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 |   Tales from real life |
| Well, if they're not true, they oughta be! |
John Donne wrote No Man Is an Island, yet many people feel isolated and cut off from the main. Paradoxically, Thoreau chose to live alone in the woods for two years to escape a life of quiet desperation. Simon & Garfunkel sang I Am a Rock. H. G. Wells (and many others) said that we are all one. Sartre said that hell is other people. So, humanity. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. We're trapped in a continuous dance of reaching out and being rebuffed, coming together and drawing apart. It's an endless comedic tragedy and nobody gets out alive. I'll offer up an opinion that the pain we inflict on others becomes our own personal hell, and the love we give is our only glimpse of heaven. My recent poem, Introvert, deals with these themes:
Some reviewers expressed concern for my state of mind after reading the poem. I suppose that's the risk of stating one's mind. Here's a multiple-choice clarification: A. Poetry allows us to express truth without necessarily using facts. B. Living in my own head is a lonely existence, but where else can I go? C. At my age, I have to look in the mirror and say, "Maybe it's me." D. Self-pity is a bore, but almost impossible to resist. E. All of the above. I didn't write Introvert out of deep depression, but from existential doubt. At age 66 I find myself wondering if there is any meaning to my life. I've done the things that people do: college, marriage, church, family, career, and now retirement. I've attained a measure of success in all of these, but what's the point? We haven't been blessed with grandchildren and it doesn't look like there will ever be any. My grandfather was the only male Fisher of his generation and I'm the last male Fisher of my generation. I don't have any nieces or nephews, and not even any cousins named Fisher. In 60 years or so, my kids will be gone, and it will be as though I never existed. There won't even be anyone interested in their family tree who might look me up in the census. Does this matter? Of course not. I'll join billions who have lived and died and been forgotten. And it won't make the slightest difference after I'm gone. But it still hurts. |
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” - Matthew 22:35–40 I was just a child when the Civil Rights Act was passed, but I do remember when the 'Summer of Love' and Woodstock were in the news. For a brief time, it seemed like humanity was poised for a great leap forward in equality, justice, and compassion. But the hopefulness of the 60's counterculture soon faded. Partly due to drug abuse and lack of direction, but mostly because of mockery from the conservative right. To love one's neighbor was considered unpatriotic, unamerican, and just plain ridiculous. For 80's conservatives, the business of America became giving Americans the business. Even then, there was a foul stench of Trumpism at the core of the GOP. In the 90's, Newt Gingrich abandoned the concept of a moral majority and turned the GOP onto the low road of wedge politics that led directly to Donald Trump and insurrection. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. - Acts 4:32-35 I grew up with the cold war and the threat of communism. We all knew for a certainty that 'commies' were bad guys who would rape our women, take our land, and destroy the American way of life. In reality, there was no communism, only fascism dressed up as 'the will of the people'. As I grew older and wiser, I realized that the conservative right was more opposed to the theory of communism than to its fascist implementation in the Soviet Union. The central theme of Marx's communist manifesto is clearly borrowed from the Acts of the Apostles. Demonizing communism allows the haves to ignore the example of the apostles and exploit the have nots. Today, the voracious right-wing politicians and Televangicals never have enough. They constantly beg for dollars while distributing pennies to the poor. These false teachers practice Christianity in much the same way that Stalin practiced communism. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. - John: 14:6 Today, we have the embodiment of dishonesty in the person of Donald Trump. He uses the words of fascist dictators to promote himself as the 'will of the people'. He calls his neighbors vermin and vows to 'root them out'. He misrepresents his business worth to commit tax fraud and bears false witness against judges and elections workers. He presents himself as a golden calf to be worshiped by the MAGA lemmings. The Televangicals even call him the second coming of the Messiah. Trump responds to multiple criminal indictments with a declaration that he has a constitutional right to lie, cheat, and steal. He places himself above the laws of man and even above the Law of God. The January 6th uprising may have failed, but the conspiracy to illegally return Donald Trump to the White House is ongoing. James Comer's 'weaponization' committee is just one part of that conspiracy. Comer is blatantly abusing the power of his office to swing the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump. House republicans have elevated an insurrectionist to the position of Speaker. And the stink of Trumpism is even attached to members of the Supreme Court who have adopted a 'me first' philosophy to justify taking bribes from right-wing political donors. The Trump conspiracy has already been proven. Scores of conspirators have been sent to prison. And dozens of republican representatives and senators are also implicated in the conspiracy. They may very well face prosecution as the wheels of justice continue to turn. These desperate conspirators are already forming plans for a second insurrection with the ultimate goal of receiving presidential pardons. They are openly proclaiming a post-election reign of terror to purge their enemies and establish a Trump Reich. So, today we have a unique and terrifying situation. Anyone who works on Trump's 2024 presidential campaign automatically becomes a co-conspirator to commit insurrection. Donald Trump's self-worship violates God's greatest law. His hatred of his neighbor violates the second greatest law. Trump's fraudulent business practices and his conspiracy to overthrow democracy violate the laws of man. And anyone who supports Donald Trump and follows his example is equally guilty in the eyes of God and the courts of man. |
In the mid 1900's people used to gather and sit together at table for entertainment as well as food. Rectangular slips of heavy paper would be randomly distributed to guests who would rearrange them, then compete to lay them down in an orderly pile. This was called 'playing cards'. It often went on late into the night, accompanied by social drinking, laughter, and even the exchange of considerable sums of money. Pinochle was a popular card game among middle-class families of modest means. Both my parents and my in-laws were fond of playing it. I learned the game early and was often pressed into service when there weren't enough adult players to make up a four-person game. I took pinochle cards to college with me and taught my classmates to play. Later, my wife and I spent many evenings ignoring the TV background noise as we teamed up against her parents. A standard deck has 52 cards, but a pinochle deck has only 48. It uses the sequence of nine through ace in four suits, but there are two of each card. That means there are 8 nines, 8 tens, 8 jacks, and so on. Scoring is done both with card combinations in one's hand, and by taking tricks during play. Each hand begins with a round of bidding to determine which team will lead during the playing of tricks. The winning bidder selects a trump suit and then their partner passes them four cards to improve their hand before play begins. Any trump card beats all other suits and is beaten only by higher trump cards. A typical hand might score 300 to 400 points and the first team to 1500 wins the game. The ace is the highest ranked card in a pinochle deck and nine is the lowest. One of the most rare and valuable hands is the collection of all eight aces. It's worth one thousand points and pretty much assures a win in any particular game. More common is a run of five cards in the same suit from ten through ace. That counts for 150 points. It's difficult to make one's bid without a run. If the player who wins the bid fails to make that many points while playing the hand, then the bid is subtracted from their score. I was watching a game in the dorm one day when an unusual situation arose. My friend Mark and his partner Steve were bidding against each other. That's considered a breach of etiquette as well as a poor strategy for making the bid. It turned out that Steve was dealt a run in spades and understandably felt compelled to win the bid. Mark had the other seven aces in his hand, and he was determined to go for eight. He figured his odds were one in three that Steve would have the eighth ace. And he would probably never have that good a chance again. Mark eventually won the bid and Steve was puzzled when Mark called spades as trump. What to do? He couldn't pass a five-card run. Four cards were exchanged, and Mark assumed an 'oh well' expression. He still had a pretty good hand, after all. He decided to be theatrical and led with six aces, saving the trump suit for last. He was flabbergasted when Steve played his only remaining spade, the ace, to Mark's lead. "You had the ace!" Mark shouted. "Why didn't you pass it?" "Well, only an idiot would bid without an ace of trump," Steve replied. Mark struggled, red-faced, to find adequate words to express the extent of his frustrated rage. Finally, he threw the rest of his cards at Steve and stormed out of the room, followed by gales of laughter from the onlookers. Game over. |
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