Agon

While the blogosphere may be static and introspective to a fault, tonight the New York Giants showed that it is all about heart, about desire- the agon! What an inspirational win! Take that VOID!!!!

So, to my dwindling readership, down from a high of fifteen to maybe ten, on a good day, hang in there. If nothing else, I am dogged to a fault, loyal to a fault. After all, I choose to follow Jesus in my own meager and pathetic way, an unpopular stance in any age. So, be at least sympathetic, if not empathetic, please. May almighty God bless you, the Father . . .

Cognitive dissonance

In my post Feelings re-visited I wrote:

"Honestly, what I like about The Passion of the Christ is the violence. An unbloodied, unbruised, not beaten Christ is no Savior- "he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all (Isa. 53,5-6)."

This is at odds with, or at least apparently at odds with, much of I wrote late last summer under the influence of the book Embracing Travail: Retrieving the Cross Today, by Dr. Cynthia Crysdale. Since my writing this week I have been dealing with the cognitive dissonance of this, especially as it pertains to the myth of redemptive violence, which I find to be perhaps the most insidious myth in human history. I do not really have an answer, but a lot of grist for the mill as I approach Lent.

Links

One of the challenges of maintaining a blog, which is a way of communicating various things, not the least among which is one's self, or, at least how one sees the world and encounters reality, frames reality, is maintaining links. This maintenance mostly consists of adding links- in this regard it is very Catholic, we add to but do not subtract from Tradition. There are two new links this morning that appear under the My Own Personal Linkage heading.

The first is the blog Good Letters: The Image Blog. This is a weblog started by Greg Wolfe, the driving force behind Image, a wonderful quarterly journal of art and faith. I was deeply affected this morning by Ann Conway's post about a poet I had never heard of before this morning, Edwin Robinson.

The other new link, which is local in origin, is Glen Warhol's Salt Lake Crawler, which I read everyday, more than once. Of course, Warhol's blog does not have as wide an appeal as Good Letters, but lest anybody think SLC uninteresting, read Warhol and know the truth about our fair city.

Groundhog Day

In addition to being the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, today is also Groundhog Day. And, according to Punxsutawney Phil, we will have six more weeks of Winter.

I like the movie Groundhog Day. It is an interesting take on the doctrine of prugatory. Phil Connors is stuck until he truly learns how to love, not just Rita, but others. His choice to love makes him a better person. I also like that, once he learns to love and spends the night with Rita, when they awaken they are still both fully clothed. Both this and what leads up to their spending the night together indicates a chaste sleeping together, which is different from Phil's earlier efforts to bed Rita. At the end of the film, their mutual love causes them to choose to be downwardly mobile. Last night my family watched this movie, again. We also watch Bill Murray in What About Bob? about every other year. Bill Murray is an artist with depth.

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord- Candlemas. Did you have candles blessed?

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: 'Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel'" (Luke 2,25-32).

Presentation of the Lord, painted by Giovanni Bellini sometime between 1460-64

"There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2,36-37).

Jesus is the Messiah of Lord, the Light of World, the Light that shines in the darkness. Have your candles blessed, light them and be aware of the presence of Him Who is, Who was, and Who is to come. Live in this awareness, let's help each other live in the awareness of His merciful gaze. Sts. Anna and Simeon, pray for us that, like the two of you, we, too, may recognize the Messiah of God and live worthily of our anointing in Baptism and Confirmation.

More where the rubber hits-the-road (literally), from the Ironic Catholic, though I am not a big fan of bumper stickers, I want one. Who knows, perhaps I'll get flipped off one less time this year? Since I have already introduced an element of randomness and given that I was listening to A Prairie Home Companion, as is my habit on Saturday evenings, on which the incredible and lovely Nanci Griffith was a guest, I invite you to do yourself a favor and watch a simple performance of a beautiful song, her Love At the Five and Dime. After all, we all want a love that is love. What is it about dark haired, brown-eyed women musicians (calling EmmyLou)? It's a mystery to me, even though I married the most beautiful one of all.

"I know that I am only lashing out"

Dear Rich,

On this Friday, this day of penance, please pray for us. We miss you, miss your music. Tell Francesco and Chiara hello from all of us. Oh, and ask them to pray for us, too. With the whole band of heavenly Ragamuffins can you sing God a song for us and from us? Might I suggest Hard to Get? Anyway, I am using this song of yours for my Friday traditio, a silly thing I do on my blog.

With much love and gratitude,
Scott



The click at the end of this recording, recorded on a tape recorder purchased from K-Mart, reminds me that this was among the last recordings Rich made. These recordings were played and produced in studio after his death by friends and, along with these raw recordings, became the two disc The Jesus Record. On this Friday just before Lent I take comfort in knowing that only the wounded need a healer. I like that there is no video. This is a good follow up to my last post on feelings.

Feelings re-visited

It occurred to me that I did not answer the second part of Sara's question: "How were [feelings] intended to be used by the One who created them in us?" I cannot really claim to have an answer, let alone the answer. On the positive side, I do think feelings, which are inevitable, as mentioned before, can enhance reality when properly integrated. Writing only for myself, feelings often increase my awareness. Feelings also spark creativity. A lot of great art affects us because it is born of affection, that is, from feelings. A moving musical composition, a painting, a poem can never be mere products of reason, discipline, and learning- though to be good these elements are part of the recipe, which points us to the necessity of subordinating feelings.

This question also has me thinking about the differentiation between intellectual and experiential. Thinking about my faith, engaging it in that way is an experience as real as helping the proverbial old lady across the street. My exprience yesterday morning reading Friends, That Is, Witnesses was real because it carried over into my day and allowed me to be loyal to my circumstances. Orthodoxy, not ideally, but really, should lead to orthopraxis. What links them is a choice, an act of the will, love- Caritas.

Let's be honest, how often do see someone in need and react with joy, with gladness? Most often we have to choose not to shrink back from the one in need, who is but Jesus in a distressing disguise. Do we believe s/he is the Lord? This belief produces a warm fuzzy feeling sitting in the pew next to people like myself. It seemingly makes the world safer, less threatening. But what about the stinky guy who is shouting profanities out loud as I walk to my car after Mass? Perhaps if we really believed what we profess to believe, like St. Francis of Assisi, we would react with joy. But even Francesco, as in the case of the leper, had to choose to overcome his feelings, his fear, by reaching out in love, which took the form of making a choice to embrace and kiss the sick person. He also made a choice to become the one in need, begging for his food. We must keep in mind, especially as today is Friday, that Jesus on the Cross is no pretty sight. Honestly, what I like about The Passion of the Christ is the violence. An unbloodied, unbruised, not beaten Christ is no Savior- "he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all (Isa. 53,5-6). As to feelings in light of this fact, this reality, there is how I feel about this fact, which is irrelevant, it remains true no matter how I may feel about it. Then there is how this fact makes me feel, which is highly relevant because it plays a role in my choice, my act of will.

So, I can be extremely knowledgeable about the Christian faith and choose not to live it. I can know every word Jesus spoke and all that Don Giussani wrote and live in an unchanged manner. This is our work, as Fr. Julían constantly reminds us, to live in light of the fact of Christ. This is why he told us that in School of Community speaking should only be from experience. Perhaps there is a loose analogy between intellect and experience and reason and feelings, something about subjectivity and objectivity, a dualism that is dangerous on many levels and must be overcome. This overcoming must happen in my life, not my private life, but my public life, in the life I live with others at home, in the parish, in the Movement, at work, etc.