Religion

Contrary to lyrics of “South Pacific,” it takes more than happy talk to be happy. It involves more than talking about things we like to do. It takes more than talking about the moon floating in the sky or looking at a lily on the lake or talking about a bird learning how to fly, making all the music he can make. Yet, it is all those things that help us to learn the ways and wiles of being happy.

Churchgoers in major Christian denominations may be familiar with these words as part of their communion rites. The words strike me as particularly powerful ones. They are words that prod us in many areas of life, areas that are truly ones that empower communion—union with each other in our common humanity.
Memorial Day is an especially precious time to hear, heed and attend to that command.

As we were en route to a lunch date with visiting friends, we passed a county vehicle emblazoned with this entreaty, “A reader today; a leader tomorrow.” Hmmm, I thought, a neat message for our youth. I tried to convey my impression to Hubby Dear. Traffic noise and the deeper concentration needed for travel through the rain made it impossible, so I let it go.

I attended an interesting gathering, Theology on Tap, which focused on the topic of freedom. Serendipitously, it was scheduled immediately after another of our nation’s tragedies, the bombing at the Boston Marathon.
Comments ranged from assertions of our God-given free will to cultural constrictions of freedom, from the constraints on freedom when job requirements are involved to angst over an apparent substitution of limitless liberty in place of true freedom. It was agreed that rights and their concomitant responsibilities must be regained.