Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
Ed Wells writes a weekly column for the Rockford Register Star.
He means well; but, occasionally, like me, his venting, like yesterday, is rather asinine: "I think of the government bailout to save the mortgage industry, and I think of many other problems the Republican administration has perpetuated on the American people - the Iraq war, Katrina response, treatment of returning G.I.'s, and now the mortgage mess."
He forget to mention AIDS, Paris Hilton, T.O., Red Sox without Manny, Bulls without Michael, and that the stimulus package didn't include wiping out my Caliber and plastic debt.
@#$%
Blaming GWB for everything is so childish; as if he's smart enough to do things to be blamed for.
Like ending sentences with prepositions or pretending fragments are sentences.
O.K., maybe most Republicans don't care about the poor.
O.K., maybe most Democrats are immoral.
But, geez, not all of 'em are as bad as their caricatures.
Those two-feet-planted-firmly-in-the-air-with-smiles-betraying-a-vision-of-God-or-they've-just-wet-themselves jackasses!
Those big-beasty-slow-moving-never-want-to-see-anything-happen-for-the-first-time elephants!
@#$%
Thanks, Ed.
@#$%
I'm a church mediator in my spare time; specializing in pret' near irreconcilable/irretrievable/pastor/congregation/let's/make/a/deal/aka/severance packages.
Let me put it another way.
When pastors and congregations decide they can't do anything but hate each other in a Christian kind of way, I work out the split; usually in a way that doesn't cripple either party for, uh, too long.
@#$%
Yeah, it's a disgrace; and reminds me not to blame Jesus for Christians.
I think of The Godfather - Part III.
Michael Corleone visits Cardinal Lamberto to talk about a legitimate business involving the Vatican Bank that has gone bad.
The Godfather tells the Cardinal about ethical lapses and criminal behavior in the church.
The Cardinal says, "Look at this stone. It has been lying in the water for a very long time. The water has not penetrated it."
Then the Cardinal smashes the stone; continuing, "Look. Perfectly dry. The same thing has happened to men in Europe. They have been surrounded by Christianity for centuries, but Christ does not live in their hearts."
@#$%
Does the previous section bring to mind anything in your experience like, uh, mainline denominations, particular congregations in chronic conflict, Democrats, Republicans, youth sports, bingo...?
@#$%
Maybe I'm just a little bummed today because somebody wrote to tell me that I forgot a word in the last section of 12/29/08's KD; while failing to comment on anything, uh, substantive.
@#$%
Maybe I'm crushed because my good buddy who I covered for so many times didn't float a loan at better interest rates to get the Caliber and plastic off my back.
@#$%
Maybe I'm just tired of people looking for scapegoats when blame is more often corporate than individual.
Or as I assume when beginning any mediation, "There are three sides to every story: her side, his side, and the truth."
Apart from Jesus, I don't know anyone who is blameless.
@#$%
That's why Christians can often act like barbarians when they don't get their way.
Jesus, for example, provided perfect rules for reconciliation in Matthew 18:15-17.
But they don't work for my-way-or-the-highway people; and when my-way-or-the-highway people don't get their way by the rules, they break 'em and do whatever works to get whatever they want.
Or as I assume when beginning any mediation, "Trying to be rational with the irrational is illogical."
@#$%
Forget it!
I'm not spelling out my complete mediation strategy or I'll never pick up some extra income in my spare time to pay off the Caliber and plastic.
Seriously.
@#$%
Currently, my heart is breaking for a mediation which I should have been contracted to do for "the best preacher and pastor that we've ever had" who isn't quite good enough to warrant the kind of love and mercy which he extended to the congregation for nearly two decades.
I think of a congregation about 150 miles from where I'm typing right now which unceremoniously and unmercifully dumped their pastor who loved them so much for so long but was too, uh, human in the end; prompting a lawyer to stand and lament: "I am a lawyer by trade. My job has always been to find faults and place blame. In this case, I speak as a parishioner in support of a pastor, who has always been there for us regardless of our faults. When we have been arrested for a DUI, found in bed with the wrong person, fired with cause, accused of abusive behavior, found with one hand in the corporate cookie jar, and caught in sin, our pastor has always been there for us. He has been there in love, offering the grace of God, and embracing us despite our sin. I do not understand why we cannot be here for him, as he was there for us."
Are you there...Tom, Dick, Harry, Jay, Angela, Bob, Roy, Mitch, Jeff, JoAnn, Kathy,...?
Read Matthew 25:31ff. and John 13:34-45.
@#$%
Speaking of bailouts, here's a thought from Florida: "As one economist put it, the smartest thing Bill Clinton ever did was to leave alone what Ronald Reagan put into action and then take credit for it."
@#$%
But, uh, blame?
C'mon, Ed!
There's a lot more of it to go around than you've been saying; and don't forget to include yourself and me.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
Ed Wells writes a weekly column for the Rockford Register Star.
He means well; but, occasionally, like me, his venting, like yesterday, is rather asinine: "I think of the government bailout to save the mortgage industry, and I think of many other problems the Republican administration has perpetuated on the American people - the Iraq war, Katrina response, treatment of returning G.I.'s, and now the mortgage mess."
He forget to mention AIDS, Paris Hilton, T.O., Red Sox without Manny, Bulls without Michael, and that the stimulus package didn't include wiping out my Caliber and plastic debt.
@#$%
Blaming GWB for everything is so childish; as if he's smart enough to do things to be blamed for.
Like ending sentences with prepositions or pretending fragments are sentences.
O.K., maybe most Republicans don't care about the poor.
O.K., maybe most Democrats are immoral.
But, geez, not all of 'em are as bad as their caricatures.
Those two-feet-planted-firmly-in-the-air-with-smiles-betraying-a-vision-of-God-or-they've-just-wet-themselves jackasses!
Those big-beasty-slow-moving-never-want-to-see-anything-happen-for-the-first-time elephants!
@#$%
Thanks, Ed.
@#$%
I'm a church mediator in my spare time; specializing in pret' near irreconcilable/irretrievable/pastor/congregation/let's/make/a/deal/aka/severance packages.
Let me put it another way.
When pastors and congregations decide they can't do anything but hate each other in a Christian kind of way, I work out the split; usually in a way that doesn't cripple either party for, uh, too long.
@#$%
Yeah, it's a disgrace; and reminds me not to blame Jesus for Christians.
I think of The Godfather - Part III.
Michael Corleone visits Cardinal Lamberto to talk about a legitimate business involving the Vatican Bank that has gone bad.
The Godfather tells the Cardinal about ethical lapses and criminal behavior in the church.
The Cardinal says, "Look at this stone. It has been lying in the water for a very long time. The water has not penetrated it."
Then the Cardinal smashes the stone; continuing, "Look. Perfectly dry. The same thing has happened to men in Europe. They have been surrounded by Christianity for centuries, but Christ does not live in their hearts."
@#$%
Does the previous section bring to mind anything in your experience like, uh, mainline denominations, particular congregations in chronic conflict, Democrats, Republicans, youth sports, bingo...?
@#$%
Maybe I'm just a little bummed today because somebody wrote to tell me that I forgot a word in the last section of 12/29/08's KD; while failing to comment on anything, uh, substantive.
@#$%
Maybe I'm crushed because my good buddy who I covered for so many times didn't float a loan at better interest rates to get the Caliber and plastic off my back.
@#$%
Maybe I'm just tired of people looking for scapegoats when blame is more often corporate than individual.
Or as I assume when beginning any mediation, "There are three sides to every story: her side, his side, and the truth."
Apart from Jesus, I don't know anyone who is blameless.
@#$%
That's why Christians can often act like barbarians when they don't get their way.
Jesus, for example, provided perfect rules for reconciliation in Matthew 18:15-17.
But they don't work for my-way-or-the-highway people; and when my-way-or-the-highway people don't get their way by the rules, they break 'em and do whatever works to get whatever they want.
Or as I assume when beginning any mediation, "Trying to be rational with the irrational is illogical."
@#$%
Forget it!
I'm not spelling out my complete mediation strategy or I'll never pick up some extra income in my spare time to pay off the Caliber and plastic.
Seriously.
@#$%
Currently, my heart is breaking for a mediation which I should have been contracted to do for "the best preacher and pastor that we've ever had" who isn't quite good enough to warrant the kind of love and mercy which he extended to the congregation for nearly two decades.
I think of a congregation about 150 miles from where I'm typing right now which unceremoniously and unmercifully dumped their pastor who loved them so much for so long but was too, uh, human in the end; prompting a lawyer to stand and lament: "I am a lawyer by trade. My job has always been to find faults and place blame. In this case, I speak as a parishioner in support of a pastor, who has always been there for us regardless of our faults. When we have been arrested for a DUI, found in bed with the wrong person, fired with cause, accused of abusive behavior, found with one hand in the corporate cookie jar, and caught in sin, our pastor has always been there for us. He has been there in love, offering the grace of God, and embracing us despite our sin. I do not understand why we cannot be here for him, as he was there for us."
Are you there...Tom, Dick, Harry, Jay, Angela, Bob, Roy, Mitch, Jeff, JoAnn, Kathy,...?
Read Matthew 25:31ff. and John 13:34-45.
@#$%
Speaking of bailouts, here's a thought from Florida: "As one economist put it, the smartest thing Bill Clinton ever did was to leave alone what Ronald Reagan put into action and then take credit for it."
@#$%
But, uh, blame?
C'mon, Ed!
There's a lot more of it to go around than you've been saying; and don't forget to include yourself and me.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!