POINT TO THE DIVINE - THE HODEGETRIA

 

"She who Points the Way"

The Hodegetria

Photograph by Silver S. Parnell

Taken at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Albuquerque, New Mexico

This blog post is about the most elementary aspect of contemplative life, of prayer life, but because it is often ignored, we must be reminded of it regularly.

We need to have our mind inclined to God all the time. That's it. INCLINE THE MIND TO GOD. Instinctively, we know this. It is what we are looking to strengthen in ourselves when we seek outside of ourselves to get inspiration.

I am frequently searching the internet for inspiring religious personalities who point the way to Christ; people who lead the faithful and entice the nonbeliever to incline the mind to Jesus, lift our gaze to Him, and approach Him, so as to come near and bask in the beatific vision, the warmth of His Love and His saving Word. Even a hermit of 20 years sometimes yearns for some common encouragement, along the pilgrim road.

I am usually disappointed in my quest because, although there are many self-appointed interpreters of the message of the day, they rarely bear positive, life-affirming and supportive tidings.

Instead, there is a constant drumbeat of resentments, complaints, and grievances. It isn't enough that the political sphere is rife with professional grumblers and that these political jeremiads are constantly repeated, even by professional Catholics, but the same has also happened with regard to religious scandals, conspiracies and bitter protests, such as dissatisfaction with Vatican II, which was news decades ago but which monastics of various stripe are grousing about even today, as if something could be done about it NOW. Some of them are so extreme that they accuse various people in the hierarchy of  heresy, of all things.

Hodegetria from Rila Monastery

It is one thing to lobby for political change. That is our duty as Americans in a free democracy (particularly NOW, when authoritarians are pushing us toward fascism in a shockingly rapid pace), but that is not the tack we are supposed to take with regard to our religion. Catholicism is not a democracy! Our religion really IS based on an authoritarian model, and the laity aren't in charge of any of it. We're lucky we get a voice at all, considering the way it is set up. Even the priests and monks and nuns have a limited authority and must appeal to their superiors for changes. There are approved, time-tested methods for this kind of thing.

I am not saying that these bellyachers are wrong about everything that disturbs them. I am saying that they are confused about their role in the scheme of things and the manner in which they have chosen to ease the tension of having these objections.

Hodegetria, modern version

For instance, the Latin Mass.  I really wish the Vatican had not suppressed the Latin Mass.  It is not entirely suppressed, but it is close to being so. But as much as I love that Latin mass, I know that it is not my job to lobby for its full reinstatement. At least, I won't be writing tomes dedicated to the topic, nor will I waste my time and everyone else's making public videos about it and insinuating some grand Satanic conspiracy behind the Latin Mass losing favor and giving way to the Novus Ordo, the language of which I find positively ugly. But it is not my job to correct the Vatican, and if it WAS, I would not try to do it by advertising the conspiracy theory on YouTube and getting the laity all heated up about it.

If I really thought I had a duty to make my opinion known, I would respectfully tell the people whose job it is to correct these sort of errors and leave it at that.

Hodegetria of Smolensk

As usual, I am talking about method, which is very important. The importance of method is not my idea. The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifically instructs, in essence, that the ends do not justify the means. You may not licitly use evil means because you anticipate the end result will be good. It simply is not allowed, but we are seeing many examples of illicit, anti-Christians methods being used and advocated by the party currently in power, and it is giving me pause. 

The most obvious example, at present, is the Catholic support of Donald Trump's neighbor-hating vision for our country. Everyone recognizes the necessity for smooth-running procedures of incorporating necessary immigrant influx into our population without taxing our population unduly by criminal activities of poorly vetted immigrants, but that is not what is being done by this administration. This administration is profoundly racist in its policies and behaviors.

Trump and his minions spew constant lies and hateful claims about our neighbors to the south of us. The most hateful claim is that large numbers of criminals are being imported, and that South American governments are opening their prisons and dumping violent criminals into our country. it simply is not true. Factual material has been provided by multiple sources that the crime rate for the immigrant population is at a LOWER percentage than the crime rate among native-born Americans. Neither are they all angels, any more than the population of OUR country, and we have to deal with this reality instead of the hateful dystopian vision that Trump has pumped into our culture with his ugly rhetoric.

ALL Americans, with the exception of the Native American population, are immigrants. It is our history and it is our present reality. We have room for the immigrants, and we need the immigrants, particularly in some industries, such as farming and ranching. It is almost entirely immigrant labor that plants and picks our fruits and vegetables. Who will pick the vegies when the threatened mass deportations are completed? I do not see a lot of white Americans clamoring for those jobs.

The fact is that Americans have taken advantage of immigrants and treated them as sub-standard humans so we could pay them less for their labor and thus enrich corporations and lower the customary food prices for native-born white Americans. We will pay dearly for this sin.

"Do not neglect hospitality for through it

some have unknowingly entertained angels."

Heb. 13

Trump does not remind the American people of all that we owe to the immigrant community. Instead, he continues to spread hate and division around this topic. This is the OPPOSITE of the most important Christian commandment, next to loving God.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God

 with all thy heart, and with all thy 

soul, and with all thy mind. "This is 

the first and greatest commandment." 

"And the second is like unto it. Thou 

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

~Matthew 22:37-39

Last night, I tried to find another hermit whose words might inspire me, and instead I found a number of videos by a monk who appeared to be somewhat young to be dispensing wisdom on high, and he had nothing uplifting to say.

Hodegetria Bohorodicka

He had politics mixed up with religion and he was first putting forth the idea that Vladimir Putin, the murderous ex-KGB officer who has ruled Russia as a sadistic murdering dictator for the last 25 years, is not really all that bad, because of some weird logic and word salad, word salad, word salad. 

This reputed "monk" brought up the disproved notion that Russia has NOT been consecrated to our Blessed Mother, as requested by Our Lady at Fatima, when the Vatican has clearly stated, a number of times, that it HAD done so. There are all sorts of conspiracy theorists positing that it was not actually done or it was done in the wrong way and that therefore bad things are happening in the world because of it, when the evidence for this is not sound. His logic was bizarre.

Instead of leading the way to Jesus through Holy Mother Church, this "monk" is attacking the church ITSELF. People who do this are like a cancer that eats its host from the inside. Satan loves this.

For some reason, the study of classical logic has been missed in the educations of many people who are opening their mouths and giving opinions these days. I don't know how this happened because I know that I certainly was made to learn Classical Logic and its fallacies in HIGH SCHOOL, so I don't know why so many folks are ignorant of this entire field. They are not even aware that it exists and they therefore do not know that they do not know pretty much anything because, until you learn how to think and how to reliably discern truth from fiction, you are ignorant.

Icon from the Iconostasis of St. George

Being a practitioner and teacher of meditation for many years, I know that the thing on which we meditate is the direction in which we travel. It's very much like driving a car, which I learned when I was 16. If I looked to my left, I found myself turning the wheel in that direction instead of heading straight down the road. I narrowly averted several accidents until I learned to keep my eyes fixed on where I wanted to go. 

In short, if you concentrate on your complaints, resentment and suspicions, you will arrive in Hell in no time. If you want to live with Christ, concentrate on Him, look to Him, and occupy your mind with Him.

The point of spiritual life is to go to Christ. This is what our Blessed Mother does. She points to Christ. This concept was considered so important, so central to the faith, in the early years of the church that either the first or one of the very earliest icons was called "Panagia Hodegetria" or "the Hodegetria," in short.  It means "She who points to Christ." Its first painting was supposed to have been worked by Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Painting the Hodegetria

I have a personal connection to this particular icon because my 46th Great-Grandmother, Saint Aelia Eudocia, the (wife of Emperor Theodosius II, my 46th Great-Grandfather) brought it from Antioch to Constantinople, to be housed in the Hodegon Monastery, also known as the Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople, which was built specifically to house this standing icon. (Later icons are typically painted from the waist up.)

In the west, this icon is sometimes called "Our Lady of the Way."

My 46th Great Grandaunt, Saint Pulcheria (Empress of the Holy Roman Empire) founded that Monastery for the housing of that icon, which was very celebrated in its day. (Pulcheria lived from January 19, 399 to July of 453, and was said to have taken a vow of chastity on the day it was brought to her in Constantinople, she was so profoundly affected.) 

I was thrilled to be able to see a simple reproduction of it when I was attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church when it hosted that icon and I was able to photograph it (above.)

Notice that Our Blessed Mother is holding Jesus in the crook of her left arm and pointing to him with her right. Her head is inclined toward Him, reminding us to place our mind on him. In turn, his sweet little baby hand is raised in blessing toward her.  It is a wonderful image!  The iconography is a complete lesson in itself. It is remarkable, really. Spiritual life is not a life of complaint. We should always have our attention fixed on Christ and he will bless us for it! This is the sum total of the purpose of most spiritual disciplines and is highly relevant to the contemplative life.

Hodogetria, sitting, Greek model

We do not know what happened to that icon. Various legends claim that it was spirited off to Russia or Italy. Indeed, Russian iconography is full of many copies of this icon and has a long historic tradition.

When it was in Constantinople it was displayed every Tuesday to the public, and there is some record of its procession through the crowd. Sometimes it would be touched with puffs of cotton wool that were then given out to the crowd.  As you can see, it was a devoutly cherished item of religious devotion, but after the Fourth Crusade, in about 1261, it was moved to the Monastery of the Pantocrator, which is now a mosque in Istanbul.

Hodegetria of Crete

It disappeared during the fall of Constantinople and may have been cut into 4 pieces. Some Russians continue to insist that it did get carried to Russia and is there today, in Moscow.

There is an "Italian tradition" that has a completely different story, and you can read about all of this online. 

In any case, I hope to have brought you a sweet reminder of the importance of continuing to incline the mind to Christ and keeping it there, and I ask you to remember to take regular breaks from the stress and fighting of our modern life to meditate and contemplate on Him, who is our Salvation.

I pray for you daily. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose

Monastery of the Pantocrator

MANY AMERICANS ARE DESCENDED FROM OLGA OF KIEV, AND UKRAINIANS ARE FAMILY

SAINT OLGA OF KIEV "EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES"

c. 888 - 11 July 969

My 34th Great Grandmother

In 1978, I began researching my genealogy, but it would be about 40 years before I had a breakthrough that led me to the discovery that my ancestry included many notable nobles and saints, including Saint Olga of Kiev, who ruled in what was called "Kievan Rus'."  

People of modern day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia occupy various territories of the ancient Kievan Rus', but Kiev (spelled variously, such as "Kyiv) is located in Ukraine and, since discovering my link with that land and those people, I have had a tender place in my heart for all the concerns of those people.

Thanks to my DNA results from Ancestry, which conclusively confirm my personal genealogy research, my relationship to the world at large is a lot more complex and comprehensive than I could ever have imagined, prior to 1978, when I first began this journey.

Knowing the width and depth of my relations, going back many centuries, has increased my Catholic love for all peoples of the world. We cannot behave meanly toward anyone, not only because we must love our neighbors (and even our enemies) but the person on the receiving end of our displeasure and our punishment may very well be related to us, and therefore family!

Broadly speaking, my direct ancestry is:

42% - England and Northwestern Europe

28% - Wales

25% - Ireland

3%  - France

2% - Spain

Spain also includes individuals from Portugal. Northwestern Europe includes individuals from Ukraine and Nordic countries. There was more movement across larger swaths of land than one would think possible in those early years. Also, I discovered that, while some women originated in Portugal, they ended up married to kings in Spain, etc. That kind of thing went on quite a bit. Kings would often import  noble wives from the nobility of other lands.

With regard to the reason why many Americans are descended from or otherwise related to European royalty, we have to remember the type of people who originally came to this country and settled it. those of us whose roots go back to very early Virginia, for instance, are descended from people like Lieutenant Colonel Walter Aston, who was my 11th great grandfather, and it is through him (among several others) that I gain my ancestry from Saint Margaret of Scotland and Saint Olga of Kiev!

Distinctly separate from all the above, in 2003, when I began to live as a religious hermit, I had decided to dedicate, in general, my spiritual practices to the benefit of the renewal of the Unified Christian Church that existed prior to the Great Schism of 1054, during which Mother Church split in two, with the Western Church being called the "Roman Catholic Church," and in the East, the "Eastern Orthodox Church." 

I have not been a Christian my entire life, but as soon as I became converted, and I learned about the Great Schism, it broke my heart in two, just as Mother Church had been broken in two. I am sure that Jesus would not want this separation of his people, and I pray that all my pains and sufferings that are offered up on behalf of the reunification of our church may reach heaven and that all my sainted ancestors, including Saint Olga, my 34th great grandmother, will intercede for this special purpose.

All of these separate occurrence have helped to greatly increase my sensitivities toward the Ukrainian people, especially after I began to follow the news of its numerous invasions by Russia since 2014. 

The idea that a giant bear of a nation could simply roll its tanks and armies over the borders of a sovereign country and mow down its people, taking and occupying land against the wishes of and over the dead bodies of Ukrainian citizens who love their country dearly, infuriates me and makes me cry at the same time.

What is even more shocking is that our current president, who has long been suspected of being an asset of Russia, has behaved despicably toward the beleaguered president of Ukraine, Velodymir Zelensky. Ignoring the treaties that Russia has already signed with Ukraine, and which Russia has violated over and over again for more than a decade, President Trump has thrown Ukraine under the bus and is refusing to help them any more.

It is unconscionable that Trump had already pushed aside Zelensky and inserted himself into this matter, arrogantly purporting to have the authority to negotiate with Putin on Ukraine's behalf, entirely without the input of Ukraine, and then to also demand that Ukraine PAY US BACK by giving us half of the valuable rare minerals that are located in the land that Russia has brutally occupied.

With Trump's affection for Putin and Russia, I could easily see him GIVING to Putin those rare earth minerals immediately upon signing the agreement with Zelensky, who is wise to pause before agreeing to this devil's bargain, as far as I am concerned.

We all watched in horror as, against all prior expectations of the decorum expected of a president, Trump savaged poor President Zelensky, who remained remarkably calm and centered during the onslaught of vulgar words and demands thrown at him.  

He and our Vice President even criticized the fact that the man was not wearing a SUIT, as if this man's country was not in ruins, as if life just went on, unabated for him, while his compatriots fought and died for their land.  How could Zelensky dress up, like an elite effete snob in an expensive suit, unaffected by the carnage that is being wrought in his country, thanks to villainous Putin? He could not do that.

When President Zelensky gently but persistently tried to educate Trump and inform him that Russia had broken every agreement they had signed, to date, and that therefore Ukraine needed some kind of security to make sure that Russia would keep THIS particular agreement, Trump became enraged. His face became bright scarlet, and I felt sure that I could see a cold sweat of fury dripping from him. Trump is a man who cannot be taught anything. He is impervious to information that does not comport with what he thinks he already knows, all of which must always serve his ego and self-image in one way or another.

Trump and his smarmy sidekick ended up telling President Zelensky to leave. They want him to apologize and to sign the agreement without any changes. Imagine - after dragging him over there and subjecting him to a dressing down in front of the cameras, which included RUSSIAN outlets (which we never used to allow before), Trump expects that poor man to apologize. It is the worst kind of gaslighting I have ever seen in my life.

Within the next day or two, the entire EU embraced Zelensky and promised him a few million dollars in aid, which is not enough to stop this terrible war and beat the Russians back behind the gate. But I hope that Zelensky does NOT do as Trump wishes, because once he capitulates, all will be lost anyway.

I find it most shocking that Trump supporters are defending all of this. They don't care that he is driving America into the arms of the Russians, our enemies, who hate us, who have always hated us, and who want our destruction. Imagine how happy Putin must be at this moment, now that Trump has not only kicked our allies in the face, but he has also thrown Ukraine to the wolves.

"America first" has become "America only" and, worst of all, "America alone." Trump's supporters are clueless about how dangerous this is for us. They are buying into Trump's childish claims that NATO and the other alliances we have formed over decades were only calculated to take our money. His cynical and completely ignorant claim is being repeated from the rooftops by members of his cult who believe this garbage. And it IS garbage. It is not true. That is not how America would ever have characterized itself.

Worst of all, Trump's evil mischaracterization of the motives of others causes even more division than already exists. It is as if he is trying to pry the U.S.A. entirely out of the world community, leaving it alone and vulnerable.

Please join me in praying for a miracle for Ukraine. Pray that they do not have to sign that evil agreement with Trump but that somehow, some way, they are able to be victorious over the Russian hordes that have invaded their land.

Please join me in appealing to our Saint Olga, "Equal to the Apostles" that she intercede on the behalf of the Ukrainian people and also those in America who know the risks that are being taken by Trump's isolationism. Join me in praying that, instead of isolating ourselves, that people of good will join together, unimpeded, so that the message of Jesus, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, can most easily be accomplished.

Also, please pray that the people who have been brainwashed with the awful, hateful, and divisive lies and dystopian vision of Trump, may have their eyes opened to the truth so that they may join us on the world stage and embrace Zelensky, as the European Union has done.

And I would love very much if some of you could find it in your hearts to also join me in the prayer for the unification of Holy Mother Church so that she may breathe through both lungs, East and West, once more.

Today, we are ALL Ukrainians.

God bless you all.

Silver Rose

What Will History Report?

Winter in Old Town Albuquerque

Copyright (c) Silver Parnell, 2018

It has been a rough few weeks, and I have been knocked off my pins. Two days ago, a robber tried to steal a bicycle near my house, and we were in lockdown for the entire day, while the police and their swat vehicles and boats and horses and all kinds of armored this and thats were camped out in the middle of the street. They didn't catch the guy. For someone with PTSD, this is a particularly stressful situation.

I was already feeling somewhat pressurized because of the misogynistic, bigoted, xenophobic government being pressed into place by the current "leader" of our country, along with his fawning sycophants in the shockingly transformed Republican Party.

Last month, I wrote about how a supermarket employee expressed hostility toward my disabled status, telling me that, "I believe in Trump's law. Unless you've got two arms cut off or two legs cut off, you're not handicapped!" It took several weeks to call him to account for this outrageous verbal attack and, although he was suspended from work without pay for some time, I was left with the stress of having been the recipient of Trump's disgusting animus, through one of his MAGA nuts. I continue to remind the skeptical that the supermarket employee sailed into his diatribe without my having said anything even faintly political. When the president of the United States sneers at, mocks and criticizes disabled people, this is what happens. None of the MONEY trickles down, but the insults and the prejudices sure do!

~Trump mocking a disabled man during a pep rally~

I have had people tell me that I should just ignore what Trump says, that it doesn't have anything to do with me and does no good to say anything, but they are dead wrong. My life has already been directly affected by his nauseating comments and behaviors. He has emboldened and encouraged hateful people who, in turn, inflict their vile bigotry and ugliness on me and others like me. Fat, female, senior, disabled; I've got four strikes against me, in the mind of the Trump supporter who feels entitled to torment me and others like me. In addition, I live in low income housing, and, if it is discovered, is yet another mark "against" me because the alt right wackos claim that all the social programs are rife with fraud (which is a lie.)

Trump supporter

We're in the middle of a government shutdown that is costing 800,000 Americans the loss of their income and is risking their basic survival of food and housing. Our Federal lands are being vandalized and trashed. TSA workers are calling in "sick" at double the customary rate because they aren't being paid for what is, at the very best of times, a stressful, physically demanding job, which makes it all very unsafe for travelers.

Trump is holding us ALL hostage, really. Despite the fact that illegal immigration over the Southern border is at its lowest since the 1960's, most "illegals" are in this country on VISA OVERSTAYS, and the drugs are coming through the standard ports of entry - not smuggled illegally across the border, Trump is fixated on having a WALL, which is a decidedly low-tech method, even if the problem WAS illegal border crossings! But it isn't.

[Note: The source information for this chart comes from the U.S. Border Patrol.]

The problem with this particular issue is that, instead of leaving the method up to the experts, Trump has slapped them aside and is insisting that everyone accept his opinion about the proper method of fixing a problem. The underlying defect, of course, is that, although he bleats constantly about a "crisis" at the border, there isn't one. Illegal entry over the Southern border is the lowest it has been since the 1960s.  Sure, it happens and it has to be dealt with, but there are a variety of measures that the experts recommend.

So, Trump wants to spend billions of dollars for a low-tech solution to a nonexistent problem, and that bit of crazy is why we are all on tenterhooks - conducting our lives under a bleak, dark cloud of foreboding. I'm afraid Trump will start a war, in order to distract us from his crimes, or simply because he bungles his way into it because he doesn't have a clue about how to be presidential and refuses to get counsel from anyone. His followers don't respect experts either. I have given up responding to their hysterical, overblown comments on social media. I just block them when I see another overwrought, lie-filled comment. I can't deal with it.

Our constant sense of apprehension or anxiety is well founded. We have been here before. Trump's fascist, authoritarian tendencies are easily compared with those of dictators like Hitler, who, as I've mentioned before, was also fond of calling the press "fake news" ("Lugenpresse") and was prejudiced against the same minority groups, with the exception of the Jews, who are the darlings of a segment of the electorate that identifies as Christian.

Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi and other representatives were about to board a plane to go to Afghanistan and, at the last second, Trump issued an edict to Pelosi telling her that none of them may go because they should be staying home to negotiate with HIM. Pelosi already did her job and passed legislation through the House that temporarily funds the government until border security issues can be resolved, which then passed the Senate and Trump refused to sign it. There is a remedy for that, but Mitch McConell refuses to follow procedure. Other Senators have tried to bring it before the Senate (again) and McConnell just objects. You get the picture. Trump is acting like a 12 year old. McConnell and the GOP enable him.

A flood of information about Trump's Russian connections continue to flood in from the various cases that have been turned over to the Department of Justice. Although Trump keeps bellowing "no collusion" every time he is the same room as a reporter, we also have a lot of quotes from him from the pre-presidency years when he and his sons bragged about all the money they were getting from Russia. What does this have to do with me?

Well, Russia is the enemy of democracy. It is run by oligarchs who steal all the money they can from their people, and they murder anyone who gets in their way. It looks very much as if Trump is just another "convenient idiot" through whom Putin originally thought only that he would launder his money, but now that he is president, they are making greater use of him.

Trump's longtime attorney has recently testified that Trump ordered him to lie to Congress. One of the many articles about that can be found HERE

Russia would be thrilled if America would leave NATO (which Trump wants us to do) and, I don't know about you, but I rather like democracy and I do not want it messed with.  But it has ALREADY been messed with - during the last elections. It has been confirmed by OUR intelligence agencies, and they are a lot more credible than Trump.

I am astonished that more people are not alarmed, stressed and anxiety ridden. Our entire way of life is under threat.

Winter in the neighborhood

Copyright (c) 2014

So, I don't feel like writing blissful little tomes about the beauty of meditation and prayer this week. Certainly, I am praying and meditating a lot lately. I am in constant communication with the Lord - but He is the Lord of free will. He doesn't force his will on anyone. Occasionally, He chastises. Sometimes He heals. Sometimes He appears. Sometimes He sends his angels. But He doesn't usually force Godless oligarchs to stop attacking democracy, and I am not so surrendered and sanguine that I am oblivious to the dangers.

Christianity is not magic, folks. God doesn't manipulate Heaven and the world in favor of Americans, as if they were His chosen people. We are expected to behave a certain way. Perhaps all of this has been visited upon us because our Christianity has become a sham. I really don't know, as I do not speak for Him, but I do dread the punishment that may come our way.

Know that I am praying, but I hope you are praying also - and also DOING. Spread the word of God's goodness and mercy, yes - but also spread the word about what He expects of us.

God save us all.
Silver

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR WHEN YOU'RE VOTING

Teacher hugs a child at Briarwood Elementary School after a

tornado destroyed the school

{NY Daily News}

Here is the situation: The Russian government infiltrated our political system and installed a corrupt businessman as president, by manipulating social media, broadcasting lies and propaganda, secreting bad actors into our system, and generally wreaking havoc with our democratic process. American co-conspirators remain in place in our government, though 19 have been indicted and 5 have pleaded guilty to their part in the conspiracy and subsequent attack on the American people. We need to clean house in order to restore our freedom to choose our own leaders. Our freedoms are permanently limited, if we do not do this. Once the conspirators gain control of the government and populate the House, Senate and presidency, getting them out may never be possible.

I read in The Washington Post this morning, however, that some leaders of the Democrat Party are underestimating their constituents. People like Senator Sherrod Brown, who is "running for reelection in a state Trump won," thinks that his constituents are more interested in "jobs and health care." He, and others like him are afraid that, if they talk too much about the Russian conspiracy and attack, Americans will tire of it and they will lose votes.

The idea is that they think that Americans only care about themselves and their own "kitchen table" topics, i.e., the things they worry about and talk about over their kitchen tables. Even though it would be extremely dangerous to leave these Russian co-conspirators in place to destroy our entire way of life, these leaders of the Democratic Party are focusing their energies on more pedestrian topics.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your mind and with

all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your

neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment

greater than these."

Mark 12:30-31

Our country is not built on pure selfishness. Yes, there ARE some narcissists who only care about themselves and their personal fortunes, but those people do not define our national personality. We are, historically, a Christian nation based on enlightened Christian values. [This does not mean everyone has to be a Christian to be an American. Christian values help, support and nurture everyone. Even organizations that are specifically Christian typically help all people, regardless of faith.] The most important commandment, according to Christ, is to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

When I vote, I vote in a way that I believe will benefit everyone. I have the confidence that most Americans also do this. Even those with whom I disagree about method have good intentions. Many of my friends voted for Donald Trump with good intentions. I trust that. I disagree about him, obviously. He is terrible for our country, but I think that, were it not for malicious propaganda and manipulation of "news" outlets, such as Fox News and The Heritage Foundation, those friends might have voted differently.

What we need is MORE information about the criminal acts of Donald Trump and his co-conspirators. This information needs to reach more people, and it needs to be clear. 19 indictments. What does that mean? 5 people have pleaded guilty, and there are more to come, who will either be proven guilty or will admit to it without having to go through the trial process. The legal ramifications for these individuals needs to be advertised. What these people did needs to be detailed publicly.

We are not a selfish people, and we do not need to be coddled with topics that are more personal or more fun. The state of our government is in our hands because our votes determine who serves us in Washington. We need more information in order to make informed choices, not less.

Silver Rose Parnell

Did Putin Orchestrate the Trump Presidency?

In the Indictment of the 13 Russians and the 3 companies that conspired to put Donald Trump in the White House, it is charged that the Russians started their activities in 2014.  Donald Trump is crowing about it because he claims he had not decided to run yet - a point which isn't relevant, if Putin is the one who convinced Trump to run in the first place.

When Trump traveled to Russia for the Miss Universe Pageant in November of 2013, I think Putin and his operatives quickly saw Trump's desperate need for approval from a strong man figure (not a callow, privileged cadet with a curled lip who got 5 deferments from the Viet Nam war because he was in military school and lastly because of BONE SPURS.) A malignant narcissist is always at the mercy of his own need for approval.

Donald Trump in military school

holding bowling trophy

Trump was later to claim that he never met Putin, but since he lies continually, I can't believe him. He may have had a private meeting, but it was probably not even his first, since he has been getting millions of dollars of funding for his golf resorts from Russia for many years. These extensive financial ties to Russia go back to at least 2007 that we know of, and probably before that. Several of his top administration aides and department heads have multiple strong ties with oligarchs and their banking institutions, some even sitting on the board of the most infamous bank that launders money from these creatures.

[In 2008, Donald Trump, Jr. famously announced that "we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump's ties to Russia are longstanding, and, like everything else with Donald, it is all about the money.]

In June of 2013, Donald Trump appeared to be courting Vladimir Putin with a tweet that read:

"Do you think Putin will be going to the Miss Universe Pageant 

in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump ~

18 June 2013

A few months after the trip to Russia, Trump posted a glowing approval of Russian oligarch Vladimir Putin.

"Putin has shown the world what happens when America

has weak leaders. Peace Through Strength!"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

28 Apr 2014

You can see in this tweet an obvious bromance brewing between Trump and Putin, but I doubt it was mutual. Putin was grooming Trump, pumping his ego, encouraging the hero worship, and schooling Trump in a philosophy convenient to the Russian state.

Between Trump's late 2013 trip to Russia and his capture of the oval office, he frequently mentioned Putin and Russia in his tweets and his speeches, all of it glowing with approval for America's traditional enemy, which Reagan used to call "The Evil Empire." In one astonishing speech, Trump invited Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails and release them. Putin obliged.

Comedians made hay with Trump's INVITATION TO RUSSIA.

You can see the video yourself, all over the internet, including the web page of the LOS ANGELES TIMES

While Obama was still in office, it became known that Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee, had released Hillary Clinton's emails, had undergone an extensive social media campaign designed to foment discord in an already fractious electorate and had worked to ensure the election of Trump.  The Obama administration struggled with the question about what to do with this information received from U.S. intelligence agencies.

When the Obama administration was preparing to leave office, there was some concern on the part of that administration about how much Trump and his crew could be trusted with sensitive information about Russia, because Trump's love affair with Putin had made everyone wary, and they were not sure whether Trump was a cooperator or a stoodge.

Indeed, even though Obama issued sanctions against Russia just before he left office, and sent 35 Russian diplomats back to their country, Putin, apparently, had been told by the Trump administration that they could count on their reversal, once Trump came into office, so Putin did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions. He thought they had no teeth. Lately, it appears that Trump has not followed through with his promises to Russia, and Putin has issued a warning that he may have to retaliate after all. Those of us familiar with Trump's poor character are not surprised that he would violate an agreement with an entity that helped him win an election. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself. With all the talk about Russia over the last year, and the release of the indictment, he can't afford to do anything that would actively help Russia.

My voting experience goes back to 1972 - the first year I was eligible - and there has been no scandal that comes anywhere near this magnitude of what we have experienced with the Russian attack against our democratic process. The danger to our national security that this presents is extreme.

I have been overwhelmed and shocked by the election of this morally bankrupt, incompetent liar. Learning that one of America's biggest enemies was instrumental in placing him in the White House makes the puzzle fall into place for me. I find it encouraging that, even though Russia launched a massive campaign against Hillary Clinton, in favor of Donald Trump, he still did not get the popular vote, which means that most people in America have some sense of decency, dignity and honor. The only reason he is president today is because of the stupid electoral college, which I pray is eliminated very soon.

Some disappointment remains that my fellow Christians have defended his hateful policies, refused to believe truth, refused to investigate him thoroughly, and resolutely supported him, even while he continues to fund Planned Parenthood. Their primary excuse for voting for this horrible little man was that he was "pro life" - which is a huge lie. The hypocrisy has made me cry every day.

"Not everyone who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 

the kingdom of Heaven;but he that doth the will of my Father 

who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven."

~Matthew 7:21 ~

It is my fervent prayer that my fellow believers adjust their values to Christian values, rather than what is currently being passed off by the Republican Party as "Christian." Modern Republican politicians advocate policies that are hateful, bigoted, misogynistic and hurtful to the poor and vulnerable - all of which are the opposite of what Jesus preached. This false association with Christianity is responsible for the election of Trump. Russia merely took advantage of our weakness in this regard. We are not helpless against them. We can repent of our mistake and do better next time.

God save us all.

(C) Copyright 2018, Silver S. Parnell
All rights reserved.

DONALD TRUMP, HARVEY WEINSTEIN, AND MY FATHER - Tales of my Life in the Entertainment Industry

My son and me

about 1977

The recent uproar about the assaults and rapes of women by powerful Hollywood characters and prestigious men in government is giving me flashbacks to what I experienced as a young woman working in Los Angeles in the 1970's. In fact, my whole life has been shadowed by sexual assaults of one variety or another, and I know that I am not alone. The world is not a safe place for women and girls to live.

Like many women in the American work force, I had to fend off the advances of men who felt that, since they were attracted to me, I therefore owed them my body.

I had been fighting off the unwelcome advances of employers, landlords and random guys in elevators since I was a kid. I'd gotten my first office job at age 16, shortly after I moved out of the house, and it was remarkably easy to get hired.  I endured a constant barrage of indecent proposals, lewd jokes and offers of "a ride home" on a daily basis. I had actually been chased around the house of a famous actor after he'd ordered up a secretary from a temp agency. Despite assurances that it was a "real job," I quickly learned that everyone was star struck and complicit in the trading of young flesh for the pleasure of the famous.

The entertainment industry is not the only one in which women are objectified. When I worked at E.F. Hutton, the entire department watched porno films during Friday lunches in the conference room. It was an all-male department. They hooted and hollered at me over the vulgar moans and groans blaring from the raunchy film they were watching. The traders yelled at me to come in and join them. I immediately started looking for another job. I couldn't quit. I had no money and no one to whom I could run for help.

Shortly after going to work in that commodities department, my boss, the head of the department, propositioned me to go to Las Vegas with him over a long weekend. I refused and reminded him that I wasn't old enough to enter a casino, being only 20 at the time. He fired me and blackballed me in the industry, telling prospective employers that I was "lazy." Yes, I was too lazy to have sex with him, so he lied about me.

Lying about their victims is typical for predators. Just read the news. Every woman that has come forward and told the public about their assaults has had their reputations sullied - in some cases beyond repair.

A few years later, I learned that my own father was one of those creepy guys who demanded sex in exchange for employment. He was the line producer for a popular television series, after a successful career as a writer on such early television shows such as Combat!, Mod Squad, the Rockford Files, and many others.  I had been helping out in his office at the television studio while his secretary was on vacation when I stumbled into his office one day and discovered that he actually used the couch in his office as the cliche'd "casting couch," I was dumbfounded. He was PROUD of it. He crowed about how he deliberately left the door unlocked because the possibility of discovery was all the more exciting for him. It was horrifying.

He had a woman living with him at the time who had appeared in some bit roles in the series my father produced. Is that how she got the job? Is that how she got him?

The use of the casting couch as a method of choosing which actress would be given a role is a blatant and concrete example of the misogynist's theme, i.e., that women are interchangeable and that talent, skill and experience are irrelevant to the work at hand. If an actress were to make a fuss about the status quo, she could easily be replaced, because one woman is the same as any other in the mind of the predator. Nothing is relevant except obedience. Spread your legs, or you don't get that television role.

Apparently, I was the last to learn about this casting couch. EVERYONE seemed to know about it when I queried them.  His was not the only casting couch on the lot, of course. Having a couch in your office was the hallmark of a powerful man. It was a status symbol - something akin to the corner office in the corporate world. I was revolted.

I let him know how I felt in no uncertain terms. Being a classic narcissist, the slightest hint of disagreement or disapproval of anything he did or said was enough to send him into a paroxysm of rage, and this topic was no different. He didn't even have the sense to be embarrassed or ashamed.

A few days after our confrontation about his casting couch, he stole a screenplay assignment from me in retaliation.

These assignments weren't given in writing at the time. You took a meeting, pitched a story, got the assignment for the story treatment. If the story treatment met with approval, you got the go ahead to write a first draft of the script. I'd gotten the go ahead, and had started work when we had our tiff about the casting couch.  The Writer's Guild couldn't help me because I had not used an agent in my negotiations and I had no proof. I didn't figure I needed one, for obvious reasons, but I was innocent and unprepared.

I was so overwhelmed by it all, I decided to abandon my writing entirely. I turned my back on the industry and never wrote another screenplay or teleplay or tried to do anything in that business ever again. My entire being revolted against what I had experienced.

Although we'd had a fight about his abuse of women, I could not make myself stop loving my father. It was a terrible interior conflict that tore me up inside. I ran away from it. I had to remove myself from the ringside seats. I fell into a deep depression. I couldn't find work. I ran out of money. My car got repossessed. I got a beat up old wreck of a car and moved to Arizona for a year, to take some college classes and clear my head.

Meanwhile, my father began telling lies about me to other family members in order to mask what had actually happened. He had to reframe the events to favor himself and hide his adultery from his wife. He had to destroy my reputation so that no one would believe me.

I was not able to resurrect my reputation in the family, becoming the scapegoat for his sins. No one questioned his version of events because people who live in the reflected light of the glamour of stardom  suspend disbelief of anything that the star has to say. Otherwise, they may lose their access to all that yummy glamour - and money. The religion of celebrity is a vile aspect of American culture. We're seeing it now with Donald Trump. His starry-eyed worshippers attribute God-like status to him and resolutely deny his very public moral and ethical bankruptcy.

I suffered a lot for walking away from my writing career, but I could not face the horror of what that industry deems commonplace. In a business where even one's father would steal from you, who could be happy? Then there was the fact that my father was a sexual predator.  From an emotional standpoint, I could not live with the reality of my father's involvement in a sexist system that had always abused me.

I understand completely why all these women who are now bringing suit against Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer and Donald Trump did not come forward sooner. I know what it is like to be immersed in a culture that protects the powerful men and sneers at women who complain of being sexually abused. 

When I heard the Access Hollywood conversation between Donald Trump and Billy Bush, I became nauseous. Long buried memories came rushing back.

Donald Trump was bragging about grabbing women. "Grab 'em by the pussy," he said. Billy Bush egged him on in a smarmy, sycophantic manner so typical of the hordes of people I'd seen worshiping at the church of celebrity. Trump suggested that, when they saw the actress they'd come there to see, that he might just start kissing her. "I can't help myself," he said. "I just start kissing them." Bush cheered him on, like a frat boy encouraging a more senior member of the tribe.

As I watched Trump pillory the women who came forward to confirm that yes, he IS the sexual predator he bragged about being on that video-tape, I grew furious. I have seen this constantly during my many years  in the entertainment industry. Their stories rang true. Trump's assassination of their character was exactly what I had experienced, first hand. I had seen all sides of it.

During Trump's campaign, I was stunned by his obvious, overt bigotry and racism. His reduction of women to their physical parts was consistent, base and vulgar. His dog whistles were easy to hear. He put rich white males on a pedestal and urged his devotees to venerate that image and hate every other. The comprehensive nature of the hate takes my breath away.

I was struck dumb when Donald Trump was elected president. 40 years after I bailed out of the culture of celebrity, thinking that I had escaped that environment, I find that it has spread! Even women voted against their own best interests and EXCUSE Donald Trump's behavior. They have bought into the supremacy of the RICH WHITE AMERICAN MALE. This dark and evil soup of malevolent white male dominance and aggression, has spread, widened and deepened.

In the United States, women still make only 70 cents for every dollar a man makes, the glass ceiling is still very firmly in place, and we have never had a female president, despite the fact that many countries have had female leaders for quite some time. We have a serious problem in our country. While we have this arrogant, boasting nationalism that claims an exceptionalism we do not possess, at the same time, we have backward, primitive ideas about women, minorities, the aged and the infirm.

Donald Trump's naked display of the very worst aspects of our culture has caused my PTSD to kick into overdrive. His vision of an America that is hostile toward everyone but the rich white male, is frightening and evil. His childish, virulent twitter storms are a drumbeat that incites the primitive drive of angry white men who dream of  power and the subjugation of inferiors. He even defended NAZIs who marched in Charlottesville, chanting slogans against Jews!

I ask "conservatives" how they would feel if one of the women now suing Donald Trump were one of their daughters, or their wife, or their sister. They get mad at me because they've convinced themselves that the 16 women who came forward against him are all liars. The ease with which they skewer the characters of more than a dozen unrelated women they've never met and know NOTHING about infuriates me.

It has always been thus. Women are sexually assaulted on a daily basis and, if the rapist is a star or a favorite candidate, the sycophants conspire to ruin their reputations. They attack the victims with a cold vengeance. It makes me ill.

I find it ironic that in "liberal" Hollywood, the tide is now turning against sexist monsters who have used their fame and money as a weapon against women and girls, while in so-called "Christians," circles, people are excusing the sins of Donald Trump.

Harvey Weinstein has had some bad press and has lost his position. Louis C.K. has lost a lot of jobs as a result of his exhibitionistic masturbation scandal. Kevin Spacey has lost his job on the hugely successful HOUSE OF CARDS. Billy Bush lost his job on Access Hollywood as a result of that video with Trump, but I THINK he got in trouble because it leaked, not because it happened. Matt Lauer has recently been fired from his award winning, hit television news program on NBC.

Yet nothing happened to Donald Trump as a result of the release of that Access Hollywood video in which he brags about assaulting women. People voted for him anyway. They don't care that he is a serial assaulter of women, a bigot, a vulgar liar and a misogynist.  The women he assaulted are called liars and whores by his followers, who say they have "forgiven" the Donald for his crude behavior and they're SURE he's no longer using that "locker room talk." Some of them say the equivalent of "boys will be boys." A lot of people on Facebook say that he's the best thing that's happened to the Christian Church in years.

The fact that conservative Christians are defending the sex perverts in government while going after their victims is what keeps my PTSD fully engaged. America is a dangerous place to live for women and girls.

I have a granddaughter who is now the same age I was when my boss fired me for refusing to have sex with him. I pray that she is never exposed to the kind of pressure I experienced, but considering the support that Donald Trump enjoys from the very people I would expect to defend the innocent, I am not confident that she is safe, and I pray for her constantly because the only time the "trickle down" theory seems to work is when it involves the subjugation of the innocent.

It is worth noting that one of the reasons predators are not made to answer for their crimes is that there a small number of women who betray other women by taking advantage of this sick arrangement. There ARE some who deliberately trade sexual favors for jobs, and this muddies the waters for the rest of us who do not want this type of commerce in our working lives. There are also women on the Christian right, oddly enough, who follow their men blindly and participate in the savaging of the reputations of the women who HAVE come forward.

God save us all.


Silver Rose Parnell
(c) Copyright 2017
All rights reserved