When EF Talks

These are difficult questions. I am.sorry you have...

2012-04-29T00:59:10.958-05:00

These are difficult questions. I am.sorry you have.this burden and I wish I had words of wisdom.

That's what I had originally! But I changed it...

2011-11-29T09:21:46.464-06:00

That's what I had originally! But I changed it to lend. Maybe I'll change it back...
:)

Eric, Love the song. Can I make a suggestion...

2011-11-29T09:21:05.231-06:00

Eric,

Love the song. Can I make a suggestion?
"Shepherds had no gifts to give." (give rhymes with inn as well as lend...and you don't lend a gift.)

Jim Gill

This should be against the law.

2011-11-25T17:58:01.259-06:00

This should be against the law.

Thanks, Bruce.

2011-11-25T17:19:33.765-06:00

Thanks, Bruce.

Eric, I think you are right about it all. It's...

2011-11-25T17:03:16.686-06:00

Eric, I think you are right about it all. It's not that the economy does not need consumerism, it is that such consumerism is supporting a holiday that is supposed to honor Christ and cutting short for those who have to work these sales their enjoyment of Thanksgiving, which USED to be the only noncommercial holiday we had. A day of reflection and gratitude. We as a nation apparently can't set aside 24 hours to be thankful for the basics and grateful for what we DO have. Nothing wrong with consumerism, it has its place, but before long is becomes about more, more, more and we are never satisfied.

One thing I can do, I suppose, is to continue to u...

2011-11-25T10:17:58.276-06:00

One thing I can do, I suppose, is to continue to update this blog with additional stories. Here is one for 2011.

I was in third grade at the time in an elementary ...

2011-11-22T23:24:49.584-06:00

I was in third grade at the time in an elementary school close to Pleasant Grove (Urban Park Elementary),which is a universe away from North Dallas in every way. There was cheering in my classroom by a few, so it is likely that this was more common than many realize. A few years later when I played football at John B. Hood Junior High in Pleasant Grove we beat an all African American team. Before the game we got the lecture that they, in fact, were really "human beings" just like us,the assumption being we needed to be convinced so as to be freed to play them just as if they were a bunch of white guys. When we won a few jerks on the bus started to sing a tune with the words, "They can pick cotton but they can't play ball," right in front of the African American bus driver. It shocked the hell out of me. This was around 1968. Conservative reactionary politics got a boost in Texas when LBJ pushed civil rights legislation through Congress. As he said at the time, "We will loose the South for at least a generation," which came to pass. Dallas had a mean streak for sure.

I am fairly confident you have missed the point of...

2011-11-22T10:28:39.737-06:00

I am fairly confident you have missed the point of this post and song. It's not about what killed Kennedy. That's a conversation for others to have.

Not a mention of Communism or the Cold War, which ...

2011-11-22T10:01:47.345-06:00

Not a mention of Communism or the Cold War, which is what killed Kennedy.

The right wing had nothing to do with it.

Becky: Our society, each and every one of us, dese...

2011-11-18T13:27:24.989-06:00

Becky: Our society, each and every one of us, deserves better than what we're getting right now.

Thanks, from a fellow Dallas Kossack (tom 47). Ye...

2011-11-18T10:40:49.944-06:00

Thanks, from a fellow Dallas Kossack (tom 47).

Yeah, you crazy Methodists, always gettin' all "social justice" and all! I truly appreciated your appeal to City Hall's public servants' better nature. Deaf ears, it seems. Keep working.

Thanks again (from one of those crazy "Pax Christi"-type Catholics).

Becky, Jesus always spoke in plurals: Our Father, ...

2011-11-18T10:27:55.864-06:00

Becky, Jesus always spoke in plurals: Our Father, Give us, Lead us, Forgive us. When he used the word 'you' it was almost always in its plural form. He came to reveal the kingdom of God (that's what he said anyway), the kingdom of many parts, all dependent on the other. Jesus spoke of life and life abundant for ALL who would hear, and called those who would deny that fullness of life "pretty but empty tombs." Sounds like 99 and 1 to me :). I'm with Cyrus..a little child is leading.

Something about that little boy chanting "we ...

2011-11-18T09:43:11.644-06:00

Something about that little boy chanting "we are the 99 percent" troubles me deeply. Jesus did not die on the cross so we could be the 99% - He came and died for each one of us making us "the one" in His eyes. I cannot reconcile the two. God loves each of us as if there was only one of us. That little boy deserves better.

Eric, thank you for your efforts for Occupy. I hap...

2011-11-18T09:04:32.671-06:00

Eric, thank you for your efforts for Occupy. I happened to be in Army basic training in Missouri in July and August of 1968. Our training was interrupted by emergency training to control the "riots" in Chicago at the Democratic convention there. There had been riots there in April after Dr. King's assassination. I remember 2 things from this experience: 1) We were trained not to push the crowd into a small space where a sense of panic would cause a possibly violent reaction. I always thought of this in the sense of physical space, pushing the crowd into a corner. Now it can be that actions taken by leaders like those in Dallas and other places can create that same sense of no space for public expression and a bit of panic. As leaders in 2011 they should have gone another way and allowed the expression. 2) The leaders in 1968 decided not to send us to Chicago, but a few days later approximately 90% of our company of 240 young men, mostly teenagers who were drafted, were sent to a place in Washington for infantry training and then sent to fight in South Vietnam. Our leaders should have gone another way back then as well. I know these events are separated by 4 decades, but it still seems our leaders act of fear. Your leadership stands in stark contrast to that. Cuidate mucho,larry

Thanks, David. I've been thinking along the sa...

2011-11-18T08:39:32.217-06:00

Thanks, David. I've been thinking along the same lines....that this movement is a kind of a "tilling the soil" for an entirely new generation.

Field theory posits that there are forces- fields,...

2011-11-18T08:21:45.379-06:00

Field theory posits that there are forces- fields, often mysterious- that are responsible for physical, cultural, evolutionary changes. Tielhard d'Chardin put the physical in spiritual terms when he wrote that from chaos there comes a 'rising' which appears at first without purpose and indescribable (the Big Bang, a fallen tree, e.g.). But the rising and expanding from that initial chaos begins to coalesce, to come together just as the fallen tree becomes a new home for insects, small mammals, fungi, etc. and as the Big Bang over 4 billion years began to come together into clouds of gas, galaxies, stars, planets, moons, and roses. In Occupy, we are I believe, seeing a new field, a world-wide rising that seems chaotic, without consistent definitions. It is coming together though in evolutionary ways- 3 steps forward, 2 back. Don't be discouraged.

Keep rising, everyone. There are, I've found, many many many who empathize and are working to understand because they know something necessary and right is happening beyond the immediately visible. If we all continue to do what we can, wherever/ whenever/ however we can, we will see the rising continue.

Cyrus will see the coalescing. Dedicate what you do to him. Behold! All things are made new..

I feel certain that they would. When I left them l...

2011-11-18T07:35:45.802-06:00

I feel certain that they would. When I left them last night, about 6 pm, they were meeting to decide what their next moves would be.

What I fear is that they not move away from a stance of non-violence. I've been strongly encouraging them to continue on the path of non-violence...but they are angry right now. Understandably so.

I think they will, but it's hard to know how humans will respond in every situation.

Exactly! As I said here, briefly, I camp for about...

2011-11-18T07:31:16.984-06:00

Exactly! As I said here, briefly, I camp for about a week each year. People need to understand that there is some inherent messiness to any situation like this. But, as you observed, I also found it cleaner than many camps I've visited in my life.

Again, if the city was so deeply concerned about this, the city shouldn't have made the "agreement" in the first place.

No one forced the city to do this, but once they did, they (the city) needed a much more realistic view of what an encampment would look like.

There *was* a continuing problem with homeless persons latching-on to the camp...in search of free meals, a tent...and, frankly, a place where they hoped there'd be fewer rules than local shelters.

Again...predictable. And the city, should have either been prepared to allow for this at some level, or helped the Occupiers deal with the homeless in some other way....because, again, they (the city) had entered into the agreement of their own free will.

Exactly. The city official who called me Wednesday...

2011-11-18T07:25:33.750-06:00

Exactly. The city official who called me Wednesday shared that he (and, clearly, others) were becoming increasingly anxious and concerned about the movement.

I suggested that if there was any increased in violence that this was a "chicken/egg" phenomenon between the city and the camp....ie, yes, there was probably more tension in the group, but that much of this came from the external pressure they were feeling from both the police and the fear that they would not be seen as abiding by the "agreement."

I also said to him that, as public servants...whether elected or appointed...there is far more burden on THE CITY to understand these things, and to respond...to not escalate when its not necessary.

I personally believe that the officials here were far too swayed by what they say, nation-wide, and by the almost inevitable "echo-chamber" that was created in their conversations with other leaders around the nation.

They clearly felt there was a threat because of the tension...failing to realize that their OWN tension and anxiety was causing part of the problem.

THIS is a failure of leadership.

Isn't it, though? Your book sounds fascinatin...

2011-11-18T07:19:55.235-06:00

Isn't it, though?

Your book sounds fascinating. Thanks Jason.

Thank you for your support of Occupy Dallas. I hav...

2011-11-18T07:01:56.569-06:00

Thank you for your support of Occupy Dallas. I have been reading your blog posts and it is heartening to see other people of faith also supporting the Occupy movement. I was down there several times working and donating supplies, and I hope after the recent fiasco they will regroup, as the Occupiers have done elsewhere. I, too, find the Occupy movement a source of inspiration and hope.

Thank you a thousand times for your effort to get ...

2011-11-18T06:54:29.892-06:00

Thank you a thousand times for your effort to get the Mayor of Dallas and the City Council to see the light about Occupy Dallas. My 77-year-old mother and I visited the camp site and had the same impression (my mother said it was cleaner, quieter, and more organized than any Scout encampment, and she's been on a lot of those!) Unfortunately, as we now know, they decided to align themselves on the side of the 1%, and against all the accumulated historical knowledge we have about protest movements. I pray it ends better here than in other places.

Beautifully written. I'm a native and I, too, ...

2011-11-18T06:48:09.644-06:00

Beautifully written. I'm a native and I, too, hoped that my city was going to be different. It saddens me to think that in the end, Dallas chose to be against the side of history. Unfortunately, "get a job" in this era of high unemployment appears to be eerily like "let them eat cake" after the wheat harvest failed, and I'm afraid now for my country . . . .

It's amazing how many Christians care more abo...

2011-11-18T03:12:02.692-06:00

It's amazing how many Christians care more about bad language than they do helping the poor...

http://www.whatthehellbook.com/2011/11/14/do-you-give-a-shit/