Weblog 163
March 22, 2009~ 2:15am
We are well into Lent with Easter coming up, and for Christians everywhere (for many of them anyway) this is a time of reflection on the slain Christ in the same way that this lovely artwork- with its pictures within pictures, shows many things inside a predominant image, the event of twenty-one hundred years ago is seen differently by many of us.
I'm still uncomfortable around it.
It always felt like the story of a big brother taking on bullies- (after his kid brother has done something boneheaded) -and instead of the little guy getting the crap out of him, big brother takes the beating, gets a concussion and dies.
And it's always pissed me off that his father sent him to do such a hideous thing to begin with. Is it any wonder that so many Catholics dwell in guilt? Fact is, in my own mind there's such confusion over just this very aspect, I often have to lay it aside and stop thinking about it, or I begin to feel angrier and angrier.
So what is faith then? Is it the absence of doubt? Not by a long shot... faith is something that persists in the face of doubt- which is its Siamese twin -attached as surely as an arm or a leg.
I've always had difficulty believing those with an insanely glowing look of absolute conviction... they're usually greedy for converts. There's safety in numbers.
So many things in life depend upon point of view. What we look for.......what we see and what we choose to see... or what chooses us.
Is this a tete-a-tete between lovers, or is the grinning aspect of a death's head staring out at us? Is it both? See, there's the thing that trips me up: what if it's always - and only - 'both'?
I'm an admitted 'black and white' thinker, and it's a curse because I know that the world is made up of shades of gray, and yet I cannot stop my very nature from wanting things neatly divided into two distinct camps.
Usually what happens is-- the neat division comes first-- followed by second thoughts and reconsiderations, torturous doubts and second-guesses, and then the world shifts- and it's dizzying. So what is truth, then? The first? The second? Both?
Easter makes me especially contemplative because it's a reminder of the big blood sacrifice, and with it-- the discomfiture of guilt. It's the consecration of the Mass and the breast-beating, and the "Lord I am not worthy"-- (and I know I ain't.)
"For God so loved the world".......he sent us
a Quixote.... and we killed him outright. We saw only the man-- not the journey, which is there in the picture all around him-- that the life was the message. Put a crown of thorns on Don Quixote's head, and you have another Christ-- scorned for being a nut. (I think if given time and not recanting his madness, Quixote would have been murdered too. Folks seem to have the need to kill innocence.) And do you see that long-suffering blue Mary way up in the corner?-- her infinite grief is another thing we lug around.
We are a sad lot. Hard to believe so much could have been given for our sakes-- and it's always been tough for me to believe it, and angering-- as I said before. Oh, I'm able to feel a closeness to Jesus-- but his father is like smoke to me. Smoke with teeth.
Ephemeral...unreasonable....and mean...just other. This is not a good thing for a Catholic, so I stand on the periphery and doubt. With tremendous forces pulling in two directions. How about you?
March 23, 2008~ 6:15pm
You know.....I get a big old swelled heart whenever I see acts of kindness...we need MORE of it! I was sent these adorable pictures today, of koala bears- normally very shy and keeping to themselves in the privacy of the foilage- approaching humans due to a severe drought that Australia recently experienced. The pictures were dated early January of this year- (I hope they've gotten some much needed rain by this time)- but during that period, the shy little koalas began to approach people. People who had water...
Just look at this wee beggar approaching a cyclist, hoping for a hand-out
AND HE GOT ONE, TOO! lol. Sooooooooooooo sweet!
Normally these critter avoid the suburbs, and get all the water they need from the eucalyptus leaves they love to eat-- but I guess the long dry spell pretty much parched the trees as well. Even swimming pools offered rare oases for this thirsty guy, tongue out...drinking.
Eventually, with those nifty nails and clever hands, holding a cup became a snap for these wonderful creatures.
And folks helped out.....they showed compassion and affection. Glory be, they cared- and I just had to share that. As I said, not enough of that around, and like the koalas, I take it where I can get it. Sometimes, the world doesn't wobble at all....spins nice and true.
March 25, 2009~ 5:15pm
From kindness -- to ill-will and anger --(ever have a day like that?) From the moment I got out of my car after a long day at the office, I was confronted by my neighbor, who was out cleaning up for the spring/summer annual 'COOK OUT' season (meaning a yardful of relatives gawking at me whenever I enter or leave my home -oh joy!- something I dread every year)-- and there she stood, dour, angry and asking (yet again) when I was going to cut my tree down. She wanted to know if I was having 'problems with my roof' - (implying she was) - and how the roofman was out yesterday and told her that her gutters were full of pine needles, etc etc etc.
I told her I had no intention of cutting down my tree, and why doesn't she screen her gutters. She glared- much like any other cleanliness expert would have
(I'll bet she has "NO WIRE HANGERS!" either...) well, I don't have 2000.00 to fork out for removing a tree I never planted in the first place --the thing just grew and grew, and it stood here when I bought the place 20 years ago. Got me checking on local laws, though. I could find none specific to my situation, but I did find these strange laws still on the books in Pennsylvania- and it was the first laugh I had since I left my car in the carport.
• A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel.
• A special cleaning ordinance bans homemakers from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.
• All fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires.
• Allentown: There is a ban on men becoming aroused in public.
• Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.
• Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass. If the horses appear skittish, the motorist must take his car apart, piece by piece, and hide it under the nearest bushes.
• By law, "watch stuffers" are unwelcome in McKeesport, Pa. Now, no one is quite sure what a watch stuffer does, but whatever he does, he better do it somewhere else.
• Carlisle: In the middle of town, one must pay a fee of $50 dollars a year to park on a particular block. At night, however, the cars must be moved for street cleaning. This law is enforced even if snow or ice prevents the cars from being moved.
• Connellsville: One's pants may be worn no lower than five inches below the waist.
• Danville: All fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires.
• Dynamite is not to be used to catch fish.
• Fireworks stores may not sell fireworks to Pennsylvania residents.
• If a motorist sees a horse coming down the road, the driver must pull off to the side of the road and cover the vehicle with canvas. If the horse is still scared the driver must get out of his car and take it apart until the horse isn't scared anymore.
• In Bensalem, Pennsylvania it is illegal to race mufflerless go-karts after 6PM on Sunday.
• In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth.
• In Hazelton, Pennsylvania, there is a law on the books that prohibits a person from sipping a carbonated drink while lecturing students in a school auditorium.
• In Pennsylvania, "any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue."
• In Philadelphia, you can't put pretzels in bags.
• In the Mount Pocono region any group of 5 or more Native Americans are to be considered a raiding party and may be killed on the spot.
• In York, Pennsylvania, you can't sit down while watering your lawn with a hose.
• It sounds like the title of a rock album or something, but "Coasting on Beaver Street" is illegal in Edgeworth, Pa.
• It is contrary to Pennsylvania law to discharge a gun, cannon, revolver or other explosive weapon at a wedding.
• It is illegal to have over 16 women live in a house together because that constitutes a brothel. However up to • 120 men can live together, without breaking the law.
• It it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.
• Millville: One may not shoot any dog that is found wandering the streets. The sale of alcohol is prohibited.
• Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.
• Morrisville: It is required that a woman have a permit to wear cosmetics.
• Motorized vehicles are not to be sold on Sundays.
• Newtown: Every outlet or switch (which can be purchased for 59 cents) that is installed requires an electrical inspection fee of 1 dollar and 33 cents.
• No man may purchase alcohol without written consent from his wife.
• No more than two packages of beer at a time may be purchased, unless you are buying from an official "beer distributor".
• No one is allowed to sleep on a refrigerator. Stoves, dishwashers and microwave ovens are not specifically mentioned.
• Pittsburgh: It is still illegal to bring a donkey or a mule onto a trolley car. No one is allowed to sleep on a refrigerator.
• Ridley Park: You cannot walk backwards eating peanuts in front of the Barnstormers Auditorium during a performance.
• Tarentum: Horses are not to be tied to parking meters.
• The state law of Pennsylvania prohibits singing in the bathtub.
• Though you do not need a fishing license to fish on your own land, but a hunting license is required to hunt on your own land.
• Though you do not need a fishing license to fish on your own land, a hunting license is required to hunt on your own land.
• Witchcraft was first legalized in the colony of Pennsylvania.
• You may not catch a fish by any body part except the mouth.
• You may not catch a fish with your hands.
• You may not sing in the bathtub.
LOL!!! For these- and ALL the goofy laws from each of these United States, visit Crazy Laws at BoredDotCom. I LOVED my visit! (My tree may be untidy, but at least I've haven't slept on top of my refrigerator yet...however, I frequently sing in the tub. Shhhh! Don't tell my neightbors.)
March 26, 2009~ 8:30pm
Enough bellyachin'....spring has sprung! April's edition of The Blue House is now online. Beginning our 8th year....
G'wan....have a gander. Happy Spring, everyone. xoxo
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
We are well into Lent with Easter coming up, and for Christians everywhere (for many of them anyway) this is a time of reflection on the slain Christ in the same way that this lovely artwork- with its pictures within pictures, shows many things inside a predominant image, the event of twenty-one hundred years ago is seen differently by many of us.
I'm still uncomfortable around it.
It always felt like the story of a big brother taking on bullies- (after his kid brother has done something boneheaded) -and instead of the little guy getting the crap out of him, big brother takes the beating, gets a concussion and dies.
And it's always pissed me off that his father sent him to do such a hideous thing to begin with. Is it any wonder that so many Catholics dwell in guilt? Fact is, in my own mind there's such confusion over just this very aspect, I often have to lay it aside and stop thinking about it, or I begin to feel angrier and angrier.
So what is faith then? Is it the absence of doubt? Not by a long shot... faith is something that persists in the face of doubt- which is its Siamese twin -attached as surely as an arm or a leg.
I've always had difficulty believing those with an insanely glowing look of absolute conviction... they're usually greedy for converts. There's safety in numbers.
So many things in life depend upon point of view. What we look for.......what we see and what we choose to see... or what chooses us.
Is this a tete-a-tete between lovers, or is the grinning aspect of a death's head staring out at us? Is it both? See, there's the thing that trips me up: what if it's always - and only - 'both'?
I'm an admitted 'black and white' thinker, and it's a curse because I know that the world is made up of shades of gray, and yet I cannot stop my very nature from wanting things neatly divided into two distinct camps.
Usually what happens is-- the neat division comes first-- followed by second thoughts and reconsiderations, torturous doubts and second-guesses, and then the world shifts- and it's dizzying. So what is truth, then? The first? The second? Both?
Easter makes me especially contemplative because it's a reminder of the big blood sacrifice, and with it-- the discomfiture of guilt. It's the consecration of the Mass and the breast-beating, and the "Lord I am not worthy"-- (and I know I ain't.)
"For God so loved the world".......he sent us
a Quixote.... and we killed him outright. We saw only the man-- not the journey, which is there in the picture all around him-- that the life was the message. Put a crown of thorns on Don Quixote's head, and you have another Christ-- scorned for being a nut. (I think if given time and not recanting his madness, Quixote would have been murdered too. Folks seem to have the need to kill innocence.) And do you see that long-suffering blue Mary way up in the corner?-- her infinite grief is another thing we lug around.
We are a sad lot. Hard to believe so much could have been given for our sakes-- and it's always been tough for me to believe it, and angering-- as I said before. Oh, I'm able to feel a closeness to Jesus-- but his father is like smoke to me. Smoke with teeth.
Ephemeral...unreasonable....and mean...just other. This is not a good thing for a Catholic, so I stand on the periphery and doubt. With tremendous forces pulling in two directions. How about you?
March 23, 2008~ 6:15pm
You know.....I get a big old swelled heart whenever I see acts of kindness...we need MORE of it! I was sent these adorable pictures today, of koala bears- normally very shy and keeping to themselves in the privacy of the foilage- approaching humans due to a severe drought that Australia recently experienced. The pictures were dated early January of this year- (I hope they've gotten some much needed rain by this time)- but during that period, the shy little koalas began to approach people. People who had water...
Just look at this wee beggar approaching a cyclist, hoping for a hand-out
AND HE GOT ONE, TOO! lol. Sooooooooooooo sweet!
Normally these critter avoid the suburbs, and get all the water they need from the eucalyptus leaves they love to eat-- but I guess the long dry spell pretty much parched the trees as well. Even swimming pools offered rare oases for this thirsty guy, tongue out...drinking.
Eventually, with those nifty nails and clever hands, holding a cup became a snap for these wonderful creatures.
And folks helped out.....they showed compassion and affection. Glory be, they cared- and I just had to share that. As I said, not enough of that around, and like the koalas, I take it where I can get it. Sometimes, the world doesn't wobble at all....spins nice and true.
March 25, 2009~ 5:15pm
From kindness -- to ill-will and anger --(ever have a day like that?) From the moment I got out of my car after a long day at the office, I was confronted by my neighbor, who was out cleaning up for the spring/summer annual 'COOK OUT' season (meaning a yardful of relatives gawking at me whenever I enter or leave my home -oh joy!- something I dread every year)-- and there she stood, dour, angry and asking (yet again) when I was going to cut my tree down. She wanted to know if I was having 'problems with my roof' - (implying she was) - and how the roofman was out yesterday and told her that her gutters were full of pine needles, etc etc etc.
I told her I had no intention of cutting down my tree, and why doesn't she screen her gutters. She glared- much like any other cleanliness expert would have
(I'll bet she has "NO WIRE HANGERS!" either...) well, I don't have 2000.00 to fork out for removing a tree I never planted in the first place --the thing just grew and grew, and it stood here when I bought the place 20 years ago. Got me checking on local laws, though. I could find none specific to my situation, but I did find these strange laws still on the books in Pennsylvania- and it was the first laugh I had since I left my car in the carport.
• A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel.
• A special cleaning ordinance bans homemakers from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.
• All fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires.
• Allentown: There is a ban on men becoming aroused in public.
• Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.
• Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass. If the horses appear skittish, the motorist must take his car apart, piece by piece, and hide it under the nearest bushes.
• By law, "watch stuffers" are unwelcome in McKeesport, Pa. Now, no one is quite sure what a watch stuffer does, but whatever he does, he better do it somewhere else.
• Carlisle: In the middle of town, one must pay a fee of $50 dollars a year to park on a particular block. At night, however, the cars must be moved for street cleaning. This law is enforced even if snow or ice prevents the cars from being moved.
• Connellsville: One's pants may be worn no lower than five inches below the waist.
• Danville: All fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires.
• Dynamite is not to be used to catch fish.
• Fireworks stores may not sell fireworks to Pennsylvania residents.
• If a motorist sees a horse coming down the road, the driver must pull off to the side of the road and cover the vehicle with canvas. If the horse is still scared the driver must get out of his car and take it apart until the horse isn't scared anymore.
• In Bensalem, Pennsylvania it is illegal to race mufflerless go-karts after 6PM on Sunday.
• In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth.
• In Hazelton, Pennsylvania, there is a law on the books that prohibits a person from sipping a carbonated drink while lecturing students in a school auditorium.
• In Pennsylvania, "any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue."
• In Philadelphia, you can't put pretzels in bags.
• In the Mount Pocono region any group of 5 or more Native Americans are to be considered a raiding party and may be killed on the spot.
• In York, Pennsylvania, you can't sit down while watering your lawn with a hose.
• It sounds like the title of a rock album or something, but "Coasting on Beaver Street" is illegal in Edgeworth, Pa.
• It is contrary to Pennsylvania law to discharge a gun, cannon, revolver or other explosive weapon at a wedding.
• It is illegal to have over 16 women live in a house together because that constitutes a brothel. However up to • 120 men can live together, without breaking the law.
• It it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.
• Millville: One may not shoot any dog that is found wandering the streets. The sale of alcohol is prohibited.
• Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.
• Morrisville: It is required that a woman have a permit to wear cosmetics.
• Motorized vehicles are not to be sold on Sundays.
• Newtown: Every outlet or switch (which can be purchased for 59 cents) that is installed requires an electrical inspection fee of 1 dollar and 33 cents.
• No man may purchase alcohol without written consent from his wife.
• No more than two packages of beer at a time may be purchased, unless you are buying from an official "beer distributor".
• No one is allowed to sleep on a refrigerator. Stoves, dishwashers and microwave ovens are not specifically mentioned.
• Pittsburgh: It is still illegal to bring a donkey or a mule onto a trolley car. No one is allowed to sleep on a refrigerator.
• Ridley Park: You cannot walk backwards eating peanuts in front of the Barnstormers Auditorium during a performance.
• Tarentum: Horses are not to be tied to parking meters.
• The state law of Pennsylvania prohibits singing in the bathtub.
• Though you do not need a fishing license to fish on your own land, but a hunting license is required to hunt on your own land.
• Though you do not need a fishing license to fish on your own land, a hunting license is required to hunt on your own land.
• Witchcraft was first legalized in the colony of Pennsylvania.
• You may not catch a fish by any body part except the mouth.
• You may not catch a fish with your hands.
• You may not sing in the bathtub.
LOL!!! For these- and ALL the goofy laws from each of these United States, visit Crazy Laws at BoredDotCom. I LOVED my visit! (My tree may be untidy, but at least I've haven't slept on top of my refrigerator yet...however, I frequently sing in the tub. Shhhh! Don't tell my neightbors.)
March 26, 2009~ 8:30pm
Enough bellyachin'....spring has sprung! April's edition of The Blue House is now online. Beginning our 8th year....
G'wan....have a gander. Happy Spring, everyone. xoxo
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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