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Commentary on Religion, Commentary on the news, Faith and Spirituality, Great Work, Humanities, Politics

Walking Toward the Bomb

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Spring                                                           Waning Bloodroot Moon

Last night, in conversation with Bill Schmidt, cybermage and nuclear engineer, the Sheepshead group turned to Fukushima.  Bill built an identical plant on the west side of Honshu, across the sea of Japan from Korea.  That lead the conversation to Hiroshima and Dick Rice’s story of a Jesuit who picked up a medical bag and walked into ground zero after the blast to help the injured.  Since then, Dick said, all Jesuits have “walked toward the bomb.”  May all of us do the same.

p.s.  Bill sent me a note about Father Arrupe, S.J.– He was the man referred to above and a former Superior General of the Jesuit order.

(Visitors walk toward the Atomic Bomb Dome, at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. Hiroshima will mark the 65th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack on Aug. 6. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama))

Not joining protests of the policies that will soon affect poor Minnesotans disproportionately, gives me a sense of not walking toward the bomb,  sitting on the sidelines as our state turns its back on those most vulnerable.  Four years ago I chose to throw my political effort behind the Great Work, moving humanity to a benign relationship with the earth.  I’ve done this because the Great Work, to me, weighs in on the side of our species as a species, conserving a safe place for us in a cold universe.  This is a very long range perspective, the seventh generation view of the Iroquois, and it comes with some pain.   I’m glad others are there to carry the fight to the capitol about health care and human services cuts.

Gotta get ready for the Institute.

Art and Culture, Bees

A Full Artemis Moon

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Lughnasa                                       Full Artemis Moon

This morning I took a group of 15 Jesuits-to-be through the Matteo Ricci map exhibit.  They were a bright and curious group, joining the same order that deployed Ricci to China 330+ years ago.   The Jesuits were only a generation old at that point.  They were the most attentive group I took through, because, I imagine, they felt some personal stake, no matter how tenuous.  The Chinese Heritage Foundation displayed equal interest, but soon began exploring the map for themselves, reading the calligraphy.  This was an interesting exhibit and improved my knowledge of the Ming dynasty and the Jesuit order.

When I rolled those plastic trash bins out to the roadside tonight, the full Artemis moon had risen.  Full moons hang over the far eastern end of our street and it was beautiful, golden.  The air was cool, the sky a deep blue and this gold charm floated just above the trees.

Three boxes full of honey extracting equipment came just before I left for the city this morning.  Kate and I plan to open tomorrow morning, see what’s in them.  Two more boxes are on their way from another Dadant plant.  This means we’ll get the equipment set up before our date for extraction–August 30th.  Good thing.  All this equipment and it’s only used once a year for a brief time, but in that brief time it captures the results of a year’s worth of collaborative labor between beekeeper and bees.  Worth it.

Art and Culture, Commentary on Religion, Faith and Spirituality, Friends, Humanities

Worlds Opening Up

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Imbolc                                     Waning Wild Moon

On the way into St. Paul tonight I listened to lectures on Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism.  These were especially relevant and resonant for me since Latin is the native language of many who took them up, though their roots were in Greece.  They got me excited about reading Cicero and Polybius, maybe Marcus Aurelius in the original.  It was a fun intersection current learnings.

Of course, in St. Paul, I play sheepshead with a group who have had varying relations with a Latinate institution, the Roman Catholic Church.  Mostly Jesuits, or ex-Jesuits rather, they have lived inside an institution directly influenced by the Latin language and Roman political culture.

The  card gods smiled on me tonight, sending me several wonderful hands.  This does not always happen so it’s fun to play them when they come.