not of this world

have finally gotten around to reading the da vinci code; like my visit to the Los Angeles cathedral with good ol’-now- blog-deceased-endless, figured that way i could criticize with authori-tie. it has been a fairly pleasurable read, having ceased to appear as any sort of real threat to true depth of faith by the first few pages of its laughable, ad nauseum claim to the malicious ’sacred feminine cover up’ by peter and the other misogynists Christ supposedly chose for his disciples. but it is fast moving and definitely entertaining - there are fun parts that touch on the divine proportion and its occurance in divine and human art and architecture, and other facts sprinkled amidst asinine heresies that even trogdor could spot. one of the more obviously ridiculous, inconsistent claims is that Christ was just a man, but his covered up wife Magdalene (who the church tried to degrade by accusations of being a prostitute - which the gospels never actually claim) is actually a goddess - but never forget that Jesus whom she wed was nothing but a good man, definitely not to be worshiped, that was the papists’ invention. (the patriarchal Church despises women you see, and tried to foist a man in place of the divine feminine) a part i read last night went long into the sacred sexual rituals of the society that has protected this secret for generations, in opposition of course to the Catholic Church’s supposed teaching that sex is evil. you see, the pagans realize that sex is actually a way to commune with God, that the feminine ability to create life is sacred; pay no attention to the Theology of the Body - written by a celibate man, what could he know about its sublimity? - or the fact the Catholic Church stands alone in the modern age in defending life and its sacredness in the womb and the role committed sexual union has in creating that life in opposition to casual contracepted sex… of course, some of the most fervent ‘protectors’ of this ancient tradition of the sacred feminine and the corresponding sacredness of creating life are naturally claimed to be homosexual, such as leonardo da vinci…but leave that aside…

in other news, i am neck deep in the icky illegal immigration issue, sweltering in the desert (literally) amidst extremes of people who think it is unjust and inhumane to enforce sovereign borders on the one hand, and those who think burning the flag of the nation from which economic refugee migrants are flooding in illegally is a right response on the other. in general i am constantly being brought to meditations on the need for everyone to take deep breaths and remain rational, dealing with those who disagree with firm but resolute compassion through reasoned argument, and with ourselves in a humble criticalness, lest we slip through passion and frustration into that which we are accused of. and beyond all the various perspectives, it seems critical (as it may seem to some obvious) to work for what we believe to be right as though it all depended on us and yet live amidst what enfolds with the knowledge that all rests ultimately in greater Hands.  it is apart from that balance that desperation comes, and it is for that balance, to stay the violence that may indeed otherwise come - from both sides - that i pray.
as i witness these various extremes of passion and activism, i simultaneously watch those who would rather crack a budweiser and check out permanently into vicarious sports and reality t.v. not sure which path is more frought with the danger of missing the whole point…
the illegal immigration issue is much more complicated than most on both sides seem able to honesty address and think through, and watching the recent protests and dealing with the frustrated response they have provoked makes me long to be past all such worldly concerns and exercises in participation as a political, crunchy conservative animal.

God willing in about five months i will to some extent escape, as i will be heading to ave maria to work on a masters in Theology. have been wanting to do it for a while now, and finally made the move even given some of my trepidations with the politics that are poking about in that institution’s governance. despite all that, and the fact that trogdor may require shaving of much furriness to deal with FL temperatures, the program they are offering looks delicious to me, and i was greatly impressed by my visit and sitting in of classes.

life continues to be more full than i can almost stand most days, but at least there’s no time to be bored or slack off as is so often my temptation. and what dreams may come can come as they will. borrowed, sacrament fed strength continues to come with all the weakness i throw at it…