World Views

A Christmas Story

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving and all through the house not a creature was stirring, just the clicking of a mouse. My wife was up past midnight performing her Black Friday ritual, while visions of bargains and dollar signs flashed 'cross the digital. Her fingers a blaze on the keyboard did race, casting a maniacal glow, a wreath round her face. She looked straight ahead as if possessed by flickering light, a digital dance that would last through the night. The scene before me, an existential fright, so I dashed to the back door and into the night. My steamy breath illuminated  by the pale moon's glow, trying to process what I saw, I just didn't know. I must have dropped off to sleep as I awoke with a jerk, I was cold, hungry and everything hurt. Allowing my head to clear, finally aware, I looked about trembling with cold or was it fear?  I was on a dark mountain when I looked to the right, a hooded stranger appeared, pointing to a bright light. My eyes gazed upward, I saw a star, bright like none other, that shone from afar. Looking to the horizon I did behold, a choir of angels proclaiming a word, "For this day, is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Whaaat, I thought as I could not speak, a warmth filled my heart as if from a burning fire, right down to my feet. Have I gone back in time 2000 years or am I just real tired? As if on cue in my brain did display, every Christmas before me, unpacked from Santa's sleigh. I should have been been happy but I grew very sad. I saw presents galore unwrapped in a frenzy and it didn't seem fun, when I just opened, a Red Ryder gun. My heart was in anguish as something was missing and I knew not what, my mind frantically fishing.  A buzzing noise soon filled my head and when I opened my eyes I was in my own bed! The alarm clock still buzzing, up I arose, slapped off the clock while stubbing my toes. Hopping on one foot, I fell, hit my head, and with a loud thwack the bright morning, went dead. A vision from the night swirled in my head as the hooded stranger pointed  and said, "Go back to the manger, there you will find the joy you have fled. "When I awoke, despite the knot on my head, I dropped to my knees and I prayerfully said. "Forgive us Lord for we have forgotten the Son you have sent us, that you have begotten. We replaced him, and we all followed, a shopping holiday that leaves us all hollow." 

May the light of the star that shone 2000 years ago on that first Christmas morn, rest and abide in your hearts, for that was the Light of the world, the true Light that pierces the darkness and brings hope, joy, peace, and life to all who believe. May the Good Lord bless you and your families this Christmastide and beyond! -Art

Fall

Fall comes slowly

                                              inching its way from summer's grasp

                                                            leaves fall

                                                                                        I guess it's aptly named 

                                               the dog days of summer slowly give way to a refreshing coolness  framed  by splashes of colored beauty

                                                                                                  a mosaic that is a delight to the eyes 

                                                                  cerulean blue skies contrast just right, providing the sun

                               a chance to direct its light through leaves that glow 

                                                                                      nature's cathedral stained glass windows

                                                                 a surreal mystical feeling  I surrender to,

                                        washing over me 'neath a canopy tunnel of trees

                                                                             stiff wind gusts carry leaves                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             swirling snowflakes

                                                  meeting obstacles they mount back up into the sky

                                                                                                                            a harbinger of the winter to come

                                                        I think it's called fall, because I fall deeper in love each year with the Creator of all. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          acf

Statue-tory Rape

On October 12th, 1958 as part of the bicentennial founding of Pittsburgh celebration, a statue of Christopher Columbus was unveiled in Schenley Park. Created by the famous Italian sculptor, Frank Vittor, over 2000 people attended the ceremony. Among the attendees were leaders of the Italian American community, Pittsburgh political figures, clergy from the Catholic Diocese, representatives from the Vatican as well as Italian diplomats. The statue was gifted to the city by the Sons of Columbus of America and the proud Italian  American community of Pittsburgh.  One hundred thousand dollars was raised to commission the work of art and beautiful monument. In today's dollars that would be a little over 1.3 million dollars a remarkable achievement and gift.

If you haven't seen the statue  in its original setting, it's too late. For the past two years its been shrouded in plastic per the order of a judge. How did we get here? It all started two years ago in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.  Activists went on rampages across America tearing down monuments of any statue deemed to be racist. Ironically, they even tore down a statue of Abraham Lincoln, and of course Christopher Columbus was on the hit list. Not to be outdone by her peers, Pittsburgh activist Finn Murphy collected over 15,000 signatures to remove Columbus's monument from Schenley Park. She claimed that it was hurtful to the native American community and that Columbus was a genocidal maniac, racist, white supremacist, rapist and a slave trader. (Do you think Finn Murphy has as much Native American ancestry as Elizabeth Warren?) The petition was presented to Mayor Peduto and the Pittsburgh Art Commission. The Art Commission and the Mayor anxious to display their "woke" bona fides voted to remove the monument. The Italian Sons and Daughters of America filed an emergency injunction which was then granted by Judge John T. Mcvay. The  judge ordered the statue covered in plastic. Two years later he announced his decision that the monument needed to be removed because the city has the right to say what monuments are displayed or not, on its property calling it "government speech."

So what is the truth about Columbus? Was he really guilty of what he is being accused of? Nothing could be further from the truth. Columbus was a brave and heroic explorer as well as a devout Catholic. He did not believe the world was flat, as that had been debunked even before his time. Because the Muslim empire had taken over and blocked lucrative Italian trade routes to the east, his plan was to find a new trade route by going west. After eight years of trying to fund his expedition King Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain consented to fund Columbus, as an opportunity  to spread the faith through exploration. After 35 days at sea, keeping control of a mutinous crew that wanted to turn back, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria landed in what we know today as the Bahama's. Columbus was received warmly by the natives and they traded and shared livestock, farming methods and foods. Columbus returned to Spain and was hailed as a hero even though he didn't find the trade route he set out for. Columbus was named governor of the new territory and he returned two more times to the New World. On his second voyage back he was accompanied by Hidalgos who were eager to profit from the new world in any way they could. They saw Columbus as an impediment to their desires of conquest and profits, and they  eventually overthrew Columbus's authority and sent him back to Spain in chains. Meanwhile the Hidalgos enslaved the peoples and forced them into mining gold and treated them as sub-human. Queen Isabella pardoned Columbus but Ferdinand stripped him of his titles and nobility. Meanwhile in order to combat the rumors from the new world of the crimes being committed and the slave trade that put Spain in a bad light, the King ordered Bartolome De Las Casas, a priest of the Inquisition, to blame Columbus for all the wrong doing. Three hundred years later Howard Zinn an avowed Marxist, resurrected De Las Casas's writings and included them in his text book used across America, The People's History of the United States. So you see whole generations of American children are learning that Columbus was an evil villain.  No longer do we hear our children proudly recite, "Christopher Columbus discovered America on October 12th, 1492. He sailed the ocean blue, in the Nina,  the Pinta and the Santa Maria!" No, what rolls off our children's tongue today is, "Christopher Columbus: racist, genocidal maniac, white supremacist." We can't continue to let this happen. Good or bad our history, is our history. We can not allow the past to be re-written by Marxist, left wing, idealogues or we will lose America, one statue at a time.