Archive for October 2017

ONLY 99 CENTS   Leave a comment

I just noticed that amazon.com is selling “Figs & Pomegranates & Special Cheeses” Kindle edition for $0.99. Now’s the time to grab a bargain. You might even like it well enough to tell a friend, or write a review.

PLEASE DON’T CALL ME A CHRISTIAN   6 comments

Yes, I belong to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Excelsior, MN, and I sing in the choir at Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska, MN. Maybe I’m really a Unitarian in heart and mind. Basically I try very hard, with only moderate success, to be a follower of Jesus.

But please – for now, anyway – don’t call me a Christian. Not since the term has turned Jesus into a political icon standing for hate, prejudice, and cruel exclusions, so far from the universal love preached by him and for which he died a terrible, cruel death.

Come December, I will recognize the winter solstice by wishing folks a “Happy Holiday.”

I will not cheer for the idea that the only politically correct thing to say is “Merry Christmas,” in spite of a lifetime — until now — of thrilling to that greeting.

 

 

 

 

 

“…THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE   Leave a comment

How beautifully and inspirationally our National Hymn ends.  Like the best of hymnody, it invites solemnity, submission, and supplication.

Too often, as with many memorized recitations, we forget the depth of meaning: a call to submission to the lofty ideals the words express and the invocation of prayer that we might make our country ever more worthy of what we proclaim.

There is such beauty in the sight of physically powerful men – and those who join them – in the attentive position of kneeling – the very meaning of which is submission and prayer.

I am grateful for the inspiration.

 

Forgiveness — Thanks to Jean Budge   6 comments

I owe so much to my friends. Like the most recent addition to my web site — a very moving account of forgiveness where one might think it impossible. I hope you’ll take the time to click on “my web site” and watch it. I think you’ll be glad you did if you haven’t seen it already, and even if you have, a second viewing might be worth it.

Posted October 8, 2017 by Mona Gustafson Affinito in Uncategorized

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