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2010-12-01 15:07:00

The Anti-Spaggle Party

Answer: Although I am sure there are those of you would like to maim the guy that asked me this question several years ago that spawned this column.…it is one of the most favorite questions I am asked. This month I am going to write about a recent personal experience I had. Before I begin however, I have to say, I have had almost every type of “feedback comment” possible about my articles over the past several months. They range from, “You talk way too much about God,” and “You deceive your readers about the “Left,” to “God bless you for standing up for what you believe in,” and “You are so right on.” Isn’t America great! That’s what our country is about. The freedom to express opinions…both yours and mine. Let’s hope this never changes. Regarding my personal experience…you will know it is true once I tell you, otherwise…where in the world did the title of this article come from? And, just so you don’t think I’m the only one who has had or can have experiences like this, you may be mistaken. I believe the opportunity for them to happen occur every day, to everyone of us. I am not anyone special…but of course…you already knew that. It happened between 5 AM and 6 AM on October 28th, in the chapel at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Wichita, KS. I am a Catholic and very thankful and proud to be so. Most all Catholic parishes have what is called Perpetual Adoration. The Blessed Sacrament (the consecrated body of our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of a round, white host made of unleavened bread) is on display in a gold vessel called the Monstrance, in the chapel of the church, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more than 20 years, at least one parishioner from our parish has spent an hour in prayer, meditation and adoration, every hour of the day around the clock in Perpetual Adoration. The time I have committed to do so is on Thursdays, from 5 to 6 AM. It is a very special time of the week for me. You cannot imagine all of the things I talk to God about during this time. He talks back too. That really should not be a surprise. God talks to all of us many times…if we will just take the time to listen. I should also say, that while another lady is usually there during this hour, she wasn’t there on this particular morning because of an injury she had sustained. I was the only one there for the entire hour. I can pray and talk as loud as I want when I’m the only one there. I do it too. On this particular morning, after finishing my prayers, and before I did my spiritual reading, I began my one-on-one visit with God, like I always do. I talked about many things…from what’s going on in my family…my business…to the world. This morning, in advance of the mid-term elections, I began thinking about what a mess our country is in…how much hate and angst there is…the bribery, theft, breaches of public and fiduciary trust…the decay of morals…the things we do as humans that wouldn’t have been thought of doing by those who came before us…the disrespect and unkindness that is shown so often to so many. I thought to myself, “What kind of a society have we become?” As you know, if you’re a frequent reader of this column, my political persuasion is one of being on the “Right.” That doesn’t mean it’s right. It just means that is my persuasion. Yours may be the same or the opposite or something different. Just like opinions, they should all be respected. It’s an issue thing…not a personal thing. As I was pondering all of this…and thinking about what would be happening once these mid-term elections were over…I asked myself…for the first time ever that I can remember, “What makes me think my persuasion is right?” Wow! Now that was a real tough question. I paused for several minutes as I considered the answer. I then began to ask God, “What is right…the “Right” or the “Left?” Is capitalism right or socialism? Are Democrats right or are Republicans? Is it big government or small government that is right? Should it be…take care of business and it will take care of society; or should it be…take care of society first then a satisfied society will take care of business? I have never asked these questions of myself before. I doubt too many people have either. Most of us just take for granted what we think is the way it should be and anyone who disagrees with us is not as informed as we are, not as intelligent, has ulterior motives…or is the “enemy.” I was waiting on God to answer me. Once I stopped asking which of what was right or wrong, His answer came to me as loud as if it had been broadcast over a loud speaker. “None of the examples you gave are wrong. I gave everyone a free will to do as they wish. Most of the time I do not stop them. It is when men and women in their capacities, whether it be government, business or society, succumb to one or more of the seven deadly sins when their side and what they do is wrong. If they also mislead others when doing so, it is a much bigger wrong.” “The seven deadly sins…” I thought. I thought about each one, repeating them each a couple of times to myself. “This is so true,” I said. “Just about every wrong we are witnessing in the world today can be chased back to one of these.” I have to stop here for a moment and explain something. I have had a habit of making a sentence, phrase or acronym out of things that I want to remember…ever since I can remember. For instance, when I was 8 my Grandma Duckworth was trying to teach me to play the guitar. I quit shortly after she started because baseball seemed much the better way to spend my free time; but I remember her trying to teach me the strings…E A D G B E. They didn’t make sense to me, but she said I needed to remember them. So I did then and still do to this day. Was it because I remembered what she taught me? No. It was because I made a sentence out of the letters. It was, “Eat all day, get bear eaten” (I never said my sentences, phrases or acronyms made sense). If I am going to the grocery store and forgot the list, I try and remember what was on the list. As I remember the items, I think of a sentence or phrase that will include them all. If the list contained flour, sugar, bacon, lettuce, milk, bread and orange juice, my phrase might be, “Breakfast mainstays with baking and lettuce.” That would cause me to think about each area and remember the items I need to pick up. I doubt too many people can name the 7 deadly or capital sins. Years ago, neither could I. However, I thought that having the seven deadly sins on the tip of my tongue would be a big benefit to me and cause me to do less things wrong. I remember looking them up. I found them to be Pride, Greed, Envy, Anger, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth. You won’t find them in the Bible…well not the way they are listed here. The Book of Proverbs talks about the six things our Lord hates and the seventh He detests. (Proverbs 6:16-19) “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” Upon doing a little more research, I found that the 7 deadly sins were “defined” by St. John Cassian in the early 5th century and “refined” by Pope St. Gregory the Great about 200 years later. I needed to remember these. I wrote them down and then tried to arrange the first letters of each into a word. The best possible word I could come up with was “Spaggle,” Sloth, Pride, Anger, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Envy…Was “Spaggle” a word? I looked it up. The only thing I could find was that it had been used as a slang term for the caked-up fecal matter on the inside of the colon. This, it said, can cause all kinds of bad things to happen, like bloating, constipation, gas, foul smelling breath and stools, indigestion, large protruding belly, lack of sleep, irritation, restfulness, frequent tiredness, low energy, skin and hair problems…the list goes on of all kinds of things…all of which are not pleasant. I thought, “How appropriate…the seven deadly sins cause a lot of bad things…really bad things…to happen too. I’ll never forget this term, “Spaggle.” I thought of each of these as I continued listening to God talk to me. “From early man to present day, in every society there has ever been on earth, there has always been some form of government. Government can be good or bad. Government is good when the people involved, act with the free will I gave them, for the overall betterment of everyone. Government is bad when the people involved, act with the free will I gave them, for something that is self-serving. People…rich or poor...employed or not…educated or not…in government, business or society…who receive something that they know they should not be receiving, are using the free will I gave them to do wrong. People who are in government, who make the laws or interpret the laws for someone to receive something they should not be receiving are equally guilty of the wrong. Man’s law…if made without the influence of these seven deadly sins…is My law too. There have been those, good and bad, of all political persuasions and all forms of government throughout history. Just like any other person in business or society, if one succumbs to one of these sins…he or she has used the free will I gave them to do wrong.” That’s pretty heavy stuff early in the morning. I wondered why it came to me. I waited for more. I waited. I waited a little longer. That was it. I didn’t hear any more. Of course He was still there, but not like He was when He was talking to me. I thought about what I had heard. I thought to myself. “You know what? He was right on.” “Of course He was right on,” I replied back. “He is God.” “But I mean, He was really right on. Think about all that we see in business, everyday life and government. Every infraction against the way it should be can be traced back instantly and directly to one of these deadly sins.” “What are they again?” I asked. “They’re ‘Spaggle,’” I replied. Then I started getting this thought. “There have been dozens of political parties in Federal elections throughout the history of the United States. I still remember some of them from my American History classes under Dr. John Born at WSU more than 40 years ago. Not only the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, but I also remember the Whig Party, the Liberty Party, the Federalist Party, the Toleration Party, the Vegetarian Party (really), and then parties like the Anti-Federalist Party, the Anti-Nebraska Party (really again), the Anti-Monopoly Party and the Anti Masonic Party. Now there is the Tea Party, although it is not an official party that has a candidate, they are an advocate group. They stand for less government, cutting spending, reducing the deficit and a strong defense. Some think they’re an extremist group. But you know what? I doubt they’re really much different than any other political party. If their candidate or the candidate they support is elected, they could easily use their free will to do self-serving things too, under the cover of the things they stand for.” I thought to myself, “What we need is a party that no one can argue with its platform. I mean, one can always say he or she is for or against a broad political term like less government or cutting spending or reducing the deficit or maintaining a strong defense, but how could anyone say they are a proponent for the commission of one or more of the 7 deadly sins? They couldn’t. What we need is the Anti-Spaggle Party. The Anti-Spaggle Party…the Anti-Spaggle Party…the Anti-Spaggle Party,” I repeated it over and over to myself. Being in marketing and understanding a little about branding, I know that while you are seldom presented with the opportunity, you can never do better than use a name that is self-descriptive of what the product, service or concept does. The Anti-Spaggle Party immediately implies a party that is against something. All that would have to be done is to explain what that something, “Spaggle”… is. I think this is doable. “That’s the party that needs to be formed,” I said to myself. “It would have a platform that would be immediately recognizable by all and one that ‘shouts’ when someone representing it is out of bounds. It would never have to update its platform. It would be valid from now on.” Now, this last part may not be a real “biggie” to you, and you may not believe it, but it was to me and it is true. I’ve always thought that ideas are one thing, but ideas that are accompanied with a “sign” of some sort, are another. After all of these thoughts about this new political party, I went onto my spiritual reading. For the same I use a publication called The Magnificat. This is a monthly publication that features daily devotions to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the lives of the Saints that are celebrated during the month, along with adorations to God, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. My sister Kathy has given me and my other siblings a subscription to it as a gift for several years. It was about 5:55 AM, towards the end of my hour of adoration. I was on page 380 of the October 2010, Vol. 12, No. 8 edition, at the very end of the prayers, readings and devotions for that Thursday, October 28th. Of all the Scriptures that could have been used to close out that day was Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” Like I say, this may not have been much of a “bell ringer” to you, but I was pretty well blown away. “Why do you suppose that very passage was there…at that very time?” Lots of things began circling in my mind. You don’t suppose this was a “sign” do you? Or, was this a calling? Or, was it just a coincidence? Surely God knows that I can’t start the Anti-Spaggle Party, with all of the skeletons I have in my closet. The party would be ridiculed out of business before it got started. Maybe I was just supposed to plant the thought and one of you take it and run with it.