0905

September 5, 2022

 In bed by 11, up at 6, 2 or 3 pss, one large glass of vino.

D-Day.  Birds are arriving at the feeders for some mornng energy, chipmunks scavenging below, sun is rising as I type, temperature is 59.  Another partly cloudy day ahead with high temp expected of 69.  A reminder that with Jimmy here or gone, as with the rest of us, life goes on.  'Life is for the living' my Mother used to say.  "Life is for the living/death is for the dead/Let life be like music/amd death the note unsaid." Langston Hughes.  "Obadi, Oblada, life goes on, yah/Lala how the life goes on." The Beatles.

. . . . . .

E. J. Dionne in PewResearch "Obama's Favorite Theologian? A Short Course on Reinhold Niebuhr:  "[T]he very last words of (Reinhold Niebuhr's) The Irony of American History. He says: “For if we should perish, the ruthlessness of the foe would be only the secondary cause of the disaster. The primary cause would be that the strength of a giant nation was directed by eyes too blind to see all the hazards of the struggle; and the blindness would be induced not by some accident of nature or history but by hatred and vainglory.” and Niebuhr's quote "We must always seek the truth in our opponents' errors and the errors in our own truth."

and the main speaker, Wilfred McClay reflected on Niebuhr:

". . . men have little enough goodness in themselves and socialization makes them worse because the reason for being, for all social groups, is to pursue the shared self-interest of the members. So that self-interest is triumphant.

He dismissed as sentimentality the progressive hope that the wages of individual sin could be overcome by intelligent reform and that there we could transform into a loving fellowship of like-minded comrades holding hands beside the campfire. Instead, the pursuit of good ends in the arenas of national and international politics had to take full account of the un-loveliness of human nature, and the un-loveliness of power. The implications for Christians who wanted to do good in the world were fairly stark in his view. They had to be willing to get their hands dirty – very dirty, for existing social relations were held together by coercion and only counter-coercion could change them.

Social change was brought about not by persuasion, diplomacy, pedagogy, intelligence or sweetness, but by – to use a term that he uses repeatedly in the book – “emotionally potent oversimplifications.” Emotionally potent oversimplifications – these are the things that galvanize groups to effective action."

McClay compares Niebuhr to Thomas Hobbes and James Madison in their common bleak assessments of human nature.  Ditto H. L. Mencken and Mark Twain.

. . . . . .

Geri and Steve cooperate wonderfully in getting Jimmy packed up, taking care of his apartment, and of him himself.  No signs of anxiety in Jimmy, only a little regret.  He is comforted and supported by the presence and assistance of both Steve and Geri.  We told each other  -truthfully - that we would miss the other's company and friendship.  After lunch, we all half-watched Biden deliver his Labor Day Address at the Summerfest Grounds to a crowd of union supporters while we enjoyed a warm conversation.  As 1:30 arrived, Steve got up and asked his Dad whether he needed a bathroom stop before they headed out.  Jim asked if they were leaving and where they were going.  When told they were going to the airport, he said "Me?"  and was surprised to hear that they were leaving for Washington.  He had forgotten.  We  shared hugs, good luck wishes, and they were off, hoping not to be delayed by Biden's motorcade on the freeway.  I went outside to fill the bird feeders with Lilly following to take up her post at the northeast corner of the house where she can look down County Line Road to Geri's return.  I felt grateful and sad, an emptiness and fulness at the same time.

At 2:30 I received a call from Maggie saying Steve had left his phone in Geri's car.  I was unsuccessful contacting Geri.  Maggie made contact when Geri was almost home.  Geri returned to the airport, found Steve and Jimmy where she had dropped them off and returned the phone.  Phew!