For Quality Relationships--Practice The 4:1 Rule

Alma Jean and I at our 50th anniversary, now over ten
years ago. 

A text  I used for my parenting classes some years ago recommended a simple rule of thumb: For every negative interaction or statement with a child we should make sure we are offering four positive ones.

Too often we parents, mostly by habit, are guilty of creating the opposite ratio, with a majority of words like, "Stop that!" "No!" "You know better than that!" "You should be ashamed!" or with put down questions the child knows there are no acceptable answers to, like "Why do you always have to...?" or "Why can't you ever...?"

Since children are pretty much like the rest of us, only shorter and less experienced, I see the 4:1 rule being equally important in all of our relationships.

Positive expressions and actions have the effect of adding valued deposits to our relationship savings accounts, whereas negative ones are like withdrawals. With a disproportionate number of the latter our relationships accounts become overdrawn and we begin operating in the red. 

Examples of positive expressions are anything informative, interesting, fun, gratifying, praiseworthy, encouraging and/or affirming.

Some acceptable negative ones are expressing our honest feelings about our pain, discouragement, stress, worry or otherwise undesirable experiences.

Unacceptable negative expressions include blaming, shaming, attacking, judging, berating or accusing.

Some negative expressions are necessary and OK if offered in the form of information rather than accusation, and always in the interest of making things better, and never for the sake of causing hurt or harm.

The 4:1 rule, like the Golden Rule, means making sure the majority of our relationship interactions are as we would like them, in some really positive territory.

Daily News-Record "Justice Matters" Column

By KEVIN DREXEL Jun 28, 2025  

'Keep fees' from inmates shift costs to impoverished communities

One practice in Virginia jails that perpetuates the cycle of incarceration is the practice of “Keep Fees” or charging inmates daily rent.

We are led to believe that public funds cover all the costs of incarceration and the operation of our jails. However, jails shift many of these costs onto inmates and their families through excessive fees charged to inmates and through inflated private contracts with private vendors. Vendors commonly offer kickbacks (“bribery”) for signing them up.

A significant percentage of costs for rent, food, communications, hygiene products, and clothing are ultimately passed on to families trying to assist loved ones with basic material and other needs while incarcerated.

Hadar Aviram, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, comments, “Public prisons are public only by name. These days, you pay for everything in prison.”

According to the Brennan Center, the result is “an estimated 10 million people who owe more than $50 billion resulting from their involvement in the criminal justice system.”

As a 2021 Vera Institute report clarifies, “Fees are not the same as fines. Fines are intended to serve as punishment, whereas fees and surcharges are explicitly designed to raise revenue for the government.

But both fines and fees bring governments revenue as if they were taxes, and this method of funding government inflicts considerable harm on already impoverished communities.”

Examples of proliferating fees, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, are “charges for police transport, case filing, felony surcharges, electronic monitoring, drug testing, and sex offender registration.”

Among the more egregious of these are keep fees, the daily rent jails across the country charge inmates while incarcerated. In Virginia, these run from $1 per day at our local jail to $3 at Middle River Regional Jail, the maximum allowed in the Commonwealth. Such fees disproportionately harm low-income families as the median annual income of a person incarcerated hovers around $19,000. Thus, the multiple jail fees charged could be seen as a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s constitutional protection against excessive fines.

In a 9-0 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Justice Clarence Thomas noted that excessive fines were used after the Civil War to re-enslave freed men. In 2019, the New York Times published an article titled “Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment- Both still define our criminal-justice system,” in which the author notes that we cannot understand the excessive punishment that permeates the U.S. mass incarceration system without understanding its roots in the legacy of slavery. The article further states, “Laws governing slavery were replaced with Black Codes governing free black people, making the criminal-justice system central to new strategies of racial control.”

It was in the early 1990s that a Chicago law clerk wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune suggesting that inmates with financial assets should earn their room and board through prison labor and pay rent to cover the increased costs of operating jail and prison facilities due to overcrowding.

One of the results of this fee system is that when someone is released from jail or prison, they are often deeply in debt and have very few financial resources. This only perpetuates the cycle of incarceration by burdening former inmates and their families and by creating hurdles that prevent them from successfully reintegrating into society.

Brittany Friedman, a sociologist at the University of Southern California, has done extensive research that shows that jail debt increases the cost of incarceration and that the devastating effects of jail debt can be far-reaching. Dr. Friedman states, “If pay-to-stay is really meant to offset the costs of incarcerating people, then why are we sticking them with a bill that then further tethers them to the system?”

Keep fees may also contribute to inmates on meager jail fares going hungry while incarcerated since any attempt by friends or family to add money to their commissary account to supplement their diet is partially seized by the jail to offset the keep fee debt. This exacerbates hunger and mental distress and is clearly wrong.

Fortunately, some state and national groups are working to address some of the injustices of excessive fees in jails and prisons, but regrettably, this has not been true of jails in the Valley.

Kevin Drexel is the founder of Stand 4 Count, working to support the needs of individuals, families, and marginalized groups impacted by incarceration, and is a part of the local Valley Justice Coalition, a local citizen voice for criminal justice reform in our community and in the Commonwealth since 2014.

Kevin Drexel is the founder of Stand 4 Count, working to support the needs of individuals, families, and marginalized groups impacted by incarceration, and is a part of the local Valley Justice Coalition, a local citizen voice for criminal justice reform in our community and in the Commonwealth 

Some Amendments To The Ten Commandments

I keep hearing politicians promoting having the Ten Commandments posted in public buildings and in school classrooms. But in the interest of having these Ten Words align with the values of most politicians promoting them, the following amendments may be necessary:

I. Exceptions to this first rule are such gods as Mars, Mammon, and MAGA America.

II. Images and statues glorifying war and warriors are always permissible.

III. God may be named and the Bible used to advance a political agenda.

IV. A weekly Sabbath for religious observances is a good thing if it doesn't interfere with profit-taking  or war making.

V. Government programs may provide some aid to our aging and ill parents and others if they really need it, but on the other hand, such programs may need to be the first to cut in favor of other budget priorities.

VI. Killing people and destroying things can be laudable if done systematically, on a mass scale and by government order.

VII. Adultery, sexual harassment and multiple divorces are generally a bad thing, but can be overlooked if they are a part of our favorite politicians' life stories.

VIII. Forcibly stealing land and livelihoods from native Americans or others for the sake of US expansion has proven legitimate and necessary.

IX. Bearing false witness, denying facts or telling outright lies are all OK if done to advance a political cause or candidate.

X. Thou shalt not covet doesn't apply to wanting to annex whole countries like Canada or Greenland.

Local Citizens Gather To Prevent Food Waste

Multiple grocery cart loads of frozen foods behind the Harmony Square Food Lion drew dozens of people stopping by to help themselves yesterday. 

Turns out one of their main freezers malfunctioned overnight and the management had no choice but to discard thousands of dollars worth of items which were at various stages of thawing, but were still cold and partially frozen. Somehow the word got around in the community and people descended in droves to salvage what they could and get it into their own freezers and refrigerators. 

All of which brings up the question of what could be done to avoid having all of this go into the landfill, and in ways that would be both safe and a blessing to people in need--and to the environment.

As it is, the management of supermarkets like Food Lion feel prevented from offering food like this at a reduced price or even free to worthy recipients. I spoke with one of their managers yesterday about whether a non-profit facility like Gemeinschaft Home could be given opportunity to receive some of this windfall, and the only answer she could give, quite understandably, was that they could not risk any liability should their food cause an illness.

Question: Shouldn't there be some organization that could inspect food of this kind and be a channel through which it could be safely shared?

What do you think?

Will Another Stone Age Follow The Age Of AI?

“After WWIII, the next war will be fought with sticks and
stones.”    - Albert Einstein

It's hard to imagine how we would survive if our current economic system were to collapse. A World War III or a successful cyber attack on our transportation, energy and other technological-dependent infrastructure, would render most of us helpless. 

In 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression, around 25% of the population of the US were farmers, and the percentage of people with substantial gardens was significantly higher. Many children grew up learning how to grow, harvest and preserve food, sew clothing and provide for other needs.

So should we be raising concerns about our loss of basic survival skills as we become an ever more modernized, industrialized and urbanized society?  

Less that 2% of our population earn their living on farms and ranches today, and many of these are "factory farms" rather than family farms that produce not only commodities for world markets but much of what the family needs for their own food and other needs.  While 43% of the population today still grow some of their own vegetables, the average garden size is about 600 square feet, according to one source, and provides only a fraction of what is needed to feed a household.

We need more conversations about how we and our children and grandchildren can learn basic survivor skills.

And maybe spend some time learning from our Amish and Old Order Mennonite neighbors.

A Parade Of Death Along Constitution Avenue

Two of the sixty-ton M1 Abrams tanks and one of the M109A7 Paladin Self-propelled howitzers that were among the hundreds of killing machines displayed in the June 14 parade.

I found it heartening that on the day of the nation's $45 million military parade in D.C. that some 30,000 attended a ceremony in Chicago's White Sox stadium Friday to hear Pope Leo XIV speak via video. According to the Catholic Diocese of Chicago, the first 10,000 tickets for that event, at $5 each, were sold in the first 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, the highly publicized event celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary drew a crowd of an estimated 20,000, and the No Kings Day gatherings across the nation Saturday attracted some 5 million participants in over 2000 cities.

I don't want to read too much into those numbers, and I intend no disrespect for the well over a million men and women who are a part of the Army's active duty and reserve forces  They, along with members of the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Coast Guard and other military units, are all fellow citizens I respect and love, but are under the command of a gigantic Defense Department with a budget equal to that of the combined spending of the next nine most heavily armed nations in the world, including Russia and China.

What saddened me Saturday was the realization that our massive Department of Defense is intended to protect us by threatening the use of every means possible to destroy as many of our enemies' lives and means of livelihood as efficiently as possible. Not one of the multimillion dollar death dealing machines in Saturday's parade was designed to feed the world's hungry, heal its sick, house its homeless, preserve its environment, or educate its young. 

Yet some will say that kind of investment is necessary to protect us and to make the world a more peaceful and habitable place. But how has the world benefited from our prolonged wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, to cite some recent examples of how the world's greatest military might has been incapable of bringing peace and human wellbeing through military means.

As Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan noted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, "To go marching down Constitution Avenue looks like you've won something, Unfortunately, the way things have been going, it's been pretty tough for our military to achieve its objectives lately." 

But what about World War II, you ask, which resulted in the loss of some 50 million lives and at a cost of trillions of dollars worth of destruction?

A far better way to have prevented that holocaust would have been having the citizens of pre-war Germany, then one of the most Christianized countries in the world, simply refuse to support the rise of an authoritarian and hyper-nationalistic regime bent on promoting "Deutschland Uber Alles." And a far better way to defend against enemies is to win their friendship through cooperative efforts at improving the lives and fortunes of our neighboring nations around the world.

The direction we are going now, a hundred years later, will almost inevitably lead us to World War III, the effects of which could destroy us all.

Pentecost And The Rocktown High School Graduating Class Of 2025

Our grandson Ian was an honored part of Harrisonburg's
Rocktown High School's first graduating class.

Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs.

Acts 2:9-11 (NLT)

I was impressed by how many nationalities were represented in the Rocktown High School class of 2025 Saturday night. As graduates' names were called out for each receiving their diploma, I couldn't help but note that the event was on the eve of the Christian celebration of Pentecost.  

The Hebrew word for Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, is Shavuot, celebrated 50 days after Passover, a commemoration of God's gift of the Torah at Mount Sinai. And in the Genesis portion of Torah, we are told God's blessings are to extend to all the nations of the earth through a great multitude of descendants of Abraham and Sarah.

Here in our community people from multiple nations have become an integral part of our community, one that waa designated as a Welcoming City by the Harrisonburg City Council in 2016. Due to the availability of work in the poultry, agricultural and construction industries in the area, the proportion of foreign born persons in our area, according to one source, has grown to 16.7 percent of our population. This compares to 10 percent in the state of Virginia, and 13.7 percent nationwide. 

So there are now more than 50 languages spoken by students in the Harrisonburg City school system, which serves a total of over 6,400 students. Judging by the names of the 233 in the Rocktown senior class roster, well over half of the members of our grandson's class may be members of families with deep roots in, and strong ties to, other nations and cultures around the world. 

While followers of Jesus are called to "go into all the world," the world has literally come to us, and in impressive numbers. For all the challenges this can create, I see this representing a diversity that can truly bless us as we work, learn and grow together. What better way to become acquainted with other languages and cultures than to develop friendships with our neighbors from around the globe? 

I see the gift of tongues in the Acts account as not simply being a miraculous sign of the Spirit's presence, but a means by which people are able to communicate good news and a deep sense of shalom with God and each other. In the end, the Bible envisions a future in which Spirit-empowered communities everywhere faithfully live out God's will on earth as in heaven.

For these and other reasons we should resist by whatever means possible the current wholesale detention and deportation of our immigrant neighbors without due process. We need to remember we are all either native Americans, children of imported slaves or the sons and daughters of immigrants. And that as God's children we all made of one blood, breathe the same air, and are dependent on the same life giving soil and water for our survival.

In the forever future we are all to become one.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 (NRSV)

Note: I recently posted the following by a local immigrant: https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2025/05/guest-post-ices-impact-on-local.html

Top Reasons The Parole Board Cites For Denials

The real reasons behind the Virginia Parole Board's repeated denials may include resistance from victims and their families or from local jurisdictions unwilling to have an offender return to their community, though such reasons are never stated. And it may be that wardens welcome having mature older role models remain in the population as a positive influence for younger and/or more incorrigible ones, but that is mere speculation.

Whatever the case, most of the reasons cited for not granting release to deserving individuals have nothing to do with the degree of rehabilitation they have demonstrated during their incarceration.

Margaret Breslau, co-founder and chair of the Blacksburg-based Coalition for Justice, published the following in her June 2025 issue of the Virginia Prison Justice Network newsletter:

In 2024, the total number of incarcerated people eligible for parole was 2,663. Only 19 were granted.

The top non-grant reasons cited were:

1. Release at this time would diminish seriousness of crime. The Board concludes that you should serve more of your sentence prior to release on parole.
2. Serious nature and circumstances of your offense(s).
3. Extensive criminal record.
4. Your prior failure(s) and/or convictions while under community supervision indicate that you are unlikely to comply with conditions of release.

5. History of substance abuse.
6. Considering your offense and your institutional records, the Board concludes that you should serve more of your sentence before being paroled.
7. You need further participation in institutional work and/or educational programs to indicate your positive progression towards re-entry into society.
8. History of violence.
9. No Interest in Parole

Note: Here's a link to a post about legislation that would bring about needed changes in how parole decisions are made: https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-virginia-parole-board-modest.html

Guest Post: ICE's Impact On Local Immigrants

Crimson Solano is the Executive Director of the
Harrisonburg based Coalicion Solidaria
Pro-Inmigrantes Unidos (COSPU)

Mr. Solano, who came to this country from Honduras in 1998, is here under a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) provision.  After meeting with our Valley Justice Coalition group Monday he  provided the following summary of his presentation, which I post with his permission:

I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak on an issue that is growing ever more urgent in our community—the current immigration climate and the weaponization of the judicial system that has placed immigrant families in constant fear.

In Harrisonburg and similar communities, we’ve seen an alarming trend: immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are afraid to attend their own court hearings. This includes criminal, traffic, family, and immigration court proceedings. The fear is not irrational—it’s based on real events and growing uncertainty. ICE enforcement in other jurisdictions, including courthouse arrests, has sent shockwaves that extend far beyond the cities where they occur.

What does this translate to? A saturation of “failures to appear,” contempt of court charges, and unnecessary escalation of minor offenses—particularly traffic violations—into broader legal troubles. This is not just about technical non-compliance; it’s a system-wide breakdown in access to justice, especially for those who need it most.

In immigration court, the fear is even greater. Many individuals facing removal proceedings abandon their cases altogether. That abandonment comes at a steep cost. When people stop showing up, they lose the opportunity for relief—sometimes permanent relief—such as asylum, cancellation of removal, or adjustment of status. They’re not opting out because they’re guilty or unqualified—they’re opting out because they’re terrified. They’ve seen that even U.S. citizens and long-time permanent residents have been mistakenly detained and placed into deportation proceedings.

Can I assure anyone that attending court or a routine ICE check-in won’t lead to detention and deportation? I cannot. And that’s a terrible reality for anyone who believes in the rule of law.

But we’re not powerless. There are practical steps we must take:

Education is the first line of defense. We must inform the community of their rights and legal options, and actively connect them to qualified immigration attorneys—not just when they’re detained, but proactively. Prevention is protection.

Emergency family preparedness plans. Every immigrant household should have a family emergency plan in place, including authorization for child guardianship, access to bank accounts, and legal contacts in case of detention.

Judicial and prosecutorial accountability.  Judges must ensure that defendants—especially those without legal representation—understand that even minor convictions can result in deportation. Prosecutors must be reminded of their ethical obligations under Legal Ethics Opinion 1876.

Let me expand on that.

In Virginia, not all district courts conduct colloquies—those vital explanations a judge gives to ensure a plea is entered knowingly and voluntarily. In many cases, when the Commonwealth agrees to “no jail time,” the court is not required to appoint a public defender. That means a noncitizen defendant could plead guilty, unrepresented, and without any understanding that this conviction will result in their removal from the country.

Legal Ethics Opinion 1876 makes clear that it is unethical for a prosecutor to knowingly take advantage of such a defendant. If a prosecutor knows the person is a noncitizen, knows the conviction is deportable, and knows the judge won’t advise the defendant, they must not quietly proceed with a plea deal that omits immigration consequences.

Similarly, the Supreme Court in Padilla v. Kentucky ruled that failing to inform a client of the risk of deportation constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court recognized that deportation is not a “collateral consequence”—it’s a life-altering event, often more severe than the criminal penalty itself.

Unfortunately, current court procedures and ethical rules still allow too much discretion. Some judges conduct formal plea inquiries; others do not. Some prosecutors seek to avoid injustice; others see an opportunity to gain a conviction without pushback. And worst of all, the system doesn’t reliably distinguish between noncitizens and citizens until it’s too late. Once in ICE custody, the burden to prove lawful presence lies with the person detained—not with the agency that picked them up.

We have (unofficial) reports that 42 (now 44) residents of Harrisonburg and the valley have been detained, taken into custody, and, in some cases, deported to their home countries. Across social media, people are witnessing undercover agents attending court hearings and making arrests outside the courthouse. This makes people fear going to courts in other places, including Charlottesville; people are afraid to attend court hearings and do not want to testify in court, fearing it will increase their chances of being taken into ICE custody or even deported. 

One example is a man from Venezuela who wanted to self-deport (as instructed) and to return to his home country. But in the process (through no fault of his own), he did not get the appropriate travel documents as a consequence of the lack of consular relations between the US and Venezuela when he voluntarily presented himself to ICE and requested to be sent back to his home country. He was taken into custody, charged with being a gang member.

What was the US government's proof that he was a gang member? Tattoos on his arm, his two sons' date of birth, a lion head, and a clock that shows the time of one of his kids' births; he is now in prison in El Salvador. We fear that he will never get his freedom back; the family doesn't even know if he is alive.

Another local example is a person getting a Driver's Privilege Card (similar to a driver's license) who had a previous deportation. In the process of being apprehended, five family members were also arrested! 

Another example is that of a Guatemalan mother who was arrested, leaving her two daughters (aged 14 and 2 ½ years) at home alone. Neighbors and other family members wanted to help, but they were also afraid of arrest. COSPU eventually came to the aid of the children and worked with the family to secure a Power of Attorney granting temporary custody to a family friend.

There was another case of two brothers being arrested on a road near Grottoes. They did not have legal status, but ICE is even arresting people who have documentation.

Does ICE perform these arrests in order to meet quota requirements? Yes.  And this administration is not only going after criminals or undocumented immigrants. During Trump's first term, he tried to terminate TPS for 465,000 immigrants living in this country legally, and they also appear to be in danger. The administration has revoked the legal status of individuals from three countries (with more to follow in the next 12 months) without adhering to the standard guidelines established by previous administrations since the program was created by Congress. Currently, there are approximately 2,500 TPS holders in the Valley; terminating their legal status to work could have a significant impact on our economy. Poultry plants and other businesses are already needing more workers. Some people have been working here for 10-20 years, including those in management positions, such as supervisors, leads, and business owners.

So what can we as advocates and community members do?

• Demand that local courts adopt Padilla advisements as standard practice in all plea deals, whether or not counsel is present.

• Push for public defenders to receive training on immigration consequences and support the creation of legal defense funds where needed.

• Urge prosecutors to reject the unethical practice of “undercharging” to deny immigrants the right to appointed counsel.

• Help immigrant communities prepare—legally, emotionally, and practically—for what to expect if detained.

• Finally, we must challenge the broader narrative that equates the judicial process with punishment. The rule of law must protect the rights of everyone under its jurisdiction, not just those with papers. Otherwise, it becomes not a shield, but a weapon.

At COSPU, we are more than just an organization - we are a coalition of individuals united by a common purpose: to empower and support immigrant families in our community. 

COSPU was founded over 15 years ago by a group of Salvadorians who wanted to share their traditions and contributions with our community. Funded on principles of solidarity and advocacy, we strive to create a welcoming environment where every immigrant can thrive and achieve their dreams. 

Our Vision: We envision a vibrant community where immigrants are not only accepted but also celebrated for their contributions to society. 

In our vision, immigrants are recognized for their resilience, hard work, and invaluable role in shaping the cultural fabric of our society. We dream of a place where every immigrant can live with dignity and pursue their aspirations without barriers.

Our Mission:

Our mission at COSPU is multifaceted and deeply rooted in our commitment to immigrant empowerment. Through solidarity aid and support, community leadership development, civic education, and the promotion of cultural events, we strive to uplift immigrant families and advocate for their rights. Additionally, we actively pursue legislative changes that foster inclusivity and equality for immigrants in Virginia and beyond.

Crimson S. Solano
Executive Director 
Coalicion Solidaria Pro-Inmigrantes Unidos (COSPU)
P.O. Box 923, Harrisonburg, VA. 22803
Direct: 540-860-0304
Like and follow COSPU on Facebook

A Memorable Story Of A Wounded Warrior

Some veterans are adopting the semicolon as
a symbol of their ongoing recovery and as a
reminder that suicide is an irreversible period,
and never the answer.

My friend Ben Wyse, who operates a mobile bike repair service, recently related the following story as shared by a wounded Iraqi War vet while Ben was repairing his bike.

His customer showed him the prosthetic foot he wore as a result of his service, but described the emotional wounds he suffered from the war as being far more traumatic than the loss of a limb. Too many of his fellow soldiers, he lamented, had committed suicide since returning to civilian life, adding to his own anguish as he pursued his personal journey of recovery.

One indelible memory he felt good about, however,  was about the day he was on a routine patrol and came upon an Iraqi civilian with a gun aimed directly at him. He instinctively got the perceived attacker in his sights and was about to pull the trigger when he realized his target was a child, or at most an adolescent. 

"At that instant I knew I could never in good conscience kill a kid," he said, and instead chose to rush toward him to physically disarm him. In those next adrenaline-driven seconds he prayed desperately that any incoming bullet would be aimed at his ballistic vest so that his life could be spared.

Upon tackling his presumed enemy to the ground, he saw that he was not only a child but that he held only a toy gun. "I could have never lived with myself if I had killed that kid," he said.

This was the proudest moment of his entire time in combat, he said, knowing he had saved the life of a child. And maybe realizing he had saved his own life as well.

My prayer on this Memorial Day is that God will bring healing to all who suffer from the devastation of war, and that we each do whatever we can to bring all war making to an end.

Here's a link to a Memorial Day post I wrote in 2013: 

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-world-need-new-religion.html

Following Christ Jesus Is Fun-damental

For the first time ever, I'm posting something on my blog with no comment.

WWJD? (What Would Jesus Drive?)

José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano, who served as the popular president of Uruguay from 2010-2015, drove this 1987 Volkswagen Beetle until his death in 2023.

Being the head of one of the greatest of the world's 195 nations would be too small a position for Jesus to fill, but if he were our president he would certainly refuse the offer of a $200-400 million luxury mega-jet as his means of transportation. At the climax of his ministry he chose a lowly donkey to ride as he led an unarmed and celebratory parade into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover Week nearly 2000 years ago.

Today U.S. Pentagon accepted Qatar's gift of a 13-year old Boeing 747 some have valued at $400 million for use as the president's private plane. It will cost taxpayers an estimated $1 billion to retrofit this luxury airliner to make it secure and suitable as the next Air Force One. And the cost of operating this "flying palace" will be around $25,000 per hour of flight, and the total annual cost to maintain and operate the plane will be some $37 million a year.

During the president's first term he described Qatar as "a funder of terrorism," but all that has changed with the prospect of a profitable and peaceable relationship with this oil rich country. And the gift of a luxury plane.

Meanwhile former vice-president Mike Pence and even many of his Republican peers question whether accepting this kind of gift is ethical and constitutional. But the president is insisting it would be stupid to say, "No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.” 

"A free very expensive airplane"

     The devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur, and said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get away from here, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ”    

Matthew 4:8-10 (MEV)

Should Our Hymns Be Focused More On Our Peoplehood Or Our Individual Personhood?

I value spending some time each morning
in our new hymnal, Voices Together.

Our beliefs are likely influenced as much (or more) by our hymns than by our sermons, or even by our reading of scripture, whether in private or in public worship. 

This has made our denomination's selection of new hymnals in 1927, 1966, 1992 and 2020 at least as impactful as the adoption of our most recent (1995) Confession of Faith. 

Both kinds of publications, while potentially unifying, are also sure to create some controversy, as in some of the 2020 Voices Together hymn texts that have been modified to use more gender neutral and even feminine pronouns for God.

But I'm especially interested in seeing more hymns using  plural pronouns and focusing more on God's people as we gather for communal worship. The Bible, after all, is about one God (singular!) calling together, redeeming and commissioning a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a community of Jesus followers (plural!) who bear God's name and seek to live out God's will here on earth as in heaven. 

There are of course numerous accounts of personal encounters and conversations between God and individuals in the Bible. Stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Aaron, and scores of  other prophets, judges and kings come to mind. Fully half the psalms, especially those of king David, describe a very personal relationship with God, and in the New Testament there are many personal encounters with God as experienced by Mary, Elizabeth, Peter, Paul, and by John the Revelator, to mention a few. But those personal experiences are never for the sake of furthering their private spirituality alone, but for the sake of their blessing, inspiring and nurturing God's people.

Thus our hymns, in my opinion, should reflect more of our corporate, versus just our personal, experiences with God.

I for one am glad that all 35 of the opening hymns in the "GATHERING: Welcome" section in Voices Together employ plural terms like us, we, and our  instead of me, I, my and mine. This is true for all but five of the next 30 hymns on the theme "GATHERING: God's Presence With Us."

I'm not suggesting we do away with all hymns that use personal pronouns. I appreciate personal testimony gospel songs like "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine," I'm Pressing On the Upward Way," "Lord I am Fondly Earnestly Longing," and many others. But in future editions, even many of these could (and should?) be modified for use in corporate worship, as in "We're Pressing on the Upward Way," or "O Lord our God, when we in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds your hands have made," etc. That may seem jarring at first, but wouldn't it be equally jarring to sing "I'm Marching to Zion"?

Another hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," based on Jesus's declaration "On this rock I will build my church," starts out with an appropriate reference to "ye saints of the Lord," but curiously switches to the use of an individual versus a plural you (or ye), and in its final verse states, "The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose, I will not, I will not, desert to its foes. That soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"

In my opinion that fifth stanza, in order to be true to the Matthew 16 text, should read something like, "The church built on Jesus, the Rock and the Word, is defended by Christ our Redeemer and Lord. The church, though all hell should endeavor to shake, God will never, no never, no never forsake."

This kind of language supports the idea we are all in this together, a divinely created peoplehood whose sum is far greater than its individual parts. And that we are not primarily solo performers, but members of a grand multi-orchestrated choir inviting people of all nations to join in one great harmony of shalom.

Here's verse one of an updated hymn I'd love to belt out with other believers:

Come, blest fount of every blessing, tune our hearts to sing your grace.

Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach us some melodious sonnets sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, we're fixed upon it, mount of God's unchanging love!

I welcome your feedback.

The Virginia Parole Board-- A Modest Proposal

According to the Virginia Parole Board's website, they
have carried out this mission only once so far in 2025.

Fact #1: In 1995 parole was replaced with Truth in Sentencing legislation that required at least 85% of a sentence being served before one could be released from prison. However, there are still nearly 3500 men and women in the Commonwealth who are parole eligible, including those who were incarcerated before the 1995 law was passed and those sentenced as juveniles. Half of the total are also eligible for geriatric release due to their age and time served.

Fact #2: The Virginia Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by the governor, has a support staff of between 40-50 persons and an annual operating budget of over $2.8 million.

Fact #3: The Board's stated mission is “to protect public safety and contribute to a fair and effective justice system by ensuring that persons who remain a threat to society remain incarcerated and those who no longer present a risk are released to become productive citizens.”

Fact #4: Yet according to the 2025 numbers posted on the Board's official website, only one person, a geriatric case, has been granted release so far this year. One.

Is our Department of Corrections failing to correct the over 20,000 men and women its charge, at a cost of over $1.5 billion annually? Or is the Parole Board not carrying out its mission?

In any case, scores of parole eligible individuals are being denied release year after year, in spite of their 1) maintaining infraction-free records while incarcerated, 2) taking every vocational and self-improvement class possible, 3) serving as mentors and role models in their pods and work places and 4) even earning college degrees behind bars. Many lament that had they been sentenced by “truth in sentencing” guidelines, they would have already been released, without any parole board action.

For those eligible, parole examiners make a recommendation to the board based on both a meeting they have with an individual and an examination of their record, after which cases are voted on by at least three, or depending on the sentence, four, of the five board members in a video meeting. The stated reasons posted for their “not grant” verdicts appear to be computer-generated, as in the following actual example from the website:

Release at this time would diminish seriousness of crime; History of violence; Crimes committed - Kidnap/Abduct, Kidnap/Abduct; Extensive criminal record; Considering your offense and your institutional records, the Board concludes that you should serve more of your sentence before being paroled; The Board concludes that you should serve more of your sentence prior to release on parole; Serious nature and circumstances of your offense(s).

If there are other factors affecting Board decisions, such as resistance from victim families or from a Commonwealth’s Attorney office, that information is not made public.

The Valley Justice Coalition strongly favors Virginia rejoining the majority of states who see that it is in tax-payer’s best interest to have a fully functioning parole system. Mississippi, for example, one of 16 states that once abolished parole, reinstated it in 2021, realizing that the prospect of earning an early release is a powerful incentive for doing well.

We also favor legislation proposed by numerous groups, including by some parole eligible individuals I know, that would create specific criteria for determining whether to grant release. 

Here are 14 items one such group has put together that would create a “Scored Parole Eligibility Level” of either One (75-100 points), Two (60-74 points), or Three (0-59 points), based on the following criteria:

1. PRIOR OFFENSE HISTORY IN VDOC: None (2 points) 2-3 One (-1), Two (-3), Four or More (-4)

2. HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONAL VIOLENCE WITHIN THE PAST FIVE YEARS: None (0), Assault not involving the use of a weapon (-5), Assault involving the use of a weapon (-10)

3. POSITIVE DRUG TEST IN THE PAST 60 MONTHS CONVICTION: None (0), One (-2), Two or more (-4)

4. POSITIVE ALCOHOL TEST IN THE PAST 60 MONTHS CONVICTION: None (0), Two or more (-2)

5. LENGTH OF TIME SERVED: 5 years (3), 10 years (4), 15 years (5), 20 years (8), 25 years (12), 30 years or more (14)

6. THE INMATE ADMITS TO THEIR ACTION IN THE CRIME FOR WHICH THEY ARE CONVICTED: No (0), Yes, (10)

7. THE INMATE COMPLETED THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF TIME TO QUALIFY FOR DISCRETIONARY PAROLE (Old law, Juvenile, Fishback, Three Strike) OR GERIATRIC PAROLE: 

Discretionary (10), Geriatric (5)

8. THE INMATE HAS OBTAINED THEIR G.E.D. OR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA, OR IS ENROLLED IN A G.E.D. CLASS: No (0), Yes (10)

9. THE INMATE HAS COMPLETED A VOCATIONAL, TRADE OR JOURNEYMANSHIP, OR IS CURRENTLY ENROLLED: No  (0), YES (10)

10. THE INMATE IS CURRENTLY ENROLLED OR HAS COMPLETED A MENTAL HEALTH/THERAPEUTIC PROGRAM, PROGRAMS: None (0), Yes (10)

11. THE  INMATE PARTICIPATED IN ALL WORK PROGRAMMING OR HAS APPLIED FOR A JOB IN THE LAST 60 MONTHS: No (0), Yes (10)

12. THE INMATE ADHERED TO ANY THERAPY REQUIREMENTS IN THE PAST 60 MONTHS BY ENROLLING ON THE WAITING LIST: No (0), Yes (10)

13. A) THE INMATE COMPLETED THE VADOC COMPASS TEST, AND IF SCORED HIGH RISK FOR RECIDIVISM, AGREES TO ANKLE MONITORING AS A CONDITION FOR PAROLE: No (-5), Yes (5)

B) THE INMATE COMPLETED THE VADOC COMPASS TEST AND SCORED LOW FOR RECIDIVISM: Yes (10)

14.CURRENT AGE: Under 21 (0), 21-29 (1), 30-39 (2), 40-49 (3), 50 and older (4)

We urge members of the General Assembly to consider this or similar legislation that would help Virginia become a model state for best practices in criminal justice.

Guest Post: A Song For The Season

JD Martin, who grew up in the Valley, now lives
with his wife Jan near Aspen, Colorado. They
produce and perform music that has earned them
multiple awards.

 A Modern Prayer

Oh Canada I am your friend                           
I take a breath when I come in                                                          
No matter what some people say     
I’m with you today                                         
 
Those giant falls we share with you
On your side, rainbow hues
The water’s pure, cascading down
Now, just look around
 
Oh Canada                                         
 
Oh Mexico I am your friend                           
I take a breath when I come in                                                          
No matter what some people do      
I see a truth in you                                         
 
This little town, down by the sea
There’s always room for you and me
The ocean breeze, the friendly way
Como esta today
 
Oh Mexico
 
                        The loss of heart, the vicious storm   
                        Will fall away ………in the long run
           
Oh Mother Earth, I am your friend
The shining seas, majestic mountains
Please forgive the things we’ve done
Before it’s all gone
 
To every country near and far
I am part of who you are
We are held to hear the call
Oh Mother Earth, you hold us all
 
JD Martin & David Roth ©2025

Gill ‘n’ Goldie Music & Maythelight Music  (ASCAP)

Listen here: https://garrett-martin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/A-Modern-Prayer-JD-AJ.mp3

I'm Wearing Honduran and Vietnamese Today

Most of us rarely take note of where all of the clothes in our
closets are made, like this shirt I chose today. 

All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.

- James 5:4-6 the Message

In a talk at VMRC several months ago Sam Funkhouser, director of the Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, made the point that few of us could afford the clothing, food and other exotic amenities we take for granted if we had to pay all the workers who provided them the wages to which we would feel entitled.

An antonym for the word exotic is native, which would mean depending on what is produced and marketed in our local communities. Meanwhile, bananas, produced at a distance of 1000 miles or more from us, are much cheaper than locally produced apples. 

We all benefit enormously from the cheap labor of garment, agricultural and other workers in countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, India, Mexico, Peru, Pakistan, and Honduras, to name just a few of our world neighbors. Honduras, by the way, is the poorest country in our neighboring Central America, with a per capita GDP of just over $3200 as compared to over $83,000 in the U.S. The poorest country, South Sudan, is rated at under $900 per person.

Most of us fail to realize that we enjoy a more luxurious lifestyle than even the wealthiest of monarchs or  magnates prior to the 20th century. Think of life before electric power became widely available, before the availability of automobiles, and before the revolutionary advances in medical and dental science we now take for granted. 

On one of our visits to Pittsburgh we toured the Henry Clay Frick mansion and garden, the home to one of the wealthiest industrialists of his time. I especially remember its extensive stable and carriage complex, providing for the Frick family's transportation needs. In spite of its expanse and efficiency, I'm sure they would have gladly chosen to own a vehicle like our 2012 Toyota Corolla over the best of their prize horses, state of the art harnesses and elaborate carriages. It's hard to imagine the difference in the convenience and comfort provided by the engineering marvel of automobiles alone, something only about 18% of the world's people will ever own.

Rare earth minerals and metals from all over the world are used in automotive and other manufacturing, and especially for catalytic converters and batteries. Workers involved in extracting these minerals, including for our cell phones, computers and other devices, are typically exploited and work in horrific  conditions. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/supply-chain-research/from-mines-to-markets-exposing-labor-exploitation-in-critical-mineral-supply-chains

All of this contributes to the privileged lifestyle most of us take for granted as we travel, shop and enjoy life as the wealthiest people in the world. 

Here is a link to determine how rich we are in comparison to the rest of our world neighbors: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i?income=45000&countryCode=USA&numAdults=2&numChildren=0

Two Terrifying Recent Texts From Gaza City

My friend J. Daryl Byler, a Washington, DC. based attorney who spent years in the Middle East, just received the following texts from a Palestinian friend. Wikipedia photo

4/21/2025

I am Amjad, a Palestinian from Gaza living in the shadow of a horrendous war, a war that has lasted 19 months. This war has already killed my father, brother and sister, and wounded my wife and our two sons. 

I have had to run with them from place to place to try to protect and feed them. We have had to flee 17 times during this war, from home to home, from school to school, from tent to tent. During the ceasefire, we returned to our home in Gaza City, where we have been living in the ruins of our destroyed home.  

On March 2nd, the Israelis began a total siege of Gaza, closing the border crossings to all humanitarian aid and commercial trade, blocking all food, water, fuel, electricity and other supplies from entering Gaza. Then on March 16, the Israelis ended the ceasefire with Hamas, resumed military attacks against all of Gaza. Each day our life has become more difficult. 

As for food, everything is very, very expensive. Flour is no longer available in the market and the black market is extremely expensive. Even vegetables are very expensive. If the border crossing is not opened In a few days, we will completely run out of food.  During the siege my children are becoming malnourished.  

My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl the day before the Israelis ended the ceasefire, and a few days ago, the Israelis bombed the last hospital in Gaza City.  Now my wife and my new daughter need medical and nutritional assistance that is no longer available, and I am powerless to help them.

My brother, the Israelis are bombing everywhere. There is no fighting with Hamas, but the Israelis are bombing everywhere, including the hospitals which have now all been destroyed. If anyone is injured, there are no medical equipment or supplies to deal with the wounds, so their arm or leg must be amputated to save their lives. 

We are all under constant threat and fear.  I worry that I will have a heart attack just from the anxiety.  My children are terrified and wet themselves when the bombing gets close. They are afraid to sleep at night. We all sleep together, and when the bombing is too close to one side of the house, I gather them all up and carry them to the other side of our destroyed house. 

Gaza is now unlivable.  If the world powers cannot break the siege of food and water, and stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza, then they have a responsibility to get the people of Gaza get out so that we can receive the medical and nutritional assistance that we need.  We have learned that the Red Cross and the World Health Organization have helped some Gazans leave for medical assistance.  

My wife and two sons are all suffering from shrapnel wounds from an Israeli tank shell that hit the school room in which we were sheltering in November 2023, and now, we are all now malnourished because of the 36 day siege.  Please stop this war and end the occupation, but if you cannot, at least help my family and all Gazan people to leave and find safety.

4/22/2025

Yesterday there was a huge explosion that shook the whole area.  The children were terrified, started screaming and ran to hid in my arms as the shrapnel fell on our house. The situation is terrifying. I can’t breathe. . .  I discovered that the World Health Organization will try to get my family out of Gaza. I hope to escape death in Gaza.

And now they are bombing again!!  Huge bombing.