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.<\/p>\n
As stand-up comic Robin Williams might have quipped on the vaunted melting pot the U.S. aspires to be as \u201chardly melting though it has generally gone to pot!\u201d<\/p>\n
I do not find anything funny about the Michael Brown case that reportedly began when a cruising officer at 2pm told two young boys to get off the road where they were walking, into the sidewalk where the officer wanted them to be.\u00a0The 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or, perhaps, that\u2019s where the tragedy lies: it has become just another Trayvon Martin case, as one of Martin\u2019s 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.\u00a0 The Police Commish has his hands full for another media circus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0Robin 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:\u00a0 Good Morning, Baghdad!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The allusion is on the war-comedy movie of Good Morning, Vietnam.\u00a0Williams played a radio DJ for the Armed Forces radio that was more irreverent than the ordinary.\u00a0The simplistic plot of the movie did not deter in my catching the bug on Robin\u2019s brand of humor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I encountered Williams in the Mork and Mindy TV shows when I came in and out of the U.S. 1977-82.\u00a0 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).\u00a0Orkians grew from mature looks at birth into infants when they finally die!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I caught him in the World According to Garp, making him a steady presence in my meditative council for his humor in Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Night at the Museum, The Man of the Year, and the various voice characters (e.g., Fern Gully and Happy Feet) he created. Our reference to USO comes from his faithful appearances to entertain the troops in the Afghan and Iraqi war zones.<\/p>\n
His rehab away from cocaine addiction is a matter of record, and his bout with alcoholism was often a subject of his own jokes.\u00a0He married a Pinoyze with whom he had two kids, but he guarded his privacy and we respected his choice.\u00a0It was his brand of comedy, impudent but real, that got us glued.<\/p>\n
We are not bothered by the maner of his exit.\u00a0 A dear friend takes depression pills and I know how that can get ugly.\u00a0 We are not being dismissive of what many consider \u201cunnecessary\u201d exist measures either.\u00a0I 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is the manner of Robin William\u2019s living of his life that we celebrate at this moment of completion.\u00a0I have said it of myself, and of others before, without reservation nor apology, and of Robin Williams: 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.\u00a0 This gem of truth I live with applies to anyone else who comes into this earth.\u00a0 Arrival is not at the end of life; it is at the entry at birth!\u00a0 The rest is a case of unfolding in active dialogue and evolution within one\u2019s chosen environment and locale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do not know much about Michael Brown, though I suspect, the news will give us all the details of his personal upbringing.\u00a0We join his mother\u2019s wishes that the case focus on Brown\u2019s shooting rather than he be sidelined again into another celebrated cause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robin Williams will have many retrospective moments before the year is over.\u00a0His was a life not easy to dismiss, and a sense of humor not easy to discard.\u00a0His ability to take life itself as the subject of his humor was remarkable.\u00a0At a USO performance, in the middle of his monologue, the bugle of \u201cRetreat\u201d sounded as the flag was lowered.\u00a0The crowd immediately stood at attention, executed an about face, and ignored Williams altogether.\u00a0 He turned the intentional about face into hearty guffaws from his audience.<\/p>\n
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: L\u2019achaim!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One colleague ministers to a Presbytery in St. Louis, MO not too distant from Ferguson…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[525,163,21,201],"class_list":["post-176617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-armed-forces","tag-kids","tag-life","tag-vietnam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}