Common Wealth

"So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12.5

That's a tough one.
It's the JFK Jig.

Manhattan is just too small for the likes of Qaddafi, Ahmadinejad, Medvedev, Barak, and me...

-Puerto Rico, My heart's devotion
Let it sink back in the ocean
Always the hurricanes blowing, Always the population growing. And the money owing
And the sunlight streaming. And the natives steaming
I like the island Manhattan
Smoke on your pipe
And put that in!

I like to be in America.

Alright by me in America.

-I like the city of San Juan.

I know a boat you can get on... Bernstein and Sondheim

I tell you what, these Puerto Ricans have it made in the shade, and I am not so sure why they want to be the 51st state of America. They are already a part of the US Economy with federal funding but with a territorial rule which keeps them in control of their domestic affairs. They have their own constitution and elect their own officials. They travel freely throughout the United States. They do no pay federal taxes, are in charge of their own National Guard, have impeccable weather, decent rum and did I mention party like rock stars?

In my years of living in the Caribean, never did I see such gorgeous revelers than when the Puerto Rican Navy came to town. Rafting their mammoth yachts starboard to port , heavy handing the cocktails, cranking the Salsa, and shaking what their mothers gave them all long weekend.. long....

Yet many left and continue to migrate from this grand island in search of the "American Dream" and despite their US Citizen status endure continued discrimination and often stick to their own. PR's are the largest Latino population in New York...

This morning as the Puerto Rican flag waves gracefully in the tropical breeze, I stare out at the emerald mountains with splashes of bold orange roofs standing as a backdrop to the shades of cerulean sea. The pride is abundant.

And I wonder why so many like me swapped this life of easy coconut palms and chase their exhausting concrete passion.

Is the grass greener?