Closeness

 A rubber band is made to stretch,

But its power is to contract.

It is a close binder of goods--

It unites what it keeps intact.

Love is a binder of people--

It surrounds as a loving net.

It stretches around to include,

It contracts to make intimate.

We can resist it till it snaps

Or wear out its pulling matter--

One is painful, one exhausting,

And in the end we all scatter.

Interruptions

 A small and languid river eddy

Swirls foamy bubbles round and round.

So slow, so weak, yet still it moves

The bubbles that to it are bound.

Some that break free and move along

Are snagged in yet another stall,

More slowly moving than the first

Where change comes hard or not at all.

Unhindered by the cloying banks

All this while the center flows--

A downhill slide in rippling chatter

As toward the sea it onward goes.

Road Trip

 Attired in myriad shades

Of green and asphalt

And sequined with bright splashes

Of reddish clover

And silvery maned grasses,

The countryside flashes by

As images of Magied camels

Compete with jaw-stretching yawns.

Time to change drivers.

Did He Really Say That?

There are lots of scripture passages that could be argued are the most important in the Bible. Any of the words of Jesus, the Ten Commandments, prophecies from the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah, might be among the contenders for most important passages in the Bible. And I would argue for many of those myself, but in this post, I am going to put forward Genesis 3:1, not as the most important, but very high in considering what your worldview is.

Now the snake was the most cunning* of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?”

This question was the turning point in all of human history. Whatever you believe about the Garden of Eden, or even about God, the devil, and Christianity, there is an important to point to notice. A choice was given: someone else's way or my way.

An important person in my life said to me about ten years ago, "When is somebody going to update the Bible?" It should be no wonder that this person has lost his way in terms of faith. His question really boils down to, "Did God really say that?" His suggestion is really saying, "God, get with the times! You are so outdated. You need to do it our way." 

If you are going to be a Christian, you need to know what Christianity is about. And once you have found out what it is about, if you aren't uncomfortable, then perhaps you still don't know what it's about. God said a lot of really uncomfortable things. He really said them. If you don't believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that it is a work of men, then revision seems a no-brainer. You can rewrite the Bible, but the end result will be a new religion. It will not be Christianity. But given that God really did say everything in the Bible, we should be very much not at ease.

Jesus did not say that the road to heaven was wide. He did not say that there was no hell, and if there is, it is empty. Jesus did not say if you are just a good person that is enough. He did not say that any religion or pathway can get you to heaven. It would be so much more comfortable if he had said those things. We would not have to be troubled by any inconveniences of religious practices. Our life would be unrestricted.

And that is where our culture has arrived: the removal of all restrictions.

In Exodus God outlines what the blessings will be if we live his way. He then outlines all the curses that will fall on us if we don't do things his way. He is a good parent. He gives the rules and tells what the consequences are if we don't follow them. Rules teach restraint, self-control. They teach us that we are not helpless victims of passions which rule us; rules give us control of ourselves. 

When you find out what happens if you don't obey God's rules, you should be afraid. Very afraid. And that's not bad. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A reverent, healthy fear of God is a good starting place. Our culture needs to get that back. Many of us have been cruising along doing things our own way, knowing that God, who we see as a sort of chump, will forgive us and let us into heaven anyway.

Jesus said many times, "Repent!" which basically means, "Change your life!" Change is hard, but he really said that, and we really need to listen.

Quilts and Perspective

Triangles, squares, and circles
Stitched in place to form
Patterns of a quilted spread
In colors bright and warm.

Bound together side by side
Larger shapes are made,
As triangles make a diamond
And squares become a frame.










Lines and curves enhance design
And flow along the seams.
Lights and darks become a guide
Revealing larger themes.

And when its done, a map is spread
With boundaries quite clear
Between the contrasts and the prints
Our eye is made to steer.

We see the plan: a united whole--
The vision becomes quite plain.
Together they are something more,
But distance shows our aim.

Drowsy

The weight of fecundity
In the greenery
Crushes more than a stratus sky.
Heavy, honey-scented air
And bumble bees buzzing
Are the reason why
I know the petals, stamen, stigma
Call for fertility,
Call for pollination,
Call for seeds to rise.
The weight of this demand
Makes me sleepy in the sun
And sluggish.

And the problem is...

When it is announced at Sunday mass that there is a holy day of obligation that week, you can almost feel the feet dragging and hear the groaning. A few eyes might roll. And yet we know that this is supposed to be a happy day, so why does it feel like such a burden?

Right now, the holy day is just one more thing we are obliged to do within our already overly committed schedules. It adds to the stress and fatigue without adding much joy to compensate. Over the years, I have noticed something though. When I decided to go to daily mass as often as possible, suddenly the days of obligation didn't seem like a big deal. Heck, I was already going anyway! While going to daily mass is a good thing, it is a choice. The only thing that holy days changed was that we tried to have a nice dessert that night. Well, at least that was something...

But it should be a day of joy. If we call them holy days of obligation, we send the wrong message: you are obliged to come to mass or go to hell. Why aren't they called holy days of celebration? A supporting culture would close stores, give everyone the day off, and we would have rip-roaring celebrations. Dream on. The secular culture does a better job with Fat Tuesday than Catholics do with virtually every holy day. Well, I admit that some of that secular celebrating obliges people to visit the confessional...

It doesn't help that the bishops sometimes don't make some of them days of obligation because it is just too much to ask people to acknowledge a holy day with mass attendance.

I have always been puzzled why Catholic schools don't cancel classes that day. What would get kids more exciting about a holy day than no school? Well, maybe if we have to have school in session, it would be an all-fun-and-no-homework day at the very least. As far as I can tell, the holy day only gets a nod and lectures and lessons go on as planned.

But I still feel that somehow our Catholic culture does not embrace holy days with the joy and celebratory attitude that they were intended to evoke. As Catholics, we need to get better at having a good party. Where are the parades, the costumes, the fireworks, the feasting, and the music? The problem is we stink at partying.