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Ethics and Local Government
Here in Southbridge we are governed by a nine member Town Council. Several weeks ago one of the members of the Council died thus leaving the eight that we have now. Being in the public eye is difficult business in good times let alone in bad times. People in public life have to make all sorts of decisions that affect peoples lives each and everyday.
One of the policies of the Southbridge Town Council that I disagree with is something called citizens forum. This is the time for any Southbridge resident to speak to the Council about any item that is not on the agenda for the meeting. My feeling is this is the legislative body of the Town and the time for discussion is at the multitude of Sub Committee meetings that are held in between Council meeting. This however is not the real point of this post.
On Monday last, there was a public hearing on a new trash program for the Town. One of the people charged with making the presentation on this new proposal passed out some mock ups or replicas if you will of the carts that were being suggested to be used. Actually they were kind of cute and looked funny sitting there on the rostrum during the meeting.
At Citizens Forum, a resident quoted a section of the Massachusetts Code of Ethics that deals with the acceptance of gifts by Town Officials. For the record, an employee or official cannot accept a gift with a value of more than $50. I understand her point, but she was incorrect in her reasoning. A little back and forth took place between the resident and on of the Town Councilors. So in essence it was a back and forth between a boss (the resident) and the employee (the Councilor). It turned nasty, another reason I am against this sort of discussion at meetings. Something was shouted from the back of the room and the Councilor responded by yelling “Take the ethics test” This is in reference to the ethics test that all appointed and elected officials in Massachusetts need to take.
Here is the interesting point. Back in June Executive Session minutes of the Town Council were leaked by one of the members of the Town Council. This is in violation of the laws of the Commonwealth. (I have written about this before) One of the 7 who sit there each week (I say 7 because one of them was not on the Council when the leak took place) obviously violated the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that they took an oath to uphold. I also find it interesting that this particular Councilor is one of only three sitting Councilors that has not publicly stated if she is the leaker or not!
There is a cloud that hangs over the Council and their moral authority has been severely weakened by the fact that none of them (save one) is interested in find out who the leaker is. Politicians are under a great deal of pressure, it comes with the job. The difficult economic times we find ourselves in does not make it easy. Citizens speaking during citizens forum, and sometimes putting members of the Council on the spot to try and make them look foolish for political points, does not help either. However I expect that MY elected officials would show the residents and taxpayers of this town the respect that is due them as residents and tax payers of this town. The Town Council gets it right to govern us by the consent of us, those who are governed.
The Council is divided 4/4 right now and for the most part things are still getting accomplished and the Town is limping forward slowly. What all of the Councilors need to remember is that we are all watching and we demand a certain level of respect, I would also say to the residents that WE should respect our elected officials as well, however the elected officials NEED to respect us if they hope to retain their positions.
Enough of the snide remarks, enough of the trying to embarrass one another, enough of talking down to the residents, the people who put you in those seats. Enough of the Jr. High antics it is time to start to govern and do the jobs you were elected to do. It is also time for the leaky councilor to come clean. You know who you are, you have taken the Ethics Test, you know what you did was wrong, and you need to confess and resign so the cloud will pass and we can move on.
Use the Spiritual Gifts
Each year in my parish we hold what is called the General Assembly an annual meeting if you will. Our Orthodox Church is hierarchical with the Archbishop as it’s head and a priest delegated to represent him in the local parish. This priest, as head of the local church, serves with an elected parish council, to lead the church together. It is not the priest leading and the people obeying, nor is the priest an employee as has been the thought in the past.
Today’s reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians speaks about unity and diversity in the Church and the use of our Spiritual Gifts. While the Church, like the Trinity, is one in essence it has a diversity in gifts and function. Each member of the church (and I do not define a member as one would define a member of a secular organization) is unique before God with gifts and roles that have been granted by Him. The priest has a role and the laity have roles.
BRETHREN, grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (in saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7-13)
In verse 11 St. Paul lists the gifts granted to those who lead the church; Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We all share these gifts, clergy and laity, but they are in some sense limited to those who lead the church. At our Christmation the Holy Spirit extends gifts to each of us. The gifts that St. Paul lists here in verse 11 are “ministry gifts” and so they are reserved for those who are in ministry.
Recently I received an email from a parishioner asking about an email that she received. It was obviously one of the scam emails that goes around from time to time. (I say this because of the spelling and such) In the email the woman was asking this parishioner to be her spiritual director. In the Orthodox Church we do not use the term Spiritual Director (see my article on Spiritual Fatherhood in the Orthodox Church) we use the term Spiritual Father and this is a ministry granted by the bishop. This would be a “ministry gift” as St. Paul lays out in verse 11.
Why is there diversity? Quite simply it is for unity. In verse 13 St. Paul writes, “till we call come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” unity, being of one mind. Our diversity brings us to the unity of faith because together we all function as one body. Verse 14, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind and doctrine.” As Orthodox we are united in faith under the person of the bishop. The bishop is one that gives the church her authenticity, of there is no bishop there is no church! On the altar of each Orthodox Church is the Antimension, the small cloth given to the church by the bishop that binds us to the bishop, and we use to consecrate the body and blood of Christ, Communion, on each time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy. If the bishop removes this cloth, Divine Liturgy, the unifying service of the Church, cannot be held.
Verse 15, “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ” Christ is the head of the Church and if we forget that, the wheels come off the wagon rather quickly. The bishop and through extension the priest, is the head of the Church here on earth. When the bishop or priest is acting in their role as leader of the community he is in fact in persona Christi, in the person of Christ! Christ is the head of the body and we are the parts that make it all work here on earth.
The Church is far more than an organization. In reality the church has to exist in the structure of the Government where it exists. We here at St. Michael’s exist in the not for profit structure and as such we have to satisfy certain legal responsibilities, hence the General Assembly. But the church is far more than an organization it is an organism whose members are the parts of the body that receives edifying power from Christ to grow their lives and service for Christ.
St. Paul taught that there is no such thing as an isolated Christian. The hand cannot operate without the wrist and wrist cannot operate without the arm, etc. We are all working together to reach the perfection of faith in Christ and full knowledge of the Son of God. A Christian survives through the unity of Community and what binds us together is the Communion of and with the Son of God as Christ commanded us.
Political Language
Like many of you I am trying to make sense out of the terrible tragedy that took place in Arizona yesterday. Anytime a life is taken it saddens me. As an Orthodox Christian I believe that every life is sacred so when one is lost I can not help but feel sad.
I have also been trying to figure out how to respond to this. Our country was founded on Revolution. Political language has been around since the dawn of time and in a country that has free speech as one of its bedrock elements it is more important. I find it quite interesting that on Thursday when the US Constitution was being read in the House chamber, Rep Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was the one to read the 1st Amendment, the one about free speech and freedom of assembly.
Shortly after the tragic events, the new Speaker of the House released a statement, (emphasis is mine) “I am horrified by the senseless attack on Gabrielle Giffords and members of her staff. An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Giffords, her staff, all injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country.” Mr. Speaker I believe you are correct.
Over the next few days or weeks the direction of this event will change. We will be looking for answers, the fingers are already point to and from both sides. This man was troubled no doubt. For any action such as this there is usually some catalyst that sets off the powder keg. We do not know what that match was and speculation does not help.
I was watching MSNBC last night and Keith Olberman spoke at the end of their coverage. If you ever watch his program you know that he does sort of an editorial at the end. He spoke about where the political language in our country has gone the last two years, and he also pointed out that both sides are guilty here the blame cannot be shouldered only by one side of the political spectrum. He even apologized for statements he made in the past that could have led to violence. I have made statements right here on this blog and on Facebook that have not always been charitable and for that I apologize and will try, with God’s help, to correct this action in the future.
Since the Republican began we have spoken of politics in the same vain as we speak about warfare. We use terms like campaign, target, war room, take aim all of this is common language. In the spin up to the American Revolution we were burning King George in effigy and also during the Civil War the same was done to Abraham Lincoln so this is not new to politics.
However, our words come with a responsibility and although we do not mean them in a certain way some will take them in their own way and strike out (another military term). Political language is important, free speech is important and as I have said before I may disagree with what you say but I will lay down my life for your right to say it but our freedom comes with a very large moral responsibility.
So where do we go from here? Hate is wrong plain and simple. In a spiritual sense hate is very destructive and requires far more energy than love does. Hate comes from the Devil not from the one who IS love. One cannot be a Christian and hate the two are not compatible. Disagree yes, but we must disagree in love.
We have some real problems in this country and yes we have become polarized. I for one am looking t our leaders, the ones we elected to serve and represent us, to come together and work together to solve our problems.
I will close with a quote from one of the great Orthodox saints and I think Fr. Luke for sending out this morning. I am not sure if this was done because of what happened yesterday or if it was just in the line up.
“To be gentle, humble and kind to all, even to our enemies; to be simple, disinterested and content with little, the little that is indispensable; to be generous and full of good will to everyone – such are the things that unite us to God, the source of life, and to others by endearing us to them.” (St. John of Kronstadt)
Our life here on earth is very transitory and short compared with our eternal life. We do not have time for hate all we have time for is love. Let us love one another and treat our neighbor as we would like to be treated.
Blessed Sunday to all.
The Future of Southbridge (Must See TV)
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Trash
An issue of great importance has come up in Southbridge and all residents need to make their voice heard. A public hearing will be held on Monday, January 10th at 6:30pm at Town Hall. You need to be there to protect your rights!
A program is being considered to restrict the amount of trash that tax payers will be able to dispose of. At the present time the tax payers of Southbridge, who own their own landfill by the way, have unlimited trash pick up. You can put as much trash on the curb as you like but bulky items like washing machines and the like need special pick up. The proposed program will now limit the amount of trash to 40 gallons.
The trash collection program serves 6,200 homes of the 8,000 in Southbridge. Mine is not one of those as the Church has a dumpster so this will not affect me in anyway. I also serve on the Sub Committee that assists the Town Council in making this decision.
The Southbridge health department, who is pushing this program, claims that this is aimed at the abusers of the program. In an interview withe the Worcester Telegram he said this, “We’re just tyring to pick up on the abuses. If somebody is (putting out at the curb) double the state average, then they should find another way to do that.” The state average is 1 ton per year, but wait Southbridge owns the landfill and we have unlimited trash pick up. First the Town Council raised the residential tax rate and now the citizens will be getting less for that increase in the tax!
My other objection is the cost. The estimate is it will cost $240,000 for the carts, these are 40 gallon carts much like our recycling containers we have now. The Commonwealth has given Southbridge a grant of $60,000 (grants come from tax payers as well by the way) to hep kick start the program. There is approximately $72,000 of funds available in another failed program run by the health department that can be used as well. By my math that leave about $108,000 the town will have to come up with in a budget year when we will be getting less in state aid!
The Southbridge Town Council could vote on Monday night to authorize the Town Manager to borrow $180,000 to be used to purchase the SMART Carts. BORROW! That usually means interest so it will cost more in the long run. So the Council raised the tax rate, will borrow $108,000 so we can go after people who abuse the program of trash collection.
In the same article where Mr. Morin states this is a good thing to control abuse, it also mentions that Southbridge has an illegal dumping and anti-littering by law. The way to handle people who abuse the program is to fine them which is exactly what will happen if you dare to put more trash out then the 40 gallons they want you to put out. You will be fined. Make no mistake, in a town that has unlimited trash pick up, owns our own landfill that takes trash from all over the state, you will now be limited to the amount of trash you can put out, and get a fine if, as one Town Councilor put it at the sub committee meeting, the pigs in this town, if you put out more than will fit in the bin.
Mr. Morin also makes mention in the article that this has nothing to do with the current waste hauler. Well the SMART Cart program would be automated, only one guy rather then the present three will be needed to pick up the trash. It is no secret that Cassella Waste Management wants to bring MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) in from other communities. They are limited to the amount of MSW per year that can be put into the landfill. Out side trash is much more profitable then trash from Southbridge, are you starting to see the picture?
I am all for recycling and all of the program that can come from that, but this program is not good for Southbridge. This is all about profit for a private company that works for us. We bear the burden of the landfill we should reap some of the benefits.
New Congress
If you follow this blog you know I am what can be described as a political wonk. I like politics, I like the fight of it all and I like days like yesterday. Maybe it is the Liturgist in me but I like all of the ceremony of the swearing in of the new Congress. The peaceful transfer of government from one party to another that has been going on here in America for more than 200 years. The sad thing is not many people were watching. It is also the one day when everyone in Congress seems to like each other. We shall see how long that lasts.
Unlike some, I hope that the Congress is successful. I say this because if they are successful then we as a country will be successful. Do I agree with everything, no and I am sure most people would feel the same way. The bottom line is we have to get to work and roll up oursleves. We did not get here alone and we will not get out of this alone.
Just some observations from yesterday. I was flipping back and forth between CSpan 1 and CSpan 2 one carries the House and the other the Senate. There is a very big difference between the way the two houses conduct themselves. For example, the new members of the Senate are sworn in, in groups of four, at the rostrum by the President of the Senate, the Vice President. Their names are called in alphabetical order and they are escorted by another Senator, serving or not, to be sworn in. Some carried Bibles and others did not. I did make note that there are three books on the desk where the President of the Senate sits. I could not make out the titles of two of them but the top one was the Holy Bible. It was all quite orderly.
Then the House. Whilst all of the members were checking in the place was a mad house, but in a good way! Families of members and the members themselves roaming around chatting. One interesting thing that happens in the Senate as well is that former members have floor privileges for life. I would assume this to mean they are welcome on the floor of the House and the Senate, and several were there.
The election of the new Speaker takes place by putting the names in nomination then each name is called and they vote, this takes time so I started to do other things. The Speaker is elected and, in this case, he is escorted to the rostrum by a delegation including the outgoing speaker. I tweeted that the new Speaker had not even gotten to the rostrum yet and he was already crying… I poked fun at him on ones hand but on the other hand I was quite impressed by him. He is for all purposes, the second most powerful man in the country maybe even the world and he is not afraid to show his emotions, and it was emotional. I just hope this is not what will happen each time he takes the chair!
The gavel was passed and off they went very orderly and very liturgical. I also find it interesting that they send greeting to the Senate and the President to let them know they are ready to get to business and they also send delegations to them to bring the greetings. Very cool.
So we are off and running with the 112th Congress. I have much hope that things will get done. Will I agree with everything, nope, but I will say that regardless of party they are all patriots and all have the best interests of Americans at heart, I would hope they do anyway.
Theophany
Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of The Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The word Theophany comes from the Greek “theophania” meaning “appearance of God.” This is one of the great feasts of the Orthodox Church and through this feast the Most Holy Trinity is revealed to the world through the baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan River.
This feast commemorates the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John the Baptist and is the culmination of the Christmas Season. The feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ the Holy Trinity appeared clearly to mankind for the first time — the Father’s voice is heard from Heaven, the Son of God is incarnate and standing physically in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove.
On this date the Great Blessing of Water is performed by the priest and that water is used to bless the homes of the faithful in the parish. The faithful also take some of the water home to use during the year.
In the English speaking world this day is also known as Epiphany and commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.
In some places, mainly where the weather is not 17F large bodies of water , like lakes and ponds are blessed by the throwing out of a Cross. Then the faithful will jump in the water and retrieve the Holy Cross from the water. Locally we serve the Vesperal Divine Liturgy followed by the Great Blessing of Water. This begins the season of House Blessings, also known as Orthodox Spring Cleaning as the priest makes the rounds to the houses of the faithful to bless their homes and who wants the priest to see their messy house!
Troparion of Theophany (Tone 1)
When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest
For the voice of the Father bore witness to You
And called You His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself
And have enlightened the world, glory to You!
Republican House
So today at 12pm the new Congressional Session will begin and this time around the Republicans will be in control of the House. Good for them they did a good job getting their message of lowering taxes and cutting the deficit to the people. They also promised job creation.
The question I have is why is it that the first bill out of the shoot will be repeal of the Health Care Bill that went into effect on Saturday? They have to know that it will never pass the Senate and the President will never sign it, so this is only for show. The bill is 2 pages long, with another 2 page addendum.
One of the complaints on passage of the law was that there was not enough time to read the bill and debate it. Well reading should not be a problem with this bill but they are allowing no debate, they will just bring it to the floor for a vote, and that is it. Sounds just like what they were complaining about not that long ago.
But the larger question for the party that promised no increase in the deficit and that all bill would also include a way to pay for them is how do they plan to cover the 143 billion that will be added to the deficit by the repeal of this law? That’s right, 143 billion over ten years. That is the amount the Congressional Budget Office, a bi partisan office by the way, has estimated this bill will save our government over 10 years, so where will the cuts come from. They promised no bill would be passed unless there was a clear plan to pay for it, but there is no plan to pay for it or replace it. Makes one think, no.
I know this was a central piece of their election campaign and I am all about fulfilling promises, but I would think that one of the first bills out of the shoot would be to create jobs or something like that. That seems to be the most important issue at the present time.
We shall see. I am not impressed thus far with the Republican House, but only time will tell. I agree this bill is not perfect, so lets reform the reform. This is less about reform and all about showing they are now in power. The party of “No” continues.
Senate Rules Reform
On Wednesday the new Congress will be sworn in. Every two years the Senate has the opportunity to reform the way it does business. Some 54 senators, of both parties, have signed on the Senate Rules reform. It is my understanding that has to be done on the day that the Senate reorganizes, or at least the process needs to start. Here is what is being proposed.
1. Changing the rules on Cloture. This is the vote that is taken to end debate on an issue. At the present time 60 votes are needed to end cloture, more than a simple majority. The plan is to change this to 51 votes, a simple majority to move the business of the people along.
2. Reform of the filibuster. According the present Senate rules any senator can filibuster (Literally talking out a bill) any piece of legislation. Back in the days of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a Senator had to remain on the floor of the Senate and keep speaking as long as the filibuster would continue. If the Senator sat down or stopped talking, for a specified period of time, then the filibuster would end. At present these rules have been changed and one does not need to remain on the floor. A Senator can call a filibuster and without 60 votes the legislation will not advance. This is not what the framers had in mind. The rules reform would make this a speaking filibuster the way it should be. A Senator should have to take to the floor and explain to the American people why he or she is doing this. The most recent example of a true filibuster was the 8.5 hours that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont stayed on the floor of the Senate speaking about the tax bill that was before the Senate.
This change is called the Constitutional Option and again it has bi partisan support.
Remember these folks work for us and we need to tell them what we want done. If you agree with this change or if you disagree with this change, contact your Senators and let them know how you feel. It take less than 5 minutes to make your voice heard on this issue.