Author: Pat Liberty

Dear Mr. Trump:

Happy New Year. In the coming year I continue to hold you in prayer. As the leader of the free world, the pressure of making good decisions for the world is heavy upon your shoulders. There are three prayers I offer for you.

First, I pray you learn the value of listening. All the great spiritual teachers of the world’s religions speak to the power of listening. We have much to learn from others. Always. Mr. Trump, I believe you could learn from climate scientists and others who speak to the need for environmental protections and immediate action to curb emission of greenhouse gases. You can deny climate change is real, but you would do well to listen to those who know a great deal about this important topic. Our planet depends on it.

I also believe you would benefit from listening to humanitarian workers from around the world who work in areas of privation and need as a result of wars we have participated in or begun. I am not commenting on the veracity of those wars, that is a letter for another time. However, as we teeter close to the edge of another war that is of our making, I recommend you listen to those voices sooner rather than later. I am praying you have the wisdom to listen to those who are suffering.

Listening to voices other than those who agree with us opens us to different opinions and understandings. It is crucial to our growth as human beings and our decision making as leaders. We always stand to learn something from those whose views differ from our own. I prayer you will learn to listen.

Second, I pray you will learn the rich truths of the Judeo Christian tradition. These are not the views of the white evangelicals who are the loudest voices around you. They are a political voting block with conservative values that could turn back human rights and women’s rights for decades. You carry water for them as you appoint conservative judges who will do your bidding and make promises in return for their vote. This has nothing to do with Christianity; it is political theater pure and simple.

The teachings of Scripture are grounded in peace, love and justice for all. Sure, there are wars aplenty and lots of violence. Those stories, however, require an understanding of biblical history to interpret faithfully. I am available to tutor you in biblical literacy. I hope you will take me up on my offer. It gives me great joy to open the eyes of others to the richness of Scripture. I depend on a large number of biblical scholars to inform my teaching and assure that I am not only listening to the voices in my own head.

Finally, Mr. Trump, I pray you will strengthen your moral conscience. I don’t believe your moral conscience is the dominant voice of your words and actions, but it can be. Through listening, prayer and study you can be guided by the Spirit to deeds that please God and make the world a better place.

We live in a global society. What we do affects the rest of the world. The United States cannot be an island unto itself. The world desperately needs the United States to put people before profits, oil, border walls and so many other things to which you give your time and energy.

It is time we stopped measuring how well the economy is doing by the wealthiest Americans. The economy is not working for those who have two or three minimum wage jobs and still live with food scarcity. Your proposal to cut SNAP benefits means more Americans will go hungry or live with food scarcity. The ripple effect of such a decision is far beyond what can be stated here. In brief, those ripples will be found in increased health care costs as chronic diseases are aggravated by poor nutrition, increased work absenteeism and more Americans living with food scarcity.

The United States, with its vast resources, is able to alleviate so much human suffering.  As the richest country in the world, where less than ten people control a staggering amount of the world’s wealth, this is morally unacceptable. Instead we contribute to it through these morally bankrupt policies.

Mr. Trump, I pray for you, that you will learn to listen, mine the treasures of the Judeo Christian tradition and strengthen your moral conscience.

Happy New Year! I begin this year with great gratitude to each of you who read and support theirreverentreverend.blog.  By reading and sharing with your friends, subscriptions are growing and Facebook support is increasing. Since having to retire several years ago due to illness, this is now my primary ministry. It is a privilege to share my thoughts with you each week. Thank you for reading.

Your feedback for the daily posts in November and December was heartening. I so enjoyed choosing music and quotes and writing reflections to share with you each day. I wish I could do it all the time! However, that would take me away from some other writing projects; I have a few books I am working on and hope to finish in 2020. Stay tuned, you will be among the first to know when they are finished.

Another highlight of the Advent Season was following the alternative Advent calendar I published early in December. I admit it was not in the most user friendly format, so I will make some changes for next year that will make it more accessible.

Our household gathered a total of $146.20. It will go to the Rhode Island Fuel Assistance Fund, a resource that helps low income families stay warm through the winter when they are unable to pay their heating bills.

Admittedly the two biggest ticket items for me were shoes and books. Both are a tremendous weakness.  I never met a pair of heels I didn’t want to wear or a book I didn’t want to buy. Of course buying a book and reading a book…well, you know.

Another interesting observation from the month long exercise is that I didn’t truly miss the amount of cash I put in each day. I still had money in my wallet to buy food and the few gifts I exchange each year. I am a little embarrassed by this realization. What I intended to be an exercise in giving generously turned out to be a reinforcement of the privilege that is mine simply by the luck of birth and the color of my skin. I still have some serious pondering to do on this one.

There are two examples that highlight my point. First, sports shoes. I have more than one pair of sneakers and I imagine many of you do too.  When production costs began to rise in the United States, factories went overseas. Demand for just wages and benefits sent manufacturers looking for cheaper labor markets.

Several decades ago Taiwan and South Korea led the world’s production of sports shoes. Low wages, non-existent benefits and worker repression assured cheap production costs while high purchase prices for products made for record breaking profits for the companies. When Taiwanese and South Korean labor markets gained strength, multinational corporations shifted production to cheaper labor markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Today China leads the world in production of shoes in general and sports shoes in particular. According to Corporation Watch, China’s mass unemployment, low wages and lack of enforcement of labor laws and standards keep production costs low. The state run All China Federation of Trade Unions supports the collusion of factory management structures and local governments whose interests lie in attracting foreign capital and assuring massive profits.  These colluding forces keep unions out and exploit laborers.

Nike, Asics, Puma and Reebok are only examples of the corporations that participate in what I call the round robin production and exploitation plan. Corporations and governments win. Workers lose.

In a similar way, increasing demand for smart technology changed the face of production several times over the last few decades. Currently, the largest producer of smart technologies is India, with China a close second. In 2014 annual production in India was 3 million. In 2017 it was 11 million.

As demand increases, manufacturers vie for market share by changing production venues and negotiating contracts favorable to profits but not to workers.  Samsung quit Chinese production when contracts expired. LG ceased production in Korea to go to Vietnam where a more “favorable” manufacturing contract was “negotiated.” The abrupt arrival and departure of manufacturing plants creates additional hardship for workers as major sources of employment evaporate.

What both these examples have in common is the commitment to maximum profits and the absence of any social conscience for just working conditions for laborers. Ongoing high demand for products and shifting market nuances keep the production processes circulating through poor countries, entering and exiting as contracts are forged and eventually expire.

The exploitation of labor markets to assure astronomical profit requires trade agreements that depend on government collusion in both production and marketing.

It is more than troubling to see how we unwittingly participate in the global injustice of it all. After all, it’s just a pair of sneakers. After all, I am due for an upgrade on my smart phone.

Take a moment and count the money from your Advent bank and decide which charity will receive it!

Blessings to you all.

Thank you for making the Advent journey with me.

Click Here to Listen

Children run joyfully,

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains to sing.

Pray to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.

Shepherds stood watching

Keeping their sheep

And suddenly angels appeared

Don’t be afraid

We bring you great joy

Your savior is born this night

Children run joyfully

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains to sing.

Prayer to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.

And this will be a sign to you,

a baby will lie in a manger

In the city of David

in Bethlehem

Go now, visit your lord.

Children run joyfully

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains sing.

Pray to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.

I am your friend and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you which have not, but there is much, very much, that while I cannot give it, you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today.  Take Heaven!

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.  Take Peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet without our reach is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see-and to see we have only to look.  I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by the covering cast them away as ugly, or heavy or hard.  Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power.

Welcome it, grasp it, touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you.  Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.  Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full of meaning of purpose, so full of beauty-beneath its covering-that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.

Courage, then, to claim it, that is all.  But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are all pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home.

And so, at this time, I greet you.  Not quite as the world sends greetings, but with profound esteem and with the prayer that for you now and forever, the day breaks, and the shadows flee away.

This letter was written by Fra Giovanni Giocondo to his friend, Countess Allagia Aldobraneschi on Christmas Eve, 1513.

To Listen Click Here

My life flows on in endless song

above earth’s lamentation.

I hear the real, though far off hymn

That hails the new creation.

Above the tumult and the strife,

I hear the music ringing.

It sounds an echo in my soul,

How can I keep from singing?

What though the tempests loudly roars

I hear the truth it liveth.

What though the darkness round me close

Songs in the night it giveth

No storm can shake my inmost calm

while to that rock I’m clinging.

Since lord of heaven and earth

How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble sick with fear,

and hear their death knell ringing,

when friends rejoice both far and near

How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon

Our though to them are winging

When friends by shame are undefiled

How can I keep from singing?

My life flows on in endless song

above earth’s lamentation.

I hear the real though far off hymn

that hails a new creation.

Above the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing.

It sounds an echo in my soul,

how can I keep from singing?

Joy is a powerful force in human life. It is unrelated to happiness, though we tend to forget this at times.  I have nothing against happiness; in fact I am a big fan. The problem is that, as Frederick Beuchner notes, happiness is so fickle. Happiness is often dependent on external circumstances.  When these circumstances change our happiness often changes too.

On the other hand, joy is of stronger stuff.  It is not dependent on the external circumstances of life. It is rooted deep within, where we find the Divine who lives in us all. Deep within we also find our most authentic selves. We discover our true identity as beloved children of God and our true place in the world as the unique and unrepeatable human beings we are.

This self-awareness and deep connection to self and to the Divine is the root of joy. This is the foundation, and all true joy is built on this.

We know that the things we can put our hands on will not bring us joy, though they may bring us temporary moments of happiness. For example, I would be happy if someone decided to give me a new BMW this Christmas. I know, however, that it would not bring me joy.

Joy comes when the authentic in me reaches the authentic in you and we form a relationship that is beyond superficial.  It is the meaning of the word “Namaste.” It means that the holy in me greets the holy in you.

Joy comes when we know in our bones that whatever situation we find ourselves in will not finally define us, because our true identity is given to us by the Holy One. We may lose our money, lose our jobs, lose our health, lose our stature in the community, but we will never lose our stature as God’s beloved. As James Wellman wrote, “Joy is best sown on broken ground.”

Joy is deepened when what we desire for ourselves becomes our deepest desire for the people of the world.  Joy can never exist in the vacuum of our own little world. When we dream God’s dream for the world, it is filled with joy that is beyond happiness.

The joy of this season is in receiving a fuller glimpse of God through the One who comes to make God known. We are invited to go deeper in our lives to discover the holy within so we might recognize the holy around us.

May the true joy of this season be yours…and may it continue to hold you into the days that are to come.

One of the things about doing the same thing for forty years is that people who are just beginning their careers look about twelve.

I am pretty much over my doctor looking like the female equivalent of Doogie Houser. I had forgotten that the pastor who cares for my Connecticut family looks only slightly older than an altar boy, until he showed up at the hospital waiting room as my aunt, cousin and I twiddled our thumbs, read, worried and paced during the long hours of my uncle’s surgery.

He quietly pulled up a chair and settled into our reminiscing about the first Easter egg hunt held at our house when all the children of my generation were between 4 and 7. It is the stuff of family legend.

The conversation meandered through the weather, current events and the price of gas. It usually came back to some story that defined the funky group of people that make up my family.

It is the kind of conversation people have about the past when they are afraid there might not be a future, and the present is a little too much to take in big doses.  This young pastor sipped his coffee and smiled, listened and gathered the stories of my family into his keeping.

When he was ready to leave, he asked us to pray together.  We huddled close in the din of the waiting room where other families were telling their stories and he prayed, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it…your light shines in this place and we thank you.”

I’m not sure what he said after that.  His words exploded with the assurance that while we were stumbling around the darkness of that moment in a place none of us wanted to be, there was a presence holding us and helping us.

His words were a gift that transformed the moment…a reminder that no matter what happened it was going to be okay, because even if we didn’t know what the future held we knew who held not only the future but also that present moment.

It was the reminder I needed that “…light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (From John 1)

This verse suggests a role for us that we might otherwise overlook.  In our waiting, in our preparation, in our Advent presence, we are witnesses to the light.

Much of this season is marked by hopes for something bigger and better, something more than what we have, or at least something different.  For some of us it is a yearning for what used to be and is no more. For others of us it is an ache for what never was.  We all share a restless search for meaning and purpose in the midst of our days.  And like them we often seek it in places that will disappoint us: gifts under the tree, impossible wishes for what will never be and more.

The promise of the season is joy, and it is always bigger than the stuff of the moment. It’s not some cheesy BS that is synonymous with happiness. My favorite Christian apologist Frederick Beuchner writes, “Happiness turns up more or less where you’d expect it to…a good marriage, a rewarding job, a pleasant vacation.  It’s a wonderful thing. The problem is that it’s pretty fickle.” Much of the disappointment of this season comes when happiness disappoints us and we are left with what is and not what we wish for.

Joy is of much stronger stuff. It is not about what is happening in the moment, but who holds the moment.

The joy we so desperately crave is not found in what we create, in what we get or even in what we give, but in what we are promised.

Life is always bigger than this present moment. Our shared human existence has meaning and possibilities beyond our present experiences.

The moment may, in fact, be a train wreck.  But the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not, and will not, overcome it.

To show compassion for an individual

without showing concern for the structures

of society that make him an object of compassion

is to be sentimental rather than loving.

William Sloane Coffin