As I Reread Gilead

From Gilead:

Looking back over what I have written, it seems to me I've described my grandfather in his old age as if he were simply an eccentric, and as if we tolerated him and were respectful of him and loved him and he loved us. And all that is true. But I believe we knew also that his eccentricities were thwarted passion, that he was full of anger, at us not least, and that the tremors of his old age were in some part the tremors of pent grief. And I believe my father on his side was angry, too, at the accusations he knew he could see in his father's unreposefulness, and also in his endless pillaging. In a spirit of Christian forgiveness very becoming to men of the cloth, and to father and son, they had buried their differences. It must be said, however, that they buried them not very deeply, and perhaps more as one would bank a fire than smother it.

They had a particular way of addressing each other when the old bitterness was about to flare up.

"Have I offended you in some way, Reverend?" my father would ask.

And his father would say, "No, Reverend, you have not offended me in any way at all. Not at all."

And my mother would say, "Now, don't you two get started."

After I wrote the post about Home, Marilynne Robinson's most recent novel, I went back to reread Gilead, an earlier novel. I see more and more what a gifted writer Robinson is. The grandfather in the family takes Jesus' instructions in the Gospel on giving much more literally than most of us, more than the rest of his family, who have very little, and don't agree with him to give away everything that they're not wearing. They want to keep a little as their own. Thus the anger between father and son, both the Reverends Ames. The son is a central character in Gilead and also appears in Home as an important, but not central character.

If you intend to read both books, it's best to read Gilead first, although both books work quite well standing alone.

Once I finish Gilead, I shall buy Housekeeping, an even earlier novel by Robinson, which comes highly recommended.

Roseann Is Home Again!

Check out Roseann's post I Love My Couch at her blog, "Being Peace".

Thanks be to God, to all who prayed and sent good wishes, to the staff at the hospital, and to all who helped in any way for Roseann to return home.

George Herbert - Priest And Poet

Portrait by Robert White, 1674

I like to note George Herbert's feast day, but yesterday, I missed it, because I read the readings for Anna Cooper's feast day by mistake. Anna Cooper is quite worthy of note in her own right, but I have my special saints. Sorry about that. I read the Lectionary offerings for Herbert today.

Readings:

Psalm 23 or 1
1 Peter 5:1-4
Matthew 5:1-10

PRAYER

Our God and King, who called your servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in your temple: Give us grace, we pray, joyfully to perform the tasks you give us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

An excerpt from one of Herbert's poems:

THE FLOWER

How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean
are Thy returns! Even as the flowers in spring,
to which, besides their own demean,
the late-past frosts tributes of pleasure bring.
Grief melts away
like snow in May,
As if there were no such cold thing.

Who would have thought my shrivelled heart
could have recovered greenness? It was gone
quite underground, as flowers depart
to see their mother-root, when they have blown;
where they together
all the hard weather,
dead to the world, keep house unknown.
....

And now in age I bud again;
after so many deaths I love and write;
I once more smell the dew and rain,
and relish versing. O my only Light,
it cannot be
that I am he
on whom Thy tempests fell all night.

These are Thy wonders, Lord of love,
to make us see we are but flowers that glide;
which when we once can find and prove,
Thou hast a garden for us where to bide.
Who would be more,
swelling through store,
forfeit their paradise by their pride.

George Herbert

Image from Wiki.

The Same The World Over

Stolen from MadPriest. He claims the cartoon as his own work of genius, but I don't know....

David Brooks On Jindal Speech

I'm sorry , but I must do it. A good definition of an obsession, don't you think? Besides, David Brooks (he who turns my brain to mush) is my favorite NYT columnist.



Mike the Mad Biologist says:

While I almost feel sorry for him, what the hell is Brooks thinking? "A promising politician?" Your guy is a creationist and believes in casting out demons. Sweet baby Intelligent Designer, I had to use the post tag of "Demonic Possession" to talk about the man. Jindal is a f**king loon. That's your problem, not the delivery or the strategy.

I never feel sorry for Brooks.

UPDATE: In the interest of truth, I add that Bobby is not a creationist, but an advocate of teaching Intelligent Design in the science classroom.

Two Ladies Talking In Heaven

1st woman: Hi! My name is Sherry.
2nd woman: Hi! I'm Sylvia. How'd you die?

1st woman: I froze to death.
2nd woman: How horrible!

1st woman: It wasn't so bad. After I quit shaking from the cold, I began to get warm & sleepy, & finally died a peaceful death. What about you?

2nd woman: I died of a massive heart attack. I suspected that my husband was cheating, so I came home early to catch him in the act. But instead, I found him all by himself in the den watching TV.

1st woman: So, what happened?

2nd woman: I was so sure there was another woman there somewhere that I started running all over the house looking. I ran up into the attic & searched, & down into the basement. Then I went through every closet & checked under all the beds.. I kept this up until I had looked everywhere, & finally I became so exhausted that I just keeled over with a heart attack & died.

1st woman: Too bad you didn't look in the freezer---we'd both still be alive...

Thanks to Lapin for a Saturday morning laugh.

At The Audubon Zoo

This could be Berani, the orangutan that I posted about a while back, who escaped from his enclosure and stood staring at the spectators for a few minutes before he jumped back in, but I'm not sure. Whoever he is, he gave us quite a show by climbing to the very top of a tall pole and then sliding down a diagonal pole, like a child sliding down a bannister. I hope the pole was well-sanded.

I don't like zoos all that much, because the animals are all in enclosures, no matter how great the effort to make a suitable habitat. While many of them seem quite contented in their enclosures, others do not. One leopard was prowling the perimeters of his, obviously wanting out



The flamingos at the New Orleans zoo are orange, not pink, but still display colorfully.




The gorilla in the fetal position? Or is he just taking a nap?








One of the white alligators. I remember when they were about 8 inches long. I'd guess that they're about 5 feet long now.






And last, but not least, more backsides. The two youngest, climbing a tree.

Oh, My Goodness! Not "Really" True!

From TPM Muckraker:

Looks like the game is up.

Remember that story Bobby Jindal told in his big speech Tuesday night -- about how during Katrina, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a local sheriff who was battling government red tape to try to rescue stranded victims?

Turns out it wasn't actually, you know, true.
....

Jindal had described being in the office of Sheriff Harry Lee "during Katrina," and hearing him yelling into the phone at a government bureaucrat who was refusing to let him send volunteer boats out to rescue stranded storm victims, because they didn't have the necessary permits. Jindal said he told Lee, "that's ridiculous," prompting Lee to tell the bureaucrat that the rescue effort would go ahead and he or she could arrest both Lee and Jindal.
....

But now, a Jindal spokeswoman has admitted to Politico that in reality, Jindal overheard Lee talking about the episode to someone else by phone "days later." The spokeswoman said she thought Lee, who died in 2007, was being interviewed about the incident at the time.

Pecadillo! Pecadillo! Why don't the bloggers leave Governor Jindal alone?

Take note that it was first xgz at Daily Kos and then TPM who scooped the big media on the story. Who knows when BM would have unearthed the story, if ever.

UPDATE: Apologies to Big Media, Keith Olbermann, who said on Wednesday evening, "It looks like he made it up."

H/T to JCF in the comments.

UPDATE 2: The very, very, very, very latest from Jindal staffer, Tom Teepell, "This is liberal blogger B.S. The story is clear." Read TPM Muckraker to find out exactly how clear the story is.

"I Like Being Old. It Has Set Me Free."

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's &70's 50's & 60's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.



I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car. But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.


I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

From my daughter-in-law. Thank you, C. This is one of the nicest presents that I have received in my whole life.

Azaleas In Bloom

Above, for your pleasure, as a go-to-sleep picture or a wake-up picture, depending on where you live, is an azalea bush in full bloom in our back garden.

Today Grandpère and I, along with our daughter, took five children to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. We had a lovely time, and now I am home and exhausted. I'll write more about our adventure later.

Below is a back view of the gang, excluding me, at the zoo.