Santa saved the day,

   and to a large extent,

    he was you and me,

answering the prayers

   of children,

passing along

   anonymous parcels

   of pleasure

   and surprise,

translating

   the spirit of

holy love

     into living fact

     through the simple act

     of giving..

This world did not have to be gorgeous, or synchronous, or mathematical. It did not have to be so interestingly varied or such a paradise of possibility.

Anyway, its time to go out into the mellow Florida sunshine and repot some baby marigold plants.

Juxtaposition celebrates the collision of symbol and situation as the occasion for new experience and unprecedented perception.  Harvey Cox in THE FEAST OF FOOLS

In the Rocky Mountain area there is a lodgepole pine tree that anticipates adversity and turns it into life. Foresters in that section have discovered that this tree sheds a very hard seedpod, which may remain in the ground unbroken for 10, 30, even 40 years. Then the day comes when a forest fire sweeps over the home of this tree. All life is destroyed. But no! The fire also cracks the hard pod and thus releases the seed. Within a few years, new life and new forests begin. Source Unknown

Would it be altogether unrealistic to assume that weve got all the time in the world? Perhaps so, but we facilitate the realization of what we desire through faith, so relaxing with the assumption that weve got all the time in the world could liberate us from being always anxious and help us pay more attention to what is actually before us. BJ

by Chris Browne

Media Technology and Infinite Layers of Unreality

Today were all wired to something or other. No way around that. And I love a good movie as much as anyone. Not only that, but in the past and somewhat today I am reputed to be something of a mixed media devotee. However, the layers of unreality within which we are entwined nowadays causes me great concern, particularly for the young, who are hooked on multimedia games and systems that are, in my opinion, distractive, illusory, and highly addictive.

The inadequacy of surrogate reality is most clearly felt when we are in the presence of circumstances so intensely real that they seem surreal, as for instance when we suffer the irretrievable, incomprehensible loss of someone greatly loved. At such times, there is a tremendous need for spiritual comfort, and many forms of art serve, I believe, to create a sense of deep inner assurance somewhat akin to what folks sometime find in church. Listening to Bob Dylans most recently released songs on TELL TALE SIGNS does that for me, even as I roll along on my way to work.

I couldnt help thinking about Pablo Picasso as I watched Javier Bardem operate so suavely, so artistically in VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, which, for me, was a vivid  reflection of Picassos comment about how art is a lie that helps us see the truth. And when I saw SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, it was kind of like seeing an Indian-styled PULP FICTION, though with a much more up-beat, redemptive conclusion. Sister Mary Corita (aka Corita Kent) used to observe that any film about life is a religious motion picture. Like most things, media can both do harm and heal. Moderation is the key.

Bill Joyner

Every young woman

who gives birth to a child

is a virgin mother,

to me.

Scholars

of biblical linguistics

seem to

agree.