Dear flock, your pal and erstwhile spiritual guide the Reverend Buddy Lee has been hard at work on the streets and byways, spreading like butter the Word of Love upon every nook and cranny I can find!
People, I have been on point, out working every day, shining the Light into every crack and crevasse which presents itself to me;
and, children, while I have often been embraced by magnificent humans who teach me by their brilliant example new ways to appreciate the art science and philosophy of Surfing into the Light, I have on occasion been dashed upon the shoals of hostility, my hardy little vessel of faith run aground upon the sandbars of indifference and jaded hipsterism.
And friends, I have even been accosted by, and scolded by, well-dressed community organizers, villainous billionaires, and chauffeured ne'er- do- wells, who from their station of privilege, have said unto me,
"Woe unto thee, Reverend Buddy, for thou hast cast a fairy tale of religion onto the masses, roiling them into a raucous and disorganized state, from which they are not as easily herded,"
So hath these great personages, cultural leaders, and high office holders, so have they derided me, your humble homilist:
"Thou hast cast aspersions upon our governmental orthodoxy, our venerated separation of church and state, in an immoral attempt to dilute our money-giving power."
They have wrathfully continued:
"Your invocation of God is unpatriotic and so last-century. You should come into the new day with us. Your insistence on celebrating God's love is dangerous and possibly bigoted. For you are not sufficiently tolerant of others when you espouse your own preaching. The Church of the High Beams is a gutter religion, illegitimate, and unendorsed by our pluralistic, diversity-driven paradigm."
Now, friends, it is true that I happened to be standing in the gutter at that very moment. I was watching a distinguished gentleman stand in front of a holy national statue and yell at the world about separating the church from the state, and how this might be our last chance to get it right, and I was saying to myself,
Reverend Buddy, this feller's preaching is far more apocalyptic and threatening in nature than anything you have been preaching since you gave up Thunderbird for inspiration, and I laughed softly to myself when I thought that little thought.
And a lady next to me, she said, 'What are you laughing at?'
And I replied, 'Well, I was laughing because most preachers I know wouldn't wag their finger at the flock, and tell them they should be ashamed of themselves if they don't do what they're told, or think as they're told to think; it's counterintuitive, to say nothing of the fact that it's intellectually dishonest."
"You're just a bigot," she replied.
"Madam, I beg to differ," I said. " I'm just saying that fire and brimstone went out of style a long time ago. If you want people to listen, you've got to offer them something real. Words like 'tolerance' and 'diversity' don't mean anything to people. They're abstractions, and this feller is using those concepts like hammers, hitting folks on the head with them. He thinks by standing in front of the Harbor Lady, everybody will overlook his angry face and arrogant Napoleonic manner, and buy whatever he's selling. But there's too much dissonance. Too much insistence, too much authority, not enough responsibility. Too much threat in his ordering us to be compassionate. It just doesn't add up."
"You're just a bigot, " she replied.
Right then, friends, I admit it, I sighed and turned away. I walked down the block, the words of the man in the suit ringing hollow off the pavement. Your pal the Reverend Buddy felt a mite defeated.
Because, as you know, children, my mission is to spread the joy around; I'm not anyone's enemy. I don't ever call names, and I never tell anyone what to do. I leave the judging to the Judge, if you know what I mean. Usually, I'm just so filled with joy that I can't wait to have a teachable moment with the folks I meet, because, even though I'm the Reverend Buddy Lee, in teachable moments, I'm always the one who learns something. Once in a while maybe I can offer an insight, but friends, I'm telling the truth when I say this world has a lot more to teach me than I it!
Anyway, I was feeling just a wee bit crestfallen after that session, and I stopped into a little shop to pick up some mints. The gent behind the counter didn't look too happy, either, so I gave it a try:
"Something wrong, friend?"
He looked up, and gestured to the show going on outside.
"Bad for business," he mumbled."They don't buy nothing. Scare away the customers."
He handed me the mints, and I paid him.
I noticed a photo above the counter. Three little kids were smiling in a tumbled pile on a sofa.
"Your kids?"
"Yeah."
"Beautiful family."
He smiled.
"Thanks." Just like the smiles in the photo.
"You have a blessed day, now."
"You know what?" he said.
"Where I go to pray, it's so small, no one even knows it's there. I don't care. I know it's there, that's all that matters. I came here to be left alone, just to make money, get a better life for my kids, no rich king or other asshole running my life. Here, they leave you alone. Pay your bills, mind your business, work all day, no problem.
That's why I came here, for a better life."
I shook his hand then, and said, "I truly hope you find it, brother."
I walked out of that shop, friends, filled once again with the spirit of hope and reconciliation.
And today, my friends, that is what I wish for you:
That, when you find yourself enmeshed in a swirling maelstrom of misunderstanding and mistrust, that a friend or stranger will reach through the miasma, take your hand, and lead you out of the chaos, back to where all is good and real, back to a place where you can be still, and grateful, and clear, and joyful; that someone will take your hand and help you find a calm space where you may worship in peace.
We know that place need not have GPS coordinates, or be found on a map; no, friends, it need only be a refuge where your spirit may once again get its bearings, rebalance, and continue its great journey. That is what I wish for you today, a rest stop of tranquility when you need it, as you keep on surfing into the Light,
Wishing you Peaceful Worship,
Your Friend,
Reverend Buddy Lee
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