[Oe List ...] Brown and Williams

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ST for Monday:



MichaelBrown and Robin Williams
 
One colleagueministers to a Presbytery in St. Louis MO not too distant from Ferguson wherethe shooting of 18-year old Michael Brown occurred that triggered a nationalprotest of indignation and revealed again the ugly racial divide that sears thesoul of a nation.
 
As stand-upcomic Robin Williams might have quipped on the vaunted melting pot the USaspires to be as "hardly melting though it has generally gone topot!"
 
I do not findanything funny about the Michael Brown case that reportedly began when acruising officer at 2 p.m. told two young boys to get off the road where theywere walking, into the sidewalk where the officer wanted them to be.  Thelanguage used in the exchange and the alleged altercation that followed hassince gone into media frenzy for the latest explosive bombshell in the story;it has turned into another Trayvon Martin case abducted by cause-orientedbodies and the insatiable appetite of the media for blood in the blame-game.
 
Or, perhaps,that's where the tragedy lies: it has become just another Trayvon Martin case,as one of Martin's Florida lawyers reportedly signed in to represent the Brownsin court, and no less than the flamboyant Rev. Al Sharpton showed up at one ofthe vigils.  The Police Commish has his hands full for another media circus.
 
It is thecomedy of Robin Williams whose track record with USO is without blemish that wefind levity in life just to be the flip side of its tragedy.  Robinhimself, found dead at 63 with his belt around his neck in what is now reportedto be an act of suicide, would not have found fault in the title we use on theoccasion of his death:  Good Morning, Baghdad!
 
The allusionis on the war-comedy movie of Good Morning, Vietnam.  Williamsplayed a radio DJ for the Armed Forces radio that was more irreverent than theordinary.  The simplistic plot of the movie did not deter in my catchingthe bug on Robin's brand of humor. 
 
I encounteredWilliams in the Mork and Mindy TV shows when I came in and out of the US1977-82.  The plot assaulted contemporary values, with Mork the alien fromOrk, finally marrying Mindy, bearing a child that came out looking elderly(Jonathan Winters played the role).  Orkians grew from mature looks atbirth into infants when they finally die! 
 
I caught himin the World According to Garp, making him a steady presence in mymeditative council for his humor in Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King,Good Will Hunting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Night at the Museum, The Man of theYear and the various voice characters (e.g., Fern Gully and HappyFeet) he created.  Our reference to USO comes from his faithfulappearances to entertain the troops in the Afghan and Iraqi war zones.
 
His rehab awayfrom cocaine addiction is a matter of record, and his bout with alcoholism wasoften a subject of his own jokes.  He married a Pinoyze with whomhe had two kids, but he guarded his privacy and we respected his choice. It was his brand of comedy, impudent but real, that got us glued.
 
We are notbothered by the manner of his exit.  A dear friend takes depression pillsand I know how that can get ugly.  We are not being dismissive of whatmany consider "unnecessary" exist measures either.  I am stillgetting comments for my reflection on self-immolation on my birthday,especially as I lifted up the behavior a colleague who performed the Buddhistact of sacrifice to flames.
 
It is themanner of Robin William's living of his life that we celebrate at this momentof completion.  I have said it of myself, and of others before, withoutreservation nor apology, and of Robin Williams: he was one unique,unrepeatable gift of life into human history; there has never been one like himbefore, and there will never be another one like him ever again.  Thisgem of truth I live with applies to anyone else who comes into thisearth.  Arrival is not at the end of life; it is at the entry atbirth!  The rest is a case of unfolding in active dialogue and evolutionwithin one's chosen environment and locale.
 
I do not knowmuch about Michael Brown, though I suspect, the news will give us all thedetails of his personal upbringing.  We join his mother's wishes that thecase focus on Brown's shooting rather than he be sidelined again into anothercelebrated cause.
 
Robin Williamswill have many retrospective moments before the year is over.  His was alife not easy to dismiss, and a sense of humor not easy to discard.  Hisability to take life itself as the subject of his humor was remarkable. At a USO performance, in the middle of his monologue, the bugle of "Retreat"sounded as the flag was lowered.  The crowd immediately stood atattention, executed an about face, and ignored Williams altogether.  Heturned the intentional about face into hearty guffaws from his audience.
 
Growing up inan Episcopalian environment who he defined as a Catholic with only half theguilt, this renegade Methodist (a Catholic with no guilt) ecu-toasts his life: L'achaim!
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