Letters: Lifting our nation in prayer; Exemplary workers with Student Painters

Lifting our nation in prayer

With all the protests and riots across our nation, and the incidents that sparked them, if you believe in a higher power, please lift our nation in prayer, for healing and justice.

Pope Francis once said, “You pray for the hungry, then you feed them. This is how prayer works.”

We all need to lift our nation in prayer, and listen for God’s leading in the actions we can each take to help answer those prayers. Even small steps are a beginning.

To my fellow Judeo-Christian believers, if “love your neighbor as yourself” means anything, it means that God wants us to step out of our perspective and see the world from our neighbor’s perspective. And in this situation that means the perspective of those reeling in fear and pain at the deaths of African Americans. We all need to strive for understanding.

At that same time, our neighbors are the law enforcement community. If we are to “love them as ourselves” we need to strive to see from their perspective, too.

And even that small group of individuals among protesters and law enforcement who resort to ugliness and violence, we are called by God to love them too.

We are called to work at not responding in hatred, but sadness that human beings can end up like this. Shame, that our society helps create them. And resolve, that the flawed systems in our society that help people become like this, will be changed for the better.

Amen.

Exemplary workers with Student Painters

Last week Student Painters had a crew working on McBath Street in State College next to my house. How pleasant it was to see four or five young men working together without cursing. Go down College Avenue and every other sentence begins and ends with an F-bomb.

They could banter with each other and nothing was profane. Even when the one fellow slipped off the ladder you didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary.

Later in the day I started talking with them on a break and learned that I had umpired ball games for some of them in high school and one of them was graduating from high school with my grandson the next day. I don’t remember everyone’s names but I do know there was a Myers, Royer and Copolo.

With their work ethic and professionalism they should do well in future endeavors.

Trump divides the nation

Just when it seems that President Trump could not be more harmful, he tear gases peaceful protesters, denies the action, poses for a photo op with a Bible and makes no apologies for any of his acts. If something goes awry he is quick to blame others such as the governors or mayors for not controlling protesters while threatening to set vicious dogs or the U.S. armed forces on peaceful protesters and blaming outside agitators for a nation beset with racism. Rather than address such issues in the media, he blames members of the media for being mean or nasty with questions about how he can help bring the country together. He has no interest in that; he divides, not unites. Trump’s interest is in his ratings and bolstering those to feed his ego and diminish his insecurities. Any scintilla of economic progress made he claims as his doings; any damage to the country, he blames on others. How long can he continue to “lead” the nation like he did as the television “host” of “The Apprentice,” firing those who disagree with him and threatening others with such actions or calling them names such as “jerks”? Voters must do more than carp or act with indifference. They must come together to vote him out of office before he can ruin the nation even more.