This past weekend one of the top leaders in the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Petros VII (Patriarch of Alexandria) and a few others were killed in a helicopter crash near Mt. Athos, a monastery they were about to visit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3647624.stm
Our church held a requiem mass for him Monday night. Stacey was quite tired and not feeling too well -- and with the next 3 days in a row being full of classes and such, we felt it best she just rest -- so I went alone and, in fact, Fr. Stephen and I were the only ones there . . . but it was quite beautiful. Sometimes I really enjoy just being the only person at mass besides the celebrant. I'm less distracted and can focus myself better on the prayers and the rest of the liturgy. I'm very drawn to observing the various offices (Matins, Sext, Vespers, daily Masses), something that conflicts with my terrible memory and busy schedule. I'm very apprehensive of doing this sort of thing merely to just do it, however. My upbringing trained me to be legalistic and bound to doing things just for the sake of doing them; I don't want my or my family's life to be one of "vain repetitions." Repetitions can be vain if not done in the right spirit or right reasons and they exist for us, not us for them. Anyway, I'm working toward a life of prayer and regular contemplation, keeping in mind that the right spirit is paramount.
This whole subject brings up another. In Western culture so many feel as if someone who is spiritual and even Christian is automatically unable to observe and intelligently understand what's going on around him/her, much less be someone whose writing, art, music, etc. is quality and worth. Much of this has come about as a result of fundamentalist/evangelical Protestant posturing and self-removal, but much of this comes also because many insist that for someone who IS a Christian or spiritual, all of what they have to say MUST be evangelical or declarative (and usually abrasive and/or silly as a result). Of course, one only has to look to the writing of Flannery O'Connor or the career of Frank Schaeffer to understand this is not necessarily so. In fact, for many whose Christianity is more traditional and liturgical their spirituality is more reflective than soapbox and their writing, art, and so on is done for it's own sake as opposed to being an obvious evangelistic vehicle. I mention all this because I'm at a point in my life where I want to focus a ton more on my own writing, be it critical analysis or fiction or whatever. I'm realizing that the more connected I am spiritually, the better I'm able to do all these other things. At the same time, the more connected I am spiritually, the less I feel "obligated" to push these things into writing that doesn't call for them.
Hopefully as I begin writing again I can toss some of it in this here blog...I realize that my self-indulgent rambling isn't necessarily worth the button-clicking some do to see it.
In other interesting news, the first person has been sentenced under Nebraska's new law that makes animal torture a felony.
And, finally, a blog post these days wouldn't be complete without an update on the theft situation.
This past Friday, September 10, I finally got ahold of the "C Shift Sergeant" of the Omaha Police Department precinct where the officer who came out and took my initial statement (August 27) works out of. The sergeant looked around and told me that they have absolutely no record of anything having happened. Nothing whatsoever. On top of that, the officer who came out never called me back...I had left him a message the Friday before. The sergeant told me I'd have to call in and make my report by phone. He said usually they were busy so I'd just have to leave my name and phone number and they'd call me back sometime to get it. I told him that I work in an office job all day and can't just drop everything for 15 minutes as soon as someone calls for that...and that my cell phone doesn't come in well at our new place. He then told me I could go downtown (the main police station) and ask for one of the phone interviewers to come talk to me in person. I did so Monday night and was told by the front desk person that they don't do that. I tried calling in a report from there but of course they were busy. So...almost 3 weeks later now we're stuck in a situation where the police have nothing about this (despite the fact that I watched the policeman write something down), I keep getting the runaround, and I can't even file with my insurance about this whole thing. No wonder people turn to crime so much... unless there's some big sensational self-glorifying sting involved or quota to fill, don't count on getting too much help.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3647624.stm
Our church held a requiem mass for him Monday night. Stacey was quite tired and not feeling too well -- and with the next 3 days in a row being full of classes and such, we felt it best she just rest -- so I went alone and, in fact, Fr. Stephen and I were the only ones there . . . but it was quite beautiful. Sometimes I really enjoy just being the only person at mass besides the celebrant. I'm less distracted and can focus myself better on the prayers and the rest of the liturgy. I'm very drawn to observing the various offices (Matins, Sext, Vespers, daily Masses), something that conflicts with my terrible memory and busy schedule. I'm very apprehensive of doing this sort of thing merely to just do it, however. My upbringing trained me to be legalistic and bound to doing things just for the sake of doing them; I don't want my or my family's life to be one of "vain repetitions." Repetitions can be vain if not done in the right spirit or right reasons and they exist for us, not us for them. Anyway, I'm working toward a life of prayer and regular contemplation, keeping in mind that the right spirit is paramount.
This whole subject brings up another. In Western culture so many feel as if someone who is spiritual and even Christian is automatically unable to observe and intelligently understand what's going on around him/her, much less be someone whose writing, art, music, etc. is quality and worth. Much of this has come about as a result of fundamentalist/evangelical Protestant posturing and self-removal, but much of this comes also because many insist that for someone who IS a Christian or spiritual, all of what they have to say MUST be evangelical or declarative (and usually abrasive and/or silly as a result). Of course, one only has to look to the writing of Flannery O'Connor or the career of Frank Schaeffer to understand this is not necessarily so. In fact, for many whose Christianity is more traditional and liturgical their spirituality is more reflective than soapbox and their writing, art, and so on is done for it's own sake as opposed to being an obvious evangelistic vehicle. I mention all this because I'm at a point in my life where I want to focus a ton more on my own writing, be it critical analysis or fiction or whatever. I'm realizing that the more connected I am spiritually, the better I'm able to do all these other things. At the same time, the more connected I am spiritually, the less I feel "obligated" to push these things into writing that doesn't call for them.
Hopefully as I begin writing again I can toss some of it in this here blog...I realize that my self-indulgent rambling isn't necessarily worth the button-clicking some do to see it.
In other interesting news, the first person has been sentenced under Nebraska's new law that makes animal torture a felony.
And, finally, a blog post these days wouldn't be complete without an update on the theft situation.
This past Friday, September 10, I finally got ahold of the "C Shift Sergeant" of the Omaha Police Department precinct where the officer who came out and took my initial statement (August 27) works out of. The sergeant looked around and told me that they have absolutely no record of anything having happened. Nothing whatsoever. On top of that, the officer who came out never called me back...I had left him a message the Friday before. The sergeant told me I'd have to call in and make my report by phone. He said usually they were busy so I'd just have to leave my name and phone number and they'd call me back sometime to get it. I told him that I work in an office job all day and can't just drop everything for 15 minutes as soon as someone calls for that...and that my cell phone doesn't come in well at our new place. He then told me I could go downtown (the main police station) and ask for one of the phone interviewers to come talk to me in person. I did so Monday night and was told by the front desk person that they don't do that. I tried calling in a report from there but of course they were busy. So...almost 3 weeks later now we're stuck in a situation where the police have nothing about this (despite the fact that I watched the policeman write something down), I keep getting the runaround, and I can't even file with my insurance about this whole thing. No wonder people turn to crime so much... unless there's some big sensational self-glorifying sting involved or quota to fill, don't count on getting too much help.
posted by Joel @ 9/15/2004 06:54:00 AM
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