According to the weather service, at least 4 to 6 inches of snow are possible from southeastern Texas into southern Louisiana. California expects 70 mph Santa Ana winds today, making it difficult for firefighters to douse the fire that is, last I heard on NPR, 61% contained.
The governor of Mississippi declared a state of emergency ahead of today's anticipated storms as the state grapples with freezing temperatures and Central Mississippi could see up to 2 inches of snow. Further east, ice totals between a tenth and a quarter of an inch are forecasted in south-central Georgia.
There's more but, well, as Bob Dylan sang, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
It's as if Mother Nature is giving us a preview of coming attractions in our political life.
As cold and cruel as the weather is this morning, it can not compare with what is inside the hearts of some people who sit in elected and appointed seats of government in our Nation's Capital, giddy with the power and authority now in their hands.
They will do stupid and cruel things simply because they can. As I learned in Leadership 101, the leader sets the tone.
I woke up this morning, and the realization slowly dawned on me that our biggest problem is not Old King Donald and his Royal Court or the House of Lords.
No, our biggest problem is the people who elected him. As if that were not enough, they also gave him the majority of the House and Senate to aid and abet (vs advice and consent) the implementation of Project 2025.
No, I didn't vote for him, but *we* did. He won by a majority of less than 1% but, in this country, the majority rules. *We* elected him. Like it or not (and I don't) he is *our* president.
As I considered that epiphany (or, was it, as The Car Talk Brothers would say, a "stupiphany" - the sudden realization that you've been an idiot) I heard myself say, right out loud, "This really IS the best time to be a Christian."
Followers of Jesus have always risen to their best moral selves in the face of evil. Scripture is filled with such stories. So are the history books of the foundation and formation of this country.
There's an old saying I've heard repeated by some of my older Hospice patients, especially those who grew up with "that old-time religion," deep in the rural farm areas of Delaware.
Those old chicken and cash crop farmers who didn't have pensions or 401Ks or consulting gigs or seats on Boards of Directors lived on the meager income of their social security checks, as well as the food they still grew and the eggs from the chickens they still raised.
They didn't have much education after high school - if they were lucky enough not to have been pulled out to help on the farm - and mostly got their Master's Degree from the University of Life, School of Hard Knocks.
They would tell me that in times of distress or crisis if you pray to Jesus and "feed on his word," he will give you three strong bones: a wishbone, a jawbone, and a backbone.
You need a wishbone, they said, to imagine a life that's different than right now. A life of abundance when everyone else is talking about scarcity. A life where people share what they've got instead of hoarding things for themselves. A life where people are kind and help each other, like when Jesus sat everybody down and they found that two fish and five loaves were enough so no one would go hungry.
Jesus will give you a jawbone so you can ask for help when you need it, speak your mind when you have to, and speak up for others when they need help, too. A jawbone helps you to raise questions so you can feed your curiosity and actually use the intelligence that God put in your head.
Finally, if you listen to Jesus, he will strengthen your backbone so you will have the courage, strength, and determination you need to follow the teachings of Jesus and walk and talk and live like a Christian.
A wishbone. A jawbone. A backbone.
Guess you know what my prayers are today - and for the next four years.
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once preached, "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."
I hope something good happens to you today.
Bom dia.
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