The Saturday Morning Post: Vivat Christus, Rex Universi! Deo Gratias!

 November 21, 2020

 

Good Morning, God and All! Long live Christ, the King of the Universe! Thanks be to God!

 

By The Numbers:

It's the 326th day of the year, with 40 days remaining.

Days 'til the end of Atlantic hurricane season: 9

Percent of fresh fruit that's imported into the U.S. according to USDA: 52%

Current per-barrel price of oil: $41.52

Percent of Americans who have passed off a store-bought pie as homemade, according to Parade: 7%

Temperature the inner thigh of a turkey (and stuffing, if used) must reach to be deemed safe to eat, according to federal guidelines: 165 degrees

 

Start Your Day With A Song:

Thanks be to Thee Attributed to George Frideric Handel (1685-1759); performance by Daniel Rodriguez Tenor - Nederlands Zingt in Haalem

 

Saint Columbanus, Pray For Us!

Columbanus (Irish: Columbán, 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in present-day Italy. He is remembered as a key figure in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, or Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.

Columbanus taught a Celtic monastic rule and Celtic penitential practices for those repenting of sins, which emphasised private confession to a priest, followed by penances levied by the priest in reparation for the sins. Columbanus is one of the earliest identifiable Hiberno-Latin writers.

He is the patron saint of bikers (motorcyclists), according to Wikipedia.

 

Thankfully, I Have an Archive Somewhere (the Message):

(Publisher’s Note: With prospects for the winter holidays shrinking due to the surge in the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve taken a look backward to a time when the overall mood was less frenzied. In fact, nearly all of this week’s Post is reposted from five years ago today; before politics went compleetely haywire and long before making sure there was enough toilet paper in the house; before face masks became a fashion and/or political statement. The parallels, even with current draconian restrictions, should not surprise us. If they do, we’re in a lot more trouble than we thought. Still, when we stop to personally reflect, most of us should find something for which to give thanks to God.)

We've reached the last week of the church year. Next week begins Advent, the season of preparation for the true Christmas. I'm not going to rant about that this week; there's still four weeks beyond today to say anything I might have missed or return to a point that needs more attention.

Having said that, you're not necessarily off the hook. This last week of the church year is dedicated to the role of Jesus Christ as King of the Universe. It may be coincidence, but more likely divine intervention that puts Thanksgiving Day in America in this same week.

Presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt anchored the holiday in late November. They had political motivation, to be sure. Plus, there's the tale of that first festival in Massachusetts in which the harvest, the survival of the colony, and a wary but not openly hostile relationship with the native tribes were celebrated with a feast. The fact that such a feast even occurred says something I'm not sure could be said of us today.

The popular cause with regards to this holiday has become what immediately follows it. While I sympathize with the sentiment to allow people to have the day to spend with family and friends, and to keep holiday shopping off the agenda, there's a chunk of the picture we continue to forget. Public service officers and medical technicians must give up at least a portion of their holiday to work in their respective jobs. Then there are those who do not have family, or are hospitalized, or are homeless. How do they spend this day? There are those who will spend part of their holiday volunteering at soup kitchens and are thankful for the opportunity to serve.

But don't be fooled. Just because a retailer will not open its doors to the public on Thanksgiving Day doesn't mean its employees are guaranteed the day off. Many will work late into the night stocking shelves and setting up displays for the shopping safari that will take place the following morning. That's a result of the relationship between capitalism and consumerism; a relationship that might well have best been summarized by my dear departed wife Diane (may God grant her eternal rest), who generally referred to this phenomenon as the public "wanting cheese doodles at 3:00 AM."

Let's first try to consider being thankful - to God, and ourselves as well - for what we have, things that are not measured by what's in our checkbooks or knick-knack shelves. Recall the story of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Ten were healed; only one went back to Jesus in thanksgiving; and he was a Samaritan (or a Muslim refugee by today's standards). Be thankful. Then, give out of that sense of thankfulness to others.

 

Memorable Moments:

164 BC – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.

1620 – Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).

1789 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.

1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

1902 – The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeated the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first ever professional American football night game.

1905 – Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal Annalen der Physik. This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².

1922 – Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.

1927 – Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.

1942 – The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway is not usable by general vehicles until 1943).

1945 – The United Auto Workers strike 92 General Motors plants in 50 cities to back up worker demands for a 30-percent raise.

1979 – The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.

1980 – A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.

1985 – United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

1986 – Iran–Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

1643 – René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French-American explorer (d. 1687)

1694 – Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1778)

1729 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 6th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795)

1854 – Pope Benedict XV (d. 1922)

1937 – Marlo Thomas, American actress and producer

1940 – Dr. John, American singer-songwriter

1944 – Dick Durbin, American lawyer and politician

1944 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)

1945 – Goldie Hawn, American actress, singer, and producer

1962 – Steven Curtis Chapman, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor

1965 – Björk, Icelandic singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (The Sugarcubes)

1966 – Troy Aikman, American football player and sportscaster

1969 - Ken Griffey, Jr., American baseball player and actor

1971 - Michael Strahan, American football player, actor. and talk show/game show host and commentator

We Remember:

615 – Columbanus, Irish missionary and saint (b. 543)

1924 – Florence Harding, American publisher, 36th First Lady of the United States (b. 1860)

1993 – Bill Bixby, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)

2012 – Mr. Food, American chef and author (b. 1931)

2017 - David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)

Parting Words:

In honor of the coming holiday, and with some thanks to David Letterman:

Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For On Thanksgiving Day In America

10. Apocalypse SNOW! (or, Stormageddon) - let's get it out of our system, winter's around for three months!

9. Football, Football, and FOOTBALL!!

8. Macy's Parade trying to stall off the arrival of the next holiday until the end when a certain Mr. S. Claus arrives.

7. John O'Hurley and the National Dog Show!

6. No Politicians!

5. Kids are occupied so there's nobody throwing dinner rolls across the living room.

4. Food! (Who isn't thankful? There are those who are thankful they don't have to cook, and those who are thankful that they're making or bringing something special.)

3. Friends!

2. Family!

1. God...it doesn't get better than that!

 

Thank you, God and All...and, until we meet again, whether in-person or virtually, “live” or recorded;

may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all…

 

+the Phoenix

The Saturday Morning Post: Take My Hand, Precious Lord…Lead Me Downtown

 November 14, 2020

 Good Morning, God and All! Let us go, rejoicing, to the house of the Lord (Psalm 121:1)…and let us rejoice, for now, for the work that we must do to keep them open amid capacity restrictions, facial coverings, and social distancing…

 

By The Numbers:

It’s the 319^th day of the year, with 47 days remaining.

Days ‘til HanYulFestiMaZaa: 26/37/39/41/42

Days ‘til the Electoral College is supposed to meet to complete the presidential election: 24

 

Start Your Day With A Song:

Precious Lord, Take My Hand (1938) Thomas A. Dorsey; Performance: Elvis Presley (1957)

My Love (1965) Tony Hatch; Performance: Petula Clark

 

Saint Laurence O’Toole, Pray For Us!

St. Lorcán Ua Tuathail, known in English as Saint Laurence O'Toole and in French as St. Laurent d'Eu (1128 – 14 November 1180), was Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. St. Lorcán played a prominent role in the Irish Church Reform Movement of the 12th century and mediated between the parties during and after the invasion. He was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III. (Wikipedia)

 

Take Me Home, Country Roads, To the Place I Belong (the Message):

It’s been a long road indeed through 2020; longer still when you consider the election (which still isn’t officially decided) process began in the summer…of 2019, before there was a virus that led to the worst pandemic in at least a century. And the numbers are still growing. What we have here is the potential for a repeat of the exile that ‘canceled’ the celebrations of Easter and Pentecost; a ‘live’ version, if you will, of How (The Virus) Stole (the True Meaning of) Christmas. Will we gather ‘round the town squares in our corners of the world and sing Adeste Fideles with masks in place and ten feet apart? Who knows? Has anyone else made this connection, or am I blowing smoke or a gasket somewhere? Who knows.

In the winter of 2014, as my Diane became suddenly ill, and in the time before, as she began to have health issues, I would pray - sometimes aloud - that I would understand what she might be going through, that I could better help her and advise her on options related to her care. All these years later, it seems those prayers are being answered. I am starting to experience disorders which have similar symptoms; mobility issues and lack of stability that comes and goes. Gastrointestinal trouble. At one time Diane said something about an experience where she felt the room she was in was spinning; now I know what that feels like. It’s definitely NOT pleasant. For the last few days I’ve felt I’ve been walking in a fog; one that’s lifted a bit for now, or I would be begging off another reflection this week. As this is one of the things that has helped me stay in focus, I really don’t want to stop until God tells me I have to beyond any other means.

Why is it that places like Walmart, aisles jammed with holiday specials, is not considered a super-spreader, while family gatherings and religious observances are? Even though the Catholic parishes have a program in place that allows them to remain open at the reduced capacity levels that were agreed upon in June - July, it seems inevitable at the moment that we won’t be exempt from a general “stay at home” order if they’re issued. And the diocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of the few to end the dispensation from required attendance at Sunday Mass, has in the wake of rapidly growing positivity rates, has put the dispensation back in place.

Yet through the grace of God, though bruised (and never whole, as I reminded myself); I’m still here. I still believe God is in control, even as many reject that and claim that if there is a God, he’s sleeping at the switch. We’re the ones sleeping at the switch.

The memes have returned throughout social media in America, declaring No matter who is President, Jesus is King. That is important to bear in mind, for the political wringing of hands isn’t stopping any time soon. There is a great deal of stonewalling - on both sides - and Congress and the Senate have wafer thin margins, which likely means whoever actually sits in the Oval Office in late January, a great deal of nothing is likely to get done over the next four years, with citizens, working or not, footing the bill. Yes, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57,  NRSV).

And, in the refrain of this week’s featured popular song:

My love is warmer than the warmest sunshine

Softer than a sigh

My love is deeper than the deepest ocean

Wider than the sky

My love is brighter than the brightest star

That shines every night above

And there is nothing in this world

That can ever change my love.

That’s why I must keep going, and neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor gloom of night or even pestilence will keep me from proclaiming the love of the Lord and that Jesus IS the Ultimate Answer. We must never give up on Him. Governments can - and have, and will - make demands of us that go against God’s commands. Even the human-operated institution of Christ’s holy Church will fail us. Christ’s promises will never fail unless we reject them.

Take my hand, precious Lord! Lead me home!! Lead me in Thy righteousness! Make Thy way plain before my face!

 

Memorable Moments:

1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile

1851 – Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, is published in the USA.

1862 – American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1886 – Friedrich Soennecken first developed the hole puncher, a type of office tool capable of punching small holes in paper.

1889 – Pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in 72 days.

1918 – Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.

1922 – The British Broadcasting Company begins radio service in the United Kingdom.

1960 – Ruby Bridges becomes the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana.

1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to the surface of the Moon.

1973 – In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.

1979 – Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.

1982 – Lech Wałęsa, the leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after eleven months of internment near the Soviet border.

1995 – A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

1601 – John Eudes, French priest and missionary (d. 1680)

1765 – Robert Fulton, American engineer, Early steamboat pioneer (d. 1815)

1840 – Claude Monet, French painter (d. 1926)

1900 – Aaron Copland, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1990)

1908 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)

1921 – Brian Keith, American actor and director (d. 1997)

1922 – Veronica Lake, American actress and singer (d. 1973)

1927 – McLean Stevenson, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)

1929 – Jimmy Piersall, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2017)

1939 – Wendy Carlos, American keyboard player and composer

1948 – Charles, Prince of Wales

1949 – James Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1951 – Stephen Bishop, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1954 – Condoleezza Rice, American political scientist, academic, and politician, 66th United States Secretary of State

1982 – Kyle Orton, American football player

 

We Remember:

1263 – Alexander Nevsky, Russian saint (b. 1220)

1832 – Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American farmer and politician (b. 1737)

1915 – Booker T. Washington, American educator, essayist and historian (b. 1856)

1997 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (b. 1916)

2014 – Glen A. Larson, American director, producer, and screenwriter, created Battlestar Galactica (b. 1937)

 …ALL victims of the COVID-19 pandemic

…ALL victims of violence

…and television personality Alex Trebek (b. 1940) who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8

…and comedian Norm Crosby (b. 1927) who passed away on November 7, from heart failure.

Parting Words:

Pray, pray always, pray all ways - that we may approach these coming days with sense and sensibility; that we may, by God’s grace, overcome these dark days and approach him with humility, and confidence, and in joy.

 Until we meet again, may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all…

+the Phoenix

Making the Rough Places Plain: All Eyes Are Watching

 November 2, 2020

 

After weeks, months, even years (literally and figuratively), America has reached the climax of its current election cycle. Soon, it will all be over but the shouting…

 …and possibly the shooting; as well as all sorts of potential unrest and litigation as we complete the exercise of voting.

 This time, we appear to be having “an election like none other” as the outcome is a “battle for the soul” of the nation. But many other American presidential elections can also claim those titles. In 1824, Andrew Jackson took the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College to John Quincy Adams. In 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln (whose name wasn’t even on the ballot in some Southern states) split the nation and eventually launched the Civil War. The elections of 2000, 2008, and 2016 were all contentious. And lest you think a global pandemic is skewing the electoral process for the first time, the election of 1920 - one hundred years ago - was marked by the Spanish influenza pandemic that had plagued the world for two years. While we should not overlook these facts, we should not let this lack of uniqueness make us complacent.

 I’ve only shared my preferences with a few members of my extended family. They’re split nearly down the middle, too. I don’t participate in exit polls to let some analyst at one of the networks “project” a winner. It’s supposed to be a secret ballot, you see. The only people who need to know who I choose on a ballot are the person counting it, myself; and God, who knows everything anyway. As an ordained minister of the Catholic Church, I’m not supposed to endorse any specific candidate, and I won’t here - not by name, anyway. While I will mention the presidential candidates’ names in what follows, it will be clear that I’m not largely supportive of either of them. Rather, the issues and policies that the candidates represent, coupled with how as a Catholic Christian I should respond to said issues and policies, along with prayer and careful discernment, guide me in my selections in the voting process.

 And the results? You may have already guessed.

 I must consider the gift of life. Both parties’ platforms fail miserably. One side wants to gut the controversial health care act, drawing fears that whatever stands in its wake will remove protections for preexisting conditions, and cause millions of people to lose health insurance coverage. The other side wants not only to restore that which has already been dismantled in the last four years but expand it. No exemptions on faith or religious beliefs will be allowed.

 Some may counter that the present administration also has a callous disregard for the gift of life, in the example of separating the children of refugees from their parents at border crossings. This is indeed placing a low value on the lives of those affected. They can speak up; a child in the womb cannot. We glorify taking a life that cannot defend itself under the guise of “reproductive health care”. Is it any wonder that other atrocities against the human person - including those against the family as God commands it, such as transgender surgeries, same-sex marriages, and euthanasia for those whose quality of life would have to be supported by another - continue to show up like noxious weeds?

 Another argument is that the present administration disregards the effects of “climate change”. It shouldn’t be ignored. Why, then, do we allow the doomsayers of the issue to crisscross the planet on jet airplanes, command ridiculous speaking fees, and live high on the hog while others starve and spend cold nights on park benches attempting to sleep? How fair is that? And to the politicians in my home state of Illinois: who honestly believes that a “fair” (progressive) income tax would solve it - or anything else, for that matter?

 Once upon a time, it was generally thought that politics was the art of compromise. In so doing, all sides of an issue would make some sort of sacrifice in order to assist those in need. Not anymore. In recent years, it’s more about discrediting the other side in order to obtain the largest allocation of resources, and then misuse them anyway.

 While I’m sure a few exist somewhere, I’m finding it extremely difficult to find a truly honest political leader. Both of the major presidential candidates have been caught in blatant lies, even to the point pf bragging about them. What does this say of their leadership qualities? I despise being lied to. Yes, everybody makes mistakes; some make really big ones that have long-lasting side effects for themselves and others. Still, the more insidious the lie, the more infuriated I get.

 Donald Trump has lied to the American people, more than once during his tenure as President. So has Joe Biden, in his near half-century as a career politician. The lies are bad enough. The innuendo both candidates carry about them would have at one time kept them from holding elective office. My father told me that he wasn’t likely to accept an offer from either of them to have a drink at the corner bar. I agree with that line of thought.

 Donald Trump has demonstrated some sense of disregard for the life of the earth. Still, all of us can do many things to reduce our carbon footprint, and we shouldn’t need a government mandate to do so. Mr. Trump doesn’t necessarily come across as devout or God-fearing; when asked in 2016 he stated that he didn’t see a point in confessing his sins as he believes he’s never done anything wrong. He’s gone on record supporting life, and has issued a few orders that support the pro-life movement; but whether he truly believes that or is posturing for the cameras is questionable. He comes off as brash and crude; some counter that it’s the way many New Yorkers behave; and others are quick to point out that his lack of experience in politics is precisely why he was elected in the first place.

 Joe Biden, by contrast, has pledged to uphold his party’s position that holds no regard for the dignity of human life. He’s all over “listening to the science” with regards to the pandemic and to the issues of climate change; will there be anyone left to enjoy any benefit? Mr. Biden professes to be Catholic, but he does not let his personal beliefs affect his political judgement; as if one could simply turn off a switch. (Sadly there are many Christians who largely leave that switch off, turning it on only when a larger-than-life predicament is before them.) In these last weeks of the campaign, Mr. Biden has stated that he has been guided by his Catholic beliefs. Not only does that fly in the face of not letting beliefs get in the way of politics; but by supporting the extremist platform his party has adopted, he’s pledged to implement that agenda and solidify it with legislation. Not only has Mr. Biden lied to the American people; he has betrayed the very beliefs he says guides him, making him a traitor to the Catholic faith.

 I realize that writing on this now, on the eve of an election where reportedly the number of people who have cast their votes early is approaching 100 million, that this may be too late to change anybody else’s minds. That I’m not writing an op-ed for a major newspaper or preaching from a pulpit somewhere is sure to cast aspersions of “…and your point is?” among anyone happening to read it. Still, the world is watching us and what will transpire over the next few weeks. I daresay that regardless of who wins the results will be contested in the courts. Regardless of the victor, there will be protests and the potential for rioting and looting in the streets of places that may never have seen such a ghastly spectacle before. We will still be feeling the effects of the worst pandemic in a century. We may be stuck in our divided ways, with no voice of reason to turn us to our knees, praying for deliverance…

 …and God, and the eyes of the world, will be watching.

The Saturday Morning Post: We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe

 October 31, 2020

All Hallows’ Eve In Memoriam Edition

 

Good Morning, God and All…

In keeping with the true intention of this spoke in the wheel of the year, The Saturday Morning Post takes a pause in its normal format to focus on those whom we lost to eternity in the past twelve months. The list is by no means exhaustive. In my normal course of research, the compiled list at Wikipedia left out persons whose death alone catapulted them into the national spotlight; I dug deeper to include them; but in so doing left out anyone else who may have died in the process. I have also listed groups of persons whose names are unknown to most of us but have figured in what historians and writers will record for future generations, however many there may be, to read.

 I pray that the reader of this list not be critical of the editing therein. It is my belief that ALL souls of the departed are commended to God’s mercy and justice, which is superabundant and has no equal on this earth.

 

We Remember:

(2019)

November 6 – Jan Stráský, 20th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1940)

November 29 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)

 

December 1 – Shelley Morrison, American actress (b. 1936)

December 8 - Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer (b. 1933)

December 8 - Juice Wrld, American rapper (b. 1998)

December 26 - Jerry Herman, American composer (b. 1931)

December 27 – Don Imus, American radio personality, television show host, and author (b. 1940)

 

(2020)

January 1 – David Stern, American businessman and NBA commissioner (b. 1942)

January 7 - Neil Peart, Canadian drummer and lyricist (b. 1952)

January 8 - Edd Byrnes, American actor (b. 1932)

January 8 - Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter and television producer (b. 1930)

January 21 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and comedian (b. 1942)

January 26 - Kobe Bryant, American professional basketball player (b. 1978)

January 31 - Mary Higgins Clark, American novelist (b. 1927)

 

February 5 - Kirk Douglas, American actor, director and producer (b. 1916)

February 7 - Orson Bean, American actor, comedian and producer (b. 1928)

February 8 – Robert Conrad, American actor (b. 1935)

February 24 - Clive Cussler, American author (b. 1931)

 

March 2 - James Lipton, American writer, lyricist and actor (b. 1926)

March 8 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (b. 1929)

March 13 - Breonna Taylor, African-American woman (b. 1994)

March 20 - Kenny Rogers, American country singer and songwriter (b. 1938)

March 30 - Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)

 

April 7 – John Prine, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)

April 15 - Brian Dennehy, American actor (b. 1938)

April 22 - Shirley Knight, American actress (b. 1936)

 

May 9 – Little Richard, American musician (b. 1932)

May 11 – Jerry Stiller, American comedian (b. 1927)

May 15 - Fred Willard, American actor and comedian (b. 1933)

May 25 - George Floyd, African-American Truck driver, security guard, rapper (b. 1973)

May 27 – Larry Kramer, American author and LGBT rights activist (b. 1935)

 

June 12 - Rayshard Brooks, African-American man (b. 1993)

June 29 - Johnny Mandel, American composer (b. 1925)

June 29 - Carl Reiner, American actor, film director and comedian (b. 1922)

 

July 6 - Charlie Daniels, American country singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1936)

July 17 - John Lewis, American civil rights leader and politician (b. 1940)

July 25 - Peter Green, English blues rock singer-songwriter (b. 1946)

July 26 – Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress (b. 1916)

 

August 1 – Wilford Brimley, American actor and singer (b. 1934)

August 11 - Trini Lopez, American singer and actor (b. 1937)

August 28 – Chadwick Boseman, American actor (b. 1976)

August 31 - Tom Seaver, American baseball player (b. 1944)

 

September 10 – Diana Rigg, English actress (b. 1938)

September 18 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American jurist, and gender equality pioneer (b. 1933)

September 22 - Road Warrior Animal, American professional wrestler (b. 1960)

September 23 - Gale Sayers, American gridiron football player (b. 1943)

September 29 - Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1942)

September 29 - Helen Reddy, Australian singer and actress (b. 1941)

 

October 2 - Bob Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1935)

October 6 - Johnny Nash, American singer-songwriter (b. 1940)

October 6 - Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American musician and songwriter (b. 1955)

October 8 - Whitey Ford, American baseball player (b. 1928)

October 11 – Joe Morgan, American baseball player (b. 1943)

October 19 – Spencer Davis, Welsh musician (b. 1939)

October 20 - James Randi, Canadian-American magician and skeptic (b. 1928)

October 23 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)

October 31 – Sean Connery, Scottish actor (b. 1930)

 

…ALL victims of violence

…ALL victims of the COVID-19 pandemic (233, 187 in the US; 1,187,014 globally as of 6:45 AM CDT 10/31/2020)

...ALL those that the reader is keeping in the silence of his/her heart and memory

…ALL first-responders, critical workers, law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and military personnel who died as a result of their dutiful service to community, nation, and ultimately, to God

…ALL those whom I have forgotten or left out for any reason

 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine around them, according to Your holy will. May all the faithful departed, through the Divine Mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ, rest in eternal peace…Amen.

 

Parting Words:

Lest we all forget in the shuffle, Daylight Saving Time ends tonight across most of the USA - remember to set those devices requiring a manual adjustment back one hour tonight before bedtime. Also, check the batteries in your CO and smoke detectors…they may save your life and the lives of those you love. Finally, Tuesday is Election Day. It’s the right, duty, and responsibility of every eligible voter to cast a ballot. If you’ve already voted, in person or by mail, thank you. If you haven’t, please consider your choices carefully and vote on November 3.

 

Until we meet again, may God be with you…and may God have mercy on us all…

+the Phoenix