IT'S ALL GOOD - HOLY WEEK FOR THE HOME BOUND

 

DISABILITY ON TOP OF DISABILITY

Thanks to my dog going nuts when he spied another dog on the other side of the fence, my arm was nearly wrenched from its socket, and today I woke up with upper back pain that prevents me from doing almost anything physical, so I have decided to catch up with my diary blog and tell you all what has been happening the last week or two. I hope you have time to sit down for a cup of tea and a chat.

THE LORD DEMONSTRATES WHERE HE WANTS ME TO GO

I thought I was being smart a couple years ago when I spent some birthday money on a "guitalele" which is a large 6-string ukelele that sounds like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. This is how I always used to tune my guitars for singing, when I was younger, because my voice is higher than the typical key in which guitars are tuned. I never played with anyone else, so the change in key is not of much import. I figured I could play the guitalele just like I used to play the guitar, and this way, when I lose the rest of my vision, I could keep myself busy with something creative that does not require my eyes. It was intended to be a replacement for my painting.

In addition to the guitar, I had gotten a chord book and a music book of Gregorian Chant (religious music) written specifically for the guitalele.

What I HAD NOT counted on was the return of a wicked case of carpal tunnel that my doctor now says needs me to either give up the new guitalele or have carpal tunnel surgery.

Now, the last time I had surgery at UNM, it was for a growth on the bone of a finger on my left hand, and I woke in the middle of the surgery to find the anesthesiologist reading his telephone instead of watching my vitals!

I looked down at the anesthesiologist who was sitting on a low stool, reading and said, "Hey! Put me back to sleep!"  Without a word, he just turned around and moved a switch, at which point I konked out. Considering that experience, I am not keen to have surgeries that are not absolutely essential.  I have been spoiled you see, having lived in Southern California and received world class medical and dental care.

So now I am tasked with trying to sell this guitalele, and unlike California, where it has been, in the past, VERY easy to sell musical instruments (or pretty much anything) I am getting NO bites from the sign I placed on the post office carousel in the middle of the apartment.

I used to bemoan the inability to sell anything in this town, whether it is my home-made jewelry to a local shop or my nicely maintained second-hand items at a garage sale or on the internet or at my parish store in the middle of tourist town or WHEREVER. I long ago realized that, ever since giving my life to The Lord, he really did take me at my word and he guides me into doing what He wants me to do by making everything else impossible!  

I refuse to grumble. I have learned that God has me especially in hand and that the way he guides me to what he wants me to do is exactly in this fashion: He makes everything else impossible.

This is how dense I am. I cannot figure out God's will for me on my own, so he has to show me.

I will put the guitalele back in the corner with the music stand and will play it sometime further down the road, when the wrist is not so compromised.  Or perhaps God has in mind someone to whom he wants me to give this thing. We shall see, I am not going to get mad about spending my birthday gift on something that I can neither use nor sell. I won't berate myself at the WASTE of it all. Instead, I will just move forward.

At this point, The Lord has erected blockades across so many of my paths that I am beginning to get the idea that he wants me to do nothing but pray to Him. It is entirely possible.

THE RULE OF LIFE IS FINALLY IN BLACK AND WHITE

During Lent, I hadn't been writing much, as I had spent most of my time praying, meditating, and working on perfecting my Rule of Life, which I am finally putting to paper, thanks to a timely reminder in one of Father Ripperger's videos about the necessity for it. Threading the needle between the disabilities that often interfere with my schedule, and the great amount of time that is nonetheless available for spiritual practices despite these disabilities, has proven to be somewhat of a challenge. I have to strike a balance between practical leniency on the one hand, and necessary intellectual and spiritual rigor, on the other.

I have been really enjoying dedicating this time to my religious studies and practices, and listening to YouTube homilies and conferences. In addition to the daily "Bible in a Year" and "Catechism in a Year" tutorials that I am using to "brush up" in those two areas, I found some wonderful talks by an extremely erudite and mystically inclined priest by the name of Father Ripperger.

INTRODUCTION TO FATHER CHAD RIPPERGER:

Father Chad Ripperger, Phd.

Catholic Priest, Exorcist, Writer, Philosopher

                                                                                                                                                                                                              I am too disabled to travel to consult with them, but somehow having this special priest residing relatively close to my hermitage in New Mexico has made me very happy. Once you listen to some of his talks, perhaps you will understand why.

I particularly enjoy the teachings that he gives about the various levels of mystical prayer and spiritual life in general. Everything he talks about reminds me of the reasons and incentives that I had to become Catholic, so many years ago,when I read the works by and about the Catholic mystics, such as Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and various Catholic saints.

The breadth of his knowledge is so wide that it is hard to describe the variety of teachings that he is able to give, with apparently very few notes. He has confirmed for me many of my own self-diagnoses, as far as the defects of my spiritual state, but this is the good news because he also freely gives the remedies. His talks on genealogy and the defects that can be passed down in the family as a result of evil interference, such as from the Masons, has been fascinating, particularly since I am descended from saints - until a few generations ago, when Masons married into that family line, and ever since then, our family has been strongly anti-Catholic. We used to be SAINTS, ages ago. Evidently, the Masonic philosophy is terribly evil. My mother, who was cruel to me, was involved in it and was a member of the Rainbow Girls.

Through the study of his talks, I have learned some new prayers, as well as practices that will benefit my spiritual progress, and I have also begun to develop a love for Our Lady of Sorrows, who he describes wonderfully in a YouTube video, which I will link just below this:

FR. RIPPERGER'S TALK ABOUT OUR LADY OF SORROWS - CLICK HERE

I encourage everyone to Google Fr. Ripperger and meander through the topics. Find one that appeals to you, and settle in for a really interesting talk.

Now, I must warn you, however, that I disagree with him on a couple of issues, so I want you to be prepared and hopefully not be put off. I hope you'll ignore any disagreement you might find with him so you can hear what he has to say that IS very valuable and much more important. One of those things that many people will disagree with is his version of politics, because the videos I have seen, so far, appear to confirm that he may have been substantially influenced by far right wing Republicans since he uses the exact wording of some false pseudo-logic, and he misdiagnoses social programs as "socialism" when, in fact, social programs are present in many different types of governments but have no role in defining "socialism."  The primary defining feature of "Socialism" is a system in which the government owns "all means of production." In other words, there are no privately owned businesses and manufacturers in a socialist system.  We do not have anything resembling that, nor am I aware of any politician who is recommending that we get rid of all privately owned businesses and turn them over to the government! It is just not something that appeals to any of us, that I can tell.

I will just segue into the political for a moment in order to explain further:

CATHOLICS SHOULD FREELY ASSUAGE THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR

I think Fr. Ripperger and also Fr. Mike Shmitz and others of their ilk will say that it is far more desirable that Catholics would be widely and freely charitable so that the needs of the poor would be addressed by the free will of Catholics rather than by the government. Fr. Mike Shmitz even goes so far as to say that using taxpayer funded monies to address the needs of the poor is "evil."  I've heard this from him in more than one of his talks. Saying that social programs are "evil" is ridiculous - especially because the reason why we have had to resort to taxpayer funded social programs is because the Church and Christians did NOT take care of the needs of the poor during the MANY years before Social Security, when the poor had need of it! The government finally had to step in. It hasn't even been 100 years that we have had Social Security. ALL of that prior history, the poor were left to their own devices, primarily.

SO - as much as it may be technically correct that Catholics should freely give so that the plight of the poor may be addressed, I would just say that history needs to be given its due. I have yet to hear how Catholics will be made to do this when they have never done it before.  Not only THAT, but these days, while the government is not doing enough to remedy the needs of the poor, as evidenced all around us with the homeless and other destitute populations, Catholics today have not remedied the dire need that remains.

In my own personal life, I have a lovely Catholic friend who does everything she can to help me, but she is the only one. One person cannot do it all...and Social Security is simply not enough.

Until the Catholics can say, "look, we have taken up all the slack and we are prepared to do more," it is a bad idea to eliminate the social programs that are keeping many of us alive. It would also be necessary to address some of the root causes of poverty, such as the unethical tax structures that keep the rich getting richer, as well as the artificially reduced wages.

ARE WE BECOMING SOCIALIST?

The far right, in particular, is fond of accusing people of being "socialists" when it is not true. They must have studied what socialism IS. Heck, all you need to do is look it up in a dictionary and it clearly says:

SOCIALISM

"A theory or system of social organization that advocates the
ownership and control of the means of production and 
distribution, capital, land, etc. by the community as a whole,
usually through a centralized government."

Far right politicians fling that word "socialism" around in order to try and manipulate the vote. They want to sway public opinion against social programs that are paid for by equitable tax systems, so they call anyone who advocates for fair wages and tax structures as "socialists." This cynical name-calling has become so common that even people who do know better and would be better served to use the correct labels for their beliefs will use "socialism" to mean a government that uses substantial social programs to help its citizens. I am thinking of Bernie Sanders when I say this.

Anyway. I could go on about this, it's just that every time any priest, whether it is Father Ripperger or Fr. Mike Shmitz, opines about social programs by saying that they are "evil" and that it involves using "someone else's money" to pay for social programs, it makes me cringe because it may turn off some people to his primary message. The problem for him, with regard to the cliche that it is "someone else's money" that is being used is that this is simply not true.  Here is why:

IT IS NOT "SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY"

Right wing politicians have managed to keep workers' wages very low over the last 60 years, while outrageously inflating corporate profits and the income of the wealthy, as well as giving them incredible tax breaks, especially on capital gains. Over the last 60 years, they have redistributed the wealth of the USA so that the people who actually do the work do not share in the wealth created by that work. Something like three people now own more wealth than the bottom half of our country combined!  Here is how they did it:

In this graph, created with figures obtained from the Department of Labor, we see how the income of the wage earners has barely moved, only increasing 26% between the years 1970 through 2005, but the corporate profits have increased 250% and the CEO salaries have increased 430%! You can practically SEE the money being pushed up the pyramid.

As a result of this redistribution of wealth, the money that should have gone into the pockets of the workers who created the wealth has been put in the pocket of the rich guy at the top of this vile pyramid. Taxing the wealthy guy who took my money that I earned with my work addresses a grave injustice, a real THEFT, but now the GOP politicians and some RepubliCatholics are screaming that, somehow, the politicians on the left are trying to "redistribute wealth" by stealing rich people's money. It's a huge scam.

I am addressing this side issue in some detail because I don't feel comfortable just saying that Fr. Ripperger is spouting some Republican talking points that aren't true without backing up my position with facts. 

I dearly wish that he wasn't on board with the far right because that's where the conspiracy theorists and the violent January 6th insurrectionists live. I know that his position on this will be offputting to many who have had to struggle with the unfair tax systems and the artificially suppressed wages that the Republicans have squashed for decades. Unfortunately, priests and other religious are often at least one step removed from normal life, and they have a type of security and support that the wage earners will not have, so that they do not experience the nitty gritty of insecurity in the same way that you and I have done.  

I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THIS

I can contribute anecdotal, subject experience with being a wage earner during all the above years - at least until 2003, and every year it became harder and harder to make enough money to support myself. The inflation went up considerably more than my wages and, while my bosses were buying a SECOND vacation home (their third residence) so that they could go skiing every year during the winter, I was struggling to put food on my table. As a result, when I had to retire in my late 40's because of disability, I had NO savings to bring into retirement and help me. HALF of the American people will be in the same position when they retire - they will have NO savings to supplement their Social Security that we are now told is going to run out of money.  

THE REASONS SOCIAL SECURITY IS RUNNING OUT OF MONEY:

Predominantly, the tax structure benefits the wealthy who pay the same tax as someone who earns $150,000 a year. Raising the cap so that the wealthy pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as the rest of us do would fund Social Security for at LEAST 75 years.  If there was NO "cap" on contributions and it was a straight percentage for everyone, we could fund it until the sun burns out.

Secondarily, BOTH parties have "borrowed" from Social Security in years' past and no one ever paid back the money. I find this infuriating because they weren't supposed to be able to take our money like that. When Social Security was first proposed, it was a rule that the government could not use our money for anything else. Gee...wonder what happened to THAT!

SHOULD MEN BE IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD AGAIN?

The other area that some people will find issue with Fr. Ripperger is his strong opinion that men should be in charge of everything, especially families, and that women should just be obedient. He also makes comments about women talking too much - or at least talking too much to the wrong people, i.e., men, because the verbal skills of women are meant for the benefit of the children, whose brains are formed in response to the constant babble of their mother's voices.  This is according to him. It looks like he has combined Biblical injunctions against women talking in church with some research projects he may have read that speak to how babies need the speech of their mothers. Since he is a man, it does smack a bit of wishful thinking to me. I am betting he is not fond of listening to women talk or having conversations with them. That's my guess, based upon these things he has said in some of his talks.

On the other hand, I have remarked in years past that SOMEONE has to have the final word in a relationship or the fight never ends and decisions cannot be made on the most important topics.

But a system that gives men these kind of absolute rights over women often results in women being brutalized. Of course, women can be brutalized in an entirely free society. I have experienced this several times. 

Then too, If you don't want a man to be in charge over you, one can always choose not to have a husband, but then you are outside of any protective structure at the same time. This is true even now. Being a single woman in our society, especially in the arenas in which families are emphasized, such as the Catholic Church, puts one on the OUTS. If you are also, at the same time, unsuitable for convent life, you are really on your own and, I think, rather vulnerable, especially as you age. 

The fact is that we DO live in a patriarchal society. Men have always been more forceful and insistent on getting their way, and women are, for the most part, less interested in dominating.  So, it may be just one of those inconvenient facts of life and the natural law. Anyway, those are my conflicting thoughts on that topic.  I am just preparing you for his opinion.

Father Ripperger makes the point in one of his talks that the Lord would not have told us to "become perfect" if it was not possible, but it is only possible with the help of God's grace, and His grace descends in response to our progress in estabishing ourseles in virtue.

Our entire purpose in life is to become virtuous, as much as is possible with our efforts and God's grace, and to spend eternity in Heaven with The Lord. The greater our virtues, the closer we will be to Our Lord in that Heavenly realm.

I am learning from him that, in order to combat the many defects that I have, I have to work to obtain the corresponding virtue. For instance, gluttony. I am far too interested in food. It has always been a problem, and now that I am disabled and mostly home bound, it is very difficult to get a handle on it. In order to combat this, though, I must learn how to be better with fasting - the virtue that conquers gluttony - so throughout Lent, I have redoubled my efforts to fast and abstain, despite my age and medical conditions which obviate those obligations. It is because I am not obligated that I feel compelled that I do it.

Before I read all the Catholic mystical literature, I had no idea that Catholicism had such a vast wealth of mystical, transcendent inspiration. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Desert Fathers and Mothers, among many others, shifted my consciousness. I was in the Hindu convent (Vedanta) at the time, and it was inconvenient when I fell in love with Jesus and His church, especially for the Swami, who had forced the nuns to accept me after more than a year of them putting me off. He grew frustrated with their jealousy. It was unseemly.

But I digress - ONCE AGAIN!

I HAVE tried to get involved in SOME kind of church activity during Lent, but it is nearly impossible. I am having trouble walking, and I am not able to sit in one place for all that long, either, especially on hard wooden seats. It isn't a matter of simple discomfort. I have MORPHINE for that, but it is a matter of being able to rise and walk if I sit too long. That is the issue.

I have been calling my parish since last NOVEMBER, asking for the eucharist to be resumed, post Covid, and after many many phone calls, I finally gave up. But I was wrong to do that. I should never grow tired of seeking it.

Because I cannot walk very far, crowded churches with limited handicap parking spots have no remedy for me. I have tried to find someone who could take me to church, but no one is in the mood to help. Volunteers have either not returned to church or have stopped going altogether. There is also NO parking at my parish church because it is in "Old Town," the tourist center of Albuquerque. They have a tiny piece of a parking lot behind the old church, and it is for the use of the priest and the office staff, for the most part. Occasionally, if I call ahead of time, I can get a permit to park back there, but this means that I have to go to church TWICE - once to pick up the placard and another time to actually USE it because the office is closed on the weekends. When I DID try attending a Saturday afternoon mass, the only one practical for me, due to crowds, it was an extremely long walk from the car to the inside of the church, and I nearly collapsed on the way in. Then, when I left, I had to exit through the front, so as not to inconvenience the folks up at the altar, and it was a very long trip around and around the church and back to the parking lot.

I have no one to take me to church. I just don't know that many people in Albuquerque because I became disabled shortly after moving here. Otherwise, I might be able to get a ride.  But, even then, people who tend to be willing to do charitable things like give rides to disabled old ladies often get called upon to do all kinds of things that require them to stay at church after the service is over, whereas I am ready to scream from the pain of sitting for an hour on a hard bench and I am more than ready to go home, once the mass has ended. 

A friend and I went to confession, though, during the first week or so of Lent. She drove us to a church halfway across town, and we were lucky to grab an empty parking spot of the 4 that were available. In a very short time, the other three were taken.

Before confession, I mentioned my dilema to the priest, and he told me, "sometimes we don't answer the phone. You have to keep calling."  He was right, of course. So, being obedient, when all is said and done, I DID resume the phone calls to my parish, and I kept leaving messages, with no response.  Finally, one day, the office actually answered the phone. She said I was "on her list" to call - I'd only been leaving messages for the last 5 months! It turns out that it won't be until sometime after Easter that they will get to me - if it happens at all. The thing is, the parish that is designated my area parish HAS to be the one that brings me the eucharist, according to the rules, which makes sense.  But I have heared from workers at other parishes that many people come to them, complaining that our parish just doesn't answer phone calls and they are very disorganized. But they used to have 3 people in the office, and now there is only 1, and she is beside herself with all the work. If only I was healthy, I would have been so happy to help out.

IT'S ALL GOOD

One of the topics that Fr. Ripperger discussed on one of the MANY videos I've listened to on YouTube is the attitude that one has to adopt with regard to negative life circumstances.  Many people assume that if you are devoted to the Lord and follow through with the prayers and meditations and whatnot, that He would make things go well for you.  Well, that's not the way things work, it turns out. Remember Job, and what an excellent devotee he was, yet the Lord allowed Satan to turn his world upside down. NOTHING went right for that poor man. And everyone was clueless.  Even his friends, who should have known what a devout person he was, suggested that he must have committed many sins to warrant such adversities being visited on his head. Folks will sometimes try to blame the person for unearned troubles. It is easier than being sympathetic, I suppose.

From very early childhood, I have been assailed by cruel fortune, which grew worse and worse over time until today, when I am in constant pain. It has been a neverending stream. WHATEVER has been happening to me in this long and cruel life, it is an expression of God's goodness and grace so that I may become as virtuous as possible and will not be out of place near Him in Heaven. I console myself with the knowledge that the lifetime of affliction I have endured is what has been necessary to purify my soul for union with Him, thanks be to God!

I know a person who complains constantly about the amounts they have to pay for the things that go wrong in their life, without thought for the fact that they have all the remedies at their disposal with which to answer whatever need arises.  Gratitude is lacking. I take lesson from this. If I am ever relieved of this constant stream of sorrows, I will remember never to complain about spending all the resources I have in order to fix whatever goes wrong, since it is far superior than not having any, and I know this from experience.

In the spiritual realm, God has his reasons for allowing a flood of tribulations with no cease. He is using the pain and the trials to perfect me in some way. After all, Jesus said, "be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." We can't do it alone, and Jesus would not say it if it was not possible, therefore His plan is at work.

GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF BAD

The thing I am making an effort to remember is that God uses all circumstances to bring good into my life, in some way that He is not discussing with me, so each negative circumstance IS an icon of the Good God. I have therefore started thanking God throughout the day for each pain and privation, rather than praying for Him to alleviate them.  Wheneer some pain hits me, I just say, "thank you," now, as if I have already received and/or recognized the good that He is bringing to me from these pains. It's a good thing I live alone because otherwise I'd have some explaining to do, next time I say, as I crip around my apartment on my arthritic bones, "Ouch! Thank you, Lord!"

Bless us all!

Silver Rose

CATHOLICS SHOULD STOP CONFLATING RELIGION WITH POLITICS

Annanias struck dead by the Lord

I am currently taking a couple refresher courses from Father Mike Shmitz; one on the Bible In a Year and one on the Catechism In a Year, and enjoying both of them very much. I am approaching them like college classes and being rigorous in my note-taking and really trying to "up" my knowledge base. Sometimes he talks too fast for me, but in general I feel as if I am getting a lot out of them.

Today I was offered a short video of him "responding" to one of our Representatives in the U.S. government. The headline says, "Father Mike Shmitz Responds to Alexander Asco Cortez on Socialism and Christianity."

I was immediately alarmed, as I always am when I see a Catholic personality allying himself with a political party and taking a stand against a different party.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE SHORT VIDEO

First thing, out of the gate, whoever organized this clip could not be bothered to even spell the name right.  Her name is Alexandria, not "Alexander" and her last name is Ocasio-Cortez - NOT "Asco Cortez." Sloppy and disrespectful.  How would it be if I called Father Shmitz, "that religious guy Mikey?"

After listening to the very short video, I was dismayed to find that, although the Representative for New York's 14th Congressional District had specifically made the point that she was not talking about socialism, but about taxes, and she never brought up Christianity at all, supposedly Fr. Shmitz is "responding" to her on those issues.

Children, this is called a "straw man fallacy" in classical logic, something I learned in my High School writing class, and here is the definition:

"A straw man fallacy occurs when someone takes another 
person's argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in 
some kind of extreme way, and then attacks the extreme 
distortion, as if that is really the claim the first person is 
making."

According to Fr. Shmitz, in the video, the U.S. Representative is talking about redistribution of wealth. She does not mention "redistribution of wealth." That is his term. She is not even discussing that topic, actually, unless you understand that the redistribution has already occurred through corporate welfare, unjust taxes systems, and artificial suppression of wages.

Here is a chart of the suppression of wages during the years I worked, plus a couple (1970 through 2005):

As is obvious in this chart, during that 35 year time period, CEO salaries increased by 430% while the average wage earner's income barely went up 26%. I well remember how hard it was to survive on my salary during those years and how IMPOSSIBLE it was to get a raise, even when our bosses announced that we would be working an extra 5 hours a week but we would not be PAID for those hours. (Figures from the Department of Labor.)

THIS is how the wealth of America has ALREADY been "redistributed." It has been and continues to be shuttled from the workers who created it to the handful of CEOs at the top of the scale and to the corporations, the profits for which went up 250% during that period. 

In addition, Fr. Shmitz, like many others, does not know what "Socialism" is. Apparently, he thinks because the word has "Social" in it, that the presence of social programs in a government system equates to "Socialism."  That is not the definition of "socialism." The use of taxes to pay for programs is not "Socialism" either.

The primary defining feature of socialism is when the government owns all means of production. No mention is made of social programs as a defining feature of socialism and many different types of government systems employ social programs.

Here is a typical dictionary definition of SOCIALISM:

"A theory or system of social organization that advocates 
the ownership and control of the means of production and 
distribution, capital, land, etc. , by the community as a 
whole, usually through a centralized government."

To my recollection, only one person in U.S. government is regularly and widely advocating for "socialism." But even Bernie Sanders, is MISusing the term "socialism" to conform to what other people THINK it is, I would guess.  He is in favor of a robust set of social programs so that the poor will not be eaten alive by the rich, as is what happens today.

Fr. Mike Shmitz says:

"There's a huge difference between Christianity and Socialism. 

Both Christians and socialists would see the plight of the world 

and be moved to compassion. Something needs to be done but 

the Christian says this, "where can I give my stuff to help the 

people in need" and the socialist says, "where can I take someone 

else's stuff and help the people in need," because one is charity, 

one is love, the other is theft. One is good and the other is actually, 

genuinely, evil."

To be clear, in this video clip, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is arguing against unjust, abusive tax structures in which the rich pay little (if any) taxes, while the middle class and some of the poor pay the majority of taxes that keep the country afloat. Obviously, taxes pay for the military; the police; infrastructure such as roads, signs, lights, bridges, tunnels, etc.; and yes, some social programs, as well as other things.

He may not realize it, or perhaps he DOES, I am not sure, but this video, presented this way, has the priest basically saying that repairing these unjust tax structures is evil. He is trying to justify an unjust system and is gaslighting those of us who have struggled to survive during this very difficult period in our history when our just wages have been stolen from us.

He is also calling it "socialism," which it is not, as mentioned, above. I really can't believe he means to do this, and I would rather believe that he lacks the necessary education in this area or he is simply brainwashed by the Republican religion he has absorbed.  I don't know what the problem is. All I know for sure is that he is wrong and is using the same misleading talking points that the GOP talking heads are using all the time.

All he would have to do is look up the definition of "Socialism" in order for him to realize that he can not continue to spread this pernicious lie.

Why am I talking about this political stuff on a blog that is, primarily, spiritual? Because I get sick of seeing examples of how much the Catholic world has sold its soul to one particular political party. Catholics have conflated their religion with politics, and to me, that is the work of the Devil.

I have heard Catholics justify ripping children away from their parents at the border and putting them in cages erected on cement slabs, with no one to care for the screaming babies and medical care almost entirely absent, allowing flu and other diseases to run rampant. Some of those children, to this day, are not reunited with their families because they cannot be found, due to the reprehensibly chaotic and disorganized methods instituted by the Trump administration.

When non-Catholics see priests and other religious defending these horrors, defending the perpetrators, and defending the corporate welfare with which the GOP has robbed wage earners of their share of the wealth they created, it infuriates them - especially on the heels of the many horrific years of priestly sexual abuse and the coverups of those crimes.

As long as we are talking politics, let me say a couple things.

In my mind, it is not the issues on which we differ, it is the manner in which we accomplish our aims. I am QUITE sure, for instance, that there are ways to fix the immigration situation that do not involve jailing babies in cages.

If you doubt that the Trump Administration put babies and kids in cages, read this article from the atlantic:

ATLANTIC MAGAZINE - ARE CHILDREN BEING KEPT IN CAGES AT THE BORDER?

Children and families were also denied medical care and refused vaccinations. 

SEE THIS ARTICLE FROM CNBC ABOUT OUR GOVERNMENT REFUSING FLU VACCINES TO THE MIGRANTS

Also, I am opposed to abortion, but when it is illegal, it just pushes people to get "back alley abortions" and risk losing their own lives, as well as that of the child. That is not a "pro life" result. When I was a young woman, abortions were very easy to be had. They were illegal, but that did not stop anyone determined to have one.

Most women who give a reason for having an abortion cite financial inability. If we would wise up and have the same kind of pro-family social programs that they do in most of the other developed nations, such as child care, generous maternity and paternity leave, and a true living wage, women would not feel so squeezed. The way things are now, many women are forced into abortions they may not ordinarily have, simply because they lack the funds to support the pregnancy and the cost of child rearing.

Also, if our evangelization of the culture was (much) better than it is now, we could have an abortuary on every corner with rarely anyone taking advantage of their services because they believe, as we do, that every human is made in the likeness and image of God and that bringing life into the world is a blessing, not a curse.

So, you see, the difference between right and left really IS is one of METHOD. Most of us agree on the various issues, outside of how, exactly, we advocate that they be "fixed."

And, while we are talking about social programs:

According to Mike Shmitz, social programs organized by the government are "evil." So what would happen if we did not have social programs? I invite you to go to the Social Security Administration's website to read some of the heart-rending letters sent to FDR about the disabled and elderly dying of hunger and cold because there was simply no money to care for them.  Where were the good loving Christians as that time?  They were not willing to support all the old ladies, shivering in their sickbeds with empty bellies.

By what miracle can we expect the good Christians to do something different than what they did during THAT era, when there were a LOT more Christians than there are now? Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

Take a look at a typical letter that was received by President Franklin Roosevelt that details the plight of one such lady at THIS LINK and you will understand what we would return to if social programs were eliminated.

The entire reason we started the Social Security Insurance system was to keep that from happening again, but then BOTH parties "borrowed" from the funds (when they were originally not supposed to be able to do that) and we have the situation in which we find ourselves now, without enough funds to keep the Social Security system afloat in another 30 years.

Greed and selfishness are far more common than Christian love, it seems to me, and it is far more logical to regulate taxes to help the needy than it is to legislate demonstrations of Christian love.

 Don't get me wrong. I get help regularly from one beautiful Catholic family, and occasional surprise packages from a couple others, but if I did not have the Social Security into which I had paid for 30 years and some help with medical care from Medicaid, I would be sleeping outside with millions of other old ladies, or actually I would probably be dead because I am old and disabled, barely able to walk, lost the vision in one eye and losing the vision in the other, and have a host of other illnesses to contend with, some of which are so painful they require morphine.

History has proven that we cannot depend upon the generosity of the Christian folks to support people in their disability and old age. Take a look at the history books to get a picture of life pre-1930's. Don't just listen to the platitudes and buzz-words from either party. Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

Before Social Security, it was a nightmare, and there are now even fewer Christians, percentagewise, than there were before Social Security and other social programs were implemented.

I also seem to remember that in the early days of Christianity, the Christians "held all things in common."

"All the believers were together and had

everything in common. They sold property

and possessions to give to anyone who had

need."

 (Acts 2:44-45)

They were supposed to sell their property and hand over all the money that they received for it, but there was one couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who tried to hide some of the money, and when they were asked if they had given all the money, each in their turn lied and said "yes" and God struck them dead on the spot, which seems just a tad more severe than a simple tax audit, doesn't it?  (See Acts 5:1-11)

Sapphira is struck dead by the Lord

Further, in Acts 2 and elsewhere, we get a picture of how the Christians lived with one another:

"Every day they continued to meet together in

the temple courts. They broke bread in their

homes and ate together with glad and sincere

hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of

all the people. And the Lord added to their 

number daily those who were being saved."

Acts 2:46-47

It doesn't sound much like the Catholic community of today, does it? The fact is that Christians could choose to construct lives that look like early Biblical times, but they have not done so.  I continually hear my brothers and sisters angrily complaining about having to help people through taxes, but they certainly haven't gone so far as to sell everything they owned for the express purpose of helping those in need. Indeed, those social programs they complain about do not address all the needs of the poor. There is still PLENTY to do. For proof, all you have to do is take a drive through certain parts of town to see hundreds of people struggling to survive on the streets.

Homeless Camp in Echo Park

Picture from L.A. Times

I know exactly ONE person who, in addition to her taxes, makes a continuous and substantial effort to relieve the suffering of the poor and disabled. This is in addition to contributing her time and treasure elsewhere in the church. There may be more folks like her, but I've just never seen anyone, other than this friend, who does this in an intentional substantial, continuous manner.  But I DO see a lot of Christians and Catholics bellowing in public about how they should not be made to pay for anyone else's disrress. Most of those people live very comfortable lives.

And what about all those Old Testament commandments that Moses handed over from God that pertained to how they were to organize their lives and their wealth? There was ALWAYS a host of things designed for the care of the people that were in need. It ALWAYS involved the mandatory giving of other people's stuff, right? Why was that right, but social programs today are "evil?" Is it because it was GOD who ordered it and not the electorate? Because, if we have to wait for God to speak up and decree who will get help when they are hungry, a lot of people will probably starve to death while waiting to hear from Him.

I would like to see everyone do a bit more research and study about his or her political opinions and ensure the continuity of thought, with historical reality, as well as verify the underlying facts, such as the definition of "socialism." Father Shmitz could also do some thinking about what exactly is the nature of evil in regard to social programs, as long as he is going to go throwing that "evil" word around.  I mean, is it evil to HAVE social programs if not having them means more people starve to death? It's a fair question.

In my world view, going backwards, eliminating social programs, and allowing a lot more people to die unnecessarily would be the real evil.

God save us all.

Silver Rose

P.S. I am disabled and going blind and, in three months, I will be 69 years old.  As should be clear by now, Social Security is not enough to cover all my expenses, I am unable to work (though I have tried various things) and I am still in need of some help. Please consider donating to my paypal, above-right, or sending something from my Amazon wish list for food.  They have my address and can mail to me directly.

Just click HERE FOR FOOD DONATION

IF TRUMP GETS ANOTHER TERM, I MAY BECOME HOMELESS

Although I have worked for more than 30 years, and paid into Social Security through my employers AND my employers have matched my payments with payments of their own, I just found out from prominent professional historian Heather Cox Richardson that Trump's continuation of his "payroll tax cut" will eliminate my Social Security income by mid 2023...less than three years from now.

She cites the data of Chief Social Security Actuary Stephen C. Goss who "crunched the numbers" of Trump's payroll tax cut scheme and discovered that Trump's plan would end Disability Insurance in mid 2021 - a year from now - and Social Security by mid-2023 - which is three years from now. Social Security will be gone ENTIRELY.

The payroll taxes Trump wants to cut are the taxes that provide the money that funds Social Security and Disability insurance. DON'T KID YOURSELF that it will only cut it back a little bit or that it "wont be that bad." Social Security will be dead and gone in 2023 if Trump has his way, and seniors living on their Social Security insurance payments will have no income at all.

For information about the Chief Social Security Actuary, his bona fides, responsibilities and other descriptions of his functions at the Social Security Administration,

see: THIS WEB PAGE

I have multiple physical illnesses and syndromes that affect my ability to walk and to stand. I am also going blind and have lost most of the vision in my left eye already. I have no family in my life, to speak of, except for some distant cousins I found through my genealogy research. My only income is Social Security insurance, into which I paid for more than 30 years.  If I were to lose it, I really don't know where I could live. I represent a large demographic of seniors.

Because of my meditation and other spiritual disciplines, I'll probably get through this final phase of my life without going mad, but I still don't know if I could survive any homelessness at this late stage, with as many physical disabilities as I've been dealt.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, and the reason why I write blogs like this one, is to inform the public about what is happening to a broad swath of American citizens. There are millions of seniors in the same or similar situation  as I am - relying completely upon their Social Security insurance payments in order to survive. Some may have relatives with whom they can live - but many DON'T. Even if a relative could take them in, most people don't have an extra bedroom. Grandma might have to camp out on the couch. And who can afford to absorb all of the living expenses, food, medicine and medical bills, for another adult person?

After a lifetime of being contributing members of society, dumping America's seniors on the street isn't a fitting reward.

Donald Trump was handed a thriving economy that was on the upswing, but like all the businesses that he drove into the ground and bankrupted, he has destroyed our economy by his refusal to address the pandemic, claiming that it was a "Democrat Hoax" because they were "overreacting" in order to make him look bad. For the longest time, he mischaracterized it. He called it a "flu." He said it would disappear, "like a miracle." He said that the warm weather of summer would kill it. He posited that ultra violet light somehow inserted in the body would kill it. At one point, swallowing bleach was his thing. Recently, he lauded a woman peddling discredited cures with a malaria medication - the same woman who can be seen in numerous videos, screeching at crowds inside carnival-style tents, that illness is caused by having sex with demons in your sleep!

Before Obama left office, he had created a pandemic response team and protocols. Experts had warned that a pandemic was on its way, so the Obama administration put all these things in place. They tried to brief Trump but he wasn't interested. Instead, he disbanded the pandemic response team and the measures that had been put in place.

Even before the virus hit our shores, Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy increased the income disparity gap that already rivaled the worst third-world dictatorships. Although promising to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, his administration has continually attempted to make cuts while hacking away at the Affordable Care Act - continuing to do so, even in the midst of the pandemic!

When he was in business, Trump was famous for cheating "the little guy." All these subcontractors would do the actual work of building some luxury resort or golf course or hotel, and he would just refuse to pay them. They'd have to sue him, but he would sell the building or resort and then declare bankruptcy of the business through which he operated to build it. The working man and woman have always been used by Trump to further enrich himself undeservedly. He is still doing it, though on a larger stage.

The question to ask yourself after reading this is whether or not you'd be happy to have millions of grandmas and grandpas living on the street so that Trump and the other one-percenters can become more wealthy. Also, do you ever plan to retire? What would YOU do without any income from Social Security when you retire or, God forbid, become disabled?

If we don't vote Trump out of office, life for grandma and grandpa is going to be more grim than it already is. Please don't let that happen. Vote for Joe Biden. He is not perfect. No one is. But at least he doesn't want to kill grandma and grandpa. That's a good start.

If, after reading this, you discount the estimation of the Chief Actuary of Social Security, please tell me who it is you believe would have better information about Social Security than HE does.

While deciding, may you all be blessed.

Silver Parnell
(Sannyasini Kaliprana)
Copyright © 2020 Silver Samantha Parnell
All rights reserved.

"NOTHING PERSONAL," YOU SAY?

Mother Mary

in my little garden

When disagreements arise in modern life, I have noticed that some people are unable or refuse to put themselves into the place of the other guy, in their imagination. Because they cannot empathize, they cannot imagine why that person on the other side of the debate has an opinion so different from their own.

When engaging in a formal debate, definition of terms often forms a preliminary phase of the debate process so that everyone involved is "on the same page" and talking about the same thing, but modern Americans, set loose on the internet, are not taking advantage of this tool.

Refusing to attempt to understand the actual position of the other side, in a sympathetic light, and making assertions about what your opponents think, believe or want, has become common and is not productive of anything good. It just perpetuates the prejudices and discord.

"Nothing is sweeter than

to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

It won't be news to you if I tell you that there is a lot of turmoil in our country right now. I believe that at least part of the cause of this is this disorganized approach to communication among us.

Most of my readers will remember that I am a Catholic convert with a Hindu (Vedantic) orientation. I was raised without any religion whatsoever and participated in many different faiths before converting to Catholicism about 14 years ago. While I believe in everything the Catholic Church believes and teaches, I have a tremendous amount of experience as a non-Christian American. I can easily speak to the point of view of non-Christians, as a result.

When having discussions with some of my Catholic brothers and sisters, I will often object to their characterizations of poor people, gay people, brown people, immigrants, disabled people, and other vulnerable groups. The reply I often get is, "oh, I am not talking about you." As a single, female, senior, divorced, disabled poor person, I fit into many categories of the most vulnerable groups and, having been raised in a non-Christian environment, I am intimately familiar with the lifestyle and beliefs of unchurched people.

But those good Catholic people ARE "talking about" me! They have erroneous, conspiracy-level beliefs about poor people, for instance. There is a huge amount of prejudice about the poor! Right wing people who identify as Christian will often immediately talk about drug addiction and criminality when discussing "the poor."

It isn't that I don't find drug addiction and criminality disturbing, because I DO. Since becoming disabled and poor, and after moving into low-income housing, I have been on the receiving end of quite a bit of the criminality of a segment of the poor. Several of my poor neighbors have stolen from me. The homeless who have encampments in the bosque next to the apartment complex have stolen things out of my garden and my patio, and have rifled through the drawers of the potting cabinet on the patio - looking for whatever might be useful, I suppose. My car has been broken into several times, with no more apparent motive than to scrabble around for change or valuables, leaving me with a broken side window and a creeping sensation of wonder that, although the car was parked right next to my apartment windows, I never heard a thing.

I've had neighbors aggressively try to "befriend" me just so they can get into my apartment and scope it out for possessions they might like to have. One woman spent months telling me I should just "give away" the bed I wasn't using instead of selling it, and then called me one morning and announced that her daughter-in-law had "cried with joy" at the news that SHE would be receiving this bed because she really needed one. I had not agreed to any such thing and was even FURTHER astonished when the neighbor told me she had arranged for a rental truck to come and get it and that it would be at my apartment within two hours! It dawned on me that the neighbor who had pursued my friendship had been "working me" for months, with the express purpose of divesting me of whatever possessions she liked, so I gave her the bed. I rightly guessed she would stop bugging me after she got what she wanted, and I was right. The woman came and took the bed and never spoke to me again.

Anyone who imagines I don't know what I'm talking about when discussing the criminality of the poor needs to take a step back and try another tack. The thing is, despite feeling really bad when someone steals from me or tries to manipulate me for profit, as in the case of the neighbor and the bed, I know that the thievery of the poor is just more obvious and personal than the thievery of the other classes. 

There is a percentage of people in all walks of life who will steal. I have an entirely middle-class sibling who, through a complex con that she worked on me over several months, managed to legally bar me from successfully fighting the theft of inheritance by my father's third wife - just so the sibling could take whatever scraps were available.

The wealthy classes steal from the poor and the middle class in a less direct and less personal way. I would make the case that theirs is the most reprehensible type of thievery because it relies upon the inability of the lower classes to protect themselves. I 

The thievery of poor people is more honorable, in one sense, because it is blatant and out in the open and in-your-face. I know what my neighbor stole from me when I hired her to clean my house. Likewise a second neighbor, the daughter of people I believed were my friends - she ALSO stole from me. I was able to speak to her directly about it.

But what can I do about the thievery of the rich who give one another tax breaks and talk about "trickle down economics" that no one believes is true because nothing has ever trickled down from these accomplished con artists? Millionaires and billionaires buy more luxury goods and properties for themselves while the rest of the people scrabble around for bread.

The fact is that there are no higher a percentage of criminals in the poor populations than there are in society in general. In fact, it may be quite a bit lower, because most poor people are poor because they're disabled or elderly. There is no more drug addiction among the poor than in society as a whole. It's just that people who are successful criminals have enough money to shield themselves from punishment. Drug addicts who are rich, famous, or have solid families have enough resources to support expensive rehab programs.

How many alcoholics do you think exist among the middle class and wealthy? Quite a lot. They can afford the booze. They can also afford to make it 'look' better. I have a relative who is an alcoholic. On the outside, it looks like she's a nice middle-class lady. She's got the trappings of respectability. But she is a terrible drunk. The packaging is just more attractive. She can afford to drink herself into oblivion inside an attractive home. She can also lie, cheat and steal under cover of apparent "respectability." You won't find HER in the gutter, slurring her words and vomiting her stomach contents onto the road. She does it behind closed doors.

This is why, when discussing the middle class or the wealthy, alcoholism is not the first thing that unkind people will talk about. It's the first thing mentioned when the topic of poor people arises, though. Why isn't it the first thing one hears when discussing the other socio-economic groups that have this problem? Americans are prejudiced against the poor in the same way the British in Dickens-era England were. Nothing has changed.

People want to justify their prejudice against the poor.

I am far from a perfect person, but I am not a drug addict. I don't drink. I'm not a criminal. Heck, I haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 44 years! I do not live on welfare. I have Social Security into which I paid for more than 30 years of constant work. I have no tattoos. I have lived as a celibate religious for almost two decades. I am nothing special because, aside from my formal religious vows of sannyas, I am very typical for a woman of my age. MOST poor people are like me. They've done the best they could with their lives, and they are struggling to make a go of it on very little income in their old age. 99.9% of us are NOT homeless people begging with big signs on the street corners, and shooting up drugs at night. They're the exception, not the rule. But even if ALL poor people were drug-addled, alcohol soaked n'er do wells, I ask you to remember that Jesus did not put any requirements upon poor people before they were entitled to the compassion of Christians.

"The poor man has one plea, his want and his standing

in need: do not require anything else from him; but even

if he is the most wicked of all men and is at a loss for

his necessary sustenance, let us free him from hunger."

St. John Chrysostom

Most of us have no help whatsoever. We receive "too much" income from Social Security, thanks to our work histories, but certainly not enough to pay for our needs. Some of us get help from our families, but an awful lot of us are not getting crucial needs met and are dying much sooner than necessary, as a result.

While it is common for most bloggers to avoid talking about themselves, I am taking the opposite stance, partly because my previous confessor taught me that my personal experiences can be used to advocate for others in my position.

"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord,

and He will repay him for his good deed."

Proverbs 19:17

In my own way, I am fighting the prejudices and bigotry that are so endemic in the cruel America of today. I hope to be able to help that segment of American Christians who are mentioned, above, to be able to identify, even a little bit, with those who are less fortunate than they are, and with those who disagree with them politically.

Put yourselves in my shoes, my American brothers and sisters, then survey our land through my eyes and my experience. If you can do that, you may disabuse yourselves of some of your prejudices.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"
Sannyasini Kaliprana

THE DUMBEST GIRL IN THE ROOM

My modest garden

I've noticed since becoming disabled and retiring from salaried work that people have started treating me as if I am the dumbest girl in the room and, 15 years into retirement, it is starting to grate on my nerves.

The disdain of some is demonstrated by refusing to listen, discounting my opinions, telling me what to do, say or think, or dismissing my concerns with an imperious air usually reserved for pre-teens who have grown to big for their britches. I have reached the limit of my patience with this nonsense.

I was just as aggravated, at age 20, when people who customarily would not give me the time of day were crawling all over me, begging to be "my friend" as soon as I sold my first story to an episodic television series. That is the opposite side of the same coin. I gave up writing for television many years ago and, although I am not the slightest bit interested in people fawning all over me, I likewise object to being dismissed.

Recently, I spent the day with an acquaintance who I met subsequent to becoming disabled and who continues to treat me as a lesser being. When she arrived, I had to tell her 4 times in the span of 90 seconds to PLEASE stop petting my dog when I'm trying to discipline it. She continued to interfere, and I finally had to put the dog in the kennel. Later, she attempted to dictate how I should interact with others in several different venues.  During lunch, I politely paused to ask for her opinion about a topic, and she blurted out the most nonsensical, disjointed and unhinged stream of words that I realized she wasn't paying the slightest attention to anything I said. I pretended not to notice that she had not been listening, though it did give me a hitch in my giddyup. I couldn't imagine her behaving like this with any of her other friends and I had, indeed, seen her interact with a mutual acquaintance.

Multiply this experience a zillion times, and you will get a picture of a typical day in my life. Thank God for the few friends I have who are generous with themselves and don't treat me like I am a developmentally disabled child who is incapable of discursive thought and needs to be directed.

During my conversation with the acquaintance mentioned above, this woman let me know that she was under the impression I was on the dole and that, when my Social Security kicks in sometime during the next couple of years I would get a "bump" in income, and my finances would improve, which is completely wrong.

To put it simply, if you have substantial work history, such as I do (with 30 years under my belt), disability is simply drawing on the Social Security Insurance into which I have paid my entire working life. It is the same Social Security Insurance into which the rest of you are paying with every paycheck.

Essentially, disability causes one to begin to receive early Social Security retirement benefit. Only the monies that you've already paid into the fund are considered when determining your monthly retirement amount. The average Social Security benefit is $1,000 a month. Just try to live on a thousand dollars a month, with no help from any quarter. It is almost impossible. (I do have some friends who have adopted me as family and contribute very kindly, but it is still very difficult.) A huge number of seniors, especially those left without a mate, are struggling to survive on the pittance that Social Security gives us.

Silly Goose

You could easily do everything "right" throughout your working life, and still end up poor poor poor when it comes time to retire, giving the lie to the idea that if you are poor you have done something wrong.

If you haven't made much money in your lifetime, and your Social Security benefit is less than about $700 a month, and if your assets do not exceed $5,000 - then the government will step in with a little monthly stipend to get you up to that $700 a month. That hundred or two hundred dollars a month that the government contributes is a type of welfare, but it disappears if you get income or assets from elsewhere.

Not only do I not receive any government assistance in addition to my Social Security benefit, I also do not qualify for any other benefits except some really lousy slow internet service and a small discount on my rent in a bad part of town.

There are so many stupid and bigoted ideas floating around now about people "on disability." Most Americans are ignorant of what is meant by that. They imagine, wrongly, that all disabled people are living on WELFARE, and that is not the case. It is also wrong that people who ARE receiving welfare are cheating the system and are freeloaders.

Medical and mental illnesses are private matters, and no one is obligated to reveal any of it to anyone. Many people will expend a great deal of effort to hide mental illnesses, especially, and they would rather the public believe they are freeloaders than to have anyone know the nature of their illness. Having gone through the disability determination process myself, I am confident that "fakers" are few and far between. The criteria is rigorous. Recently, countless stories of people with serious, verifiable illnesses that cannot get approval from the medical board have come to light. Apparently, it is becoming harder and harder to get assistance, and many Americans become completely destitute, then fall into homelessness while waiting for benefits.

Americans criticize other cultures for caste systems and class systems, but we are the worst hypocrites about this topic. The underlying belief of most Americans seems to be that you are less of a person if you aren't financially well off.

No matter why one is poor, it is assumed that you must be stupid, because if you were smart, you would be rich. Calvinism is very strong in the hearts of many Americans. They tend to believe that good people are rewarded financially. If you do not have money, then you must not be good - or intelligent - or worthy.

Being egalitarian by nature and philosophy (as well as the lessons of Christ), it is my firm conviction that we should treat everyone with equal respect, whether rich or poor and regardless of the source of their income. Human beings are not animals, contrary to the proclamations of Donald Trump (who keeps calling immigrants "animals" these days.)

The happiest countries on the planet, for many years running, are the Nordic countries that have very strong social programs that guarantee you will retire on 80% of your former salary (instead of the 20% we typically give.) They also have free college, day care for the children, free medical care, etc. These people do not have to compete against one another for their basic survival. They are better educated, healthier and more prosperous, as a whole, than we are. If "love thy neighbor" is the mark of a Christian nation, then Finland, this year, is the MOST Christian nation of all. America is not even on the chart for that award. If I had known about this when I was younger, I could easily see myself moving to Finland or Denmark, which captured the award for 3 years running.

America is undergoing a huge revolution. While the current American leadership is more corrupt, dishonest and vulgar than we have ever seen, it HAS done us the favor of bringing a lot of ugliness to light. People with bigoted, racist and classist ideas have heard Trump's dog whistles and, sensing that it is safe to crawl out of the dark, have become emboldened in their prejudices, flinging the covers aside in an appalling display. After Trump said that the Nazis were also "very good people," white supremacist groups were responsible for a sudden uptick of violence. Now that they have been flushed into the clearing, we know the job that lays ahead of us.

Having grown up in they 60's - the era of peace, love and equality - I really had no idea there were so many people with such despicable opinions. Now that we are aware, however, we can work together to restore our American dignity of purpose and philosophy.

So, puhleeeze, people - if you happen to interact with someone who is a different color, or disabled, or older, or in some other way different from you, don't assume that they are less intelligent, less valuable or have less to offer the world than you do. Don't assume that someone who is poor is living on "welfare." We need to treat every other person as our peer, regardless of financial status.

We have a lot of work to do in our Christian walk.I will continue to try to educate the arrogant and advocate for the poor, even if I am the stupidest girl in the room. Please join me.

Silver Rose Parnell
Copyright (c) 2018
All rights reserved.

THE SECRET OF THE COST OF LIVING INDEX

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The Consumer Price Index upon which Social Security cost of living adjustments are based, actually deals with the spending patterns of younger WORKING individuals who buy high ticket items like cars, fancy telephones, electronics, etc.

Low income, older seniors, however, spend most of their money on rent, food, and utilities, therefore, our cost of living increases do not come anywhere near to addressing our ACTUAL cost of living.

Consequently, every year, we get poorer and poorer. Therefore, the longer one remains on Social Security, i.e., the longer you live, the further down the socio-economic ladder you descend.

This is not just a little bit true, this is true by a large amount. Let me give you an example:

This year, my cost of living increase is $5.10 a month. Yep. Five dollars and ten cents a month. That's $61.20 a year.

My COSTS, however, such as rent, medical insurance, medical co-pays, car insurance, utilities, are increasing by $515.10 this year, AT A MINIMUM, since I have no way of knowing how much food costs will increase. This means that I am "in the hole" a further $453.90 this year, at minimum.

This has been going on for twelve (12) years.

This is why I am frantically trying to figure out how to increase the income into my household. I'm always talking about it. How could I NOT? I am drowning in this dishonest, rigged system, despite having worked and paid taxes for more than 30 years.

Why should you care? Because some day, you could be in my position.

Of course, my situation is much worse than many women, who are better off, thanks to the incomes of their husbands and the help of their children and extended family. I don't have ANY of that.

Thanks be to God, I was gifted with many many talents, and I have faith that the Lord will help me to survive with those. It is almost as if He is FORCING me to use those gifts, so I am writing, painting, crocheting my little fingers off, hoping to keep myself afloat and not end up homeless. I also am a professional genealogy researcher, but no one wants to pay the fees. They want me to give them everything for free. I don't do that any more.

JUST IN CASE you have need of genealogy research, and you would like me to make you a nice little tree, you can order my services online at this link:

HIRE MY GENEALOGY RESEARCH SERVICES

JUST IN CASE you would like to help me survive, I have several Amazon wish lists where I have included all sorts of items I need to maintain myself and my little creative outlets. Here are the links:

LINK TO GENERAL LIST OF MOST-NEEDED ITEMS RIGHT NOW

LINK TO FIBER ART SUPPLIES

LINK TO FINE ART SUPPLIES FOR PAINTINGS

LINK TO FOOD SUPPLIES FOR THE PANTRY

LINK TO VITAMINS AND OTHER HEALTH NEEDS

Really, I'm not expecting much, as far as anyone else ordering from my lists, but I like to have them in a handy spot for my own reference.

I remember when I became disabled, the Swami told me, "Poverty makes you lose your virtue." I think it may be partially true, as it certainly has dragged my attention away from the Lord.

Being disabled is really the problem. I had wanted to just gracefully float through my final years, offering it all up and praying to the Lord through whatever came my way, but, you know, it is just not that simple. It is a mighty struggle.

The best I can do, I think, is ASPIRE to the consciousness of Brother Lawrence who, amid the pots and pans, prayed to the Lord while he scrubbed the dirty dishes.

I am sure, on some level, that the humility that disability and poverty bring, are very good for me. I feel like I am just groveling in the dirt, trying to create a living out of it. It's all good. It MUST be good, because God brings ALL things to the good for those that believe in Him. Amen.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose