Dear America,

Happy Tuesday.

So a preacher, a rabbi, and an imam are in a boat...

ah, who's kidding who, that's not where I'm going with this, this is no time for jokes; let me begin again.

So this preacher from Florida is getting the word from the general to stop, don't go there, on behalf of our troops and the mission at stake happening right now in the mountains and deserts and valleys of Afghanistan; while here at home, the mission from a so-called loving God is set to burn the Quran on the church lawn come the anniversary of 9/11.

This preacher, this Dove evangelical, world outreach "New Testament" Church, has about fifty members, according to an article plastered across the what's happening page of yahoo! -- that's a big five, O.  IF that is the true number, as I have every hope and desperate belief that it is, we must safely assume that the actions of this so called preacher do not speak well, or for that matter, completely, for the rest of us; his church is under the law of extremism deism --look it up, if you must.

And yet, he has the attention of millions, and in particular, one very important general this fine Tuesday morning.

As I am merrily returning from dropping my girl off at school, the morning radio show is filling the airwaves over this preacher -- adding to the melodrama by making blanketed statements of the narrow-mindedness of all Americans over the injustice of misrepresentation of all Muslims, and the travesty of human error rushing to judge an entire group of people -- and not in a good way.

Dare I add a daggar to the breast, but it is this blanketed mass suicide of consciousness that is gonna kill us; it is this blind leading of the blind, following a wayward belief system -- likened to the Jim Jones of this world -- that we have every reason to shudder into submission and ask God for guidance -- to bring pause -- before any one of us, or many of us, open our mouths up again.

It is not all Muslims we take issue with -- it is the actions of the Islamic extremists who in the name of Allah, pull a jihad on people, in nearly every part of this beautiful world, through martyrs and terrorist armies, against anyone and everyone who do not believe like them.  This preacher, from Dove -- someone not even worthy of saying his name out loud -- is in the same boat as the rest of these yahoo's!.  And it is a crying shame.

This preacher is not helping the cause or the convictions of most Americans, and that especially goes for our troops in harms way.

But here's the thing, I just have a real problem being depicted as anyone remotely associated with Christian derelicts, like this. This is not who I am, nor ever wish to be.

While I believe, as we all live according to our beliefs, this is not what God would want of His word, and His world respectively.

For what it's worth, let's get personal right now; as my latest gig with God these days lends itself to the conversation -- what does God want (for all people) and how do we get there, and more importantly, stay there?  The only way we truly know this is by spending time reflecting on God, and listening to what God wants -- and not like a freaky follower, who believes in one reality over another, but like a child of God, alone, say like out in the woods or maybe a desert, without anyone else getting in the way -- by way, I mean, like preacher posers found only in dove canyons and the gangs of New York, especially.

So my gig is this:

I close my eyes and stop the world and say a couple of words,

"knock knock"

and then I do my darnedest to not say another word for as long as I can. 
Oh, and you thought it was the beginnings of another joke...oh, ye of little faith.

Suffice it to say, there is no need for explanation at this juncture -- or for that matter, is this time to negotiate, manipulate or conjugate with God on any level other than in Spirit -- and to come as you are and take It all in; knock, knock.

All begging, interruptions, rationalizations, and any idea that appears to sound like little g's top ten things for this happy Tuesday, are not needed or acceptable; all I need to do is stop the world, and say knock, knock.

With any luck at all, I can maintain from veering off into the tangents and alley ways of wayward thought; while if perhaps that pesky habit of trying to control everything rears it's ugly head --  if my own humanity is preaching louder than the Spirit of God -- I simply pull over again, and stop.  KNOCK KNOCK.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm here God; talk to me.

I have a hard time understanding how a loving God would think that burning the Quran on the church lawn would be a good idea; if this preacher prayed about it, I would have to believe that God told this preacher to stop, wait, think about this for just one moment my child... how is this act you are about to perform something that the world could embrace?  How could this act, which clearly kicks up dust and perhaps paves the way to further divisiveness and destruction, be a good thing?  Like the mosque at Ground Zero, this act is antagonistic and perverse.  Stop. Listen. You know not what you do...hello? are you there my child? knock knock, anyone home?

Do we affirm life and love?

Do we reflect joy and thanksgiving?

Do we live in grace and peace that passes all understanding -- even when faced with that which we may not fully agree? 

Do we come from the place of listening first, taking action second?

To me, and especially with the times right now, Knock Knock is like screaming a loud and deafening, "I GIVE!" out to the Universe, to God; it's like crying "Uncle" out unto the world to that which has a bit more seniority...make it stop, make it stop, I give...as we are brought to our knees laughing so hard it hurts, as we have tears streaming down our cheeks to prove it.

everything we do -- or what somebody else does -- begins with a thought, think about that.

This preacher thinks lighting the Quran on fire is the right thing to do; I think not.  This imam in New York City thinks building a mosque a stone's throw from Ground Zero is erecting and capitalizing on right thought; I think not.  But worse, thinking all Muslims are the same, thinking all Christians think alike, is mindless, thoughtless, consciousness in action, and hardly worth perpetuating in blanketed generalizations and forlorn rhetoric -- and yet, this culture of followers of men and what men think over and above a loving God is what lives and reigns, worshiped and glorified, by today's standards.  Unbelievably, this is the door we choose to knock more often than not, time and time again...following Imams and preachers going rogue and astray.

Believe it or not, take it or leave it, the truth is this AMERICA was not built under the rule of man; for thank God reformation and our founders recognized the recklessness of such mindless following of king and kingdom and subsequently, a belief system based solely upon the absolutes according to such king and his every whim and fancy -- and rest assured, stopped everything before doing anything.

Knock knock.

Pretend for a moment that everything you think about comes right back to you like little sir echo, traveling the great divide and bouncing off the purple mountains majesty...Joel Osteen, on Sunday's evangelical television message used this visual to demonstrate how this works, begging the question, what are you preaching, to the world and to yourself, according to your own word, beginning with your own thought? 

In his story, a boy out hiking with his father, turns to him and asks, there is somebody that keeps saying you're a loser at me, keeps telling me you are no good...listen...as he screams across the canyon echoing his sentiment and having it come right back.  His father turns to him and lovingly, without saying anwering him, beckoning a heartfelt and raucous "you're a winner" "you are worthy" "you are the greatest son a father could ever hope for" from the gallows of his soul...now richocheting off every home and mountain top from as far as the eye could see...falling right back into his son's ear.

Just what did our founders shout out, pray tell?

We are UNITED;

we are ONE;

we are all about all men being equal under the rule of law, not man -- no special favors, no entitlement to anything more than the duty to yourself, your family, and this country -- beholdened to the beatitudes to be of good cheer, to be of firm work ethic, to be of kindliness and godliness, to love to thy neighbor as yourself, to be and live with integrity and honor, to be in peace and teach communal grace and good tidings, to be still -- and keep steady with our thoughts and prayers so that all generations to come can live in the glory and experience the bounty of that which comes freely, nondiscriminating; each and every one of us, individual, indivisable, and absolute, is standing on the Spring, as one child of God to another, ready to burst forth.

But sad to say, today, this happy Tuesday, our very nature, what America is about to become, is showing; it is speaking loud and clear, and is bearing false witness to who we really are.  With our goodness, our charity, our faith and our hope at stake, it is being drowned out by those who wish us harm or by those who know no better; the thing is -- uncharacteristically -- we seem to be allowing for the wretched and unworthy to have the floor, remaining in our seats conjoined with the negative chatter, destructive self talk and innuendos, without aligning our self to the right thought, first and foremost. We are not listening to the Most High.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Oh pardon me.

Oh pardon me, who?

Oh pardon me, this is not Divine Providence in thought, word and deed; this is not my beautiful house.

Make it a Good Day, G