Failing Up

The first American to be Pope; Pope Leo the XIV finds himself under attack from the current administration for praying for peace, and calling for leaders to stop the violence and find a diplomatic solution to end war.  These are not the words of a weak person, in contrast these are the words of a very strong person, there is no weakness in faith. He stated that Jesus does not recognize prayers for war and destruction.  That makes sense to me, especially after the threat from our President that a whole civilization will die. Jesus was after all the prince of peace.  Jesus's sermon on the mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God." Mathew 5:9 for those that are checking.  The Pope does not fear, he has faith that he shares, just like leaders from other religion and spiritual groups. They do not preach Idolatry, worshiping false idols, people, objects, or concepts that take the place of God in a person's life, often promising fulfillment and failing to deliver. Jesus was a radical who challenged authority, worked with the poor and downcast, preached peace and love.  Would today's conservative fundamental Christians accept such a person?  You can't have Christianity without Christ.  The Pope is not a politician, he is a man of faith.  I find comfort in his words/prayers, and I am grateful for him.   

I wish all my brothers and sisters no matter your religion, or no religion peace and love!

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I don't care about red states, or blue states, or conservative, liberal, what do we Americans see when we look in the mirror. Do we recognize the reflection today? 

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After just watching the Artemis II go around the darkside of the moon and viewing the crescent earth, I was in awe and how small our planet is in a vast universe.  As they sent back a photo of the full earth in the darkness of space, just like the one taken in 1972, I was struck by beauty of earth.  This fragile planet that we al share and have found ways to destroy eachother and it.   John Lennon had it right: "Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too, imagine all the people living life in peace." 

For some reason seeing our planet from 225,000 miles away makes that seem not so much like a dream.  Robert Kennedy, "some men see things as they are and say "Why?" I dream things that never were and say, "Why not?"

Why not??

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During a  time of great division, losing faith, trust in our leaders, unjust actions, fear and a unpopular undefined war, the moon launch of Atremis 2 has brought us together during the spacecraft's brief 8 minute  accent into space.  As WE marvel at the dedication, courage, and technology of so many. No red, no blue, just us.  This reminds me of the 1968 Apollo 8 Christmas Eve  orbit around the moon ending a year of violence and turbulence, when those astronauts read from the Book of Genesis, making us realize we are all sharing this small beautiful planet.  The first picture of the Earth rise over the moon taken by Bill Anders confirmed this.  I hope this mission re-ignites that perspective. 

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It's that time for those twice a year Catholics to show up.  The ones that go to church on Christmas and Easter only, and consider their bases covered.  Now, I do not go to church every Sunday, but just like when you are on a good laxative, I am a regular and  not all the time.  These folks however, show up twice a year like it's some fringe concert.  They take up the parking spaces and hog the pews.  I think the collections should be double on these holidays, and parishioners get parking stickers so these twice a year folks pay to park.    Oh hell, that's not very nice of me to say, another item added to my confession list.  

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We live in a time of division and conflict.  I know, tell me something new captain obvious.  I was thinking of the basic conflict resolution model: 1. Emotions 2. Issues 3. Common Interests 4. Consensus.

Looks simple yet so complicated when we are stuck in emotions.

Timothy Mahar received a Master's of Arts in Public Administration along with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Conflict Resolution from the Maxwell School of Public Administration at Syracuse University.  

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It would be so refreshing if a politician, member of congress, a cabinet member, even pundits would answer a question directly.  Even if I did not agree with your answer I would respect taking the spin off the ball.  The tactics of screaming, story telling, infomercials, deflections, have me spinning like I am on the Tilt-A-Whirl and about to lose my cookies!!   

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I love Saint Patrick's Day.  It is a day where memories and friends of long ago come to life through music, and food.  When family afar and those that have passed on feel close.

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We live in an age of video wars that we can watch in the safety of our homes detached from the sacrifice, courage and death that occurs.  We look to win, but of course war is not a game.  It is fought by those military that have more courage than I will ever be made to understand, and started by those who watch.  I think back to when I worked for the Syracuse Newspapers and was doing an internship with the Newsline.  I was sent to do a story on the D-day invasion.  One person I interviewed was Thomas Niland Jr. The first Athletic Director at Lemoyne College, a coach, and  onetime player, also a veteran of Utah Beach and wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.  The movie, Saving Private Ryan was based on his cousins.  He said to me in the interview how much is bothers him when sporting events are described as wars, or battles.  Players come home from games, many solder do not come home from war. 

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In 1969 during the height of the Vietnam war Creedence Clearwater Revival released the song, "Fortunate Son."  This song has remained timeless and is as applicable today as it was then. 

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