There's "Maundy Thursday" and then "Good Friday" but what of Saturday? Saturday of Easter weekend? I'm barely aware of the terminology so I'm in no position to elaborate. "Maundy?" I haven't a clue. But it surely is Easter weekend as I write this. Writing this as I look to the north through my quite large picture windows. I shouldn't say "my" as it's my family home even though I'm the only one left. The Williams family home has quite nice picture windows on both the north and south sides. Nice view through either. We are "semi-rural" up next to the soils laboratory.
Saturday of Easter weekend 2026 is marked by a "winter wonderland" outside. It has been futile trying to hope for truly pleasant weather that would contrast with winter. Winter may have its (limited) charms but we've had enough of it by now, n'est-ce pas? Wouldn't it be nice to crank up the riding lawn mower to see if it's ready for another year?
In flux?
The local pest control company appears to be undergoing sort of a "revolt." I was a pushover for the "insurgents" and so now the new name is "Exodus 8." I noticed the Exodus 8 name on the bait station in front of DeToy's Restaurant as well. The changeover seemed to happen in a rather odd way. The cost will now be higher - it never goes the other way - but the stations will be checked four times a year now, not twice. And frankly I like that.
I discovered one dead mouse in my basement in November. But I have not detected any live ones since the pest control service started. I have never had what you'd call an "infestation" but I finally arrived at a zero-tolerance policy. Several years ago I had the bat specialist come. A bat was in the basement, heavens. The guy who took the calls for the eradication service said the people who call them want someone to come quickly! My problem was solved. The guy had a pretty firm theory on what the problem was, but he addressed three potential problems.
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| Good Shepherd Church, Morris |
So here we are on Easter weekend of 2026 and we ought to feel the proper solemnity. But how are we to understand Easter or Christianity itself? How to understand in the curious age in which the faith has gotten enmeshed hopelessly in politics. Go out to Good Shepherd Church in the barren stretches north of Morris and you'll be among people who voted 100 percent for Trump. And politics most definitely colors their church attitudes.
Other Stevens County churches are not too far from this church's example. But Good Shepherd was this new "refuge" for many of the alienated souls from the standard Lutheran churches that were such a bulwark when I grew up. And I'm not suggesting that those places were exactly fountains of joy.
I think most boomers will say that they went to church "because they were supposed to." And, that much of church life seemed to be designed to make you feel guilty. In the process it was boring too. It was an obligation. Did our parents know it was impressing us this way? Or did they care?
Our parents felt we should simply appreciate the things they were giving us. How could you argue that we shouldn't? But our parents had the power, had they chosen to seize it, of rising up en masse to get the government to withdraw our young men from Vietnam. It got to the point where my generation did not even want to hear the reasons spelled out on why we were involved in the war.
My pastor at First Lutheran Church would never have been so bold as to say the war was a tragic mistake. We knew he was a Nixon Republican. He probably asked us to "pray for the troops." Oh fine, like that was a constructive step. Was that supposed to make us feel better? So we could go home after church with sound conscience?
Use proper lens
On this Saturday morning of Easter weekend 2026, we're supposed to be so focused on one missing pilot in Iran. One missing pilot! And in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. soldiers killed. And man, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota in his re-election campaign made hay out of the 13. But put these figures into context. They say that one death is a tragedy and several hundred a "statistic." Or let's make that close to 60,000 in Vietnam - U.S. soldiers directly killed as a result of the conflict. Countless others in a more indirect way in the years following.
We lost the war. And why were the parents of the boomers not more aware of the grand scale of the needless tragedy? American boys simply being cut down, killed in many ways most certainly violent. And this passed muster with that older generation? Those folks had John Wayne as a cheerleader for them just as today we have Sean Hannity and others in the same role.
"Conservatives" always learn to sing off the same page. They feel that the spirit of jingoism is the "brave" stance.
I assert war is nothing but bad.
Our congressperson Michelle Fischbach is singing off the predictable script. Why is it that these people can never surprise us?
Vietnam had to end regardless of the prevailing sentiment, for one primary reason. We were "killing our own colonels." This was "fragging." The term grew from the common technique of a fragmentation hand grenade placed on the bed of a commanding officer. Oftentimes it was just a threat. But lives were taken this way. The "grunts" did not want a commanding officer to order a certain action based on that officer's desire to "use John Wayne tactics" to get his picture in his hometown paper.
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| John Wayne |
John Wayne gave us the movie "The Green Berets" which Roger Ebert described as obscene. The truth about John Wayne was that he was a master of the movie industry and he knew that the drama and conflict of military engagements were really good fodder for movies. He gave us the movie "The Alamo." Turns out that the Mexicans were really the good guys through all that because they were fighting against slavery. The Mexicans did lose in the long run. But they totally overran the Alamo which was not even a fort, it was a Spanish mission.
John Wayne was way too old for his role in the WWII movie "The Longest Day." Hollywood has typically called on actors who were too old for their roles in war movies. I would suggest the reason is that Hollywood hesitates to show the reality of how it is young men who overwhelmingly bear the brunt. It might seem tragically immoral to reflect the truth.
Can Christ prevail?
On this Saturday of Easter weekend we wonder if the MAGA imprint on Christianity is going to be long-lasting or even permanent. If it is truly entrenched, can we persuade young people to join the faith? Donald Trump is a dangerous lying fool. We have had ten years to have this sink in, and it has not yet.
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| Michelle Fischbach |
We will all have to deal with a major new burst of inflation. Interest rates cannot be cut at the present time or even in the next 12 months, apparently, in case that is important to you.
Oh to have a classy and example-setting president again. And this individual does not have to be in the news every day. Do we really need to be led along by Trump every day of our lives? I am personally affronted by this.
Jesus Christ thought it was so important to forgive your adversaries. Does Trump know the meaning of this? If not, then please explain yourselves. Oh my, you won't. You will engage in name-calling against people like me. Would this pass muster with your Lord and Savior?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
