hudsonvalley
MMMM...Ember
Dedicated to SC, who inspired me to start writing again. Good health, old soldier. Everyone else wipe the snot off your nose and read a little article I wrote last year. I was reminded today that is was Ash Wednesday when i saw an old friend and got some ashes on my forehead for my trouble waving to him.
My upbringing has given me many supports. I was raised strictly Catholic, catechism since 5 years old, an alter boy, CYO leader, and constant communicant. But the supports from these foundational practices have their downside. Life is like that. There are no easy answers. I think divine providence has made it so. In this way we must become constantly aware, not dulled into rote and ritual. And that is the downside---that one can practice their spirituality without consciousness because of the very virtue of practice and habit. The calendar can dictate our spiritual practice and observance without regard to an intentional devotion. In this way something that is intended to help us can actually be a hinderance in our spiritual development. Like Lent.
That is why this year I am undertaking what, for me, seems a bold and courageous course. But don't praise me, please. I am just another pilgrim just like yourself in many ways. This year for Lent I am giving up any outward observance of religion or spirituality. I will do nothing to arouse suspicion of my inner virtues and thereby lull myself into mystic complacency. For Lent I am giving up church. I will not associate formally with my brothers and sisters of faith. If I do get together with them it will be in the course of non-ritualized interaction.
You may ask me what I have left. That is a challenge for we cannot exist in a vacuum. I am only two days into this and did not realize how ingrained and inauthentic I had become in my spiritual routine. But I am making do. I will confess in these pixels what I am doing to get by.
First, since we are social creatures, I have relied on the company of others. But I have limited this interaction to the evenings. I have sought out a few select locations where I can practice my deprivation without much chance of a prayer meeting breaking out. Schlessinger's tavern is a safe haven for this discipline I am taking on. So far, so good. Hopes are high for a successful Lenten season in this regard. The only downside is that spiritual sensitivities grow so much when this sort of practice is applied that the urge to be noticeably virtuous is virtually unbearable. One added detail has helped in this regard---the intake of alcohol. This slows me down, so to speak, handicaps my inate pious tendencies. Several forced portions, once imbibed, help me on my journey.
Secondly, being a child born in the era of Vatican I, I yearn for the fragrant waft of incense during this blessed time of year. But I have forgone such sensual props within the walls of the cathedral. In it's place, in the spirit of Lenten austerity, instead of the myriad herbs and fragrances burned in a formal service I have limited myself a single scent for this season, at least. One that is pure, without additive, and close to the earth. I have reverted to the leaf of the tobacco plant. Not with cigarettes, mind you. Those have many additives and are wrapped it paper. They lack the purity the season calls for. No, I have limited myself to single whole tobacco leaves, hand rolled and trimmed, some aged for years. And in solidarity with suffering peoples around the world I try to limit myself to the products produced under the Communist, God-hating regime of Cuba.
Also, as monks from time immemorial can attest, spirituality is most easily practiced by only associating with those of ones own gender. The mind is more easily focused, the heart more effortlessly attuned. I have forsaken this in my quest. I am trying to spend as much time as possible with members of the opposite sex. And to add to the challenge I try to spend as much of it with the fairest of face and the most voluptuous of form. Extra care is taken to find those who are flaunting their gifts, not overly adorned in mere cloth. Some of these, though rare, can be found on the internet if one is truly diligent in seeking them out. Like a runner training on the steepest hills I am chosing the hardest course in which to cultivate my lofty pursuit.
Some, cynics and those judgemental in nature may observe, "Wait, you mean for Lent you are hanging out in bars drinking, smoking cigars, and hitting on women?" I have confidence in you, Gentle Reader, that no such thought has entered your mind.
My upbringing has given me many supports. I was raised strictly Catholic, catechism since 5 years old, an alter boy, CYO leader, and constant communicant. But the supports from these foundational practices have their downside. Life is like that. There are no easy answers. I think divine providence has made it so. In this way we must become constantly aware, not dulled into rote and ritual. And that is the downside---that one can practice their spirituality without consciousness because of the very virtue of practice and habit. The calendar can dictate our spiritual practice and observance without regard to an intentional devotion. In this way something that is intended to help us can actually be a hinderance in our spiritual development. Like Lent.
That is why this year I am undertaking what, for me, seems a bold and courageous course. But don't praise me, please. I am just another pilgrim just like yourself in many ways. This year for Lent I am giving up any outward observance of religion or spirituality. I will do nothing to arouse suspicion of my inner virtues and thereby lull myself into mystic complacency. For Lent I am giving up church. I will not associate formally with my brothers and sisters of faith. If I do get together with them it will be in the course of non-ritualized interaction.
You may ask me what I have left. That is a challenge for we cannot exist in a vacuum. I am only two days into this and did not realize how ingrained and inauthentic I had become in my spiritual routine. But I am making do. I will confess in these pixels what I am doing to get by.
First, since we are social creatures, I have relied on the company of others. But I have limited this interaction to the evenings. I have sought out a few select locations where I can practice my deprivation without much chance of a prayer meeting breaking out. Schlessinger's tavern is a safe haven for this discipline I am taking on. So far, so good. Hopes are high for a successful Lenten season in this regard. The only downside is that spiritual sensitivities grow so much when this sort of practice is applied that the urge to be noticeably virtuous is virtually unbearable. One added detail has helped in this regard---the intake of alcohol. This slows me down, so to speak, handicaps my inate pious tendencies. Several forced portions, once imbibed, help me on my journey.
Secondly, being a child born in the era of Vatican I, I yearn for the fragrant waft of incense during this blessed time of year. But I have forgone such sensual props within the walls of the cathedral. In it's place, in the spirit of Lenten austerity, instead of the myriad herbs and fragrances burned in a formal service I have limited myself a single scent for this season, at least. One that is pure, without additive, and close to the earth. I have reverted to the leaf of the tobacco plant. Not with cigarettes, mind you. Those have many additives and are wrapped it paper. They lack the purity the season calls for. No, I have limited myself to single whole tobacco leaves, hand rolled and trimmed, some aged for years. And in solidarity with suffering peoples around the world I try to limit myself to the products produced under the Communist, God-hating regime of Cuba.
Also, as monks from time immemorial can attest, spirituality is most easily practiced by only associating with those of ones own gender. The mind is more easily focused, the heart more effortlessly attuned. I have forsaken this in my quest. I am trying to spend as much time as possible with members of the opposite sex. And to add to the challenge I try to spend as much of it with the fairest of face and the most voluptuous of form. Extra care is taken to find those who are flaunting their gifts, not overly adorned in mere cloth. Some of these, though rare, can be found on the internet if one is truly diligent in seeking them out. Like a runner training on the steepest hills I am chosing the hardest course in which to cultivate my lofty pursuit.
Some, cynics and those judgemental in nature may observe, "Wait, you mean for Lent you are hanging out in bars drinking, smoking cigars, and hitting on women?" I have confidence in you, Gentle Reader, that no such thought has entered your mind.
:thumbs: :thumbs:
If it wasn't for Word, I'd be screwed. Even I can dump the text in there and make the squiggly little red underlines go away.....