1/7/2022

MDFP, JRB,

            I will be holding you in the Light today as you put on your Consoler in Chief mantle on your visit with the people in CO affected by the recent fire. Losing one’s home & possessions must be terrible, but even more devastating is losing the neighborhood. Social bonds among people are slow to develop so when a community goes up in flames, years of relationship building goes along with it.

Robert Putnam addressed this in his 2000 book, “Bowling Alone” where he discussed the diminishing social capital in the US. He defined this as, “connections among individuals—social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them” & pointed out that even though Americans continue to bowl as much as ever, they don’t join leagues any more. They don’t join churches or civic organizations, play bridge or belong to clubs, either. At least we still live in neighborhoods where causal contact can lead to trust. Those social bonds have now been lost for those folks in CO.

Fortunately, some belong to faith communities which are helping them out. I just read about the Spindle family who had to run away from their house as it went up in flames. They have been showered with assistance by their Mormon community. They say they will be ok & that “Our faith is fully intact and strengthened; our family is intact and strengthened.”

I educated myself about the Mormons today because I was surprised to see that Sen Harry Reid was a LDS member. Much of the Mormon religion remains a mystery to me & the strict separation of genders turns me off, but I am intrigued by the idea that each member serves as someone else’s minister.

On another matter, what do you think of Cambodia PM Hun Sen’s (HS) visit with Gen. Min Aung Hlaing (MAH) today? Did you notice MAH was not in uniform & was sitting in a gold chair that made him look like a king? Who does he think he’s fooling? Some think HS should not be shaking blood-stained hands. What do you think?

BYBS,

RCA