Cleveland Rocks?!

Well, how does a Pittsburgher respond to the news that the city of Cleveland experienced a magnitude 4.2 earthquake this morning?

Repent, repent, ye citizens of the 216!  It is not too late to change your evil ways, and pledge your fidelity to Da Burgh N 'at!  Forget Baker Mayfield -- Mayfield, Shmayfield! -- Da Burgh, Dem Stillers and Da Buccos, that's where it's at.  Join us in our noble history!  And, we have a pro hockey team!  The sports gods have spoken!  You have been judged and found guilty!  This small earthquake is just the beginning of your awakening!

Cleveland and Da Burgh have a mostly amicable and amiable sibling rivalry type of relationship, so I hope it was obvious the above paragraph was meant to be humorous.  Call-Outs And Shout-Outs is glad to hear there were no reports of injuries in the quake.  We want every Browns fan fit and feisty for football season!  It's not the same kicking the opponent's butt if the opponent's fans aren't there to watch!  (The same could be said for baseball interleague play, when the Indians kick the Pirate's butts.  Could be said, but I ain't sayin' it).

Ya gotta love Cleveland's spunk and sense of humor.  (You gotta, I don't gotta).

Working at The Plaza, I meet a lot of folks from Cleveland, and they are good folks with great senses of humor.  (Hey, ya gotta have to live in Cleveland!).  But seriously folks, this song says it all!

Walkin' On My Fightin' Side

I just had to read the news.  Just hours after my last post, and my umpteenth vow not to let a ninny turn on my Type A.  And then I read the damned news and saw this:

Grrrrr.

As can be seen in this article, thousands of people stepped forward to call out the Bishop, who presides over the Providence, Rhode Island diocese, including actresses Mia Farrow and Patricia Arquette.  And, as can be expected, so did Rhode Island Pride President Joe Lazzerini.  Their comments, and many others can be read in the above article as well as this one.  Now for my comments.

Bishop Tobin, let me ask you a few questions.  How many gay Catholics do you think are in your diocese?  How many of them contribute to your collection plate?  Do you take the roll and run down a sexual orientation list before you accept their money?  How is it that I saw no mention in your Twitter feed condemning places and occasions for true, harmful sins, like local bars, whose Happy Hours are notorious for extramarital hookups and other sexual misadventures?

Or the Catholic Church?  A grand jury said last year that the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up approximately 1,000 cases of sexual abuse by more than 300 priests.  You were Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh 1992-96.  So, you were aware of incidents of sexual abuse in the Pittsburgh Diocese, but didn't think it was your job to report them?   Whose job was it?   We are all mandatory reporters of child abuse!  What was God's answer when Cain asked if Cain was his brother Abel's keeper?  (Genesis 4:10).  For even if the blood of sexually abused children has not cried out to God, surely their hearts have, and I have no doubt He hears and answers them.

 "If anyone causes any of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, better a large millstone be hung around his neck, and be drowned in the depths of the sea."

-- Matthew 18:6

And for you, Bishop, and your ilk who believe being gay is a sin?  Well, I KNOW doing nothing while children are abused around you is a sin! 

 "You hypocrite!  First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see to take the speck out of your brother's eye."  -- Matthew 7:5

I wrote about my history with sexual abuse here, here, and here.  It is not a short, or a pretty story.  But, Bishop, I know whereof I speak.  I request that you close your mouth, and open your ears, that your heart might be enlarged.  Because I see no evidence that you respect gay people, as you say you do, nor do I see any evidence that you comprehend even a fraction of the enormity of damage done by your church, and yourself as an eye-shuttered enabler.  And Bishop, last year, you discontinued your Twitter feed because you found that Twitter was a major distraction, an obstacle to your spiritual life, and an "occasion of sin" for yourself and others.  But you decided in January to begin tweeting again.

I would suggest you reconsider that decision.  You were a little wiser last July.

Where Are You And I?

Are you all like me, growing ever more fed-up, irritable, world-weary, and anxious about the future?

One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”

God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.”

Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The man said, “I don’t understand.”

God smiled. "It is simple," he said, "Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While the greedy only think of themselves…"

-- The Parable Of The Long Spoons, attributed to Rabbi Haim of Romshishok, 

Lithuania

Something I've been meditating on, as I see conditions in this country and the world growing ever more dire, and as I reflect on my last post, my heart attitudes, and my own conduct.