Author: Sharron Burnett

When I think of unadulterated beauty I think of a small child. Nothing compares to the innocence and generous spirit that comes from our tiniest humans. They are still filled with wonder and lacking in the prejudices and hatefulness that far too many people develop over time. They see the world through the most accepting and compassionate eyes. If life were perfect their purity of mind and heart would never be polluted with with evil. We would all live in a peaceful paradise as Adam and Eve once did before their fall from grace. 

Perhaps the saddest aspect of life is the knowledge that many of our children endure abuse, want, cruelties that lead them to change from the innocents that they once were. To survive they become tough, sometimes even mean and vengeful. Their once pure minds grow dark and angry. Some even turn into monsters who hurt and others for their own pleasure or gain or to sate their hatefulness. 

Another beautiful group are the courageous souls who stand up to the bullies of this world, those who are willing to put everything on the line for justice regardless of the consequences. The men and women who marched for the civil rights of all people in the United States were such magnificent souls. The stunning protestors of Tiananmen Square in China who braved almost certain imprisonment for the cause of freedom were stunning examples of the best of our human courage. More recently we witness the citizens of Ukraine fighting one of the most powerful armies in the world in a determined effort to save their democracy. At the same time groups of Russian citizens have demonstrated their solidarity with their neighbors by blatantly breaking the law in protests that will surely bring them big trouble. 

It is often difficult under any circumstances to stand up to monsters and bullies whether they be individuals or governments. It is risky to push back on those determined to hurt others and yet history is replete with such magnificent heroes and each of us has no doubt witnessed some incredible soul who is unafraid to speak out against wrongs. In my writing I have many times extolled such individuals, my neighbor who saved frightened children from the murderous rage of their father, politicians who have taken a stance against their own parties to defend democracy like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, teachers who risked their jobs to protect their students. I am in awe of such amazing courage in the face of silence from those who are afraid to cross their peers.

As a very young child and early reader I often chose books from my Catholic school library that extolled the lives of saints. The stories that were most impactful to me were those about souls who became martyrs, individuals who died defending justice, truth, goodness. I read of their courage with a sense of wonder and admiration. It was later that I witnessed real people in my own country who died fighting for the equal rights of all people. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed I knew that he was both a martyr and a saint. Like the others that I had learned about when I was quite young, I realized that each of us is imperfect, but if we rise to the occasion of defending our fellow humans and then die doing so we have become the most beautiful versions of ourselves. We have followed the example of Jesus Himself by giving our very lives for what is most surely right. 

Not every situation that we encounter is life or death, but standing up against evil is almost always wrought with uncertainty. We may indeed be punished for being good rather than being praised for our bravery. Nonetheless, it is important that we honor ourselves and those around us by never turning away when we witness wrongs. Joining a throng intent on bad intentions to save our own skins is not only detestable, but also soul crushing. We lose a bit of ourselves each time we ignore injustice. We don’t have to directly intervene in a dangerous situation, but we must surely make our refutations known. 

Such resolute behavior often means speaking out against the very people who mean the most to us. There is perhaps nothing more difficult than letting someone know that their behavior and thinking is hurting others. Often people do not even realize the extent of their actions in bringing harm. Correcting an essentially good person is often more difficult than chastising an obvious villain. It takes finesse and love to discuss difficult topics and there is always a danger that doing so will rupture the relationship. Nonetheless if we really care about others there are situations that are so impactful that we must speak truths. Not doing so would lead to unnecessary hurt and suffering. 

Moral example is beautiful. The person who lives a life of honesty and courage may not win over everyone and may even be shunned for the efforts. The persons who quietly and continuously lives in service to justice, compassion and truth are ultimately the most beautiful among us. Such individuals somehow find ways to maintain the incredible purity of soul with which they were born and whether we agree with them or not, we know that they are beautiful. 

Does anyone really know exactly what is in those regular tacos from Jack in the Box? I recognize the lettuce, the hot sauce, the cheese and even the fried corn tortilla that holds it all together, but what is that mashed meat-like substance in the middle? It’s a conundrum that has haunted me for years. In spite of my misgivings I have been an avid fan of those darn things for as long as I can remember. If it’s lunchtime and I am in a pinch I love seeing a Jack in the Box drive through where I can order two regular tacos and a medium diet coke for around five dollars. it’s a perfect meal that tastes good and fills me up, but niggle in the back of my mind worries me. I really do believe that I am eating something that maybe should not got into my body. Luckily I have never had a bad reaction to that combination and so it has become by go to order on those now rare occasions when I actually imbibe in fast food.

A few years back we took two of our grandchildren to California. On the way there we stopped by the Grand Canyon and watched the sunset in that magnificent place. As we were driving back to our campground later in the evening we all suddenly felt hungry, but had a difficult time finding somewhere to stop for a bit of nourishment. The only place that appeared to be open was a McDonald’s much to my chagrin. While I have never become ill from consuming my Jack in the Box tacos, I almost always have a very bad reaction to McDonald’s food unless I order a Happy Meal or an Egg McMuffin. I did not think that it was a particularly good idea to eat something that might have bad consequences for the long drive that lay ahead of us the next day, so I was in a quandary as to how to sate my hunger. I decided that my best bet was to order an Egg McMuffin which just happened to be available twenty four hours a day at that time. It was a blessing not to have to consume anything else.

I’m generally not a fan of fast food restaurants. I don’t even particularly like Chic-Fil-A which seems to place me in the minority when it comes to my family. If I want chicken I much prefer going to Popeye’s, but it’s not always easy to find one of them and as I grow older like fried foods less and less. If I had the power to choose only one place that would be available anywhere that I went, it would be Whataburger. I like the Whataburger Junior meal with a small diet Coke and the spicy ketchup for my fries. It has the perfect taste and comes in just the right size, and not once has it made me sick. For me it is the essence of perfection if I have to grab something quickly and be certain that the quality will always be there. Sadly it’s difficult to find Whataburger in most places in the United States which we found out on that same road trip to California when my grandchildren were craving Whataburgers rather than In-N- Out.  

The absolute best drive thru that I ever encountered was a Portillo’s in the Chicago area. Their menu is divine and caters to meat lovers like my husband and those who prefer an excellent and fresh salad like me. He always wants a polish sausage with onions on a big bun while I prefer the chopped salad which is to die for. For desert lovers there are huge slices of cake that are more like your mama used to make than something one would expect to find in a fast food place. 

Portillo’s knows to expect large crowds at lunchtime so they have perfected a system for lining up the cars and taking the orders that is so quick that customers almost never stop moving. I don’t know how they do it given the enormous menu and the quality of the food. If a Portillo’s ever came to the Houston area it would be an instant hit and I for one would become a regular customer. 

I’ve enjoyed traveling with my trailer behind our truck these days. When we’re hungry we can go inside and prepare our own food. I know what the ingredients are and everything is fresh. I don’t have to worry that I will get caught having to eat something that disagrees with me. These days I enjoy vegetables and fruit much more than meat, and for some reason I only like sandwiches if I have prepared them myself. I suppose that I have become much too finicky and far less adventurous with my eating than I once was. I’d rather so inside a grocery store to choose the things that sit well with me than to take my chances at a Taco Bell. 

Fast food has become a way of life in America. Back when I was young we had Prince’s Hamburger drive ins where we ordered food from a waitress who came out to the car. The food was actually quite good but the company was locally owned and eventually mostly went out of business. As a kid I loved going to James’ Coney Island for hot dogs but in downtown Houston where you had to go inside and snake through a long line to get the best hot dogs I have ever eaten. We also had a local hamburger joint called Chuck Wagon that was fast, but we still had to walk up to order our food. Those places were the absolute best and I don’t think that the fact that I was just a kid when I craved their food diminishes the quality of what we got back then. 

I can hardly recall the last time I stopped at a fast food restaurant or even ate out. I’ve become an old fuddy duddy who would literally rather be a bit hungry than eat just anything. To look at me you would think that I munch on fried foods and junk all of the time, but I’ve all but given up those things. Give me an apple and a few slices of really good cheese and I am content until the next meal. The only fast food I now crave is Whataburger and if Portillo’s ever comes to town I’ll be the first in line for a yummy chopped salad. Of course I’m still willing to get my two regular tacos at Jack in the Box as well. It’s funny how I still don’t mind that mystery meat.

It is true that our world is still uncomfortably dependent on fossil fuels. It is also true that this dependence is having a negative effect on our environment. Truths abound when it comes to our relationship with oil and gas. We know that it would be wise to set our sights on improving alternative forms of energy, but the truth is that we are years away from reaching the goals needed to wean ourselves away from the black gold flowing throughout our economy. In truth we have to keep the engines of our industry roaring, and at this moment in time the demand for oil worldwide is causing a spike in prices that burdens our already stretched budgets. With the added tension of a boycott of Russian oil by most western nations, including ours, our resolve to support the cause of justice for Ukraine is truthfully being stretched to the breaking point. So with all of these truths how should we choose to react to the current crisis? 

First, it would be wise to go back to March of 2020, a moment when the whole world was bowing under the weight of Covid 19 illnesses and deaths. Even the worldwide medical community was still learning about how to deal with the deadly virus as nursing homes and hospitals were being overwhelmed. Businesses were tanking as customers no longer came and workers stayed home sick. We shut down for a time hoping to flatten the curve and learn more about how to save lives. The virus took us on a global roller coaster ride and our uncertainties about how to react began to fray our patience and our willingness to work together not just as a nation, but as a worldwide community to overcome the vagaries of Covid-19. 

Just before all of this began the world of oil and its commerce was not doing well. Former students of mine who had earned college degrees in difficult fields like petroleum and mechanical engineering found that there were no jobs waiting for them. In fact, the major players in the oil business and its related subsidiaries had begun to encourage older workers to take early retirement while not filling their positions with new employees. With remote working and learning becoming the norm for a time, the lack of demand for oil only exacerbated the problem. The cost of a barrel of oil fell to record lows and the layoffs of workers began in earnest in April of 2020, smack dab in the middle of the early days of the pandemic. I was acutely aware of these problems because I live in the Houston area which has at times been known as the oil capital of the United States. The energy corridor of the city was as decimated by the low price of oil as hospitals were by Covid deaths. It was a dark time when many people that I knew suddenly found themselves unemployed when there was not an abundance of alternative jobs for them to take, but gas prices were delightfully low. 

January of 2021, brought vaccines and a lull in cases of Covid that created a demand for just about everything. Suddenly everyone was feeling optimistic and filling the roads and stores and spending money. Demand for goods and services outstripped supply causing shortages and long waits, but the good news was that the economy was beginning to hum again. It would need to adjust, but the signs were looking better as those who had endured most of the pandemic without incomes suddenly found opportunities for work. This great rush of activity and movement was a boon for oil companies and their investors. The price of a barrel of oil continuously rose as did the sticker at the gas pump. By the end of 2021, oil stocks and oil profits had achieved historical records. Despite inflation life seemed to be moving in the right direction. 

Then Vladimir Putin decided to invade the democratic country of Ukraine and the western world aligned in a determination to punish Putin by doing major damage to his economy. One of the boycotts involved in the plan was to refuse to purchase Russian oil. Thus after two weeks of hell for the Ukrainian people as their nation has been torn apart by the invading Russians, the price of oil in the United States jumped dramatically, testing our national resolve to hold firm to the plan to topple Putin by way of the Russian economy. Instead of feeling proud to bite a bullet and sacrifice for the cause, many among us are whining about the cost of fuel while also falsely claiming that our predicament is totally the fault of President Biden and the Democrats, a ridiculous and false argument when faced with the facts. 

Oil is part of a global market. The price is never determined by a single country or person. It is a complex process that often seems to have a life of its own. It is a system entangled with a hierarchy of investors, governing boards, administrators and workers all intent on making profits. Right now our country produces most of the oil used in the United States. Less than ten percent comes from Russia. The production comes from a variety of players including the big companies and small independent owners who are free to decide when and how much they are willing to produce for the market. As of this moment over 4400 wells with permits to drill are sitting dormant. They could come alive at any moment but for now the owners do not wish to spend the money needed to hire workers to get the oil in them moving again. Since coming into office President Biden has given permits to more sites on government land than his predecessor. Around sixty percent of oil leases are not being used. The oil is there as are the permits to use it, but the companies do not feel that it is in their best interests to drill at this time. 

About eighteen years ago my husband inherited some oil and gas leases from his mother who had obtained them from her mother. For almost two decades nothing has happened on them. We often get no payments or checks that are so minuscule that they would hardly buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks. This is not because of government policies, but a choice made by the actual owners of the wells. They have determined that it is not financially rewarding to bring the sites to life once again. So we hold on to our tiny investment and joke about how little everyone understands how the industry actually works. 

The truth is that we can do a few things to weather the storm that is upon us, but mostly the behemoth known as the oil industry is bigger than any one person or political party. To insinuate that Joe Biden is responsible for our present dilemma is a false oversimplification of a complex problem. If we are to blame a single person for the sudden spike in the price of gasoline we should be pointing the finger at Putin. We should also ask ourselves if we really do care about Ukraine, because if we do then it will be up to us to have more patience than we seem capable of embracing. Our own pain at the pump will be the price we pay, but it seems minuscule when we witness the suffering of the Ukrainian people. 

We should not continue to tear each other apart the way we have been doing for the last two years. When we do that Putin smiles. We should understand that our President is doing all that he can to support the Ukrainian people while also easing our economic woes. The ball is in the hands of Putin as well as the oil producers in our country. They can do the right thing, or not. Their choices will determine how much misery the world must endure. We can choose also. We have to decide if we are willing to go the distance together or if we no longer feel any sense of responsibility to each other and to our fellow humans in the world. It’s time that we all faced truths, including the need for a future without a dependence on fossil fuels. Denying reality will get us nowhere but deeper into turmoil. I for one am ready to do my part for a worthy humanitarian cause. 

We often toss the word karma around whenever we witness someone getting what we believe are just desserts. We like to believe that good acts will eventually be rewarded and bad acts will be duly punished. In most situations such things might occur, but when a good person has bad things happen while a bad person seems to enjoy a consequence free life we begin to falter in our understanding of how life works. We desperately want to see that our actions whether good or bad result in appropriate outcomes.

Sadly we all know of individuals who are beset with suffering for no apparent reason. My mother was saintly in her behavior. It would be difficult to find a kinder more generous person who walked this earth, and yet karma seemed to have forgotten her. She watched her own mother being taken away to a mental hospital when she was still a toddler. That moment frightened her so much that the trauma stalked her for most of her life. Nonetheless, she set out to create a calm and secure existence for herself and her family. For a time it seemed as though she had succeeded in keeping the ghosts of her childhood at bay until her husband died when she was only thirty years old. She was left with three young children to raise alone on a meager income that kept her in a chronic state of anxiety. 

She succeeded in making her home a haven for her family until her own mental health began to deteriorate when she was about forty years old. She would spend the rest of her life battling ever increasing and debilitating bouts of depression, mania, and paranoia. If karma had been real and fair none of this would ever have happened to her, but it did in spite of all the good deeds that she had done. Somehow she remained kind and loving to the very end of her days, finding joy in the smallest of pleasures. 

If there was even a hint of karma for her it was found in the love that she had spread to the people around her. Upon her death those who had remained faithful to her told touching stories of times that she had brought them out of their own sorrows with a phone call or a sweet message sent in a card. Many had abandoned her because they feared her illness, but those who kept the faith with her understood how precious her unremitting love was. Perhaps in her case karma was always there but hidden under the weight of the challenges that always threatened to sideline her optimism and forgiveness.

On the other hand, I have known individuals who are selfish and abusive that never suffer like my mother did. They seem to be coated with teflon that allows them to avoid retribution for their horrific behaviors. They don’t even seem to realize how toxic they are. Somehow they always have good fortune and a following of people who actually admire their unfeeling ways. They proceed through life with little or no thought of the hurt they have inflicted on others. Karma never seems to darken their doors. 

We humans want to believe that there is a semblance of fairness in life but we too often see just the opposite. The man whose son was murdered knows that neither he nor his child deserved such a tragic end. He watches the murderer laughing and exchanging high fives while he is grieving. He wonders why he has to endure this pain. He knows that he has tried his whole life to be a good man and that his son was an innocent victim. Karma means nothing to him. 

The truth is that bad things happen to good people and good things sometimes happen to bad people. It is a conundrum for those of us who want to believe that consequences for our actions should always be appropriate. We desire rewards and positive reinforcement for our good deeds that do not always transpire. We want justice for the bad things that happen to us. Instead we live in a highly complex society in which many times we must simply be content in knowing that we are living honorable lives with only the reward of being able to feel good about ourselves. Perhaps that is all that really matters. 

I don’t believe that the person whose home burns down is receiving some kind of retribution any more than I believe that the individual who lives a life of luxury and privilege is somehow being rewarded. I think that things happen randomly and some people just have misfortunes that have nothing to do with who they are or how they live their lives. Neither God nor karma randomly inflict people with tragedy anymore than they choose others for happiness. It would be a very unfair world indeed if such were true. Instead each of us should strive to be like my mother who remained good and loving simply because she believed it was the best way to live.

Perhaps we all get our just due when we leave this earth. There are no guarantees while we are here. We are not unthinking puppets being manipulated by rewards and punishments to do right. We choose how we will live because we understand that there is a good and just way to be. We try our best to follow the good path not in hopes of getting a pat on the back, but because we know that it is right.

The past two years have been especially difficult for those who have lost loved ones either from Covid or other causes. Often the deaths have been shocking and tinged with feelings of being alone in a divisive world preoccupied with millions of individual problems. The cause of rugged individualism has been debated and refuted by those who believe that democracy demands a more communal response to the life and death of citizens. While we will probably never know exactly who is more right or wrong, we sense that discussions of how we should all behave during tough times like these is a grey area with no certain answers. 

It reminds me of a discussion that one of my high school teachers once had with us. He called it “The Walk A Mile In My Shoes” symposium. He outlined various scenarios that seemingly demanded a single way of behaving, but which actually were not as clear cut as they at first seemed to be. The world is filled with such moments when determining the best way to act or respond is not so easily defined. What may seem black and white to one person, may lead to shades of grey for another. The key to knowing what to do lies in a willingness to accept that life is almost always more complex than the simple solutions that we apply to it. 

We need to be open to the possibility that there may be exceptions to the thinking and beliefs  by which we guide our lives and those of society as a whole. We have to take all of the circumstances into account before jumping to hard and fast conclusions. Making personal decisions is one thing, but forcing those determinations on others can be difficult. We have to ask ourselves what the overall effect of a generalized rule will be before we enact it. 

I could use hundreds of examples of grey areas, but I will begin with the banning of certain books in school libraries or curriculums. It is understandable that each family has its own set of rules that often dictated by personal or religious beliefs. There is nothing wrong in honoring them, but the way to do so does not necessarily require making everyone abide by the wishes of a few. The problem can be quite easily fixed by offering students and parents choices for reading assignments rather than eradicating particular books totally. 

In fact, my own English teacher did such a thing. He required us to read and report book regularly during the school year and in the summer. While he did not allow us to choose just anything, he did have a list of hundreds of titles from which we might find works that were of interest to us. He also specified that we had to vary the genre of our choices by reading a variety of nonfiction, fiction and poetry. It gave us and our parents some control over what we were reading without totally eliminating some of the more controversial classics for everyone. Since my mom was a great believer in exploring the world by reading as much as possible without strict guidelines I probably read most of the titles that have recently been removed from libraries and curriculum. Others in my class stuck to tamer fare. 

I am personally against abortion but I do not think that I am somehow committing a grave mortal sin by believing that such a decision is extremely personal. I would not presume to judge another woman for terminating a pregnancy. In fact, I have known a number of people who felt that they had to do so. I know how difficult it was for them to reach this decision. The circumstances surrounding their pregnancies almost demanded that they find a way out and I understood why they did what they did with a heavy heart for both them and their unborn. I also grasp the argument that abortion is murder, so the whole idea of it is difficult to fathom. Nonetheless, I don’t believe that It is my right to force my feelings on women whose situations I do not know.

Do we tell the white lie of omission to spare someone’s feelings or is it always important to tell the truth? We know that killing is wrong, but how do we justify self defense or wars? Theft is wrong but if a family is starving and nobody will help is taking an apple from a market justified? History and today’s world is filled with stories in which people resorted to behaviors that most of us see as wrong simply in an effort to survive. When we hear of such incidents we understand that much in life is not as absolute as we might have thought. 

As a teacher i learned how circumstances can often lead to aberrant behavior from students. Parents who demand inordinately high grades from their children are often shocked to learn that they have cheated to keep from being punished. Children being abused sometimes turn into abusers themselves. While educators cannot condone such infractions, it is certainly up to them to get to the heart of why children commit their misdeeds. More often than not, they are attempting to shield themselves from some abuse that is driving their actions. So too it sadly is with adults. 

I have been accused of being wishy washy for believing that we have to consider the why’s and wherefores of grey area responses to various situations. I personally have a rather rigid code of conduct for myself that is derived from twelve years of religious education and my mother’s sterling example. At the same time I have learned that my good fortune of always being surrounded by kindness and love is not generally shared by everyone. The horrors that so many endure force them into the dire situations that I consider to be grey areas of responding. 

I won’t ever condone outright cruelty or evil. I know that it exists and must always be punished to the fullest extent. On the other hand there are those grey areas that complicate my thinking processes just as they should. I’m not willing to join a team or a cult in condemning without great thought. When people are very afraid they sometimes react in iffy ways. It’s up to us to find out why. The world is filled with shades of grey. Understanding that just might save someone from great harm. Who are we to condemn them?