I love blogs. Most of the blogs I follow are those of people whom I know in real life {IRL}
Anyhow, today I saw a blog by my rector that REALLY made me think.
I see a lot of posts on Facebook today about the anniversary of 11 September 2001. Heck, I even posted my own " where I was when the planes hit" status today.
My rector's musings on his blog today were NOT the average 11 September 2001 musings.
he reminded us that, when it is right & good to pause in remembrance of the tragedy that occurred today, we must not forget to LIVE.
In the years before & sine 2001, this day on the calendar has been cause for celebrations for countless people. Birthdays, anniversaries & other " milestones" of human life have & always will occur on this day.
After all, there ore only 365 or {every four years) 366 days in every rotation around our sun.
It is good to remember & pay respect to collective tragedies that occur within our history. Yet we also need to celebrate all that makes life good--and celebrate each & every day.
Amen.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Nothing at all to writing...only blood, sweat & tears
Today's quote is :
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter & bleed." ~Ernest Hemingway
Well, said Old Man of The Sea.
I am still not anywhere near finished with my short story. To be quite honest: I have not looked at it since last month. I've discovered that writing a work of fiction that is so entangled in some emotional truth in my life is hard.
I WANT to tell this story, and I NEED to tell it. Yet I've had the worst trouble with " writers' block".
Writers' block sucks.
For a few days, I was faithful in my pursuit of literature. I wrote every day, if only a paragraph or two. I've discovered that the closer I get to the "truth" upon which the fiction is based, the more trouble I find while trying to make the words come.
Yuck.
Writing can be literally PAINFUL. It can call to one's subconscious all sorts of" demons" from one's past. {Especially if said mental demon that is the subject of the work of fiction was not * all bad*}
Sigh.
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter & bleed." ~Ernest Hemingway
Well, said Old Man of The Sea.
I am still not anywhere near finished with my short story. To be quite honest: I have not looked at it since last month. I've discovered that writing a work of fiction that is so entangled in some emotional truth in my life is hard.
I WANT to tell this story, and I NEED to tell it. Yet I've had the worst trouble with " writers' block".
Writers' block sucks.
For a few days, I was faithful in my pursuit of literature. I wrote every day, if only a paragraph or two. I've discovered that the closer I get to the "truth" upon which the fiction is based, the more trouble I find while trying to make the words come.
Yuck.
Writing can be literally PAINFUL. It can call to one's subconscious all sorts of" demons" from one's past. {Especially if said mental demon that is the subject of the work of fiction was not * all bad*}
Sigh.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
"Only the good die young" and other musings
My friend was called Home to his Maker a couple of days ago.
I am heartbroken. Although my faith teaches me that he is in a better place & without suffering, my heart aches for the wife & grown sons that he left behind on this Earth.
Requisitat en pacem, " G". You were a true hero & a friend to so many.
After praying for the repose of my friend's soul, I started asking God WHY.
Why must a good man like " G" die young of a horrible disease when there are so many " lifers" in our prison systems who spend their healthy days locked in a cell & taken care of by our government?
Why must our government spend billions of dollars planning to police the world with gunships and other weapons while saying that there isn't enough money in the coffers to give combat veterans access to the health care they need & deserve?
Why must children go to bed without supper when lobbyists wine & dine members of Congress? Why do lobbyists even exist?
Why , if one dares to question the " party line" fed to us by the mainstream media & the corporations who control our elected officials is one referred to as unpatriotic? A person can love his or her nation and still passionately dislike its government & the people in charge of said government.
Why must some upper-middle-class & wealthy Americans use their money to bully people & organizations into following "their" agenda?
Why must there even BE agendas? Life would be so much more pleasant if we humanoid s would just learn to get along.
Think about it:
A society free from bullies.
A society where equality for all persons, regardless of their " other-ness" is fully achieved.
A government that takes care of her people before seeking out ways to bend other nations to its will.
Imagine.
Amen.
I am heartbroken. Although my faith teaches me that he is in a better place & without suffering, my heart aches for the wife & grown sons that he left behind on this Earth.
Requisitat en pacem, " G". You were a true hero & a friend to so many.
After praying for the repose of my friend's soul, I started asking God WHY.
Why must a good man like " G" die young of a horrible disease when there are so many " lifers" in our prison systems who spend their healthy days locked in a cell & taken care of by our government?
Why must our government spend billions of dollars planning to police the world with gunships and other weapons while saying that there isn't enough money in the coffers to give combat veterans access to the health care they need & deserve?
Why must children go to bed without supper when lobbyists wine & dine members of Congress? Why do lobbyists even exist?
Why , if one dares to question the " party line" fed to us by the mainstream media & the corporations who control our elected officials is one referred to as unpatriotic? A person can love his or her nation and still passionately dislike its government & the people in charge of said government.
Why must some upper-middle-class & wealthy Americans use their money to bully people & organizations into following "their" agenda?
Why must there even BE agendas? Life would be so much more pleasant if we humanoid s would just learn to get along.
Think about it:
A society free from bullies.
A society where equality for all persons, regardless of their " other-ness" is fully achieved.
A government that takes care of her people before seeking out ways to bend other nations to its will.
Imagine.
Amen.
Friday, September 6, 2013
This week's Gospel lesson...and looming war drums
There are many reasons why I am against the war drumming that President Obama has been beating lately.
Sunday's Gospel lesson is ...interesting.
Read this:
"Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand. If he cannot then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace."
{Luke 14:31-32}
First, let me admit that I HATE prooftexting Scripture. More conservative Christian denominations use this technique to justify their hatred of people" not like us" , so I am very wary of anyone prooftexting Scripture.
Secondly, my EFM studies have taught me that this passage really is NOT about war, it is about the cost of following Jesus.
But if I WERE clergy , and I am clearly not of the order of priests, I would struggle with the urge to preach an anti-war { and some would say an isolationist} message. Anyone who knows me at all knows how I feel about our great military's continual involvement in foreign conflicts. I have never believed that the place of a world superpower such as the United States is to " police" other nations and punish them for not accepting the Western worldview of life. call me a " dirty Libertarian" if you wish, but the verbs OFFENSE and DEFENSE are not synonymous.
Taking out bin Laden is defense. Bombing Syria is offense.
I do not see Jesus, if He were walking the Earth today, wielding machine guns and waging war against anyone who disagreed with Him. So at the risk of sounding terribly dated and cliche, I ask
What is it that Jesus would do?
Clearly I do not know the answer to this question. {If I did, I would for sure not be sitting in this po-dunk beach town, I'd be teaching graduate-level courses at a top-notch university.}
It is true that the cost of discipleship is great & that he requires much from those who follow Him. yet I doubt that He would authorize a war against a rogue nation--a rouge nation located in a part of the world that has suffered conflict since before the time of Jesus Himself. Would Jesus want His disciples to wage war against those who do not accept His teachings? I doubt it. Perhaps he'd encourage more genuine diplomacy between two nations with opposing ideas regarding what is " right"?
The Syrian government is committing atrocities against her own people & that is morally wrong. Yet will the bombing of Syria by Western superpowers really convince the regime in that nation that using chemical agents as war weapons is wrong? It will not.
Amen.
Sunday's Gospel lesson is ...interesting.
Read this:
"Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand. If he cannot then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace."
{Luke 14:31-32}
First, let me admit that I HATE prooftexting Scripture. More conservative Christian denominations use this technique to justify their hatred of people" not like us" , so I am very wary of anyone prooftexting Scripture.
Secondly, my EFM studies have taught me that this passage really is NOT about war, it is about the cost of following Jesus.
But if I WERE clergy , and I am clearly not of the order of priests, I would struggle with the urge to preach an anti-war { and some would say an isolationist} message. Anyone who knows me at all knows how I feel about our great military's continual involvement in foreign conflicts. I have never believed that the place of a world superpower such as the United States is to " police" other nations and punish them for not accepting the Western worldview of life. call me a " dirty Libertarian" if you wish, but the verbs OFFENSE and DEFENSE are not synonymous.
Taking out bin Laden is defense. Bombing Syria is offense.
I do not see Jesus, if He were walking the Earth today, wielding machine guns and waging war against anyone who disagreed with Him. So at the risk of sounding terribly dated and cliche, I ask
What is it that Jesus would do?
Clearly I do not know the answer to this question. {If I did, I would for sure not be sitting in this po-dunk beach town, I'd be teaching graduate-level courses at a top-notch university.}
It is true that the cost of discipleship is great & that he requires much from those who follow Him. yet I doubt that He would authorize a war against a rogue nation--a rouge nation located in a part of the world that has suffered conflict since before the time of Jesus Himself. Would Jesus want His disciples to wage war against those who do not accept His teachings? I doubt it. Perhaps he'd encourage more genuine diplomacy between two nations with opposing ideas regarding what is " right"?
The Syrian government is committing atrocities against her own people & that is morally wrong. Yet will the bombing of Syria by Western superpowers really convince the regime in that nation that using chemical agents as war weapons is wrong? It will not.
Amen.
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