March Madness

Jeez, I'm having the worst time trying to keep up with posting on this blog. Time goes really fast, sure, but I feel like a total slacker. Especially since there is so much cool stuff to keep up with.

You may be thinking that I sound like someone who has left a mountain filled with snowboarders. And, in fact, I have. Not to mention loving the Shaun White post-performance interviews during the Olympics. And the girls with their ipods. And the USA Olympic outfits (uniforms). It was kind of a "golden retriever" Olympics -at least for the X-Games events. Out of control, smiling all the way. AWESOME!!

While we were skiing Beaver Creek, there were fun signs pointing to the ski runs. "Maverick," that way. Then below, an arrow pointing the same way: "Unbranded horse or cow, or one who develops an independent viewpoint..." Clever.

March also brings the Oscars, and this year Jeff and I went to a Julia Child themed party...yep, beef bourguignon, crepes, truffles, French wine...mmm, thanks John (and helpers). I think everyone else came for the repast rather than the awards, but Jeff and I sat on the couch and cheered when our pick for non-animated short won. Ya gotta be a fan.

Colin and Stephanie have birthdays this month, too, and are busy celebrating together in Philly this weekend. The completely miraculous thing about children is that all you have to do is think about them and your heart just swells. From the first moment on. Every time.

But really, the thought that got me going today was March Madness. I am not a basketball fan. In solidarity with Jeff, I try to stay in the room and can perk up when multiple games are all in their last two minutes at the same time and upsets are looming and Jeff is coming out of his chair shouting, but I'm not swept up in the bracket-mania, and I'm sitting here today at home wondering if I'M THE ONLY ONE WORKING TODAY??? Seriously, meetings canceled, email responses not forthcoming, it's like a cloud of corporate silence has descended.

I finally gave up to write this post. Although I doubt anyone will read it until April.

Contradictions?

"There are so many contradictions in all these messages we send. We keep asking, 'how do I get out of here?" 'where do I fit in?'" The Eagles

I heard an NPR story on the way home today where FreshAir was interviewing the author of the book "Jesus, Interrupted" (NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK). This book is about why the author turned from Christian to agnostic - which is fine - but the reasoning for his decision made me shake my head a bit. He found contradictions in the Bible, and specifically in the gospels, and thinks it ruins the truth of one gospel over the other when people combine them and produce contradictions like "Jesus died so our sins could be absolved" vs. "Jesus was wrongly convicted and when people understood that it made them want to change their sinning ways." The two can't co-exist in his mind.

Also disturbing to me, since I'm not a practicing Christian (although it doesn't stop me from commenting, does it!) was his complaint that the idea of the afterlife (heaven and hell in the Christian tradition, but conceived differently in other traditions) didn't really originate in the Word of God as written in the Bible, but actually arose in EARLIER PRE-CHRISTIAN cultures. Hello? There was literally no acknowledgment that religious cultures across the globe and from time immemorial have developed the same concepts, the same stories, the same ways of making sense of the world. Different labels, different spins, but the identical concepts. Coincidence? Part of the human condition? Cultural/genetic memory? Whatever the reason, I feel confident that these beliefs are not the purview of, nor originated by Christians.

But I'm losing my point. My point is about contradictions. Maybe it's because I'm a Libra, but one of the central tenets of my own belief system is that there is very rarely an either-or when it comes to ideology or everyday philosophy. Yin and yang are opposites but exist in the same orb. It is perfectly feasible for the two gospel accounts above to represent different lenses into the same truth. The synthesis of apparent opposites into a more perfect holistic vision of a truth is something I look for, strive for, and accept. The out-of-balance that occurs when polar opposites are insisted upon and staunchly defended is what offends me. Make room for the contradictions. Incorporate them. Make them into a whole. It's amazing how rich, nuanced, and exciting the world will become.

Locked out

I'm locked out of Facebook, due to a random set of corporate blockades. I've been traveling for weeks, and haven't been able to update or respond, except sporadically. And now I am home, after a none-too-pleasant drive from the airport, in pouring thunderstorms. Not a good thing for someone as night-blind as I am. But I was going to catch up, damn it. And suddenly the LDAP server does not like my configuration. Whatever. My email is on the fritz, as well, with every single blessed email be it received or sent providing the helpful message that the database can't be read, with subsequent consequences that I won't bore you with.

A bit of irony, that, since one observation I was going to make had to do with social media behind the firewall. I'm supposed to have access, since it's MY JOB, but no. This trip also featured lack of access to emails on my smart phone, so I've been in the dark, reading posts in response to my non-attributed quote this morning: "Everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne, and one by which it cannot." Friends have been bantying that about all day, and I can't even chime in! The rest of the quote follows: "If your brother sins against you, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne." I would have contributed to the conversation, but probably since I didn't, it went just fine anyway.

This rather lengthy post will find its way to you asynchronously whenever I get my access back on line. In the meantime, whatever you're wishing, may it be yours.