Mr. Berry, small farm advocate, environmentalist, poet,
proud Kentuckian, is living through these dark days of

senseless tariffs, a mean-spirited governor and Mitch
McConnell. Wendell sits on his porch, smoking his pipe,

watching the sunset, hearing the croaks of the toads
in the pond and contemplating the dandelions in his

lawn. He will not shock the flowers with Round-Up;
he might pick some for dandelion wine and leave

the rest to show off their bright yellow splendor in
the deep green grass.

I have a friend who is losing
his hearing in one ear.
I am losing sight in one eye.
I opined, “We have nothing to fear;
we can be one whole guy.”
I would trade you my good ear
for your good eye.
You would have two good ears
and I would have two good eyes.”
He opined, “Like a gunny sack race.
Two legs into one sack we would tie
and away we would fly.”
Always better at math than I,
he said, “Why trade ears and eyes?
Just leave it alone; together
we would have three good ears
and three good eyes.
That way we would really fly.”
“Yes,” said I, “We should leave well enough alone.
I would tell you when the gun went off
and you could point the way,
so we could win the race
and then hop all the way home.”

*appreciation to a friend for the image
of a gunny sack race.

So, the white filmmaker decided to track the behavior of law
enforcement officers across the country documenting that the

majority of the time they faced mundane circumstances but faced
extreme hazard to their safety and security rarely and, apparent-

ly, mostly when they encountered situations involving minorities.
So, what is the purpose of the documentary except to exonerate

law enforcement officers, which begs the question, “What about
the rights of those black and brown citizens gunned down by those

police officers who continue to live their daily lives in mostly
mundane, non-violent circumstances?”

He read his e-mailed religious meditations and e-mailed
poems and he ran his wrist watch timer for ten minutes

of silent meditation and then he got up to get a cup of
gourmet coffee and began to sip the delicious blend and

as he sipped he breathed deeply and savored the coffee
as his wife entered the room and asked, “Have you heard?”

And that was all he needed to know that the question was
about shenanigans of the occupant of the Oval Office. He

took another drink of the hot brew, breathed deeply
and gave thanks for his morning routine before his wife

asked the question and then continued. It is his way of
bracing for the news and coping with the insanity of the

present political reality. As he breathes in, he says, “This
too…,” and as he breathes out, “shall pass.”

The house of cards is about to collapse.
The courts were never thought a threat,
but the courts flexed their judicial muscle,
and on representative democracy you can bet.

Thank the Lord for the division of powers.
Even as the Executive and half of Congress
sit on their collective thumbs,
the courts save history and point toward progress.

The house of cards is, in fact, collapsing.
The courts have always been a threat
to weak-kneed legislators and oval office autocrats.
On our Constitutional Republic you can always bet.

The United States is not a Christian nation.
It is not a religious nation.
It is not a theocracy.
It is a political nation, a nation of the polis.
It is based on Native American, Greek, Roman and Eastern
Political thought.
It is a revolutionary experiment in equality with a
Solid foundation of morals and ethics.
It is a constitutional republic —
A representative democracy.
It finds room for religion and seeks to keep
Religion and the state separate to the benefit of both
While allowing religion’s critique of the state and the
State’s tolerance of religion.
It is a home for all, for all religions, for no religion,
For all ethnicities.
It affirms there is but one race, the human race.
It stands for all citizens protecting them from
The contrivances, legalisms and prejudices of religion.
It has elasticity and not rigidity
But it stands strong for the rights of the individual
And advances community based on freedom
And shared core values enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
It is that which stands between us, its residents, and chaos.
I give thanks that I live in a country which allows differing
Philosophical, economic, political and religious views while
Protecting the safety of the individual as those views are expressed —
However vehemently but not violently.
I write this as a Christian deeply appreciative that
My father’s family moved here from Sweden when my
Father was a child and that my agnostic and later religious
Father always expressed gratitude that he studied for and
Passed the examination for citizenship in the United States of America —
A bold idea, a fragile experiment, a place, a home with room for all.

The church doors
are open, the elders say,
but swing wide
for men who hold sway.

The church doors
are locked, the elders say,
to keep out the thieves
who darken the door
when day becomes eve.

The church doors
are open and may stay
that way
if pine crosses
are made
and crosses of gold
are sold
and the money
given away,

so the poor
won’t have to
to become thieves
when day becomes eve —

an offering Jesus to please.

From whence does the Attorney General come?
Directly from hell at the direction of the Devil.
The AG is Tweedledee to the president’s Twee“t”ledum.
He’s there to tip the justice scales way off level.

We thought the new fat boy would uphold the law and go to war
with his fat golf playing brother
but Mr. Fat Butt in shorts just keeps on playing golf and cheating on his score;
while the AG shields him like an enabling mother.

Tweedledee and Twee”t”ledum dance hand in hand all around town
and work in the Washington Circus as a couple of fat clowns.

I’m moving
I’m moving all the time
I am never still even when sleeping
My body is moving
My cells are moving
My nuclei are moving
My quarks are moving
You are moving
You are moving all the time
We all are moving
We all are moving all the time
God is moving, in and out and all about in the
rhythmic dance of love and life
Let us dance in rhythm with love and life
Let us dance with God, Infinite, Immanent, Intimate, to love and life

*idea from Richard Rohr’s discussion of
Trinity

I refrain from calling it a myth.
Myth is too noble a concept
Revealing truth through story,
And so I call it delusion for
Delusion is what this is —
The delusion of the sixty
Million who just can’t get
That the rising stock market
Benefits the stockholders
And the rise in employment
Is for low-level jobs without
Benefits but trying to get
This across to the sixty-
Million is more difficult than
Getting people to under-
Stand that myth is about
Truth and so, delusion is
The literal truth for the
Delusional sixty million.