Coal And Wood 'More Damaging Than Thought'

From the The Guardian:

So what are you going to do about it? I know what I'll do. Since I don't burn coal or wood and can't help with that, I'll start thinking a lot less.

Automatic Confession

Thanks to Doug (who else?) for bringing this to my attention.

US Troop Deaths In Iraq Rise To 4000

From the AP via The Advocate in Baton Rouge.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year.
....

The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide.
....

Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians also have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion on March 20, 2003, although estimates of a specific figure vary widely due to the difficulty in collecting accurate information.

One widely respected tally by Iraq Body Count, which collects figures based mostly on media reports, estimates that 82,349 to 89,867 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict.
....

President Bush has insisted the decline in violence shows his strategy is working and needs more time, a position taken by Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
....

At least 10 civilians were killed and 20 more were wounded in rocket or mortar blasts in scattered areas of eastern Baghdad, some probably due to rounds aimed at the Green Zone that fell short.

UPDATE: Picture from The Memory Hole. It dates to 2003, because the Pentagon no longer allows photographs of the flag-draped coffins that arrive at Dover Air Force Base.

UPDATE 2: Perhaps instead of the flag-draped coffins, I should have posted this.

The Opera - Part III - "Lucia di Lammermoor"

Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor is the source of the libretto for "Lucia" by Gaetano Donizetti. It's a tragic story of star-crossed lovers, stolen letters, madness, and murder that takes place in the Scottish lowlands. The families of the lovers, Lucia and Edgardo, have been engaged in a long-running feud, and the two have been meeting in secret on the grounds of Lammermoor Castle. Lucia's brother, Enrico, sung by Mariusz Kwiecien, wants Lucia to marry Arturo, a man of great fortune, to save the family's property and honor.

The performance by Natalie Dessay, as Lucia, is possibly the most outstanding singing and acting that I have ever experienced at an opera. Dessay is quite small in stature, and to hear that great voice come from a petite woman was astonishing. I'm aware that a singer's size has nothing to do with strength of voice, yet it was surprising to me to hear such power come forth from her. Her acting, especially in her mad scenes and those in which she is forced to marry a man she does not love, is masterful. As she stands up with Arturo, she is faint, seemingly near to death, trilling her notes softly and beautifully. Dessay showcased her lovely coloratura voice to excellent effect in this bel canto opera.

Enrico, upon finding out about his sister's clandestine meetings with his mortal enemy, becomes enraged and, in fact, remains enraged through the greater part of the opera. He was excellent, demonstrating his anger in both his singing and acting with great verve and realism. Edgardo and Lucia were perfectly believable as lovers, however, none of the male characters in the opera, including Edgardo, seemed to take note of Lucia's fragility, and all contribute, in some manner, to push her over the edge into madness. The chaplain and Lucia's tutor, Raimondo, should have taken better care of her, but I suppose he was no match for Enrico's rage. Watching the angry Enrico, I could not help but wonder why he didn't find himself a rich heiress to marry to save the family fortune and honor, instead of forcing his sister into a marriage to a man she did not love. I have never, ever, been so emotionally caught up in the drama of an opera, as I was with this performance of Lucia. I was lost in it, mesmerized, outside of time and place.

Joseph Colaneri, replaced Joseph Levine, who was to have conducted the opera, at the eleventh hour and made an excellent work of it.

The Met production returned to the original custom of using a glass armonica in the orchestra during Lucia's mad scene. The instrument's volume is quite low, therefore the flute is most often used for the brief bit of music. I was told that amplification was most likely used, because we would not have been able to hear the armonica without it.

As Lucia came down the stairs after stabbing Arturo, I noticed that her blood-stained dress (or, perhaps, that of an understudy) was one that we saw during our backstage tour of the Met. Our guide told us that paint is used to great effect on the costumes to show blood, mud, etc.

Altogether a magical evening! My knowledge of opera is limited, and I am, most certainly, not a music critic. I'm probably making a mess of this, but I'm giving you my impression of the evening, strictly an effort by a dilettante. (I joke that the word was coined for me, with my knowledge of a little bit about a lot of things.) However, our lecturer, who is an expert, thought that it was an excellent production, too.

Conductor - Joseph Colaneri
Normanno - Michael Myers
Lord Enrico Ashton - Mariusz
Raimundo - John Relyea
Lucia - Natalie Dessay
Alisa - Michaela Martens
Edgardo - Guiseppe Filianoti
Arturo - Stephen Costello

Picture from the New York Times.

"Do Not Be Afraid - Of This Risen Life"

The children in our church planted the garden at the beginning of Lent, and here it is bursting with new life in bloom on the day when we celebrate the new life of the Risen Christ. Once again we are called to remembrance that we share this new life with Jesus Christ.

Ann sent me the link to this post from the Urban Hermit:

We share in the great awe and joy of the women at the tomb as we celebrate with all creation and make visible the new life that pulses through all creation.

So, the Resurrection greeting, “Do not be afraid”.

“Do not be afraid – of this Risen life.”

The entire post is surely worth a read. Thanks, Ann

Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!

"The Resurrection" - Fra Angelico - San Marco Museum, Florence

Mark 16:1-8

The Resurrection of Jesus

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

PRAYER

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

RESURRECTION, IMPERFECT - by John Donne

SLEEP, sleep, old sun, thou canst not have repass'd,
As yet, the wound thou took'st on Friday last ;
Sleep then, and rest ; the world may bear thy stay ;
A better sun rose before thee to-day ;
Who—not content to enlighten all that dwell
On the earth's face, as thou—enlighten'd hell,
And made the dark fires languish in that vale,
As at thy presence here our fires grow pale ;
Whose body, having walk'd on earth, and now
Hasting to heaven, would—that He might allow
Himself unto all stations, and fill all—
For these three days become a mineral.
He was all gold when He lay down, but rose
All tincture, and doth not alone dispose
Leaden and iron wills to good, but is
Of power to make e'en sinful flesh like his.
Had one of those, whose credulous piety
Thought that a soul one might discern and see
Go from a body, at this sepulchre been,
And, issuing from the sheet, this body seen,
He would have justly thought this body a soul,
If not of any man, yet of the whole.

Desunt Caetera

Painting courtesy Christus Rex.

Silence And Stillness

Since today is a day of silence and of rest, I'll let others speak for me. So far the others are but one, Ann Fontaine, who has a lovely essay at the Episcopal Café.

Holy Saturday brings a Sabbath from noise. We sit in the stillness of grief wondering. Where has he gone? What has happened? How can this be?

Is it a time of rest as the Holy Saturday collect from the Book of Common Prayer proclaims?

"O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Do read the essay in its entirety.

The Day Before

From Ann:

My favorite Easter poem by John Niehardt, 1908 (author of "Black Elk Speaks")

Easter

Once more the northbound Wonder
Brings back the goose and crane,
Prophetic Sons of Thunder,
Apostles of the Rain.

In many a battling river
The broken gorges boom;
Behold, the Mighty Giver
Emerges from the tomb!

Now robins chant the story
Of how the wintry sward
Is litten with the glory
Of the Angel of the Lord.

His countenance is lightning
And still His robe is snow,
As when the dawn was brightening
Two thousand years ago.

O who can be a stranger
To what has come to pass?
The Pity of the Manger
Is mighty in the grass.

Undaunted by Decembers,
The sap is faithful yet.
The giving Earth remembers,
And only (we) forget.

Thanks, Ann. I like it.

Good Friday

"Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)" - Salvador Dalí (1954)

READINGS:

AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory], 22; PM Psalm 40:1-14 (15-19), 54
Lam. 3:1-9, 19-33; 1 Pet. 1:10-20; John 13:36-38 [AM]; John 19:38-42 [PM]

PRAYER

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Did You Die For Me?

Did you die for me,
Jesus, did you?
Did God raise you for me?

Why? Why for me?
What good am I?
What use to you?

You say because you love me.
Why do you love me?
Because you are love, you say.

I must love my brother.
I must love my sister.
As you love me, so must I love.

Spirit of God,
Dove of love,
Fill my heart to overflowing.

June Butler - 3-20-08

GAYLE'S ASHES

As I said in my earlier post, Spreading Ashes, my brother-in-law, Frank, (husband to my deceased sister, Gayle) and I went to New Orleans to spread a few of her ashes in City Park, because the place had meaning for us, since we had spent time there as children and because the park was the place where Gayle and Frank met.

The picture above shows the spot in City Park where Frank spread Gayle's ashes, somewhere between the palm and the oak tree. It's a beautiful place, across the lagoon from the Peristyle. I didn't think to say a prayer, but I believe that the whole outing was a prayer, including lunch and a later visit to Audubon Park to put ashes in the lagoon there. I hope that Frank won't mind my sharing this, but they used to park and talk at Audubon Park after school - trust me, it was mostly talk, because it was often daylight. Sometimes, the police would come by and drive them away from their talk.

Altogether, Saturday was a lovely day. We felt somewhat sad, but mostly we experienced a sense of rightness about what we were doing, leaving a part of Gayle in the city that she loved to visit in places that were meaningful for her and us. Frank and their children and I all feel the ache from Gayle's absence in our lives every day, Frank and the children more than I, I'm sure. We'll never stop missing her, however, all in all, it was a good day.

Pictured below on the left is the restaurant, La Vita, where Frank and I had a delicious lunch of Italian food after the spreading of the ashes in City Park. The picture on the right shows the bar in the restaurant, made of what look to be rough, old barn boards cut to size. It's a funky thing of beauty.