We’re all Republicans now. We’re all Federalists now.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Are we every going to move beyond demogoguery and ideological stalemate?

Are our elected representatives ever going to be able to work together constructively to do the will of the American people?

Is the United States a democracy “of the people, by the people, for the people”, or is it an oligarchy “of corporate interests, by corporate interests, and for corporate interests?”

Perhaps our representatives on both sides of the aisle, and the journalists whose opinions that pass as news should stop shouting long enough to remember Thomas Jefferson’s words from the very 1st inaugural address.

His words are very much in the spirit of Barry Goldwater, when he said “To disagree, one doesn’t have to be disagreeable”. 

If we are a society  of people like the one that I imagined I grew up in…, a people that cares about ideas and ideals…, a people that cares about our neighbors…, a people that cares for those who cannot take care of themselves…, there is one word that will solve our problem:

Respect.”

Let’s stop the personal attacks. And let’s start showing some respect.

Respect for elders. Respect for our neighbors. Respect for the other guy. Respect for ourselves. Respect for the truth. Respect for our world.

Let us, then, restore civility to our civic discourse (“without which liberty and life itself are but dreary things“), and let us show the world we are still the world’s best hope. 

Let’s show some respect, and (1) work together to take responsibility for our country’s problems, (2) implement practical ideas that will build the foundation for a society that cares about our world and the people who live in it, and (3) give ourselves the chance to create real opportunities for sustainable growth.

We owe it to ourselves, our children, and future generations of Americans.

~~~

The 1st Inaugral Address, by Thomas Jefferson, 1801

[...] “All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.

Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions.

During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety.

But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world’s best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth.”  [...]

~ Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 1, 1801

“We highly resolve [...] that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now considered the most famous speech by President Abraham Lincoln, what is universally known as “The Gettysburg Address.” 

Considered perhaps the most important speech ever delivered on American soil, it was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated the armies of Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.

Containing only 271 words, and taking less than 3 minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence, and positioned the Civil War as a struggle not only for the Union, but for ”a new birth of freedom” that would deliver the promise of true equality to all of its citizens — creating a unified nation in which states’ rights were no longer dominant.

In his eulogy, Sumner called The Gettysburg Address a “monumental act.”  He said Lincoln was mistaken that “the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.” Rather, he remarked: “The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech.”

Let’s resolve that we will always remember the battle and the speech, the war that started it, and that our honored dead shall not have died in vain… that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Call your Senators and your Elected Representive today, and remind them that the United States is a democracy “of the people, by the people, for the people,” and not an oligarchy of corporate interests, by corporate interests, and for corporate interests.

U.S. Senators | US Representatives 

~~~

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln: "The Gettysburg Address"

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

St Therese of Lisieux

With little formal schooling other than her primary studies at Benedictine Abbey of Notre Dame du Pre; and supplemented greatly by the the lights and graces that were showered on her from above, St. Therese is now a Doctor of the Church. She is only one of three women to receive this distinction.

Surrounded by love, and a strong catholic family and culture, she grew up with an irresistable desire to be a Carmelite Nun, and lived every day with the conviction she would be a Saint, finding joy in suffering and sacrifice.

She teaches us that it is not necessary to accomplish heroic acts, or great deeds, in order to attain holiness and to express our love for God. We can do it every day by practicing perfection in the the little things we do.

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition, by Therese de Lisieux, Edited by John Clarke.  See what others are saying about this book on Amazon.com

"Papa's favorite bird"

The American Goldfinch is one of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen. 

You can recognize it by its bright yellow body, black wings with white stripes, and black cap and forehead. 

It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canadian border to Mexico during the winter.

It is my favorite bird, and takes my breath away each time I see one dining on the thistles that are growing on the side of our house.

Without a doubt, this is the best line, in a movie, of all time.

"You look great!"

The line is from “Papillon“, starring Steve McQueen in the title role, and Dustin Hoffman as his amiable, four-eyed sidekick.

Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, “Papillon” is a petty thief, who is unjustly convicted of murder and sentenced to life to a penal colony in French Guyana. The plot thickens when Papillon, who is determined to escape, fails repeatedly, resulting in recapture, and several incarcerations in solitary confinement, and finally in complete isolation.

In solitary confinement, Papillon’s only contact with others is once a day when a guard delivers a pot of water and a bowl of gruel. Once a month he sticks his head through an opening in the door to be deloused. In the early days of his incarceration, a haggard old man in the cell next to him asks: ”How do I look?” It was clear that Papillon’s prisonmate was completely broken and very near death. So Papillon charitably responds: “You look great!”

At the periodic delousing several months later, Papillon sees his new prisonmate (who has presumably replaced the previous one who died). This time it’s Papillon who appears emaciated, teeth rotting, eyes sunken back into his head (but somehow still gleaming), clearly very close to death. Papillon asks asks: “How do I look?” His new friend looks at him and responds: “You look great.” This is when he knows he’s in big trouble.

The big takeaway

The lesson here is that by the time people stop complaining about the timeliness or quality of your work, how you smell, or how you look, or whatever — it’s over. It’s too late.

So if your boss is giving you a hard time. Take encouragement. You’re not out the door yet. Don’t be offended. Don’t be insulted. Get your ass in gear. If your customer is complaining…, consider yourself really lucky because statistics show 1 out of 7 walk and never come back, and they never say a word. If your girlfriend is crying…., be happy there is still hope. Take her shopping, and buy her something, unless she’s crying because you’re not making enough money in which case, get your ass out the door and go get a 2nd job to make the poor girl happy. If your mate begrudgingly cuts a small space, with an exacto knife, for you to sleep in the conjugal bed…, jump for joy, and shout “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” because you are still alive to see another day. You’ve got another day to do whatever it takes.

The key is to recognize that what you’re perceiving as ‘someone giving you a hard time’ should really be a wake-up call.

Don’t take it personally. Just get out of the way. 

This is the same principle behind Judo. It’s ‘surrendering to the universe’ in yoga. It’s accepting who you are as you are rather than continually seeking to transform yourself. It’s taking whatever life throws at you and rolling with the punches. It’s ‘turning the other cheek’.

Anyway…, that, dear reader, i.e., the secret of knowing how to live with whatever life throws at you, was the gleam in Steve McQueen’s eye. And, that, is also thankfully, the gleam in mine. And that is what makes this the best line, in a movie, of all time. Tell me I’m wrong.

“How do I look?”

“Why do you write only sad songs?” someone once asked the legendary Townes Van Zandt. “Well…, many of the songs…, they aren’t sad…, they’re hopeless,” he affirmed.

Townes and Seymour

If you’re going to sing and play the blues, you might as well be the best that you can be. Maybe that’s why Townes Van Zandt is revered as a Texas Bluesman. Here is a video clip of him playing “Pancho & Lefty” for an intimate group of friends. This song later became a number one country hit in 1983 when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson adopted it as the title track of their duet album “Pancho & Lefty”.

Van Zandt is remembered as a gifted songwriter who left a legacy of songs that inspired, and continues to inspire, musicians of of much wider acclaim and repute than he; really a musician’s musician. Influential in the sub-genre referred to as “outlaw country”, his style really makes you feel just how big Texas really is (it’s the size of 5 average “other” western states).

“Doing your best is a process of trying to do your best,” he was once quoted in “Zen Guitar.”

YRG Fitness System

We all could lose a little weight.

Here is an inspirational story that should make you get up off your ass, and re-dedicate yourself to your yoga practice.

YRG Fitness System: All-in-one, cardio, strength training and flexibility workouts, a nutrition plan and an online community to help you reach your goals.

Yoga is just for Regular Guys and Gals.

Just do it!

Marcus Aurelius: "The Wise"

“A man’s thoughts are the threads of which the fabric of his days are woven.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Augustus (“the Wise”; 121 A.D. to 180 A.D.) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was also considered one of the most important Stoic Philosophers, and his Meditations are reknowned for their clear-mindedness and logic.

Some of my other favorite meditations include:

“If you’re pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs you, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.”

“Take away your opinion, and there is taken away the complaint, [...] Take away the complaint, [...] and the hurt is gone.”

“Words that everyone once used are now obsolete, and so are the men whose names were once on everyone’s lips: Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Dentatus, and to a lesser degree Scipio and Cato, and yes, even Augustus, Hadrian, and Antoninus are less spoken of now than they were in their own days. For all things fade away, become the stuff of legend, and are soon buried in oblivion. Mind you, this is true only for those who blazed once like bright stars in the firmament, but for the rest, as soon as a few clods of earth cover their corpses, they are ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ In the end, what would you gain from everlasting remembrance? Absolutely nothing. So what is left worth living for? This alone: justice in thought, goodness in action, speech that cannot deceive, and a disposition glad of whatever comes, welcoming it as necessary, as familiar, as flowing from the same source and fountain as yourself.”

“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own-not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine.”

A New Earth

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Eckart Tolle (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61). See what others are saying about this book on Amazon.com

There is a saying in French: “La reconnaissance de l’homme est la plus grande des politesses.” Roughly translated, it means: “Acknowledging another person [sic] is the greatest courtesy.”

There are many ways to acknowledge another person.

Caritas

You can acknowledge another person with a greeting, a nod, a wave, a salute, and many many other ways.

It seems though, we do a mediocre job acknowledging one another. We pass each other by, each in our own little cacoon…, because we’re too busy or too distracted to do otherwise.

If we are so mediocre at acknowledging others, it makes you wonder how well we practice the virtue of ‘charity’, which is a concern for, and active helping of, others.

In this fresco from the Middle Ages, which is in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy – Charity holds a basket of wonderfully painted fruit in the one hand, and with the other receives a heart handed to her by God the Father.

This fresco should serve to remind us, when our pride and our egos get too big, that all of our talents are on loan from above.

Since we were made in His image it would do well for us to acknowledge him in all we do–and then as Saint Augustine teaches: “pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on us.”

It would be…, the greatest courtesy.