Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, January 20, 2011

First you forget names, then you forget faces.
Next you forget to pull your zipper up and finally,
you forget to pull it down.

Nathan Birnbaum; born on this date, 1896, in NYC
[ Who?? George Burns, of course! ]


I’m like that ….. and I’m only 64.6!! For years, I could remember the name of every parishioner at the Communion rail. Now, I forget those I know the best. Faces? Well, I’m pretty good at that still ….. but what good is it if you can’t say Hi! by name? As to zippers, I rarely if ever forget to pull it up. But, with the results of radiation and seed implants for prostate cancer, I often “forget” to pull it down fast enough. Sheesh! I figure if a policewoman ever asks me why I’m skulking in a corner with my pee bottle, I’ll just shame her and gently lecture her on the necessities of older men with prostate cancer treatments!

My mother used to go on with some frustration and anxiety about the forgetful issues of aging. As did many of my parishioners. In particular, my mother would fret about being up half the night. When I would visit, I would say, “Mum! You don’t have any schedules to meet. Just relax! If you are up, do something interesting. Sleep late in the day if you want. You’ve earned it!” I’ve taken my own advice to heart. I get most of my reading done after pee-alerts in the middle of the night!

Young or older, my advice is: Give yourself a break. God, what pressures we put on ourselves! To no good end, as far as I can discern. Some young people would call this old age rationalization. I call it Old Age Wisdom – and I think that young people could vastly benefit by it and enjy their lives more if they could learn it early on.

I hope you feel liberated! You’re allowed to ….. I say so!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, January 20, 2011

You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!

It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen.

I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would
have taken the fire department four days to put it out.

I modeled my looks on the town tramp.

Dolly Parton, fun and talented lady; she was
born on this day, 1946 (she’s older than I am!!)


I’m not a Country & Western aficionado, so I haven’t listened to Dolly singing more than once or twice. But I loved her in “Steel Magnolias”. And I love anyone who can tell jokes on themselves! I suppose that anyone who would say things about herself as I’ve quotes Dolly could be hiding a horrible self-image. But I don’t sense that about Dolly Parton. She sounds like she’s got her personal act together. She knows herself, Dolly does – the wonderful things, her talents ….. and the things you have to laugh at.

Her comment about looking cheap reminds me of one of my very favourite cards. On the front is a woman looking like Tammy Faye Baker – lots of mascara, super-producted hair, piles of makeup. She says, “Lord, I’m sorry about the money.” You open the card and it says, “Bein’ pretty ain’t cheap!” I keep a copy of that card, scanned into my iPhotos, and I look at it quite a lot. It just makes me laugh ….. and it reminds me not to take myself too seriously – or a lot of other things for that matter, including Politics ….. though I could get better at that!

Knowing and owning our sillinesses and stupidities is a sign of wisdom. Laughing at them is a sign of spiritual health. It helps us to see that they need not control us, and that helps us to be free of their control.

One personal memory always makes me chuckle. I was visiting a priest friend in England. My mother had flown over with me to share the adventure. We spent the first day with Derek. Next morning at breakfast (after daily mass, during which Derek’s slobbering English Bulldog sat on the altar step drooling), Derek with a smile said to my mother, “Mrs. McHugh, I can already tell that you are naturally a kind and caring person ….. unlike your son, who has had to be softened by Grace - and still has a long way to go.” Derek was/is right ….. and it taught me to laugh at my opinionatedness and try to be open to “softening”!

Thanks Dolly!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 18, 2011

What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes,
he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.

A. A. Milne, author, (“Winnie the Pooh”);
he was born on this date, 1882


Potatoes!! I absolutely adore potatoes! My favourite way is fresh mashed Yukon spuds from “scratch”, with heavy cream and butter, and drenched in a thick turkey gravy. Yum! Next: little red or fingerling potatoes, scrubbed, slathered in virgin olive oil, and roasted in the oven at 400F until done. Yum!! Next, red, boiled, tender, slobbered with real butter and a little sea salt ….. perfect! And one more glory: my friend Peace’s double cooked baked potatoes, the skins stuffed with fluffy potatoes, garlic, chives, and butter!

I have always said that if I could have only one thing to eat on a desert island, it would be ….. potatoes – as long as I had fire! I am definitely NOT a fan of raw potatoes ….. nor any food raw, except Carpaccio in the Carpaccio salad (served with braised radicchio at Buona Tavola in San Luis Obispo, CA. Yum!!!

So, I’m with Milne: “if a fellow [or woman] really likes potatoes, (s)he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow”.

Potatoes are, almost by definition, the “soul” of personal authenticity and of moral solidity!

For what might a potato be a metaphor? I think for ….. the rootedness, the earthiness, of human being-ness. All of us are rooted in our “dust”, our “animal” nature. We are hard-wired for this when born. But in us, latent, lies the coming choice: to choose to be transformed into our identity as One with the Divine and with the Creation. To be fully, wildly Human.

We are all born hidden, in the metaphorical Earth. We are all destined to be hauled into the Light, washed in some aspect of “baptism” - cleaned up, spiffy-ed up, and sent forth to delight others in the World.

Elegant spuds, to comfort and nourish!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Monday, January 17, 2011

My rackets are run on strictly American
lines and they're going to stay that way.

Capitalism is the legitimate
racket of the ruling class.

Guess Who


I’m trying to stay away from politics for politics sake. But so often, politics and economics and who we are are profoundly related.

I am reading a fascinating book on economics ….. as far as I can understand it! It’s hard; I have no background or education. It is called “The Value of Nothing”. And the author, Raj Patel, and American from San Francisco, has the knack for helping ignoramuses like myself to comprehend.

I suppose that no form of economics is intrinsically “wicked”. But that all forms of economic structuring can be used either “wickedly” or not. “Wicked” meaning: it harms and demeans Humankind.

To be simplistic, an economic system can be considered “wicked” (my “take”) when it defines human beings as objects to be used for making money, with no consideration for any other dimension of being Human.

Shaping human beings into Consumers, into essentially objects or tools for making unlimited amounts of money by corporations and politicians, is “wicked”.

The exercise for today is for us to think about what is essential for being a Human Being ….. for being the person you want to be. What principles do you use for making this determination? It could be an interesting day!

The quotes are from Al Capone, who was born on this day, 1899. And I think his insights into Capitalism as it is now in America, and his insight into his “rackets”, are both bang on.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, January 14, 2011

Do something for somebody everyday
for which you do not get paid.

Albert Schweitzer, healer, philosopher;
musician; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
(1952); he was born on this day, 1875


Talk all we want. Pray all we want.

Schweitzer’s words point to the essence of Love and Compassion, Generosity and Kindness. And they are the heart of “spiritual” and religious life ….. and of Prayer.

Prayer, for me, has nothing to do with cajoling some Deity into doing what must be our own work. In Prayer, we speak to the Divine Within, seeking insight and courage and wisdom ….. to ACT, in Love and Compassion, Generosity and Kindness. It doesn’t matter how simple or “grand”. Like all Love, no reciprocation is required. Love is its own blessing, and deepens our Humanity. It is its own reward.

More than any worship, this will transform us.

To be authentic, it must be free.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, Jan 13, 2011

Satan, really, is the romantic youth
of Jesus re-appearing for a moment.

James Joyce, Irish author; he died
on this day, 1941


I often wonder if the people who said these things had any idea of their profound import!

There are many things I could comment on. But what “grabs” me is this. Joyce is thinking mythically. “Jesus” represents our wholeness as a human person evolved into full consciousness as fully integrated “matter and spirit”. “Satan” represents our unevolved, “youthful” immaturity - our non-integrated Self.

“Satan” reappears fairly frequently. The path from “romantic youth” to mature being is not a straight one – as we all know! I am constantly appalled by the re-appearance of my “Satan” self ….. but I understand that evolvement is a spiral process.

Tucson is an opportunity. I’m praying that “Satan” will be faced down ….. and “Jesus” will reappear.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Jack London, author [“The Call of the Wild”]; he
was born on this day in 1876, in San Francisco


“The Call of the Wild” was one of my absolute favourite books when I was a boy. I must have read it four or five times. It became a prophetic book for me, at least the power of the title did. At age 20, after graduating from University, I responded enthusiastically to a request to go to Manitoba for the summer and pastor 4 churches in the United Church of Canada, 200 miles north of Winnipeg, near Dauphin. What an adventure! Here I was, a fat kid, an Anglican, given one volume of the Interpreter’s Bible. I lived with a widow in Ochre River; designed and presided at the Sunday “services”; did the bulletins; played the organ (and believe me, I was no organist!), preached the sermon, visited people, etc. And drank a lot of tea with the ladies!

I was there for four months. In September, I boarded a plane in Winnipeg (a four prop engine Constellation – my first time on a plane; tears came to my eyes when I realized that this huge thing was actually going to rise into the air and fly me 1500 miles “home” to Toronto. Now I know that the concept of “home” was about to be transformed! “Home” since then has been wherever the Spirit took me. And I always think of the Biblical phrase, “The Spirit blows where it will”. I left Canada and my family and friends to come to the USA and join a religious order. The last 45 years have indeed been a Journey of Surprises.

I long ago became a man who knew that my “proper function” was “to live, not to exist”. Oh, there have been times when I was tempted to “nest”, to get into my ruts and just coast along. But my “spiritual journey” has taught me, every step of the way, to respond enthusiastically to the metaphorical “Invitations to Manitoba”. I haven’t regretted it one bit. I’ve had a grand time!

Over the years, I’ve almost died three times. Serious medical issues. But I have only relearned from them the Message: Life is out there to explore. Go for it!

I have. I have no concern how long I’ll live. I “use my time”. So far, it’s been a blast! And it’s all been accomplished with very little money. It still is.

Brian+