In an apparent outburst of simmering tensions, sources deep within the Heavenly Choir are reporting that fighting has broken out between ‘the Angels’ and the newly created ‘Pokemon Guys.’ Asked for comment about the fighting our source (who would only give his name as “Mike”) said: "It is all about favoritism. First the angels were God’s favored, then he created these Pokemon one three day weekend – well what did he think would happen?” Apparently fighting broke out following a heated discussion between Gabriel and one of the new beings. “After what must have been like the thousandth time that this other guy taunted Gabriel with “Pikachu” – I guess he just kind of lost it.” Unconfirmed rumors are circulating that this battle may result in “some being cast out.”
This is me (the angel) trying to beat down the demons (the demon) that are whispering to me that I don't know enough about late medieval Christianity to dare to try to say anything about the significance of books of Hours. I should go back to my comfort zone in the twelfth century and read more commentaries on Scripture. I know how to write about those, but I don't know yet what to say about the books of Hours. Down, you demons of doubt, down!
Here be dragons. And doves. Human beings long for transcendence. Such longing is, for the world, always out of fashion because, of course, it is not a longing for the world, and the world knows it. We know what the world wants. The world—by which we mean Satan, the Lord of the World—wants above all our obedience, a jewel so precious that he will do anything to get it: lie, steal, murder, bear false witness, pretend to social standing, pretend to insider knowledge to get us to consent to his influence. “God lied to you. You will not die.” And suddenly we are anxious about having other people dislike us, about losing prestige in our social circles, about other people being more popular or influential or successful, about other people having secret knowledge, about our own influence and fame. “You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And with that temptation, our first parents fell. The irony is cosmic. There they were in the Garden, privy to conversation with God face-to-face, ...
Learn to discern. We all know what sin is, right? Right?! Once upon a time in the desert , the hermit Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) set out to make a list of the most deadly ones, albeit he called them “deadly thoughts,” not “sins.” You probably know the list, even if you don’t think you do: gluttony, impurity (a.k.a. lust), avarice (a.k.a. greed), sadness (a.k.a. feeling sorry for oneself), anger or wrath, acedia or sloth, vainglory, and pride (two different things). Not quite the list you were expecting? That is because some centuries later—we’re talking ancient times here, when centuries passed like decades do now (or vice versa)—Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604) revised the list, somewhat accidentally, in his commentary on Job. Gregory had been expounding Job according to its multiple layers—yes, that’s right! Job, like Shrek, has layers! —and he happened somewhere in book XXXI to mention the “seven principle vices” to which Pride, the “Queen of S...
I miss the good old days. You remember. Back when the only thing people knew about the Middle Ages is that they were Dark and filled with evil barons wresting a living off the back of their serfs, not to mention lecherous clergy imprisoning young maidens so as to rape them and then accuse them of witchcraft. You remember, right? What it was like when the Middle Ages were Dark? The Roman Catholic Church made slaves of everyone, stripped them of their sense of dignity and independence and made social status a matter not of achievement, but birth. The Church hated science and industry and did everything in its power to keep people in chains. It guarded its authority with the sword and the stake, stifled all innovation, and fed the common people lies. And why were these Ages so Dark? There were no universities, no towns, only castles with dungeons. Monks huddled in their cells thinking dark thoughts about sin, while Vikings stormed across the countryside, raping and pillaging and ca...
I would not want to be this young woman. By now, five months after the event she attended at the University of Massachusetts Amherst featuring a discussion with Christina Hoff Sommers, Steven Crowder, and Milo Yiannopoulos on the problems besetting university campuses with speech considered "triggering," she has become a favorite meme among those who see such concerns as at best mildly hysterical, at worst a symptom of the total breakdown of our national character (I paraphrase). Audiences at several of Milo's recent talks (which you can see here ) have made reference to her, imitating her arm gestures (which I am having a hard time ignoring on the gif as I am writing) and laughing at her expense. Milo, to his credit, has admonished them: "No, we love Trigglypuff! Trigglypuff is wonderful!," while insisting that it is not she, but those who have lied to her about what will make her happy that are to blame. "She is going to be miserable," he has said (a...
1. When white women (see Marie de France and Eleanor of Aquitaine) invented chivalry and courtly love , white men agreed that it was better for knights to spend their time protecting women rather than raping them, and even agreed to write songs for them rather than expecting them to want to have sex with them without being forced. 2. When white men who were celibate (see the canon lawyers and theologians of the twelfth century and thereafter) argued that marriage was a sacrament valid only if both the man and the woman consented , white men exerted themselves to become good husbands rather than expecting women to live as their slaves. 3. When white women (see Christine de Pizan, Mary Wollstonecraft, and the suffragettes) invented feminism , white men supported them (see John Stuart Mill) and even went so far as to vote (because only men could vote at the time) to let them vote, not to mention hiring them as workers and supporting their education. And before you start telling me a...
Leaving land behind
ReplyDeleteThe angel rises, wings spread
evolution soars
In primordial seas
the fish is seized by envy
leaps to drag him down
Gabe Poke Slay!
ReplyDeleteDateline: The Celestial Throne
In an apparent outburst of simmering tensions, sources deep within the Heavenly Choir are reporting that fighting has broken out between ‘the Angels’ and the newly created ‘Pokemon Guys.’ Asked for comment about the fighting our source (who would only give his name as “Mike”) said: "It is all about favoritism. First the angels were God’s favored, then he created these Pokemon one three day weekend – well what did he think would happen?” Apparently fighting broke out following a heated discussion between Gabriel and one of the new beings. “After what must have been like the thousandth time that this other guy taunted Gabriel with “Pikachu” – I guess he just kind of lost it.” Unconfirmed rumors are circulating that this battle may result in “some being cast out.”
This is me (the angel) trying to beat down the demons (the demon) that are whispering to me that I don't know enough about late medieval Christianity to dare to try to say anything about the significance of books of Hours. I should go back to my comfort zone in the twelfth century and read more commentaries on Scripture. I know how to write about those, but I don't know yet what to say about the books of Hours. Down, you demons of doubt, down!
ReplyDelete"Before" picture for Piranha Slim-Fast.
ReplyDelete(Now that one should apologize for.)
a haiku:
ReplyDeletetempt dinner with left
raise high the sword with the right
timing is crucial