Stop reading for a moment, and imagine that you are going to die in one minute. The last things you are going to experience are reading these [words], sitting in this room, thinking and feeling what you are thinking and feeling right now. This is the end of your life. . . . You have no time to write a note or make a phone call. All you can do is experience what is, right now. This is a very simple exercise, but it is quite profound. It brings you into presence very quickly. You stop fighting, you stop needing, you stop being concerned with physical comfort, you stop wanting, you stop achieving, and you stop maintaining. Enlightenment, attainment, realization all become meaningless. You are just present.
Most of the time it's so hard for me to quiet myself -- usually I end up thinking of a grocery list or some other "productive" thing I should be doing. I think this exercise above may help.
(of course, I can hear the detractors now lamenting the emptying process of meditation -- thankfully, I'm not scared of demonic boogeymen any more.)
I'm actually sending out Christmas cards this year, along with a picture of the munchkin. I've got an abundance of both pictures and cards, so if you're interested in receiving one, leave me a comment or email me your address.
Everytime I go home for a visit, I swear to never pack so much, because the coming home part of the trip is always such a pain. Well, if I thought packing pre-baby was nuts, it's been multiplied since Emma has entered our lives -- which isn't a bad thing, mind you, but it just means more bags and STUFF to lug around.
This last trip was no different. I struggled to pack only the clothes and items we needed, mainly because I knew I'd be going solo in the airport, toting a 23 pound wiggler.
Problems arouse when I visited Barnes and Noblefour separate times (and who can't visit a huge bookstore and NOT walk out with a few fine specimens) AND the Green Valley Book Fair was running while I was home (500,000+ titles!! CHEAP!).
Needless to say, my careful packing was thrown askew when I found myself with a few stacks of books to tote home. Rather than paying shipping and waiting for them to arrive in SK, I sucked it up and paid for an extra bag on the flight.
Now for the fellow book-lovers, here's a list of the books I toted across North America:
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel Dennett
The Habit of Being by Flannery O'Connor
Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The Autobiography of Margaret Sanger
Thank you For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs
The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth by Valerie Tarico
I am America (And so can you!) by Stephen Colbert
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
How to Say it: Persuasive Presentations by Jeffery Jacobi
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr
Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st Century by Alexander Sanger
Whose Bible is it? A Short History of the Scriptures by Jaroslav Pelikan
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God by Carl Sagan
Middlesex by Jeff Eugenides
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Public Speaking for Success by Dale Carnegie
English Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Woods
The Art of Public Speaking by Stephen E. Lucas
Cultural Amnesia by Clive James
Now maybe this long list is why I've got such a backache?
TULSA, Okla. - Richard Roberts told students at Oral Roberts University Wednesday that he did not want to resign as president of the scandal-plagued evangelical school, but he did so because God insisted.
God told him on Thanksgiving that he should resign the next day, Roberts told students in the university's chapel.
Ironically enough, God originally told Roberts to endure the accusations and stick it out as school president. Hmmm. Is God a flip-flopper, or is Roberts a manipulating crook?
We're back from Virginia. Sorry for the lack of posting in these parts. At one point during my visit, there were 7 adults, 1 infant, and 2 cats sharing 900 sq. feet of house with ONE bathroom. Needless to say, the tight quarters and family bonding time sorta discouraged blogging. Oh, that, and toting a keyboard-hijacking baby who needed to be on or near me 24/7. (she's a bit clingy these days)
Anyway, while I was visiting "home," I started noticing all the subtle (and not so subtle) things that are different between the two countries I call home. A list:
Instead of abbreviating Christmas "X-Mas," I saw several signs that read "Ch-Mas." I can only think this is due to the whole "war on Christmas" and "taking the Christ out of Christmas" arguments that inevitably crop up this time of the year.
Back home in the South, no one looks at me funny when I call them "sir" or "ma'am."
My parents cable stations had not one, but 3 or 4 "inspirational" channels. Morbid curiosity had me watching some Zionist John Hagee and the proverbial Jack Van Impe clips.
There are cars that drive around Virginia with the "Bush/Cheney '04" bumpersticker still proudly plastered on their automobile. Indeed, I was a stranger in a strange land.
When I left the airport in Richmond, I only needed a sweater. When I landed in Saskatoon, it was 40 degrees colder (literally), and my husband greeted me with a kiss and a snowsuit.
And that's just off the top of my head, without mentioning the differences in food (mmm, sweet tea, biscuits and gravy, grits, ...). It's funny how the country I call "home" is more and more starting to feel foreign to me, while my adopted land is feeling like a better fit -- well, without the minus 30 temps.
Emma and I are flying south for that most glorious of turkey-eating holidays, Thanksgiving.
Luckily for you, dear reader, I can rant anywhere. Hopefully blogging will pick up again after I recover from dragging an-almost 10-month-old across two countries.
Lululemon Athletica, a little company set up in the back of a Vancouver yoga studio nine years ago, was yesterday facing accusations of false advertising, after the anonymous hedge fund's laboratory tests found that the company's products were not all that they appeared.
Never mind whether or not seaweed fibres can really "release amino acids, vitamins and minerals into the skin" as you sweat through your yoga work-out. The lab tests in fact showed the $50 (£24) T-shirts claiming to be made from 24 per cent Irish seaweed contained not even a small rockpool-worth of the stuff. Nothing. The results were handed to The New York Times, which confirmed them in independent tests of its own, and the resulting stink sent Lululemon shares plunging 9 per cent at their worst yesterday. Fans of the company immediately piled into the stock, however, and it closed up 79 cents at $44.29.
For a company that prides itself on being environmentally (and morally?) superior, it's quite the blow.
Blackmont Capital issued this warning about the brouhaha at lululemon on Wednesday, about the seaweed, missing or otherwise, in its VitaSea fabric line. “If lululemon’s claim proves to be false, we believe this controversy could challenge its strong brand image, authenticity and loyal cult following, which could expose it to pricing risk, forcing it to incur marketing costs to restore its brand, and could put its aggressive retail expansion efforts at risk,” writes analyst Barbara Gray. [link]
Part of me finds sick pleasure in this -- maybe because of my refusal to buy their $80 yoga pants.
I just bought pre-sale tickets to Phantom! On April 26th next year, I'll be six rows from the front, trying to mask (get it, mask?) my singing along to the show.
Tickets don't go on sale til the 17th, but I got a special password to jump the line early. Woohoo!
We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.
The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
-- Carl Sagan
Excerpted from a commencement address delivered May 11, 1996
This scene from Reality Bites reminds me of oh-so-many late night runs to the Sev with friends. Good times!
It's the ultimate twenty-something movie. To think, in a few months from now I'll be moving from a twenty-something to a thirty-something. What are considered some thirty-something movies?
This afternoon I had some time to myself to drive around the city, running errands, sans-baby. As I was enjoying my newfound (albeit brief) freedom, I put in a CD made by my little sis from a couple years ago. Some of the songs were trips down memory lane (4 Non-Blondes, anyone?), and others rang a little too close to home -- and grabbed me, in ways that only good song lyrics can.
Don’t judge me I will judge myself I will lie in my bed at night Wide awake or asleep I will feel pain when I know I have given it Everything I put out to the world I know comes back to me
But when angels hear the devil’s call and my vision’s unclear got no sense at all I’m just hoping I will obey my conscience I want to learn How to be righteous
Well I saw it on a TV show I bought the book you know Made a change when I thought the preacher was talking to me But it’s not easy, no To get over and let it go All these feelings that are burning and building up inside of me
And when angels hear the devil’s call and my vision’s unclear got no sense at all I’m just hoping I will obey my conscience I want to learn How to be righteous
Well I look at all I have and I’ll claim it won’t let anybody else ever tell me who I should be I’ll look in the mirror and gaze in my children’s eyes and I will not give a damn what anybody else thinks of me
And when questions come, I will answer right be true to myself, maybe put up a fight Will not heed to greed I’ll obey my conscience I want to learn I need to learn How to be righteous
So when angels hear the devil’s call and my vision’s unclear got no sense at all I’m just hoping I’ll obey my conscience I want to learn I need to learn How to be righteous
It's from McKenna's The Kitchen Tapes album, where all the songs are basic recordings done -- you guessed it -- in her kitchen. The songs sounds rough and ethereal at the same time. I love it.
Listening to this song got me thinking about all the other tunes I would consider on the "soundtrack" to my life. I'd probably put this one on there, along with several others that mark other occasions of my growing up.
And then I thought, how cool would it be to listen to someone else's soundtrack? I'm already a big fan of "mixed tapes" -- and this one would be the ultimate mix tape, almost serving like a lifetime capsule of music.
I'm hoping to convince some of you out there to take up my challenge and trade soundtracks with me -- it'll force me to finally sit down and compile all the different sounds/music/lyrics that have always resonated with me, plus it'll give me a chance to have a listen into some of your lives. What do you say?
I read the question aloud to Jerry earlier today, and he asked which of the panelists would dare to answer yes -- I said that Chuck Colson would be my guess. He wasn't sure, since Colson has had some jail time, maybe he'd have a better perspective.
It is well understood in Christian tradition that while we are supposed to obey the law, there may be times when there is a higher obligation (see Aquinas, Augustine, and Martin Luther King). To rescue a drowning person, a Christian would be justified in disobeying a "no trespassing" sign.
So it is with torture...
Oh, I definitely see the correlation between saving a drowning person and the practice of waterboarding. Oy.
According to an article in today's Guardian, an Iowa senator is investigating the finances of several well-known US ministers/ministries.
In a statement, Grassley said he was acting on complaints from the public and news coverage of the organizations.
"The allegations involve governing boards that aren't independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces,'' Grassley said.
"I don't want to conclude that there's a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code.''
A few of those under investigation include Kenneth Copeland and Joyce Meyer.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas, a $20 million organization and prosperity gospel pioneer. Questions were raised about the transfer of church assets to a for-profit company, Security Patrol Inc., a $1 million loan from Gloria Copeland to the group, and a "personal gift'' of more than $2 million given to Kenneth Copeland to mark the ministry's 40th anniversary.
[...] Joyce and David Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo., who were quizzed about receiving donations of money and jewelry and the handling of cash from overseas crusades. They also were asked about expenditures at ministry headquarters, including a $30,000 conference table and a $23,000 "commode with marble top.''
It should be interesting what's found as a result of this financial investigation. I'm not much for the whole "name it and claim it" type of spiritual mentality -- mainly because of the implications it has on those who aren't living privileged lives in the first place.
And I think that it's important that investigations like these take place -- even if nothing illegal is found -- mainly because churches/ministries aren't required to file tax forms that are available for public inspection. If these organizations are accepting public funds, I'm of the persuasion that they need this type of accountability. [case in point -- well, one of many I could choose from]
Much of the debate over abortion is based on a misconception -- that it is a religious issue, that the pro-life advocates are acting out of religious conviction. It is not a theological matter at all. There is no theological basis for defending or condemning abortion. Even popes have said that the question of abortion is a matter of natural law, to be decided by natural reason. Well, the pope is not the arbiter of natural law. Natural reason is.
[...] If we are to decide the matter of abortion by natural law, that means we must turn to reason and science, the realm of Enlightened religion. But that is just what evangelicals want to avoid. Who are the relevant experts here? They are philosophers, neurobiologists, embryologists. Evangelicals want to exclude them because most give answers they do not want to hear. The experts have only secular expertise, not religious conviction. They, admittedly, do not give one answer -- they differ among themselves, they are tentative, they qualify. They do not have the certitude that the religious right accepts as the sign of truth.
So evangelicals take shortcuts. They pin everything on being pro-life. But one cannot be indiscriminately pro-life.
When does life begin? What qualifies as human life? Interesting questions, and an essay well worth the read.
Remember, remember the fifth of November, The gunpowder, treason and plot, I know of no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent To blow up the King and Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow; By God’s providence he was catch’d With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah!
A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o’ cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we’ll say ol’ Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah hoorah!
On the recommendation of Eric, I'm reading Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. So far, my reactions have fluctuated from being inspired to feeling convicted at what Sagan has to say. I'm only in the second chapter, but I keep finding myself pulling out key quotes to blog about later. At this rate, I'll have to transcribe all of chapter 2, "Science and Hope."
Here is one particular passage from the chapter that especially stood out:
In its encounter with Nature, science invariably elicits a sense of reverence and awe. The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos. And the cumulative worldwide buildup of knowledge over time converts science into something only a little short of a transnational, transgenerational meta-mind.
"Spirit" comes from the Latin word "to breathe." What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word "spiritual" that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word.
Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or of acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr.
The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
Phillip Pullman's novel The Golden Compass is coming to the big screen this Christmas. Thanks to my little sis the super librarian, she turned me onto this great story. If I had read this book any sooner, Emma may have been named Lyra.
There's a bunch of controversy surrounding the film adaptation, with the Catholic League taking up arms over its supposed atheistic content/aim of the author. What they're really reacting against is the unfavorable (read: realistic?) portrayal of the Church in the series.
Is there an underlying message for atheism in your book or did you simply want to write a fantasy story, like Tolkien? Kim Mapstead, Friday Harbor, Wash.
Hello, Kim: What I was mainly doing, I hope, was telling a story, but not a story like Tolkien’s. (To be honest I don’t much care for “The Lord of the Rings.”) As for the atheism, it doesn’t matter to me whether people believe in God or not, so I’m not promoting anything of that sort. What I do care about is whether people are cruel or whether they’re kind, whether they act for democracy or for tyranny, whether they believe in open-minded enquiry or in shutting the freedom of thought and expression. Good things have been done in the name of religion, and so have bad things; and both good things and bad things have been done with no religion at all. What I care about is the good, wherever it comes from.
Max Blumenthal's latest takes us on a shocking and at times bizarre tour of right-wing Pastor John Hagee's annual Washington-Israel Summit, blowing the cover off the Christian Zionist movement in the process. Starring Joe Lieberman, Tom DeLay, Pastor John Hagee, Ambassador Dore Gold and a host of rapture-ready evangelicals praying for Armaggedon.
I'm not sure why Jewish people would want to align themselves with these wacky evangelicals. I understand that they're looking for support, but at what cost are you willing to pay for it?
Blumenthal's latest video is Theocracy Now!: Values Voters Summit 2007, which is just as good as the above video, but without much of the former's eschatological goodness.
Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its virtues being extolled. But some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.
The Eat Local – Climate Change Challenge for 2 weeks!
“90% of the food we eat in Saskatchewan is trucked, shipped or flown in to the province. Choosing to eat food produced here in Saskatchewan is an important way to combat climate change.”
Launch of the Challenge is Friday November 9, 6pm Third Avenue United Church, Lower Hall (304 3rd Ave)
From 6 to 8:30 the Good Food Fair will be running. Visit booths with information on local food, healthy and sustainable living and international development issues. Build your own Local Good Food recipe book. Sample local food. Drink Fair-trade coffee or tea.
At 7:30 listen to Three Great Speakers:
Saskatchewan Food: Climate Change impacts and implications, Martha Robbins, National Farmers Union
One Planet: Linking local and global communities, Robert Fox, Oxfam Canada Executive Director
A Do-It-Yourself Guide to eating local in Saskatchewan, Amy Jo Ehman, Freelance Journalist
Take the challenge with some of Saskatoon’s celebrities kicking off the two weeks!
