<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'><font size="2">ST for Monday:</font>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><font size="4"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Michael
Brown and Robin Williams</span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font size="4"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">One colleague
ministers to a Presbytery in St. Louis MO not too distant from Ferguson where
the shooting of 18-year old Michael Brown occurred that triggered a national
protest of indignation and revealed again the ugly racial divide that sears the
soul of a nation.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">As stand-up
comic Robin Williams might have quipped on the vaunted melting pot the US
aspires to be as "hardly melting though it has generally gone to
pot!"<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">I do not find
anything funny about the Michael Brown case that reportedly began when a
cruising officer at 2 p.m. told two young boys to get off the road where they
were walking, into the sidewalk where the officer wanted them to be. The
language used in the exchange and the alleged altercation that followed has
since gone into media frenzy for the latest explosive bombshell in the story;
it has turned into another Trayvon Martin case abducted by cause-oriented
bodies and the insatiable appetite of the media for blood in the blame-game.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">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 Browns
in court, and no less than the flamboyant Rev. Al Sharpton showed up at one of
the vigils. The Police Commish has his hands full for another media circus.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">It is the
comedy of Robin Williams whose track record with USO is without blemish that we
find levity in life just to be the flip side of its tragedy. Robin
himself, found dead at 63 with his belt around his neck in what is now reported
to be an act of suicide, would not have found fault in the title we use on the
occasion of his death: Good Morning, Baghdad!<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">The allusion
is on the war-comedy movie of <i>Good Morning, Vietnam. </i>Williams
played a radio DJ for the Armed Forces radio that was more irreverent than the
ordinary. The simplistic plot of the movie did not deter in my catching
the bug on Robin's brand of humor. <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">I encountered
Williams in the <i>Mork and Mindy </i>TV shows when I came in and out of the US
1977-82. The plot assaulted contemporary values, with Mork the alien from
Ork, finally marrying Mindy, bearing a child that came out looking elderly
(Jonathan Winters played the role). Orkians grew from mature looks at
birth into infants when they finally die! <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">I caught him
in the<i> World According to Garp, </i>making him a steady presence in my
meditative council for his humor in <i>Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King,
Good Will Hunting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Night at the Museum,</i> <i>The Man of the
Year </i>and the various voice characters (e.g., <i>Fern Gully </i>and <i>Happy
Feet</i>) he created<i>. </i>Our reference to USO comes from his faithful
appearances to entertain the troops in the Afghan and Iraqi war zones.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font size="4"><i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">His rehab away
from cocaine addiction is a matter of record, and his bout with alcoholism was
often a subject of his own jokes. He married a <i>Pinoyze</i> with whom
he 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.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">We are not
bothered by the manner of his exit. A dear friend takes depression pills
and I know how that can get ugly. We are not being dismissive of what
many consider "unnecessary" exist measures either. I am still
getting comments for my reflection on self-immolation on my birthday,
especially as I lifted up the behavior a colleague who performed the Buddhist
act of sacrifice to flames.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">It is the
manner of Robin William's living of his life that we celebrate at this moment
of completion. I have said it of myself, and of others before, without
reservation nor apology, and of Robin Williams: <i>he was one unique,
unrepeatable gift of life into human history; there has never been one like him
before, and there will never be another one like him ever again.</i> This
gem of truth I live with applies to anyone else who comes into this
earth. Arrival is not at the end of life; it is at the entry at
birth! The rest is a case of unfolding in active dialogue and evolution
within one's chosen environment and locale.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">I do not know
much about Michael Brown, though I suspect, the news will give us all the
details of his personal upbringing. We join his mother's wishes that the
case focus on Brown's shooting rather than he be sidelined again into another
celebrated cause.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">Robin Williams
will have many retrospective moments before the year is over. His was a
life not easy to dismiss, and a sense of humor not easy to discard. His
ability 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 at
attention, executed an about face, and ignored Williams altogether. He
turned the intentional about face into hearty guffaws from his audience.<o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><font size="4">Growing up in
an Episcopalian environment who he defined as a Catholic with only half the
guilt, this renegade Methodist (a Catholic with no guilt) ecu-toasts his life: <i>L'achaim!</i></font><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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