Monthly Archives: March 2010

March 22, 2010 · 00:53

Background to “The Pacific” Part One: The Guadalcanal Campaign and the Beginning of Joint Operations

The Battle of Bloody Ridge

Note: This is the first of a series that I will post on the campaign in the Pacific. Some are older articles that I wrote for my Masters Degree program and others will be new material dealing with specific topics in this long neglected campaign. I was watching the second episode this evening and found it quite powerful…so much that I was in tears as the Marines of 1^st Marine Division and John Basilone came aboard the troop transport and went to the Mess Deck. I have served with the Marines for around six years including with Marine advisers in Iraq and been the Chaplain for the USS HUE CITY which is named after the Battle of Hue City. I love the Marines and this series has touched me already. I hope everyone watches it on HBO.

The Guadalcanal Campaign and the Beginning of Joint Operations

Marines on Guadalcanal

The Guadalcanal campaign was the first experiment by the United States of conducting a “joint” campaign in modern warfare involving Naval and Naval Air, Ground combat units, Army air assets and amphibious operations. The campaign involved numerous land, sea and air battles. It was under the command of Admiral Nimitz as CINCPACFLT and included commanders for ground, air and sea forces engaged. For brevity and simplicity sake I will discuss the campaign and sea even though they are interconnected with the sea and air campaigns directly affecting the outcome of the land campaign.

Designated OPERATION WATCHTOWER and aptly called OPERATION SHOESTRING the campaign was launched on short notice, approved on 2 July the commanders of the operation first learned of it on 7 July. Utilizing the 1^st Marine Division, which would later be reinforced by the Americal Division, landed on Guadalcanal and the neighboring island of Tulagi on 7 August. The Marines took Tulagi after a brief but bloody fight and the few Japanese troops on Guadalcanal fled inland allowing the Marines to seize the airfield. Unfortunately, the commander of the supporting US carrier task force, Admiral Frank Fletcher fearing danger to his carriers and withdrew following the landings. The forces in direct support were surprised by a Japanese cruiser force under Admiral Mikawa losing 3 American and 1 Australian heavy cruiser in one of the worst American naval defeats in history at the Battle of Savo Island. The next morning the transports, many still full of supplies left the Marines. Admiral Fletcher’s action, which left the Marines without air cover and carrier support gave the Marines a new term, still in use today, for being left high and dry: “to be Fletchered.”

Japanese dead of the Ichiki Detachment after the Battle of the Tenaru (Ilu) River

The Land Battles: The Japanese quickly responded sending in Naval Landing forces which went in light without all their troops or equipment. The Ichiki detachment was wiped out in the battle of the Tenaru (Ilu) river on 20 August. The Kawaguchi detachment of 3,500 men landed in two groups, again short of men, material and equipment landed in the closing days of August and attempted to seize the now operational “Henderson” field on September 13to 14^th after one of its supporting units had been destroyed by the 1^st Raider Battalion in a small amphibious assault. Kawaguchi’s attack was disjointed and his units dispersed. He was defeated in detail by the Marines in the Battle of “Edson’s ridge” or “Bloody Ridge.”

Chesty Puller

The Marines attacked and destroyed another Japanese force at the Mataniko river on 9 October. The Marines were further reinforced by the 7^th Marine Regiment while Kawaguchi was reinforced by the HQ of 17^th Army under General Hyakutake who brought the 2^nd Division onto the Island under the command of General Maruyama. Kawaguchi would then be relieved and sent home following disagreements with Maruyama and his chief of staff prior to the next major Japanese attack which took place 23-25 October along the same ridgeline that Kawaguchi had assaulted. Though the Japanese now had 15,000 troops with good artillery support, the attacks were fierce but uncoordinated. Defended by 7^th Marines under Chesty Puller as well as troops from the recently arrived Americal, the Marines again effectively destroyed the attacking Japanese force.

Sergeant John Basilone USMC with Medal of Honor

Despite additional reinforcements of the 38^th Division, the Japanese, due to severe food, supply and ammunition shortages would not make any more major attempts to take the airfield. The Americans would shift to the offensive with the Army XIV Corps composed of the 25^th Division, Americal Division and Second Marine Division under Major General Lawton J “Lightening Joe” Collins commanding in December.

The US Navy paid a heavy price for the victory at Guadalcanal. Here the USS Wasp sinks after being hit by Japanese torpedoes

The Sea Battles: The sea campaign in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal would be marked by some of the bloodiest sea battles in the history of the US Navy. So many ships from both navies would be sunk offshore that the waters would become known as “Ironbottom Sound.” Following the previously mentioned “Battle of Savo Island” the Americans lost the carrier Saratoga to torpedo damage and the Wasp was sunk while escorting a convoy. In the Battle of Eastern Solomon’s of 24 August the Americans have the Enterprise knocked out of action for 2 months and while sinking a Japanese light carrier and inflicting heavy aircraft losses on the Japanese. The Americans surprised a Japanese force on 11 October off Cape Esperance sinking a heavy cruiser and destroyer and heavily damaging a second heavy cruiser. The Japanese effort, now directed by Yamamoto brought battleships to support operations around Guadalcanal, including bombardments of the airfield on 13-14October in support of Maruyama. The attacks damaged but did not close Henderson field which was able to continue air support to the Marines and soldiers. On 26 October a carrier engagement would be fought, the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands would be a tactical Japanese victory sinking the Hornet and damaging Enterprise, while losing no ships. Two Japanese carriers were damaged but they lost a large number of pilots and aircrews who could not be readily replaced. They also not succeed in their amphibious efforts to retake the island or Henderson field, gaining the Americans badly needed time. On 13 November the Japanese attempted to repeat the bombardment of Henderson field but would be stopped from doing so by a task force under Admiral Daniel Callaghan. The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal cost the Japanese the battleship Hiei and two destroyers, additionally many of the transports bringing Japanese reinforcements would be sunk by aircraft from Henderson field and Enterprise. The Americans lost 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers sunk and every other ship save the destroyer Fletcher damaged. Admiral Callaghan and Admiral Norman Scott, the victor of Cape Esperance were both killed. The following night the Japanese would lose the battleship Kirishima to the USS Washington task group under the command of Admiral Willis Lee. Further Japanese naval activity would be limited to attempts to reinforce the island with destroyers; during one of these operations on 29 November they would clash with a force of American cruisers and destroyers at Cape Tassafaronga, sinking 1 cruiser and badly damaging three more at the cost of one destroyer, but was unable to complete his supply run. Though the Americans lost more total warships, the Japanese could not replace what they lost.

USAAF B-17E over the Solomons

Air Operations: The air operations would be decisive to the effort, land based aircraft of the Japanese played a key role in destroying some US shipping and sinking warships in waters off Guadalcanal however they could not maintain air superiority over the island which was maintained and increased by the Americans as Henderson field’s capacity grew and additional Army, navy and Marine aircraft were stationed there. Naval air was extremely important in the sea battles around the island.

Beached and destroyed Japanese transport ship at Guadalcanal

Japanese Reaction: The Japanese reaction was one of dismay; they could not fulfill their promise to the emperor to retake the island. They had lost many ships and aircraft as well as ground troops. From this time on the Japanese would go over to a strategic defensive in the Pacific. Japanese losses were devastating as they could not be made up.

Importance for the Americans: This was important in a number of ways. For the navy it showed that they could defeat Japanese surface ships in night engagements and gave the navy great experience as it moved forward in the South and Central Pacific. American carrier air crews had become experienced and gained superiority over the Japanese. On the ground the myth of the Japanese “superman” was destroyed, yet American commanders also began to appreciate the skill, endurance and tenacity of the Japanese soldier in future operations.

Importance for Joint Operations: The campaign also was a triumph for the Americans in the fact that they were able to overcome inter-service rivalries undertake a difficult operation against a stronger opponent far from major fleet logistics and support basis. To be sure this was Joint Operations in its infancy and until the arrival of significant Army forces on the island to relieve the Marines was for the most part a Navy, Marine Corps and Army Air Corps operation. When Major General Lawton “Lightning Joe” Collins assumed command of the island from Marine Major General Alexander Vandergrift it became a true-inter service operation and the beginning of Joint Operations.

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Filed under History, world war two in the pacific

Tagged as 1st marine regiment, 1st raider battalion, 25th infantry division, 2nd marine divsion, 5th marine regiment, 7th marine regiment, admiral daniel callaghan, admiral frank fletcher, admiral norman scott, admiral yamamoto, alexander vandergrift, americal division, battle if tenaru river, battle of Cape Esperance, battle of eastern solomons, battle of mataniko river, battle of savo island, bloody ridge, edson's ridge, general hyakutake, general maruyama, guadalcanal, hbo, henderson field, ichiki detachement, ijn hiei, ijn kirishima, ironbottom sound, ist marine division, japanese 17th army, john basilone, joint operations, lightening joe collins, marine corps, naval battle of guadalcanal, operation shoestring, operation watchtower, solomon islands, the pacific, tulagi, usmc, uss hue city, uss washington, uss wasp

March 21, 2010 · 23:23

Why Johnny Can’t Read Maps: NCAA Tournament Geography for Dummies and a Solution

I love the NCAA College Men’s Basketball Tournament. It is the only time of year that I will even watch basketball since like football and other sports it is simply another heretic sect compared to the one true religion, the Church of Baseball of which I am a confirmed member of at the Harbor Park Parish, Section 102, Row B, seats 1 and 2. I have really liked this year’s tournament since none of my alma maters are in it and I am rooting for underdogs and many have won…God Bless Northern Iowa, St Mary’s, ODU, Cornell, Ohio and all the others who have knocked off the big programs in the first two rounds. A usual I failed to complete a bracket sheet but if I had if would have looked something like the “Sweet Sixteen” does now except there would have been no number ones left, maybe even not any number twos. But hey…it’s only a game as compared to baseball thank you.

Now my purpose is not in talking about the games, the teams or the tournament itself. Instead it is to express my bewilderment at geographic ignorance and maybe incontinence of the NCAA committee’s knowledge of geography in regard to the so called “regions.” I mean this is insane. What are we teaching the next generation? That Providence Rhode Island in the Midwest and Spokane Washington is in the South? Is this not insane? Are we not living in a society people?

Now please do not take offense and call me a sociopath. I am not a sociopath I was a History major and have a Master of Arts in History as well. But as a mere historian I did gain a slight appreciation of Geography, even that to the good old USA despite focusing on Europe and the Pacific. For a fact I know that Providence Rhode Island is in New England which happens to be in the Northeast. I know this because I have been there and spent a decent amount of time going to Navy schools in Rhode Island. Likewise I have lived in Jacksonville Florida which is in the East but would really be considered part of the South and to cover their bases the NCAA committee has in both the South and the East. Buffalo is in both the West and the East which kind of makes it schizophrenic. Of course then there is Spokane Washington which according to the NCAA is in the Midwest. Last time I checked it is WEST of the Rocky Mountains in the wasteland o eastern Washington but very much in the Northwest. Milwaukee Wisconsin is EAST of the Mississippi River which it means it can’t even be considered in the West even the Brewers are in the National League Central Division. Heck, the last time New Orleans was considered to be in the West was about the time of the Louisiana Purchase. San Jose is definitely in the East, the East Bay….give me a break San Jose is like 25 miles if that from the Pacific Ocean. To further confuse the issue Providence and Spokane are also in the South Region.

Now what is this saying to the youth of America? I’ll tell you what it says…it says that the NCAA committee that put this mess together doesn’t know anything about geography. They are turning the minds of our young people into tapioca pudding (looks like gelified brains.) However, I am not unaware that the placement of games is not to be geographically correct but to make money.

In an attempt to be a “uniter” and not a divider I have a proposal. Instead of calling them regions we call them divisions and name them after great coaches such as John Wooden, Dean Smith and Bobby Knight that way any city can be in any division and geography would not matter. People could go wherever they want and not corrupt the minds of our young people. What’s next these kids will be driving willy-nilly all over the country trying to get some place that they have no idea where is. Think of the repercussions for UPS, FEDEX and the USPS…if these kids grow up and go a career in delivery industry we will never get anything.

Until the current system is replaced it will be simply madness….it’s madness I tell you…we’re going to have to set ludicrous speed…I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore…Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? Concentrate… concentrate… I’ve got to concentrate… concentrate… concentrate… Hello?… hello… hello… Echo… echo… echo… Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon… Manny Mota… Mota… Mota… Joey, have you ever been in a… in a Turkish prison? It’s the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl; girl dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day… Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Toto! It’s a twister! It’s a twister! If this is Tuesday this must be Belgium…No, it’s not what you think. It’s much, much worse! … Would you like another schnitzengruben? …. Soylent Green is people, its people! …. Now I don’t have to tell you good folks what’s been happening in our beloved little town. Sheriff murdered, crops burned, stores looted, people stampeded, and cattle raped. The time has come to act, and act fast. I’m leaving….All right, you win. You win. I give. I’ll say it. I’ll say it. I’ll say it…. DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME! DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME! ….Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We’ve all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing – they’re *flashing* and they’re *beeping*. I can’t stand it anymore! They’re *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn’t somebody pull the plug! Serenity now!

Lots of Laughs to you,

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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Filed under Just for fun, purely humorous

Tagged as bobby knight, dean smith, east regional, geogrpahy, history major, john wooden, louisana purchase, midwest regional, ncaa brackets, ncaa men's basketball tournament, ncaa tournament locations, sociopath, south regional, soylent green, west region

March 20, 2010 · 12:17

The “Eyes” have it; they’ve got Sammy Davis Eyes….an Experience from My Clinical Pastoral Education Residency

Sometimes I gotta wonder about people, especially some religious people. Of course we can all probably relate to some incident where someone with their religious beliefs led to somewhat unusual situations, even funny or tragic situations.

Of course when you work as a Trauma and Surgery Department Chaplain at a major inner city Level One Trauma Center like Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, the unusual, the funny and the tragic can all be wrapped into one or maybe two two stories, sometimes on the same day. Such an occasion occurred about halfway through my residency year at Parkland in March 1994.

About a quarter into my residency my Clinical Pastoral Care Residency Supervisor moved me from the Internal Medicine service to Trauma, Surgery and Neurosurgery service which included the Trauma and Surgery section of the Emergency Department. This several years before the hospital began their Emergency Medicine Residency and unified the ER.

We saw lots of trauma, back then we had six fully equipped trauma rooms as well as about 50 other beds of various types in the Surgery section of the ER. The Medicine Section had three fully equipped Cardiac Resuscitation rooms, numerous telemetry beds and about 60 addition beds and rooms of various types and specialties. When things got sporty as they often did additional beds were used in side halls for patients with minor injuries which sometimes included minor gunshot wounds.

It was often the case that every trauma and cardiac room would be full sometimes with multiple “codes” going on. We saw about every kind of injury imaginable on the surgery side of the house and in the course of my residency year I dealt with well over 300 deaths in the hospital. That may sound like a lot but back then Parkland was a 940 bed hospital that was usually running 90-100 percent of capacity and it had eight Intensive Care Units dealing with some of the worst trauma in the United States. The most death calls I dealt with in one night was eight in an eight hour eleven p.m. to seven p.m On a typical day if I left the hospital dealing with two deaths or less I considered it an easy day but I digress….I think I was talking some unusual, funny and tragic situations come together.

Well like I said about halfway through my residency I was hanging out in the Surgery ER about 10 a.m. on Saint Patrick’s day. The morning had been busy with the usual bevy of motor vehicle accident victims from the rush hour and had died down. It was then that the Dallas County EMS brought in a young man on a gurney who was taken to trauma room 6, the one in the back corner directly across from the “Presidential Suite” which was always cordoned off by the Secret Service when the President was in town.

The situation didn’t seem that interesting at first as I did not see the young man’s face but he appeared to be stable and since I was spending time with one of the nurses who had dealt with a patient in pretty bad shape from one of the MVA’s (Motor Vehicle Accident patients) I waited to check things out.

About 15 minutes later I wandered down to the trauma room and saw some of the Ophthalmology docs looking at the young man’s face peeking under the gauze 4×4 that covered his left eye and shaking their heads. When I walked into the room a good number of staff looked at me, some with expressions of horror, and others amusement and still others just weirded out. So I asked what was going on.

One of the Surgery residents answered and said that the young man had been doing crack cocaine and reading the Bible. So I said “you mean the “if your eye offends you pluck it out” verse?” And the resident said that’s the one. I looked at the young man and saw a large black Bible on his chest clasped in his hands. One of the Ophthalmology doctors looked at me and asked “Is that really in the Bible?” I said “oh yeah, you want to read it?” He said yes and a number of his colleagues nodded in agreement.

Now the young man reminded me of what back in my younger days was referred to as a “stoner” kind of like Sean Penn’s character “Jeff Spicoli” in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So not having a Bible in my hand just a small Episcopal Armed Forces Prayer Book I went up to him. I said:

“Mr. Spicoli (the name has been changed to protect the stupid) I’m the Chaplain what happened?” His answer was classic, “Dude sir, it was like I was reading the Bible and I saw this verse about “my eye offending me” and just knew that I had to take it out.” I said “Dude, you know that some parts of the Bible aren’t supposed to be taken too literally don’t you?”

With his one good eye he looked up at me and said “Like I didn’t have to cut it out?” I shook my head feeling somewhat compassionate yet amused (a feeling that many who work in ERs and trauma centers can attest to having) and said “No Jeff you didn’t….you weren’t using before you read the Bible were you?” He then said, “Yeah, like dude, like why not?”

I shook my head and said “Jeff my friend, God loves you and wants you to read his word but not while you’re doing crack, it tends to mess up your interpretation of it.” To which Jeff replied “Really, yeah dude you might be right.”

Now this was obviously a nice but really messed up kid so I decided not to push him any farther and commented on his Bible.

“That’s a pretty impressive Bible Jeff.”

Jeff replied “Yeah I got it like last week or something.”

I then asked him “Can I look at it with these doctors a second?”

I promised to give it right back. When he gave me permission, I gently took the Bible from his hand and walked to the disbelieving (not in God but in what was going on) physicians with it. Thumbing through the pages I came to Mark 9:47 and let the doctors read it themselves. They were genuinely shocked and kept looking at Jeff as they read it. The Ophthalmologist who had asked the initial question looked at me and said: “I guess that it wouldn’t be good to read that verse while doing crack.” I smiled, shook my head and said “No, not a good idea.”

With that I took the Bible back to Jeff and thanked him and he said “anytime dude.” The docs were getting ready to transport him to surgery so I wished him well and told him that I would pray for him for which he thanked me. I felt bad for the kid and knew that he would not be on the trauma service after the surgery and when medically ready would be hanging out in the Psych ward. That was the last time that I saw him and I do hope that he was able to break his addiction and get his life together.

However, the day was still young and I had the overnight 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on call duty in the evening. The rest of the day into the early evening was progressing rather uneventfully by Parkland standards, just your typical MVA’s, overdoses, cardiac arrests and shootings.

That changed when the Dallas EMS brought an African American lady who appeared to be in her thirties. Her eyes were covered with a bandage so I asked the paramedics what had happened.

One of them said, “Chaplain, you wouldn’t believe this in a million years, the lady’s sisters took her eyes out.”

I said: “Took her eyes out?”

The paramedic replied: “Yeah, like scooped them out, almost surgical precision. She said her sisters drove her from New Orleans to Dallas and along the way took out her eyes because they thought that she was possessed by the Devil.”

My reply was a simple, “Damn, that sucks.”

The paramedic continued “Yeah, she kept saying that her sisters said the she had “her father’s eyes” or something like that.”

The conversation continued for a while as the paramedic vented about how idiotic and criminal what happed was and when he went to finish his paperwork and get back to his rig I went in to the trauma room where the lady was being assessed. I got a look at the eye sockets and was quite impressed. The young man had gouged out his eye and made a mess. The lady’s eye sockets were just a little bloody and hollowed out like nothing had been there. It was rather creepy.

Since she was pretty out of it and not very coherent I backed out of the room, consult with the team and let them know what the paramedic had told me. The story creeped them out as badly as it did me. Later I would find out that the sisters had been arrested. Evidently the lady was a school teacher and she and her sisters were heavily involved in hoodoo a blend of Voodoo and Catholicism. At their trial they claimed that they were “fleeing from the devil.” The victim refused to testify against her sisters but they were convicted of the crime. The link to the New York Times article and one from the UK Independent is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/25/us/trial-in-woman-s-blinding-offers-chilling-glimpse-of-hoodoo.html?pagewanted=1

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/hoodoo-hex-on-interstate-20-the-blinding-of-myra-crawford-demonstrates-how-racism-and-fear-of-demons-linger-side-by-side-in-pockets-of-the-old-south-1412753.html

Never before and so far I have not seen a day where I have seen anything that unusual. It was creepy like a really creepy horror movie.

All I can say about that day now was that “the eyes have it.” Unlike the Kim Carnes’ song, these folks don’t have “Betty Davis Eyes” but “Sammy Davis Eyes.”

With that to leave your stomach to churn I wish you a good night and pleasant dreams.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

4 Comments

Filed under healthcare, Pastoral Care, Religion, things I don't get

Tagged as betty davis eyes, dallas, dallas county EMS, eye gouging crimes, eyes, fast times at ridgemont high, hoodoo, hospital chaplaincy, if your eye offends you pluck it out, jeff spicoli, kim carnes, mark 9:47, myra crawford, new orleans, obasi sisters eye-gouging trial, Ophthalmology, parkland ER presidential suite, parkland memorial hospital, parkland memorial hospital emergency department, sammy davis junior, sean penn, trauma centers

March 19, 2010 · 17:02

Necessity and Reality…Lessons on Life

“One’s task is not to turn the world upside down, but to do what is necessary at the given place and with a due consideration of reality.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“A mans got to know his limitations” Harry Callahan

Tonight will be busy and fun for me as I get to go to our Medical Center Intern Class Dining Out. The Dining out is a traditional Military occasion where the Officers of the Mess and their guests are together for a time of ceremony, camaraderie and good times. Last year I attended this and if you want to know more you can go to the following article: The Dining Out

In light of that my post will be short. Coming back from surgery and being out of action for nearly a month I want to jump into everything. However jumping into everything simply because I feel better and fitter than I have in probably two years does not mean that everything that I think that I can do be it vocational, spiritual or physical. Instead I am learning to work within my own limitations to be the best at what I do without over committing and end up having some kind of crash be it related to PTSD or physical issues. It is something that I am learning to do and it is not always easy because I want to make a big impact.

However as both Bonhoeffer and Callahan (Clint Eastwood-Dirty Harry) remind us not everything is my job and that in order to be effective I and probably most of us need “to do what is necessary at the given place and with a due consideration of reality.” In other words be at the right place at the right time doing the mission that we are called to do with a sense of the reality of the situation, both our own as well as the situation in life that we find ourselves.

A lot of people now want to gain instant fame without the hard work that traditionally is required. Thus the massive number of “reality” shows where the only requirement is to act like an idiot and do things that you should be ashamed of doing, that profit nothing and while they give a person a brief amount of “fame” or notoriety which is seldom remembered by anyone unless it was incredibly stupid.

Workaholics like me want to do everything and fall into the temptation and trap of committing ourselves and sometimes our organizations to things that ultimately even if we can do them well are bad in the long term. Such things can divert us from what we really need to be doing into ventures which may be exciting but divert us from what is truly necessary and possible.

This is frequently seen in the ranks of the over-achievers who want to “change the world.” This can take on all sorts of faces, political, educational, religious or scientific but the effect is often the same. “World changers” sometimes become unrestrained zealots. In the quest to fulfill the agenda push so hard that they lose sight of the world around them and sometimes become willing like Chuck Colson when he worked for President Nixon “run over their own grandmother” to see the agenda fulfilled. This happens in business, politics, foreign affairs, science and even religion. The desire to “change the world” often becomes a trap ready to ensnare even the most sincere person. Trapped in the emotion of the “vision” those who lose sight of what is necessary and what is reality sometimes stop at nothing to see it fulfilled even if others are hurt in the process.

This is also seen in military history where the commander of an army or fleet makes a decision, usually rash and made in the passion of the moment to commit to something that while it looks to be beneficial leads to their defeat. Military history is replete with examples. Somehow the leader overestimates his own capabilities or underestimates those of his opponent with the end result of disaster.

Organizations including businesses and churches are frequently their own worst enemy when it comes to things like this. Individuals who become obsessed can become like Don Quixote and run off attacking windmills. Christians often fall for this thinking that only they can win the salvation of the world or have a “new” message, teaching or “word” for the Church and world and end up broken, disillusioned and wondering if God let them down when they simply followed their own devices thinking that it was God. Organizations can cause their own downfall as was seen in the banking crisis where business whose names were associated with thrift, trust and honesty destroyed themselves, injured their employees, stockholders and customers and cost the nation hundreds of billions of dollars. Custer charged into the Little Big Horn and Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. Great success stories huh? Anyway, that being said I must close for the night.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

Baseball is Back….Thank God!

Norfolk’s Harbor Park

“Night baseball isn’t an aberration. What’s an aberration is a team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908. They tend to think of themselves as a little Williamsburg, a cute little replica of a major league franchise. Give me the Oakland A’s, thank you very much. People who do it right.” George Will on the Chicago Cubs

Baseball is back and I am very happy as spring returns and winter fades away as I can again watch baseball again live or tape delay. Sure it is pre-season and the teams are still sorting out rosters but Spring Training is something that I look forward to every year. I was actually hoping to get to Florida this year to take in a bit of the Orioles camp in Sarasota but thanks to a nasty Kidney stone I was pretty much knocked out of it. Work will be too busy and Holy Week is coming so I will have to wait until opening day at the Church of Baseball, Harbor Park Parish.

Joey Gathright bunts for a hit against Atlanta’s Gwinnett Braves in 2009

There is something about Spring Training as you watch the teams, study the roster reports and look at potential line ups pitching rotations and relief pitching staffs. It is also the time that we begin to see how the personnel changes, signings, departures and prospects look up close. It is a time when teams and players get to know each other again. I follow the Giants, Orioles and A’s very closely as well as looking most of the other teams as I look trough team sites, ESPN, Yahoo Baseball and sports blogs.

The statement of George Will the political columnist and avid Cubs fan speaks a lot of truth. The Cubs for years have either been penny pinchers or spent money like a drunken sailor with little to show for it. Since Jesus will come when they win the World’s Series next I think it likely that they will continue to be just what Will said they are “a cute little replica of a major league franchise. Some teams spend their money be it large amounts or small wisely and know how to win. Others spend money with no return throwing good money after bad on horrible deals every season and reaming losers.

What really interests me in baseball is not just the Major League teams but their Minor League affiliates. Of course I have a close up view of the Orioles AAA International League affiliate the Norfolk Tides from my pew in Section 102, Row B Seat 1 and 2 a Harbor Park. One of the things that I follow closely are the prospects as well as former Major League players as they move between the Majors and Minors as well as how they figure in trades.

A lot of people simply follow the big name players on contending teams and I admit that there is nothing wrong with that. However, my view is that you have to take a look at a team’s farm system in relationship to the Major League team that it supports and feeds. The depth and talent found in a teams’ Minor League system is vitally important to a team’s success or failure. Let me follow this with a few examples.

Mariano Rivera- Raised in the Yankee System

Let’s begin with the New York Yankees. They are often portrayed as a team filled with “hired gun” type free agents who the pay an ungodly amount of money to obtain. Yes the Yankees are committed to winning and they will pay top dollar to get the best in baseball. Teams that want to win make the commitment to doing it. Those that are content to be in the middle of the pack or lower don’t. It is that simple. Like him or not George Steinbrenner knew what he was doing. However this is only part of their formula for success. They also have also chosen to invest a lot in an excellent farm system. Many of their top players came out of that system including Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada. Their current middle relief staff, which had for many years been a weakness, is now stocked with solid pitchers who came out of the Yankee system. The depth of their system also allows them to use it to sweeten up trade deals with other teams. If you want to win consistently you have to have the depth in the Minor League system in case you need it.

David Wright: One of the Few Bright Spots for the Mets

So now we go to the other end of the spectrum. The New York Mets also spent a huge amount of money on big name free agents. However, because the Mets invest almost nothing in their Minor League system it has been consistently the worst in baseball for years. Likewise the mid to end of season implosions show just how bad the Mets system is. For example the Mets treated their farms teams so badly since the arrival of Omar Minaya that their flagship affiliate, the Norfolk Tides ended their relationship with the Mets at the end of the 2006 season to become part of the Baltimore Orioles system. The Mets system has few prospects and at the upper levels is stocked with older Minor Leaguers and worn out Major leaguers looking for one last year in the sun. The Mets initially had to move the team to New Orleans for two years and then were able to market themselves to Buffalo when Cleveland moved their AAA affiliate to Columbus Ohio. The team was the worst in the International League last year and Buffalo fans that for years enjoyed high caliber ball players and young prospects became angry. Little good is being said about the Mets in Buffalo even now and since the Mets have depleted what they can spend, and few Minor League prospects they have little bargaining power to reach out and deal for the top tier free agents.

Brian McCann, one of the 18 “Baby Braves” who took the Braves to the 2005 NLCS

We move to another team that does things right with regard to this is the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have been consistently good for many years winning 14 Division titles and a World Series. In that amazing run where they won more than 90 and sometimes over 100 games a season almost every year they often dominated to National League. The team is stocked with home grown talent. I have seen the Braves minor league teams at the AAA and AA level and am well acquainted with their system. They too are usually really good, very good. That minor league system has produced great players including Chipper Jones. Do not forget 2005 when the Braves beset by injuries called up a large number of Minor league players from Richmond and Mississippi including All Star catcher Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Ande Marte, Kelly Johnson and 14 other rookies and the “Baby Braves” as they were known helped take the Braves to the playoffs. The system had to recover from that and it has now because the Braves invest in it and those players are beginning to make an impact in the Majors.

Billy Beane the GM of the Oakland Athletics

Another team that knows how to use a farm system is the Oakland Athletics. The A’s after being very competitive using very little money for years fell on hard times last year, but one of the keys to their success was their reliance on top prospects in their Minor League System. Over the years that system has produced some great players and more than likely will do so again. The A’s system is built on the principle of Saber metrics which looks at numbers crunched by statistics geeks and has for the most part served them well. The A’s General Manager Billy Beane has revolutionized the game for small market teams that want quality on a limited budget. Many former A’s cut loose when they would become too expensive now star on other Major League teams. The system is discussed in the book Moneyball.

The new “Baby Birds” Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold along with Luke Scott great Oscar Salazar after a Home Run

A few years back the Orioles realizing that they could not compete dollar for dollar against ht Red Sox and Yankees began at the single A level to build a premier farm system. Each year the best have moved up into the system to AA and AAA levels. Last year the Norfolk Tides started out on fire and when the Orioles ran into major injury problems they called up a lot of minor league players including Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Brad Bergeson and Chris Tillman. The Orioles have built their system in stages and that building process went through the 2009 season. Many of those called up were not quite ready for the majors but many are looked upon as future All Stars, especially their deep well of pitching talent that most teams could only dream about having.

Phillies Slugger Ryan Howard who I have seen play as a Reading Philly and Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Barons before he went to the Majors

When I look at teams I always look at their minor league system and their prospects because that system and those prospects are the future of the team. Teams that are consistently bad typically have bad minor league systems. I have been watching minor league ball in person regularly for almost ten years. As such I have seen many of today’s biggest stars including players like Ryan Howard, Felix Hernandez, Jason Verlander, Heath Bell, Grady Sizmore, Victor Martinez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jhonny Peralta, Brian McCann, David Wright, Evan Longoria, Jonathan Papelbon, many of the current Baltimore Orioles as well as countless others.

The relationship of the Major League team to its farm system is of paramount importance. If a team does not invest in their minor league affiliates and make good draft choices and trades they will seldom do well even if they have a decent team at the beginning of the season. Without quality prospects in the minor league system they will not have personnel readily available for call up on short notice in case of injury, not will they have depth to trade for quality players if the need them.

This is one of the things that make the game of baseball so different than other sports with the possible exception of NHL Hockey and its farm system. The relationship and the development of players at the minor league level have a direct impact on the Major League club. This is part of why I am so passionate about this game.

Peace

Padre Steve+

The Fruit of Glenn Beck’s Spirit

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Unless we have the courage to fight for a revival of wholesome reserve between man and man, we shall perish in an anarchy of human values…” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Any Jesus that would advocate for women and girls to murder their innocent (meaning not conceived through rape, not a grave threat to the life of the mother) unborn children would be considered EVIl, not just psychotic, in my book. Also. the whole notion of socialism is against the biblical work ethic

Your attacks are usually the reserve for desperate people who have no real facts to back up their opinions. It is a classic liberal tactic that I have been unfortunate to have suffered from by Progressives, Liberals, Marxists, Socialists, Anarchists, anti-Semites, KKK type radicals and other Leftists and far right anarchst/libertarian kooks for over two decades. You are nothing new.

I don’t mind that you attack me, but if I am right, you can take your humble place to suffer for the children of God, or decide to beat them until the Lord comes back.

BTW, it is not I who hate you, since if I did, I would slash and burn you with such intensity that it could be considered an art form. I instead CHOOSE to give you a bruise, instead of a kiss….” 777Denny in response to me on his blog.

Glenn Beck-Fox News Photo

Glenn Beck has an interesting way of coming back and I found today just what “the fruit of Glenn’s spirit” is. Believe me it is about 180 degrees out from the passage in Paul’s letter to the Galatians which says “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” Galatians 5:22-23

Well sports fans life remains interesting just as I was about to let go of this I received the text in bold above from 777Denny after which I decided that there was no use trying to reason with him. I guess it didn’t help matters that after trying to be polite that I said that he sounded psychotic, but even with that I was pretty gentle on him and a even a bit witty. However Denny has no sense of humor and this was his response. I found it interesting that he mentioned abortion because I had never brought it up and if he had read this website he would know that I am pro-life and the church that I am ordained in has one of the strongest pro-life and anti-abortion ethics of any church in this country. I have written against people who have killed abortion providers and those who urge that they be killed but that does not mean I am somehow I am not pro-life I just believe the “born” have a right too and that no person has the right to simple go to someone’s home, church or business and kill them, even abortion providers. However with some people like Denny who have been fed on 20 plus years of “conservative” talk radio and Fox News there is no-reasoning. Until I came back from Iraq I listened to or watched this stuff on a non-stop basis with the result that I was nearly always spun up and mad at someone. When I came back from Iraq the invective and continuous drumbeat of hatred convinced me that that in spite of the claims that these broadcasters were “pro-God, pro-life and pro-family” that they only used this to gain the support and thereby the market share and profits of Christian conservatives.

Stirred up by the likes of Beck people like Denny have sacrificed their faith on the altar of extreme right wing intolerance. Now I am NOT saying that everyone who listens to talk radio or Fox News has sacrificed their faith, I said people like Denny. Personally I know a huge number of very conservative Bible believing Christians from all denominations who live their faith as loving and caring members of society who even when the disagree vehemently with liberalism would never treat people that Jesus died for as enemies to be destroyed by Denny’s “Angry Jesus.” In fact the comments generated by the last couple of posts with the exception of my new friend Denny are quite complimentary which gives me some hope.

As I came out of my fog from my post surgery pain I began to think about this. In doing so it came to me is that what really bothers Denny about me is that I stood up to him. Denny is a classic bully. Bullies don’t like it when people stand up to them. I did not roll over when he attacked and called me all sorts of names and condemning me to hell thinking that I was Roman Catholic and as such a member of a “false religion.” He still thinks I’m in a false religion but that’s okay. In fact I like the labels that he has for me and that he says that I have “no real facts to back up” my opinions. This is learned behavior. I have heard guys like Beck, Michael Savage and others treat callers who disagreed with them the same way back when I religiously listened to them. Denny has learned well.

Denny and those like him really do serve to discredit conservative Christians who live their faith and treat others with kindness, respect and love. Unfortunately for these Christians people like Denny and the folks like him are loud and because of Beck, Savage and others are now considered by many Americans not only to be representative of conservative Christianity but to be its authentic voice. I have a lot of friends that are not Christians both at work, in the community and with whom I have gone to school or served with in the military that have been abused by “Christians” like Denny and the “churches” that echo his thoughts. Many have left the faith for various alternatives. I am sure that some like Denny would say that they “were never saved to begin with and that’s why they left” but such talk is used only to justify themselves and their mistreatment of others. If people wonder why many young people want nothing to do with the Christian faith all they have to do is look at people like Denny who have so entwined their faith with extreme right wing politics that there is no longer any way to determine where one begins and one ends.

Glenn Beck has resumed his attack on churches and religious leaders that have dared to disagree with his statements from last week turning his attention on Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine. Wallis is an evangelical Christian who is politically a mainstream liberal. His magazine and organization have a strong emphasis on social and economic justice. But if you really want to know how people like Beck would treat those who disagree with them should they ever come into power this should chills through your body…

“So Jim, I just wanted to pass this on to you. In my time I will respond — my time, well, kind of like God’s time, might be a day, might be a week to you, I’m not sure. But I’m going to get to it in my time, not your time. So you go ahead and you continue to do your protest thing, and that’s great. I love it. But just know — the hammer is coming, because little do you know, for eight weeks, we’ve been compiling information on you, your cute little organization, and all the other cute little people that are with you. And when the hammer comes, it’s going to be hammering hard and all through the night, over and over…”

Since Beck has the nearly unlimited resources of Fox News and News Corp at his disposal this is no empty threat. When his “fair and balanced report” comes out it will be hailed by conservatives who will congratulate him for “taking down” one of their opponents. It will be about as “fair and balanced” as Josef Goebbels Völkdeutscher Beobachter during the 1920s and 1930s but that will make no difference. Wallis and others like him are considered the enemy to Beck. They are to be discredited and vanquished. Unfortunately there will be many Christians who will applaud Beck at the expense of a brother in Christ and that shame will be with us for a very long time. This kind of worldview is exactly why Bonhoeffer said that “politics is not the domain of the Christian.” Bonhoeffer saw the passions of Christians being whipped up by extremists on the Right and the Left in Germany and those same demonic forces are at work here through people like Beck.

You see Denny is not the problem. He is a symptom of a vicious political climate where politicians and the media often funded by immense corporate enterprises such as News Corp attempt to convert Christians to ideologies that have no resemblance whatsoever to the Gospel. Denny talks about the “biblical work ethic.” However, if one examines Scripture there are far more commands to take care of the poor than “he who does not work shall not eat” verse that is the basis for Denny’s “biblical work ethic.” Comparing the agrarian society of most of the biblical world to the modern era is an intellectually dishonest tactic as the eras have little in common. I’m sorry what I see Jesus teach in the Gospels and shown in the book of Acts looks a lot more socialistic than capitalistic to me. Unfortunately Denny really does believe this perversion of the Gospel and in large part due to what he is being fed day after day. I guess that is why Andrew Schlafly at the “Conservative Bible Project” wants to re-write the Bible to conform to this political and ideological point of view, that Bible should be quite popular with folks like Denny when it comes out.

The fact that closes his comment with a veiled threat, “it is not I who hate you, since if I did, I would slash and burn you with such intensity that it could be considered an art form” seems to indicate that he believes that I am worthy of such a fate. This is the kind of thought that embraced Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. It is reflective of a moral sickness and social decay. As I finish this I received Denny’s reply to me after politely backing out of the discussion on his blog site so I guess what I said really struck a nerve. Here it is:

“Social Justice” has nothing whatsoever to do with abortion-on-demand rights, but rather a SOCIALIST AGENDA which is against the tenents of of the biblical work ethic. No amount of personal digs at me is going to change this FACT. If you do not like these FACTS, then ignore them.

I certainly do NOT want you coming back here and spout your attacks and nonsense about S.J. and me. And if you attack those who attack evil when they attack it, then expect some blowback. I am on their side. Get it? So don’t attack if you don’t want to back up your ideas with FACTS.”

I grieve for the church, the country and Denny when I read this. Since I was not defending abortion on demand rights I have no clue why he says this especially when I assured him that I am pro-life as is the church that I am ordained. I do pray that things will get better and not end like they did in Germany and to this end as a Priest I will speak out.

It is funny. Had I not been laid up with a Kidney stone for most have Lent I probably would not been as reflective or as engaged as I have been on this subject but I can legitimately say that I am compelled by the Gospel to do so. The danger to the church is growing as is that to the republic and as a Priest, Christian and American I must speak out.

Denny is certainly not an enemy to me, the more interaction that I have had with him the more I grieve for him. Whereas I could have ended up hating in previous times I cannot now because I have decided to pray for his. At the same time I cannot be more concerned for our country as anger like Denny’s becomes more widespread through the likes of Glenn Beck. As Bonhoeffer said “I can no longer condemn or hate a brother [or sister] for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed through intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died.” At the same time I cannot ignore their words and thereby cede my responsibility to proclaim Christ crucified. Thus with Martin Luther I now end:

“Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

Peace,

Padre Steve

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Filed under Loose thoughts and musings

March 15, 2010 · 23:59

God Loves the Real World

“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16 NRSV

“For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:10

I had an interesting encounter with another blogger this week after I posted my warning about the danger that Glenn Beck and people like pose to religious liberty. I was not really surprised at the encounter I figured that I might get a bit of hate mail but this was interesting. This blogger who evidently thinks that he has the absolute lock on God’s truth had this as one of his replies on the post:

“My Jesus is ANGRY at His children who promote false doctrines and pervert the Word of God. The reason I know this is because Yeshua IS the Word of God, these things recorded in holy scripture for all to see and read.” 777Denny

Now Denny is a bit off and seems to me a very angry person who has so conflated the Gospel of Jesus Christ with his own incredibly narrow and hateful theology and politics. These lie slightly to the right of the Taliban so that it is hard to understand where his faith ends and politics begin. Maybe that is why Bonhoeffer commented that “Politics are not the task of a Christian.”

Denny seems to think that about all Christians and for that matter people in general are pretty worthless. Of course I have treated Denny pretty well. I have offered to and will pray for him because he is so trapped in his own legalism and hatred of his former Roman Catholic faith. I want to keep a dialogue with him. His anger, legalism and ideas about sex and the role of women cause me believe that he must be a physical or sexual assault victim. While his tirades are pretty extreme, not very creative and full of nuttiness they do speak to a general contempt for the world that is the creation of God and the people that he has redeemed through Christ’s incarnation, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

Now I know that Christians can be and often are intolerant…we can be somewhat surly at times and our history in many cases is rather ugly and not very reflective of Christ, unless it is Denny’s “Angry Jesus.” I cannot say that I have not had my moments of ugliness and more than I have been pretty obnoxious and well, just a jerk regarding my faith. However even so I can’t blame God for things that I get angry at. I have only my occasionally bad temperament to blame, maybe some genetics too. As George and Frank Costanza say “serenity now!” Denny represents as aberrant as his view of Jesus is, a segment of the Christian world that really does despise the world and the people that God created and has redeemed. Denny is obviously a troubled soul and needs help but until he sees this he will hurt a lot of people and most of all himself.

Part of my Lenten journey has meant slowing down and taking stock of things in my life and faith. This was actually enforced on me when Adolf the Kidney stone stopped me in my tracks for about three weeks. Now I haven’t had any “new revelations” or in fact not much more than realizing that I need to focus on some aspects of my spiritual life that I have neglected and just take a bit more time to appreciate all that God has done as well as the people and world that I live in.

As I have mentioned in other posts the passage from 2^nd Corinthians 5:17-21 has been on my mind a lot since my “Christmas miracle.” So you don’t have to look it up I have posted it below highlighting verse 19 which has really speaks to me:

¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2^nd Corinthians 5:17-21

This I think is one of the key passages in the New Testament in relation to God’s relationship to humanity, real humanity. As I have mentioned my Lenten journey has taken me back to re-reading and pondering the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I think that living in the tumultuous times of the First World War, the collapse of the German monarchy, the German civil war, the Kapp Putsch and the Nazi rise to power and takeover and the Second World War has insights that are very applicable for the tumultuous times that we now live.

Bonhoeffer lived in some of the darkest times, where his own countrymen turned on one another and extremist politicians of the Left and Right stoked the fires of resentment, fear and desperation through the newspapers and periodicals that they owned. Fiery speakers instigated crowds to violence against their opponents and undermined the weak government at every opportunity even with actual force. Bonhoeffer was someone who did not lose sight of the Gospel nor the people that Christ died to redeem during that time. The passage that I cited at the beginning of this article is something that leapt out at me this week.

It is so easy today immersed as we are in a 24/7 information barrage of television, talk radio and the internet where politicians, pundits, journalists to see why regular folks like Denny have been whipped into a frenzy against their neighbors and fellow citizens for matters completely disconnected to the Gospel. This becomes even more of a problem when it takes faith which should be focused to reconciliation and redemption and turns it into just another way of despising the people and the world that God loves. In essence the “Gospel” has been turned into a weapon against the very people and world that Christ died to save and made a prostitute to crass political ideology. However as Christians we cannot allow ourselves to be trapped by the hatred espoused by so many who daily work in the modicum of “speaking the truth” must realize as Bonhoeffer said that “God’s truth judges created things out of love, and Satan’s truth judges them out of envy and hatred.” The pundits and politicians who prey on the people of faith and exploit their fears not for the sake of God, but for their profits as some of the most popular of these people readily admit on the air.

God loves real people; not only the ones that we choose to love or those that we prefer to hang out with. He loves people who are not perfect, the Church was not intended to be a social club where we get our “God fix.” It is instead to be a community in relationship with one another and the world in which we live. The Gospel is not just a message that we offer to fill the pews and keep the bills paid. The Gospel is all about the love, mercy and even justice of God, which is not to be confused with the “justice” that we desire. The Gospel is about integrity as the people of God. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself….” It is the message of reconciliation that allows us to have community with one another and the world and as we do so grow into the kind of humanity that is transformed by the Gospel so that we might be really human. Bonhoeffer wrote: “While we exert ourselves to grow beyond our humanity, to leave the human behind us, God becomes human; and we must recognize that God wills that we be human, real human beings. While we distinguish between pious and godless, good and evil, noble and base, God loves real people without distinction. ”

The call is not to be immersed in the anger of the day but transformed by the love of Christ. Certainly the hope of the world is not found in the unending media barrage but in the Gospel that reminds us that “we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

Peace

Padre Steve+

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Filed under History, philosophy, Religion

Tagged as dietrich bonhoeffer

March 13, 2010 · 23:58

Glenn Beck Attacks the Churches and Threatens Religious Liberty

Glenn Beck “Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!” (Fox News Photo)

Preface: This post comes in the midst of my Lenten journey in which I have become reacquainted with the works of those who confronted Nazi policies that placed their ideology over the Christian faith. During this time I was not expecting to begin to see certain commentators actually attempt to blatantly attack a key part of the witness of the Christian Church in telling Christians to place political ideology over faith and recommend that church members leave their church if it does not conform to those commentators’ political ideology. As a historian as well as a Priest I can only draw parallels to the Nazis who placed their ideology above the Church and persecuted those who stood against them, even before they took power. Glenn Beck did just that this week, though not in power he has thrown down a gauntlet to the Church which does not agree with his ideology and strikingly urged church members to leave their churches if those churches had “social justice” as one of their belief’s equating it with Communism and Fascism. This is an attack on the church and as a Priest I cannot be silent. There would be some that will disagree saying that the Left is more of a threat and I do not disagree that ideologues on any part of the spectrum can threaten religious liberty, however I have never seen anyone as popular as Beck is with the Right, who on the Left propose what Beck has this past week. That is why I must oppose Beck on this issue now. I do hope that my readers understand that this is not an attack on conservatives or conservative principles but rather against a man whose ideas if carried to their logical conclusion would be dangerous. Beck talks a lot about faith and religion on his show which attracts many listeners but he seems to believe that religious expression is one in the same with political ideology.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

“It is not God who divides us but human beings. The Almighty has blessed our work; therefore it cannot be destroyed. No power within or without the Reich will keep us from going our way into the future.” Adolf Hitler speaking in an address at Regensburg July 7^th 1937 referring to the arrests of 11 Catholic Priests who condemned Nazi policies.

“We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds; we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use?” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” Martin Niemöller

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together.” (Eph. 4:15,16)

The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance.

We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.” The Barmen Declaration Article Three.

I do not think that people learn anything from history. This week Glenn Beck called his own church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints “Communist or Fascist” its official statements of beliefs regarding social justice. Now I may disagree with LDS theology but I hardly think them to be Communist or Fascist in fact I think for the most part they are to be commended for their love of this country as well as their ethic of doing good and taking care of needy LDS members. Not only did Beck call his own church these rather pejorative names but he recommended that people not only leave the church but urged the same for any member of any church that espouses social justice in their official beliefs. To quote Beck:

“I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”

Beck went on the attack this week against churches who teach social justice. The reason according to Beck is that “Social justice was the rallying cry—economic justice and social justice—the rallying cry on both the communist front and the fascist front….” He went on and attacked his own church saying “Where I go to church, there are members that preach social justice as members–my faith doesn’t–but the members preach social justice all the time. It is a perversion of the gospel….” When called out had to try to reframe his very clear attack on his own church’s official doctrine as well as so many other churches and religions groups. Speaking as a Christian I cannot answer for other religions but Beck has attacked the clear commands of Scripture and the Christian tradition of caring for the least and the lost in elevating his ideology above both his own church as well as the vast majority of Christian faith and belief that goes back 2000 years. He has sought to divide people from their churches and from the faithful of their traditions for political expediency. However Beck is not the first to do so. Let us take a trip back to the end of the Weimar Republic and Nazi era….

Niemöller in WWI Inperial Navy Uniform

Martin Niemöller was a war hero. He had served on U-Boats during the First World War and commanded a U-Boat in 1918 sinking a number of ships. After the war he resigned his commission in the Navy in opposition to the Weimar Republic and briefly was a commander in a local Freikorps unit. His book Vom U-Boot zur Kanzel (From U-boat to Pulpit) traced his journey from the Navy to the pastorate. He became a Pastor and as a Christian opposed what he believed to be the evils of Godless Communism and Socialism. This placed him in the very conservative camp in the years of the Weimar Republic and he rose in the ranks of the United Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union. Active in conservative politics, Niemöller initially support the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. However, he quickly soured on Hitler due to his insistence on the state taking precedence over the Church. Niemöller was typical of many Germans of his era and harbored ant-Semitic sentiments that he only completely abandoned his anti-Semitic views until after he was imprisoned. He would spend 8 years as a prisoner of the Nazis a period hat he said changed him including his views about Jews, Communists and Socialists. Niemöller was one of the founding members of the Pfarrernotbund (Pastor’s Emergency Federation) and later the Confessing Church. He was tried and imprisoned in concentration camps due to his now outspoken criticism of the Hitler regime.

Herman Maas was another Evangelical Pastor. Unlike Niemöller, Maas was a active participant in the ecumenical movement, built bridges to the Jewish community and defended the rights of Jews as German citizens. He received a fair amount of criticism for his attendance of Reichspräsident Friedrich Ebert’s funeral. Ebert was both a Socialist and avowed atheist. Maas too was active in the Pfarrernotbund and the Confessing church, and unlike Niemöller maintained his opposition to anti-Semitism and the Nazi policies against the Jews. He would help draft the Barmen declaration. He too would be imprisoned and survive the war. Maas was the first non-Jewish German to be officially invited to the newly formed state of Israel in 1950. In July 1964 Yad Vashem recognized the Maas as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Bonhoeffer in Nazi Prison in 1944

Dietrich Bonhoeffer a young Pastor and theologian would also step up to oppose the Nazis and offer support for the Jews. He helped draft the Bethel Confession which among other things rejected “every attempt to establish a visible theocracy on earth by the church as a infraction in the order of secular authority. This makes the gospel into a law. The church cannot protect or sustain life on earth. This remains the office of secular authority.” He also helped draft the Barmen declaration which opposed and condemned Nazi Christianity. Bonhoeffer would eventually along with members of his family take an active role in the anti-Nazi resistance as a double agent for Admiral Canaris’ Abwehr. For this he would be executed after his final sermon in the concentration camp at Flossenburg just a month prior to the end of the war.

Karl Barth convicted of “Seducing the German people” and exiled to his native Switzerland

Another opponent of the Nazis in the Confessing Church was Swiss-German theologian Karl Barth. Barth angrily denounced Naziism when it attempted to create new “German Christian” churches in which National Socialist political theories were given the same sanctity as theological dogma. Barth went into exile as a Swiss citizen after being removed from his professorship at the University of Bonn for refusing to take the mandatory oath to Adolf Hitler, alter his teaching to meet Nazi standards or begin class with the customary “Heil Hitler!” He would say that it would be in bad taste “to begin a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount with Heil Hitler.” For his efforts he was found guilty by a Nazi court of “seducing the minds” of German students. For an excellent short article on Barth see “Witness to an Ancient Truth” Time Magazine April 20^th 1962 online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873557-1,00.html

Fr Rupert Meyer the “Apostle of Munich” and steadfast opponent of Hitler

Bishop Galen of Münster and Father and others including Father Rupert Meyer in Munich who opposed Hitler in the early 1920s would also oppose the Nazi policies toward the Church, the Jews and Nazi policies on euthanasia. They would also end up in concentrations camps with some dying at the hands of the Nazis, in fact over 2000 priests and Protestant ministers from Germany and occupied countries were housed at Dachau.

All these men took risks to defend the Jews who were religious minority group that had been traditionally discriminated against in Germany as well as other groups, political and religious. They opposed the Nazi policies which were widely supported by much of the German populace making them unpopular in their own churches as well as among the traditionally conservative supporters of the Evangelical and Catholic Churches. Since I have dealt with the Nazi persecution and atrocities against the Jews and others in other posts I will not elaborate further here.

General Wilhelm Groener, despised by the Nazis for saving the by working with Socialists to prevent a Communist takeover

Not only were Jews the enemy but so were any parties that disagreed with the Nazi policies including the church or rather the church that refused to surrender to them. Likewise military officers who stood by the Republic against Nazi and other right-wing putsches during the 1920s, men who risked all to defend the rights of people on both sides of the political chasm that divided the country.

Deposed after the Nazi seizure of power General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord was deposed as head of the German Army and in retirement worked against the Nazis including the Valkyrie plot until his death from Cancer in 1944

Leftist accused them of being reactionaries and Monarchists while the right did whatever they could to discredit men like General Wilhelm Groener, General Major Walther Reinhardt, General der Infantrie Georg Maerker, General der Infrantie Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord and General Kurt von Schleicher were either driven from office and ostracized, forced out of the military or in the case of von Schleicher killed by the SS during the “night of the long knives.”

Confidant of President Hindenburg, opponent of the Nazis and briefly Chancellor of the Weimar Republic General Kurt von Schleicher would be assassinated by the Nazis during the Night of the Long Knives

Additionally other men who kept the German Republic from becoming a Communist state notably Gustave Noske of the Social Democratic Party who was the first Reichswehr Minister and who with his successor Otto Geßler of the German Democratic Party worked with the military leadership to keep both the extreme left in the form of the Spartacist League, the Independent Socialists and from the extreme Right who attempted to overthrow the government in the Kapp Putsch. All were treated shamefully by the Nazis and even their successors did not fare well, to consolidate power Hitler had the General Leutnant Werner Freiherr von Fritsch falsely accused of homosexual acts and disgraced and evidence points to his murder on the Polish front in 1939 as the “honorary colonel” of his old Regiment. Those who opposed Hitler and the Nazis later in the war, even those who were genuine heroes were put to death before Nazi “People’s Courts.” They did the same with politicians who they viewed to be threats to their rule, even conservatives not just Socialists or Communists. Religious leaders who resisted both Protestant and Catholic were sent to concentration camps where many did not return from.

Too frequently we here Beck and others call Americans with views different from their ideology “traitors” or “un American.” Before Iraq I listened to talk radio almost every day and when I came back I could no longer stomach the invective and malice that is so widespread among these commentators. If they continue to dominate “conservative” politics then I fear that they will use the power of the government and media to silence those that oppose them and it will not matter if the opponent has served in the military as they routinely condemn former high ranking military officers who disagree with them such. These propagandists are not patriots and neither Beck nor any of the major conservative talk show hosts have served a day in the military yet they influence “conservative” opinion more than anyone else and dare to slander those in the military or those who have served honorably including Senator John McCain who dare to disagree with them. The Nazis did the same thing.

Today we face a similar movement by some “conservative” voices in the United States. Many influential members of the “conservative” media, including Rush Limbaugh and most recently Glenn Beck who I have previously referred to own the airwaves, their words listened to often more than those of the Gospel. They derive some of their popularity from voicing support for “Christian moral values” such as being against abortion. This has endeared them to many conservative Christians who listen to them more than their faith or religious institutions. Unfortunately many “conservative” Christians cannot differentiate between the vitriolic and un-Christian rage of these talkers against anyone identified as the enemy that they have forgotten the Gospel and become simply an appendage to Republican or “conservative” politicians. It is not uncommon to see Christians on the web or on the call in talk radio programs agree lock stock and barrel Beck and others on the crass materialism and social Darwinism of “pure” Capitalism and the anti-Christian policy of pre-emptive war, even when they attacked Pope John Paul II when he refused to countenance the invasion of Iraq. Beck uses Scripture only to give his ideology, whatever it may be some semblance of decency. What Karl Barth said of Nazi ideology can be said of Beck’s ideology: “This was a nationalist heresy…. confusion between God and the spirit of the German nation.” Pundits and politicians on the Left may also place ideology over religion however they seldom espouse the heresy of linking the Christian faith with the spirit and destiny of the United States.

That may seem harsh, but there is a group led by Andrew Schlafly the “Conservative Bible project” that seek to re-translate the Bible into their own political, social and economic policies even seeking to change or minimize any Scripture that might be equated with to the “Social Gospel.” I guess if Beck wants he can get a copy when it comes out. If you don’t like what Scripture says change it…right?

I cannot sit by while Beck and others smear people including churches who disagree with their ideology which does not rest on Scripture or but merely uses it to inflame people into actions that turn them against the members of their own churches. This unfortunately is evil masquerading as good. Too many turned their eyes away from the Nazi menace thinking that Hitler could be reasoned with and that he really stood for their values. Too few stood up early to sound a warning. My issue with Beck and others like him be they pundits, talk show hosts, media personalities or politicians of any stripe regardless of whether they come from the right or the left do what Beck did this week I will call them on it. People can play political games and fight all they want but when they attack the Church for political and ideological gain, seek to divide it against itself or co-opt churches to do their bidding then I have a problem. I do not care if that threat comes from the Left as it sometimes does or the Right where a few years ago I would not think it was possible to come from. Unfortunately Beck’s message is main stream to many of his followers regardless of their faith and this is a threat to religious freedom for if those like Beck gained power then religious freedom would only be for those who agree not with Scripture or 2000 years of the Christian tradition but for those who agree with the ideology espoused by Beck and those like him. It would be the “freedom” of the German Christians who gave themselves to the Nazi ideology to be “free.” Ideas have consequences and when one advocates revolution and for people to leave their churches for any political ideology it is a grave threat to religious freedom.

Beck and those like him are enemies of freedom of religion. For Beck that cannot be blamed on being a Mormon. In fact he has attacked, perverted and misconstrued the doctrine of that church as well as the Roman Catholic Church and numerous Protestant denominations spanning the theological spectrum simply because he paints them “progressives” which is simply another word for Communist or Fascist. Beck is an enemy of religious liberty because he places his political ideology over that of the Gospel, not just that of his own church, but others. That is why he should be opposed and confronted every time that he makes such statements. They reveal his true heart, ideology and intentions and no amount of backtracking, excuses or attempts to change the subject can alter that hard cold and brutal fact. His sleight of hand to go on the attack and criticize offenders on the left, notably Jeremiah Wright only clouds the issue and does not change the fundamental truth of Beck’s worldview. Likewise his attempt to separate the Church from the poor is destructive and if Christians want to follow Beck’s teaching then they chose evil over truth. As Father James Martin SJ said in America “Glenn Beck’s desire to detach social justice from the Gospel is a subtle move to detach care for the poor from the Gospel. But a church without the poor, and a church without a desire for a just social world for all, is not the church. At least not the church of Jesus Christ.” http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=21159420-3048-741E-7761300524585116

To again quote the Barmen Declaration”

“Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt. 28:20.) “The word of God is not fettered.” (2 Tim. 2:9.)

The Church’s commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message of th free grace of God to all people in Christ’s stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and sacrament.

We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.” The Barmen Declaration Article 6

I am afraid of the Glenn Beck’s of the world. We appear to be at a precipice that we may or may not be able to pull back from. The Nazis used the same kind of language to attack the Christian faith and co-opt the vast majority of them. Men like Niemöeller, Bonhoeffer and many others were sent to the concentration camps, tried by kangaroo courts and some killed. I was on another blog where the discussion of this has been heated. I don’t like getting called a communist by allegedly “Christian” people who have bought Beck’s vision hook, line and sinker. If this is Beck’s version of the faith he can keep it. Unfortunately the rhetoric is so high, the division so deep and the anger so real that I am afraid that the fuse of violence may have been laid and that nothing will stop it especially with Beck and others stoking the fire on a daily basis on television and radio. Beck seems to be predicting and almost hoping for some kind of violent revolution seizing upon the now boiling anger on the Right and to some extent on the Left, anger that has consumed and co-opted so many conservative Christians is so great that at sometimes I wonder if this can end well though I do not predict civil war or revolution like Beck.

While I criticize Beck I cannot exclude from criticism those on the Left who have used angry, inflamed and hateful language and actions which also raises ante in ideological clash because it does take more than one faction to stir the witches’ cauldron of hatred which threatens not just religious liberty, but all liberty in this nation. I will pray for peace, respect and mutual understanding and I will not give up hope or resign myself to despair as my faith is in Christ crucified and resurrected. I will maintain the faith and remember the words of Bonhoeffer which help to undergird me in times like these:

“The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Tagged as abwehr, admiral canaris, adolf hitler, barmen declaration, beck talks of civil war, beck tells people to flee churches, bethel confession, capitalism, christian tradition, church of jesus christ of latter day saints, communism, confessing church, conservative bible project, conservative christians, conservative values, dietrich bonhoeffer, economic justice, fascism, freedom of religion, friedrich ebert, georg maerker, glenn beck, glenn beck's ideology, gustav noske, herman maas, independent socialists, jeremiah wright, kapp putsch, karl barth, kurt schleicher, kurt von hammerstein-equord, martin niemoller, nazi christianity, nazi courts, nazi persecution of churches, nazi persecution of jews, naziism, otto gessler, people's courts, pfarrernotbund, pop john paul ii, progressives, religious liberty, rush limbaugh, senator john mccain, social gospel, social justice, spartacist league, ss, university of bonn, walther reinhardt, weimar republic, werner freiherr von fritsch, wilhelm groener

March 11, 2010 · 23:20

Difficult Days: A Lenten Meditation

“As lousy as things are now, tomorrow they will be somebody’s good old days.” Gerald Barzan

The Good Old Days to Some…the Bad Old Days to Otehrs

The past few weeks being laid up dealing with Adolf the Kidney stone and his remove this week have been unusual for me. I have been in pain and even now am dealing with the aftereffects of the procedure to remove Adolf I find that it has given me a pause during Lent that I seldom get. The pause to look at life, mortality and what is and is not important. Now a Kidney stone is not normally a life threatening condition and was not in my case, but the condition has slowed me down from my normal hyperactive manner of doing things, even slowed down the pace of my writing. It has not been fun but I have gained some spiritual grace that I think that I needed. Tonight I am not feeling as well as I was this morning and hopefully this too will pass so I can get back to getting well.

It is difficult at times to be hopeful when all around there is bad news. We seem to be living the ancient Chinese curse that says “May you live in interesting times.” The times are certainly interesting with lots going on of historic significance that may years from now be remembered as one of those tumultuous times where the world changed before our eyes. History of course is replete with such times, the rise and fall of ancient empires, the age of exploration, the Reformation, the French and American Revolutions, the Napoleonic era, the American Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the First and Second World War with the Great Depression sandwich, the 1960’s, the post Cold War era and the post-911 era just for a start. I could go back further in history for other epochal periods, but I think that the reason that today’s crisis seem so much more dire is that we are both the beneficiaries and the victims of the instantaneous communication revolution in which common people have real time access to events that are impacting their lives. This causes many a great deal of anxiety both real and imagined, anxiety which usually finds expression in a desire for the good old days as well as seeks solace and security from those who feverishly exploit that anxiety. It does not matter if the security comes from religion, political ideology and matters neither if it comes from the left or the right so long as the call resonates with them they will follow it. They will faithfully follow even as the purveyors of the message drive up their worry and anxiety that they no longer can actually enjoy life or be thankful because they are so consumed with how “lousy” things are or “evil” their opponents are.

Fun and Games in the Good Old Days…

It is in times like these that one has to take a deep breath, look around at all that they have to be thankful for and just really examine of the nostalgia that they feel for “better times” is that or an escape from an unpleasant present and fear of the future if the other side wins. The fact is that we have seen such times before and somehow made it through. I hear from friends and relatives who lived through the Great Depression and World War II that those were good times in spite of everything happening, much of which is present today but somehow things are worse now. Even I fall into the trap about somehow thinking that the times that I grew up in were somehow better than the present, this may be true for music but overall things were not that good for a lot of people but somehow we made it through them. Lent is a time to step back from the brink, take stock and renew our life with God and our neighbor.

When I returned from Iraq back in February 2008 I soon discovered that the bombardment of bad news and über-partisan political battles took its toll on me. I was neither as resilient as I thought that I was nor as consumed by the need to continue to ratchet up rhetoric on one side or the other as the more extreme elements on the right or left were doing. PTSD or not I realized that the purveyors of the 24/7 bad news cycle were driving people with legitimate ideological differences to extremes that I had never seen, but which I recognized from history have a lot of precedent and can lead to making things even worse. One only has to look at Weimar Germany to realize how things can go so very wrong when extremes on both sides of the ideological spectrums squeeze out those in the middle or chance at mutually beneficial solutions and that was in the days before type of information overload that is the bedrock of the political and ideological landscape of today.

I am not attacking those who get caught up in this but I do question the politicians, pundits, “news-networks” and talk show hosts who continue to ratchet up rhetoric to the point that many feel that the only alternative is some kind of “revolution.” Again those that call for “radical change” or revolt against those who are in favor of that kind of change are both calling for revolution when revolutionary talk reaches a point where one side or the other does not see a way to resolve things in a civil manner then the those alternatives slip away and the only recourse is violence. It is not the fault of one side or the other as those that stoke this talk are found on both sides of the American as well as other nations political and ideological spectrum testify to daily. In the United States we also have a long history of apocalyptic thought which presents the lousy state of current events in any generation as something that will certainly bring the end of life as we know it or the return of the Lord, the Great Tribulation or whatever you chalk it up to. There are those on both the religious and secular side of the spectrum who have apocalyptic visions related to their world view. For some reason we Americans do the apocalyptic quite well whether we believe in God or not.

I am not a radical, my temperament is such that I may have strong beliefs but realize that there are many other opinions out there than mine and that even if I do not agree with one side or the other on every issue it does not mean that I cannot find common ground. I think this is part of the reason for the diversity of friends that I have from across the religious, political and ideological spectrum, we can agree to disagree and in the process still value one another and our opinions and remain friends who care about one another.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the Courtyard of the Tegel Strasse Prison

The thing that has been most on my mind this Lent has been the idea of being reconciled both to God and to one another. Lent is a season of self examination, repentance and forgiveness. The call to “be reconciled to one another” is a never ending command and applies across the variety and spectrum of life. Lent reminds us that that “we are dust and to dust we shall return” but that we are also all made in the image of the God who created us, redeems us and sanctifies us who calls us to himself and reminds us that mercy triumphs over judgment and “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I am afraid that in times like these even the best intentioned of people can find themselves pulled into the orbit of those that in less stressful or trying times that they would never be involved with. The German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote: “Our enemies are those who harbor hostility against us, not those against whom we cherish hostility… As a Christian I am called to treat my enemy as a brother and to meet hostility with love. My behavior is thus determined not by the way others treat me, but by the treatment I receive from Jesus.”

I know for some this message is lost and not because they are rejecting the message of the Gospel but because that have become so deeply involved in whatever cause they or their champions espouse that they have lost the ability at least temporarily to see the good that may rest in their opponents and their ideas. As Bonhoeffer also wrote “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as ourselves.” Now of course Bonhoeffer knew the evil that was the Nazis and eventually gave his life by supporting the German resistance to Hitler. Loving our enemies does not absolve us from public responsibility but in ensuring that we do not ensnare ourselves in ideology that restricts our ability to love them as Christ has commanded.

I think in the past few years that I have gained a new perspective on life that has changed the way that I look at the world. I know that things are not good right now and that there are a lot of things to be legitimately concerned about, but I know too that somehow our country as well as much of humanity have weathered worse and like Barzan said that for some these will be the good old days someday and that helps me to live in the present knowing that the future is not yet written and known only to God who in his grace condescends to love us and desires that we better love him and one another and not be conformed to any ideology that would prevent that. I do pray that we will both see better days as well as be reconciled to God and to one another that is my Lenten prayer.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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Tagged as dietrich bonhoeffer, forgiveness, gerald barzan, good old days, great drepression, lent, may you live in interesting times, reconciliation, right and left wing extremism, weimar germany

March 9, 2010 · 23:59

The End of Adolf the Kidney Stone…Padre Steve Muses on Surgery

Smiling again…Adolf is Dead

Well neither the Abbess nor I slept well last night as we waited for morning and the trip to the hospital. I finally got to bed at about 0400 and was back up at 630. We made it to the hospital in plenty of time. I went by the office a few minutes and Chaplain Derek Ross walked us up to the APU and on the way took the time to pull aside at the small chapel near the OR to have prayer with us.

Adolf Getting Blasted By the USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Upon getting to the APU I was given pants, a smock and robe, which thankfully did not leave my tookus exposed. Within 45 minutes I was taken back to the pre-op area and prepped for surgery getting an IV for my IV fluids and medications as well as a port for the anesthesia medicines. I asked the Nurse Anesthetist if I would be under “General Anesthesia” for the procedure and caused him to laugh when I asked if that involved watching a video of an Army General giving an incredibly boring Power Point briefing. The man like me has spent a good number of years in the Army and said that he would have to remember that. The intern working with him was one I had worked with on ICU and of course the Urologist was my former battalion medical officer at 2^nd Combat Engineer battalion back in 1999 at Camp LeJeune. Once all was prepared they wheeled me to the OR where all I know was that I went under anesthesia and woke up in our post-op ward. I was of course monitored continuously and intubated for the first time in my life, something that I knew that they would do but had no idea it happened until I tried to talk and felt the scratchiness in my throat. I was also fitted with a stent to keep things open which I get to keep for a week. Here is a video of a Laser Lithotripsy:

http://www.miamiroboticprostatectomy.com/videos/video002.html

The surgery was successful but I was told by the Abbess that the Urologist told her that he had to do some fancy maneuvering to move Adolf into a position that he could get a good shot with the holmium laser but that it went well with some minor injuries down there that I will have to ask him about. After my time in recovery I was taken back to APU where I was prepped for discharge and in pretty good humor despite some discomfort especially the pain that I experience in the process of urination, which I am mandated to do to the tune of 3-4 liters a day. Since getting home I have had to repeat this painful procedure often. As I was wheeled to the car Monsignor Fred Elkin came down to see us off.

We went to dinner at Biersch where we were treated by some of our Stein Club friends and that was good, my first food other than two graham crackers and two saltines after surgery in the APU. I was given a butt-load of medications for my recovery and will schedule my appoint for removal of the stent and follow up in Urology tomorrow, since I will not get it removed for a week they don’t plan on clearing me for work until the 17^th. So I have to take things easy and slowly get some light PT in at home. I have lost two weeks of my conditioning program but should be able to get it back before time for the Physical Fitness Assessment rolls along next month. I was hoping to do the early bird test but may have to wait a couple of weeks into the cycle. Regardless I will do well, inshallah.

Thanks to all who encouraged, prayed and laughed with me throughout this ordeal and to those who were involved with my care.

Peace

Steve+

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Background to “The Pacific” Part One: The Guadalcanal Campaign and the Beginning of Joint Operations

Why Johnny Can’t Read Maps: NCAA Tournament Geography for Dummies and a Solution

The “Eyes” have it; they’ve got Sammy Davis Eyes….an Experience from My Clinical Pastoral Education Residency

Necessity and Reality…Lessons on Life

Baseball is Back….Thank God!

The Fruit of Glenn Beck’s Spirit

God Loves the Real World

Difficult Days: A Lenten Meditation

The End of Adolf the Kidney Stone…Padre Steve Muses on Surgery

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