More than Tolerance but Respect for Religious Differences

I was not alive when the modern state of Israel was established in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion and others. I arrived in this world some six years later. However, some of my remembrances relate to Israel and its relationship to its neighbors. In 1967, I was enamored with the game of golf. At our local, small town, public course kids were allowed to play starting at age ten. By 1967, my father had a family membership so I often would go to the course a mile or mile and half away in the morning when the course was not crowded. On June 5, 1967, I rode my bicycle to the course pulling my golf clubs and bag on their cart behind me. A few blocks away from the course, I fell off the bike. The apparent cause was that the bolt holding the golf cart handle in place had fallen out and the golf bag and clubs spilled on the sidewalk. Fortunately, it was outside of some sort of repair shop. The owner of the shop heard the racket from the clubs spilling and my falling. So, he came out to the sidewalk helped me up, skinned knees and all. He took me and my clubs back into his shop and came up with a repair to the pull golf cart somehow replacing the bolt that held its handle to the rest of the cart. As he was doing that, the radio in his shop was on. June 5, 1967 was the start of the Six Day War. He told me about that war started thst day inIsrael, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as the radio news was full of coverage of same. Not sure how well I played golf that day, but I clearly remember that instance of the falling golf cart and the news of the start of war in the Middle East. In the fall of 1973, I had transferred from Aquinas College to Grand Valley State. The tuition was much lower at the public university (and I blamed Richard Nixon for the reduction in federal grants which helped me at Aquinas. Whether that was true or not, hey I was 19 years old.) Two of my college apartment mates at Grand Valley were Mitch and Lucian. Both had just spent a semester abroad studying and living on the Kibbutz where David Ben-Gurion had retired. They had indeed met the man. In early October 1973, two friends of Mitch and Lucian came to visit and stay with us in our college apartment. The two young men lived on Ben-Gurion's kibbutz and had become friends with my apartment mates. October 6 was the start of what the Israelis label the Yom Kippur War. The two young men were in the Israeli national guard and were immediately called back to Israel to serve in the military. They hurriedly arranged flights back to Israel. My time at Grand Valley lasted only one semester. For financial reasons, I left school in December to move back to my home town. In February 1974, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy for four years of active duty as a U.S. Navy Journalist. Journalist was a popular position in the Navy, so I had to wait until August 1974 to enter active duty at Great Lakes Naval station and my boot camp. I had enlisted because I wanted to be the first in my family to obtain a college degree. I hoped to study English literature. The G.I. Bill would allow me to have financial support. And men were no longer being drafted to serve in Vietnam. I returned to Grand Valley in the fall of 1978 after my enlistment. One of my first apartment mates was Ali. Ali was a foreign student from Lebanon. During that first semester back in school, Ali made friends with several Saudi students also on campus. At times, they would visit our college apartment. I like to say that I heard the "other side" of the Aab-Israeli dispute that semester from Ali. Obviously, I never fully understood the bitter feelings. I wish I knew the answer to that ongoing bitterness. I don't. I was glad to read this morning Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed apologize for an inapprpriate comment he had made concerning the terror attack on a Michigan synagogue earlier this year as reported by a Lansing TV station: https://www.wlns.com/news/politics/el-sayed-apologizes-synagogue-attack/ In my estimation, both Israelis and Palestinians (and other neighbors) have a right to live peacefully side-by-side. We need leaders on all sides to encourage that.

Love, Reign o'er me

Waking up to the news today that protestors calling themselves "crusaders" protested outside, and then some inside,p a Dearborn city council meeting. Dearborn, a Detroit suburb and home of Henry Ford's motor company, is home to one of the largest population of people with Arabic heritage outside of the Middle East. (Henry Ford was a notorious anti-Semite. My father met my mother while working at a Ford plant building bombers in the early years of WWII.) Mind you the crusades took place 800-1,000 years ago. Makes your heart hurt, from the Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/picture-gallery/news/local/michigan/wayne/2026/08/18/dearborn-city-council-protest-jake-lang/91355944007/ I am sure my parents were concerned when they found out I was going to serve in the Navy in Japan. Dad was drafted in the Army and served under George Patton in France during the war. He was wounded and then evacuated from a small French town not far from the German border. Dad would have for some years used the derogatory terms "Krauts" and "Japs" to describe two peoples. I guess one must hate to be able to kill an enemy. On December 31, 1975, I travelled to Kamakura, home of the Daibutsu, the Great Buddha. New Years is the most sacred of Japanese holidays. Women dress in their finest kimonos. Families visit Buddhist or Shinto shrines. At the Daibutsu, there was a sea of women's colorful kimonos. It was stunningly beautiful as the Buddhist monks chanted prayers and burned incense. (I have no idea what they chanted. As a "gaijin" or foreigner I learned a little Japanese, but not enough to be fluent). Rani Sharma used to work for me at Lakeshore. Her husband Jia (Jim) owned a plumbing business in the area. They invited me to their son's wedding in Dearborn years ago. They are Hindu. In the Hindu tradition, or at least at this wedding, the bride entered the ceremony first under a canopy carried by bridesmaids. Being friends of the groom's parents, we started processing from the parking lot. The groom rode a white horse and was decked out in his best Indian outfit. They started dancing and singing as we proceeded the groom on his horse before entering the wedding facility. Not knowing what to do, we danced or at least attempted to, with them. I had no idea what the Hindu "minister" stated while he blessed the young couple. I don't know any Hindi. But the entire ceremony was pretty cool, a once in lifetime experience like Kamakura. At my public high school, once a week we were bussed in release time to attend Catholic religion classes at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The lay teacher once told us to never go into a protestant church because "nothing good" would come of it. My first visit to a protestant service was in Navy Bootcamp. On a Sunday there, we were told we could go to church or stay in the barracks and polish our shoes. I ain't stupid so my buddy from near Harlem and I went to church together. I guess the bad that day was that my shoes did not get shined. Karen Armstrong's biography entitled Muhammad is a thoughtful read. Armstrong is a former Catholic nun who studies a variety of religious practices. Shame on us for not tolerating and attempting to understand a multi-cultural world with a wide variety of religious traditions, practices, and beliefs. Whatever the religion, God apparently does Only love can make it rain the way the beach is kissed by the sea... - The Who https://youtu.be/PMxwPOoZm_c?is=uGiFfJTz1ZL12JwG

And When I Die

I'm not scared of dying And I don't really care If it's peace you find in dying Well, then let the time be near If it's peace you find in dying And if dying time is near Just bundle up my coffin cause It's cold way down there I hear that's it's cold way down there Yeah, crazy cold way down there And when I die and when I'm gone There'll be one child born In this world, to carry on, to carry on - Blood Sweat & Tears at Woodstock https://youtu.be/sO-kBw56qpI?is=DUDniZW0fU21zuFz

America - Paul Simon

Still can get wet eyes emotional with this song's reference to my home county: Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together I’ve got some real estate here in my bag” So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner’s pies And walked off to look for America “Kathy,” I said, as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh “Michigan seems like a dream to me now It took me four days to hitch-hike from Saginaw I’ve come to look for America” - Simon & Garfunkel https://youtu.be/q9NPAh7cBsw?is=nHqojfPSh5XGqBny

Domino

Don't wannna discuss it Think it's time for a change You may get disgusted Start thinkin' that I'm strange In that case I'll go underground Get some heavy rest Never have to worry About what is worst or what is best (Get it) Oh-oh Domino (all right) Roll me over, Romeo, there you go Lord, have mercy I said, "Oh-oh, Domino" - Van Morrison Don't think I ever understood his lyrics until now. https://youtu.be/DcYGaPiZ1c8?is=uVQTqk1ehet5oRIA

Moon River

Moon river wider than a mile I'm crossing you in style some day Oh, dream maker you heart breaker wherever you're going, I'm going your way - Audrey Hephurn, Breakfast at Tiffany's https://share.google/FihzIlIcUZ7PgaRzZ

Same Auld Lang Syne

Met my old lover in the grocery store The snow was falling Christmas Eve I stole behind her in the frozen foods And I touched her on the sleeve She didn't recognize the face at first But then her eyes flew open wide She went to hug me and she spilled her purse And we laughed until we cried - Fogelberg Read an article today that Fogelberg's song was based on an actual event when he met a former girlfriend in a store after not having seen her in years. Confirmed by Fogelberg and the lady. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmZ2VHSkVYY&list=RDkmZ2VHSkVYY&start_radio=1

Sally Henmings

"Few episodes in the life of Sally Hemmings reveal the complexities of slavery, power, and personal agency more vividly than her years in France and the decision that ultimately brought her back to Virginia... In 1787, fourteen-year-old Sally Hemmings accompanied (Thomas) Jefferson's youngest daughter, Maria Jefferson, across the Atlantic to France ... (Thomas) Jefferson was forty-four years old when Sally arrived in Paris. He was one of the most influential Americans of his era, a wealthy plantation owner, diplomat, and future president. Sally was an enslaved teenager under his authority. The imbalance between them was profound... An enslaved person could not freely reject the wishes of an owner without risking severe consequences." Sally Henmings had six children fathered by Jefferson. Her youngest son believed that she was pregnant while returning to Virginia with Jefferson. She was about sixteen at the time. - Shadows of Monticello, The Untold Story of Sally Henmings

Note to Vestry: Every Kinda People

Grateful to Les for letting me know about the potatoes that were available at the food pantry.  One of our sometime Latino family neighbors in Benton Harbor was not able to find transportation to Monday's food pantry.  I took to their house a couple bags of food yesterday for their family.  My reward was a fist bump with their youngest, a pre-schooler.

I should have a request for reimbursement for rent or utilities from immigration assistance funds at the upcoming Vestry meeting.

I first met J several years. His wife and kids were homeless doubling up in a sympathetic person's  basement.  Originally, immigrant funds helped them rent a motel, one you would not want to be in, in Benton Township.  They eventually found an upper rental in the country and the funds allowed them a first month's rent to move to more stable housing.

Unfortunately, the couple was in a serious auto accident.  J had a broken hand and his wife cracked ribs and other ailments.  She could no longer manage the steps to the upper rental.  Thus, they found another rental in mid-county.

This past year or so, many immigrant families here from what Trump called "shit hole" countries are struggling with fear of ICE and deportation.  I do not know why they felt the need to leave their Latin American home country.  Poverty, violence, fear of J being drafted into a corrupt military or something else.

J's family needed help with rent this month after I had not seen him in a while.  The good news is that his and his wife's casts from their accident have been removed and they appear to be in good physical health again.

On my way home from handing them a personal check for rent, I turned on my truck radio and heard one of my favorite songs:

Said the fight to make ends meet
Keeps a man upon his feet
Holding down his job
Trying to show he can't be bought

It takes every kinda people
To make what life's about, yeah
Every kinda people
To make the world go 'round

- Robert Palmer

https://youtu.be/XwCHFaarTjY?si=1RF4yT1OmaWkzz2u

Rob Burgess

P.S. Do you think our musicians could play those seemingly simple organ chords?  

Posted on a Volunteer Income Tax Blog

 

My first personal tax returns were completed by hand in the mid-1970s.

At the time, I was stationed overseas with the U.S. Navy.  They

were mailed to the IRS from an FPO in Japan. 

 

Yes, we were in the Pacific when the North and Vietcong overran Saigon in April 1975.

Our sister ship, the USS Worden and the carrier, USS Midway, among

other vessels of the U.S. 7th Fleet rescued the Vietnamese "boat people" and 

transported them to Guam.  I will never forget a young Vietnamese

woman on Guam holding up a picture of an American serviceman and

asking us if we knew him.  I assumed it was his and her child standing nearby

her.  To this day, I wonder what happened to that young woman.

 

Sorry.  I digress.  With the GI Bill I graduated from college and started

working for Touche Ross, then one of the so-called Big 8 CPA firms.

In the late 70s, tax returns even at that national firm in Michigan were

prepared on Wang word processors.  If one schedule needed to be changed,

for example, ACRS depreciation, several schedules and forms might need

also to be changed on the word processor.  The forms did not flow 

together so the several forms would just need to be re-typed.

 

Though I was an auditor, during tax season we were required to work

55 hours per week and help the tax staff complete 1040s, corporate 1120s, and 

partnership 1065s.

 

I first volunteered for VITA 20 years ago.  One of our volunteers a

few years back was a retired tax partner with a large national CPA firm.

She once told me that completing certain of our client's returns, 

especially those involving non-traditional families with dependents

and EITC were "more complicated than some of (her) corporate 

client returns."

 

I do not disagree.  In my tax classes in college, training at Touche Ross, 

and in the CPA exam, they did not (and maybe still do not) train us or ask

tax law questions about topics like SSI.  Heck, I did not even know what

that was when I first started volunteering.  

 

If you happen to run into a Vietnamese woman now in her 70s

who was in the refugee camps on Guam in late spring 1975, give

her a warm greeting from a former Navy petty officer.