Spittin' Into The Wind (eBook)

Jeff Craw (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
204 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-1257-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Why do I write? Well, my #1 motive is that I like to think, and writing helps me to do just that. I can write something and then look at and say either: 'Hey. I like that.' or 'What the hell was I thinking'? Exactly! True, I'm often prone to getting a rise out of folks by occasionally being just a bit outrageous, and hopefully thereby prying a reaction out of them and challenging them to think outside of the box. But as a Preacher, it was often hard for me to secure any real, in depth, responses to my Preaching. Oh, I'd get the occasional, 'Nice Sermon Rev.' or 'You hit a little close too home today Rev.' but I never got any details as to why it was 'nice', or as to why it might have 'hit too close to home'. Now had those discussions actually occurred, they would have been alive with spirited ideas and opinions, and we'd have had a lot of fun! Whatever, you may wholeheartedly disagree with a whole slew of my thoughts here, but that's OK, cause if these words of mine made you think, and maybe induced you to develop a considered and researched rebuttal, then my labors here were well worth the effort. And that kind of outcome would, for me, be sufficient.

Jeff Craw is a Retired Pastor & Truck Driver. He's a Graduate of Platt High School, Bridgton Academy Springfield College, Duke University Divinity School, & Clinical Pastoral Education at New Hampshire State Hosp. He resides with his wife in the land of OZ, often referred to as Rhode Island.

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When I'm at my desk writing, I tend to lean on these words of Franz Kafka: "e;Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly."e; And then, for good measure, I ask myself over and over again a question that was gifted me by the late Peter Gomes, former Pastor & Preacher of Harvard Chapel: "e;What's your point?"e; Well, as best I can put it, my point(s) is (are) this: love, critical thinking, keeping an open mind, creativity, generosity, sacrifice, forgiveness, reconciliation, curiosity, - these things are all life giving, but they do take a generous amount of courage and grit to develop. Whereas, - fear, hate, anger, mediocrity, prejudice, insecurity, and vengeance, take very little effort for one to embrace any of them as one's identity, but, in turn, they will indeed suck the life out of you in a heartbeat, while extinguishing any real possibility of experiencing any real authentic portions of joy. In short, love is hard, real hard sometimes, and it does take a substantial amount of discipline and sacrifice to live out. On the other hand, fear, and all of its children and grandchildren, offer axioms that are pretty much given out as freebees from their lineup of Soulful Vampires, -identities such as vanity, pride, and self absorption. And then there's this: The weak will always be prey for fear's voracious appetite, and the weak will always seek physical power and dominance, for without it, they are exposed as being naked and helpless. But the strong, they will almost always seek the soulful power of peace found in durable rich relationships, rather than in ones of dominance. The weak are destroyers. The strong are builders. The weak build walls. The strong build bridges. Well anyway, these are my basics, and that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Textauszug

PHILOSOPHYZING

To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them.

Rene Descartes

If we really wanted to be a Christian Nation, as Republicans often preach that we should be, we would be, at the very least, a Socialist state, and to the extreme, possibly Communist. Jesus was Community based, and was all over the authorities of the day, from Priests, to Sadducees, to Pharisees, to Tax Collectors, to Emperors. Today’s “Conservative” (and I use that term loosely) folks aren’t actually advocating for a Christian Nation, but rather a Right Wing racist and sadistic nation. They just throw the name “Christian” in there to try to cop a halo for their demented political objectives.

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The United States of America is one of the most amazing countries in the history of human existence (think also of the Mayans, the Incas, the Aztecs, and the Greeks, etc.). But we (nor the others noted here) have not been perfect in our ways, for no one individual person, or community, or nation “was, is, or will be” perfect. In the end, it is what we do when faced with our iniquities, our malfeasance, and our imperfections. Indeed, how we then seek to go about correcting and/or altering these flaws, will surly define our stature as human beings. Actually, a state of perfection is often found through our successfully dealing with our imperfections.

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Consider this. The Military Draft, Church Worship and the Sabbath once brought us together as communities and helped us keep our sanity. But without them, we now seem isolated in a wretched garden that grows bumper crops of Fear, Suspicion, Anger, Narcissism, and Violence. Much like “climate change”, we’ve become ignorant masochists in a polluted pool of massive oblivion.

7/2/2024 – A Pew study:

“U.S. divided on whether the American Dream is still possible”

Tell me. Just what is the American Dream? Go ahead. I’ll wait.

“Was Abraham Lincoln gay? A New documentary

‘Lover of Men’ explores questions around his sexuality.”

I have to be honest here and state that I really don’t give a flying - (well, you know what). Additionally, neither do I have the slightest care about what your sexual preference might be. What I do care about is one’s honesty and integrity. In short, it’s about your character STUPID!!! I am, indeed, a bit surprised that the Director of this film, Shaun Peterson, did not also try to “out” Jesus. Maybe he will at some point. I mean Jesus, - well - I don’t believe he was married, but if he was, he did leave his family behind to be a traveling preacher, hooking up with 12 other guys who had also left behind their past lives. Now if Jesus did have a wife, it probably was Mary Magdalene - who was, I believe, far from being a debutante.

See Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ”

And while you’re at it Shaun, why not delve into the question of:

“Was Jesus a Socialist, a Fascist, a Communist, or a Capitalist?”

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Thoughts on Hope

“Next time you’re found with your chin on the ground

There a lot to be learned, so look around.

Just what makes that little old ant think he’ll move that rubber tree plant?

Anyone knows an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie in the sky hopes

So any time you’re getting’ low ’Stead of lettin’ go Just remember that ant:

Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant!

Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant!”

Sammy Cahn and Jimmy VanHeusen

Go to “YouTube” / “High Hopes” Frank Sinatra w/ Kids”

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world:

someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

Tom Bodett

Hope is often confused with optimism. But the two are quite different. “Optimism” says, “I know things will be perfect.” “Hope” says, “I know things well be all right”.

Pessimists are not born to be that way. Pessimists are all exoptimists, shattered into pessimism when things don’t turn out the way they think they should. Kids are often better at hope than we adults are. When asked to draw a picture, kids do it with a lot of hope and reckless abandon, thinking this will be will be great. And then the critics move in, and hope begins transforming into fear and trepidation. So in the end, as Rudyard Kipling once observed:

“The only thing a person can do is to paint the best canvas possible,

hang it out between the bamboo trees to dry,

and then let all the monkeys come around and criticize!”

Again, children are often much more adept at hope than are adults. If you ask young children “Who can draw?” - just about everyone’s hands will shoot up. But ask that same question of adults and the result would most likely be a lot less enthusiastic. Why? Well, kids are not yet subjected to the rush of crushing criticisms that the world will lay upon them as they come of age, even as many of those criticisms will be coming without any real merit.

Optimism can often be found sulking off in a corner if things don’t work out, or don’t go their way. Whereas, in the same situation, hope is firing up soulful bulldozers and backhoes to unearth every possible remnant of energy, knowledge, and bravery needed to carry on. Optimism can often be singed by fear of possible defeat, whereas hope doesn’t know the meaning of the word. A wife once said to her husband, “Someday we will be rich.” And her husband replied, “We are rich! And maybe someday we’ll have money.”

With Faith, HOPE, and Love, - life is rich and exciting, ready for anything that comes our way. Without Faith, HOPE, and Love, - life is full of fear, worry, pain, and ultimate defeat. In actuality, to be defeated in life does not come in the losing of a job, or in the losing of a loved one, or in the losing of a dream, but solely in the allowing ourselves to be “uncoupled” from Faith, HOPE, and Love. Ah! As St. Paul reminds us, “These three remain!!!”

Recommended viewing:

“Twelve Angry Men” 1957 - written by Reginald Rose

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“So I say to you, if you did it to one of these, the least of my brothers,

you did it unto Me.” Matthew 25:40

I wonder if this scripture above will be studied in the Oklahoma Public School classrooms when they start teaching the Bible in their public schools. Whatever, I think that students would really have a ball while reading aloud from, The Song of Solomon 7.

And in Louisiana, where they want The 10 Commandments posted in all of their Classrooms: I wonder, have they really read those Commandments? Further, I wonder if they will dare to also post The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-10? Blessed are the peacemakers? Blessed are the merciful? Blessed are the humble? Blessed are the pure in heart? Yeah, right.

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Ever heard of Icarus. Check him out. He pushed his limits, but his wax wings wilted in the blistering rays of the sun. Indeed, he crashed! Some say Icarus was really stupid to fly so close to the sun with wax wings. They surmised that any intelligent person would “stay in his lane” and be satisfied with the perishable glories of mundane mediocrities, while residing in “safe-havens” (Boring!), rather than welcoming the risks of discoveries and adventures. Well, I can relate to Icarus (as well as to Sisyphus). You see, I had this wild idea that the Church was the Body of Christ, - a Body that constantly wrestled with God over all that is true and life giving. Silly me!

Unfortunately for me, overall, the Church predominately turned out to be a club for the like-minded, with secular thoughts and traditions. I tried to lift it, but my wings melted, and I went down in flames! Ah, but the effort, that was really glorious and life giving! (Even as Sisyphus’ rock did roll back over me time and time again!)

“Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight.

For the greatest tragedy of them all is never to feel the burning light.”

Oscar Wilde

BEAR WITH ME: - Just a couple of observations here concerning Football. To Giants Fans: Lay off Daniel Jones! Do you remember how you booed Phil Simms into oblivion before Parcells coached him to excellence? And how about Jim Plunkett? Patriot fans rudely dispatched Jim to the QB trash heap, before he moved on to the Raiders and Tom Flores, winning two Super Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP trophy. Or how about Jared Goff? Lousy coaching...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.8.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-1257-7 / 9798317812577