Relaxing in Panera with Coffee

After getting my stiff and aging butt out early to get to 9 am mass, I decided to treat myself with some breakfast and coffee, at Panera. I try to visit at least once a month to get a full meal, as I so often use/abuse their wifi privilege when I want to write, but am going stir-crazy at home.

I found some interesting things online - Andrew Sullivan has a generally thoughtful piece about the replacement of religion with secular pursuits, and why it so often leads to Cultic Politics.

I do have to question his conflation of Trump supporters with blind cult-followers. Most of Trump's supporters do see his faults - and they are many - but, simply prefer a President with faults who doesn't hate everything about America, to the many politicians whose followers insist they have no faults - and don't consider hatred for America, capitalism, and the Constitution to be faults.

Sullivan has also written about the Opioid Crisis, and its relationship to spiritual emptiness. The only known means to break the addiction was pioneered by a man influenced by the English Spiritual Awakening that coalesced in the Oxford Group. The Oxford met in house parties, and developed spiritual practices that heavily influenced Bill W. in developing AA.

To be spiritually reborn, the Oxford Group advocated four practices set out below:^[9]:9

1. The sharing of our sins and temptations with another Christian.
2. Surrender our life past, present and future, into God's keeping and direction.
3. Restitution to all whom we have wronged directly or indirectly.
4. Listening for God's guidance, and carrying it out.

 Compare Nike's treatment of Kaepernick to that of Turkish player for the NY Nicks - Eres Kanter. Because Kanter opposed Ergodan, Turkey has threatened to close access to any company that gives Kanter a contract.

No shoe deal for YOU!

I caught the last 1/3 of the movie Idiocracy this weekend. It was funnier before Life started imitating Art.