Profits and Losses

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home!

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourn of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Crossing the Bar- Lord Alfred Tennyson

It was on a Christmas Eve, that my grandfather went into his bedroom and went to bed. When my grandmother went into the bedroom, she found just that quickly, he had died; he had not even disturbed the covers.

I remember my mother and I were with my grandmother when she looked at him in his casket and she said, “He is finally at peace.” He had lived a long and good life and had left us just the way most of us would like to go. I'm very tired of it all, the daily market tape of profits and losses. No matter how hard you have worked, no matter how difficult has been the “path less traveled”, your passport has been stamped (saved by grace) and I AM ready to go. Please don't ask me to explain why some people are blessed with such smooth rides, while others have the turbulence, an enforcement of seat belts for the entire flight.

On this Memorial Day, when we honor the millions of our very finest who lie buried where they fell, in military cemeteries around the world (they had only one life too) and many of us on this day are working to pay the high taxation, which supports those in and out of prison who chose the 'low road' of life, and even those who came back from the wars disabled are largely ignored, the families of the fallen are largely ignored. Most of the vacationers who are enjoying the good life today are the bureaucrats and politicians, whose lives now and in retirement, are at the top of the list; We are tempted to say, “What is the use?” I'm ready to disembark if only I could go as peacefully as did my grandfather.

I'm tired of the blackness and isolation of blindness, I'm ready for the bright lights of eternity. There will be no formal services; I have been around all the hypocrisy I can tolerate while alive, none should follow in death. I just want an easy transition, no inconvenience to anyone.


We are witnessing the last chapters in an incongruent book. With all our knowledge, we have so much incompetence. The basic facts of economic survival were forgotten as we saw the dot com bubble, securities growing to the clouds, the housing bubble, construction growing without limit; then, when the bubble burst, as it usually does, it's not just the gamblers who are affected; the bystanders are even more affected! Just as in war, it is the sons and daughters of the poor and minority families who go to the front lines. When did you hear of a wealthy family's son being killed or maimed in warfare? When did you hear of the son of the one with enough political pull to go to a military academy being ravaged by war? It continues to be an unlevel playing field, regardless of the national and international news.

In a depression, as in warfare, the poor and minorities are the ones who suffer. The disabled and the disenfranchised are always told to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps, but usually, they have no boots. Like the Chinese proverb, stating that the man with no shoes would feel better when he found a man without feet, we can always find those in worse condition than ourselves. Every time I feel sorry for myself, I think about the room at the Millington, TN, VA Hospital where, as an intern I found 4 young soldiers who had returned from WWII without arms or legs, on special beds in that facility.

The fact of the matter is, those who have the best profit and loss statement in good times usually have the best profit and loss statement in bad times. While most of us have scrounged for food at home in good and bad times, the average 'upper income' family spent $2,500 a year just eating out. Although spending now is the slowest it has been since 1961, the spending that is done is by the upper income bracket, the bureaucrats and politicians whose incomes are not affected by the profits and losses affecting all other Americans. The inequities in the economic system of the country, the inequities in the military defense of the country, closely resemble the inequities in the voting dilemma of the country. Seventy percent of all voters are Roman Catholic. These Christians, if they voted according to moral dictates of their church, could control the evils of same sex marriage, abortion and pornography. There are enough Christians (mostly Catholic) in the Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) to limit the country's moral degradation and economic decline.

I saw a sign once that read “Perception is Reality”. We have the perception that things will always improve. The economy did improve after 1980, we have recovered from every recession. The reality is that we may be a long time recovering from this recession. Japan has been in a recession for many years and it is getting worse. Our arms are too short to 'box with God', how long will it take those in the ring to realize this fact?

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
This is the most revealing profit and loss statement ever made, if only business people, politicians, Christians realized the importance of these words. We think, just by changing political power, we can rectify things.
You you remember that when Republicans were in power for eight years, just prior to Obama, little happened. We have too many imposters in seats of political power, in pulpits, in places of parental responsibility who have not realized the intransigence of the soul.