The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Pray tell ..... How is that exactly?
Yesterday, I witnessed my mother graduate from college. It was actually pretty amazing when we consider that she was attaining her Bachelor's in 1972, concurrently enrolled with her own mother at the time. It was many years later that she resumed her education in pursuit of a Master's degree. And yesterday, I saw her walk across the stage with her major professor to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It was pretty awesome and something I was greatly looking forward to seeing ..... until the invocation.
Oh, the invocation.
"To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
He actually said that. A priest from the same church that my brother and I were baptized and my mother married her (3rd) husband in, came into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and uttered those words.
There is a little switch in my head. When I hear something worthwhile, something exciting, something profound, that switch is on and I'm listening and looking forward to the words that flow into sentences and paragraphs of meaning.
Then there are words like those spoken by the priest yesterday. After hearing words such as those is when that little switch in my head is set for an automatic flip to the off position. And I do believe there is nothing on god's green earth that can make me hear what that person is saying and consider that they might have an ounce or even an inkling of sense between their ears.
After hearing the invoking prayer, I actually had to work a little bit to turn that switch in my head from off to on so that I could listen and enjoy the speech given by Todd Graves, founder of Raisin' Cane's chicken. He was actually a pretty good speaker, if not a good orator, and he had a very inspiring story to relate to the class of 2010. I enjoyed hearing about how he had found a way past the outer cages of Mike the V's confinements, so that he could sit with the tiger and pet him and become friends with him. I also loved hearing about how he spent a year in Alaska to make the money to open his first restaurant. I loved hearing about his tenets for being successful in the business world:
1. Find your one love
2. Don't take no for an answer
3. Be authentic
4. Treat people well
5. Give back to your community.
I also loved hearing his story, after already knowing how much he not only espouses those tenets, but also how he lives by them. His #5 is personified by the parks at city park and the new cage built for Mike VI (in 2005?) It was said that over the course of his career, Raisin' Canes has given back approximately 25% of their profits to the communities which make them successful. All in all, it was a good graduation ceremony.
Except, of course, that goddamn invocation. "To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"? ...... Come see my Goddess for a while, and the unending terror will make a little bit of fear feel like dancing with the angels.
That invocation actually made me think of the movie Legion. Where the opening bible quote in the movie was something like, "Come to me children, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord." I love that quote for some reason, maybe because its spooky and a little unnerving, and maybe because watching that movie made me bleed like a cheap whore who had just been fucked in the rectory in the middle of Sunday morning services.
The fear of the Lord? When I think of "FEAR" and "LORD" in the same sentence with reference to my own goddess?
Well, I'm afraid to say, all that does is make me wet.
Oh, the invocation.
"To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
He actually said that. A priest from the same church that my brother and I were baptized and my mother married her (3rd) husband in, came into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and uttered those words.
There is a little switch in my head. When I hear something worthwhile, something exciting, something profound, that switch is on and I'm listening and looking forward to the words that flow into sentences and paragraphs of meaning.
Then there are words like those spoken by the priest yesterday. After hearing words such as those is when that little switch in my head is set for an automatic flip to the off position. And I do believe there is nothing on god's green earth that can make me hear what that person is saying and consider that they might have an ounce or even an inkling of sense between their ears.
After hearing the invoking prayer, I actually had to work a little bit to turn that switch in my head from off to on so that I could listen and enjoy the speech given by Todd Graves, founder of Raisin' Cane's chicken. He was actually a pretty good speaker, if not a good orator, and he had a very inspiring story to relate to the class of 2010. I enjoyed hearing about how he had found a way past the outer cages of Mike the V's confinements, so that he could sit with the tiger and pet him and become friends with him. I also loved hearing about how he spent a year in Alaska to make the money to open his first restaurant. I loved hearing about his tenets for being successful in the business world:
1. Find your one love
2. Don't take no for an answer
3. Be authentic
4. Treat people well
5. Give back to your community.
I also loved hearing his story, after already knowing how much he not only espouses those tenets, but also how he lives by them. His #5 is personified by the parks at city park and the new cage built for Mike VI (in 2005?) It was said that over the course of his career, Raisin' Canes has given back approximately 25% of their profits to the communities which make them successful. All in all, it was a good graduation ceremony.
Except, of course, that goddamn invocation. "To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"? ...... Come see my Goddess for a while, and the unending terror will make a little bit of fear feel like dancing with the angels.
That invocation actually made me think of the movie Legion. Where the opening bible quote in the movie was something like, "Come to me children, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord." I love that quote for some reason, maybe because its spooky and a little unnerving, and maybe because watching that movie made me bleed like a cheap whore who had just been fucked in the rectory in the middle of Sunday morning services.
The fear of the Lord? When I think of "FEAR" and "LORD" in the same sentence with reference to my own goddess?
Well, I'm afraid to say, all that does is make me wet.