Jordan and Jacob at the golf tournament
This
weekend has been the Charles Schwab International PGA Golf Tournament at
Colonial Country Club, as I mentioned before, and my family have been missing
in action all weekend. Tonight, it’s over, the winner declared—a name I’ve
never heard, but hey! I’m not much of a golf fan except to cheer for my Jacob.
So congratulations to Sam Burns, whoever he may be. Good job well done.
One of Jordan's crazy angled
pictures at the
tournament
I
meantime stayed home, went to church remotely, and entertained friends for
supper. I doubt many in the audience were moved to tears at the NRA convention
when trump read off the names of the victims of the Uvalde shooting—and then
ended his talk with a totally inappropriate dance. But I was teary this morning
when one of the ministers at my church read the names of those children just
before the ministerial prayer. Made me think that context matters a whole lot. Senior
minister Russ Peterman has been preaching on women of the Bible, and today his
text was the story of the Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter
who was possessed by a demon. It was a good segue into the events of the past
week and the mothers who stood outside Robb Elementary begging law enforcement
to go in and save their children. The law enforcement mistakes made that day
are appalling and heart-wrenching. Russ ended the sermon with a plea that no
mother ever again has to beg for her child’s life.
There
was a thread on Facebook this week about a topic that comes up every so often:
if churches get into politics, they should be taxed. I have long said it would
be hard to draw the line between political churches and those that are
apolitic. This week I went beyond that to suggest that some topics are too easily
labeled political when, in truth, they are moral issues. And gun control, to
me, is a moral issue. I sense that Russ will take a hard line on moral issues in
the Sundays to come, and I am grateful.
Switching
gears: for years, Betty Boles and I went to dinner every Wednesday night. In
recent years, we included Jean Walbridge. But the custom had begun to fall
apart when pandemic delivered the coup de gras. Jean and I were virtually
quarantined in our own homes, but we felt safe because we had little exposure; she
was one of the few people I saw during the height of pandemic. Betty and her
husband, on the other hand, continued to go to the restaurant they owned—where none
of the staff were vaccinated or wore masks. Since the threat has eased, I’ve
seen Betty a few times, but our lives have changed, and it’s not always easy to
pick up an old relationship.
Tonight
I cooked supper for Betty and Jean, a sort of tribute to old times. Remembering
that Betty liked smoked salmon, I fixed Jamie Oliver’s smoked salmon and potato
salad—a showy dish if I do say so. I served it with salt and vinegar cucumbers—an
experiment I undertook because I like to keep marinated cucumbers in the fridge
in summer. And a tossed green salad and baguette slices. Served buffet style.
It made a lovely display, and thanks to Jean for a good photo. We had a good time
playing catch-up, but as soon as she finished her supper, Betty was up and on
her way home to check on her husband.
My buffet tonight
Other
than that, it was a nice lazy day—reading a book for an online discussion that begins
tomorrow, a few household chores (I don’t do many of those these days), a nice
nap. Last night my neighbor Greg talked about how good it is not to have any
obligations. He said we’re not rich, but we’re not poor, we can pay our bills
and live comfortably—how lucky are we! And it’s true. I feel truly blessed, but
as some have said this week, I also feel some survivor’s guilt. Thoughts and prayers are not enough—that’s
become almost a hackneyed joke—but I work daily to think what I can do besides donating
when and where I can and voicing my opinions on social media. As Oprah said in
a recent essay, “Doing nothing is not an option.”
So
this week, try to think of one thing you can do to save our democracy from
religious zealots who have transformed the Christian message into something
sinister, one thing beyond thoughts and prayers and donations. There’s a
challenge for you. Have a great week.
