LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR WHEN YOU'RE VOTING

Teacher hugs a child at Briarwood Elementary School after a

tornado destroyed the school

{NY Daily News}

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

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

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

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your mind and with

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

neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment

greater than these."

Mark 12:30-31

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

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

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

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

Silver Rose Parnell

DONALD TRUMP AND SATAN

"You shall worship the Lord your God

and only Him shall you serve."

As a religious woman, truth is naturally important to me, but truth is in short supply these days when considering the state of our government. I feel compelled to speak out, because it appears that some of my fellow Christians have abandoned devotion to truth, giving a pass to a corrupt businessman who was made president through the machinations of enemy foreign powers and who lies continually, unreservedly, shamelessly and unrepentantly.

Apparently, they expect a completely amoral, dishonest and corrupt businessman to act in the best interests of Christians. Why?

Every day, some fresh horror is revealed, and Trump blithely lies his way out of it, destroying the reputations of good people and institutions as he smashes his way through the halls of government, firing anyone who disagrees with him or does not accede to his every demand.

Given his craven dishonesty, complete lack of ethics, barely disguised corruption and personal financial gains, why do my Christian brothers and sisters defend him?

According to modern psychology, their brains have no chance against the constant, daily onslaught of bologne. All presidents lie. But "Donald Trump is in a different category. The sheer frequency, spontaneity and seeming irrelevance of his lies have no precedent." [See Politico Magazine link, below.] "A whopping 70 percent of Trump's statements that PolitiFact checked during the campaign were false, while only 4 percent were completely true."

Links to articles about Trump's lies:

Politico Magazine - Trump’s Lies vs. Your Brain - Here’s what psychology tells us about life under a leader totally indifferent to the truth.

Washington Post - In 466 days, President Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims

Metro - The number of Trump lies just hit 3,000

CNN Politics - President Trump lied more than 3,000 times in 466 days

CNN - Toobin: Rudy's interview and Trump's lies create a crisis

Fact Check: Trump Blames His Own Border Policy on the Democrats

Politifact - False Statements Involving Trump

Factcheck.org - Trump's Phony "Fake News" Claims

2016: Politico Magazine - Trump’s Week of Errors, Exaggerations and Flat-out Falsehoods

Despite his authoritarian methods and constant falsehoods and misleading comments, Trump's supporters continue to cheer him on. I used to think that they were just lacking information or that they were shielded from the truth by outfits like Fox News and EWTN Nightly News that deliberately omit information that does not flatter Trump. That isn't it. Americans are not stupid. I believe that most of them can easily see just what kind of man he is. They just don't care. They dismiss it as irrelevant, or not as important as something they feel they are gaining by having this barbarian in charge of our country. They do not mind risking the stability of our government. They do not care if other countries hate us.

By supporting the man of lies, Christians become the people of the lie. Satan is "the father of lies" and anyone who supports the lies are supporters of Satan. Non-Christians are watching this and their opinion of Christianity has plummeted. Who knows how long it will be before the reputation of Christ and his people recovers? I am having to defend the Christian faith against the hypocritical acts of Christians on a daily basis these days, and this is a very odd position to occupy, considering the fact that I am a relatively new convert to the faith.

"When we are overwhelmed with false, or potentially false,

statements, our brains pretty quickly become so overworked

that we stop trying to sift through everything."

Maria Konnikova
Politico Magazine

Trump supporters have said that all politicians act this way - they all lie. That excuse, itself, is a lie. First of all, I've never seen anyone lie this much. The sheer volume of lies is almost overwhelming. It is a daily scandal. Even if another politician HAD lied so much, so often about so many, the fact that they had done so is certainly not an excuse for the present case.

Others are quick to chastise us to "forgive" the President - a supposedly "baby Christian" - but they seem to forget that forgiveness is not given to the unrepentant. Someone who deliberately lies to get ahead in life, knows that he is lying and knows that it is wrong is not getting forgiveness from the Lord who is all truth and goodness. "Baby Christians" are forgiven for their former evil lives, but are expected to make an effort to improve. Instead, Trump doubles down and increases the number and extremity of the lies. It is a sin to presume upon the future forgiveness of the Lord for sins engaged upon today.

"There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his

own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from

on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy

(hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory

without merit."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2092

In addition to the lies, some of the behaviors would have caused enormous public outrage, were they done by any other politician. For example, can you imagine what would have happened if Barack Obama had filled key government positions with unqualified family members and had given them offices in the White House, despite their inability to pass a background check or get security clearance?  What if he had called White Supremacists "very fine people," and defended them against public outcry? What if Barack Obama had reached out to our national enemies to gain their help in winning the election?  What would have happened if Barack Obama had bragged about assaulting women and grabbing them "by the pussy" and then later denied having done that and called the 2 dozen women who came to complain about him liars who were just trying to make money off of him?

Barack Obama receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Can you imagine if Obama had multiple sexual liaisons with other women and had to pay off porn stars, embarrassing his wife and causing her untold grief? Republicans went nuts when Bill Clinton had an affair with a staffer and then lied about it. They impeached him for it - but not a word about this MOUNTAIN of corruption we have now. Barack Obama, whom Trump tried (and failed) to label as an immigrant, was certainly not a perfect man. There are many things he did while in office that I wish had been done differently - but at least the man had some integrity and dignity. HIS entourage didn't get indicted. The world gave him the Nobel Peace Prize! Trump will not be winning that, I can guarantee you.

In addition to the mountain of lies, we have incontrovertible evidence of massive corruption of the worst kind, which is, in itself, a lie in action. Trump is benefiting financially as a result of his governmentally bestowed power. Multiple governments were promised favors in exchange for money paid into Trump businesses. It isn't just Russia. Oligarchs from countries around Russia are involved. Within the last few days, we learned that Trump's people also met with officials from the Arab Emirates for assistance in gaining the election. Now that Trump is in power, governments that do not benefit Trump personally and financially are punished governmentally, such as in the case of Qatar.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani meets with President

Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia

Links to information about Qatar and Trump:

Slate - The Most Important Questions to Ask About the Kushner 666 Fifth Ave. Deal

TPM - Trump’s Lawyer’s Lawyer Is (Was) a Foreign Agent for Qatar

The Atlantic - What Trump's Qatar Tweets Revealed

In order to ensure that Trump's actions would not be reported upon, complained about, or worked against, he deliberately left hundreds of jobs unfilled when he came to office. He fired many people. Some resigned in anticipation of what was to come. The offices are mostly empty, except for the king's family and their servile lackeys. This type of organization is calculated to concentrate power with Trump, his family, and his sycophants. The fewer people that have access to him and his family, the safer he feels. He can conduct himself in secrecy.

What few positions he did fill were with people whose stated aim has been the destruction of the departments to which they were assigned. Betsy De Vos, for example, worked for years to eliminate the Department of Education, which she now heads. That is just one of many examples.

Over the last year, a long list of government officials have been fired by Trump. Anyone who doesn't treat him like the dictator he aspires to be, is fired. Few people left in power on The Hill have any spine and they will not stand up to him. Rod Rosenstein is about to be fired, apparently, because he will not kowtow to Trump's furious demands.

Rod Rosenstein

Read article and watch video here:

ARTICLE AND VIDEO

Background information about this matter:

Washington Examiner: Steve Bannon predicts Trump could fire Rod Rosenstein ‘very shortly’

Chicago Tribune - Rod Rosenstein's response to Trump's demand is a dangerous gamble

The New Yorker - How Much Longer Can Rod Rosenstein Protect Robert Mueller?

Now that multiple co-conspirators have been indicted by the Russia probe, and the investigation is creeping ever closer to Trump himself, Trump's hysteria has reached epic proportions, and he has invented a spy scandal and is calling it "spygate," claiming that Barack Obama had a spy embedded in Trump's campaign. His lies know no bounds. He gladly skewers the reputations of honest people in service to his massive ego and, lately, to hide his crimes. Does anyone remember, "THOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR?"

CLICK THIS LINK FOR BACKGROUND ON SPYGATE:

President Trump Desperately Wants You to Believe 'Spygate' Is Real

Leslie Stahl just revealed in an interview that when she asked Trump why he continually trashes the news media, he told her that he bashes the press to "demean and discredit" them so that, when they report on him, they will not be believed. This is the liar trying to ensure that the lies are swallowed whole, by giving false witness.

Leslie Stahl, discussing Trump's comments to her

SEE THIS LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

AND READ ARTICLE:

ARTICLE AND VIDEO

Christians cannot allow themselves to be aligned with this man of lies whose behavior and speech is in complete opposition to the Christian faith. There is no excuse for it. Nothing is worth allying oneself with Satan, the father of all lies.

It is time for Christians to re-examine all their beliefs around this president. There is too much at stake to do otherwise. Fortunately for us, we have the internet, without which it would be ever so much more difficult to conduct the kind of research that one will need to do in order to de-program themselves. Politifact, factcheck.org and snopes are good resources to check the reliability of whatever one does find on the internet. Stay away from inflammatory sources that are paid for by partisan organizations. Stay away from publications that are not strictly news news outlets. I love EWTN News Nightly, as a Catholic television program, but I don't rely upon it for all my news. If you are Christian, and if truth means anything to you at all, you must do this. Do it now, before the mid-term elections.

Silver Rose Parnell

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.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Saint Joseph of Cupertino

I have come under criticism for being rather simplistic in my online writing. I suppose I could be more sophisticated or entertaining, but I feel that, at times, our appetites for entertainment and soothing words mask a spiritual life that is disintegrating.

If we haven't got the basics under control, which many of us do not, all of the simpering commentary about our deep love for the Lord and the mystical feelings we experience therefrom, are just our own personal propaganda that we use to hide the fact that we are morally corrupt.

Do you lie, cheat and steal without confession and remorse? You can bellow out the words to your favorite hymn at church, cry at the reception of the eucharist, donate all your time to your "ministry", have a vocabulary complete devoid of swear words, and, although the world may cover you with flowers, you may still go to hell.

The Last Judgment

Many people presume upon the forgiveness of the Lord while they are lying, stealing and murdering and do not confess and repent of it. One woman, after I heard her lying to someone on the phone (in order to gain a monetary advantage) told me, "Don't you worry about me, Missy - I am going to heaven!" and "it isn't a lie, it's just a story." Later, she stole from me. Then I saw her stealing the food that was left out at the mailboxes for the food drive for which the postal workers were collecting for the poor. She lied about it later. ("It isn't a lie, it's a story.") It makes me very sad because, without confession and repentance, she will go to Hell, and I do not want anyone to go to Hell. I pray that she confesses and repents so that I may see her in Heaven.

There are also people who put themselves forward as spiritual personalities in order to hide their crimes. I heard of one who killed a wealthy, demented spouse with an overdose, had the body quickly cremated without a doctor seeing it, and collected sympathy cards with a sad air, between giving sappy sermons about the poor man they murdered. While the world rewards them for their spiritual masquerade, God certainly won't. Eternity is a very long time, and their ill-gotten gains won't accompany them after death.

Saint Theresa of Avila, in ecstacy

I love the mystical life. It is thrilling to read stories about the saints who experienced the miraculous, who heard the voice of the Lord and received his embrace in ecstacy. It is popular to focus on this aspect of spiritual life, and it IS a very real manifestation of spirituality, but it isn't what Jesus emphasized.
                                             

Saint Gregory

Jesus told us that he did not come to bring peace, but the sword. He said that our families would be rent apart, with one member against another. He told us that some people, at the end, would call out to Him, "Lord! Lord!" and that He would send them away, telling them that He does not know them. He promised that those who love Him would follow his commandments and would go to heaven.

Icon of the "ladder to heaven"

If you follow the commands of the Lord and live a truly holy life, it will separate you from those who do not follow him. It will make you a target of the evil that lives within the hearts of those who do not really love the Lord. You will suffer on this earth, just as Christ himself suffered. Those who do not obey the commandments of the Lord will lie about you and work against you in every way. They will steal from you and try to punish you for your goodness because evil cannot bear to see the beauty of the Lord that is manifested in one who is following the commandments of Jesus.

We weren't promised financial reward in exchange for a holy life. Some of the modern Protestant denominations promote a scandalous "prosperity gospel" which plays right into the modern love of money. It also encourages prejudice against the poor, which is the opposite of the message of Jesus and his apostles. I have seen it confuse people and pervert their faith. Some mistakenly think that, if they are living a prosperous life, then everything they do must be holy, and that is not the criteria that Jesus gave us.

I write about this topic because I think it is needed. We have plenty of entertaining books and blogs, as well as political writing that pretends to be spiritual but helps to distract us from the basics. I am attempting to direct attention to Jesus and what He said - to the Church and what it teaches - and to the Bible and the guidance it provides, because I have been shocked and saddened to see the large number of people who lie, cheat, steal, and murder while delusionaly believing that they will go to heaven anyway.

Because of love for my neighbor, fellow-feeling and compassion, I would like to see everyone go to Heaven. I am trying to encourage everyone to look to the faith and get their foundation built solidly on the commandments of Jesus that are built on the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament.

In short, stop your lyin' cheatin' and stealin' ya'll!

Silver Rose 

(Sannyasini Kaliprana)

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

ECCENTRICS OFFER UNEXPECTED GIFTS

For more than 30 years, my grandmother lived in a boarding house situated in a gorgeous old brownstone near the University Hospital, where she was the head night nurse on the psychiatric ward.

Over the years, during numerous visits to Grammy, I came to know and love the others in the house, many of whom were also long-time residents. There was one man in particular who was considered a bit odd because his room was piled high with newspapers.

It wasn't a mean-spirited assessment. I just think that my Grammy didn't know him very well and, on the surface, all those piles of newspapers were incomprehensible to her. It turns out that he was interested in politics, and he went on to become a public servant of some sort. The newspapers made perfect sense in that context.

Whenever I run across the occasional eccentric, I think about that man and his piles of newspapers. I assume that the eccentricities of everyone make some kind of sense in some context as yet unknown to me.

So far, it has been my experience that eccentrics bring valuable, if unexpect gifts, to the table. I make an effort to remember this when I come into contact with people whose behavior is outside the norm. Of course, sometimes they ARE crazy, but, more often than not, they're not.

I am dedicating my prayers today to the eccentrics of the world.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

TRUTH AND LIES - HEAVEN AND HELL

There is a saying that "possession is nine tenths of the law."

What this means is that our laws mostly have to do with matters of who owns what; nine tenths of the law being an arbitrary number to convey the concept of "most."

What it does NOT mean is that, if you manage to grab hold of a thing it is automatically yours. There is no legal principle or law that even vaguely promotes this idea. Our society recognizes theft as something bad and punishable. Not only will the law require you return the item you have misappropriated, but it will punish you over and above depriving you of this thing that you wanted bad enough to steal.

Even if you find something valuable on the sidewalk, the law will return it to its rightful owner, if the owner can prove that it belongs to him.

People are selfish, however, and they WANT to believe that the law will support their selfishness. A character in a movie I watched recently was expounding that "possession is nine-tenths of the law." I wondered if the screen writer realized his mistake or if he was deliberately making a comment about the point of view of the character, who was a brutal thug.

I once tried to explain this to a woman who takes herself very seriously as a spiritual personality. With her nose in the air, she decreed, "This is what that saying means NOW," as if she could change the meaning of a word on demand.

Just because some people misunderstand a thing does not mean that, by the force of their misunderstanding, some principle becomes altered. No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus. Something is not yours, just because you manage to get your hands on it. Believing otherwise will not change the law. Just rob a bank and see how much of the law protects your right to do so.

Often, it seems to me, people incorporate lies into their worldview without regard for the damage it does to their soul. People who are not self-reflective, who do not examine themselves honestly, believe and promote convenient lies that cater to their selfishness and darken their souls thereby.

The brilliance of Catholic confession is that helps us root out the darkness that takes root in us when we are not paying attention. Selfish ideas feed selfish motives, which feed selfish acts. This is why Jesus gave the apostles the ability to forgive sin, something which previously was reserved to God alone. Jesus recognized our spiritual weakness, our tendency to selfishness and sin. He loves us enough to give us a method of restoring our souls to the purity of God's original intention for us.

In the examination of conscience before confession, we shine a critical light on our actions. We have to adjust our point of view to the purity of God's perspective. If we struggle in our effort to align our beliefs with those of the church, the degree of the struggle is the degree to which we have wandered away from Him who is all Truth.

Spiritual house-cleaning is essential to our happiness. There is no deception in God and we cannot join with God, on earth or in heaven, if we have joined our souls with the darkness of deception. Lies are of the Devil, and he is the father of all lies. If a lie is coming from us, then we have Satan within us. We must throw him out.

Many people firmly believe that, no matter what they do on earth, they will go to heaven when they die. They ignore the words of Jesus:

"Not every one who saith to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into

the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my father

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

Matthew 7:21

One of the things that Protestants removed from the faith was formal confession. They believe that you do not need to get forgiveness from "a man" of the church. You can go to God directly. If that was all one needed to do, Jesus would have decreed it. He didn't. He had a reason for giving the apostles the ability to forgive sin. He breathed upon them, giving them the Holy Spirit, and said:

"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them;

and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

John 20:23

The brilliance of the Catholic faith is manifest to a great extent in the opportunity of confession. Jesus was the best psychologist we could ever have, in my opinion. He provided a prescription for the reparation of our souls - a divine "do-over," if you will.

Many people do not believe in hell or the Devil any more. I assure them that the Devil certainly believes in THEM. Even if one has managed to reduce God and Satan, heaven and hell, to abstract principles of good and evil, one cannot dispense with the necessity for goodness within ourselves in order to reside with goodness in the hereafter.

Even if you can't make yourself go to confession, or if finding the time or opportunity is difficult, I recommend the process of regular self-reflection, as it has been very helpful to me. If you can keep yourself on the right track by daily self-correction, you'll have less to confess when you finally make it to a formal confession.

It has been my experience that, if I incline my mind toward God, the rest of me follows suit. Here, on the verge of the celebration of Pentacost, I ask for your prayers, that I may grow closer to the Lord. I will pray the same for you.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose Parnell

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

AYN RAND: APOSTLE OF SELFISHNESS AND HERO OF THE ALT. RIGHT

Ayn Rand

Russian-American novelist, promoter of selfishness, 

hero of the alt. right

1905-1982

Russian educated atheist Ayn Rand believed that selfishness was a positive virtue. She hated Christianity, championed abortion and, in addition to writing a few toxic novels and a small volume about selfishness, she also started a club that was dedicated to the promotion of selfishness. That the right wing lauds her and follows her selfish prescriptions for American society is a jarring contradiction, ESPECIALLY since the majority self-identify as Christian, and Rand's philosophy is the antithesis of Christianity.

"Abortion is a moral right which should be left to 

the sole discretion of the woman involved; 

morally, nothing other than her wish in the

matter is to be considered."

~ Ayn Rand ~

Several of America's contemporary government leaders have been remarkably affected by the fantasies of this novelist whose world view, if widely enacted, would regress the civilizing influence of Christianity on mankind back to the beginning of time.

Rand wasn't an economist and, in fact, her imaginative pronouncements on this field are dismissed by professional economists who have studied the history of economic systems and who know that we are stronger together than we are individually. It is the positive glory of human beings that we aim to enable every one of our members to succeed, and we lift up one another because we know that, in doing so, the human species becomes more successful. The dog-eat-dog world of Ayn Rand produces the opposite result.

"Jesus said unto him, 'thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy

mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the

second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as 

thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law

and all the prophets.'"

~ Matthew 22:37-40 ~

Because selfishness, xenophobia, racism and misogyny that are promoted by the alt right are damaging to the human race, as a whole, the alt. right movement, as typified in its most virulent form in the ravings of Steve Bannon, has to discredit and discount the experts in crucial fields of knowledge, even Biblical scholards. This bizarre subculture lionizes opinion without foundation while deriding experts in favor of fiction writers.

Steve Bannon and Marie LePen - 2018

"Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. 

Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor."

~ Steve Bannon, 2018 ~

Ayn Rand was famously racist and nationalistic. She spoke against Native Americans, Arabs and indigenous people, in general. Her brand of politics is for white people only.

Followers of alt. right personalities resolutely ignore professional opinion in favor of people whom they perceive to be the common man, in whom they see themselves in some capacity. The pleasing mirage that the alt right personalities project, caters to the ordinary white guy, who then feels that maybe he too can rule the world without the bona fides typically required to do so. Slovenly Steve Bannon, with his baggy clothes and unkempt mop of hair, is their spokesman.

What is really going on here? At the heart of the modern alt right movement is the fight of the wealthy to grab even more wealth than they already have. The disparity of income in America is already the second worst in the world among all nations, but the wealthy are using hot button issues to coerce the white majority into helping them in the biggest smash-and-grab since before the French Revolution. The poor, disabled and elderly are hungry and poorly housed, yet the wealthy want to eliminate social programs that help alleviate their suffering. Ayn Rand disparages the charity that would help them.

"Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor, will

themselves call and not be heard."

~ Proverbs 21:13 ~

Ayn Rand is the figurehead upon which the right hangs its political hat because her philosophy is conveniently hostile to poor people and minorities. According to Rand, it is immoral to make a man contribute to the welfare of the poor, vis-a-vis taxes. This is contrary to the Christian ethos, but the followers of the alt right are so mesmerized by the smoke and mirrors of Paul Ryan and people like him that they fail to call this movement into account for its violation of the central tenets of Christianity.

"You shall give generously [to your poor brother] and your

heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because

for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your

work and in all your undertakings."

Deuteronomy 15:10

On Facebook and other social media, I have had too many conversations with supporters of the lies of the alt. right mouthpieces who blame everyone's troubles on lazy, criminal poor people, minorities, and the like.

When faced with hard facts that disprove the myth of "massive fraud in the disability system," for instance, supporters resolutely cling to the lies. The payoff for believing poor-hating propaganda is too great to give it up, since those lies serve to elevate the status of the common man without any effort - somewhat like the video games that allow us to be big winners by the flick of a finger on a button. To be a winner, without having to bend one's head to any authority, without having to accept inconvenient truths that emphasize our lack of status, and without exerting a lot of effort, is too heady a wine for people who have chaffed under the annoying limitation of being ordinary for such a long time. Why accept facts when the lies let us believe that the poor are to blame for all our difficulties?Having a scape goat that possesses less power than we do allows us to look down upon them and pretend to some superiority. It is also far easier to withdraw assistance from the poor than to reclaim the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy.

"For all those who exalt themselves shall be humbled,

and those who humble themselves shall be exalted."

~Luke 14:11~

The psychology of Christianity is brilliant. People of real religious faith and comprehension already know this, but it also stands the test of objective examination. We can reject selfishness, not just because Jesus said so, but because it doesn't produce good fruit for humanity as a whole. We can embrace modesty and humility, not just because Jesus said to do it, but because those virtues propel us in a positive direction that is healthy for the individual as well as the group. We can share our wealth with the poor, not just because it is emphasized continually throughout the Old AND the New Testaments, but because it makes sense for the survival of our species.

The authorities upon whom one bases one's world view and activities is a clue to one's heart, so I ask you: Who is your authority? Is it Jesus, or is it Ayn Rand?

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

"I need solitude for my writing - not like a "hermit" - 

that wouldn't be enough -

but like a dead man."

~Franz Kafka~

Earlier this month, I had to stop in the middle of a grocery store aisle and yell, "This music is too loud!" Of course, no one paid the slightest bit of attention to this crazy lady, holding her hands to her ears in the dog food aisle while some old song blasted out of the speakers above my head.

Shopping used to be very enjoyable for me. Stores were quiet. If there WAS music, it was typically very soothing, but then some idiot got the bright idea to bombard shoppers with advertisements punctuated by blaring music. The advertisements are created by manufacturers of the products that the stores sell. The store gets some kind of financial benefit from the manufacturers when they blast their customers with this kind of canned sound.

I learned this about 5 years ago, when I complained to the manager of Smiths grocery store, where I used to shop. The manager told me that she wasn't allowed to turn the music down, even though I appeared to be the only person shopping there, at some odd time of day. "Corporate" had to approve turning off or turning down the volume of the music. The customer is no longer right. The customer is now a captive.

The problem with loud music is that it prevents me from concentrating on what I need to buy. Instead, I typically flee the premises, my head pounding, and a growing sense of desperation. Half the time, I don't buy half of what is on my list. I have learned what I can go without, as a result of this recent assault on my brain cells. Smiths Grocery Store, and other corporate monsters, would make more money if they eliminated this music torture from their policies, but I doubt they will give it up, since they believe they are benefiting from it financially. Maybe the manufacturers of the products give them more money than what they would make from the customers who run frantically out of their stores.

Smiths Grocery Store no longer gets any of my meager funds. Instead, I shop at Sprouts, but they have ALSO started playing really loud music. To combat this modern tendency, I have taken to wearing ear plugs when I shop. They help to tone down the volume, but I would be happier if they took out all the noise.

A few years ago, I found out that I have several eye problems that are going to result in partial or complete blindness at some point in the future. I really wish I could have lost my hearing instead.

I have always wondered why appreciation for peace and quiet does not seem to be shared by others, since even when people have the option to enjoy the sounds of nature, for instance at a park, they will destroy the environment with loud radios and other noise devices. I have often remarked about this to friends, wondering aloud why other people seem to be intent on receiving as many separate streams of noise as is humanly possible, whereas I cannot even filter out a conversation if music is also playing.

Yesterday, I read a medical ARTICLE about how some great writers and creative people have an inability to filter out extraneous noise. They have the kind of brains that incorporate a wide ranging amount of information in their construction of literature, or painting or whatever. Marcel Proust also wore ear plugs! He covered the walls of his room with cork.

Evidently, creative geniuses have "leaky sensory gating." I am very happy to be in such illustrious company, instead of just being eccentric. Now, if I could only be paid like a genius, my life would be a heck of a lot more serene. I could buy a shipment of cork.

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

ALL LIES COME FROM SATAN

Lucifer is banished from Heaven

When you become holy, the devil hates you. When you pray, it makes him scream in rage. He wants you to be HIS minion. He is jealous of God, and that jealousy is what got him kicked out of Heaven to begin with . Lies are the method by which Satan binds followers to himself, and lies are a sure sign of someone who has given themselves to the dark one.

The number, kind and degree of lies that a person spews is a sure indicator of just how much the liar is in thrall to Satan.  If you are a holy person, however, the degree to which you are merged with God is the same degree to which the Devil's people will attack you.

"Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth:

I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came 

to set a man at variance against his father, and the 

daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law

against her mother in law. And a man's enemies shall

be they of his own household. He that loveth father

or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he

that loveth son or daughter more than me is not 

worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross

and followeth me, is not worthy of me"

~Matthew 10:34-38~

When we give our lives to the Lord, and if we obey his commandments, we become part of the body of Christ. As adopted sons and daughters of the Lord, we share the goodness that is God. There is no deceit in God. There cannot be! Therefore, people who lie distance themselves from God and join themselves with Satan. Liars share Satan's hatred for the goodness of God, and if a liar sees goodness in another person, the liar automatically hates the good in that person.

This is why the holier you become, the more troubles you may have. You will be the prime target of every evil that you encounter.

Some people imagine that the more holy you are, the more fun your life will be, and the more worldly success you will have. Just look at the lives of Jesus and his followers and you will realize the folly of that idea. Jesus and all but one of the apostles died in grisly fashion because they were holy.

We are called by Jesus to carry our cross. Carrying a cross isn't pretty. It is a harsh, sweaty, bloody struggle. Like Jesus, a crowd may taunt you, spit on you and call you names. They will lie about you and tear your reputation to shreds with vulgar cat calls. It isn't pretty, but we must not lose our nerve.

Saint Peter, on whom Christ built his church,

was crucified upside down

Banish the idea that love of God brings you earthly success. Quite the opposite. If you are a true believer, and if you follow our Lord sincerely, you may be in for a bumpy ride. Satan will pursue you unmercifully. He will torment you and try to turn you to him, tempting you with every earthly delight.

You may be surprised at the guise in which the Devil appears to allure you. There is no profession, no status and no beautiful visage that is automatically exempt. Satan sits within the most unexpected persons, squatting there like a fat toad, belching lies, calumny, and all manner of deceit. Satan has been a liar from the beginning, and appears in the first book of the Bible, coaxing Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil that God told her not to eat. Satan appeals to her ego, promising that she will be a God herself as a result of her disobedience, encouraging her to compete with the Lord - something with which he himself is familiar, having refused to serve God and been thrown out of heaven for it.

"And the serpent said to the woman, 'no, you shall

not die the death. For God doth know that in what 

day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be

opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good

and evil."

Genesis 3:4-5

If you are one of those holy people who has truly given themselves to the Lord, and you find yourself the target of lies and calumny, do not lose heart. Being attacked by liars is a sure sign that you are on the right track.

Pray for those who are trying to destroy you here on earth. They will be destroyed at the end of their lives and thrown into Hell like Satan, if they do not renounce him, not only by words, but by their actions. After all, even Satan can recite the Bible. It is one's actions that determine whether or not we really love the Lord.

Thy pride is brought down to hell,

thy carcass is fallen down: under

thee shall the moth be strewed, and

worms shall be thy covering. How 

art thou fallen from heaven, O

Lucifer, who didst rise in the 

morning? How art thou fallen to

the earth, that didst wound the nations?

~ Isaias 14:11-12 ~