Telling the Truth

connecting the dots of my life

Tag: unexpected opportunities

October 23, 2020

Telling the truth about the USA

It’s not how we feel
Or who we know
Not our gender or race
It’s who we are
From the inside out
Every molecule on alert
For unexpected opportunities
We never dreamed we’d have

The name of the next POTUS
Won’t save us from each other
Or from this pandemic moment
Of truth and consequences
That follow us night and day
In this dry and weary wilderness
Many call home and God Bless America

Already dying, we live out
Our numbered days trapped in
A fake dream wrested from
The hands and hearts of
Prior inhabitants living and dying
In less than Paradise
Pushed aside in order to grow
The most life-denying ‘product’
We’ve ever imagined—slavery
Held together by chains and the ill will
Of zealous white inhabitants afraid
To welcome racial justice or
Open their hearts and their doors
To darkness in any shade of brown

Yesterday I took the day off to rest and calm my sometimes racing, sometimes dawdling heart. I decided to watch a sermon on YouTube. It was sent to me (and other surviving Bible college friends–think early 1960s) by one of my classmates who unabashedly supports Trump. The sermon was engaging and articulate, sometimes humorous, preached in person to maybe 1/3 of the pastor’s normally packed mega-church auditorium. Title: “Church in America, Wake Up!”

It was his 2020 Election Sermon (preached each major election year). In it, he let his congregation know for whom he will vote and why. His bottom line was simple. Trump’s our man! No, you don’t have to vote for him, but I will, and here are my top five reasons.

Of his top five reasons (Religious Freedom, Marriage & Sexuality, Economy, Israel, Life), two generated the most affirmation. One was the economy. He was against redistribution of wealth and government overreach, and came down hard on Socialism. He saw all this (and more) in a Democratic Presidency. Of the two issues, this also generated the most energy from the pastor.

The second highest affirmation came from his final point: Life. To him this was an absolute no-brainer (his words). “Life” was his short version for Pro-life, meaning No Abortions Ever. He called Mr. Trump “our most pro-life President ever.” The congregation gave him a standing ovation. This was clearly their big issue.

I’m not going to debate him. I wanted to hear what a highly-regarded, articulate Protestant preacher would say about this election.

The poem above is about the importance of telling the truth about the USA. There’s no excuse for one-issue voting, or for ignorance or silence about our history. Especially by pastors within USA churches of any denomination.

Praying you’ll have unexpected opportunities to speak truth today, clearly and without rancor.
Elouise♥

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 23 October 2020
Image found at chaseoaks.org

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August 1, 2019

Another clean-out marathon

I love water. Well, most of the time. As you can see, the water fountain above is gorgeous, doing exactly what it’s meant to do. Overflowing in abundance as planned. Which is exactly what didn’t happen here at home on Monday.

As some of you know, we’re the happy owners of a waterbed. So…on Monday evening, just as we were going to bed, I looked over at D’s pillow. It was wet….as were the sheets on his side of the bed.

Our trusty waterbed had just that day sprung a leak–not a tiny, slow leak, but a medium-sized mess now overflowing on D’s side of the bed. Contained, but slowly turning his side into a swamp!

Happily, we decided it’s time to have our bedroom refurbished. Ordering the new waterbed mattress was a cinch. The other stuff isn’t. So now we’re in the middle of divesting ourselves of yet more accumulated stuff, and dealing with the sudden disorientation of it all.

Thankfully, this clean-out isn’t as huge as last year’s attic renovation. In case you don’t remember, here are before and after photos. As I recall, we had about 6500 books in the attic, plus years of accumulated files and piles. At least we’re not dealing with that again….

That’s the news for today! Back to sorting and moving stuff around. And, hopefully, posting a few things from time to time.

With cheers for good change and sneers for leaky waterbeds,
Elouise♥

©Elouise Renich Fraser, 1 August 2019
Photos taken by DAFraser at Longwood Gardens Conservatory (24 July 2019), and in our attic (Summer 2018)

6 Comments