"It will end badly," I said four years ago, and so it is ... the depths of his narcissism, his spite, his immorality, and cruelty, are running unchecked, and in the next thirty days, who knows what evil will yet emerge from his tormented soul.

Yet, 70 millions Americans voted for him ... which says a great deal about our nation, and our own spiritual deformation. Our own blood-soaked history, our love of violence, our racism, our growing inability to care for our neighbor.

I hope that the unvarnished Tr--- gives pause to some who voted for him, and to some of the GOP who stood by him as he destroyed one thing after another. Sadly, there are very few Republicans left - the GOP has, in fact, become the POT, the Party of Trump.

Yes, the man has a base in this nation, and that ought to frightened the daylights out of anyone who yet cares about the larger issues of justice, climate, equality, immigration, and healthcare.

As always, I write as Christian, lest anyone write me off as a silly liberal. YES, I'M A LIBERAL BECAUSE I'M A CHRISTIAN! The life of Christ, what he said, and did, and died for, shape my being. The witness of the Prophets, the Song of Mary, the Book of James, and Paul's ethics, are the bedrock of my thinking, my values, my politics.

To all who look to the Star for hope, who know full well that even now Herod is at work to destroy the work of God, may there be an abundance of grace, mercy, and peace.

We have our work cut out for us, so let us put our hand to the plow and not look back. Let us sing with heart and soul:

Oh little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Manifest Destiny

"Manifest Destiny," eh? 

The GOP has clearly lost its marbles, and though 5 senators are now begging off of the Convention, they and their colleagues have failed the nation. Whatever "protest" they're mounting, it's too late! They might have given this a little more thought when the McConnell Senate failed to affirm the impeachment-vote of the House.

The GOP IS the problem; it embraced the worst in America's story, believing that white supremacy, evangelicalism, and greed would win the day. 

But history makes clear: sooner or later, in spite of some initial success, the "values" embraced and proclaimed by the GOP rot the soul of a nation, and it doesn't make any difference whatever the nation or empire may be. 

All the cheering of the evangelicals and the hideous Epstein-Money Gang can't prevent the collapse.

Will it get worse before the skies clear?

The GOP is crazy, just plain crazy. Within its ranks are some decent folk, no doubt, but they're as rare as hen's teeth. The truth be told, the GOP is run by a desperate cartel of greedy men and besotted women who long ago sold their souls for power.

Thank God, I say, that God's Manifest Destiny for humankind more than trumps the small and narrow versions trumped by the GOP's lost cause.

The Republican Mind and the Heart of God

The Republican mind was tried and tested with Nixon, and though the GOP lost that battle, and though many a Republican realized that Nixon was doomed, and finally knew that resignation was the only answer, a collective vow was likely made, a never-again pledge.

No matter what!

Now, faced with a monster in the WH, a man of limited intelligence, with an immoral character, surrounded by sleaze and influenced by his own brooding greed for power and for "love," a love never received within his family, and a love that he cannot ever give, because he doesn't have it within him, the GOP and those who've profited from this current administration, will, in their own mindless way, stand by this man, though all of them are neck-deep in filth.

It's a first class mess we have on our hands, but we've been here before, with one exception: the WH has a base of anger and bigotry throughout the nation, fueled by talk radio, the crooks at FOX, and the evangelical church for which power, at any cost, is to be courted for the sake of its theocratic dream - to rid this nation of the godless liberals, and so to "restore" morality, a "morality" in which there is no room for the LGBTQ Community, no room for workers' rights, no room for women, no room for people of color, no room for collaboration with the world, but only dominance by brute military force.

History, or as my Christian high school history teacher put it many years ago, in large scrawl on the blackboard - His Story.

Yes, I know all the linguistic and gender-issues related to that descriptor, but what my teacher meant then, and what I hear today, is this: the moral arc of the universe is always bent toward justice and truth. The love of the Creator will prevail, though beaten and battle-worn (which is why the resurrected body of the Christ was full of scars - no one, not even God, can escape the sweat and toil of seeking justice), and though raised to new life, that new life gives evidence of the costs involved, and when the Doubting Thomas saw the scars, he knew this was a God worthy of his life, and Thomas said, "My LORD and my God."

In his own way, Thomas knew, I believe, that a god without scars, a god without hurt and heartache, was no god at all, and for the times then, and surely for the times now, a scarred god is the only god worth following. Not a god of Rome or Temple, but a god of the people, a god of the creation and a god of all its creatures, great and small, a god who takes up the human cause and pays the price of love.

Sooner or later the truth will out, and justice will be done.

Never to create a perfect world, but at least a more perfect union ... on our way, with plenty of baggage, but on our way, headed toward the sunlight of faith, hope and love.

Good Night!

I'm tired.
Of Drump.
Of the GOP.
Of the deceit and lies.


I feel for the people,
Who signed on with him.
The angry folks.
The bigots who thought they had a chance.


Yes, I feel sorry for them.
They've been fooled.
Bamboozled.
Trumped.


How it must hurt.
Betrayed again.
Betrayed by the American Dream.
Betrayed now by their Savior.


They're so angry.
So angry.
So angry.
So, so angry.


They need someone who can offer hope.
Who can address their needs.
For health care.
For jobs.


For hope.
Hope is the piece.
Hope is the power.
Hope can be an illusion.


But it can also be life.
With hope, things happen.
With hope, people stay the course.
With hope, folks can handle anything.


I'm tired.
I'm tired of Drump.
Of Pence.
Of the GOP.


Is Hillary perfect?
Is she the savior?
Is she the new Madonna?
The new Mary?


Get off of it.
Don't be silly.
She's a politician.
But she's my politician.


She's knows how it works.
She knows how to play the game.
She knows who the players are.
She knows how to tap the power.


Is that bad?
Does that disqualify her?
Has she made mistakes?
Who hasn't?


But she's got a heart for children.
For women.
For the elderly.
For the people.


She knows the world.
As few of us do.
She's been in the eye of the needle.
She knows how it threads.


Anyway, it's been a long, long, day.
The news is painful.
The American Saga sad.
But I'm hopeful.


Why not?
Hope is my life.
Hope is my blood.
Hope is my DNA.


Why not?
I can't help myself.
Hope is what I am
And I'm glad about that.


Good night.

Exposing the Demon

Perhaps I'm unusual, as many have said, or just plain odd, or slightly out of kilter, or full of myself and taken with my own nonsense.

But I find myself profoundly disturbed by the old demon of racism. It still floats around in my life, in spite of my conversion many years ago while at Calvin College, when this little white-bread boy suddenly had the Spirit of God break into my disheveled world to reveal the heart of darkness plaguing me - a heart inherited from family and culture and a religion that did nothing about it. Blacks in America didn't exist for me, except as stranger and threat, and in the church, existed only as "natives" in missionary churches across the seas.

Racism is as America as apple pie and motherhood - it shapes our gut reactions in ways we can hardly discern.

A less-than-perceptive-soul suggested that I was feeling white guilt. No, just honesty about the way I was reared, and the journey away from it.

I thank God for two of my professors who opened windows of understanding for me, and throughout the years, so many good people who have opened up the deeps of faith for me.

Maybe I'm nuts ... could be ... but my heart breaks for this nation, and right now, given the sensible and faithful who strive for a better world, and the horrible reactions of the far-right, i don't know the outcome.

While I might hope and pray for something better, history doesn't offer a great deal of hope for nations drunk on the wine of Empire - Revelation 18 says it well. Yet there are miracles, and things happen. Britain ended the slave trade and American ended slavery and women got the vote. But it's the soul that counts, and in some places of this nation, the values of the Old South remain intact, firmly rooted in culture and religion. The Southern Strategy of the GOP is all about distraction and obstruction. If they can't their way, they'll at least see to it that no one else can get anything either.

The demon of racism is alive and well in our culture ... and why wouldn't it be? It's been our traveling companion since the first white folk step ashore and claimed this land as their own. Denial only gives it strength and adds to the delusion.

Repentance and prayer weaken it ... honest reflection and historical knowledge expose it.

We can confront the monster; it'll never fully go away, but we can seriously weaken it, with resolve and a personal promise to confront it within our own lives.