrought. My father was a photographer for the newspaper in Columbia, Missouri when I was born, even in the early Sixty’s it was true, “If it bleeds, it leads.” People love dirty laundry, especially other people’s.

Where it must start for us is the beginning. Texas governor Greg Abbot said last week that we need to revere the police. I say nay, nay. The first Commandment says clearly, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” To revere anything else, especially anything else is idolatry. To revere anybody or anything, to treat them like a god is to indulge them like a god and invite them becoming gods in their own eyes. Gods whose own importance is placed above all things.

Instead, let us pray one of the oldest prayers of humanity. Called the Schema, it goes like this, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Schema is the Hebrew word for “hear.” What follows this at Deuteronomy 6:5 is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” If we do this, we cannot go wrong. Jesus has even told us there is no law against this.

This is the beginning. This is where we must start.

See you in Church, Paul

Pastor Paul's July 12 Federated Flash Article

Dear Friends in Christ,

Chris Baker is a student at Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Louisville. He wrote this for his Facebook page and it is currently making the rounds on the interwebs. I haven’t found anyone who has said this in such a sound theological manner so instead of trying, I will use his words. To clarify, derailment is the act of using a counterargument or counter assertion to derail a conversation from the original point:

I saw yet another ‪#‎AllLivesMatter‬ derailment this morning, and it made me want to scream. Or, rather, it made me want to scream this: 

‬‬
When, in the Beatitudes, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor," you don't shout "Everyone's blessed!" When Jesus says "Blessed are the hungry," you don't shout "Everyone's blessed!" When Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn," you don't shout "Everyone's blessed!" You don't, I hope, because you understand that Jesus declares these people blessed precisely because they never have been. Their society never blessed them. The proverbial powers that be never blessed them. Their neighbors never blessed them. No one blessed them. No one considered them blessed, worthy of blessing. Their lives, in other words, never mattered.

I hope, too, that you understand what happens next in the Gospel of Luke. The blessings are followed by curses. Woe to the rich, who have enriched themselves at the expense of the poor. Woe to the full, who have engorged themselves at the expense of the hungry. Woe to those who are laughing now, in the face of the grief and misery of others. Jesus has flipped the script. Out is in. In is out. Down is up. Up is down. And ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ precisely because they haven't, and in your derailment they still don't. Biblically and theologically speaking, that's some dangerous ground you're occupying.

Now for what he doesn’t say, all lives don’t matter. He’s saying that according to the Gospel of Luke, the powerless will be blessed and those who benefit at the expense of those who are oppressed, woe unto them. Ready for the big curse, if that includes some police, if that includes some politicians, if that includes some corporations (who are “persons” under the law) then so be it. Woe unto them.

I hate to bring up the Jackson 5 here, but this is the problem of “one bad apple.” Sometimes all it takes is one person to cause a broad brush to be used. It’s one of the greatest horrors, but it’s true. Pastors understand this too. With sexual abuse, financial abuse, and other abuses of power I can be suspect.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus blesses those who have never been blessed. Those who have blessed themselves, well, woe unto them. I thank God for the Messiah who has blessed us so that we may be a blessing.

I am not here to curse woes unto people who have done well. The nation of Israel was blessed to be a blessing. Through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Christ, we have been grafted into that vine. We have been blessed, but if we are not a blessing then Christ will ask what we have done with our blessing. This is a question worth asking. This is what our society needs to ask.

Oh, and maybe when the people who have not been blessed are, that will be a blessing to all people.

See you in Church, Paul

We pray for police, military, and all others who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way in service to others.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:13

The Presbyterian Food Stamp Challenge

The Presbyterian Church (USA) recently did a food stamp challenge (view Outlook link here) to show how difficult it is to feed a family using the SNAP program's dietary guidelines. I commend everyone of the 300 Presbyterians who signed up to see how the other half lives. Unfortunately, they really didn't get a full view of how the other half lives, not from someone on this side of the poverty line.

You see, as you know, I am an ordained minister (Teaching Elder, whatever) in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The congregation I served chose to quit meeting together at the end of January this year. While I received a generous severance package, all things come to an end. To an end they came at the end of June. I was able to stretch the cash part of the severance out for a while longer, but the insurance ended promptly on June 30, 2013. That $711.25 has been coming out of my pocket ever since.

On a side note, the reason we kept this insurance is that we did not want to start our deductibles and copays over again. That would not have been cost effective.

As I was unable to secure any employment in my small East Texas town so I relied on God's generous blessings. Through friends, churches, and the SNAP program my wife and I were able to keep our heads above water. We are housed. Our car was paid off one month after I lost my job and some rather pricey repairs were covered--as was car insurance. Monthly expenses like gas and phone, because you gotta have a phone if you're looking for work, were covered for a while by several churches where I preached as pulpit supply, a real blessing.

Then it happened, our SNAP benefits were around $340 per month for two adults, one with special dietary needs. When it came time to reapply our benefits were cut, they were cut to $15 per month. Not by $15 per month but to $15 per month. This wasn't because of any political posturing as both my Republican and Democratic friends were so quick to point out.

The reason our benefits were cut were because I reported we got help and I reported I spent it on health insurance. You see, the State of Texas, the state of my residence, believes I should be spending my money on food and not on health.

So I have looked for jobs in the church, sending Pastor Information Forms to over 160 congregations where God has not called me. I have sent applications to banks, colleges, restaurants, tutoring services, pawn shops, and more places than I can remember. I finally have an interview and God willing will have incoming income soon.

You have been patient with me but now I imagine you would like me to come to the point. Years ago I worked in a Student Support Services TRIO program serving low income students. I thought this gave me a better idea of what it was like to be poor in America and I wasn't really wrong. Then I became a seminary student and a pastor in two different very small rural churches. While the blessings are wonderful they aren't monetary, I got a better idea of what living in poverty looked like. My wife's health began to deteriorate and she has been unable to work for five years--between loss of income and increase of medical expenses we are getting a real first hand view of poverty.

The point of my story is that nobody who took The Presbyterian Food Stamp Challenge unknowingly choose between health insurance and food stamps. Who would ever make that choice knowingly. Who would have ever thought that would be a forced choice.

In the end we're not that far from sleeping in the car. Only the Grace of God and the help of good friends has kept us out of it so far. So thanks to anyone who has spared us a room. Thanks to everyone who has sent us a check--and some of you have been quite generous. Blessings to all who have prayed for us because we have had some very rough patches too. And thanks to the 300 of you who tried to see how the other half lived. God bless us all.

Snark, my Sense of Humor, and American Politics

Dear Friends,
Those of you who know me at all know I have a tremendous and vast sense of humor. I find all sorts of things funny and look to find humor in every situation, usually successfully. Those of you who know me well know that from time to time my sense of humor can be snarky. Or sarcastic. Or downright dark. I try to keep those down to a minimum. I tend to keep that part of my sense of humor out of my professional life.

Side note: Those who know me socially are asking "That's a minimum?" My best answer is "Yes, now imagine what I self edit... Now imagine what I only share with my wife... " This is when we all nominate the wonderful Marie for sainthood.

The reason I haven't updated this blog recently is because I haven't had much to say, and the things that I thought I might share were best self edited. Readers who have experienced recent postings, especially the "Lies my father/mother told me" series, are wiping their brows in gladness. This is one of the few times the phrase "thank you for not sharing" is appropriate. It's not a proud moment, but still.

I will never lose my sense of humor. Nor will I lose every element of my sense of humor, but here's something very important-- I am sick of the level of snark I have seen in the past ten years. Let me make this very clear, if I've had it up to here with snark it's probably drowning mortals. What pushed me over the edge? The current debate on the Affordable Healthcare Act.

I find much of it disingenuous. Before President Obama was inaugurated Congressional Republicans publicly declared their goal over "the next four years is to make President Obama a one-term president." While the strategy didn't work that doesn't prevent its continuation.

But don't let Congressional Democrats off the hook. They're just as bad, nobody has cornered the market on "disingenuous." The party of my inclination is just as able to brew a tempest in a teapot. The reason I don't list any is that I have read so many Facebook posts and memes about how Democrats impede government sending America into poverty that I don't need to. If you disagree with my politics you have your own laundry list.

Important point! I don't hate the people who disagree with me! I need the people who disagree with me! People who challenge me and what I believe give me perspectives that challenge what I believe and make my beliefs stronger. You may make me either affirm or change what I believe, and either way it still makes me stronger, not weaker!

But the level of snark from both sides of the Congressional aisle don't challenge me. They now disgust me. As for me, on this day, I believe there's enough blame to go around. Again, enough blame to go around. As Shakespeare said, "a pox on both of your houses. Both of your houses!"

About fifteen years ago my father had an epiphany in Missouri state races. All of the men running for office, Democrats and Republicans both, were acting like idiot blowhards. The women on the other hand were measured and constructive. Today I look at Michelle Bachman and Hillary Clinton and wonder what happens once you reach a certain point. It's the Peter Principle of American Politics. I despair this once workable solution is now improbable.

If you want to accuse me of being snarky right now I want to plead "not guilty" but will probably settle for "no contest." I'm trying to express myself without going over the edge right now (and on a second reading too out things that were too close to the edge of snark for my comfort), but that is the tight rope I now choose to walk. That's the abyss I'm not going to throw myself into anymore, God help me.

So friends, please know that my sense of humor will remain sharp. My stories will still be funny. My puns will still be flowing like a river. And I seek to quit wasting my time and yours on snark, especially political snark. Now that's a load off my chest.

Love you all,
Paul

Government Accountability

When I was working in Higher Education, the United States Education Department was being forced by Congress to be more accountable for the outcomes of students enrolled in the federally funded TRIO programs. This isn't bad in and of itself. These programs ought to be able to prove that they do what they are funded to do. This led to a squabble though, Congress had its own outcomes in mind, things that were never measured by the individual programs. It was a squabble and about that time I went to seminary so I don't know exactly how it was worked out.

Like I said, accountability isn't bad, but every now and them it's stupid. A case in point...

I recently went to our local Social Security Administration office. I was hoping to get the forms to try to get for Marie's disability. We figured it would be good to see the forms and put together the documentation before getting everything started.

It was about ten minutes before one in the afternoon. I was the only client in the office. There were two women behind roll up counters and an armed guard behind his station. I stood in front of the woman's desk. I was largely ignored. I said, "I would like to" before I was interrupted.

She said, "Take a number."

Really, take a number? I'm the only person in the room and I have to take a number. Ah, bureaucracy at its finest. So I took a number.

She said, "826" and I went to the window.

I asked if she had copies of the forms to register for disability. She said "No." They don't have forms anymore. I was told that it is available on line though. Then she asked "Would you like to make an appointment?"

I said, "No."

First things first, this woman is a worker bee, she's doing what she has to do. Her job calls for no imagination on her part. I bet even her responses are scripted from the computer terminal at her work station.

Second, I imagine this whole charade was a part of some accountability initiative. Through the computer some drone somewhere can see when I came into the office, how quickly she got to me, how long our transaction took place, and that I refused further service. That's a lot of information to be analyzed. If you consider the hundreds of thousands who walk into the Social Security Administration Offices everyday with their thousands of issues, this system will give them a lot of good information which may help with future services and products.

At the same time, being the only one in the room and being told to take a number is the stuff of unimaginative cartoons. Gary Larson would have been too bored to make it a panel on "The Far Side." Butcher shop mentality meets government accountability, it's our tax dollars at work.