Laughter, tears, despair



Laughter

There was a new guest at Res. House today, a Mexican with the wonderful name of Jesus. He was shy, and anxious to do the right thing. Following his earnest questions I assured him that he could help himself to food, and “yes”, it was O.K. for him to have a cigarette in the outside smoking area.

But then, in all his shyness he asked me another question. He wanted to use the toilet. “Was this possible?” was he meant to ask.

But his words were “How do I use the bathroom?”

“Well”, I replied, “you pull down your zipper and get your Willy out”.

He and I collapsed in laughter, and then I pointed his way to one of our four toilets.
=======================================================

Tears

I saw a pretty young teenage girl at Res. House today. She had a lovely face, and the most beautiful long and curly hair. This is unusual since most of our guests are 25+

She approached my “station” with her Mom and Dad. I asked her name.

“Terrence” he replied. Then I realised that “she” was a 14 year old boy. I’ll swear that he had some blush (make up) on his face.

I chatted with his Mom. She started to cry as she told me about their struggles as a homeless family - the Mom, the Dad, Terrence and a sister.

I hugged Mom and Terrence, longing to ask him if he really wanted to be a girl. But “discretion was the better part of valour” and I held my question back.

Terrence received $5 from my hands - I told she/he to spend it at will.

They left and I wept for this boy/girl, and for his Mom and Dad.
================================================

Despair (at American religious paranoia).

A good “liberal” friend sent me a panicky e-mail last week. She was disturbed, for she had been told that “In God We Trust” had been omitted from the new (2007) Dollar coin.

I checked this out to find that this motto is in fact inscribed on the rim of this coin. I also discovered that a comparative few of these coins did not have the motto - due to a minting error.

“Why” I thought, “are my compatriots so gullible?


I thought the same today when I received an e-mail from another friend. She believed
that the United States Post Office has issued an “Islamic” Christmas Stamp.

Turns out that the stamp in fact honours the Muslim holiday known as EID (On Dec 8th this year),

See above

And why not?

There have been Muslims in the USA since the 17th Century.

I am happy that our Government (in the shape of the United States Postal Service) is not subservient to the “Christian” majority.



See below for references:

Comments

  1. Anonymous18 November 2008 at 17:51

    Not only that, but that stamp is old - I've been sending it for years.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not remember the words “ar
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were able to get together a few
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur
Read more