Two Pakistani monks refuse to sit on plane next to  a woman.  Therefore,  the airline moves the woman.
 A Southern California woman said she is the victim of discrimination, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Mary Campos said her pre-booked ticket was given away by United Airlines.
United gives the  woman a new boarding pass
The reason? She’s a woman, and two men didn’t want to sit next to a female.
A million-mile flier, Campos, a mom who lives in Coto de Caza, said she thought she’d seen it all – until a gate agent handed her a new boarding pass just before she got on a flight to Houston last Monday.
“He said, ‘This is your new seat,’†Campos said, “and I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this.’â€
She said she continued by saying, “Yes?â€
And the agent told her, “The two gentlemen seated next to you have cultural beliefs that prevent them for sitting next to, talking to or communicating with females.â€
A company spokesperson wrote to CBS Los Angeles, in part: “We regret that Ms. Campos was unhappy with the handling of the seat assignments on her flight. United holds our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and has zero tolerance for discrimination.â€
Campos was told the men were Pakistani monks who were wearing long orange shirts. She said the female flight crew was not allowed to serve the men.
Will Pope Francis forgive Martin Luther & you and me? Â
Pope Francis has the authority to forgive.  Will he forgive Martin Luther? You and me?  The Year of Mercy  — declared by Pope Francis —  ends on November 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King.  That’s about five weeks from now.
There’s still time for  Pope Francis to  forgive Protestant reformer Martin Luther.
Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church during his lifetime (1483 – 1546)  because he believed, wrote and taught that salvation cannot be obtained through indulgences or good works and comes  from faith through the grace of God.
Excommunication is reversible. Â And Pope Francis can do it.
And now is the right year and right Pope to do it. Â There is one baptism and one faith? Â And it’s certainly time for all Christians to support other Christians.
Martin Luther 1483 – 1546 was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk[2] and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.
Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money, proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517.
His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Luther taught that salvation and, subsequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God’s grace through the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin.
His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[4] Those who identify with these, and all of Luther’s wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[5] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.[6] His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches.[7] His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.[8]
Fa. Ron Shirley formerly with Resurrection Catholic Community Church posted:
“God is counting on all of us to be “Stand In’s†for the Lord, with each other. To make real Isaiah 55:7, “Turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.â€
“If an alien was to walk in to our church today and say, “Ok you Church people, describe God to me.â€
I  Father Ron Shirley  http://www.ronshirley.com  wonder what our answer would be.
I believe one of the most powerful descriptions of God is contained in the 2 stories we just heard in Luke’s Gospel.
A. These images of God, too many people, don’t make any sense. When the sinner is found. Mercy, love and forgiveness are freely offered. No charge; no strings attached; no, “I told you so;†no finger pointing. Just, “Welcome Home.â€
B. No matter how far we wander or stray from God, and we all do it at times, no matter how terrible our sins might be, God’s arms are always open to us. Jesus never approves of the sin, but he always embraces the sinner.
C. I could just hear a few of the people, when Jesus was telling his stories, making a few side comments like:
i. These stories are crazy!
ii. This God is ridiculous!
iii. Leave 99 good sheep to go after one stupid stray?
iv. That’s not very good business sense.
v. If I were the father I would stick it to that son.
vi. I would make him crawl back.
vii. This God doesn’t make any sense.
These people were right; our God doesn’t make any sense when it comes to loving us.
D. A final point, very important, comes from a quote by the director of Covenant House, https://www.covenanthouse.org/ a shelter for runaway kids in many large cities in the U.S.
The director of Covenant  says, “The kids we work with have a lot of questions…
‘Can I have something to eat? I haven’t had a good thing to eat in days,’ a 17-year-old boy asked me last night.
‘Can I sleep here? Where can I sleep?’ another kid asked an hour later. I think she may have been twelve. These questions come easy to them. They are the questions that a street kid asks every day, minute to minute. But what gets to me is the question they don’t ask. The one that hides deep in the eyes they turn away from you, the one that shows in nervous fingers. This is the question that comes from living a lifetime of days when you can’t seem to do anything right. It is, ‘
Does God still love me? – Will God forgive me?’ The kids would never say that out loud. Very few of them ever talk about God. They don’t know enough yet, and their minds and mouths are too preoccupied with the other questions: ‘Is it safe here?’ ‘Can I have something to eat?’ ‘Where can I sleep?’ But their hearts have only one question: ‘Does God still love me? – Will God forgive me?’ And their hearts look to me and to other adults at Covenant House for the answer to that question. I don’t think the kids think much about the theological idea that God lives in every one of us. With them it’s more instinctive.
All I know is that when they look at me and I see that question, I feel the incredible burden of standing in for our Lord. And I know our Lord is counting on me to say, ‘Yes! Heavens, yes! I love you!’ to those scraggly, hungry, angry children of the streets.â€
In closing:
God is counting on all of us to be “Stand In’s†for the Lord, with each other. To make real Isaiah 55:7, “Turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.â€
 The above is based on writings from Father Ron Shirley  September 2016   For more, go to:    http://www.fatherron.com Â
Kim Jong-un has executed a senior North Korean official by firing squad because he did not sit properly during a meeting.
Education minister Kim Yong-Jin, 63, was shot dead after his ‘bad sitting posture’ in parliament incurred the wrath of the North Korean dictator.
The slouching vice premier was interrogated and found to be an ‘anti-revolutionary agitator’ before his execution in July, a South Korean official said.
‘Vice premier for education Kim Yong-Jin was executed,’ South Korea’s unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said.
‘Kim Yong-Jin was denounced for his bad sitting posture when he was sitting below the rostrum,’ he added, referring to North Korea’s parliament.
Kim Jong-un was in the government meeting and was infuriated after Kim Yong-Jin sat in his chair ‘with a bad attitude’.
Another South Korean official said the education official’s poor posture was spotted at a meeting on June 29, when Kim Jong-un was named chairman of a new national defence department.
Two men after offering cocaine  attacked a young couple for eating a pizza –topped with ham.
 The two men  have been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Youness Boussaid and Fatah cBouzid, both 27, launched a brutal attack on the couple.  They first warned the couple that  they would “go to hell†because the pizza they were eating contained ham.
They were approached by Boussaid and Bouzid soon after, who offered the young couple cocaine.
Noticing ham on the pizza, the two Arabs told the pair they would “go to hell†for eating it. Islam forbids the consumption of meat from pigs.
Seeking to humiliate the woman, the assailants caressed her blonde hair and forced fingers into her nose.  These unwanted actions  caused her to fall and lose consciousness. When her companion tried to protect her, the two Arabs began to beat the young man before security staff from Le Mix Bar intervened.
To run fast run alone, to run far run together. Yep.
You may not run the Badwater race in California. That is one brutal ultra marathon!
Badwater elevation
You do have your own  marathon to run.  Your life.
And  it’s best to  keep moving!
And it’s best to do it together!
Sometimes we all feel weary and alone. Very alone. Â And very weary.
Weary and alone at times ?
You may  be weary from the  care of  a chronically ill spouse or relative.
weary from the care of  a loved one?
Or you may feel weary because a situation seems stuck. Â And, things just don’t seem to change.
weary and stuck in a situation?
Some people  use exercise gyms to get out of feeling weary.
An hour  of exercise bike, weights and stretching can remove the feeling of weariness.  For some, exercise helps to get the body ‘moving’.  Consider joining  gym for regular exercise.
Another way to exercise  — a  gentle way  –can be through gardening.  Aptos Community Garden has a few plots available. Call 831 688-5727 extension 2 and leave your name and telephone number.
Community gardening allows you to meet and connect with others.  And, you can  grow beautiful  flowers and vegetables.
gardening can be a way to exercise & meet peoplegyms help some people to exercise
We have families — biological and by groups we associate with by choice — where we can concretely practice mutual love  and support for one another.
You are not alone.
Remember those who came before you. Â There are those who came before you, ones who have run the race.
Christians refer to those who came before them as the “great host of witnesses”  of those who came before.  That host of witnesses  includes Abraham who believed by faith and had a son with Sarah in their old age.  David. Solomon. Elizabeth cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus. St. Augustine, Martin Luther.Dorothy Day. And others.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin what so easily entangles  us. .  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  Hebrews 12:1
Remember the cloud of witnesses which  came before you, the spiritual giants who inspire you.
Who are the’giants’ in your life, the persons who have inspired and continue to inspire  you?
cloud of witnesses Catholic tradition
A book by  Malcolm Muggeridge titled A  Third Testament explores the spiritual wanderings of St. Augustine, Blake, Pascal, Kierkegaard, Tolstoy and Bonhoeffer.
That and other Christian books about “the host of witnesses”  are available at The Word Shop,  adbooks@aol.com  831 688 6607.
The Word Shop
Through books you can  explore the spiritual wanderings of others who have gone before you.
Yes, your life is an ultra-marathon.  And to run far  — run it together.
One place to ‘keep moving’ and  practice mutual love  for one another is through a Christian community. And one such community is:
 831 688-5727  10707 Soquel Drive,  Aptos, CA 95003   e-Mail:  office@AptosChurch.org
The above post written by Cameron Jackson  is a re-working of  the sermon  given  by Rev. Dale Solom-Brotherton, Pastor on August 28, 2016.  pastor@AptosChurch.orgÂ
Caregivers’ Circle:  Do you or someone you know care for a chronically ill spouse?  Yes  — that’s a tough, long , difficult ultra-marathon to run.
Come get support. Break the isolation. Â Say hello.
Starting Friday, Sept 16, 2016 at 1 p.m in Thomas Lounge at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Aptos, CA  there’s  a Caregivers’Circle to provide a safe haven for sharing feelings;  a place to learn new coping skills;  and to provide relief from isolation.
Run that ultra- marathon with others!
All are welcome. Please  RSVP to Karla Norton at karla_norton@yahoo.com —  that’s so adequate materials are available.
And anything red is dead. Â That’s the Muslim way in Saudia Arabia.
And that’s  the Muslim way all over the Middle East. No Valentines. Â
Why? Love is not OK according to Muslim Allah. Â Is that because ‘will you be my Valentine?’ asks for consent? Â And that’s not the way marriages are arranged and women controlled in the Muslim world?
In Saudia Arabia, they consistently punish the slightest hint of celebrating Valentine’s Day.
The  Saudi Arabia Kingdom and its religious “morality†police always officially issue a stern warnings.  Big time problems for anyone caught even thinking about Valentine’s Day . Those caught will suffer some of the most painful penalties of Sharia Law. This is typical of the Saudis of course.
The Saudi religious police monitor stores selling roses and other gifts. They arrest women for wearing red on that day. Every year the Saudis announce that, starting the week of Valentine’s and until a certain day in the future, it is illegal for a merchant to sell any item that is red, or that in any way hints of being connected to Valentine’s Day. As Claude Cartaginese has reported,any merchant in Saudi Arabia found selling such items as red roses, red clothing of any kind (especially dresses), toys, heart-shaped products, candy, greeting cards or any items wrapped in red, has to destroy them or face the wrath of Saudi justice.
