Sloth + Joy of Conversation + "Nothing Sacred" Mundane trivia.
So much for good intentions - I thought I could be more regular in posting but that hasn't been the case. "My bad" as some folks say. I am no more disciplined in journaling than I am in the rest of my life. No good excuse. Yes, we began the semester....and, yes, it has been busy. I have two very full classes. extra attention to medical needs eats up time...but, of course, I find time for other things, so it is more my addiction to "sloth" (I told my students that sloth was my "favorite" sin.). Just plain lazy in my case.
To compound things, besides all the fun with oxygen I now have a cold - sore throat runny nose, cough....No fun. In reality I am lucky and have access to good care and the oxygen is, of course, a blessing - no reason to complain, really, and no sympathy when I am prone to feeling sorry for myself. And that is as it should be.
There have been some good conversations with students - with one man especially. I get so much pleasure from intelligent theological discussion with eager students. This one is not in my classes so there is no pay-off for him except, as for me, the joy of sharing ideas and exploring faith. Fr Tim gave an excellent homily at the community Mass yesterday (blows my feeble attempt at the parish earlier in the day out of the water). Tim is a fine preacher and rarely fails to feed my soul.
Back in the mid 90s (?) there was a TV series called "Nothing Sacred" - a drama set in an urban parish - mainline Catholic. Well, perhaps somewhat "liberal", I guess...but it felt accurate and an honest reflection of parish life. It was sad to me that the show was canceled and the full set of episodes was never shown. It is possible that the audience just wasn't there, although it was then (and since) the best TV portrayal of church life that I can recall seeing. But it was also the victim of a campaign by some Catholics who were offended by the series' take on Catholicism, folks who thought (thought? - pardon my snarkiness for a moment) that it was an attack on the "Church". It tackled some tough issues...but they were issues that are very real and true to life. While there are dvds of the most insipid and pedestrian TV shows available, this one fine drama never made to that format. But on the weekend I discovered bits and pieces of episodes on Youtube. What a delight! So I have been watching these with appreciation.
Our Orthodox perish lost another revered senior - a woman who was what might be called a "mother of the Church" - that's after losing another a couple of months ago. A third is close to the point of death - or so they say. It is a small parish and losing three of the "mothers" is a blow - of course we trust that they enjoy the reward of the blessed. It was a joy to back at Vespers after a long absence.
Otherwise: laundry, paying bills,, teaching, pondering an article for the Abbey magazine are the things that fill my days. And I am finally back at the altar - serving the Monday morning Liturgy at Lourdes after s long absence. "Glory to God for ll things!"
John
To compound things, besides all the fun with oxygen I now have a cold - sore throat runny nose, cough....No fun. In reality I am lucky and have access to good care and the oxygen is, of course, a blessing - no reason to complain, really, and no sympathy when I am prone to feeling sorry for myself. And that is as it should be.
There have been some good conversations with students - with one man especially. I get so much pleasure from intelligent theological discussion with eager students. This one is not in my classes so there is no pay-off for him except, as for me, the joy of sharing ideas and exploring faith. Fr Tim gave an excellent homily at the community Mass yesterday (blows my feeble attempt at the parish earlier in the day out of the water). Tim is a fine preacher and rarely fails to feed my soul.
Back in the mid 90s (?) there was a TV series called "Nothing Sacred" - a drama set in an urban parish - mainline Catholic. Well, perhaps somewhat "liberal", I guess...but it felt accurate and an honest reflection of parish life. It was sad to me that the show was canceled and the full set of episodes was never shown. It is possible that the audience just wasn't there, although it was then (and since) the best TV portrayal of church life that I can recall seeing. But it was also the victim of a campaign by some Catholics who were offended by the series' take on Catholicism, folks who thought (thought? - pardon my snarkiness for a moment) that it was an attack on the "Church". It tackled some tough issues...but they were issues that are very real and true to life. While there are dvds of the most insipid and pedestrian TV shows available, this one fine drama never made to that format. But on the weekend I discovered bits and pieces of episodes on Youtube. What a delight! So I have been watching these with appreciation.
Our Orthodox perish lost another revered senior - a woman who was what might be called a "mother of the Church" - that's after losing another a couple of months ago. A third is close to the point of death - or so they say. It is a small parish and losing three of the "mothers" is a blow - of course we trust that they enjoy the reward of the blessed. It was a joy to back at Vespers after a long absence.
Otherwise: laundry, paying bills,, teaching, pondering an article for the Abbey magazine are the things that fill my days. And I am finally back at the altar - serving the Monday morning Liturgy at Lourdes after s long absence. "Glory to God for ll things!"
John