“All this madness, all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilization and our hopes, has been brought about because a set of official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, and all without imagination and heart, have chosen that it should occur rather than that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country’s pride.” — Bertrand Russell, on World War I

I came across this quote, which I had taken the time to write down, as I was cleaning off a bookshelf in anticipation of retirement. I’m glad I found it, because it speaks eloquently and clearly with words and phrasing that often elude me. No, there is no world war currently vying for our attention, but it feels sometimes like it wouldn’t take much to start one. And it feels like whatever the reason, or precipitating incident, or contrived excuse, the unfolding senseless hell would be just as much in our power to avoid as to initiate.

Forget about the rationales– Good versus Evil, the inevitability. The necessity. The schoolyard-worthy “aching for a fight.” War of any scope is an unmitigated disaster, a monumental assault on and waste of human life and resources. An indicator that our evolution hasn’t taken us far enough, that we are, in essence, no better than feral cats fighting over the remains of a mouse.

Mr. Russell’s words cut me to the bone, because there never seems to be a shortage of “official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, without imagination or heart.” Add to that thin-skinned, easily offended, delusional, power-hungry, and apparently without conscience, consigned to the belief that humans should all live and believe in the way they think best (or most beneficial to them), that human lives are cheap and expendable, simply a resource like bullets and oil, a means to an end.

The last phrase, “… that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country’s pride,” feeds what might be the most infuriating thought of all: that the most infamous “leaders” in world history never really grew up.

Strategy or sour grapes? A plan, or just monumental stupidity?

It’s been less than 24 hours since Trump released another of his rants disguised as press releases, but this one is a doozy. He has declared that no Republicans shall vote in any election in 2022 and 2024. Apparently because Donald Trump says so, and you just can’t trust the results?

The rest of the world must, by now, be thinking, “Yup, America has lost its shit.”

It looks like the “Stop the Steal” clamor is here to stay. Long-time, competent local election officials are deciding to quit, being forced out and replaced by one foil hatter after another. At least the strategy is revealed.

Adherents are convinced and committed, they’ve swallowed the swill, taken the bait hook, line, and sinker, no turning back. These folks are impressionable, lost, holding on, driven in whatever direction this foul wind is blowing.

It’s difficult not to feel like we’re at the on ramp for the Twilight Zone.

Donald Trump tapped into the darkness of the human psyche. There’s nothing virtuous about him.

He is all calculation, a 75-year old toddler, glory seeker, and empty vessel. He is appealing to peoples’ worst fears, feeding on ignorance and provincial views, and economic despair.

Why are we still talking about him? He’s nothing more than an annoying rash that won’t go away. And the furthest thing from… a patriot.

It’s getting to the point where I can’t stand to watch football anymore. It used to be entertainment and spectacle, and the action on the field. Now, it’s the non-stop testosterone-fueled commentary and banter in the booth, filled with breathless talk of strategy, and “battling in the trenches,” and “overcoming adversity” and “stepping up and being a man.” All I can think is, “How can you be so into this?”

Football is life? C’mon man.

Add the growing gaggle of wagering concerns to the mix and now you’ve got the potential for a real slimy mess.

Dear Mitch,

You out-of-touch fossil. I know you think that what you’re doing is “strategy,” the game you so enjoy playing, designed to make Democrats sweat, hoping to make them look like the fall guys as the debt ceiling deadline looms. What’s so infuriating is that, in your cold-hearted deadpan logic, you’re setting the whole country on a collision course– in the midst of a lingering pandemic, with whole segments of the population still reeling from wildfires and flooding and hurricane damage and insanely high drug prices and health insurance premiums, and a general hopelessness. More (avoidable) pain and suffering. Much more, by the sound of it.

You’re willing to go the brinkmanship route just so you can win something. You’re willing to take us all down with you, although you must feel like you could emerge from all this smelling like a rose. Hands clean and washed of everything as the shit hits the fan. Like you could just step back and say, “don’t look at me- I had nothing to do with this.” After all, you’re safe, you have money in the bank.

Nice try, asshole.

When it comes to relevance, the church in some ways has always faced an uphill battle. Most everything about it is a little off. Out of step. Its efforts seem invested in walking a line between preserving its language and its past while trying really hard to be consequential in the present. Often enough, though, it just ends up looking like the person who thinks he can dance but really can’t.

Personally speaking, I’ve never found such an approach at all palatable- the “trying to look cool” thing. Trying to fit in. It feels contrived, forced, desperate. In fact, it often enough ends up being embarrassing to me. 

Relevance as packaged by Madison Avenue won’t really work for the church, partly because it’s too slick and polished, too focused on “getting the most bang for the buck.” And also because most advertising is designed to feed narcissism or prey on emotions and create the illusion of need.

Besides, how cool can we make dying on a cross? Sometimes it seems this is the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. How might we best fit this into a commercial touting how friendly and welcoming we are?

Yes, we are an Easter people, and faith tells us that resurrection life begins now. We are buoyed by and need that hope, since the essence of the church, the essence of a Christ-centered life this side of the Second Coming remains that of a voice crying in the wilderness. A prophet on the periphery. A disciple engaged in the hard, often selfless work of exorcising demons and relieving suffering.

How cool can a cruciform life ever really be?

Since coolness wasn’t a thing in Jesus’ day (or maybe it was just known by another name), one would have been more concerned with being real. Authenticity never goes out of style. Jesus was certainly authentic. His actions spoke louder than his words- and his words spoke quite loudly.

It seems the church will never know much success being “mainstream.” But this shouldn’t surprise- or disappoint- anyone. A square peg will never fit into a round hole.

The gospel message of love and mercy, forgiveness and grace, will always be at odds with a larger culture that, from all appearances, seems hell-bent on running away from the cross and toward a place where swagger counts more than humility, style more than substance. Where self-indulgence and ignorance are fed at every turn. Where the completely human tendency toward self-preservation often enough wins the day.

The New Testament speaks of our journey of faith as more of a marathon than a sprint, the most important victory having already been won. By Jesus. On that cross.

Until he comes again, I say we embrace our nerdiness. Let’s celebrate the fact that our relevance lies in offering anyone with ears to hear and hearts that yearn an authenticity grounded in faith, in God’s love for all of creation. That kind of love never goes out of style, cool in its own enduring- and endearing- way.

We, or at least I, thought for the longest time that it couldn’t happen here. Not in the USA. We were impervious to such decay, such poisonous thinking. Of course that turns out not to be true. We’re not special. We have serious flaws. In some ways we’re just another gathering of scared, selfish humans, a shrinking enclave of descendants of western and northern Europeans who see the writing on the wall, who are riding the prevailing winds of self-centeredness and fear and digging in of heels, trying to hold on for dear life in a world that’s changing, and in a country that’s trying, in fits and starts, to live up to its ideals.

Donald Trump and his mindless followers do not want this to happen, and the groundwork is being laid by which the white, Anglo-Saxon status quo will continue, and America will become just the latest failed experiment in democracy, ruled by a minority and the latest batch of autocrats. No doubt a most dramatic and shocking fall.

I care not one bit how Fox News treated the results of the Arizona audit. All I know is that the news sources I trust are at once laughing at the predictable results and also looking beyond them to what they indicate: that we have reached the crisis point when all signs point to a frightening abandonment of checks and balances, where Trump continues to lurk, or loom, and plot his return to power by assaulting and discrediting a process that has survived but may not survive much longer.

Steve Schmidt eloquently observes that America stands or falls on our capacity for honoring a compact, i.e. not losing faith and belief and trust in a sharing of power in a complex world. Trump and all his zombie friends would prefer to keep it much simpler, much less complex and more just a contrast between patriots and traitors, between “freedom lovers” and those who hate America. Even though most of those “haters” actually love America, albeit a fuller expression of it.

Not sure anymore what matters when it comes to Donald Trump’s presidency. The conversation he had with Mike Pence before the January 6 events is as telling as anything we’ve heard and seen. Trump said he wouldn’t be Mike’s friend anymore if he didn’t do something to gum up the works and keep Congress from ratifying the election results.

Gee, former Mr. President, sounds like you needed some toys to take home.

So the MAGA crowd gets to return to D.C. to rally in support of the January 6 “heroes.” Only in America, or this current iteration of it. Donald Trump has to somehow disappear. He is of no earthly good to anyone, even the people who for some incomprehensible reason still love him.

The Republican candidate in the recall election in CA is already claiming “fraud” before the election even happens. I guess maybe because he can see the writing on the wall with all the mail-in ballots being returned, and assuming that many of those are from people who are voting Democratic?

This is where the Republicans are right now—if their candidate isn’t winning, then the election is fraudulent. Frightening precedent. Earth 1 and Earth 2, as Maddow puts it. What happened to the good old days when people just came to terms with the loss, perhaps recognizing that their candidate wasn’t as popular as the other one?

What’s scary is that, going forward, we will not be able to rest assured that any outcome is as it is being reported. There will be a cloud of doubt over a process we have taken for granted for a long time. The voices shouting “fraud!” are already loud enough to shake the foundations, sow confusion, and make everyone wonder about an election’s validity, even if the results are based on hard numbers. It’s sinister. It’s a strategy, but it’s sinister.

Politically speaking, “Win at all costs” is a reckless, dangerous mantra, reeking of desperation and immaturity. How can anyone who supports such a philosophy sleep at night? They haven’t really won, fair and square, at least. Fair and square should still count for something.

Learn how to lose, and come back to fight another day. In the Republicans’ case, rework your agenda and platform, and make the effort to join us in the 21st century.