Friday, April 3, 2020

The Virus





You don't want this
It could kill you
It's best to shut everything down
Stay at home where it's safer
Where they can track submission
Stabilize fear
Divide and conquer the enemy

You don't want this
You could get it touching anything
A shopping cart could have it
A bad apple or playground swing
You don't know what is or is not safe
No one knows anything for certain
That's how deadly this one is

You don't want this
Even if you don't die from it
Even if you test positive but don't suffer
Even if your symptoms go away in a few days
You can't evade your guilt once you've got it
You could have spared others more vulnerable than you
You should be more considerate and less selfish

You don't want this
There are hospitals flooded with sick people
Morgues are filled with corpses
It's a war zone out there
If you spread this virus to the elderly or vulnerable
They could surely die
The real danger is with people who think they're immune 

You don't want this
I saw a friend tweet something dangerous
It said that world health organizations and the media are lying 
It said Big Pharma and Big Tech are taking advantage of this crisis
It said our rights are being tested and possibly taken away
It said vaccines are more dangerous than getting the flu
Thousands of people are dying while idiots like them share fake news

You don't want this
It could kill you
It will kill your grandparents and their grandchildren
It will kill your neighbor with emphysema and Hashimoto's disease
To be safe, it's best to stay six feet away from them all
Love like Jesus but wash your hands like Pontius Pilate
And pray that Bill Gates runs campaigns against Trump for POTUS























Thursday, March 26, 2020

Stay in Your Cell






The dog barks; the caravan passes

We can see you breathing
It's not good
Inhale
... Pause ...
Exhale
... Pause ...
Like a dog, only with fewer rights

Stimulate each I with your pound sign and tweet
I can't protect my family with collective idiocy
Am I safer at home?
The best askesis is staying in your cell
May I please move along?
I can't without a fine or imprisonment
I'm tired of waiting

We just want you to stop
Inhaling
Exhaling
... Just pause ...
Sit
... Heal ... 
Like a dog, only with fewer rights

Silence is the canvas, not the painting













Sunday, March 22, 2020

Iota Haiku






Obey them, we must
Help save us from plague, they must
Stay inside, we must

Masks, hospitals need
Prevent cough mist contagion
Germ sweatshops, they are

Covid nineteen, bad
Fast forward to the fifth Gen
Must track pandemic

Make stats big they must
Trusting agency's reports
Truth it cannot be

Germs and viruses
Everyone with smartphone knows
Science tells us so

FCC needs more
Accelerate deployment 
Good bandwidth, no more

The gospel, they say
Stab arm to eradicate
To argue, no time

Allow them, we will
Get away with it, they will
Deserve it, we will













Saturday, March 21, 2020

Umbrella Corporation and its Crowning Influence




There are many things that we don't know and have yet to discover
How long will this pandemic last?
Every one feels the test, and most know they'll survive; it's the elderly we don't want to put in harm's way
Yet their owners added a bandwidth between 24 and 28 gigahertz regardless of the harm

A lot more information can be carried on them
Radio waves will be supplemented with millimeter waves
Enabling data to be transmitted in larger amounts and faster speeds, with shorter lagging

Low latency enables near instantaneousness communication
Yellow buses won't need drivers for long
In less than ten years we will achieve the fourth industrial revolution prophesied back in 2017
No one can stop their plans to roll out more and more big tech & big pharma
Global economic output is banking on an estimate of at least 250 billion dollars more annually by 2025

That is only five years from now, and most won't receive education about it's health risks
Once the infrastructure is up and running, we won't be able to opt out

Ushering in a new era of computer-assisted living is the goal
Smart cities will be reaching into every living cell, containing every virus




















Monday, March 2, 2020

Lenten Symbols








The true lamb ate the paschal lamb;
the symbol hastened to enter the belly of truth.

For all the types in the holy of holies
dwelt and anticipated the one who fulfills all.

And when the symbols saw the true lamb,
they tore the curtain and stepped out to meet him.




Ephrem the Syrian
Hymn 6, verses 9-11

[Translated by J. Edward Walters. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2012]









Sunday, March 1, 2020

No one enjoys you





The last time was when she died
A piece of me died with her
And the life I now live is
by loyalty to the one who raised her

You miserable and rotten soil
Nothing blossoms in you
Nothing grows in your darkness
Shitting and pissing on it is fit for graveyards, not gardens

This is what you expect us to work with
Instead of tending your garden
Miasmas of despair rise out of your pettiness
Your refuse and dick outpourings dug up and dumped from buckets onto our laps

Where is the encouragement and joy?
Where is the love and understanding?
Where is the gratitude or compassion?
Where is your sincere interest in others and their gifts?

You're just fucking rude
You're suspiciously insecure, too
No one here enjoys you, and you sure don't seem to enjoy us either
No one sees you look into their eyes, unless you're being crotchety to their faces
You're aloof to everything we need
You're just not a pleasant person

Why are you immensely tolerant of that eponymous fluffy canine's negative approval rating?
Why are you immensely patient with the maintenance man's guesstimates and deafness?
Why are you immensely disinterested and uninvolved in our concerns, opinions, and advice?
Why do you disregard our voices yet expect us to memorize every mumbled, haughty breath released through your trachea?

Here we are again, praying for miracles
from the God of heaven and earth
skies and land, above and below
to have this puny little rod of yours bud

Let my prayer rise like incense before you
And the lif.... "STOP!"
What? Why?
"If you would just shut up and stop asking questions, I'll explain why."

Here I am again
Another piece of me has died
and you don't seem to care
Please interrupt me again so I can send you to her















Saturday, February 29, 2020

Chiasmic Supplications





Last week a friend of mine, who converted from Christianity (Lutheran) to Islam, asked me directly if I pray to Mary. I looked him straight in the eye and said "Yes, absolutely." He looked shocked by the content of my answer, yet somewhat refreshed by my clear and concise confidence in the appropriateness of such supplications.  He knew that my answer to his question was sincere and thoughtful. I didn't mince words. But I also was not interested in explaining what I meant by what I said, any more than he was interested in explaining what he meant by what he asked. He asked a simple question and I offered a simple answer. 

Praying to Mary means a lot of things to lots of different people. To me, it means something very specific, and very practical, because I believe Mary has been raised from death to eternal life, bodily. Mary may be an idol to one person, a imaginary goddess to another, or a celestial vending machine of favors to someone else. But she is not any of those to me. Moreover, I do not obsess over her willingness or ability to intercede for me. Nevertheless, awareness of her intercessions has become profoundly sensible to me. 

Her existence as both fully alive and fully human this very moment, I am persuaded that her eternal share in the Divine Life with our risen Lord changes everything. Being one whose continuous free will and faithful fiat provided for the definitive salvation of mankind, to be raised up to God for eternity, to rule and reign and intercede with God, it is not difficult to wonder at the great change God has brought to the world through her intercessions. (I also consider the many great Christians whom I know have been raised with Christ; but those are not the point of this post, so I will only focus on Mary for now.) Those who do not meditate on the reality of Mary, her virgin birth, her motherhood of one who now remains both fully human and God for eternity, her death, resurrection, and ascension, often do not appreciate prayers to Mary. Many cannot even imagine what prayer to Mary could or should look like, any more than they can imagine what death, resurrection, and ascension to eternal life really looks like right now. There are far too many cartoonish, futuristic, eschatological imaginations of intermediate existence interfering with interpretations of Holy Scriptures and their surrounding histories.

In this post, I want to sample one illustration from the life and liturgy of the Byzantine Church, to challenge contemporary cartoonish fears about prayers to the saints who are ruling and reigning with God. Below is a poem of Theodore the Studite, translated by Maximos Constas, and found in Mother of the Light: Prayers to the Theotokos. In this translation, three things are worthy of notice:

1) There are three people with free will who are invested in this sinner's prayer, and those who are raised with Christ have also become aids to those who are not yet raised, and are still working out their salvation with fear and trembling.

2) The pattern of prayer is one of ascent and return: the child of God petitions Mary, who in turn Petitions her Son, Who in turn advises and delegates to his mother, who in turn advises and directs the child of God. The pattern of each ode is also laid out as a chiasm: A, B, B', A' 

3) The salvation of the sinner depends upon the participation of the Theotokos in the life of God. Without Jesus's ascension to the right hand of the Father, Mary can do nothing. Jesus could theoretically do all without Mary, but He chooses not to, because he has raised up his mother to his side, to rule and reign with him among the Divine Council.2 The sinner could go directly to Jesus, and even should go directly to Jesus. But the mortal sinner of this poem is also free to express his faith in a Savior who has been raised up from the dead-ones in Hades, and has also raised up fallen Adam all the righteous saints with him, who were formerly held captive in Hades. He is therefore free to petition the risen, glorified saints --like Mary-- to intercede with Jesus that He grant this sinner great mercy. This is what I imagine occurs when supplications and petitions of the like (for mercy, forgiveness, favor, etc.) are offered to God and received through the intercessions of those whom He has already raised from the dead. 

Below is a poem expressing the possibilities surrounding such truths. My purpose in sharing this is simple: I hope this helps others recognize that prayer to (or with) Mary, the "God-Birther" (i.e. Theotokos), are not how Protestants imagine them to be. Protestants still might not be comfortable with this, but I am still confident that not many of them imagine prayer to (or with) Mary to be like the poem below. 





First Ode

O Container of the Uncontainable, entreat Christ to deliver me from the dreaded fire devoid of light, and show me forth as a sharer of His kingdom. 

Receive my entreaty, O Son and Word, and deliver from punishment your servant, who is crying out to me from the depth of his soul, and make him worthy of your kingdom. 

You, Mother, know that I am a font of mercies, for even at this very moment I am showing mercy to sinners who transgress my commandments. But this man severely provokes me by his shameful and evil deeds. 

By many disgraceful and shameful misdeeds you have provoked my Son. Thus, being greatly vexed by you, His compassion has been turned to wrath. 


Third Ode1

Truly I have squandered my whole life in evil deeds, and therefore I cry out to you: O pure Virgin, entreat your Son to call me back from sin and save me, just as He called back and saved the prodigal.

O Lord of all, who was ineffably born from my womb, take pity on your servant as on the prodigal long ago, and place him, O All-Good One, at your right hand on the Day of Judgment.

Hear me, O Mother, as I discerningly respond to you. The one who long ago spent his life in prodigality, returned in ardent repentance and cried: "I have sinned." But this man, even though he now cries out to you like this, will subsequently prove to be a liar. 

I told my Son the things you said, entreating Him to make you worthy of His kingdom. But He opposed me saying: He has not drawn near to me with ardent faith, and therefore I shall send him out from before my face."


Fourth Ode

Understanding your strength, O Virgin, I cry out to you in my hour of need, even if my repentance is not completely ardent. But by your supplications to the Master, grant me the complete amendment of my life. 

O Master, who by nature is God that loves mankind, hearken to your Mother who earnestly cries out to you, and deliver your servant from condemnation. And if he does not possess perfect faith, I beg you, as God, to give it to him. 

O Mother, I have given him every opportunity to be saved, but he does not cease sinning and now draws near to death. And this is why no man can be saved unless he passes through the fire. 

I now know you to be, as my Son said, the cause of your own perdition, because you have completely surrendered to sin, and have entirely given yourself over to slothfulness. Who shall now raise you from the place to which you have fallen?


Fifth Ode

O Virgin, I long to walk always on the path of repentance leading me to eternal life, but immediately the grim ranks of demons drag me down and seek to cast me headlong into an abyss of sin, and into the harrowing pit of perdition. 

O Savior, you first put death to death, and then freed Adam from his bonds. Therefore, I implore you, my Son: pluck this man from the hands of the demons who afflict him, because they have never let him repent. 

O Mother who is praised by all, I too cry aloud to you: It is by prayer and fasting that the multitude of wicked demons will be driven out of him. But he has not cleansed his body by abstinence, prayer, and chastity, and thus, alas, has become a cave of devils. 

Listen well to the words of my Son, and understand what needs to be done. When the disciples had not the strength to drive out the evil spirits, He cried to them saying: "This kind of devil is driven out by prayer and fasting."


Sixth Ode

I am not rich with words, and am poor in virtues. I love neither to pray nor undertake fasts, O Bride of God. Therefore I seek refuge in you. 

Attend to me, my compassionate Son, for it is your Mother who implores you. The man running to me is devoid of good works and cries out to me: "I have no other hope but you, O Lady."

O Mother, who pleads so ardently, cease speaking on behalf of this man! For while he says that I am compassionate, he continues to defile himself, failing to see my wrath. 

On your behalf, I entreated my Son and God that you might obtain mercy. But he cried out to me to cease interceding for you to be saved. 


Seventh Ode

All my hope I place in you, O Lady, cast me not, the wretched one, into the pit of perdition. But return to your Son and cry out to Him: "Do not destroy the work of your hands."

O Master, since you are a sea of mercies without measure, I implore you to receive me yet again, for you alone are quick to reconcile, and so take pity on the work of your hands, O You who of old took pity on the woman of Canaan. 

I show mercy and save everyone who comes to me filled with longing, and I never want any of my creations to be destroyed. Indeed I was born from you in order to save them. But this man is very far from my works. 

My Son, eternal pre-existing as the Wisdom of the Most High God, became perfect man through me, in order to save those who, with ardent faith, preserve their divine baptism. But in this you have utterly failed. 


Eighth Ode

Taking courage I approach you, O Virgin, for I have seen your Son saving the harlot and the thief. They had done no good works under the law, and performed no good deeds in life, yet they both obtained forgiveness. 

Look down from the heights and hearken to your Mother, for I entreat you to deliver your servant from the fire, just as you formerly delivered the harlot, and on your Cross redeemed the thief. 

The thief who long ago hung upon the Cross cried out in faith: "Remember me." And, again, the harlot poured forth streams of tears. But this man is not like them. 

Christ saved the weeping harlot, likewise the thief on the Cross, who showed faith in Him. If you desire to attain the Bread of Life, then run to the Lord with tears and faith. 


Ninth Ode

O Maiden, I have shown myself a greater sinner than all other men, therefore I am ashamed to approach your Son. But I beg you to implore Him to take pity on me, and to receive me drawing near to Him with ardent faith and longing.

O Word, deliver your servant, who draws near to you, from punishment. I implore you: Remember not his transgressions. For though he sinned, O Savior, he turned to me for refuge and I entreat you. Through me receive this man, for you fulfill the petitions of all. 

O Mother, he is not worthy to take refuge in your mercy, for no man has provoked my wrath as much as he. But by your precious prayers, I will not punish him on the Day of Judgment if he brings me fruits of repentance. 

Though you were in the depth of Hades, through my prayer and intercessions you have been raised up to the heights to my Son. See that you do not fall back into your former grievous sins. Depart, and stay on the path of repentance, lest you be cast down into gehenna. 













1. There is no second ode in this canon.
2. For those interested in learning more about the Biblical view of the Divine Council, see this post