Phat Chews Dei ...

Hello Folks,

My biking is getting better - I have been doing some uphill stuff and it's paying off.  The butt is still an issue but I like Lance Armstrong's take on it - 'Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.'  Let me clarify it is your pain - not you putting pain onto someone else. That about sums it up for any endeavor - large or small - you'll succeed if you simply are afraid of any other outcome - other than success - just like Sean Payton in the  Super Bowl - which we already touched on.

I was down at Rim Cyclery today where Scott pointed out the lesser known - locals only know - hiking trails.  He`s a great guy - from Michigan of course - I intend to hit some of these off the beaten path places - maybe as soon as tomorrow.

Speaking of today, it is Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday) - the day before Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent. I know what you`re thinking - what are you talking about .... I thought you`d never ask ...

OK - Mardi Gras ends on Fat Tuesday - the Mardi Gras celebration spans the length of time between 12th Night and Ash Wednesday - yes I know - what is Mardi Gras and 12th Night - 

Mardi Gras is French for `Fat Tuesday` - yes I know, what is Fat Tuesday .... first 12th Night .... 12th Night concludes the 12 Days of Christmas ... the evening of the 5 January, before 12th day - which is the evening of the Epiphany - and by the way, are you having one yet? Now how 12th Day follows 12th night is a bit of enlightenment that has yet to be dispensed ... OK, I know, what is Epiphany - it falls on the 6 January - which is 12th Day - simple ....

In Tudor England, 12th Night was the end of a winter festival that began on Halloween .... oh, oh ... not so simple.

So we have winter festivals - spring festivals- eating and drinking - something has to give right ... that`s where Ash Wednesday comes in ... this is the start of Lent ... you got it ... no more drinking, no more eating .... done.  Oh yeah the Ash part ...they are from the palm leaves burned on the previous year`s Palm Sunday ... I know - what are these palm leaves and why are we saving ashes ..... 

Folks - it`s complicated - that`s why the Catholic Church was there in the first place - to sort out these complications - so we knew when to start eating and drinking - and then when to stop - otherwise we wouldn`t stop, would we?

Everything was fine – Crusades were happening, people were being burned at the stake, auto de fes were the new craze (after the Gladiator craze and Druid sacrifices), dying nobles were bequeathing wealth to the church to get on the bullet train to heaven, the Church was forcibly taking the land and wealth of those nobles who hadn’t seen the light (the band .... the band); we knew when to eat and when to drink, Rome was drinking feasting all year around – nothing could go wrong; right ... wrong ....

Gutenberg had to go ahead and basically throw a copy of ‘the book’ on the medieval internet – paper; and all of a sudden people who couldn’t read were being taught to read using ‘the book’ as the teaching medium.  And once they could read, the complications that the Catholic Church were sorting out weren’t .... complicated.  In fact in some instances they were .... disingenuous.

And then as if things couldn’t get worse; can you say, ‘reformation’?  And then the self appointed scholars of the day started a debate that is still going on – schism after schism – all over the fine minutae of words and phrases – Aramaic words translated to Greek words translated to Latin words translated to English words – lawyering, politicking, negotiating, rejecting; killing in the name of one sects interpretation over another ....

And it wouldn’t be so bad if there was only one ‘the book’ – but there are others – and the differences between the factions that claim to adhere to the teachings of these different books are even more vehement and non-tolerant than the various sects that follow ‘the book’.

So Fat Tuesday – no – just Tuesday; Ash Wednesday – no – just Wednesday – pretty simple, huh ..... nobody gets hurt, nobody dies ....

I don’t offer advice – I try not to criticize – I do offer opinions from time to time – but I will say this – and this is a repeat of a holiday (feasting, drinking) message that I sent out this year – tolerance leads to understanding which leads to co-existence – in that spirit, read Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, Hitchens, Crossan, Ehrman and Mack  – in that spirit – listen to CBC News Radio, NPR, Democracy Now!, - in that spirit watch BBC News, PBS NewsHour, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert – tolerate and understand what is being communicated – then let us co-exist with our differences without us trying to make the world a mirror of, and for, our personal beliefs.

If this was to happen 90% of the rhetoric we are exposed to today would simply disappear.  The other 10% would be rationale, meaningful dialogue leading to a productive and useful end.

As Roy Harper once sang, ‘I Hate The White Man’ – and consistent with the metaphor that is the song, I think everybody who isn’t metaphorically white would agree ...

To quote from verse 277 of the Krome Koan,

‘We kill people, to show people, that killing people is wrong.’

The Raven Crow Beast is regarded by some as symbolizing darkness; representative of Satan and unrest; a symbol of ill fortune – it is not a symbol, it is very real; just a bird (who happens to be stalking me) – which currently has my copy of the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue – I can tolerate that, I don’t understand it, we can co-exist – I have a second copy!!

More later,

Phil