Cabbages and Kings

The other day I was reading something about what it means to be a Texan. The writer said “I’ve been here 10 years so I guess that makes me a Texan.” I wanted to say, Oh, honey! Bless your heart! I was born in Austin in the 1950’s. I grew up in San Antonio through the 60’s and 70’s. Last night I watched a special about Willie Nelson. It reminded me of the Texas of my youth.  We were an people who were unwilling to be defined. We were not “the south”. We’d never even heard of “sweet tea” or Bucees!!  We understood that our relationship with Mexico was different than anyone else’s, because we used to be Mexico!! Texas history was a class required to graduate. (I was surprised to discover that other states don’t require their students to learn their state’s history. Who knew it was a Texas thing??) I hear people talk about Migrant Workers or Guest Workers. I remember people coming from Mexico to work. They would stay for a couple of years, send money back and then go back themselv...

I think we’ve lost an understanding of what the words “liberal” and “conservative” actually mean. So many different qualities have been added to these words to add a bias that the words don’t actual connote.  According to Webster: Liberal: Inclined to be open to ideas and ways of behaving that are not conventional or traditional. Marked by tolerance and freedom of the individual. Conservative: Tending or inclined to maintain existing views, conditions or institutions. Traditional. Marked by moderation or caution.  The power of this combination is formidable. It allows for both innovation and caution. The one pushing for change and new ideas while the other is calling for caution, careful evaluation and respect for traditional approaches.  Usually these two ideologies work well together when the people involved know they must compromise to move forward. If either one takes a hard line and won’t move, the power of this combination is lost.  The political world wants to...

This Christmas I entertained myself by trying to notice all the traditions surrounding the birth of Jesus that are not in the Bible. The story is really very unadorned. It tells some simple facts with no extra information. We embellish to add to the tragedy and drama of the story. The Easter story is similar. The bible is pretty straight forward and just states some facts. We have embellished it with lots of drama and gore.  These two stories seem to be the primary focus for the Christian faith. There are lots of people who only go to church for these two events. They even have a name - CEO Christians (Christmas and Easter Only).  I was working with some volunteers at a church sponsored fund raising event and mentioned one of Jesus’s parables. They had never heard of it and didn’t think it was in the Bible. Well, it was, and it started me thinking about why we focus on the beginning and end of the story and leave out the whole middle.  Luke has maybe 1 ½ chapters about th...

Why do Christians have to be conservatives?  Once I was talking to a preacher about his thoughts. He said, “But of course I’m a conservative.” I wondered at the time, why “of course”? I have learned since then how indoctrinated many Christian communities have become in the belief that conservative=godly and liberal=hedonism.  Even though I consider myself a liberal, I still feel the value judgements of those words.  But why? Was Jesus a conservative?  Conservative means people who want to hold on to tradition and who are reluctant to change. The dictionary offers orthodox, cautious and safe as other synonyms. But was that Jesus?  Jesus said repeatedly, “This is what you were taught, but now I’m telling you….”  His harshest words were for the religious leaders.  He stayed out of Roman politics, but jumped into Jewish politics with both feet and a whip.  Jesus was not just liberal, he was radical.  He was revolutionary.  He was so unsettli...

Here’s things that no one tells you.    *Not everyone loves being pregnant.  *Not everyone bonds with their baby in-utero.  *Sometimes pregnant women can feel like an alien has invaded their body.   Sometimes, not knowing this can really make an expectant mother feel inadequate. It causes worry that they won’t be able to love enough.   I have three children. With the first one I worried all the way through my pregnancy that I wasn’t going to have it in me to be a good mother. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to love him enough. I worried that I would never bond. I wondered what was wrong with me.    As soon as he was born, I fell totally in love. He was the center of our world. I couldn’t have loved him more.    The second time around was the same. I loved the older one so much, maybe I wouldn’t be able to make room for another baby. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to love her. I had the same worries the second time around.    But, w...

I have rules. 1. I never watch news. I only read news.  2. I use a news aggregator that allows you to prioritize news sources.  3. I stick with news sources that are judged center, but may lean slightly left or right. 4. I stick with news sources that are judged to report and analyze fact.   5. I avoid (like the plague) all news or fact check sites where links, that seem to be information are actually click-bait.  Ad Fontes Media is a media watchdog organization from Colorado. They have published a media bias chart, which judges sources on their bias and the accuracy of their reporting.  All Sides is another media watchdog site that pulls stories from all sides of the issue for comparison. They also have a media bias chart, but it only includes bias, not the reliability of the information.  Here is a list of media sources, selected for websites and articles, and eliminating those that are primarily TV, Video, Podcast and Audio. I started with...