Reflection on Good Friday

Has darkness triumph'd?
Why call we this Friday "good",
Yet mourn our dark deeds?

Before light, darkness.
Before resurrection, death.
Before joy, mourning.

The story ends not here!
The coming triumph of Light
Makes this Friday good.

And to you my friends,

Why call ye this Friday "good",

How understand you?

The Gods of The Copybook Headings

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, school children were given notebooks in which to practice their penmanship. The top of each page was imprinted with a short proverb or maxim. Children wrote these sayings over and over by hand down the page as they practiced forming their letters.

The Copybook Headings encapsulated old fashioned common sense. Henry Ford wrote "Most of the wisdom of the world was in the copy books. The lines we used to write over and over again, the homely old maxims on which we practiced to obtain legibility of our p's and q's, were the essence of human wisdom."  (Ford Ideals, 1922)

In 1919, a 53 year old Rudyard Kipling wrote of the timeless values expressed in copybooks in his poem, The Gods of the Copybook Headings. In his poem, Kipling sets unchanging gods of the copybook headings against the temporary and mortal gods of the market place. The gods of the market place representing the gods of the here and now, the gods of temporary fads such as Dutch tulip bulbs, dot com stocks and mortgage backed securities. 

Kipling writes:

"As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die." 

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!"

What did you write over and over to practice your letters?

Did you have a copybook? 

What did the gods of the copybook headings say to you?

The Game Afoot!

It was late March. Naturally it was snowing. I stared out the window at the black and white world in front of 221B Baker Street, contemplating the swirling patterns as my friend read his newspaper.

I heard the paper rustle as it dropped to the floor.

The piercing eyes fixed on me.

"The game is afoot, Watson!" he said with excitement.

"Game, Holmes?" said I. "Of what game are you speaking? Surely you are not caught up in the March Madness."

"Not that game," said he. "I speak of the great game, the game of funding local government."

"But certainly, Holmes, our Board of Supervisors consider their annual funding exercise much too serious for it ever to be a game," said I.

"Nonetheless, Watson, it is a game." said he, "Regardless of the dedication of our esteemed Supervisors, establishing the annual spending plan and setting the tax rate is all one great game. There are rules and objectives, moves and counter moves, winners and losers."

I raised an eyebrow and was rewarded with a pained expression. An explanation would be given.

"The game is played are as follows:

County agencies submit funding requests based on what they spent last year plus reasonable growth. The objective of each agency is to maximize funding so their requests are always inflated but never so much as to be rejected out of hand."

"Staff consolidates, clarifies, and rationalizes the requests to produce a draft spending plan."

"The Board meets in a series of long, grueling and sometimes acrimonious working sessions to adjust the budget and establish the tax rate."

"Projected revenues seldom meet requested spending so the Board requests agencies trim their budgets to within some specified target."

"Then the fun begins. Agencies propose draconian cuts to popular programs and make bold appeals for public support to restore funding. Supervisors gravely warn of a crushing tax burden. Both then eagerly await the outcry of impassioned pleas from an outraged citizenry begging 'Please don't cut funding to my pet program,' and 'I will gladly pay higher taxes.'"

The Board smiles. They have achieved the victory they seek -- increased tax revenue under the political cover of an overwhelming volume of citizen requests."

"Agencies smile too. They have achieved their victory -- maximum funding with which to finance bureaucratic bloat."

"Only the taxpaying public loses."

"Egad, Holmes," said I, "That is positively sinister and cynical."

"Yes," said he. "Sinister and cynical though it be, that is how the game is played."

I looked at his paper. The headlines read. "Department of Public Education Proposes Closing Four Schools, Eliminating Freshman Sports, and Curtailing Fine Arts Programs. Appeals to Public for Support."

I was forced to agree. It's how the game is played.

How is the game played in your city, county or state?

What are the rules and objectives of the participants?

What is the sequence of moves?

Who wins and who loses?

Thank You Dr. Seuss!

This month marks the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr.Seuss, author of children's books and creator of the Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two, Horton the Elephant, the Grinch and a host of other memorable characters.

I first heard of Dr. Seuss more than sixty years ago when I was in first grade. Our teacher, Miss Jensen, read us a fantastic story about wonderful things that might have happened on a place called Mulberry Street. She said it was written by Dr. Seuss.

In the story, a young boy walked home from school, knowing his dad would ask what he saw on the way. What he saw was a horse and cart plodding up Mulberry Street. Nothing else. Just a plain horse and cart on Mulberry Street.

But what if?

What if the horse and cart were part of a parade? And suddenly there was a parade, a fabulous parade, with bands and floats and acrobats and jugglers and a full motorcycle police escort "with Sergeant Mulvaney himself in the lead!" all described in great and and loving detail, each detail vividly illustrated, and each description ending with the statement "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street!"

Later, I would visit McElligot's Pool beneath which "way down beneath in the muck and the murk there might be some fish who are all going "Glurk!"

I would visit the fabulous zoo of young Mister McGrue. There I would see a lion with ten legs, "a nerkel, a nerd, and a seersucker too!"

I would sit through the multiple acts at Circus McGurkus many times.

Long before there was a Cat in the Hat, a Thing One or Thing Two, I grew up with Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss, or rather Thidwick, the Big Hearted Moose, taught me about sharing even when it's not convenient.

Bartholomew Cubbins, in Bartholomew and the Oobleck, taught me about unintended consequences.

I didn't realize it at the time, but Horton the Elephant taught me the importance of faithfulness and follow-through. I still hear his words "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent."

Dr. Seuss taught me to be open to new things. By the time I first experienced them in in Army, I already knew I'd like green eggs and ham. And, in the words of the book "I would eat them on a boat and I would eat them with a goat. I would eat them here and there. I would eat them anywhere."

Most importantly, Dr. Seuss taught me that other people were important, all other people. As Horton the Elephant observes in Horton Hears a Who, "A person's a person no matter how small."

And even a Grinch can be redeemed to the point he gets to carve the roast beast.

Important life lessons all.

How about you?

What lessons did you take from your childhood literature?

Which ones remain today?

Three Dangerous Words

We are born with the concepts inside us, the concepts represented by the three dangerous words.

When we are first able to express ourselves these three words are among the first we learn how to use and use correctly. Use them we must and use them we do. We use them to our advantage and we use them to our detriment. Properly used, they can be a blessing. Improperly used, they are dangerous.

The three dangerous words are "me", and "mine", and "more".

"Me" is the first concept formed in our infant minds. It is the name I call myself. With its other forms, "Myself" and "I", "Me" expresses self awareness. "Me" separates me from you from and from all others. In this it is useful. But, "Me" becomes dangerous when I use it to lord over you or others. "Me becomes dangerous when we think or assume "It's all about ME!" or "The world revolves around ME!" or "It's all for ME!"  Too quickly we forget about others who may be as much or more important than "ME". Too quickly we become self-centered. Too quickly healthy self respect becomes vanity, conceit and selfishness.

Me is a dangerous word. Use it with care.

"Mine" is the word of ownership. Closely related to "Me", "'Mine" is probably the second concept our minds recognize. "Mine" asserts ownership. "Mine" separates what I own from everything else in the world. The concept of "Mine" is essential. But "Mine" is dangerous when used to assert and justify ownership that is of what is not rightfully ours. "Mine" enables the selfishness of "Me" and is the root of envy, covetousness, and conflict. "It's mine because I wants it" says Smeagol shortly before murdering his brother in Lord of the Rings.

"Mine is a dangerous word. Use it with care.

The third dangerous word is "More". More is used to express insufficiency when one has not enough. "More" brings to mind the image of a starving orphan who, having consumed his miserable bowl of gruel extends the bowl to an unfeeling master and mouths the word "More".

"More" becomes dangerous when, having sufficient for our needs, we continually strive to amass "More" than that. "More" is the enabler of excess. We may have sufficient and not need "More". We may acquire "More" and hoard it to our detriment. Yet we continue to strive for "More" still. After all, if enough is good, "More" is better. And if "More" is better, then even too much may not be enough. So, we expend our time and effort to gain ever more. We become wage slaves, incur debt beyond any rational ability to repay, refinance and increase that debt again and again all for the joy of having and the burden of maintaining "More" and "ever More".

How do we maintain the usefulness and avoid the dangers inherent in these dangerous words?

First, we emphasize respect for others and concepts such as courtesy and honor, civility and compassion over the concept of self esteem inherent in "Me". We learn to put the best interests of others above our own.

We emphasize giving and sharing above the concept of ownership inherent in "Mine". We learn that the words "what's mine is also yours" represent not only a noble concept but also a workable strategy. To the extent possible, we become content with and value what we have and are willing to share what we have with others.

We re-learn the concept of sufficiency and satisfaction expressed in the word "enough". Recognizing sufficiency, we learn to relinquish excess. We experience the joy of saving up and paying cash for things we really want. And we learn that in many things having less really is easier and more fulfilling  than having more.

How will you do it?

What one thing will you do this month to mitigate the danger lurking behind "Me" or "Mine" or "More"?



    

Whose Valentine?

This week, we celebrate Valentine's Day. Red and white displays featuring cards and chocolates in heart shaped boxes appeared in stores the week after Christmas. This week, flowers -- most often roses -- have been ordered for delivery, dinner reservations recorded and bottles of wine carefully selected and chilled in anticipation of a romantic evening. Cards featuring hearts and flowers implore those who receive them to "Be my Valentine."

We think we are celebrating love. We are actually celebrating romance. Romance -- the love people talk about when they speak of being "in love" -- is a special kind of love, but not the only kind. When we concentrate on romance, we lose sight of the love demonstrated by affection, friendship, and acts of compassion as performed by Saint Valentine.

According to legend, Saint Valentine was a Roman priest arrested and imprisoned for performing Christian marriages at a time when aiding Christians was a crime against Imperial Rome. Emperor Claudius Gothicus took a liking to this prisoner until Valentine tried to convert the Emperor whereupon he was swiftly condemned to death. After beatings with clubs and stoning failed to kill him, Valentine was beheaded and buried beside the road outside the Flaminian Gate. According to one legend, before his head was cut off, he healed the sight and hearing of his jailer's daughter. According to another, while imprisoned he wrote notes urging his congregation and friends not to grow weary in well doing and to stand firm in the face of persecution. 

The love demonstrated by the saint had nothing to do with romantic feelings and everything to do with compassionate deeds. It had nothing to do with obtaining the favor of the beloved and everything to do with demonstrating that the beloved was favored. The love of Saint Valentine took no regard of personal consequences. The saint did not ask anyone to be his Valentine, but demonstrated by his actions that he was theirs.

How will you celebrate Valentine's day this year?

Will you send flowers, or buy a box of candy?  Will you go out to dinner or plan a romantic evening or weekend get-away? If so, enjoy! You do well. 

Will you perform some act or acts to be someone's Valentine for no other reason than it needs doing, you can do it and it's the right thing to do? If so, enjoy! You do better.

Or will you commit to performing some act or acts of compassion to be someone's Valentine for the entire year or however long it takes whether such service is recognized or appreciated or not. You may or may not enjoy, but you do best. 

In the prayer attributed to him, Francis of Assisi asks

"O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be comforted as to comfort;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

It is the prayer of one who seeks to be a Valentine.

Whose Valentine will you be this year?

What will you do to demonstrate it?

For how long?

The Dream Continues

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
     -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke eloquently of a dream -- his dream and ours too -- for America. He spoke of a future in which his children -- our children -- would be judged by the content of their character.

He spoke of a dream -- his dream and ours too -- that one day little in even the most historically racist corners of our continent black and white girls and boys could join hands and recognize one another as brothers and sisters.

He spoke of his dream and ours too for a nation where every valley was raised up, and every hill and mountain made low, the rough places made plain, and the crooked made straight; a nation where the glory of the Lord could be revealed that all flesh would see it together.

Dr. King's dream is the American dream. It is a dream of opportunity. It is a dream of independence, of freedom. And it is the dream of a world where a person's worthiness is determined by the quality of his or her character.

We're not there yet.

We've come long way during the half century since Dr. King addressed the multitude on the national mall. We've moved forward, backward, and sideways. Progress refuses to move in a straight line. But we're not there yet.

We continue to stumble forward. We stumble forward because we can't turn back. In the words of Dr. King, "we must make the pledge that we will always march ahead."

The past lies behind us, our destiny opens before us. 

We have a dream.

Is it your dream?

Is it your chosen future?

Have you the perseverance to continue?

Have you quality of character to make it so?