Archive for the ‘ Uncategorized ’ Category

Yes there is. No, there isn’t.

For you, maybe it is a point of debate. Maybe you don’t care enough to debate. That’s your thing. I believe, so: Yes there is. Yes there is a God. Frankly, it doesn’t matter at all to Him what you call Him, just as long as you do. This is not a semantics exercise.

For those that don’t believe there is a God. For those that don’t believe there is anything in store for us after this life. For those who don’t see any point, rhyme or reason to this life. For those who are too interested in accumulating the most toys, using the most things, exploiting the most situations, abusing the most people, I wish you the best. No, I really do. But, I am not like you and I don’t want to be like you.

Because I believe in God, I believe there is a life after this one, and it will last a lot longer than this one. It will also not be comparable to this one. So, whether you’re into Fires of Eternal Damnation (in Dante’s Inferno, the Devil was not surrounded by fire; did he know something, or was he just being Italian?), or Streets of Gold and Fountains of Milk and Honey, well, guess again.

I also believe in Judgment. As in a Final Judgment. As in “sheep you come here and goats you go there”. I am no Biblical scholar (unfortunately, one of the many available gifts that were not sitting on the shelf when I was conceived), but in my reading, I have not be able to avoid Judgment throughout the Bible – it is a recurrent theme. It is what makes Mercy possible (The Major Theme of the Bible, aka Jesus Christ). No Judgment, no Mercy. But, if we’re all saved, then what is the point of Judgment; what was the point of Jesus; why did he say the things He did? Nope, in my cosmology, there is God, there is Eternal Life, there is Heaven and there is Hell. And, since the Catholics have had more time than most to think about it, we have come up with Purgatory (cf 2 Machabees 12, 40-46). I think it was Avery Cardinal Dulles who quipped: “Believe in Purgatory? I’m depending on it!” That is good enough for me.

Begs the question, tho, doesn’t it? To wit: Am I saved? We certainly all have that opportunity – the offer is there, the door (gate) is there – all we have to do is choose. Yep, that’s it: free will, free choice. Unfortunately, this free will thing is also our greatest enemy. Pogo was right: the enemy is us. But, am I saved? Certainly a possibility – all things are possible under God. Also equally possible that I won’t see the gilt streets, maybe ever, maybe for a very long time (enter Purgatory). Can I earn salvation? Nope, no way. But I can prevent my own salvation. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

Ultimately, of course, This Life is just preparation for the Next Life. This Life is not the end-all and be-all; it is just a dress rehearsal. What we do now will follow us. Isn’t that a pleasant thought? How many people do we know that we’d rather not see in Heaven? They’re probably thinking the same about us. Did Groucho have it right: “I would never join a club that would have me as a member”?

But, whichever side of the fence you are on, you should live this life congruent with your beliefs. That might be called “integrity” which is in very short supply these days for obvious reasons. As my good friend Andy Dufresne said: “Get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.” (How do you spell “Zihuatanejo,” anyway?)

2013
05/21
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
TAGS


Leave a comment

Stupid is as stupid does

St Peter: “You look surprised to be standing here.”
Me: “Well, I didn’t think suicides got this far.”
St Peter: “Suicides don’t. But all you’re guilty of is extreme stupidity.”
Me: “That’s it? Just stupidity? Any one act, or a whole life time?”
St Peter: “You do seem to have been ‘challenged’ on more than one occasion; but it was that last thing, the one with the flying suit, that pretty much took the prize.”
Me: “Oh, yeah? So that was ‘stupid’ and not, a, um, successful ‘death wish’?”
St Peter: “Oh? Death wish, was it? That does change things a bit.”
Me: “No, I meant that as a figure of speech. Just an expression.”
St Peter: “You’ve no doubt heard the expression, ‘be careful what you wish for’?”
Me: “Well, yeah; but, I figured it was just that: an expression, like ‘no one expects the Spanish Inquisition’.”
St Peter: “That one caught me, too.”
Me: “You – of all people – were surprised by the Spanish Inquisition?”
St Peter: “No, Monty Python. Always loved Monty Python.”
Me: “I don’t suppose ‘God has a sense of humor’ is just an expression, too?”
St Peter: “That’s one’s true, sure. Quite the kidder, is the Old Man.”
Me: “I’m sorry to interrupt. And I do appreciate that time is meaningless in Eternity. But, the suspense is killing me. You know, so to speak.”
St Peter: “Oh, yes: back to business. Let’s see here: for such extreme stupidity – “
Me: “I’m sorry, again. But, which part was the ‘extremely’ stupid?”
St Peter: “Degrees of stupid? I suppose that’s true. How about we just say ignoring the ‘don’t try this at home’ part and leave it at that?”
Me: “Ok. But, I liked the “professional flyers” part, myself.”
St Peter: “Good point.”
pause
St Peter: “You still here?”
Me: “I’m new at this, but I think ‘dispatch’ is your department?”
St Peter: “Yes, quite right. ‘Extreme stupidity’… yes, here we are: you get to relive your teenage years.”
Me: “I thought that was a one-time thing?”
St Peter: “All things are possible under God.”
Me: “Unquestionably.”
St Peter: “But, not as a teenager.”
Me: “That’s a relief.”
St Peter: “Be careful what-“
Me: “’I wish for.’ I know.”
St Peter: “No, you get to go back and be the parent of a teenager.”
Me: “I thought that was what Hell would look like.”
St Peter: “You’re right, there’s not much difference; except that in Hell, the teenagers never grow up and they never move out.”
Me: “I see your point.”
St Peter: “Was there every any doubt?”
Me: “Absolutely not; but I am here for stupidity. And extreme, at that.”
St Peter: “Who would have thought you’d get so smart just standing here?”
Me: “Just the stupid thing, nothing else? Wow! I guess God is merciful!”
St Peter: “Oh, this is just the first round.”
Me: “The first round? You mean I gotta come back? I thought there was only one judgment?”
St Peter: “Only one judgment per sin. And, I see you have racked-up quite a list. Hindus may be on to something.”
Me: “Do I get a preview?”
St Peter: “Yeah, we can ease your pain a little bit. What’s next? Oh, after the teenage parent experience – how’d you avoid that, oh, here it is: yes, ‘mid-life crisis’ – you will be due for, um, ego-centricity.”
Me: “I don’t even know what that means; how could I have had too much, or is it too little?”
St Peter: “In a nutshell –“
Me: “I’m in no hurry.”
St Peter: “It is a long line behind you and there are no toilet facilities, you know?”
Me: “Toilet facilities? I didn’t think the dead needed those.”
St Peter: “A little heavenly humor. Sorry for the digression.”
Me: “Back to the, um….”
St Peter: “Eating too much – gluttony, exercising too little – sloth, playing too hard – hedonism, not praying enough – that’s really stupid. The usual, considering your circumstances.”
Me: “That would seem to be pretty much what everybody else did; so, does everyone have to answer for all that?”
St Peter: “Yep.”
Me: “I don’t get any consideration as a product of my culture?”
St Peter: “You were stupid, not ignorant.”
Me: “And the difference would be?”
St Peter: “What was it Forrest Gump said?”
Me: “Stupid is as stupid does?”
St Peter: “Yeah, that’s it. And the ignorant part was that you did know better and you chose not to use the stuff between your ears.”
Me: “Ok, when do I get started?”
St Peter: “Well, just stand over there and listen to these next few – they’re doozies.”
Me: “I get to listen to others confess their sins?”
St Peter: “Why not? They have all heard yours.”
Me: “Now you tell me?”
St Peter: “You were stupid, not –“
Me: “Ignorant. Yeah, I know.”

2013
05/20
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Is anybody home?

Are there even any lights on? Well, yes: but the “light” seems to be coming from a very large, very thin, flat-panel “tv” (can we still call these things “tv”? they don’t seem to have much at all in common with my parents’ old Magnavox, or was it a Zenith?). In other words, although there must surely be human beings inside the house (unless Felix and Fido are the only ones vegging), there don’t seem to be any thinking creatures about the place.

No, not just the “what’s for lunch?” kind of thinking; but critical thinking. Or, is critical thinking like the bus that got us this far and dropped us off at the end of the line and has left us scratching some part of our anatomy?

How did we get to this point where anyone – let alone the president of the United States – can use the works “God bless” and “Planned Parenthood” in the same sentence, and no one seems to care? No, that’s not it: It’s not that no one seems to care, but rather that everybody cares about something else. We are not talking about a dichotomy: we are talking about a proper dog’s breakfast in critical thinking. No surprise that it has come out of the present incumbent of the White House. What is a surprise is that there is no hue and cry from those who have knuckled under to what John Stuart Mill called the despotism of conformism.

While the prevailing winds tend to blow toward the theory that life here on earth has no intrinsic meaning, and human beings have no intrinsic value, I don’t believe we are passionately apathetic. Quite the contrary, I believe we do care, and care very intently. About only ourselves and no one else. Um, no, that’s not it, either. How about we care only about ourselves and only about today? Yes, that is closer to the mark.

Look around you at the most basic attributes; start with diet. Americans obviously consume more calories than any society in the history of human kind. Furthermore, Americans are the most well informed, the most highly educated (after a fashion) of any culture, and yet the most obese. And, we still smoke. And, we still drive while drunk. We care passionately about our right to choose; and you and tomorrow be damned.

So, while we have been, well, consumed with consumption, we have let ourselves and our culture go to, ok, I’ll say it: pot. We spend billions on putting lipstick on the pig. We spend further billions in gym memberships while we pay “illegals” to cut our grass and babysit our kids. We spend untold billions buying little (well, lately, getting bigger and bigger) machines to cart our ponderous bulks around, while complaining about the price of gas, the dirty air, and the taxes to pay for “defense” (against whom? Saudi Arabian born terrorists, or China?).

Connect the dots, people! Don’t bother to believe in religion – God forbid! Don’t concern yourself with any kind of life after this one, but try to think about tomorrow – if not your kids and grandchildren, then your pension. Maybe your heart, too.

Don’t obsess about the messenger, but you might do yourself the honor of considering the message:

It’s later than you think.

2013
05/20
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
2 comments

Distance

I don’t know which I find more sad: That everything I know about my daughter, with whom I was once so very close, I get from her Facebook page (we’ve lived w/n two hours’ drive from each other for the past four years, but she refuses to see me; I’ve stopped asking). Or, what she finds worthy of her time on Facebook are things I find incomprehensible.

She has had quite a lengthy discussion lately on the tragedy in Cleveland where a very sick man apparently kidnapped and held three women (and the born-in-captivity daughter of one of those women) for ten years. Yes, a tragedy, and one whose impact on those women I can’t begin to imagine. But, to expand the speculation to the brothers of the kidnapper, and what they knew, when she’s lived the past 27 years of her life half-a-continent away is just pure gossip. No sympathy for the victims, just retribution for the guilty. Then, of course, there is the trumpeting of the passage of the redefinition of marriage in a few more states, as if that relationship between a man and a woman can be legislated. So what are you going to do if it doesn’t work out? Blame the politicians for that, too?

But no mention of Kermit Gosnell the butcher of Philadelphia who was found guilty of murdering the babies whose pregnant mothers came to his house of horrors. No mention of Angelina Jolie who had the inestimable courage to speak about her double mastectomy – a movie star who relies on her radiant good looks has admitted to radical (in more ways than one) surgery. Yawn.

Yes, this is all part of my shock that those who claim to be “liberals” are just as close-minded as those who claim to be “conservatives.” I had heard years ago that, when you get to the extreme fringe in politics, the left and the right meet; but I had no idea that what that really meant was that they share the same calcified inability to listen. It’s as tho being able to plug your ears determines where you are on the political/religious/ethic/moral spectrums. “Moderates” become, by default, those who can entertain and even appreciate an opposing point of view, w/o becoming apoplectic. Adolf Hitler, at his frothing-mouth, podium-pounding best is the role model, I guess – for everybody who has all the answers and can barely tolerate those of us who are trying to understand the questions.

The geographical distance shrinks to nothing when compared to the emotional and spiritual.

2013
05/15
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
TAGS



7 comments

Polaris

The star that is commonly referred to as the “North Star” has been estimated to be approximately 434 light years from earth (or, 133 parsecs, which sounds so very Star Trek, but which, in fact was coined in 1913 by Herbert Turner); in any other words: pretty far away. Yet, for some, it can be used for navigation here on earth, for it reliably identifies True North. A reference, not of this world, for finding your way around on this world (even when a compass or GPS might fail). ‘Course, you have to find it, and you have to know how to use it for navigation, it does not broadcast a text or voice saying to turn left in 200 yards. But, I know from experience that it works.

For me, God, is not of this world, but He helps me navigate my way around this life. As long as I face Him, I know where the Truth is. And I have, all too often, closed my eyes and stumbled around.

There are some that say there is no God, and I have every reason to believe they are sincere. They somehow blunder through life, letting the capricious and arbitrary winds of public opinion and fashion push them from one event to another. I guess you don’t worry about connecting the dots if you believe there is no connection, but how do you decide which dot you should jump to next? Just go with the flow? If I could believe that people are basically good, I still can not believe that people are basically smart. Merely following the butt of the lemming in front of me seems a poor strategy. As my friend, K, likes to point out, the amount of intelligence in the universe is fixed, so with the increase in population, each person is progressively less intelligent. Or, maybe those without an external reference spend their time looking in a mirror for advice? Even Narcissus became a beautiful flower. Naw, I know myself well enuf to know I am not to be relied upon (I know I step upon some common ground with that one!).

I understand what John Gillespie Magee meant when he put out his hand and touched the face of God – oh! how well I know. Antoine de Saint-Exupery is another one that knew. Yes, some of us have the proof of God burned eternally into our hearts.

I’m sorry if you don’t.

2013
05/10
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
TAGS






1 comment

One of His last acts

One of the last – one of the very last – things Jesus did while dying on the Cross, was to not forgive one of the two thieves. Jesus had plenty of energy left to forgive Dismas, the thief who asked to be remembered (see Luke 23:43). And he could have turned His head to old what’s-his-name and said, “Oh, what the hell, I forgive you, too. Yeah, see you both in Paradise.”

But, He didn’t. Jesus did not forgive both of those who were being executed with Him. So, I gotta ask: “Why do you think you’re going to Heaven?”

2013
05/09
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Closed – on both ends

I enjoy “close-mindedness.” As a youth, close-mindedness was something that was synonymous with right-wing, conservative, Republicans. Fast forward and today I see those old-foggies do not have a monopoly: the left-wing, liberal, Democrats are equally closed. Shockingly closed. Interesting that the extremes on both poles should have so much in common – maybe that is what extremism is?

I find that many values of my youth have somehow successfully tagged along all these years. The value, the worth of human life was always paramount then, it still is. Back then the only choice was its preservation. While the right-wing seems to have kept that value, the left-wing has decided that those who can choose should choose for those who can’t. Abortion has always been anathema, unconscionable, reprehensible to me; thank God it still is. But those who espouse a liberal agenda have now decided that those who can’t choose should never have that choice. Hitler had his “untermensch”, the Democrat Party today has its “too young” and “too old.” Kermit Gosnell is the new poster-boy.

John Lennon wondered how wonderful it would be if there was nothing to kill or die for. I will not apologize: there is much, much left to kill and die for. Rather John should have used his imagination to ask why human beings still revert to violence when there should be – after some 20,000 years of ‘development’ – viable alternatives. Our toys have changed, our thinking hasn’t.

We, citizens of the USA, have gone to court to redefine “marriage.” The Demos have, once again, missed the point entirely. Be that as it may, the courts gave us Dred Scott; which some say had a bearing on the election of Abraham Lincoln (a Republican). What I can’t, for the life of me, figure out is why any homosexual would want anything to do with what has heretofore been a heterosexual institution. It is, however, telling that the liberals have decided that those who have chosen a particular lifestyle should be imposed on others who have chosen another lifestyle.

I could go on and on, and in these pages, I will….

2013
05/09
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
1 comment

Oh! Look: something shiny!

We’ve all heard that, while the early bird catches the worm, it is the second mouse who gets the cheese. True, it’s possible (in fact, in this era of couch potatoes, more than likely sure) that the second mouse is just a little bit slower than the other guy – the second mouse would have been first, if he didn’t have to heave his enormous bulk off the sofa. But, I would like to think that the second mouse is the one who thought about the situation, if maybe for only a split second (after all, what kind of cheese is it?), but at least a moment longer than his knee-jerk reaction, unthinking counterpart.

Now, for those of us who believe in God, first and foremost, what makes human beings different from the “brute animal” is our souls. For those that believe Galileo and Copernicus and Ptolemy and a whole host of others were wrong (that the universe doesn’t revolve around something, but rather someone – i.e., themselves), or for those that do believe that Chaos Theory is true, and this is all there is, Alfie, then what ought to make humans different from the beast is the stuff between our ears – not the stuff below our ears.

But, it sure seems that “modern” society has embraced the concept that what really matters is the stuff between our legs. In other words, humans really aren’t any different than mere animals after all. A practical application of “love the one you’re with,” or perhaps “shag anything (emphasis on “thing”) in sight.”

Ok, fine: revel in the moment. Live for today. Turn off what few brain cells haven’t been fried by tv or the internet (talk about opium of the masses! Marx ain’t in it.) What’s left? I mean if all we’re going to do is pursue novelty, then nothing else matters. Nothing.

No thank you.

Most days, I am woefully no more brilliant that some cow out in a field placidly chewing his cud; tho when the clouds do clear above Puget Sound, I do look up to marvel at the stars. I can walk into a library and appreciate what’s there, unlike Jefferson’s dog (was it Jefferson?). Yes, I am conceited enough to think that I can think. Not that what is between my ears defines who I am – any more than what is between my legs. A product of reading Latin and Greek in high school, and enjoying nothing more than a good book (or, The Good Book), I kinda think there’s more to life than what’s for lunch. There’s more to THIS life.

John Lennon famously sang about how wonderful it would be if there was nothing left to die for. While I agree that killing is the product of a Neanderthal mind (with apologies to our ancestors), if there was nothing left to die for, what is left to live for? And, in this world, there is so much to choose from, I sometimes feel like Buridan’s ass. Fortunately, there are seldom absolutely equal alternatives. Seldom, is there more than one thing that is The First Priority. And, never are ALL things equally important.

You wanna just follow the crowd, just react, just do, without thinking? You want to lower yourself to the least common denominator? You go right ahead: I never cared for Velveeta, anyway.

2013
04/24
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Day of Silence

When it comes to LGBTX (or is that Q?) issues I find that I am so sick-and-tired of having that subject in my face all the time I am very much inclined – no, I find that I am forced – to push back, resist and lashout with every fiber of my being. It is all so very wrong, like saying a person is, or is not, a human being, based on the calendar. Definitely, the “right” to engage in sodomy (ok, so why doesn’t that word fit?) is not even on the same page as the “right” for a woman to decide the child she is carrying is inconvenient, but society now (world-wide) apparently has nothing better to do than keep this nonsense (in the strictest meaning of the word) on the front page.

Recently, three people were instantly killed when two bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon, and a MIT campus policeman who was nowhere near the bomb site was gunned down. What was “newsworthy”? Apparently, one of Boston’s finest was only one of Boston’s finest because he was a homosexual – not because he was trying to aid, comfort and protect the runner who had been blown to the ground by the blast. Do I really think that either the cop, or the runner, asked what the other’s sexual preference was at that moment? So, why should anybody else? I don’t get it: I don’t understand why anybody would write a caption like that.

And, later in the week, a local high school had a day of silence in protest against the silence that accompanies the bullying of people who believe that the only thing that is important about themselves is their sexual preference. Not a day of protest against anyone and everyone who is subject to bullying. Not a day of protest against the exploited and downtrodden. Yeah, on the heels of an act of terrorism that took four lives, a specific group says they are being oppressed for their chosen lifestyle. I suppose the runners and spectators at Boston might have a thing to say about that.

3,000 aborted babies have a Day of Silence every day.

2013
04/22
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
Leave a comment

The Mountain

When learning to drive a car, one of those lessons that is very necessary, but takes a very long time to learn – or, at least, it took me a long time – is that of where to look. The eyes dart between too close and too far; too much time spent staring straight ahead and not enuf time looking from side-to-side. And the mirrors? Forgetaboutit! Eventually, thru time and experience, the lucky drivers figure all this out – the drivers that care about being good drivers (very few), not the drivers who never give all this a second thot (most).

And so it is w Life. It takes the lucky ones years to learn where to look, and most of those that merely slog their way thru Life (living one day at a time, completely independent of every day before and after) never do learn where to look. (The truly blessed, or gifted ones seem to be born w this ability.) And so it is w me: I will be (shudder) 59 years old this summer; and it is in this Spring of 2013 that I have finally learned where to look.

Now, while the eyes are looking at the mountain, it is the feet that take the steps and make the journey. The navigator, w the compass and the sextant steers the ship; but the rowers give the skin of their hands to the voyage. One w/o the other means a ship that never reaches its destination.

However, just because the navigator can see the port doesn’t mean the vessel will make the port.

This is where I am at this moment. I am – finally, praise God, not to put too fine a point on it – looking where I need to look. My desitination, my goal, my reason for being, my purpose, is in sight. I know – not merely believe, not guess, not suppose – where I need to go. For the first time in my life, I know my destination. That’s the good news; the bad news is that I must shed a lifetime’s worth of excess baggage – impedimenta.

Given that my father lived till he was 89, I think it reasonable to expect something like 30 more years before I make port (my father’s longevity is as good a crystal ball as any I have at hand).

Either I believe in God, or I don’t. Notice, first, that I said “I” not “we”. While I firmly believe what is true for me is true for all of God’s children, I live in a society that has embraced the concept that I must not interfere while others drown. In fact, the Great Irony is that I will be standing at the Pearly Gates entirely by myself, in front of Christ, and the first question out of His mouth will be “What have you done for me?” – which is simply the cut-to-the-chase version of “Why should I let you in?” I will be standing there, by myself, but if I get there by myself, I don’t deserve to be there. How I keep anyone else from drowning, while it is all I can do to keep from drowning myself is quite beyond me. Perhaps the answer is that to save myself, I must do all that I can to save others first? The corollary is simply that I can’t be saved at all if I don’t participate in the salvation of others. To be Biblical: I must die to live. A very difficult concept for an organism that is hardwired to survive at all costs. That would seem to go against Natural Law, but this is neither the time nor the place for that discussion (even if I was capable of the discussion).

I simply, and literally, don’t know how to help others. Nothing I have done so far has worked; that much is clear – even to me. I wonder if being a “lay contemplative” is my calling? I have no desire to take Holy Orders, even if I wasn’t already very married (as opposed to the first two relationships, in which I was, evidentally, “somewhat,” or “kinda” married). Frankly, the number of orders, or groups of religious is appalling: isn’t there only one True Church?

Anyway, I was specifically invited to join a “Friday night Liturgy of the Hours”; tonight, I had no good reason not to attend. I chose not to. I have agonized over it for about a week and a half. While the invitation was flattering – somebody wants me??? – it is not me, it is not how I am wired. I am not a joiner. I have tried. Oh! how I have tried. I have crashed and burned at every turn. I just am not a people person – however much I wish I was.

In one of those few times in my life when the planets were perfectly aligned, I walked the 45 minutes to St Peter’s, knelt on the basalt stones (“sanpietrini”) in the Square (the building had long since been closed for the day), and prayed a Rosary. Kinda all by myself: there was an Italian boy and girl much too close by; on second thot, they might not have noticed me. I felt compelled to pray. I was w/n walking distance of my own “holy of holies” (albeit it was more of a forced march to get there). And, I exploited that impulse. My only regret is that I didn’t do that more often. BTW, it took nearly two hours to walk back home; ‘course it was uphill all the way.

In fact, I have only ever once sought the company of strangers in my desperation to deal w Life; that was the first year, or so, of living in Tokyo. It would be easy to say that 1990 was completely out of character for me; but it would be more accurate to say that I had no idea at all where to look at that point in my life. If nothing else, here it is, 2013 – something like 23 years later – and I am just now convinced I know where to look. I had plenty of steam back then, just no rudder – my Great Undoing. Tho I hafta say – I just gotta say – at least I had steam, unlike most people I know now.

2013
04/12
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
Leave a comment