Holding On To the Crack of Doom

The nasty azz dark night of the soul does not care how you got to that dark side only that you stay and keep it company. I keep finding escape holes but I trip up and fall back in.

What helps me to stay out the pit is knowing that a lot of blogging friends and friends in real life are doing great things. I'm happy for them and want to witness and support their efforts.

For example, Lania Dawes new book "What Are You Doing Here? on black women and heavy metal is coming out in September 2012. You can check out her Facebook page.

Liz Rizzo is working on getting funding for her directorial effort Missing Miranda via Kickstarter.

Other folks are starting new jobs, new families, traveling, inventing stuff. What am I doing? Not writing a book. Not directing a film. Not speaking to fascinating people. I blog. I go to work. I fight to stay out of the dark miasma and sometimes I fail.

I'm not the bright shiny penny I once was. At 54 years of age I can be bright but it is hard to accept that people will not look at me if they perceive I am old.

I fought freaking hard to be this age. I know stuff. I've seen stuff. Yet the invisibility cloak others extend is trying to hush me up.

I keep meaning to slap in some hair dye. Not as a way to stay young but to put a fuzz filter on other people's perceptions. Haven't done it yet. I will in a couple of days. I want to spend time with a little red in the hair to see what it is like.

Redefining Success

It is getting up out of the bed. It is doing work for pay. Not because I want to do it but because I am exchanging labor for money. And security. It will not always be this way I tell myself but I haven't found my path.

Part of my path is invisible and the other is down the road a spell. It has always been like that. It has lead me to good places if I remain open.

Redefining success is not judging myself by other people. That part is hard. I know some really neat, kind and spiritually (not religiously but those people emanating a light of joy. ) successful people.

I'm honored to know them. But boy, do they make it hard to be a shlub.

Redefining success is understanding that menopause just kicked my azz and the heifer won. She snatched some of my energy and super powers. I'll get them back but I have to look for new ways to access those powers.

I had to re-learn to write in my own voice. I have to allocate time and not over book or under sleep. I can do it but not all at the same time. Freaking resent that part.

So I am indeed holding on to the crack of doom. Which might come in December. Or a long time away from now. Because if Malcolm Gladwell is right that it takes at 10,000 times to master a skill then I got a ways to go before I can declare myself as an abject failure.

In a few weeks I will introduce myself to people I don't know. They will ask what I do. I will not actually say this but I want to say I'm majoring in survival with a minor in lunacy navigation.

Not far from the truth.

Read More

I'm Still Here Thinking That You're Not Gone

Yep. I didn't make the cut. Apparently nobody else did either so I'm kinda sad about that. Really.

There was a whole bunch of people I had hoped that would be removed from the planet in a holding place until it could be explained to them that the concept of Agape or universal love was the goal and not the ranking of "I'm more holy than you."

Come to think of it, if members of that noxious Westboro Baptist Church gets to go to heaven then I don't think I want to go.

Speaking of not going, this is a video I recorded with Rick Hodge who has a book called 2011 Our Destiny Has Arrived.



Folks, no worries until December 12, 2012. That is 12/12/12 aka the Age of the Fifth Sun.

Part 2

I heard a son call his father to check in on him.

"You still here Pop?, yeah, me too."

I think the rest of us want to say that you can't escape life through false prophets who profit on fear. Spirit doesn't operate that way.

Even if you are an Atheist one thing is clear, either you live your life or your don't. It is a choice and praying for your spiritual removal en mass I think violates that freedom of spiritual choice thing.

In other words, I don't think you can make Spirit/God/Jesus do anything. And if we could why would we so willing to commission other people's souls to damnation? Why would you follow a being that tells you to do that?

Last word on the (non) rapture. A special shout out has got to the RaptureHelpDesk. Best dang use of Twitter for humor that I have ever seen. I look forward to October 21, 2011 cuz it is going to be hard to top these tweets. Cracked me up.

Part 3

Yesterday I paid $4.50 for maybe a scoop and a half of Gelato. It was Stratachoco... something but it was good. Dark chocolate laced into vanilla ice cream. This is counter to my normally frugal ways but I had seen the store for years and never went inside.

I liked it.

I am going to try to make it another eight years before I go back to that place. I will not pay $5 for a gallon of ice cream but I have to admit this stuff was tasty.

I should get around to making my bucket list so I can put luxury ice cream on it and then cross it off.

Well, this is just to check in. I'm trying to write another post, edit video, do laundry and possibly dye my hair. I guess this is justifiable procrastination. So much to do and see.

Not enough time.

Never enough time.

Read More

Counting Down the Days Paying Attention

I listen to a lot of podcasts like The American History Guys. One thing I learned from the fellas is that you respect the people who had to make decisions in a certain space and time.

You can step back and evaluate it from your time frame. You can dig in and try to put a context to what the heck was going on to make folks so nutso crazy (my words, not the History guys) and you can see both sides and understand that the historical picture is complex.

If you have been around me in real space you know I've been keeping track of the end-timers. I got word on three separate dates, for example May 21, 2011, October 21, 2011 and December 12, 2012. I'll add more as time goes on.

Or not.

Now let me be clear. I cannot not nor will not disrespect a person's belief system. If you believe that the end really is here then ok, I think you have more important stuff to do than read this post.

I can however step back and look at people's behaviors, billboards and more importantly how some folks will behave on May 22, 2011.

It has been trippy. People putting bible tracks in my face. I must look like a class-A sinner cuz I get that a lot. The guy walking through Pasadena carrying a really big cross. The up tick in pride of knowing that you are the chosen and I am not.

The selling of everything you own and your home? Oh, my. That is some serious commitment that might be a bit uncomfortable to sleep with on the 23rd.

I mean, the whole conceptual thing is one big dang gummed wow. I'll tell you one thing; it does bust up a good chunk of writer's block. If you can't get a story or poem out of this then lay down the pen and walk away.

So I have to say that I am on high investigative alert. This is my first end-time so I do want to try and document properly. I'm counting this one as a practice because I have two other dates and I'm sure a bunch more will pop up for 2012.

The camcorder is charged up. I have got paper, pen and a spare camera for back-up. I think I'm ready. I'm set either way. I've got relatives in both places.

No worries here.

Read More

Seeing and Not Seeing the Sign

Trying to work out a few thoughts. A few weeks back I was in downtown Los Angeles. Mass transit is so much better than it was when I got here. There was a transit infrastructure until the late 1950s when the push for freeways and selling cars became to great to ignore.

By the 1960s the trolleys were gone and bus service was an oxymoron. You had to be a broke or a moron to ride the system. In the 1980s I caught the tail end of that era when some of the drivers really hated the passengers and didn't care all that much more for the RTD.

Not kidding about the hate part. There was this one drive that had an elaborate sign system rigged on the fare box. It went something to the effect that I am the driver, not customer service. The fare is fifty cents, a transfer is 25 cents, step behind the white line and do not talk to the driver.

He meant it. You didn't ask him for nothing.


Time passes, court ordered mast transit reform begins a new phase. There are new non-polluting buses, underground trains and express routes. This is a good thing but looking at that sign makes me queasy.

The water damage is apparent. The concrete has a rust seam and the tiles have seen better days. I try to forget that I'm underground but I notice details like this all of the time. It looks solid but there are fissures.

The train stations are ok. They are kept well for the number of people that flow through it.

It is just that I remember that I put up a mighty verbal fight about stepping foot on an L.A. subway. I got over it because I needed to go some place quick that involved getting money.

I find money is an excellent motivator for me. I do map out the escape doors and pathways so I know I can get out and back up to the street if I have too. I ride the train looking at the pipes and the hidden doors. In case of trouble I'm not staying underground for nothing.

People are talking more and more about escape routes. The number of people blessing me is on the uptick. Normally this is not a problem cuz I need all the help I can get. However, I get the impression there is some kind of quota system in effect.

Something like how many of the heathens can be converted by May 21st, October 21st or an as yet undetermined day in 2012?

I have Octavia Butler's Parable of the Talents on my mind and it is kinda like looking and not looking at that sign. Good people will do bad things and worse people will raise them double or nothing.

Then again, I fully expect just another day. Except for the cracks and fissures.

Read More

Poetry In Plain Sight - Eleanor Higgins

About two weeks ago Eleanor and I were sitting on the library bench talking about stuff. We were outside appreciating the beautiful weather. Eleanor was at Cal State Northridge University during the Northridge quake.

The Internet was just still in the GOPHER space, e-mail was king and if you had 56k you were doing pretty good. After the Northridge quake Eleanor told me about folks teaching in their cars and communicating via e-mail. Buildings were destroyed. Everything changed.

We joked about that old erroneous meme about warm weather and earthquakes. Intellectually we know it is not true. Fear and the need for an answer kinda trumps facts. It should not be so but look at America the past two years.

We done gone plum stupid; in my opinion. This poem, however, is not stupid. It is kinda cool.






This is Eleanor's poem about not wanting to be a grown up tonight. It is a fun poem and it is ok to have a bit of fun when your emotional knees are knocking.

One way for people up and down the Pacific Coast can do to help with that emotional knee knocking is re-stocking your Emergency Supply Kit. Batteries, radios, top-up cards for the cell phones, money and the essentials.

Yes, that is a grown-up thing to but in transactional analysis there is the child, the teen and the parent all contained in one body. Let the kid play as the other two of you get busy and stock up on what you need to survive for a couple of days.

To Get You Started:

• Ready.gov Make A Plan
• FEMA.gov Plan, Prepare and Mitigate
• California Department of Public Health Be Prepared California
• Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Are You Ready page
• Washington State Military Department - Emergency Management Division information page

Read More

Pema Chodron on Fear and Fearlessness

My neighbors are whooping it up in celebration which makes it hard to be in a contemplative mood. Can't blame them and who am I to tell folks not to sing and dance.

Pema Chodron is a teacher who can explain ancient wisdom for western ears.



Anyway, I'd thought I would share some stuff from Sounds True. Sounds True is a place where you can find inspirational talks and teachings from a variety of disciplines. It is a commercial business but that business is helping others find healing tools and techniques for living.

I have a subscription on iTunes and recently there are a few video excerpts that I think folks would be interested in checking out.

Read More

Being 52 - Seeing and Not Seeing

There are times when we are on automatic. We go shopping for stuff. Generally for the stuff we need but we are diverted by the stuff we want. Or think we want.



Or didn't know that we wanted it. Me, I go looking for what I haven't seen before and can tote home in a shopping bag. I don't want a painted Buddah or a tarted up angels.
But I did see that kitsch really does have a price tag.

This is a lemonade video on account that I didn't know that the iPod Nano will record 480 x 640 if I record in portrait mode.

This is my day 12 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month. Check out the rest of the folks via Twitter using hastag #Vlomo10. You can also find some of those rascals on YouTube

Read More

Cry Me A River on the Finally Friday Freakout

Well, it is almost done, this summer. The Los Angeles drivers are hell bent for leather this weekend, as in if you are a pedestrian you are at extreme risk, even when crossing at a green light.

There is enough cheap gas to make them forget about conservation or frugality. They are wired for the internal mantra "We just gotta get away." If, as I witnessed, one of them rascals in a VW almost side swiped a Metro bus to do it then so be it.

I don't need a roller coaster, I ride Metro.



It has been a week of mixing female hygiene products with resumes and a wealthy powerful man telling women in tech they just don't want it enough to go get it so don't blame him.

I came home to a Post-It note with three questions with Bible verse answers stuck on my door.
Dude must have seen my tweet from early this morning from Pascal:

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."

I can see that the campaign to Christ-up this nation is in full effect. As I have said before, the Christ Jesus and I have a working non-aggression agreement.

I try hard not to blame him or any of his authorized representatives for the actions of some of the dumb ass clucks claiming to be Christian and he loves me enough to let me go my own way.

I'm trying to hold to the spirit of the agreement but God knows I've had problems with my vocabulary and faith. I got so angry at some cruel faith based statement of idiocy that I had to take a double dose of Rumi's poetry just to settle me down be remotely civil.

Yeah.

Love that Rumi.

Not a great week but better than the last one. So to the hurtful disagreeable people who might find themselves in an uncomfortable situation and seek a balm I submit to your attention a young vocalist who has potential.

Cry me a river babe.

To the rest of you this is a reminder that sometimes we need to touch our inner spark. That sometimes can happen when we take a peep over at someone else displaying his or her spark.

Read More

Send Him Up Proper - Mr. Walter Hawkins

I do not go to church. I am neither save or unsaved. I am loved without somebody else telling me so or quantifying how much or how little. You may feel different about it but that is a discussion for another time.

This is a tribute post for Mr. Walter Hawkins who passed on July 11, 2010. This is a song composed by Walter Hopkins called Goin' Up Yonder:



I was raised in a musical tradition that allowed you to hear a variety of gospel music. Traditional, soul based or however you came to the path. I was lucky enough to be born when there was a melding of secular and sacred music that played on commercial radio stations.

Sometimes the DJ would slip one of the songs in during the day. Sunday mornings you could get the full dose of Rosetta Thorpe, Rev. Cleavland, Albertina Walker and so many talented choirs it would make my head ache to try to do justice remembering them all.



But you might not know of the tradition. You might think that the choir in the Blues Brothers movies is what a black choir is. Sure it was played for comedy but there are folks who think they know but they do not know.



They do not know the true intensity of intent of the music. It can be as powerful as a little old lady. This is the Georgia Mass Choir with Rev. Milton Biggham and Miss Alice Coney with a 1989 version of Come On In the Room.

I'm telling you this and I am a first class heathen. Or 2nd class. I keep forgetting. Before more of us forget or never knew I pass these musical treasures on to you. There needs to be other memory keepers for when I am gone.

Read More

The Prescott Mural - Moving Forward In Love and Respect

Hopefully a better ending has been written. I don't know how long that ending will last because there are some amped up people. Only God knows what they are going to do.

If you don't know the story about the elementary school mural that came under attack because of the appearance of two children of color then check out the links below to get up to speed.

• Prescott Arizona Daily Currier Art Attack: Elementary school mural getting a 'lighter' facelift
• AZCentral.com Altered mural fuels racial debate in Prescott
• TusconSentenal.com Prescott radio host fired over school mural flap
  

or this:



Councilman Steve Blair, who at the time had an AM radio show, said the following words:

On May 21, 2010 Steve Blair said, "I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families - who I have been very good friends with for years - to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'"

A correction at this point. The child depicted was a Latino boy. The next statement probably added gas to the fire:

"I'm not a racist by any stretch of the imagination, but whenever people start talking about diversity, it's a word I can't stand."

This Is What I Want to Say.

Well, maybe not. I can't use the words I want to because they are the same words I promised myself not to type in the blog. Came close though. WTF does not get near the words I wanted to use. I've tried typing this post six times and this is the best I can do.

I understand that words can hurt. Deeply. Whether you intended to or not. Words aimed at hurting children, children identities and self-esteem will generate straight up anger in me. It takes a bit of work to pull back.

I didn't want to pull back. Until I got my anger under control I couldn't write. It did help to see the actual citizens of Prescott stand up and say that what Blair and the principal did was wrong.

To Steve Blair, the Principal and the members of the community that drove by cussing at the artists:

Your words attacked people that couldn't fight back. The children.

The children came up the the design and the selection of the mural. You and your cohorts took that class and community project and crapped all over it. It wasn't political correctness that prompted that mural. It wasn't political at all.

It was a group of loving innocent children seeing a world that could be if we stupid adults would just be open to taking care of the planet.

These kids are the juice and cookie crowd. A good day has at least three knock-knock jokes. What did they know of your tea parties, talking points or hater of the week rhetoric?

Nothing. Not a damn thing. Somehow you took that innocence and mapped it to your own anger and frustrations. Politics is personal but goddamn it should not be vindictive; especially against children.

Congratulations. You've introduced them to racism, public ridicule and, as an added bonus, taken the intended message "Go Green with Transportation" and stomped it in the ground.

There isn't anything I could type to make you or others that think like you understand that community is much larger than your city borders. That love isn't depended on an external light upon the skin but the light within.

To The Rest of Us:



I was thinking of Fred Rodgers. Actually, a great dame name Kim Pearson reminded me that we need to affirm the children. My mind linked back to good old Fred, who had a heck of a lot more smarts and class than we do at the moment.

In the meantime, we can work on connecting with the better part of our adult selves.
We've got work to do. Let's get to it.

Read More

Moving to The Upper Realm - Walker and Burke

This is a day of recognition and sorrow of the passing of two great performers. Dr. Albertina Walker and Mr. Solomon Burke have made their transition to the upper room.

Albertina Walker is one of the great ladies of traditional African American gospel music. A body could not move through a Sunday morning without hearing a recording from Dr. Walker or one of the many choirs she created or was associated with.

Special shout to her recording with James Cleavland, Please Be Patient with Me, God is Not Through With Me Yet.

This is her rendition of Lord Remember Me:



For those that don't know, just because the song seems to end does not necessarily mean that the song has ended. This is the music equivalent of stoking the furnace.

Four minutes and thirty seconds isn't always enough time to invoke the spirit. You might need a little longer to not only go up but to remember to come back down.

Solomon Burke made his transition on route to a performance in Solomon Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for a sold out show with Dutch band, De Dijk.

This is his recording with the Blind Boys of Alabama with a ripping version of None Us Are Free



Mr. Burke recorded gospel, secular and country music. Think of him as a musician's performer. Those that knew about the depth of his talents were respectful and did not nor would not try to lump him as a one or two hit wonder. There is a strong body of work and good music that never got proper promotion or U.S. air play.

Europe and Asia had more sense than we did.

Mr. Burke, in addition to his musical legacy has a loving family of 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Read More

Lisa Schrader's Awakening Shakti Video

I might be meeting a bunch of new people today so let me explain that Out On the Stoop is my personal blog. I have a wide range of curiosities and interests. I am open to exploring my world and environment.

So the topics and posts you see are what I have come across in my real world and cyber travels. It doesn't mean I accept or embrace everything presented but it is a moment that I want to pay attention to or share with my friends and extended community.

This is a video by Lisa Schrader, who I gather has a business that involves re-connecting people to their inner light and spiritual nature.



I was doing research on spiritual sexuality for a post on BlogHer. I came across her video. She has a presence that seems to be calm and relaxed. I don't know, I guess the video is a window to a kind of place I would like to live in some day. A place of love, nature and non-hostile community.

I'm not promoting her company or service. I'm really looking and listening to her describe a kind of internal and external place we could construct if we were willing to see each other as equal loving beings.

This is not easy with some of the jokers and chuckle heads on the planet. At times I have been the joker or chuckle head so I have sympathy for both sides.

I guess I'm looking at how still she is and being physically quiet. I have to work on being physically quiet.

It might take time for me to truly understand the enlightenment thing.

Read More

Spiritual Sex Explained - Joy Davidson

I am working on writing an essay type piece on Sacred Sexuality. As usual, I had more resources than space to display them all. It is a challenging topic to find authentic, non-exploitative voices.



I'm all for the sex positive because we seem to be choking on the negative. This is Joy Davidson and this is her perspective on how she defines sacred sexuality.

Read More

Ta-Nehisi Coates Video on His New Book

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a writer who blogs at The Atlantic. He has a new book out called The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood.

It is about fathers and sons. Growing up and surviving yourself. This is a video where Ta-Nehisi is talking about his father and the need for love infused direction:



I check out Ta-Nehisi posts from time to time. I like his writing and perspectives. Most of the time. Which is pretty good. All I ask of a writer is put out original thought.

That doesn't mean that I accept it 100%. I like the option of saying yeah or nay. On this video I'm saying yeah. I hope he does more.

Read More

Brahma Nandam on the Finally Friday Freakout

You take a step. And another. If you keep doing that you can find yourself in unexpected places. Happens to me all of the time. This is not a bad thing.

I need a bit of soothing. Something non-toxic and coming from a heart centered place.



This is Deva Premal and Miten in a 2005 performance of Brahma Nandam.

Read More

Seeking Biblical Scholarship over Biblical Hubris

On Halloween, 2009 Pastor Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina planed to burn versions of the bible, music and other objects that are not in alignment with his church’s belief system. One of the definitions of hubris is pride of presumption. Here are the exact words copied from a cached version of the website:

Come to our Halloween book burning. We are burning Satan's bibles like the NIV, RSV, NKJV, TLB, NASB, NEV, NRSV, ASV, NWT, Good News for Modern Man, The Evidence Bible, The Message Bible, The Green Bible, ect. These are perversions of God's Word the King James Bible.

We will also be burning Satan's music such as country , rap , rock , pop, heavy metal, western, soft and easy, southern gospel , contemporary Christian , jazz, soul, oldies but goldies, etc…

…There will be BBQ Chicken, fried chicken and other fixings.

Crystal at Slaughter of the Sheep doesn’t much care for non-Christians. She feels that Christians are different people. That is her opinion and she has a right to express it just as I have every right to disagree. Crystal feels that this (bible burning) is going too far:

Hey, I’m all for getting together on Halloween (if your church decides to do that) and give the kids a night of Christian fellowship and good food. No problem. But this is nonsense (which is turning out to be my favorite word in these last days).

Lori Stanley Roeleveld at Deeper in Jesus in Rhode Island is equally concerned. She make it clear that she is absolutely against book burning. My understanding of her reading her full post is that she is looking inward to herself as to not being afraid to take a stand or live in action instead of fear. Her desire is to turn folks away from the dark side to the light. Lori doesn’t approve of this act but doesn’t like what she is seeing in the world:

…however misguided the action at least they church is acting on their convictions. Again, I am opposed to book burning and think these brothers and sisters are misguided at best but every day I sit by and watch people opposed to God make what I believe is true look like a lie and dress up the things God says are detestable to look as beautiful and appealing as a harem of Victoria Secret models.

The Balancing Act

Pastor Grizzard has the freedom to express his thoughts and opinions; like his belief that country, jazz and contemporary Christian music is a “perversion” or “Satan’s” music.

Not sure that in his role as pastor has the freedom to ignore facts. You can’t ignore facts such as the English language did not exist during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Or that there are other English language bibles that pre-date the King James version by three hundred years.

The man is so certain in his faith that when other people point out to him that there were earlier bibles in other languages like Aramaic, Egyptian, Babylonian, Hebrew and then Greek and Latin it does not phase him one bit. This is the response from the church, again from a cached copy from the website:

One does not need to know Greek or Hebrew to understand God's Word. God has promised to preserve them, not man. If the preservation of God's Word was left up to man than we would mess it up. That's what we have with modern versions. But divine preservation is God's promise to give us his pure words and we have that in the KJV. God's Word is not lost or hidden somewhere. We have them today for the English Speaking people and that is through the KJV.

The balancing act comes in when I need to point out factual errors but not intentionally or unintentionally disrespect another person’s faith. There is a strong part of me that cannot believe faith requires self-induced closed mindedness. It seems like there are stories that are rushing up to meet me every day to try to prove me wrong.

The women that I discovered working in the area of academic biblical scholarship provide interesting entry points to questions that are not always easy to answer. The difference is that they love the questions.

Biblical Scholarship Blogs and Websites

Julia M. O’Brien is a Hebrew/Old Testament scholar who mixes the relation between contemporary life and the many biblical connections. In her post on Growing an Audience she wonders about how to outreach beyond the university and religious institutions. I also learned a new form of illiteracy, bible illiteracy:

Every year in the mainline seminary in which I teach, I encounter more aspiring pastors who have never heard of Daniel or the allegorical reading of Song of Songs. If I want to challenge a traditional interpretation, I have to teach it first. My colleague in New Testament doesn’t face quite the same level of biblical illiteracy: he can still count on most people having strong opinions about Jesus. But even he reports that students’ knowledge derives far more from pop culture and pop religion than from the Gospels.

April DeConick at The Forbidden Gospels is a professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University. Her post, Creating Jesus 24: Transmutative Soteriology had me hunting for the dictionary. Soteriology is the study of salvation. April writes about another perspective of salvation. How God and Jesus met as one as a means of modeling what humans could emulate.

This is my understanding of what I read. It may not be what Professor DeConick intended to convey:

Because we have here a christology in which God and the flesh meet, forming an extraordinary human being, the goal of this paradigm is for all humans to experience this same transmutation, a perfecting that alters their humanity in the same way that it had altered Jesus'. This is a process called theosis and it is captured in the words of many of the church fathers from the east, "God became man so that man can become God."

Suzanne McCarthy has a series on the women who have made contributions to the translating of biblical text such as Francis Siewart and Helen Spurrell. What caught my attention was her posts about gender exclusivity and the use of male pronouns to represent all of humanity. Suzanne is concerned about proper translation from the Greek language and the inclusion of all people found in the original source material.

One more for the road. Over at the Society of Biblical Literature – visit the podcast page where you can hear an interview with biblical scholars like Shawna Dolansky, and other professionals in the field of academic biblical study and research.

Other Resources:

Biola University’s The Unbound Bible – a database collection of various versions of the Christian bible searchable by language, publisher, publishing date and other variables.

Codex Sinaiticus – from the 4th century contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

From Papyri to King James: The Transmission of the English Bible a collection of early materials from the University of Michigan Library.

God Didn’t Say That – A forum for discussing translations and mistranslations of the bible.

In conclusion, you can’t always take a negative situation and derive a positive value. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make the effort. If you know of other academic biblical scholars pop them in the comments or put in your drachma on what I have written.

Gena Haskett is a Contributing Editor at BlogHer and a version of this post originally appeared on that site.

Read More

Lay Down, Candles in the Rain on the Finally Friday Freakout

There are people hurting in this country. The pain is enormous. There are people asking for help and other people defending their God given right not to do a damn thing.

There are others people yelling and screaming in frustration and when grown folks do that there will be trouble.

By the time I got to be this old I had hoped that we would be better than this, much more civil and certainly respectful in our disagreements. Maybe it is time to lay childlike hope aside. Naw, I can't do that. Not yet.



I like all kinds of music. Always have. Except Opera. I tried, really.

I actually have this song on a compilation album by Buddah Records. Melanie's picture is on the album but I never knew more than I like the song.

Her full name is Melanie Safka. This is a version of her classic tune Lay Down, Candles in the Rain as performed on the Nashville Network in 1991.

"Some came to sing, some came to pray, some came to keep the dark away."

Yep, we have to stand and keep the dark forces of fear away. It is hard but facing fear is hard. There is a lot of fear romping around. More of us have to stand up for truth, integrity and really good chocolate.

Did I say chocolate? Oh, well, chocolate... peace, same thing.

Read More

I’m Really Angry - What Do I Do?

There is cursing. There is cussing. For the purpose of this post it is important for you to know the difference. Now first let's remove the religious definition of cursing. I'm talking generic U.S. English so called "bad words." we aspire not to say in public but they have been seeping out. Yes, all seven of them.  I’m not talking about cursing, this is the superlative form, cussing.

Cussing is the weapon you really want to use to make the other person pay attention and feel hurt. The pain part is important. Cussing is a skill. You do not want to be near anyone who has that specific skill because that person is really angry and potentially heading into blind rage. We are talking 16 and 32 word combinations, comparisons to the size of your genitals and questions of how you have the limited sense enough to draw breath.

Yesterday, I was cussing.

I was angry about things both internal and external. Mainly external. I was once again disappointed by the base level stupidity of human beings. I sat in my home and let the invectives flow at full force. I was so mad I was cussing Joost out because I wanted to see Have Gun Will Travel and they wouldn't let me because I didn't want to turn off my Ad Blocker software.

I got one word for you Joost. Hulu!

Then finally, the anger was gone. I felt deflated and sad. I went to bed hugging my pillow saying to myself, “It is ok. next time I’ll do better.”

There Has To Be A Better Way...

Expressing anger is ok. I know that. Expressing it when no one is around is desirable. However I wasted a lot of time that could have been put to better use. Walking and doing physical activities can help. Yet I needed something for my mind and soul. I needed something to re-affirm that we all ain't heading for the cosmic crapper. 

Truth is, I need to know that the man on the bus wearing the Apocalypse sign with pride isn’t a prophet of things to come. That foolish men and women do not have total dominion over those of us who, despite our differences, want to do better than continually carp and cuss.  There are people who actively search for better ways of communicating, behaving and controlling the need to beat the sh….

Let me point out that I am no where near as enlightened as I had hope to be at this point in my life.

Sometimes you need a teacher, coach or guide to show you options and alternative behaviors you can emulate. Buddhist Nun Pema Chodron wrote in her book When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advice for Difficult Times:

“Well it starts with being willing to feel what we are going through. It starts with being willing to have a compassionate relationship with the parts of ourselves that we feel are not worthy of existing on the planet.”

Here is more from Pema Chodron on This Lousy World:

Using Pema Chodron as a focal point, let’s see how other bloggers interpret her teachings and concepts.

I need no convincing that staying in the moment, in the anger as you bring yourself to a centered place, is hard work. Pamela from the Fertility Advocate blog writes about staying in the pain, understanding that is something to want to run from but as she puts it:

What Pema is teaching, is that when things feel like they are falling apart - like a failed pregnancy attempt - instead of running from the pain - try to stay with it. Truly feel it.  Trying to look at the “bright side” may not be helpful.  If we can manage to stay with the pain - really touch the rawness of our feelings - great insights and learning can come from it.

I don’t think Stardust In Prison would mind me hanging out at Dhama Punx. The people in that community seem to be incorporating Buddhist principles into their American life. There are many good posts here but I needed the one on Stress. It is not that there is an “answer” but that people are taking the time to ask questions and try to work it out.

Ann at Divorce Unemployed and Living With Her Parents is not having a good time. She starts off her post about what she thinks Buddhism is:

The philosophy of Buddhism is premised on the idea that acceptance - or more accurately - embracing of - reality - what exists- rather than struggling with what is not reality - what doesn't exist - allows people to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.

Ann goes into more details about loss, adjustments and her psychotic cat. DiamondLight at Love Burning Deep talks about being open, making time for her practice it seems releasing the pressure before you blow. Jennifer at I Wish I Had More Time to Read share a breathing technique she uses to help her cope.

I began the technique of breathing in the very thing I was afraid of—impoverishment—and, via exhaling, releasing the notion that, “I have exactly what I need for now.”

Dakota at Body Evolution is using Pema’s teachings to redefine her inner and outer self-image. In this passage she writes about how instead of running from the pain, she moved toward it:

Last year, for the first time, I broke a pattern I had fallen back on for so many years. I didn’t run away from my pain. I faced it head on, like Pema Chodron says in her book. I thought that if I face it head on the pain would heal quicker. The pain didn’t heal quicker, but I learned one very important thing about life. If you face your pain and fear head-on it loses its power over you.

It Is Getting Better

I am reminded to take deep breaths to cleans and clear myself. This I can do. I am reminded that I am not perfect and that there is no expectation or birth requirement for me to be perfect. I think that Pema is saying that once you get the relationship with yourself in place you will be able to connect better with others. And if there are as equally heart centered then there may be a way to build a lasting path or bridge of communication.

That one is gonna take me sitting in Dharma Special Ed class because some of those “others” are not nice people. They need a cast iron skillet upside the head.  I know. Back to the lecture. ;-)

We can’t live in this world totally alone. There are days when you need a guide who has been down the path before you. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted Ms. Chodron’s concepts but, as you can see, we all have a need to connect, deal with our demons and come to a place of peace. If you have tips for those of us that flare up quick, drop them in the comments.

Additional Reading

• Shambhala Sun conversation with Pema and bell hooks the conversation talks about racism, sexism and dealing with aggression.
• In O Magazine interview - Pema and Oprah talk about spirituality and how Pema became a Buddhist Nun.

Gena Haskett is a Contributing Editor at BlogHer where this post originally appeared.

Read More

Elephant Journal Interview with Sister Prejean

Sister Helen Prejean and I would agree wholeheartedly about some issues and disagree with others. The one thing I am sure about is that she would not want me dead or condemn me to hell because we disagreed. Still working on processing my anger about the murder of Dr. Tiller.

Walk the Talk Show: Sister Helen Prejean from Alex King & Mito Media on Vimeo.

This is an interview conducted at the Naropa University by Waylon Lewis. What I was impressed by is that she understands the duality of our natures. Sister Prejean talks about forgiveness in impossible situations, what spiritual love is (and it does not involve shooting someone in the name of God) and yes, honor life but pass the BBQ.

Ok, maybe not the BBQ. Slide that gumbo over here. Anyway, for more about mindful, meditative, higher plane type talking visit Elephant Journal.

Read More