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likethebeerAs I'd feared: I'm not watching the complete LOTR trilogy, I'm sitting here at the computer. Actually, I'm going to watch a Christmas Story I think, then make calls to friends & family, and at 1pm I have someone's house to go to.
It's snowing! That was a x-mas present to wake up to this morning. Yes, there's this huge blanket of snow gripping the "midwest" but someone forgot to tell Wisconsin, b/c we've had shit for snow. Just the thinnest little layer. Now at least we have ground cover (although little bits of grass can be seen peeking out of the snow, so you can see that it's not much). Of course, my car sits outside in the driveway, while the open garage sits 4 feet away from it, with enough room for the car to fit snugly in and not get any snow on it at all. But like I said, it really wasn't supposed to snow.
I went in to Madison last night for a "Transylvanian Christmas." On the drive in, I heard "A Fool for Christmas" on All Things Considered, by Allan Gurganus. It's a fictional story that's about 25 minutes long. It's just adorably sweet, so if you have the time and the correct computer accoutrements (which I suppose most or all of you do), it's a nice little story. Might make you cry, though. Or maybe that's just me (I'm so damned sensitive lately).
Anyway, a Transylvanian Christmas sounds pretty bizarre until you know that Transylvania is where Unitarianism started. I wonder if one thing has anything to do with the other, namely vampires? The service was really a lot of singing and the pastor described what their Christmas is like. This is what I understand from what the guy said: during the reign of the communist dictator in Romania (Transylvania's in Romania), of course all religion was outlawed. According to the pastor, fields were flooded and entire villages were razed where Unitarians were, so they had to live in the city. Anyway, after the revolution took place (remember Romania was the last to have a revolution in '89-90, and the dictator & his wife--I can't spell his name for the life of me--sounds like Ciao-cheskoo were shot?) the Unitarian council went over to Romania and started to find the little pockets of the religion, and connect them all back up. And they gave $$ for books and stuff.
The FUS [First Unitarian Society] of Madison maintains a Romanian sister congregation in Transylvania, and so the thing last night was in honor of them. And we sang "x-mas carols." Or, "good old fashioned Unitarian gender neutral, completely religiously, culturally, and ethnically inclusive re-writings of x-mas carols." Actually, I was appreciative b/c that stuff just freaks me out, no matter how nice the music can be, but it did make me at points want to laugh. Especially b/c the keyboardist for the congregation always plays just a teensy bit too fast for the type of pace that you get when you have several hundred people trying to sing. Oh, but the best part was that candles were handed out, all the lights were turned out and the whole congregation lit up candles while singing "Silent Night," which was the only song sung w/the all of the actual words that were written to it. Anyway, it was v.cool, and was the reason why I went to this thing last night. [I do have to confess that, while the engineering at the Meeting House is amazing, the building, a FLLW design and a National Historic Landmark, really isn't that fantastic. The other Unitarian church designed by FLLW kicks this one's ass. Really. It's hard to compete against a masterpiece, even those the Meeting House in Madison is also considered a great building. It really doesn't hold a candle to Unity Temple, though.
(Unity Temple is on the left & the Unitarian Meeting house is on the right in the photos below).]
When I got back, I thought about stopping by the gas station so I could look for the LOTR, but I knew I had this thing today at 1pm, so.
Then I saw a little of the mass at the Vatican last night. I mostly watch it to see the building. I've always thought that cathedral of St. Paul's seems to be a mish-mash of things. From some angles, it seems to have a consistent design program, but in other areas, there are clashing mosaics, types of art, colors, patterns, etc. And If I remember if correctly, it has a sort of Greek cross design, w/t the altar at the center, which is a symbolic gestures I think of the pope being at the center of the Catholic world, or some such. Of course, the amalgalm of styles and centuries of art is not surprising when you consider how long it took to finish, and what w/all the times Rome was sacked, and all the murders and intrigue in the Papacy going on....
I had to keep turning the channel b/c I was getting freaked out for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I could almost smell the incense. Secondly, while I know that the pope is his own man (well, sort of), and Parkinson's only affects the body, not the brain, it was sad to watch him struggle through the simplest of things. And I don't know what language he was speaking (Italian?), but his words were just a mush.
And lastly, I was freaked out due to the whole ceremony of it. There's an anti-Catholic thing coming up, so skip it I suppose if you would be offended.
Remember that I grew up Catholic, so it's weird to see this from the outside. ANd I think that it freaks me out to see this b/c it's familiar enough from what I remember, but just far away enough (the pagentry, the foreign languages) to make it exotic. I can see why other Pxian religions think that Catholicism is pagan-like. It's so ritualized. I came upon it on tv last night while a guy was singing the birth of Jesus story in Latin, and he took this incense censor and was swinging it over the book that he was reading from (I was trying to get a look at the book, which was an illuminated manuscript, to see if it was really old. Couldn't tell). I mean, that was just frickin' weird. It's like he was smearing some magical substance around. It's a book. I mean, it might be 700 years old, which would certainly intrigue me, but it's still a book.
And the act of transubstantiation was strange, too [that's the "turning the communion wafer & the wine into the body and blood of Christ"]. It just seems, watching it from the outside and hearing the words translated into English (and remembering them from my entire childhood-to-the-age-of-18) that this was meant, originally, at the Last Supper, as a symbolic act. But Catholics (and some others, like Greek Orthodox) believe that it literally bcomes the body & blood of Christ, which is a miracle. But that another miracle simultaneously happens that makes the body & blood of Pxist look and taste like bread & wine. They believe it, though, so I shouldn't make fun of them.
But, of cousre, what's really tragic is that thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, have died over the centuries in wars arguing whether transubstantiation really occurs. That's part of what freaks me out.
Anyway, I think the anti-Catholic rant is over. Well, except to say this: you have to understand that while I've been fairly questioning of my religion since about the age 14 (and gaining increasing complexity over the years), since I grew up with it, its oddness was something that never occurred to me. In a way, it's kind of cool. It's just so bizarre and I kind of like being associated w/the bizarre. And the kissing of books and the importance of telling a story--the birth of Jesus--in this highly ritualized way is actually a very sophisticated understanding of the power of words, and the use of ritual to separate those words into the realm of the other, the sacred. It seems so ancient, almost pre-historic, which in a way, some of it is.
Still, the cumulative experiences of my childhood have given me the strange sort of anti-religious ticks that I feel from time to time.
I'm trying to write about this stuff, but I got tired last night after several pages.
It's still snowing. I'm going to put in the appropriate lj-cuts here, and put it up. Merry x-mas, again!
It's snowing! That was a x-mas present to wake up to this morning. Yes, there's this huge blanket of snow gripping the "midwest" but someone forgot to tell Wisconsin, b/c we've had shit for snow. Just the thinnest little layer. Now at least we have ground cover (although little bits of grass can be seen peeking out of the snow, so you can see that it's not much). Of course, my car sits outside in the driveway, while the open garage sits 4 feet away from it, with enough room for the car to fit snugly in and not get any snow on it at all. But like I said, it really wasn't supposed to snow.
I went in to Madison last night for a "Transylvanian Christmas." On the drive in, I heard "A Fool for Christmas" on All Things Considered, by Allan Gurganus. It's a fictional story that's about 25 minutes long. It's just adorably sweet, so if you have the time and the correct computer accoutrements (which I suppose most or all of you do), it's a nice little story. Might make you cry, though. Or maybe that's just me (I'm so damned sensitive lately).
Anyway, a Transylvanian Christmas sounds pretty bizarre until you know that Transylvania is where Unitarianism started. I wonder if one thing has anything to do with the other, namely vampires? The service was really a lot of singing and the pastor described what their Christmas is like. This is what I understand from what the guy said: during the reign of the communist dictator in Romania (Transylvania's in Romania), of course all religion was outlawed. According to the pastor, fields were flooded and entire villages were razed where Unitarians were, so they had to live in the city. Anyway, after the revolution took place (remember Romania was the last to have a revolution in '89-90, and the dictator & his wife--I can't spell his name for the life of me--sounds like Ciao-cheskoo were shot?) the Unitarian council went over to Romania and started to find the little pockets of the religion, and connect them all back up. And they gave $$ for books and stuff.
The FUS [First Unitarian Society] of Madison maintains a Romanian sister congregation in Transylvania, and so the thing last night was in honor of them. And we sang "x-mas carols." Or, "good old fashioned Unitarian gender neutral, completely religiously, culturally, and ethnically inclusive re-writings of x-mas carols." Actually, I was appreciative b/c that stuff just freaks me out, no matter how nice the music can be, but it did make me at points want to laugh. Especially b/c the keyboardist for the congregation always plays just a teensy bit too fast for the type of pace that you get when you have several hundred people trying to sing. Oh, but the best part was that candles were handed out, all the lights were turned out and the whole congregation lit up candles while singing "Silent Night," which was the only song sung w/the all of the actual words that were written to it. Anyway, it was v.cool, and was the reason why I went to this thing last night. [I do have to confess that, while the engineering at the Meeting House is amazing, the building, a FLLW design and a National Historic Landmark, really isn't that fantastic. The other Unitarian church designed by FLLW kicks this one's ass. Really. It's hard to compete against a masterpiece, even those the Meeting House in Madison is also considered a great building. It really doesn't hold a candle to Unity Temple, though.
(Unity Temple is on the left & the Unitarian Meeting house is on the right in the photos below).]
When I got back, I thought about stopping by the gas station so I could look for the LOTR, but I knew I had this thing today at 1pm, so.
Then I saw a little of the mass at the Vatican last night. I mostly watch it to see the building. I've always thought that cathedral of St. Paul's seems to be a mish-mash of things. From some angles, it seems to have a consistent design program, but in other areas, there are clashing mosaics, types of art, colors, patterns, etc. And If I remember if correctly, it has a sort of Greek cross design, w/t the altar at the center, which is a symbolic gestures I think of the pope being at the center of the Catholic world, or some such. Of course, the amalgalm of styles and centuries of art is not surprising when you consider how long it took to finish, and what w/all the times Rome was sacked, and all the murders and intrigue in the Papacy going on....
I had to keep turning the channel b/c I was getting freaked out for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I could almost smell the incense. Secondly, while I know that the pope is his own man (well, sort of), and Parkinson's only affects the body, not the brain, it was sad to watch him struggle through the simplest of things. And I don't know what language he was speaking (Italian?), but his words were just a mush.
And lastly, I was freaked out due to the whole ceremony of it. There's an anti-Catholic thing coming up, so skip it I suppose if you would be offended.
Remember that I grew up Catholic, so it's weird to see this from the outside. ANd I think that it freaks me out to see this b/c it's familiar enough from what I remember, but just far away enough (the pagentry, the foreign languages) to make it exotic. I can see why other Pxian religions think that Catholicism is pagan-like. It's so ritualized. I came upon it on tv last night while a guy was singing the birth of Jesus story in Latin, and he took this incense censor and was swinging it over the book that he was reading from (I was trying to get a look at the book, which was an illuminated manuscript, to see if it was really old. Couldn't tell). I mean, that was just frickin' weird. It's like he was smearing some magical substance around. It's a book. I mean, it might be 700 years old, which would certainly intrigue me, but it's still a book.
And the act of transubstantiation was strange, too [that's the "turning the communion wafer & the wine into the body and blood of Christ"]. It just seems, watching it from the outside and hearing the words translated into English (and remembering them from my entire childhood-to-the-age-of-18) that this was meant, originally, at the Last Supper, as a symbolic act. But Catholics (and some others, like Greek Orthodox) believe that it literally bcomes the body & blood of Christ, which is a miracle. But that another miracle simultaneously happens that makes the body & blood of Pxist look and taste like bread & wine. They believe it, though, so I shouldn't make fun of them.
But, of cousre, what's really tragic is that thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, have died over the centuries in wars arguing whether transubstantiation really occurs. That's part of what freaks me out.
Anyway, I think the anti-Catholic rant is over. Well, except to say this: you have to understand that while I've been fairly questioning of my religion since about the age 14 (and gaining increasing complexity over the years), since I grew up with it, its oddness was something that never occurred to me. In a way, it's kind of cool. It's just so bizarre and I kind of like being associated w/the bizarre. And the kissing of books and the importance of telling a story--the birth of Jesus--in this highly ritualized way is actually a very sophisticated understanding of the power of words, and the use of ritual to separate those words into the realm of the other, the sacred. It seems so ancient, almost pre-historic, which in a way, some of it is.
Still, the cumulative experiences of my childhood have given me the strange sort of anti-religious ticks that I feel from time to time.
I'm trying to write about this stuff, but I got tired last night after several pages.
It's still snowing. I'm going to put in the appropriate lj-cuts here, and put it up. Merry x-mas, again!
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sitting here at the computer.
Date: 2004-12-25 02:55 pm (UTC)enjoy your snow and may your day be pleasant(though i'm sure you'll be here later),..:)
Re: sitting here at the computer.
Date: 2004-12-25 03:39 pm (UTC)Well, I still haven't gone outside, b/c I totally edited the entry. The browser was actuing funky (sometimes, the control key sticks, and the browser acts differently), so I posted this, then added substantially to it.
totally edited the entry.
Date: 2004-12-25 03:47 pm (UTC)thanks for bringing me back,..i like the insights,..:)
Re: totally edited the entry.
Date: 2004-12-25 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 03:53 pm (UTC)Are you questioning of others, as well? :)
Reading your anti-Catholic rant made me think of Paganism, certainly. I'm not one for pageantry or ritual, and that's part of what turned me off of Paganism (at least, with dealing with anyone else who's an active participant). I think that ANY ritual is more for the participant than the one being worshipped, and aside from the words spoken and deities acknowledged, I don't see much difference between most Pagan rituals and Catholic ones (or any other Christian or Jewish or Muslim, etc. one, for that matter). To call one weird is to say they're all weird.
Personally, I think having "good old fashioned Unitarian gender neutral, completely religiously, culturally, and ethnically inclusive re-writings of x-mas carols" is a heck of a lot weirder. :) (Especially if you're having services on Christmas Eve, as it's the celebration of something very specific to a single religion.)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 04:53 pm (UTC)Certainly, the celebration of x-mas eve at the FUS was for the participants, most of whom--I gather--are fleeing Pxians. They also had a thing on the evening of the solstice. Got to get all of that stuff in there.
we did sing "Glorio-in excelsius deo" w/out changing the words :)