Square peg Round hole

Apples to oranges, Savory to sweet, Vader to Luke.

With talk of debt ceilings and the American credit rating, I feel a Dr Phil "let's get real" moment is in order, or as my friend Mimi would say      "a coming to jesus" or if you catch her in a feisty mood: 

"Everyone needs to eat a bag of D^*ks"

I know absolute squat! when it comes to economics, I understand that money and worth are very complex things to measure and to simplify this whole process to the square root of  a child's piggy bank would not only be unhelpful but also down right dangerous to the dialogue.

with that said:

Rick perry, a top republican challenger for the office of President of the United States is so concerned w/ this situation, that he invited a country mile worth of folks to gather and pray for America.  

“Like all of you, I love this country deeply...... indeed the only thing you love more, is the living Christ.” Rick Perry 08.06.11

"I want you to join w/ me, as I share his word w/ you" Rick Perry 08.06.11

“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” Perry said. “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.” Rick Perry 04.15.09

He urged Americans to pray to reverse the tide of pain that is eating away at the core of our national character

"Father, our heart breaks for America, We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government and, as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us." Rick Perry Prayer 08.06.11

Is it me, or is he politely asking America to return to its humble puritanical ways? when we were good, clean, wholesome folk. If so, what does that mean, should we all start wearing bobby socks while looking forward to a daily milk delivery?  Invites from neighbors to sit in on slide show presentations of Hawaiian vacations, perhaps a resurgence of competitive of square dancing?

Admittedly all this sounds nice, but I think his vision excludes a lot of the people who currently work and live here in this beautiful country. Through technology and transportation this world has become a much smaller place, we are rubbing elbows w/ people of many race & creed. I wish every voting American would ride Chicago's Public Transit, just one single round trip commute would offer sights and sounds of many diverse interpretations of life, realistic, in the moment versions of each others daily grinds, struggles and successes; moments rather tough to see through the tinted glass of a Range Rover.  

My worry for Rick Perry's prayer celebration is that he may have included a bunch of people who I'm not quite sure know how to pray for me.  I completely love the idea that someone would wish to pray for me, but only if that person knows who I am, knows who I love and knows what I stand for, otherwise I'm afraid they are wasting their time and only ignoring the potential of what a great community could and should be. I don't think he mentioned gays, not sure he rolled out a welcome mat for Mexican immigrant workers, didn't mention the wealth gap that one could drive a fleet of Bentleys into. His only concern was to blanket his crowd of thousands w/ the word of god, a word that if they pray enough, things will get better, American's debt will be lifted, our squabbling halls of government will once again find peace.  Just pray.

Like I said, I am a big fan of people coming together to pray, I just hope they are praying for me and not against me.  I am weary of those who make it their mission to prescribe life behaviors onto others.  I love morals, and I love that people are not encouraged to kill me or lay w/ my man or covet my polyester pants, this I agree, but its all that extra stuff they sneak in between the lines that I have a problem with.  

As I said earlier, I don't know squat about economics and global wealth but I do know people, and whether or not someone is getting a fair shake.  I am also aware of the fact that their are people out there earning their fortunes right off the backs of mistreated workers, so lets give each other a big ole break, tighten those Gucci belts and ride this wave to the beach.  In the end, its not about money, just respect.  We are ALL oxygen breathing organisms and no one is superior to another, we all have a place and a voice.  So let's pray to that.