Letters to the Editor - Lakeville Journal - 3-9-17

Sessions must go

In 1950, Alger Hiss, a former high level State Department official and accused Soviet spy, was sentenced to five years in the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pa. Hiss was not convicted of spying for Stalin. Hiss was charged, tried and convicted for lying under oath: swearing to tell the truth at a congressional hearing and then lying. In other words, Hiss was convicted of perjury. Newly minted Attorney General Jeff Sessions, prima facie, perjured himself just weeks ago when he lied at his confirmation hearing about meeting with the Russian ambassador last September.      

The reason Sessions met with the Russian ambassador, and the benign or not so benign nature of their conversation, has no bearing on fact that the U.S. attorney general lied under oath, so that regardless of whether or not he is charged with the crime for which Alger Hiss was convicted, is it not obvious that Jeff Sessions, the nation’s chief enforcer of the laws of the land, should no longer be the attorney general of the United States? 

Wm. Earl Brecher

West Cornwall

A red-tailed hawk on Route 7: RIP

The wind and the sun made the February snow crust over like thick boilerplate.  Boilerplate allowed no mice to be seen at all from my hungry, high oak-tree perch or my low, famished glide in the countryside. Of course you wouldn’t know that, for your well-fed high-octane horses were at full gallop under the hood of your sleek metal shell speeding you down the straightaway on Route 7. 

Not even the miracle of flight, soaring up on rising thermals to cloud whispers of dreamy freedom from terrestrial woes, could quell my pangs of hunger. Of course you wouldn’t know that, for you were lost in your cocoon of smart-phone, ‘I’m late, preoccupied, need to connect …’ speeding down the straightaway in your sleek metal shell. 

All that I asked was to have a chance at a meal, and yes a roadkill possum on the edge of the road had to do. Of course you wouldn’t know that, for ‘take-out’ to you meant ‘take-all’, as you were speeding down the straightaway in your sleek metal shell. 

Yes, I was there, standing in the road, against my nature with my feathers tucked away, oh so hungry for just another bite. Of course you wouldn’t know that, because you were satiated with speed on the straightaway in your sleek metal shell. 

And at the last, when your well-fed high-octane horses devoured me on the road, I heard Daedelus scream for lost hope, lost dreams, and your tires exhorting each other onward, chanting “Icarus be damned!” 

Michael Moschen

Cornwall Bridge

What would you say to those who are unhappy with their lives?

The first thing I’d do is try to determine by listening to the person whether the unhappiness is situational or an overall unhappiness. If this unhappiness is related to something deeper, more painful, I’d speak with them about their passion and more importantly, whether they feel their life has a purpose.

As has been proven repeatedly, a life spent relentlessly seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is a wasted, shallow life, full of frustration and destined for disappointment.

Lasting happiness is the byproduct of a good life, not the objective of life. And the keys to a good life are understanding who we are and why we are here. From my own faith tradition, the answers could not be plainer. We are beloved children of God; here to serve God in this life and be with him in the next. Christians, by definition, lead examined lives. Our clear purpose is to witness Christ’s love in the world. Everything else is just stuff that gets in the way. 

In Psalm 119, David prayed: “Keep me from paying attention to that which is worthless.” Unhappiness comes from worthlessness. Happiness comes from pursuing our passion — getting a grip on our purpose; honestly comparing it with our practice and seeking God’s will in all things. Gladly give each day to God, and he will fill them with happiness. 

The Rev. David F. Sellery

Priest-in-Charge, St. John’s

Salisbury

Pledge of Allegiance is said in the schools

Regarding the letter from Michael Parmalee (“What we learned in school”) in the Feb. 23 edition and also in response to countless Facebook posts, Connecticut State Statute 10-230 requires that flags be displayed in all classrooms and that boards of education provide time for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Students are not required to recite, but the pledge is said every day in every public school in this state. There are laws requiring at least the option of saying the pledge in all states except Hawaii, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Michigan, Vermont and Maine.

In the 19 years I have been a teacher in Connecticut, I have never had a school day in which I and the vast majority of my students did not say the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Vance Cannon

Falls Village

Make your voice heard

Had it with The Donald? Then join a nationwide movement to tell him that. Send him a postcard on March 15 to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20500. Join yours with thousands of others. 

Stuyvesant K. Bearns

Lakeville