July 20, 2007

Rain, rain come today

Outside my window is a monsoon.

Perhaps not literally, but certainly figuratively with the winds howling around driving the rain about like stinging needles of water.

While we need the rain and the farmers will be glad of whatever moisture comes, I am sorry to say that it is too little and too late.

For years we have labored under a shortage. Each year the inches add up until we find ourselves parched and dry under a summer sun that radiates the intense heat of an Easy Bake oven over the valley. For those who haven't been paying attention, this seems to come as a shock to them.

For others, it is a Biblical prophecy about the last days being played out in glorious technicolor made even more glorious to the minds of those who have carefully shared their own sense of personal righteousness with the world as a whole. It is almost as if they believe that a shortage of water will not personally affect them since they are 'good'.

I guess I lack that brand of certitude as I believe the rain falls on the just AND the unjust and that the effects of the judgements of God are not heaped upon the wicked only. If that were the case, it would be really easy to tell who was bad.

Their yards would be brown and crunchy whilst their righteous neighbors had a paradisaical wonderland just over the fence line. There would be lightening scorch marks on their backs while the good people were awash in a glowing light.

I believe that everyone suffers when someone chooses to step out of God's light. Whether that suffering is for the lost sheep or for the agony that the personal choices of one who simply will not work well nor play well with others heaps upon those that still love them and hope for their return to the fold.

Innocent people are made to pay a heavy price for the personal thunderstorms of adversity that come into their lives by the unwise choices of another all of the time. Then there are the circumstances of natural disaster in which everyone is subject to the fluctuation of security and safety without regard for person or status. No one is immune and you cannot vaccinnate against reality.

So, I look out my window and type hoping that we will be the recipients of water that will sustain instead of a deluge that will wash away.

July 18, 2007

Democratically speaking

I have been reading about the impact of the Internet on the political process. It is certainly a novelty that the founding fathers couldn't have foreseen with the clarity that we do in our day.

While I have no doubt in believing that Ben Franklin could have conjured up a day in which his lightening experiment could produce such a modern day marvel, I don't think he anticipated the firestorm of media moments that would result.

No one is safe from the onslaught of bias and hypocrasy in the name of publicity. No longer is any publicity good publicity. Reputations can be made and broken in a single You Tube clip. If you don't believe me, reference several potential Miss America or Miss State candidates who have found themselves explaining their trip to Florida during spring break and the explosive and, indeed, exploitive photographs and videos that are now in the public domain.

Like feathers placed on the doorsteps which scatter in the breeze to become lost forever to our grasp, these truly viral videos have become an infection that has changed the landscape of the democratic process.

We no longer feel the need to forgive people for their stupidity because we have the offending party on tape. Our society has become instantly critical over a misstep because the evidence is playing somewhere on the internet 24 hours a day. Changes in opinion, ideology and circumstance are now hailed as flip-flopping instead of being judged on the basis of facts and personal growth.

Now, when a youthful seeker of public office comes to light, they must do so with no skeletons in the closet and, more precisely, without the hint of a bone fragment which can be cross examined under the harsh light of public scrutiny.

They must be pure as the driven snow and never have uttered a harsh word, a racial epithet or anything resembling personal opinion for which they will most certainly face a very public crucifixion. Vilified in the press, more than one comment has taken a potential winner and turned them into a loser of the most embarrassing stripe.

It is worse than finding a skunk in your pew at church. It is as if any affiliation with someone who is human, fallible and mortal means that we are somehow faced with the truth of our own imperfections and weaknesses. And in our microwave society where results must be instantaneous and palatable, we simply cannot tolerate the unpleasant dose of reality that comes from being all to human and sadly imperfect.

Mistakes, even serious ones, are opportunities to learn. If not so, then why do we have facilities for rehabilitation dotting our world. It isn't only the A-list celebrities of movie fame that require redemption from drugs, alcohol, or themselves.

Sometimes, it is the average Joe who seeks to use his experiences in life to make a positive change in the world we know. Will they do it perfectly and make everyone happy?

No, because that is not possible.

There is no scenario imaginable in which everyone in the world will unite, hold hands and sing 'Give Peace a Chance'. We simply have too many 'pot stirrers' who enjoy fomenting rebellion and criticism at every turn.

Does that mean we should blithely ignore the shortcomings and ignorance of those who seek to lead our communities and nation?

Of course not.

But we have to be honest enough with ourself to say that everyone, even politicians, must have the room to wiggle and to make sweeping mistakes. Otherwise, we are not entitled to make any ourselves.

To excuse personal shortcomings while roasting someone else for the same is the lowest and most vile form of hypocrasy. It is, in effect, saying that one person is morally justified in making errors and the rest of the world must be perfect in order to tolerate those mistakes.

I can't fix all of the problems within the walls of my own home. So it isn't likely that I would be successful in repairing the broken walks, the leaky faucets and the stopped up drains of our national house.

But I can make an effort to help in some small way by being willing to forgive within reason. Most people deserve a second chance. I have been the recipient of thousands of second chances.

So I can forgive the waffling and shifting that occurs while the jockeying for position continues in our American polity. I can even forgive the public and private mistakes. But bear in mind that patience, all patience, has an end.

And I am watching along with all of the voters in this country.

July 17, 2007

Standardized mess...uh..tests

While talking to my sister on the phone the other day, a disturbing truth came to mind.

I hate standardized tests. It is a truth that we both share and apparently, so do her daughters.

Particularly hated is the portion of the tests where it expects us to take a leap into the absurd with analogies that make no sense at all.

You know the part I mean: something is to something like another thing is to another thing.
It shows up like this: "asparagus is to mailbox like Bermuda shorts are to spatulas".

DO WHAT?!?!?

Who in the devil are they kidding?

Some twisted test writers are sipping on a glass of J.D. on ice and laughing their fool heads off while they draw obtuse references out of thin air.

Fish is to chandelier as trollop is to hardwood flooring.
Language is to pea soup as envelope is to fireworks.

Sure, when you have been sufficiently "lubricated" with J.D., you can see the logical train of thought that makes the connection between the two extremes.

So the next time your child or perhaps you, yourself, come across one of these literary bon mots that has you thoroughly perplexed, remember that it is all relative.

After all, understanding is to lunch meat as pavement is to French vanilla.