THE JOY OF THINKING WELL OF OTHERS

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Sometime in my life, I resolved to try to put myself in the place of others in my estimation of them. Curbing my natural skepticism and critical nature has proved to be no pic nic, I can assure you, as I have often had to backtrack, review, revise, and then move forward with the current iteration of that plan for kindness and understanding.

"Nothing is sweeter than to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

In the current case of Donald Trump, this is particularly difficult, because he is doing and saying evil things. How do I think well of someone who is hurting so many people?

"President Trump's Twitter account has been pure fire lately...
This is the kind of WHITE NATIONALISM we elected him for."
Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin

Firstly, I am unable to put myself in his position. I don't travel in anything like his circle of business or politics, but most pertinent is that I simply can't imagine myself doing and saying any of the horrible things he does.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

"It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than

for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle."

Jesus

The pursuit of power has always baffled me and, although I have had plenty of experience with people who deliberately hurt others in order to benefit financially, I never have understood their larcenous hearts. Most disturbing are those who find delight in hurting others.

Fortunately, these types seem to be in the minority. (I have personal experience with only one individual in my life, who exults in damaging people just for the pleasure of it. There has been no period of time in which I was in touch with that toxic character that they weren't enacting some plot to harm me or some other person in her orbit. Nevertheless, I have no insight. The situation is too far outside my ken.)

Jesus and the money changers

So, what do I do about this contradiction? I wish to think well of others, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and look upon all with the kind regard demanded of us by our faith. How does one do this when faced with evil? I will not pretend that evil is good. So, what is the answer?

My latest resolution is to pray for people who are doing evil at the same time that I lobby against their hurtful actions, which is difficult, but that's the point, isn't it? Jesus knew what he was doing when He told us to pray for our enemies and do good to them. The spiritual exercise it demands is fearsome.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

What occurs to me as the most important aspect of this is that I do not presume to know the inner heart of a person. I do not know what Donald Trump thinks. His words are a clue, but they aren't absolutely definitive. None of us has x-ray vision of the soul and we cannot say with authority exactly what are the motives of another person, even someone who speaks as much as he does.

It is crucial, for me, that I do not label any human being "evil" because I would be eliminating the Lord from the equation thereby. I would be dooming that human being to a life devoid of the possibility of repentance and rehabilitation. Certainly, I myself have benefited from the forgiveness of the Lord in the past. I must give everyone else that same assurance.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

During these difficult times, when Trump's government is ripping children away from their parents and throwing them in cages to sleep on cement floors with paper blankets, crammed in with too many other children, none of whom have proper food or hygiene or anything necessary for mental and emotional health - and deporting all the immigrant children who are getting vital medical treatment not available in their country of origin and who will die without it - I want to scream to the heavens. You bet I have wanted to call Trump the most horrible of names. I have wanted to curse him and damn him to hell. It takes great restraint not to do so.

Drew Angerer / Getty Images

allthatsinteresting.com

Currently, there is a large group of people who are supporting government actions that are obviously evil - things that violate every precept we supposedly hold dear in our country - while at the same time confidently believing they are saving the world. Outsiders tend to presume that the people in that group know they are wrong and are deliberately doing wicked things in order to benefit in some way. That is sometimes the case, but not typically.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

For whatever reason, whether through some brain washing, exotic fascination, or religious fanaticism, this group will support damnable atrocities of this administration, while at the same time asserting righteousness. I am frequently reminded of the Nazi era in Germany where Hitler rose to power, not through force, but through the support of ordinary Germans who somehow did not realize they were cooperating with evil. What is happening in our country is very similar to that time period. Trump's words are very similar, such as calling the news media "the enemy of the people," and "fake news."  Hitler called the press "lugenpresse," ("lying press') and likewise demonized vulnerable groups of people, i.e., the Jews, the gays, the disabled, the elderly, and the immigrant.




The term "lugenpresse" has started to be heard in Trump rallies, yelled out by the "alt right" supporters of Trump. It isn't surprising, since the Nazi Party and various white supremacist figures have lauded Trump. You can read more about it:

HERE - IN AN ARTICLE IN BUZZ FEE NEWS; and,

HERE - IN BREITBART

It is quite clear to me, and no doubt to all my readers, that this adoption of a Nazi propaganda tool by the American right wing is the antithesis of American democracy, in which respect for and support of journalists is enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution. It seems incredible to us that Trump sycophants aren't bothered by it.

Prior to his election, Trump talked about demolishing the First Amendment so that he could sue journalists who write unflattering things about him:

"We're going to open up those libel laws so when the 

New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total 

disgrace, or when the Washington Post, which is 

there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can 

sue them and win money instead of having no 

chance of winning because they're totally protected. 

We're going to open up libel laws and we're going 

to have people sue you like you've never got sued 

before." Donald Trump

The First Amendment protects free speech for a very important reason. It is the bedrock of our democracy. We are a country in which our citizens are free to speak their minds. Any attempt to quash that freedom is a sure sign of a dictatorship or fascist movement attempting to assert itself. I am free to say anything I like about Donald Trump and his cohorts. My spiritual orientation is what makes me want to keep an appropriate "lid" on what I say about his spiritual condition, but if I were to be compelled by law to conform to a rule of only saying flattering things about him and his policies, I would definitely be in the resistance on that score.

Some day, the mist may clear from the psychic eyes of the die-hard Trump supporters in government, and they may recognize their error and thereafter change the way they operate. I need to leave a space open for those folks to have the time to transcend their current condition, while at the same time, I fight to protect vulnerable people who are Trump's targets. It isn't easy!

Every day, I fight this battle. I try very hard not to succumb to the natural human impulse to say that he is evil personified, or the anti-Christ or whatever other slur that comes to mind. I keep thinking about former president Jimmy Carter and how he was always extremely respectful of his colleagues and his competitors alike. In the debates, he always used to say "my esteemed opponent."

Instead of reacting against the personality of Trump, I am trying to focus on the really excellent example of the dignified, respectable, truly Christian Jimmy Carter, who has a gravitas that Trump will likely never have. Once again, it is a matter of where one puts one's attention, right?

Hate the sin. Love the sinner. Repeat.
God save us all, including Donald Trump

 Silver Rose

JESUS PUNISHED THE RICH, BUT NEVER THE POOR

As I listen to and read world news, I am disturbed by a furious trend toward punishment as the cure for every societal ill, real or imagined

Recently, for instance, I heard that the small country of Brunei has just passed a law that adulterous and homosexual acts will be punished by stoning to death.

Stoning to death.

In our country, we have a so-called "president" who instituted  a policy that directly caused thousands of children to be taken away from their parents and incarcerated in cement-floored holding cells for an indeterminate time, with no plan in place as to how the children and parents would ever be reunited - all because the family came to this country, fleeing poverty and gangs, hoping for a better life.

Their kids were taken from them because, essentially,

their papers were not in order.

Donald Trump claims, falsely, that President Obama did the same thing. He did not. Trump is lying, once again. While the occasional incidental separation of children from parents convicted of serious crimes DID take place during the Obama administration, Trump's "Zero Tolerance Policy," as announced by Jeff Sessions (many videos available of the day he announced it) is what caused a huge uptick in the number of case of children separated from their families - so much so that the incarceration of these children and the conditions under which this was carried out, is a major scandal of this administration, in part because of the THOUSANDS of children and families thus brutalized.

I could write quite a bit about the punitive temperament of Donald Trump, but I just can't bear to let my mind touch him any more than I absolutely have to, other than to say that he and the people he represents form a large block of humans whose orientation tends toward harsh penalties, incarceration, and cruel practices.

"Sell your possessions and give alms; make yourselves purses

which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no

thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also."

Luke 12:44

I have observed that the people who ignore Christ's preference for the poor, and the Biblical injunctions against the amassing of wealth, are the same people who, with angry hearts, continually castigate the poor and disadvantaged. They are the ones who revel in the punishment of lawbreakers. To them, harsh worldly laws that target the poor and disadvantaged, are more important than the commandments of Jesus and the apostles, despite many of them advertising themselves as the best Christians ever. They are the modern Pharisees.

It is all smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, and

the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain; meant to

distract attention from the disobedience of the

modern day Pharisees for whom commerce is

their God.

To combat our cultural tendency toward this harsh punitive orientation, we need to cultivate the love of Christ and advocate for the poor and disadvantaged, just as he and his Biblical forbears did. Resist the political narrative that encourages hatred of desperate immigrants who come here searching for peace, safety, and survival. Resist the lies and obfuscations that would have everyone believe that massive numbers of people are "gaming the system," "faking disability," and illegally obtaining food for their children at our expense.

The Pharisees are using gullible people to advance their agenda, which is to further enrich themselves while feigning religiosity at the same time. In doing so, they are twisting and torturing the Christian faith beyond all recognition.

Try to stay focused on the heart of Christ and his commandments. I recommend meditation on His words. Ignore the countless justifications for cruelty that the Pharisees present to us.  Concentrate on the heart of Jesus' message, his continual preference for the poor and disadvantaged, and everything good will flow from there.

"If you wish to be complete, go and sell your

possessions and give to the poor, and you shall

have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Matthew 19:20

May the Lord submerge your heart in His love.

Silver

ALL HELL HAS BROKEN LOOSE - updated

UPDATE: I used my FOOD MONEY to purchase a refurbished HP computer from Internet Essentials (CVI Computers in Canada, as it turns out) for $150.00 - It took WEEKS to arrive, and was malfunctioning out of the box. After 3 days of constant problems, I am sending it back.

I simply must get a decent computer that meets my needs and works properly. My food budget isn't big enough to cut out enough to purchase a decent computer (which will cost at least $600, according to my research.) It's the last week of the month, and I am eating beans and tortillas as it is.

Can you help?

If so, please click the yellow 'DONATE' button to the right, underneath my photo. I will dedicate the novel to YOU!
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PREVIOUS ENTRY:

My computer has been shattered to bits and i am pecking this out on my itty bitty kindle, so I will get to the point.

While I am physically disabled, (further hampered due to PTSD resulting from violent assault), and always open to donations via Pay Pal, every few years  I have a perfect storm and really need extra help most urgently. One cannot live on the razor's edge of penury without getting cut now and then.

My computer is in the junk heap, and I need a printer and some ink cartridges.

I am squinting to read as I need new eyeglasses AND sunglasses (very expensive for my particular eye disease. I will be completely blind if I live long enough.)

I haven't had any dental work in 15 years & need a surgical procedure for which I have no insurance.

My ancient car's power steering no longer works, I need new tires and an oil change, one of my little side windows is missing,  and did I mention the car is old?

As I calculate it, I need at least $3,000 to pull my life out of the emergency category but I am disabled & cannot work, so now is the time to beg for donations. It is humiliating, after a lifetime of hard work and self support, but it must be done. I have no choice.

i am most concerned about the computer, as I am writing a book and matching screenplay. I worked as a writer in my 20's and, while nothing is certain, I am at least equipped with experience in the television industry.

Please consider donating via PayPal, so I can pull myself out of the hole by working at the only thing I know how to do. Every little bit helps.

God Bless you all.

Silver

INTERNET SERVICE IS DEGRADING - BLOGGING WILL BE LIMITED

The internet service I have been using is the cheapest available, but it is no longer working most of the time. It takes me HOURS to get the simplest task accomplished online. The connection gets lost hundreds of times every day, and I have to do the same functions over and over again.

The telephone lines are 30 years old and were not meant to carry internet.  Telephone company repairmen have all told me that, if I was living in a house, rather than a large apartment complex, it would be a simple matter to get the internet directly to the outside wall and bypass the old wires, but I am not allowed to do that in the large apartment complex where I live.

I am not able to afford better service. Comcast pretty much has the monopoly on THAT.

Many years ago, I had responded to a "special" that Comcast was running. I had to subscribe to television service in order to get the internet. It is one of the arbitrary rules that they impose in order to sucker the consumer into purchasing things they do not need.

After the technician installed the equipment, I could not get it to work properly. I could not get very many channels. The internet was slow. The voice remote was not working.

I assumed that it was "operator error" since I am not technologically savvy, in many ways. It was a few months before I finally gave up trying to "learn" how to work the equipment and I called them and had them send out ANOTHER technician. That technician advised me that I had been set up with the wrong equipment, the wrong channels, the wrong service. I had been paying top dollar for what we affectionately call "ghetto cable" here in poor town.

I cancelled Comcast service because of all this mess, and now they claim I OWE THEM $211 ! They owe ME, but it is impossible to get through to them.

I refuse to pay these con artists a single cent for "services" I did not receive. I tried to talk to them about it this morning, but, of course, the woman barely spoke English and just kept repeating that her "system" is telling her that I owe them money. She refused to acknowledge anything I said to her about the previous experience, and just kept repeating the same thing, like a machine. Perhaps I WAS speaking to a machine. I do not know.

Something in the back of my mind also tells me that committing myself to another big bill, even if I were to get enough donations to cover the expenses, is NOT a good idea for an independent religious person.

Being disabled, it is almost impossible to live without cable, but I CAN live with and struggle with the horrible service that I have now, which is at least half as cheap as Comcast. It takes me ten times as long to shop or do anything else on the internet with this horrible service, so I will have to give up some things that are not necessary. Perhaps God wants me to pray more and compute less?

In any case, what this means for the blog is that blogging will be very limited. Do not be alarmed if I do not post for some time. The page is still active. The donation button works. I am still reachable. Feel free to comment. That is the easiest way to communicate with me. Otherwise, you can look me up on Facebook, where I have a presence.

God bless you all. I shall continue to pray for you.

Silver Rose

CONSIDER "THE LITTLE WAY" OF ST. THERESE

"The splendor of the rose and the whiteness

of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent

nor the daisy of its simple charm.  If every tiny

flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose

its loveliness." ~ Therese de Lisieux

I have known many people in my life who dream about big accomplishments in their Christian mission.  We love God so much that we want to do big things for Him, doing many good works for the poor people "out there" somewhere, and ignoring the little old lady sitting in the pew next to us who perhaps has neither husband nor family to care for her and who is lonely and in need.

Saint Therese, during her final illness.

Therese of Lisieux was ill and enclosed in a convent and, while she certainly prayed for the masses of people outside her convent who needed prayer, she found a way to holiness through the "little way" for which she had the means and ability.  She turned to her most immediate neighbors, her fellow sisters. and served them with love.  She practiced a multitude of little kindnesses to the sisters, especially those who had been cruel to her.

I used to know an elderly disabled woman who many times would plaintively complain, "I just wish I knew what Ministry Jesus wants me to do!  I keep asking him and He doesn't tell me."  She looked beyond her neighbors, many of whom were needy and/or lonely.  She had big dreams.  She wanted to be a big deal and do big things for the faith by bringing lots of people to Jesus, yet she barely understood the faith herself and did not have the health to do much of anything except take care of herself.

I used to have a dream of starting a religious order for retired and disabled women - women who were not wanted by convents because they are not able to withstand the rigors of convent life.  Nuns do not float around, six inches from the ground, hands clasped, and singing to the Lord all day. Being a nun in a typical contemplative convent is extremely taxing, both physically and mentally. All of the physical work of the maintenance of the premises is done by the nuns, as well as care of elderly sisters, cooking for the community, suffering lack of sleep and comforts, etc. The schedule can be relentless. It is not like a job, it is a 24/7 proposition

I still think that to create a contemplative order for disabled nuns is a good idea, and I think there is need for it, but I do not have the wherewithal to do it. Obviously, if the Lord intended me to be the person to bring this dream to fruition, He would have ensured that I had the requisite health and resources to accomplish a goal of this magnitude. Obviously, He had other ideas in mind.

Saint Therese, in the courtyard, getting some

fresh air during her final illness

Clearly, I need to avail myself of a good dose of humility and be content with the tiny little contributions that I can make for Jesus.

It is my impression that, if we wish to follow Jesus and we wonder what ministry He would have us do, we should look at the person sitting next to us in church, the lady in front of us in line at the supermarket, the widow living in the house down the street. The poor, the needy, the marginalized, the lonely, the abandoned are all sitting next to us. They are right in front of our faces, but we don't see them.

You could invite a lonely person out to lunch; smile at all the customer service people who take your money at the dry cleaners or the drug store or the supermarket; have a few single ladies over for tea; or have a conversation with someone who is odd, a little strange or repellent.  Make friends with the friendless. Take care of His sheep.

"I applied myself above all to practice quite hidden, 

little acts of virtue; thus I liked to fold the mantles

forgotten by the Sisters, and sought a thousand

opportunities of rendering them service."

~ Saint Therese of Lisieus ~

I have learned that Jesus wants us to follow Him, but we don't have to do it with a marching band, an army of converts, or a convent full of disabled sisters.  I am learning that a handful of kind gestures and a bucket full of smiles may be his most treasured gift.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose Parnell
Copyright (c) 2015
All rights reserved.

BREAKING NEWS: SHOCKING, SCANDALOUS DISCOVERIES IN OBAMA'S COMPUTER

A cappybarra and a dog FOUND IN THE TUB TOGETHER!!!!!

Oh, hi!  There you are.  SO nice to see you.

For the last several weeks, I have been posting and re-posting a fundraising blurb about my need for a service dog, asking people to just spread the word around so that I can get the fundraising site up and running.

YOU, however (and you know who you are), you can't be bothered to even make a supportive comment or "like" my post, what to speak of sharing it on your timeline, which is what I really need.

However, in that same span of time, you are very quick to put in your two cents' worth about political garbage that is at least mostly, if not wholly untrue.  As long as I post some kind of controversy, you are right in there with a quick retort.  Thus, the title of this blog post.  I have no breaking news about scandalous discoveries in Obama's computer.  I had to get your attention, and this was the only way to do it.

But I DO have a scandal!  The scandal is that there are so many people who call themselves Christian who, when the subject of the poor comes up, immediately have something nasty to say.  I am beginning to see that you are one of these people.  Usually, some anecdote is trotted out about people that you "know" who are "scamming the system."  Of course, you don't know them.  You don't even know their names.  You've certainly never seen their financial information or their medical records, and you DON'T have X-ray vision, don't even try to say you do.  No one knows the suffering going on inside another person.  No one knows another person's heart except God, and you ain't God, honey.

The only thing you know about these people who supposedly scam the system (if they exist at all) is what they look like.  You aren't up in their houses having tea with those folks.  They wouldn't want you there, anyway, considering the way you talk about them.

You know the Bible is FULL of references about being good to the poor and not judging.  Jesus, who was poor his whole life, is particularly fond of poor people.  He never said anywhere that you should criticize the poor, spread lies about them and gossip about their habits.  He said to help them, and if you DO help them, you are helping HIM.  He was very clear about that.

So let me be clear about this.  I am a poor person.  Yes, I am a nice old white lady with fairly good manners and a proper, modest wardrobe.  I don't smoke, drink or take drugs and you are pretty sure I don't even cuss, so when you criticize the poor, you automatically assume that I am not going to take it personally because I am not one of "them."  I've got news for you: I AM one of "them."  I am no more or less sinful than any other human being on earth, including the poor, to whom I belong.  In fact, compared to some poor people I know, I think I am much more sinful than they are.

If you can't bear to leave off criticizing the poor and spreading stories about people "scamming the system" instead of spreading God's love and compassion, I am tempted to tell you that you can just take me off your phony "friend" list on Facebook right now, because as far as I am concerned, concentrating on the sins of the poor is just another way of doing Satan's work, and I am not up for that.  On the other hand, I love you.  You are my fellow Christian, even if you are misguided.

I want to encourage you to work up some compassion for the poor and to concentrate on God's mercy instead of the (supposed) sins of others.  While you're at it, for the love of God, would you please just share the item about my service dog the next time it rolls by?  I need a proper service dog.  TWO doctors agree I need one.  The veterinarian and the breeder/trainer and the doctors are ALL on board as to the type of dog I need and the type of tasks it needs to perform.  The problem is that I am poor, and dogs, like everything else, are EXPENSIVE.

For the three people that did share my Facebook post, don't think I didn't notice.  I surely appreciate it and I thank you!

For all my other readers, please take a look at the last post of this blog and you will get the whole story about the service dog.

God bless you all

Silver Rose Parnell