Perhaps because I have a headcold and everything seems a bit echoey, including my thought process, but for some reason, anyway: outside just now I was chanting in my mind, "Dominus vobiscum," and the response, "et cum spiritu tuo." And my thoughts wafted into the memory of how we used to as kids have fun saying pretend-Latin, using English words to make nonsense Latin chants, using words like "Domino Nabisco" and "Animal Cracker." And just now I was considering that the reason it is possible to do that is that Latin is a significant ancestor of our language, such a foundational aspect of what we say that our own language gives us the tools to make fun of it. As children of course we did so in innocence, simply for fun and knowing we were in some way ignorant of the truth and using our ignorance to jest about it.
Now as I write all this out, it occurs to me that we are doing the same thing as grown ups, not with language but with our culture, which came from the same source. In many ways the rhetoric and concepts we string together to mock and diminish the Roman Church are tools which she herself cultivated and gave to society. I don't have the brainwidth to take this further, but it is a thought that echoes in my head with the resonance of truth. "Hmnn, there's something in that. . ."
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
I Miss You
I noticed that one of my contacts at my favorite social networking site disappeared overnight. Because of something she posted yesterday, I suspect she deleted her account. I realize this is the nature of our virtual society: we now have acquaintences, neighbors, and friends in distant locations, who we may meet in person. Some of them disappear.
Then we have traditional relationships, founded on physical presence at least initially. People we meet, speak with, spend time with in the same physical space. Their departures are generally less sudden and unexpected.
All endings stir a sense of sorrow and loss somewhere within me. Sometimes I feel personally rejected and wonder what I did or am that generates such a response. In my older age I more often simply mourn the loss and say a prayer that they will find good things in life even when I won't know about it.
I am going to miss my friend. I will notice the absence of her particular tone of comment and feedback, and I will be reminded of her every morning when I check the weather in her city (a town I'd like to live in myself).
(wave)
To anyone I've lost track of - I wish you well!
Then we have traditional relationships, founded on physical presence at least initially. People we meet, speak with, spend time with in the same physical space. Their departures are generally less sudden and unexpected.
All endings stir a sense of sorrow and loss somewhere within me. Sometimes I feel personally rejected and wonder what I did or am that generates such a response. In my older age I more often simply mourn the loss and say a prayer that they will find good things in life even when I won't know about it.
I am going to miss my friend. I will notice the absence of her particular tone of comment and feedback, and I will be reminded of her every morning when I check the weather in her city (a town I'd like to live in myself).
(wave)
To anyone I've lost track of - I wish you well!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Human Nature: Fundamentally Good or Bad?
On September 12, 2012, there were peaceful rallies in Libya, people gathered together to show denounce the violence that occurred the day before. A friend posted this link, which has pictures of the demonstrators and translations of their signs:
http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/zs4o1/today_was_prousa_demonstration_in_benghazi/
Down in the comments underneath I found information about one of the embassy staff killed in the attack: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/zs4o1/today_was_prousa_demonstration_in_benghazi/c67bypp.
Sean Smith was the information management office at the consulate. He was also an online role-playing gamer, in a universe where he was a highly respected diplomat. The comments from his fellow gamers are heart-touching.
I didn't know how to communicate my mental and emotional response to 9/11 this year. Then came news of the attacks in the Middle East, and the followup information. And the conversations with coworkers. And the online commentary. And I remembered a debate a long time ago on the fundamental nature of humanity: are we fundamentaly good but capable of corruption, or are we fundamentally evil and capable of some goodness?
One thing I learned about myself is that I am fundamentally grounded in reality. I look to what is to understand first principles, I can't engage in debate or discussion without a real-world illustration. In the midst of grand theoretical "what if" and "it's said" I saw on 9/11 the demonstration of what is.
A few, a very few, a very small number and smaller percentage of people chose to do evil. And the number of truly evil people is even smaller, because it was one person who invested tremendous energy into the evil who pulled the others to it. It took an investment of time and thought and persuasion to get the few to perform the evil actions.
And in response, the vast overwhelming and spontanous response from humanity was a cry of outrage, and whenever possible, wherever there was opportunity, a demonstration of good. People ran into burning buildings, people helped each other out of rubble, people took strangers into their homes. In 2012, people gathered with signs written in their own language and in a language they didn't understand condemning violence and evil.
People are good. That is why Our Lord, the Incarnation of Truth and Goodness, could tell us that "what you do unto others, you do unto Me." Our Lord is Goodness, and created the world as good, and shared our humanity, including especially the good.
http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/zs4o1/today_was_prousa_demonstration_in_benghazi/
Down in the comments underneath I found information about one of the embassy staff killed in the attack: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/zs4o1/today_was_prousa_demonstration_in_benghazi/c67bypp.
Sean Smith was the information management office at the consulate. He was also an online role-playing gamer, in a universe where he was a highly respected diplomat. The comments from his fellow gamers are heart-touching.
I didn't know how to communicate my mental and emotional response to 9/11 this year. Then came news of the attacks in the Middle East, and the followup information. And the conversations with coworkers. And the online commentary. And I remembered a debate a long time ago on the fundamental nature of humanity: are we fundamentaly good but capable of corruption, or are we fundamentally evil and capable of some goodness?
One thing I learned about myself is that I am fundamentally grounded in reality. I look to what is to understand first principles, I can't engage in debate or discussion without a real-world illustration. In the midst of grand theoretical "what if" and "it's said" I saw on 9/11 the demonstration of what is.
A few, a very few, a very small number and smaller percentage of people chose to do evil. And the number of truly evil people is even smaller, because it was one person who invested tremendous energy into the evil who pulled the others to it. It took an investment of time and thought and persuasion to get the few to perform the evil actions.
And in response, the vast overwhelming and spontanous response from humanity was a cry of outrage, and whenever possible, wherever there was opportunity, a demonstration of good. People ran into burning buildings, people helped each other out of rubble, people took strangers into their homes. In 2012, people gathered with signs written in their own language and in a language they didn't understand condemning violence and evil.
People are good. That is why Our Lord, the Incarnation of Truth and Goodness, could tell us that "what you do unto others, you do unto Me." Our Lord is Goodness, and created the world as good, and shared our humanity, including especially the good.
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