I am officially old.

I should be at the Psychedelic Furs concert (I've had my tickets for months), listening to "Sister Europe" or "The Ghost in You" live for the sixth time since 1982. Instead, I am home and simply exhausted. Yes, indeed, my forties are quite interesting so far, damn it. ;-)

Happy Juneteenth!

Why we Americans don't have a national holiday for (or at least a commemoration) of Juneteenth is really beyond me. After all, it's a spectacularly-important day in the history of this country. Hmm.

It is also Bloomsday, for those of a Joycean bent. Yes...

Sorry to have fallen off the face of the planet, there. It's been busy, but I've a lot to mention (the Episcopal Village West gathering, the Summer Seminar in Portland (on Christian language, taught by Dom Crossan and Marcus Borg), Socialism 2010 (upcoming in July), and my youngest daughter's birthday (also in July). I've missed reading you good folks!

Saints

The saints come to the rescue of this world when hearing
from everywhere the moans of the oppressed.
They run towards them like God's mercy.
These fortresses against weakness,
these doctors of hidden disease,
Are pure love, pure justice, pure mercy; like God they
are unstained and impregnable.

-- Mathnawi II:1933-1936
Translated by Muriel Maufroy
Breathing Truth - Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi
Sanyar Press - London, 1997

Oh, man...

From one of my mail lists today:

Q: Why did the Virgin Mary walk to visit St. Elizabeth?

A: She had already given her Fiat to the angel.

Terrible, huh? I think I'll groan for the next day over that stinker... ;-D

"Embarrassing Career Decisions in Modern Media"

Enjoy this picture of a Scotsman in his quaint, traditional costume.

                                               Sean Connery in Zardoz, 1974.

This I do not grok.

I really want to understand this kind of Christian culture, in every way possible. I mean, I strongly believe that I understand Jehovah's Witnesses better than I do this:

Peevishness

Why are "women's devotionals" so very twee? Why all the cursive fonts and misty, pastel dove graphics? And the contents are often just as "feminine," which usually translates to non-challenging and trite, with a fourth grade reading level. Honestly, I feel like I'm thought to be a dingbat who can only really relate to God through the existence of a husband, a father, or a priest/pastor (male, of course).

What would St. Teresa of Avila do?

(Probably smile and nod, and then go write her own.)

It is a puzzlement...

Over the last couple of years, I have realized something: I simply do not understand Evangelical Protestantism. Oh, I know the history of Evangelicalism, especially in the United States, but I don't really understand the culture, or even the ethos. They just seem to elude me, and I know that this causes me to have a "disconnect" when interacting with folks from evangelical churches and backgrounds. What are the underlying concepts and concerns that drive Evangelicals? Not the outward issues, but the inner ones--the real meat, so to speak.

Does this make sense, or am I too vague?

Besides Randall Balmer's Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (I just ordered it), are there any books y'all can recommend that might help? Or perhaps a website? Maybe some personal experience?

With Gratitude

Thank you to all the mothers out there, and to all those women who have acted in ways that we associate with parenting. I continue to learn a lot from you about being a good mama, and how to recover lovingly and honestly when I've been a bad one. May God bless you!


Mary Harris "Mother" Jones icon written by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM

God bless the Palestinian...

A prayer for the Gazan armed only with a flag

In a place where war now claims many more civilian victims than military, it's about time that the unarmed decided to fight back.

By Bradley Burston, in Haaretz

To my friends in Gaza, with admiration:

God bless the Palestinian who, armed with nothing more than courage, plants a flag.

The Gazan who, week after week, marches to the front line and without a shred of cover, stands in the face of soldiers, gas guns, machine guns, threats and helmets, warning shots and shots to kill – armed only with conviction and a rectangle of cloth on a stick.

And who, in so doing, plants the seed of an idea.

God bless this new armed struggle.

We have declared a 300 meter wide swath of your land near our fences and walls, a No-Man's Land. You, your flag, the reaction of our soldiers, all of it teaches us that the war between us has turned all of the Holy Land into no man's land.

In acts of great bravery, there is great hope. In acts of non-violent resistance, there is unlimited might.

God protect you from us, and from your own people. You will be scoffed at even as you are shot at. There are people on both sides for whom non-violence causes a sense of unease, a sense of being, forgive me, emasculated.

Teach us to grow up.

Teach us what we have lost. Our sense of shame.

In a place where war now claims many more civilian victims than military, it's about time that the unarmed decided to fight back.

Not with bullets and rocks or warplanes or rockets. Not with bomb belts or drones or missiles or sieges.

Not now, years from now, when we will all have matured, when we will feel shame, when we take responsibility over our killings, as we now feel fury over our dead, history will show that violence was the tool only of those who cannot bear to share this land.

Those who make this land unlivable. Those who prefer No Man's Land to a place of life.

Someday, because of you, Gaza will be what it was meant to be. The pearl of Palestine.

And we will be what we were meant to be. Neighbors.

There is no defense against true non-violence.

God bless the villager, the schoolchild, the mother, the hero, armed with nothing more than a flag.

Stand fast. No rocks. You will change every soldier you face. You will change history. You will be the end of this occupation. You will give all of us, life.

March 21st, huh?

Having been raised Roman Catholic, you can imagine that Thomas Cranmer has received fairly short shrift in my religious historical studies. He was one of the clergy instrumental in Henry VIII's divorce of Catherine of Aragon, and three guesses as to whose side I've been on in that...ahem...insignificant bit of history. As a result, he has been portrayed as an opportunist and political schemer, and not as a principled cleric.

In attempting to remedy this, I am presently reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's biography of Cranmer, which is considered definitive for a popular bio. Unfortunately I must admit that, so far, I still don't like the guy very much. We shall see if I reform my opinion before Bloody Mary burns him at the stake this time.

Lou Engle: Liar for "Righteousness"

To the surprise of very few, Lou Engle of The Call Ministries has reversed himself on the draconian anti-gay legislation proposed in Uganda, as reported today in the New York Times:

"Before arriving here last week, Mr. Engle came out with a statement condemning the harsh penalties proposed in the bill, and said that his ministry could not support it. But when he took the stage late on Sunday afternoon, with Ugandan politicians and pastors looking on, he praised the country’s 'courage' and 'righteousness' in promoting the bill.

"'NGOs, the U.N., Unicef, they are all coming in here and promoting an agenda,' Mr. Engle said, referring to nongovernmental organizations. 'Today, America is losing its religious freedom. We are trying to restrain an agenda that is sweeping through the education system. Uganda has become ground zero.'"

Ground Zero? These are innocent people's lives he's endangering. And what religious freedom are Mr. Engle and America losing? I'd really love an honest answer about this constantly-plucked fiddle string, because from where this particular Christian sits, I see little of my religious freedom being sucked away.

From Sexual Minorities Uganda:

"Sexual Minorities Uganda calls on all human rights defenders, organizations, religious communities and leaders, governments, and civil society, globally to take action to ensure that Lou Engle and his associates do not set foot in Uganda and that the Call Uganda does not proceed with this inflammatory and hate-inducing plan. While Sexual Minorities Uganda supports freedom of worship, we recognize the need for restriction on any speech that incites hatred and violence against a minority group. If a prayer event is to be held in Uganda, it should be done in a manner which encourages Christ-like love and acceptance and does not incite hatred and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people."

Amen, and would that Mr. Engle and his ilk show some Christ-like love one of these days, rather than playing out these Dominionist "Joel's Army" fantasies, and encouraging the same in other countries.

Argh.

With the sore throat, headache, and now runny nose, I have obviously given birth to a fine young cold. No Mass for me tonight. As a person who attempts being an adult for the most part, I will refrain from moping, and try to get to Eucharist during the week.

In other news, this made me laugh out loud today:

Migraines

Yep, I suffer from the little buggers. Through my spouse I have good insurance (hooray for Google and S.'s awesome coding skills), so I've had the great fortune of seeing a couple of neurologists. My latest one specializes in migraines, and thinks that she might be able to get me completely migraine-free eventually. Needless to say, this is one idea I can completely get behind!

I'm presently taking a new medication called Sumavel, which is delivered subcutaneously using a tiny blast of air. No needles. It reminds me of Bones McCoy's "hypospray" on classic Star Trek, and even makes the same little "whoosh" sound as the drug is delivered. It hurts a bit, but nothing like my old Imitrex injections.

The kids are terribly good when I have a migraine, and tiptoe heavily around like tiny elephants, trying to "be quiet for Mama." They actually do a pretty good job for a four year old and a six year old, with only the occasional shriek when they get into a squabble.

Still, migraines have really taken a good chunk out of the past few years, and I will be happy to see the last of them if my neurologist is successful. While I've learned a lot of patience through suffering them, I'd like a bit more opportunity to enact that patience through active means, rather than lying silently in darkened rooms. *laugh*

"Empathy and Epistemic Closure"

I am terribly fond of Slacktivist at times (even though I am NOT a libertarian), and find this particular piece very timely in my own life. Personally, I would extend the critique to the left as well as the right, but the point of the essay is quite pertinent to the American social and political climate.

"Empathy, at its most basic level, is epistemic. It is sometimes discussed as though it is identical to love, respect or regard for others, but really it precedes that. It is what makes such love, respect or regard for others possible -- what informs it. Empathy is a way of seeing, and therefore a way of knowing. To avoid empathy is to limit one's own perspective to only one's own perspective -- to choose not to see and therefore to choose not to know. Worse than that -- it is to choose not to be able to know."