Today is the feast of St. John the Baptist. Just like him, we are baptized Catholic Christians with 2 distinct features of:
baptized with holy water and the Holy Spirit
anointed with the Lord’s mission who is priest, prophet and king.
Our mission is to be servant/leaders, as one who washes the feet of others, that is what correct leadership is, said Fr. John Cordero of @Holy Family Church in Artesia.
“Correct leadership is not a divine right, but a duty of service. We are known as Christians by our service,” he continued.
He listened to the Senate deliberations at 8pm est on Jan.6, 2021, following the incitement of a mob to an insurrection by a sitting President.
He could not forget what one speaker said, “we have to remember our roles as servant leaders.”
He proceeded to describe the waters of Baptism, how that was made holy by the Lord visiting the Jordan River.
In my visit to Jordan, this brown murky river water turned clear when I took some and put it into a water bottle container, untreated.
Fr. John described the holy waters:”The waters of truth are soft and gentle. It does not agitate, it does not incite, it does not flatter.”
Unlike the flaming words of 45th US President on twitter, Trump called the mob participants “Patriots” and said, “we love you,” and incited them to “be wild,” on Jan.6.
As an incentive, he told them he would join them. It was untrue. It was a big lie.
Much like the lies that he has been telling them that the elections were stolen.
#2020Elections were won fairly, with nearly 82 million votes for Joe Biden. It was challenged by 61 out of 60 lawsuits that Trump filed, 99% of these lawsuits were lost in the local, appellate and US Supreme Court levels.
155 million voters came out to vote, some residing abroad as US registered citizens who sent their completed ballots ahead of the elections to be counted.
50 states participated, with local counties overseeing the counting, including volunteers and thousands of media observers and analysts, party observers and their lawyers. It was a decentralized administration, with no evidence of fraud.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”Nov 5, 2019
Why are we holding this 45th US President to the lowest bar of unlawful, unethical and immoral leadership? Should we not hold him to a higher standard of moral leadership as the leader if this free nation, who has been held hostage by his corrupt actions while in office, protected and shielded by the equally corrupt leaders of the Republican Party?
Must we be corrupted too in mind and spirit much like these domestic terrorists? Why is he provided the shield of the White House that he has disgraced by his 25,000+ lies now, since day 1 in office, ordering his Press Secretary to lie about the inauguration crowds? Why are we paying for his Secret Service and meals still in the White House when he has violated his presidential oath of office? Why is he still free to call and interact with the free world, after his domestic terrorist acts?
Why? If we are a country that believes in the rule of law and peaceful elections? Why are we allowing him to keep trampling on the US Constitution that our ancestors fought for with their highest moral values with their lives?
Today is my 42nd wedding anniversary with the resident philosopher Enrique de la Cruz, who does not habitually use PhD to his name. He has a doctorate in philosophy and mathematical logic.
Those 3 letters have enabled us to live in Leyte under a Fullbright postdoctoral fellowship where he taught research methods to graduate students. I watched him patiently teach them for 4 hours one morning, on how to write an abstract and do a research topic for their dissertation. Where did he get that patience, I asked myself?
I attended his class at CSUN, auditing it for a semester, on “Race, Racism and Critical Thinking,” where students are broken up into teams to discuss race and social issues and explore the roots of these man-made racial categories, of falsely created barriers to keep us apart.
One student came to class, wearing his sweatshirt with a hoody. In class, he slept. When we broke into groups, hubby assigned him as a workshop leader. He tried to back out. We told him he has to honor the professor’s choice. He presented what we discussed in our small group to the entire class. The next class, he sat up straight, raised his hand and interacted with the discussion. I asked my husband – did you see your student who was sleeping before come alive lately? He responded, “It’s why I assigned him to be the workshop leader.
“In our retirement, he shows that patience to our 5yo granddaughter. It is funny listening to my granddaughter reason out with her grandpa.
One time, hubby said, “You are student of the month in your preschool. That means, you have to be kind and patient.”
“Grandpa, I am kind and patient in my class where I go to school. But, here, I don’t have to be, with you.”
I laughed and I noticed my husband realized they needed to go outside and play in the backyard. Nature gives us always a new perspective.
One more story of his patient problem solving ability. For years, my husband wants us to go camping. I like glamping, glamorous camping with amenities.
Anyhow, I was thrilled to get a collapsible funnel and a wide mouth drinking container, “This will come in handy when we go stealth camping.”
Just as the heavens would test you, we were driving for hours. Then, we parked near the ocean, I believe it was in Capitola.
We decided to watch the surfers and then, the beautiful sunset. We were now faced with a choice: stay there and wait for sunrise or drive hundreds more miles without a guarantee of where we will go spend the night. We decided to stay put!
But, where do you go for #1 when the beach bathrooms and nearby restaurants are closed? I got to use his gift.
Later, I found out it was a $2 oil funnel used by car mechanics and he gave it to me, explaining how I should use it. I could not forget how much I laughed that morning. Of course, I emptied the container into the toilet as soon as the restaurant opened up and washed it for the next need.
Fast forward, we now travel with a porta potty, portable kitchen, and a collapsible sofa bed.
That’s the man I married, the love of my life. My dad said we would not last as he was divorced and a lapsed Catholic, a former altar boy.
42 years later, 44years together, we aim to be pillars of light, and away from darkness, always in service to others. A theme of our marriage is and has always been “Serve the People.”
Thank you so much to my adult children who took the best care of us last 2020, thank you @cldels @coriput and @sergnflo – we survived because you had a hand in it.
2020 was the “spiritual taming of our wild souls” to be closer to God and in embodying #Godwithin, see God in others and connect with loving kindness and more love.
Bishop Marc Trudeau said mass today at @holyfamilyartesia celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family.
He preached about the connectedness of people. That we recognize Baby Jesus as the one connected to our salvation history, as well as to our creation as a people. It goes back to 14 generations of families connected to Baby Jesus and many more afterwards, that we are all part of a Christian family. A profound way of describing our historical evolution, but, he does not stop there.
“We have allowed differences in the colors of our skin, different languages, different accents, different places of birth as barriers, yet we are all connected as one family of faith. When we receive the body of Christ, we become the body of Christ, too. Make us, God into one family with love of the Invisible,” Bishop Trudeau continued.
That reflection made me cry while attending this livestreamed mass. Bishop Trudeau shares his analysis and an aspirational concept. He is a brilliant homilist, concise, succinct, yet with full of wisdom.
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My life’s lessons in America:
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
The Dalai Lama
When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
To get the most success out of life have no agenda other than to give whatever you can in the present moment. A smile, a laugh, a quarter, a helping hand, an introduction or just your listening ear is more powerful than you can imagine. Beneath every gift is the knowing that the Universe is abundant and that you lose nothing by giving away what you have. Others will feel comfortable in your presence and all good things will find you – WITHOUT seeking them.
Jackson Kiddard
They segregate themselves with indifference. By being that – they perpetuate the culture of indifferent, invisible to others, except whites-racism. Respect other people’s rights by voting – when we don’t vote, we are part of the problem still, not part of the solution to dismantle the culture of whites only, indifferent and invisible to others.
