Nothing Else Matters?

There is a concept in Christianity that suggests that accepting that Jesus is the Christ is all that matters.  Er go, "nothing else matters."  One of my favorite writers and all around smart guys, C. S. Lewis, espoused this concept.

However, this phrase is currently being used in some Christian circles in a way that's disturbing to me.  I'm essentially hearing "If you believe and you get others to believe - you're done."  You don't have to care about anything else, like motivating your children to live out their passions or helping to solve the earth's everyday problems.

Despite the fact that the Meclazine I'm taking for vertigo sometimes makes me want to behave like the Ya Ya Sisterhood, whose motto was "Smoke, Drink and Never Think,"  I'm still of the mind that,

If I fully believe and accept the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Christ - Everything else matters!

And this week I stumbled on the writing of the great French idealist philosopher and Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who rejected our pious tendency to deny that our achievements are spiritual. He says this:

...to be intelligently, bravely, imaginatively at work and play in the world, fully exerting our powers, is to give glory to the Creator God and to realize ourselves.  Science, technology, poetry, architecture, literature, philosophy, engineering, diplomacy, sports, government, genteel conversation, wit - all of the flowers of civilization - are praiseworthy, humanizing and sacred.  

In other words, everything else matters.


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Come From Away

Cast from Broadway's Come From Away

A while back I wrote that I was reading the book "The Day the World Came to Town."

On September 11, 2001, planes were denied landing in the air space above the United States "until further notice."  All of the planes in the air (over one thousand) coming to the states from other parts of the world had to find other places to land.  Thirty eight planes, containing almost 7,000 people, landed in the tiney town of Gander, Newfoundland.  I'm only about half way through the book, not  because I'm uninterested, but because I'm relishing every word, every detail.

As I said in the earlier blog posting, I was unaware of this story.

So, it was amazing to me when, on Sunday night, the the Canidian play, "Come From Away," won several Tony awards.  I wish I could see this wildy popular bear-hug of a musical. Chris Jones,
at the Chicago Tribune says this:

"Come From Away," one of the most successful Canadian musicals in history and a show celebrating the human kindness that greeted international airline passengers diverted to Gander, Newfoundloand on September 11, 2001... 

I noticed, during the Tonys, that Kevin Spacey pronounced "Newfoundland" correctly.  Rhymes with "Understand."


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Pulse, The Healing Continues

Yesterday in my church we had a time of silence as bells chimed 49 times.  This was in remembrance of the 49 people who were killed in a downtown Orlando nightclub exactly one year ago today.  The bells chimed, not only in my church, but in churches around the world.

My Orlando Sentinel
Front Cover Today
One Year Later

While we were in silent prayer with the chiming of the bells, the big screens in the front of the sanctuary were filled with a montage, created by the church staff,  of the names of all 49 victims.

I felt a sense of loss but also a deep sense of pride in my city and my church community.

Today's Orlando Sentinel says, on the front page:

...we are better, we are stronger, we are more united than we were on June 12, 2016.  Orlando has been defined - not by the brutality of one hateful individual who targeted innocent patrons in a gay nightclub on Latin Night - but by the response to it from across our community.

This editorial goes on to talk about our impulse to smother evil with good.  I think the vast majority of us human beings have this impulse.


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Resignation

So, the vertigo continues, off and on.  But I've heard from so many friends and acquaintances and, amazingly, have been given some good practical advice.  First instance, my friend, Julia, told me to close my eyes when it starts and not to open them until the spinning is over.  Wow, this is hard to do when the spinning lasts for several hours at a time - but it works.  The nausea is much less with eyes shut.

So, instead of beating my fists and tearing my clothes I'm resigning myself to my "new normal."

As you know, I used to write poetry.  Following is a poem I wrote in 1974.  My friend, who was in his 40s, had a second heart attack.  He was angry, scared, and in denial about what lifestyle changes needed to be made.

Resignation

He had been given
Two tickets for the same offense
And the injustice of it all
Was overwhelming him. 

He was
Kicking
Screaming
Beating his fist
And,
Tearing his clothes.

Finally,
She said,
Why don't you
just
SHUT UP AND PAY THE FINE!

Sometimes,
When we are
Kicking,
Screaming,
Beating our fists
And
Tearing our clothes
At the injustice of it all
Should we
Maybe
Just 
SHUT UP AND PAY THE FINE?


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I-4 Craziness

Dave's Latest Art Piece - "I-4"

In 1995, when I was looking for a condo in Orlando, I had a list of a dozen of the most important attributes.  One was to be in the I-4 corridor.  Because I-4 runs from Tampa to Daytona Beach.

And it's about the only way you can get to most places in Central Florida.  (Also, folks who live in the I-4 Corridor usually impact our presidential elections.  We are powerful.)

Now we're in the midst of the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project.  It's pretty much a decades long driving nightmare.  At our closest on-ramp we never know if it will be a left turn or a right turn.  Trying to navigate without knocking over a few orange cones is daunting.

The project is supposed to take ten years- but we know better.  When Dave complains, which he rarely does (about anything) my helpful response is this:

It will take about twenty years and then it will will wonderful.  But you and I will be dead.

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