Pen-demic

JUNE 24, 2020  BY  WTUCKER Play Hard Ball! The end of hard ball bargaining over the Major League baseball season brought a sigh of relief among baseball fans. We now know the season will begin July 23 or 24 and encompass 60 regular-season games. But the strife of the negotiations over a month or more foreshadows future struggle between the billionaire owners and the millionaire players.  A prolonged negotiation suggests a lack of good faith in the negotiating parties. The issue is no longer the details of the contract, but who will gain the upper hand at the end of the negotiations. It is about power, not equity. According to U.S. Legal.com: Good faith bargaining requires employers and unions involved in collective bargaining to: use their best endeavours to agree to an effective bargaining process meet and consider and respond to proposals made by each other respect the role of the other’s representative by not seeking to bargain directly wit...

https://unsplash.com/@nhillier         I am numbed by numbers.         Numbers Infected.                  Numbers hospitalized.                        Numbers dead.             Those wanting freedom from number            People unfeeling, uncaring, unheeding of The old and the sick and the lonely and scared.   “Aren’t we all dying?” They say. “I’ll never get it!”                    Every night I dream that I am becoming sick, becoming a number.           Am I coughing?  Do I have a fever? Is my throat sore? Can I still taste and smell? Did I wash my hands enough?  Is my mask protecting others?  I pray f...

Like a knight going to battle, Each piece to protect me from the enemy, Each piece to equip me for the fight. Teeth in. Hearing aids in. Glasses on. Bandage on knee. Mask on. I am ready for my day. I am ready for life. Photo by  Artur Tumasjan  on  Unsplash

"Aimless Love" (Excerpt)    by Billy Collins This morning as I walked along the lakeshore I fell in love with a wren   . . . .  . . .  I found myself standing at the bathroom sink gazing down affectionately at the soap, so patient, so soluble, so at home in its pale green soap dish. I could feel myself falling again as I felt its turning in my wet hands and caught the scent of lavender and stone. "Aimless Love"  is the title poem of a Billy Collins anthology published in 2014. It reminds me of why he is the favorite of so many readers.  He turns ordinary moments into celebrations, the mundane into the magical. How much we need now that magic as we careen around the same four walls for weeks on end!  How much we need the magic of the soap "so patient, so soluble."  Will we ever view soap "affectionately" again?  What about disinfecting wipes and protective masks? Can we celebrate them now?  Will we remembe...

To worry about the future, "How long can we stay in our 2 -story house?" lessens satisfaction and joy today. To worry about the future, "what will happen if I get sick?" paralyzes me from living life today. To worry about the future, "what if we have to isolate for a year?"  challenges my faith that God knows the way. We have had many challenges—brain injury, heart infection, cancer, pain. When the challenges tried to bury me, I knew what to do. Standing eye to eye, I have confronted life’s obstacles; I have made compromises. “You can slow me down, you can block my way,   I must live my life . . ..with God’s grace and guidance. . ..  One day at a time.”

Archie Bunker  :  The Lord God created me in his image. Michael 'Meathead' Stivic  :  You mean God looks like you? Archie Bunker  :  I ain't sayin' you couldn't tell the two of us apart. Archie Bunker  :  Every picture I've seen of God, he's white. Henry Jefferson  :  Well, maybe you were looking at the negative! [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0509934/characters/nm0005279] Politicians need to have more respect for their Bibles.  They are more than  tools of the trade. The theological discourse of Ohio State Representative Nino Vitale (below) brings to mind Archie Bunker's theology, quoted above.  The belief that humankind was created in the image of God was invoked by the legislator to defend his not wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He posted on Facebook: This is not the entire world. This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles...

Watching the children next door      chasing their new puppy around the yard every day. Memes on facebook:      “ . . .here I am laying on the couch, being a hero”. A wave from the Rich and Charlie's delivery man       as I pick up dinner on the door step. Leisurely reading a library book         with no due date in sight. Loved ones thinking of us        with unexpected notes and treats in the mail. Saying “YES” to a chocolate chip cookie        on my Panera delivery order. A snake, guitar strumming, snapchat faces:       Zooming with teen-age grandchildren. Video collage of of church members       waving anything green on Palm Sunday Processional. Calling the shut-ins and hearing Martin’s excitement      that his grandson would play football with Tampa Bay. Rachel’s banner  on the front ...