I found this icon on Religious Imagery in Culture. Fantastic! I love that the centurion is giving a blessing (and holding a Bible) - do storm troopers READ?!
Our church offers unction every Sunday, and I have to say, that at first, I was totally freaked out by the concept. But the more I think about it, and have massages in my non-religious life, I realize that there IS a healing power in touch. And I have heard many sermons about the idea that maybe all the sick people that Jesus cured really just wanted some companionship, and care, and that's what cured them of their ailments.
This reminds me of one of my favorite paintings of Jesus' miracles which I saw in Montreal at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. I have to postcard at home - The Raising of Jairus' Daughter, by Gabriel Max, 1878 - and I found the image on Flickr. So moving. It's strange to see a painting of one of Jesus' miracles and see so little of him. But, it's such an intimate and amazing moment. A miracle.
I think this has to be the best Oxfam ad EVER. Especially given my new obsession [the Twilight movies]. I found this at the Twilight fan blog. Hold onto your hats, people, because this may rival my LotR obsession, which was truly all-consuming for several years there. Hmm. I think it has to do with the eye-candy.
Those of you who know me, know that I have a massive soft spot for vampire lore, especially when translated to film. But I just saw "Twilight" and am hooked. I will now need to read the series.
I have a lot of ideas about the concept of vampires, but will need to think Twilight through a little more before I talk about them here. I have to say, I agree with the Gawker review [which I can't seem to find right now! ugh] which said, "it was the hottest non-sex of the year." I'd have to agree.
So, people, this is what Netflix is for. More on vampires later....
This is one of my favorite types of religious sites - one where a previous tradition has been built over, but still remains. This is one of the things I appreciate about the seasonal liturgy (Liturgical Year) of the Church as it cycles through the Lectionary. The overlays are what fascinate me, and keep me thinking about religion.
So, I just got back from an awesome vacation (for me) while Josiah was working in Goldsboro, NC. We stopped at Chincoteague, VA on our way down to North Carolina. And while J. was training in Goldsboro, the girls and I went to New Bern, NC. It was a fantastic time! Here are the highlights:
Things have been crazy hectic in my life for the past couple of months! I could go into lots of detail, but I won't. Suffice it to say, I'm taking a couple of days off, and will be back in full effect in May.
My Godson is officially adopted into the family, as of Easter Monday!
Neighbor Ed just got tenure!
My friend Charlotte just got back from Istanbul and posted some of her amazing photos on Facebook. I'm really hoping she might be a guest blogger here and talk about her travels and the religious art she saw there. One of her stops was the Hagia Sophia (picture on left).
I'm trying to plan an academic path to a Master's degree for myself. I have a meeting with an advisor this afternoon!
And finally, this isn't in the news of the me, rather the news of the "we" but - I am so proud of our President and First Lady. Out planting trees:
I am always amazed by the people around the world that re-enact the crucifixion. They do it as penance, or to bring themselves closer to Jesus' suffering, I suppose. But, I thought the point of Jesus' death was that he did it for us. I can see the appeal, though.
Holy Week is so dramatic, and some of us just thrive on drama. I have never been able to bring myself to attend the Good Friday services. I am overwhelmed at Palm Sunday, where we hear the storyof what happened on Friday, and I am often reduced to tears. For me, it's the betrayal that is so upsetting. And the guilt - that the crowd shouting to "crucify him!" is US. We are the ones for whom this all happened. So, in a way, I get the "Penitentes" who nail themselves to crosses. If it helps reduce the guilt of it, maybe it's not so bad after all.
UPDATE: A friend just sent me this link to the "Facebook Passion." FANTASTIC!
So, All, I finished my Lenten endeavor - to read all 4 Gospels. I did it! Here's a great video - "From Jesus To Christ: the First Christians" that I watched many years ago, and got for my birthday recently. It's a great companion when reading the Gospels. Helps a LOT.
Matthew the Evangelist, the author of the first gospel is symbolized by a human (not an angel as sometimes thought) - a figure of humanity and reason. Matthew's gospel starts with Jesus' genealogy from Abraham; it represents Jesus' Incarnation, and so Christ's human nature. Christians should use their reason for salvation.
Mark the Evangelist, the author of the second gospel is symbolized by a lion - a figure of courage and monarchy. Mark has John the Baptist preaching "like a lion roaring" at the beginning of his Gospel. It also represents Jesus' Resurrection (because lions were believed to sleep with open eyes, a comparison with Christ in the tomb), and Christ as king. Christians should be courageous for salvation.
Luke the Evangelist, the author of the third gospel (and presumably the Acts of the Apostles) is symbolized by an ox bull or calf - a figure of sacrifice, service and strength. Luke's gospel starts on the temple duties of Zacharias in the temple; it represents Jesus' sacrifice in the Passion, and Christ as priest (this also represents Mary's obedience). Christians should be prepared to sacrifice themselves for salvation.
John the Evangelist, the author of the fourth gospel is symbolized by an eagle[3] - a figure of the sky, and believed to be able to look straight into the sun. John starts with an eternal overview of Jesus the Logos and goes on to describe many things with a "higher" level of theology than the other three "terrestrial" Synoptic Gospels; it represents Jesus' Ascension, and Christ's divine nature. Christians should look directly on eternity without flinching for salvation.
I can never remember which symbol is for which Evangelist, but I thought the above was helpful. I still don't love John's Gospel, but that's OK.
Check out this Peek-A-Boo Jesus via "Religious Imagery" blog. Love it! "Religious Imagery" does a great job finding graffiti-like religious art. I still haven't figured out if the blog author is the artist, but either way, it's fun, "found" art. Keep it up!
Italians walking their children to school, via NYT. I think we could make this into a movement here too. While we were walking to school the other day, we witnessed, through a bus window, an unfortunate child getting beaten about the head by another child. The other kids on the bus were laughing about it. La Prima and I discussed how it would feel to be the beaten child, and I described my own dire bus experiences. She still thinks riding the bus is cool, but now, maybe that feeling is tempered...? * More beautiful poster art from Bryant Terry and Favianna Rodriguez.
Hi All. I went to see Taking Root last night. It's an Independent Lens production for PBS about Wangari Maathai of Kenya. She started the tree-planting Greenbelt Movement in Kenya to help the environment, and ended up defending democracy and human rights. It's an amazing and inspiring story that she wrote about in her book, Unbowed: A Memoir. But the film adds a whole new dimension because you can see what she was talking about. It's very moving, and I recommend it highly.
You can also check out the Action Guide which was put out by the film-makers. The movie totally has the activist in me clamoring to get my hands dirty. PHS was a co-sponsor, along w/Penn's African Studies department. The PHS Tree-Tenders program was featured and reminded me, once again, how awesome it is to live in such a green city.
The movie will air in Philadelphia on WHYY on Friday, April 24th at 10 p.m. Check it out!
* "Death Saint"s are destroyed in Mexico, seen in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I had heard of "Narco Santo" and have written about the phenom here and here. But this is new to me. I always love it when religious art makes headlines in the mainstream news.
* Found on Idle Speculations, a relic of St Benedict was found inside another artifact in the (presumably vast) storage areas of the British Museum. It's beautiful, right? I am amazed by the simplicity of the imagery used to represent the four Gospels, mixed in with the intricate carvings. Intense. [For those of you following my Lenten spiritual exercise, I have read Matthew and Mark, and am about 1/2 way through Luke. I'm leaving the toughest for last.]
CULTURE:
* I found this "What Would You Do" clip on Joe.My.God. It is truly fascinating to watch how people's attitudes about big issues shift and get expressed in daily interactions.
* Here is a really good discussion of image rights as used in print and blog media from bldgblog. Clearly, the print mags bear the burden of cost in what author is talking about. I can see that there are serious monetary and ethical implications to cutting and pasting. But the free flow of ideas model is so alluring... it ALMOST overrides other concerns. Food for thought. * Johnny Cash's "Personal Jesus", from YouTube
* My friend Jennifer just recommended Diana's Blog to me (Diana is a writer for "The Faithful Traveler"). How have I not found this before?? Great stuff!
Stewart finds that outrageous. So do I. Reporters have a special role in our society. They are supposed to look at all stories with a skeptical eye. We count on reporters to make sure the mischief makers are caught and exposed. We do not expect the reporters to be turning a blind eye to the mischief.
Stewart's focus on CNBC captured what many people are feeling. From Mother Talkers,
I was listening to Marketplace on NPR during the drive home on Friday. I should really stop doing this, in this climate, because I get really worried. I heard this depressing statistic: if you graduated in the 1990s and started saving for retirement, you are basically back to square one. You have no more money for retirement than if you'd saved it under your mattress. I am furious. I did everything I was supposed to do: saved from the first day I started my first job, made it a priority. And because some fat cats on Wall Street got too damn greedy, I've lost it all. 11 years of investments, gone. Now what? I'm not sure I can trust 401(k)s for retirement anymore, y'know? Luckily, I'm at least 30 years away from retirement. But I'm still really pissed!
Oy on the financial news from BlogHer. From the same article: From Cenk Uygur of The HuffingtonPost
I have a close friend who works at a business news station -- and here is the worst kept secret in show business -- it's all about the access. If you piss off the CEOs or the companies, you're going to get a call from your boss. You have jeopardized our relationship with them! That is very thinly disguised code words for -- don't ever say anything negative about a company we cover otherwise your job is in the trouble. The message is clear -- go along to get along. This isn't journalism. It's public relations by another name.
And now my friend is wondering, what does it say about him that he didn’t want to like those glasses because he was afraid that everyone else would like them, too? “Now and then,” he writes, “I get the awful feeling that people think I grew a beard to be trendy and I want to say, ‘I had this beard before it was cool.’… What sort of person feels that way and why?”
Here’s what I think. I think that the dynamic that accounts for his anxiety and my aneurysms is a particularly Generation X phenomenon. When we were growing up, we were fond of things that were weird and unlovable, largely because we, ourselves, felt weird and unlovable. Now that those things have been appropriated and repackaged for mass consumption, we instinctively want to reject them, even though we still love them—just like we mostly kind of hate ourselves, even though we inspire ourselves with something like the affectionate pity one might feel for a broken crayon, or, say, a tattered copy of Pac-Mania! The Official Pac-Man Joke Book.
* "None" gaining ground - In a USA Today article, found on Hasta Los Gatos Quieren Zapatos, more and more people are listing "none"as their religious affiliation. I was v. interested to read the following quote on reenee's post:
"Meanwhile, nearly 2.8 million people now identify with dozens of new religious movements, calling themselves Wiccan, pagan or "Spiritualist," which the survey does not define. Wicca, a contemporary form of paganism that includes goddess worship and reverence for nature, has even made its way to Arlington National Cemetery, where the Pentagon now allows Wiccans' five-pointed-star symbol to be used on veterans' gravestones." Having just been to Arlington for my grandmother's funeral, this tidbit struck me. Just like how there are now Wiccan Chaplains in the Army.
* A GREAT post on belief, Jesus, the Apostle's Creed and basically sums up my feelings about God, at BlogHer. Just hit the nail on my head!
* Interesting story on Beliefnet about the change from Junia to Junias in the Bible text in 1927. Apparently, Junia was considered a female apostle, until a footnote wiped her out. I read a lot about this issue, and found this link on Christian Feminism thanks!
"Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are calling for Catholics to abandon technologies like text messaging, Facebook and Twitter for Lent. Also recommended: BuzzFeed. So we'll see you in about 30 days have a great month everybody! Just kidding. But seriously, I was just about to poke God. "
* PLUS! Church Sign Hackers - awesome. From BuzzFeed.
MENTAL HEALTH for DAUGHTERS:
I found this great list of questions that Reviving Ophelia author, Mary Pipher, PhD, recommends for adolescent girls, to help them stay grounded and healthy. It's a pretty good list for anyone, so I thought I'd share:
How do I feel right now? What do I think? What are my values? Who would I describe myself to myself? How do I see myself in the future? What kind of work do I kike? What kind of leisure do I like? When do I feel most myself? How have I changed since I entered puberty? What kinds of people do I respect? How am I similar to and different from my mother? How am I similar to and different from my father? What goals do I have for myself as a person? What are my strengths and weaknesses? What would I be proud of on my deathbed?
"So what’s going on here, and where do these antibiotic-resistant infections come from? Probably from the routine use — make that the insane overuse — of antibiotics in livestock feed. This is a system that may help breed virulent “superbugs” that pose a public health threat to us all."
* From my friend Jim's blog "Legend of St Ursula, St Michael Fighting the Dragons" This is a new blog, and this first (post-virgin) post is about illness, Lent and cooking! The Cornbread recipe is an added bonus - along with some fab religious art. Excellent work!
POLITICS:
* In my view, this is HUGE, and SUCH a relief. Way to go Barry! from Huff Po: "When signing legislation, Bush often would use such statements to direct officials to ignore parts of the law he thought were incorrect or restricted the administration's constitutional powers."
How to have a good self body image, as a mom, but also impart good messages to our daughters about their bodies from Jezebel commenting on the original WaPo article. Makes a ton of sense.
Here is some worrying news about the state of hiring in this country . Yes, we should hire capable Americans for American jobs. But one thing this article points out is that
"Deep, long-term shortcomings in the U.S. education system have left the country dependent on foreign-born scientists, engineers, computer specialists and other highly skilled workers to fuel the research and innovation that drive economic growth."
Right. And who knows how long it will take to correct this. from Workforce Week, found via BBC.
two amazing shows at Penn's ICA right now: 1) Dread, by Joshua Mosley is a fantastic short film (with sculptures!) that might just blow your mind. Pascal and Rousseau feature prominently. 2) Touch Sensitive by Anthony Campuzano's fantastic art that uses text and bright colors. I was very moved by his work, even though it seems very simple when you enter the space, the ideas involved are very powerful. Two fantastic shows you won't want to miss if you're in/near Philadelphia.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this weblog are mine alone, and do not represent the views of my employer or of any other organization with which I may be associated.
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day."
Margaret Fuller quotation
What a woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely and unimpeded to unfold such powers as are given to her.
"A daydream is a meal at which images are eaten. Some of us are gourmets, some gourmands, and a good many take their images precooked out of a can and swallow them down whole, absent-mindedly and with little relish."
from - The Dyer's Hand.
Wassily Kandinsky Quotation
"The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul."
I found this icon on Religious Imagery in Culture. Fantastic! I love that the centurion is giving a blessing (and holding a Bible) - do storm troopers READ?!
I found this image on Boing Boing today. Awesome.
on Flickr. So moving. It's strange to see a painting of one of Jesus' miracles and see so little of him. But, it's such an intimate and amazing moment. A miracle.
I'm back, but slow to blog at this point. Feeling a little out of practice.
Lots of news in my life:
I am always amazed by the people around the world that re-enact the crucifixion. They do it as penance, or to bring themselves closer to Jesus' suffering, I suppose. But, I thought the point of Jesus' death was that he did it for us. I can see the appeal, though.
So, All, I finished my Lenten endeavor - to read all 4 Gospels. I did it! Here's a great video - "From Jesus To Christ: the First Christians" that I watched many years ago, and got for my birthday recently. It's a great companion when reading the Gospels. Helps a LOT.
Check out this Peek-A-Boo Jesus via "Religious Imagery" blog. Love it! "Religious Imagery" does a great job finding graffiti-like religious art. I still haven't figured out if the blog author is the artist, but either way, it's fun, "found" art. Keep it up!
Hi All. I went to see Taking Root last night. It's an Independent Lens production for PBS about Wangari Maathai of Kenya. She started the tree-planting Greenbelt Movement in Kenya to help the environment, and ended up defending democracy and human rights. It's an amazing and inspiring story that she wrote about in her book, Unbowed: A Memoir. But the film adds a whole new dimension because you can see what she was talking about. It's very moving, and I recommend it highly.
POP CULTURE:
BELIEF:
RELIGIOUS ART:
Art Blog by Bob's monthly poll has me sweatin' to the oldies! Puts me in the mood for some hard rock.
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