MY DAY: THE POPE IN A BULL PULPIT

Papa, m y grandfather,  walked into the kitchen on his farm to report to my grandmother, aka ‘Big Mama’ , that Sam was finally back in the ‘bull pulpit’.  Up to that point in my young life, the only pulpit I knew of was the one at church.  And Sam was a massive unfriendly bull that the grand childrens were not allowed to ever be around.  We could only watch him from afar.  The conversation continued about the bull’s personality and his territorial meanness.   My Papa died when I was twelve years old.

The bull story left an indelible  image in my mind.  Over the years, I learned  that the bull will graze happily as long as he is not bothered with change.  The bull is a self indulgent beast.  The bull is only angry when there is a sudden change or changes.  Interestingly enough, in  breeding season, one bull will be able to settle as many cows as he can, up to 50 if he is that good  and if he does not have to travel far to render service.   His temper can be wicked and destructive irregardless of his documented  abundance life.  Hence, the term ‘bull-headed’, stubborn, always right, outspoken when wrong.

Sifting through the rhetoric this week with the highly public government shutdown, nagging at us again,  the Pope’s historic visit to America, the subsequent resignation of the ‘speaker-of-the-house,   I thought of  the logic of the bull pulpit that my grandfather talked about.   History services all of us, and the “ color-of- the-day” at this time in our history is change.  We elected a President who happens to be a brilliant man of color.  America needed  Obamacare.  The world need this  a new Pope. The Pope and The President are breaking new ground together in the world.  We need to care for the poor.    Then you have the ‘two legged bulls’, that don’t like the law nor the Pope.  How absurd is this?   America  grandly spends more than forty ($40 Billion) a year on foreign aid.  I wonder is that the answer to caring for the poor.

At the center of the bull’s impasse is the Affordable Care Act, which just will not go away, despite all the ills we have confronting us.   In 2009, The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare  was passed with unexpectedly,  hallelujah-ly  —  approval from the Supreme Court.  The American people spoke, but the bulls, whoever they are and where ever they are, refuse to move on.  The law becomes immaterial when  the lawmaking bulls  and their tea party panthers stage a hostile takeover.  The only clear answer  is that the bulls simply do not like, nor respect, the color of the author or the purpose of the Pope’s world vision for peace.  History and the entire world will definitely take note of this outrageous shameful behavior.   And I sincerely hope the Pope enjoyed his visit.

Ester Davis can be reached at

www.esterday.com