Respect for authority or anarchy

September 9, 2009September 10, 2009bobtraupman

This little guy is enthralled by the words of Thomas Jefferson emblazoned on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial

This little guy is enthralled by the word of Thomas Jefferson emblazoned on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial

Grateful, indeed, Bill. I truly look forrward to seeing you again after forty years.

But I have a very sensitive soul. I feel sad that I find so little to inspire us this morning, September 9, 2009. And worried too. When the President of the United States is not treated with respect by our own citizens, I am worried, indeed! I perceive that we’re in deeper trouble than I realized.

When we teach our kids not to respect the authority of the President of the United States we are demeaning all authority. I was taught that we may not always agree with those in authority, but that authority must be respected; if not, anarchy might not be far behind.

I was awakened before 3 AM to be in deep prayer for the sake of our country, experiencing much sadness, profound suffering and anguish in my soul over the disrespect shown to the President yesterday.

The crisis our country is in right now is far deeper than just economic. We are struggling for our soul and we may not make it. We have to stop blaming others and take responsibility for our own failures and sins. That has been my constant message for two years now.

Now, please take my remarks this morning as the fruit of my prayer. But I realized that is still a beautiful world. i had a beautiful swim this morning. A black bird walked up to me and we looked each other in the eye for a long moment. And when Shivvy and I turned the corner of our condo on our walk, we were greeted by a perfect luminous double rainbow.

My point to my readers: We have to embrace the Both / And in our lives. Be present to — embrace – it all. There is no other way. Our very survival is at stake. Let’s reject any participation in negative thinking or doing and embrace the positive. Let’s bind together as a nation in love and brotherhood.

And by the way, I am in prayer with my Islamic brothers and sisters as they embrace this month dedicated to repentance and renewal, the month of Ramadan.

Dear Friends,

I have a very sensitive soul. That’s part of the vocation I offer to the world in which I live. It’s the gift of my manic depressive experience; I alternately soar to the heights and fall into the depths. I suffer with and for the whole world in my soul, not unlike Jesus in the agony in the garden. . That is the calling, the vocation, of a contemplative and I am happy to fulfill that role because we contemplatives do our part to hold the world together.

I was awakened before 3 AM to be in deep prayer for the sake of our country, experiencing much sadness, profound suffering and anguish in my soul over the disrespect shown to the President yesterday. It symbolizes for me a very important concern that I invite you to think about.

This morning, something was causing me anguish and it took a while to figure out what it was. And worried too. When the President of the United States is not treated with respect by our own citizens, I am worried, indeed! It dawned on me that we’re in deeper trouble than I realized.

When parents teach their children not to respect duly constituted authority, in this case, the authority of the President of the United States we are demeaning all authority. I was taught that, though we may not like or always agree with those in authority, that authority is due respect and honor. The early Christians were taught to respect and pray for the Emperor. My concern is that if we do not, anarchy might not be far behind.

Thomas Jefferson just to the left of the boy

Not wanting one’s children to listen to the President is ridiculous! Every TV show, every commercial, every movie is feeding our children with sex and violence!

Thirteen year olds on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial

I have come to realize that many of our young people today are distrustful of authority, including the Church. Who is to be believed? Who trusted?

Nevertheless, we have to stop blaming others and take responsibility for our own failures and sins. there’s plenty of that to go around, Republicans or Democrats, Christians or atheists. That has been my constant message for two years now. I have been pleading / cajoling / imploring anyone who would listen that we need to enter personal transformation for the sake of transformation of our county.

The crisis our country is in right now is far deeper than just economic. We are struggling to regain the soul of America and we may not make it. Our country is far from what we were and need to be. This is not the America I love. But have pledged to do my part to help wake us up before it’s too late. That’s my message. And I’ve been correct about a lot of this over the past two years.

This was the fruit of my anguished prayer. That was before 4 AM. And then I fell into a deep sleep and let God do his work. But my soul brightened up after sunrise. I realized that is still a beautiful world. I had a beautiful swim this morning. I thank God for the little very quiet corner of America I love. When Shivvy and I turned the corner of our condo on our walk toward the west, we were greeted by a luminous surprise that startled me! A perfect double rainbow. Perhaps that was an answer to my prayer.

My point, dear readers: We have to embrace the Both / And in our lives. Be present to — embrace – it all. There is no other way. If we avoid our dark side, our own or our country’s, if we refuse to do our soul work, it will do us in. Our very survival is at stake. Let’s reject any participation in negative thinking and hostile rhetoric or doing and embrace the positive. The President is owed our cooperation by right of his office. Without that, we have nothing.

Let’s bind together as a nation in love and brotherhood. If we do not, I doubt that we will make it.

Good and gracious God,

help us please, please to bind together,

listen to each other,

respect each other

and work together for the good of all.

We praise you for all that is good today.

Amen!

Bob Traupman

priest / writer

And by the way, I am in prayer with my Islamic brothers and sisters as they embrace this month dedicated to repentance and renewal, the month of Ramadan. For many Muslims, they take very seriously the need to take stock of and repent of their sins.