Daily Postings

As a Christian I believe that as a republic our government has been empowered, not by God, but by the people to represent them, and in the execution of that empowerment, has the responsibility to protect and defend that rights which the Declaration of Independence recognizes as coming directly from God, which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  I believe that it is the responsibility of government to oversee all those matters that pertain to the common good, and that laws should be made always with consideration for the common good of all, and the common good  and protection of the country.  I believe that as a free people, laws should not be made that restrict or deny the rights of some citizens for the benefit of others, particularly the wealthy or the powerful.  I believe that the citizens have the right not only to earn a living, but to invest their resources in business ventures for the purpose of increasing their personal wealth and resources, and that they have the right to the fruits of those resources, and should not be unfairly or unjustly deprived in any way, particularly by inequitable taxation by the government, of the use of this honestly earned income. 

I believe as a Christian in the sovereign right and jurisdiction of God over his creation, and that, in his benevolence, he allows us the illusion of thinking that his human family can be separated by artificial barriers we call borders, and that we are responsible only for those who are legally citizens within those borders, and to think that we are free from responsibilities to our brothers and sisters in other countries.  I believe that we have a responsibility before God, in times of crises when refugees fleeing starvation and destitution, to treat with civility and compassion those who come across our borders, not to beg, but to work for their living.  And I firmly believe that it is a serious sin against God to demean these destitute people by branding them as criminals. I also believe that our elected officials have a duty and responsibiliity to maintain an orderly process of immigration in order to avoid the chaos which has recently occurred because our government tacitly welcomed mass immigration because of our country’s severe shortage of labor, due greatly to our millions of abortions over the years.

I believe that as citizens we have a sacred responsibility to love and defend our country, and to come to the defense of our country when it is attacked by hostile forces.  I believe that trust in God and persistent negotiations are far preferable to war, and that war is not always the best solution.  It most often destroys more lives than it saves, and through the hatred that it generates, sows the seed for future wars.  Even the price paid by the victors and the permanent damage done to millions of their families, is a cost that is rarely considered those eager for war.  And yet, I further believe that there are some who do not believe it is ever justified to take a human life, and that that conviction in conscience must be respected by the government, and that those of such a mind cannot in justice be forced to bear arms.  That conviction in conscience, however, should not exempt those individuals from their duty to assist in the defense of their country through a humanitarian or medical role.  I believe that we have a responsibility to support our government by paying our just taxes, and that it is a violation of the virtue of patriotism to dishonestly avoid that responsibility.  I believe that as a people we are not exempt from the divine commandment of charity to our neighbors in need, and that we still have the responsibility to care for them either personally or through religious communities, or charitable institutions.  However, I believe that it is beyond the financial capabilities of individual and community groups to care for the fifteen percent or more of the national population, not as equally blessed by the Creator as are the majority of the population, either mentally, psychiatrically, or physically, and among them the honest poor and who are not employable for many reasons.   I believe that they have a right to a dignified and respectable living and that the government has the obligation to make that possible, as the elected instrument of the people, on whom that responsibility ultimately falls.

I believe that at various times in history when there are catastrophes affecting whole populations and causing them to migrate to other lands, as is happening today throughout the world, neighboring countries have the responsibility to realize that controlling mass movement of destitute and starving peoples cannot be expected to move in orderly fashion across borders while people are desperate to stay alive and keep their families from starvation.  I believe that they can a blessing  especially when they fill a vast void in a country’s labor market, and are for the most part paying taxes.  They then become an important asset to the host country.  I believe that among them there will always be a miinoity, who are not employed or are not paying taxes, and are a burden, but they should not be held responsible for a country’s  massive debts or deficits, and that the responsibilities for that problem should be faced honestly and laid at the doorstops of the sixty-two percent of the biggest corporations, according to the Government Accounting Office, that have not paid taxes in the last five years, and the forty million business people, according to the Internal Revenue Service, who have avoided paying taxes in the last three years. I believe that all countries should be, and most have been, responsive to the needs of people suffering from natural disasters.

I believe as a Christian that all human beings on the face of this earth are brothers and sisters, and that no matter what country we belong to, most are decent people, trying hard to live decent lives. I believe that each country’s leaders should not prejudge other countries as friends or enemies, and treat them accordingly.  I believe that we should make every effort to reach out to establish friendly relations with all countries, and let the relationships unfold through the natural course of events.  All relationships are difficult and such must be expected, but with prudent persistence and strength, most obstacles between countries can be overcome, as each country has needs that their leaders must eventually face and realize that they can be met only with the help of friendly countries.

As a Christian I believe that most criminal justice systems are short-sighted and destroy more people than they help, and rather than be Christian in the way they treat inmates, they are no more creative in their solutions to critical community problems than would be expected in a totally pagan country.  It is fiercely denied but yet it is true, that penalties for crimes, even non-violent crimes, and those involving drug and alcohol abuse are vindictive, and not crafted for rehabilitation, and have destroyed the potentially productive lives of tens of thousands of young people who were first imprisoned many years ago as teenagers, and are still in prison.  As a Christian I believe we should make every attempt to rehabilitate perpetrators especially of non-violent crimes, so they can be taught how to live as productive citizens in their communities.  I believe that the death penalty is evil because it attempts to deny God jurisdiction over the life of beings he has made with infinite love.  I believe that no government has the right to take life, as the government receives its authority from the people and people have no jurisdiction over life so they cannot give to the government a power that they do not possess.  Only the one who creates life can take life.  And in executing a person the state denies God the right to continue his work of salvation in that person.  That is one of the few direct sins against God himself, and those who vote to supposedly give the state the power to execute are also guilty of each execution.

I believe that abortion is evil, as it destroys a human life, and can in no way be justified, even though tragic circumstances often lead a person to precipitously make a panic decision to terminate a pregnancy.  I believe that abortion is responsible, and has been responsible in other countries, for a drastic drop in the native population, and for a severe shortage of labor, especially skilled labor and as such is a threat to the economy and the national defense.  I also believe it is possible for an elected official to be opposed to abortion, while still believing that it is not feasible to continually struggle to overturn the abortion law.  I believe that it is the responsibility of the clergy to persistently teach the evil of abortion and that having failed in that responsibility in the past, it is a strange anomaly  for the clergy, after having failed in their responsibility, to now force that responsiblity on the government. That responsibility still rests on the clergy, since the present law does not mandate or force people to have an abortion but places the responsibility on the individuals and the doctors.

I believe that as Christians and as citizens we have a responsibility to use our gifts, talents and resources not just for ourselves and for our families but to act as the heart of God in sharing with others the riches he has given to each of us, so that after our lives in this world, the lives of many others as well as the world itself will be more richly blessed because we have passed through here.

As intelligent beings, we exist for a purpose, each having a personal destiny.  Our lives, therefore, must be governed by moral principles.  As Christians who have committed our lives to Jesus, we have taken upon ourselves the added responsibility of not living according to human values or personal interest, but to embrace the model that Jesus set forth for us, a model which is far above what is merely human, a way that he expressed when he said, “Come, follow me, for I am the way, the truth, and the Light.”  As his followers every aspect of our life should be guided by his teachings, and no aspect of our life is exempt from those principles. Our actions, public and private, even our thought life, and the voluntary desires of our hearts, must be modeled after the beauty of Jesus’ life, his thoughts and his feelings towards God, towards people and towards all God’s creation.  This is not easy, and progress in following Jesus’ example will always be painstakingly slow and faltering, as we have committed ourselves to follow a way of life that is often contrary to human inclinations, as well as contrary to human values.  But, success in following Jesus is not measured by perfect adherence, but by endless struggle, in spite of continual failings.

Since our commitment to Jesus encompasses not just our own personal life, but our social life, and our public life, we have a responsibility to develop for ourselves a system of values compatible with our fidelity to Jesus’ teachings.  This applies also to the political world, since for Christians, Jesus’ principles must translate into their political philosophy as well, if their Christian committment is to be authentic. This leads logically to a Christian Political Manifesto, which will be tomorrow’s message.

Lately, I am becoming more and more aware of how many people are suffering horrible anxiety.  My heart goes out to them because it anxiety attacks are extremely difficult to cope with, and they just keep coming waves.  I suppose for the most part it’s a problem that comes from maturity and having experienced so much in life.  So many new things remind us of old happenings and we immediately see the dark side and the problems involved, and the negative things that can result.  Or old problems still haunt us, and even though they are only fantasies, they stir up emotions and bring on panic attacks. 

A famous spiritual writer, Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, discusses this and similar problems in a letter to one of the persons he counseled.  It is worthwhile sharing what he has to say, “The trouble is… the fact that you cling so fast to these doubts and fears.  You concentrate upon them too much, instead of ignoring them and casting yourself upon God in utter self-abandonment, as I have consistently exhorted you for so long past.  Only through this holy and happy self-abandonment can you ever enjoy an enduring peace full of perfect trust in God, through Jesus Christ.  Yet, once again, what do you have to fear in this self-surrender especially after so many plain signs of God’s great mercy to you? You seek for conscious support in yourself, and in your works and conscience, as if they provide more assurance and stronger support than God’s mercy and Jesus Christ’s merits, and under the assumption that these cannot lead you astray. 

“When we reach the lowest depths of our nothingness, we can have no kind of trust in ourselves, nor in any way rely upon our works, for in these are to be found only wretchedness, self-love, and corruption.  Such complete distrust and utter scorn of the self is the one source from which originate those delightful consolations of souls wholly surrendered to God – their unalterable peace, their blessed joy, and their unshakeable trust in none but God. Would that you knew the gift of God, the reward and the merit and the power and the peace, the blessed assurances of salvation that are hidden in this abandonment; then would you soon be rid of all your fears and anxieties!”

While his thoughts seem rather heavy because we don’t speak like that today, his insistence on abandonment of our lives to God has deep meaning.  People who have come close to God, and have developed an intimacy with God, know the peace and joy that comes from that intimacy.  This intimacy brings with it such a comfortable feeling by being in God’s presence, turning your life over to God, or abandonment of oneself to God, as he words it, is not something morbid or depressing, but a natural response that comes from the realization of your intimacy with God, and with Jesus.  Worries, fears and anxieties dissolve when you feel God’s embrace.

I believe in God, Who existed from all eternity, and who created the universe, which reflects His goodness, benevolence and awesome majesty.  I believe that from the mind of God comes forth the perfect image of Himself and shares fully the divine nature: the divine intelligence and divine love.  This Image of God also exists from all eternity.  God we call the Father, and the Image of God we call the Son or the Word of God.  I believe that from the ineffable love between the Father and the Son proceeds a perfect gift of love, a gift so perfect that it contains all that there is in God, even His existence, and that Gift of love we call the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, co-eternal and co-equal in every way with the Father and the Son.

I believe that the Son of God came to us from heaven and by the power of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, fully human in every way except sin.  I believe that, as Jesus, the eternal Son of God, and son of Mary, he existed as one Person with a divine nature and a human nature.  I believe he became one of us so, as Son of God and Son of man, he could act in our behalf and take upon himself the burden of our sins, and the sins of the human race from Adam and Eve until the end of time.  I believe that he was crucified, died for our sins and after three days revealed his resurrection, and ascended into heaven.  I believe in the baptism he gave us as a channel of divine life into our souls with the promise that if we followed his law of love, we could, after our life in this world, live with him in heaven.  I believe that he gave us the Church as his living presence among us until the end of time, and as the channel of his divine life through the sacraments.  I believe that he sent the Holy Spirit to guide the Church until the end of time, and that the Church would never fail to communicate to all generations the full teachings of Jesus in their integrity until the end of time. I believe that the power and teaching authority of the apostles has been passed on to their successors, whom we call bishops, by the imposition of hands and the communicating of the Holy Spirit, in the same way to each succeeding generation.

I believe in the Holy Eucharist as the living presence of Jesus, and as the most beautiful gift that he gave us, and in doing so created a new type of presence that we cannot fully understand, but which he intended as a comfort and joy to all of us.  I believe that as he chose, as the Good Shepherd, to embrace sinners, we should be careful in forbidding sinners to be embraced by the Good Shepherd.

I believe that Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that his Church would always be one, as evidence of his unity with the Church, and as evidence of the mission he received from his heavenly Father.  I believe that it was not Jesus’ will that that unity should be broken and that we must continue to strive to heal the rift that has taken place, so his Church can again be one.  I believe that the disunity is not pleasing to Jesus, but that the lives of sincere individuals professing their faith in Jesus in the various communities, are pleasing to God, if they are living in good faith and living good lives.

I believe that the Church is, always was, and always will be, the mystical body of the Christ, with Jesus as the head and we the members, and that as brothers and sisters, each of us has a special gift to offer to the health and growth of the body of Jesus on earth.  I believe that Mary, as the Virgin Mother of the Son of God, has a privileged place in the mystical body of the Lord, and as Jesus worked his first miracle through her intercession, so his Mother, as the Mother of his mystical body as well, has a personal maternal relationship to each one of us.

I believe that Jesus has planned that his Church should be the leaven of society, and of our civilization, causing the whole human civilization to rise to new and exalted levels because of its influence in the world.  I believe that the Church is responsible for the whole human family, as potential if not present members of the mystical body, and that the Church sees the human family not as individual nations with illusionary borders, but all as one family, with personal ties and responsibilities to one another, and for whom no one is a stranger, but all are brothers and sisters.  I believe that no one is an enemy, but just an estranged brother or sister, and that every effort should be made, with care and great prudence, to heal wounds and bring God’s children together so we can learn to live in peace and harmony.  I believe that in every country there will be those specially gifted by God with material wealth and talents, and that these gifts are intended to be used to aid and better the lives of those among us less gifted, so that those who are gifted become the hands and heart of Jesus himself caring for the less fortunate members of his mystical body.  I believe that the poor who will always be too great a number for individuals to care for must be cared for by the people through the government they empowered to represent them in administering the defense and welfare of the people, so that all may share in the rich largesse of God’s gifts.  I believe that the poor are not to be looked down upon or demeaned by the gifted, but to be appreciated as a sacred treasure, which will one day richly bless our nation when we have learned to treat them as God intended.

I believe that there are angels, spirits without bodies, whom God has created for happiness and who live in his presence and who act as his messengers, and whom he has assigned to be our companions and guardians during our pilgrimage here on earth.

I believe that our parents and friends and loved ones, whom God has taken home, as well as the glorious saints of the past, are still alive and aware and real, and that they are still concerned about our welfare, and that there is a special bond among us, making it possible for us to share our love and prayers and concerns, and receive their support in our need.

I believe that all of us as God’s children will be saved by our faith in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, but also by our loving one another and caring for one another, and that we do not go to God alone but as caring members of one another’s family.

I believe that at the end of our lives, as we stand before Jesus as our Judge, our eternal salvation will be determined by the love and care we showed to the poor, the hungry, the naked, the sick, the lonely, the imprisoned, and those who came to us as refugees from starvation and destitution.  I also believe that the Judge will say to us, “The sins you committed are forgiven because you loved much and cared deeply for others in their need, so enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of time.”

I believe that in heaven we will be united with all our loved ones and those who have been a comfort and inspiration to us here on earth, and will live with God forever in eternal joy.

Even though we may have been taught by our parents how we should examine our consciences, when we get older, we usually become more creative and base our self-examination on what is really important to each of us. 

Once we encounter Jesus, our whole life’s vision changes.  God is the center of our existence. The world and the universe is his creation and his gift to us to be appreciated and cared for with respect.  All the peoples of the earth are his children and we are all his family.  Races and nations and nationalities are illusions created by humans to separate peoples, where some are friends and most are strangers.  These categories to a Christian are meaningless, as we are all brothers and sisters in God’s family, and no one can be considered a stranger or excluded from my love. The plants and animals have been given to us as gifts from a loving God, and we must treat them with respect.  Even the inanimate world is a gift to be contemplated and appreciated for its intrinsic value and for what it reflects to us about our Creator, and also for how it can be understood and explored and managed for the good of the human family.

What is temptation?  Basically, it is a distraction from the reality of God, and an enticement towards an illusion of something good, or more pleasant than a boring or painful reality.  It offers a substitute for reality, and although temporary and imaginary, it has the effect of convincing a person that the reality of God and intimacy with God are illusions.  When life becomes too much of a disappointment, the temptation to escape the real world can be attractive, and when a person gives in to the temptation, gradually the illusory world and the illusory god become in the imagination more and more real, in proportion to the real God and the real world fading into unreality.  That is at the basis of every temptation, a enticement to wander from God, because he is becoming an obstacle to our possessing a desired and false illusion of good.  That is the fundamental decision that everyone of us at some time in our lives has to make: to love God and developed an intimacy with God, or convince ourselves that God is an illusion, so we can replace him and his love for a god of our own creation, a god who satisfies our need for an escape from reality.   And that is what Satan tried to do with Jesus when Jesus spent the forty days of retreat before  he began his public ministry.  The temptations were enticements to illusions of what could appear good, power and what he craved, after his long fast, satisfying food. 

As humans we have a mind, a body and a soul.  Each of those parts of us has to be nourished.  As there is food for the body, so there is food for the mind and food for the soul.   How we feed out bodies will greatly affect our body’s health.  How we feed our mind, affects our mental and emotional health, and how we feed our soul will determine our spiritual health.

There are many people who go through their whole life and never think to nourish their soul, as if the soul just happens to take care of itself.  But that is sad, because if our soul is not fed, we can become spiritually insensitive to the living reality of the spiritual world, and miss so much of life that could have been a most vital and exciting part of our whole existence.  To a person devoid of knowledge of the spiritual world, a religious person is an oddity, as if the person for some uncanny reason just got ‘hooked on religion,’ and is the kind or person to be avoided or not to be taken seriously.

Even good people, and people who consider themselves religious, often find it difficult encountering a person who takes his or her religion seriously.  As one person said tome one day, “Your problem is, and no disrespect to you, Father, but you take religion too seriously and lose contact with the real world.  You try to be too perfect.”  And yet people who know me well tell me that the reason people like my books is that they are so down to earth, and show a earthy understanding of people.

A friend I was corresponding with recently upset me greatly because she had expressed what I felt was a scary disillusion with life, and with people and with religion.  Her god now was the energy force behind all of the universe, the rainbows in sky, the beauty of nature, and her friends were the hurting people.  I felt a sadness for her because from my knowledge of her and the difficulties she experienced in life, she had become very bitter, and I could feel the anger against society and religion and clergy.  Living with all that baggage for so long lead her finally to dump the whole thing, and move to a far away exotic island where she eventually created her own god that she could be comfortable with.  She had been feeding her soul, and she ultimately was becoming what was nourishing her spiritual life.  

 We all have horrible experiences in our lives.  I had a friend, a Polish priest, who had been arrested by the Nazi storm troopers right after his first Mass and was sent to Dachau, that brutal concentration camp, where he almost died.  Miraculously, the American army came an hour earlier than expected and saved the twenty-thousand inmates from execution.  After the war, the priest came to America, and was not treated nicely by bishops or fellow priests, and depended on me for help and friendship for the rest of his life.  Most of his life as a priest he was used as a chaplain in hospitals, which was very difficult for him as he had horrible pains in his legs. He was a good, holy priest, and fed his soul on inspiring reading, which took his mind off the poor treatment he was receiving from his colleagues.  This healthy reading and praying saved him from becoming bitter, and he was always a beautiful, gentle soul, very caring of others, especially the sick.  The doctors in the hospitals respected him immensely, especially when they noticed that when he prayed over some one seriously ill, they often recuperated, and on a number of occasions, when he prayed over a person who had just died, to the doctors’ shock, the person suddenly revived. 

That priest never showed the slightest bitterness, and was one of the holiest people I have ever met.  He fed his soul daily on the kind of reading that helped him to rise above the harshness of life and maintain a steady and intimate relationship with God.  Always faithful to his daily meditations and prayers and his daily Mass, God must have held him very close to His Heart, and it showed in the beauty of his life, and the gentle way he treated people.  We become like the food that nourishes us.

It is easy to water down the meaning of Lent, and avoid involving ourselves in the real work of this special season of grace.  Lent is supposed to provide us with a unique portion of our Church year to prepare ourselves for the coming mystery of our redemption.  We can take these awesome gifts of Jesus too lightly, and trade real solid exercises in spiritual growth and development for petty nonsense practices, and pass them off as Lenten resolutions. 

The purpose of Lent is to draw closer to Jesus. Before we can do that, we have to recognize that there are a myriad of obstacles to a more intimate relationship with Jesus.  For some, those obstacles may be serious sins, whereby we misuse people for our own pleasure, or misuse food or drink, or have an obsessive need for money or power.  Anger, hatred, injustice, or dishonesty, or a need for revenge, or a mean-spirited attitude towards others of God’s children are serious obstacles to a more intimate relationship with Jesus.  If we just give up candy or dessert what does that accomplish if are hearts are spiritually sick.  Lent gives us a chance to focus on why we are not good disciples of the loving Lord, whom we have followed to follow and imitate.

And ignorance of Jesus is a very serious obstacle to intimacy with God.  So often we assume that God must feel the way we feel about things and about people, so what is there that I have to change in my life.  I’m already okay.  I used to see that so often in counseling married couples.  I was astounded at how many people say, “There’s nothing wrong with me.  If they don’t like me the way I am that’s their problem.”  I am still shocked at how common that attitude is, and it is really a sickness that comes from an almost total ignorance of one’s self.  It is again an attitude that makes any spiritual growth impossible, because if the person is already perfect, what hope is there for that person.

Getting to know Jesus is so important if we are going to grow.  Not knowing Jesus means we have no mirror in which to see ourselves in comparison to the image of Jesus reflected to us when we learn about him. So, spending a few minutes each day meditating on Jesus’ life is a good Lenten practice. By the end of Lent we will have a much better understanding of Jesus, and how he thinks and feels, and we also have a much better idea of areas in our life that need changing, so we can conform at least a little better to the model Jesus sets for us.

In this way our Lent will be more like the exercises of an Olympian athlete rather than the exercise of a checker player to keep in shape.

I always wondered what value there is to fasting, and why it was always recommended by the Church.  When I was a teenager in the seminary, I did fasting and all the other things that saints were good at, and never thought about what intrinsic value there might have been to those things.  I never think of whatever they were way back then, but all I remember is that they were good exercises in discipline.  I had such control I was like in training for the Olympics, but all those practices have long since gone by the wayside.

Jesus fasted for forty days, and I wonder what Jesus got out of fasting.  He certainly didn’t need it, but he had to have some kind of motive for it.  One thing it does do is sharpen your thinking ability as long as you don’t overdo the fasting.  Your mind can concentrate better when you are trying to meditate, as you are not inclined drift off to sleep so easily.  So, maybe Jesus felt he had to fast to discipline his human faculties for the long period of prayerful contemplation and communication with his Father.

Recently, with all the news about the tragedy in Haiti, and all the suffering there, I felt a bit guilty enjoying the nice life here, and I thought of fasting.  Then, I asked myself what does fasting accomplish? It certainly doesn’t do anything for the people in Haiti.  Then I thought, “Well, God does appreciate our gestures of goodwill, as insignificant as they might be, and Jesus did say that his disciples would fast after he left, and he does reward us for our little gestures of penance and good will, so I’m sure there is value in God’s eyes.”  So, after supper, when I usually eat three cookies, now I eat only two.  Big deal!  I eat breakfast, and then I eat supper, and nothing in between, so I can’t do much there.  And I can’t even feel proud that I’m doing something great, so I hope my simple little gesture is worth something.  Nothing we ever do is worth much, but it’s the gesture of goodwill that has value to God, and every little gesture responds to what Saint Paul once said, “We must fill up in our own bodies the sufferings that are lacking in Christ.” Now there’s a mystery to try to figure out!  How could anything be lacking in Christ’s sufferings, except that we are members of Jesus’ mystical body, and as members of his body, we too must share in his sufferings, and in the process help Jesus save souls that might not be otherwise be saved if we didn’t unite our sufferings and our prayers with his.

So, thank God he appreciates our littleness, and magnifies the value of the simple little things we do in Jesus’ name.    Well, for past two hours I had been thinking what I could write tonight, and when I finally started typing, it’s nothing like what I had been thinking about for two hours.     

Some people complain about the poor “having televisions and a car and drink beer and liquor and eat well because of food stamps.  They ridicule the poor who have these amenities.  What more do they want for doing nothing?  If they weren’t so damn lazy from drinking and watching TV, and got a job and amounted to something, they could have what they’re always complaining they don’t have.”

These individuals have never been in the houses of many poor people, especially in the winter.  Often their houses are cold in the winter, and stifling in the hot weather.  Their children are often sick, much more often than others who are better off.  Their child mortality rate is significantly higher, 2.5 times more likely than other babies to die before their first birthday.  This is due to many causes, poor prenatal care, age of the mothers, inadequate living conditions, cut in federal programs to assure better care for infants as well as other factors. And these problems are not just among blacks, but are similar for the poor whatever their color, most of whom are, surprisingly, white.

 Many people think poor people should be grateful they got it so good.  In reality they are ashamed the way they have to live.  Whether they are black or white, the poor have a very difficult time bettering their lives.  They try.  I know.  I have tried to help them, but it is so frustrating when you find out how many ignorant and bigoted Christians there are.  I encountered so much prejudice, I have to admit, it was about the only thing in my life where I gave up trying.  And another big reason why the poor have a problem getting ahead, is that they have little chance for higher education and, which the comfortable could never understand.  Most have not finished high school and for a very simple reason.  Ordinary persons have no idea how humiliating it is for a poor person who does not have nice clothes or does not speak as nicely as other children whose educated parents teach their children how to speak well. It is most embarrassing for a poor child who cannot speak well to have to answer a question or to have to talk about a topic in class.  I’ll never forget how ashamed I was when I was taking graduate French at a university with French speaking students and I had to talk to the professor and answer questions in French. One lady in the class was a Spanish princess, a nun who spoke perfect French. We were friends and I was so embarrassed. To make it more humiliating, the professor insisted that I pronounce my words with impeccable French timbre and intonation.  Ever since then I could understand why poor kids give up school early.  It is too shameful an experience for them.  And not only is school a humiliating experience for them, even finding a place to live is humiliating.  I know there are many compassionate and understanding people working in federal programs, but you would be shocked at the sick minds of some federal poverty officials who in their hearts despise the poor, (yet make their living on them) and invalidate federal laws by substituting their own personal demands as requirements for aid, or housing.

 So, before we ridicule and demonize the poor, we should look at ourselves and at our motives and try to understand how we can make such snap judgments about the poor when we don’t have the slightest understanding why fifty million people, mostly white, have such a difficult time getting out of poverty.  Thirty million of them have an IQ below 80.  How many would you hire to work for you if they had an IQ that low?  “And we begrudge them such petty things like beer and cigarettes, and whatever else that we find fault over.  Just be grateful to God that he doesn’t ask an accounting for all the gifts he has given to us and how much of what he has blessed us with that we have wasted on personal pleasures, and kept for ourselves, and lived lavishly when he intended that we share what he has given us with those who are hurting.  Who’s cheap, and who’s selfish, and who wastes God’s gifts?  And when we finish living, we may give God some of the leftovers of our life, carefully measured, of course, because we don’t want to waste what we could give to our kids, or spend on our funeral.   Who are the good-for-nothings in God’s eyes?  My father taught us, “When you go before God, he is not going to ask you, ‘How much did you make, but how much did you give away?’”