The Day of Rest
You are, maybe, wondering why I hardly ever write, and am suddenly writing about such a banal thing as politics on this most Holy of Days?
Well, so am I.
I mostly don't write, because I haven't got anything to say. That's probably a good thing, considering how many people out there still blog anyhow when they haven't got anything to say. So, today, I saw Chavez shaking hands with Obama, and I felt proud of my new president, and decided to write about that.
But, what's today really all about?
This is the great Day of Rest. On the Seventh Day, God Rested from all of his Labours. Today, Christ God rests on the greatest Sabbath of all. He rests from his Labours in the tomb!
Yesterday He was murdered. Today He rests in death. Tomorrow He is Risen from the Dead.
Here's one of my favorite passages about Christ's vastness:
(I'm doing this from memory because I don't have a copy of the Divine Liturgy handy and can't find the text on line.) This is something the priest says at the Altar table after he's brought back the Chalice from giving everyone communion. He usually says it under his breath so you can't really hear it, but the text is there in your service book if you want to read that.
"In the tomb with the body, on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, and in Paradise with the thief, art Thou, O Boundless Christ, thyself circumscribed."
The newer translation doesn't use the word "circumscribed." I forget what it uses but it is something else. But the word "circumscribed" is important here, as is the word "uncircumscribed" which you don't see because there they translated it as "boundless".
Christ God is Boundless. That is to say, He cannot be bounded. That is to say, He cannot be contained. He cannot be circumscribed.
Nevertheless, He WAS (and IS) circumscribed. By His own Choice, God the uncircumscibeable became circumscribed. That is to say, he became "contained" and "bounded". That is to say, He was incarnate (took upon himself flesh, carne.)
One can say that the uncircumscribeable God became circumscribed, by His own choice. And as a circumscibed man and yet eternal God, he was in several places at once on this very day. He was laying in the tomb with the Body, he was on the Throne in Heaven as God, and he was in Paradise with the thief. We are talking about the thief who died on the cross next to Christ, here. To whom He said: "This day shall you be with me in Paradise."
How is it that He was in Paradise? Because he died and entered Hades, and as God, overpowered it, and led the captives of Hades free. He lead them into Paradise.
But get this: he also, never left the body!
If you have a notion, a notion that perhaps might be easy to have: that He died and the God part of his nature went one way leaving the man part of his nature (the flesh) alone in the tomb, well, if you have that notion of his Godhead leaving his body at death the way your soul leaves your body at death. Well, that notion would be wrong.
When He Died, His Godhead, His Divinity, it was still fully present inside his dead, fleshly human body. So, in some incomprehensible way, God died.
And yet, because he is God, when He died, He entered Hell and smashed it to smithereens.
This is a glorious day, this day where He is dead in the tomb. Because on the one hand He rests the greatest rest of all. A rest that not even the most technical Jew can say they've ever rested. He kept the sabbath in a manner surpassing all men before Him, because he was dead that day, and resting quietly in His tomb. And yet, because this bounded One was equally boundless, He was still on His Throne in heaven ruling over all, and he was equally in Paradise on this day with the thief.
This day, is in many ways even more special, mind-boggling, and unique than tomorrow is, where we leave time once-and-for all, entering the eigth day of the week. And yet it is tomorrow that defines it. Tomorrow that demonstrates to the universe the triumph of God over the powers of evil, the triumph of man over sin and death. A day in which we cry out "Christ is Risen!"
He is Risen Indeed!
Regards,
Basil
Friday, April 17, 2009
This is what I love about Obama!
Many of my friends are staunch anti-Obama fanatics. It didn't really go over so well that I supported Obama in the election. And, somehow these people are able to see nothing but "what's wrong with Obama" even now. They are already blaming the economic catastrophe on Obama, although I suspect what we are suffering the consequences of today was something started by Nixon, Ford and Regan. Sure it was something that several successions of Democratic presidencies were unable to fix. Carter and Clinton did nothing to help us avoid where we are at today, but I think it was squarely begun back in the Nixon administration, and brought to it's apex by two successive Bush legacies.
But, I'm digressing.
The reason I voted for Obama was that I had dreams that hopefully his foreign policy would end up being exactly how it is.
We Americans just don't learn from our mistakes. We have generation after generation trying to do the exact same thing and expect different results. (This, by the way is the definition of insanity!)
For more than 20 years, I've been ashamed to be an American from a global perspective. Americans have been known the world over to be bigots who try to force their ideology on others. We like to claim that what we are forcing on them is the will of their own people, we call this "Democracy" and we insult, ridicule, and try to undermine the governments of anyone who disagrees with our own particular twist on democracy. Give me a break people, we didn't even elect our own president on George Bush's first term. How can we be so pathetically vulgar to the rest of the world, telling them we know what's right, and their own people don't. We seem to be able to find some tiny group of malcontents in every society and exploit their ideas and claim that they are main-stream, claim that these people are the true Freedom Fighters who are struggling for democracy.
We always try to force other nations to bend to our will because our way is right. If you look back on history that's what the Persians, and Assyrians and Babylonians, Greeks and Romans always said. The governments said "we know what's right for you" and conquered the rest of the world. We're here to make you all civilized, and then we go on and kill everyone who resists being civilized.
I still say America is one of the greatest lands in the world. It is a country full of opportunity. A country in which all races, creeds and colors can find a place to live to their fullest. Unfortunately, for too many years, in foreign policy our perspective has been that we have to keep all the other potentially threatening nations of the world under our thumb, so they don't get out of control, so they don't become powerful and someday threaten us.
Well, look at the news folks. What threatens us is: us! We are having mass killings weekly now. We are having crazy people who have a few screws loose and unleash their foolishness on many others. There are even a great deal of crazies these days who seem to have gotten some sort of subversive notion that the U.S. Government is going to take away all of their rights, and so these people are going out in droves to buy guns. Are we simply laying the groundwork for the next generations of suicidal mass murderers?
I've said for years that the notion of keeping the rest of the world under our thumbs merely builds up resentment. We are out there actively CREATING enemies. We are out there actively teaching people to hate us!
Well, thank God for what Obama is doing with foreign policy! It is about time that we try to make friends instead of enemies. I think it is perfectly appropriate to meet the leaders of other nations as equals, not as someone inferior because they have a different culture, and discuss common points while trying to encourage values that we think will benefit everyone: like freedom of speech, freedom of commerce, freedom of expression, and so on. You aren't going to see a Cuba with these freedoms using the approach that we've used for the past 70 years. You aren't going to see these freedoms come to life in many other nations either, if we keep treating them disdainfully, refusing to even speak with them until they change.
It is long past time for this approach. My only question is: is it too long past time? Will it do any good, or are we already too late? Have we already created out there the enemies that will ultimately destroy us, or is it not too late?
~ Basil
Many of my friends are staunch anti-Obama fanatics. It didn't really go over so well that I supported Obama in the election. And, somehow these people are able to see nothing but "what's wrong with Obama" even now. They are already blaming the economic catastrophe on Obama, although I suspect what we are suffering the consequences of today was something started by Nixon, Ford and Regan. Sure it was something that several successions of Democratic presidencies were unable to fix. Carter and Clinton did nothing to help us avoid where we are at today, but I think it was squarely begun back in the Nixon administration, and brought to it's apex by two successive Bush legacies.
But, I'm digressing.
The reason I voted for Obama was that I had dreams that hopefully his foreign policy would end up being exactly how it is.
We Americans just don't learn from our mistakes. We have generation after generation trying to do the exact same thing and expect different results. (This, by the way is the definition of insanity!)
For more than 20 years, I've been ashamed to be an American from a global perspective. Americans have been known the world over to be bigots who try to force their ideology on others. We like to claim that what we are forcing on them is the will of their own people, we call this "Democracy" and we insult, ridicule, and try to undermine the governments of anyone who disagrees with our own particular twist on democracy. Give me a break people, we didn't even elect our own president on George Bush's first term. How can we be so pathetically vulgar to the rest of the world, telling them we know what's right, and their own people don't. We seem to be able to find some tiny group of malcontents in every society and exploit their ideas and claim that they are main-stream, claim that these people are the true Freedom Fighters who are struggling for democracy.
We always try to force other nations to bend to our will because our way is right. If you look back on history that's what the Persians, and Assyrians and Babylonians, Greeks and Romans always said. The governments said "we know what's right for you" and conquered the rest of the world. We're here to make you all civilized, and then we go on and kill everyone who resists being civilized.
I still say America is one of the greatest lands in the world. It is a country full of opportunity. A country in which all races, creeds and colors can find a place to live to their fullest. Unfortunately, for too many years, in foreign policy our perspective has been that we have to keep all the other potentially threatening nations of the world under our thumb, so they don't get out of control, so they don't become powerful and someday threaten us.
Well, look at the news folks. What threatens us is: us! We are having mass killings weekly now. We are having crazy people who have a few screws loose and unleash their foolishness on many others. There are even a great deal of crazies these days who seem to have gotten some sort of subversive notion that the U.S. Government is going to take away all of their rights, and so these people are going out in droves to buy guns. Are we simply laying the groundwork for the next generations of suicidal mass murderers?
I've said for years that the notion of keeping the rest of the world under our thumbs merely builds up resentment. We are out there actively CREATING enemies. We are out there actively teaching people to hate us!
Well, thank God for what Obama is doing with foreign policy! It is about time that we try to make friends instead of enemies. I think it is perfectly appropriate to meet the leaders of other nations as equals, not as someone inferior because they have a different culture, and discuss common points while trying to encourage values that we think will benefit everyone: like freedom of speech, freedom of commerce, freedom of expression, and so on. You aren't going to see a Cuba with these freedoms using the approach that we've used for the past 70 years. You aren't going to see these freedoms come to life in many other nations either, if we keep treating them disdainfully, refusing to even speak with them until they change.
It is long past time for this approach. My only question is: is it too long past time? Will it do any good, or are we already too late? Have we already created out there the enemies that will ultimately destroy us, or is it not too late?
~ Basil
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Flights to Mars, only $99
Check it out:
http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_home_us
I got my badge!
Check it out:
http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_home_us
I got my badge!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
From Letters to a Young Poet
by Rilke
"With nothing can one approach a work of art so little as with critical words: they always come down to more or less happy misunderstandings. Things are not so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures."
by Rilke
"With nothing can one approach a work of art so little as with critical words: they always come down to more or less happy misunderstandings. Things are not so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Maryland, My Maryland
Well, the world is changing. That's the way things happen.
And before it has gone too far, I'd like to sing you a little tune.
This is (currently, but by the sounds of it not much longer) the State Tune of Maryland.
Maryland, My Maryland
(to the tune of "O, Tannenbaum")
by James Ryder Randall
I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!
II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!
III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!
V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!
Well, the world is changing. That's the way things happen.
And before it has gone too far, I'd like to sing you a little tune.
This is (currently, but by the sounds of it not much longer) the State Tune of Maryland.
Maryland, My Maryland
(to the tune of "O, Tannenbaum")
by James Ryder Randall
I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!
II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!
III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!
V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
I'm making a clean sweep.
All the cobwebs of my life are being washed away.
I'm digging through the files, and burning, shredding, throwing away and posting.
Here's a little scrap I've found:
"a granite tomb for the repose of ruined passions, hopes and woes."
- М. Лермонтов
This can be such a depressing day if you think about it.
It is better to do something nice in hope of invoking a smile than to think about it.
All the cobwebs of my life are being washed away.
I'm digging through the files, and burning, shredding, throwing away and posting.
Here's a little scrap I've found:
"a granite tomb for the repose of ruined passions, hopes and woes."
- М. Лермонтов
This can be such a depressing day if you think about it.
It is better to do something nice in hope of invoking a smile than to think about it.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Gore and Obama
Well, I haven't spoken much lately. I wanted to give a nice little overview on "why I support Obama" right before the elections, but never got around to it. All my republican friends, with their tails between their legs, said Obama was going to win for months before the election, so what would be the point.
Nevertheless, I read something today so funny I wanted to share it.
One more word or two about Obama first.
When I listened to McCain's speech on the night he lost the election, I thought to myself: wow, that was good. Why didn't he talk like that while he was running? Maybe more people would have voted for him. (Or maybe what I thought was: good thing he didn't talk like that before, or he might have won the election.) I also thought to myself, Obama is going to have a tough time giving a better speech than this.
Well, of course, like millions of other U.S. Citizens throughout the world, and probably millions of English speaking people throughout the world, I was totally blown away by Obama's acceptance speech. I think that speech rivaled any political speech I've heard in my life time.
One last note: one of the things I've liked about Obama all along is his conciliatory attitude. So, I am very impressed by his Cabinet choices so far and his ability to work with folks on both sides (all three sides? all six sides?) of the fence. I heartily approve of his choice for Hillary Clinton as Sec. of State, because among other things, this may improve her chances of being elected president in 4 or 8 years.
Anyway, today's funny. I was reading this article here, on Gore's Visit to Obama in Chicago. It is an interesting article. Who knows what they are up to? Gore as an Energy Secretary? Everyone seems to doubt that notion. Maybe: "who should be my Energy Secretary, Al?" Who knows.
I'm not sure if I've ever agreed with Al Gore about his notion that the earth is going to hell in a handbag because of everything we've done to it. Sure we are finding thawed men on icy mountain tops that died there in the snow thousands upon thousands of years ago. But what were they doing there mountain climbing in shorts anyway? Our weather flows in cycles. The mountains have thawed and frozen many times over the course of the history of this planet, and we don't really have a clue why. It is all speculation, but scientifically speaking it is more likely to do with cycles of the sun than anything else. Saying that man can affect the weather with anything other than global nuclear war is like saying that I can affect the weather by lighting up my barbecue on a snow-covered deck. But, I digress...
The article I was reading was interesting until I got to this sentence here (at which point I basically just busted up laughing, because this wasn't on the tonight show or some other comedy routine, but on regular news, apparently):
"The Gore trip is for more than just a chat," a close friend of Gore told CNN's John King. "He wouldn't burn that much carbon flying to Chicago just to talk."
Cheers!
Basil
Well, I haven't spoken much lately. I wanted to give a nice little overview on "why I support Obama" right before the elections, but never got around to it. All my republican friends, with their tails between their legs, said Obama was going to win for months before the election, so what would be the point.
Nevertheless, I read something today so funny I wanted to share it.
One more word or two about Obama first.
When I listened to McCain's speech on the night he lost the election, I thought to myself: wow, that was good. Why didn't he talk like that while he was running? Maybe more people would have voted for him. (Or maybe what I thought was: good thing he didn't talk like that before, or he might have won the election.) I also thought to myself, Obama is going to have a tough time giving a better speech than this.
Well, of course, like millions of other U.S. Citizens throughout the world, and probably millions of English speaking people throughout the world, I was totally blown away by Obama's acceptance speech. I think that speech rivaled any political speech I've heard in my life time.
One last note: one of the things I've liked about Obama all along is his conciliatory attitude. So, I am very impressed by his Cabinet choices so far and his ability to work with folks on both sides (all three sides? all six sides?) of the fence. I heartily approve of his choice for Hillary Clinton as Sec. of State, because among other things, this may improve her chances of being elected president in 4 or 8 years.
Anyway, today's funny. I was reading this article here, on Gore's Visit to Obama in Chicago. It is an interesting article. Who knows what they are up to? Gore as an Energy Secretary? Everyone seems to doubt that notion. Maybe: "who should be my Energy Secretary, Al?" Who knows.
I'm not sure if I've ever agreed with Al Gore about his notion that the earth is going to hell in a handbag because of everything we've done to it. Sure we are finding thawed men on icy mountain tops that died there in the snow thousands upon thousands of years ago. But what were they doing there mountain climbing in shorts anyway? Our weather flows in cycles. The mountains have thawed and frozen many times over the course of the history of this planet, and we don't really have a clue why. It is all speculation, but scientifically speaking it is more likely to do with cycles of the sun than anything else. Saying that man can affect the weather with anything other than global nuclear war is like saying that I can affect the weather by lighting up my barbecue on a snow-covered deck. But, I digress...
The article I was reading was interesting until I got to this sentence here (at which point I basically just busted up laughing, because this wasn't on the tonight show or some other comedy routine, but on regular news, apparently):
"The Gore trip is for more than just a chat," a close friend of Gore told CNN's John King. "He wouldn't burn that much carbon flying to Chicago just to talk."
Cheers!
Basil
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