Desert Snow

Writing about the desert brings to mind  a trip I made from Lubbock, TX to Phoenix, AZ in December 2004.  There was a slight winter storm, so snow covered the desert. 

I remember year after year of magical snows in New England: the snow, especially powdery snow, made the world look like a crystal kingdom.  It coated everything and sparkled in the sunlight. At night, in the moon light it still sparkled.

This trip into the desert was also magical. The snow was a fine accent on the geological and plant features along the way. It sparkled and highlighted the outlines with a sharp contrast to the features.  It was awesomely beautiful.

Years ago, when I still lived in New England, I read a story about a family who were spending Christmas in the desert. They missed the snow and cold, but found a tumbleweed tree, and decorated it, and shared their Christmas spirit with other folks in the campgrounds.  When I drove through this winter storm in the desert, it reminded me of that story and its message about relationships and human connections. It swelled my heart, and as I re-tell this tonight, it swells my heart again.

The desert is not devoid of life and human connection.  We just have to open our minds, our eyese and our hearts to know what is there.

Monday Holidays and President's Day

Quite some time ago, I do not remember when, Federal holidays were homogenized into Monday Holidays, instead of the actual day... Not always, but mostly:  For example, instead of a holiday on February 12 for Lincoln, and another on February 22 for Washington, we have President's day on the third Monday of February. 

Martin Luther King Day is the 3rd Monday of January.  Memorial Day is the last Monday of May. Many places do not celebrate Columbus Day, but those that do tend to celebrate the second Monday in October.

Of course, Thanksgiving is still the 4th Thursday in November.  Labor Day is the first Monday in September.

Days that retain their date include the 4th of July, Christmas and New Years. Even so, many entities wrap these holidays with extra days off to give long weekends. 

Christmas Movies

I stumbled upon It's a Wonderful Life http://www.filmsite.org/itsa.html when I was freshman at college.  I tried to watch it every year I could, until the year it was on non-stop for at least 24 hours.  I did watch it, but I kind of got tired of it...

I love Dicken's A Christmas Carol. I am not sure which version I like, but I will watch it hopefully at least once during the Christmas season.  I frequently also read the book, often in one night, Christmas Eve, or thereabouts. http://www.stormfax.com/dickens.htm

I was a late comer to the movie A Christmas Story. It is wonderful, hilarious, has so many great moments and is just fun.. Did you know that the house where the movie was filmed in Cleveland has been restored and is open as a museum? http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/.

There is White Christmas http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1931648512/tt0047673 from Irving Berlin, and which this year, is having it's own 24 hour marathon.  But wait, the song I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas was actually introduced in another Irving Berlin movie, also starring Bing Crosby, called Holiday Inn http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034862/.

Not a movie about Christmas, but set in the season is a favorite movie of mine: Desk Set. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050307/ One of the main characters, Bunny Watson is played by Katharine Hepburn, and is a reference librarian. I have always identified with her character since the first time I saw the movie.  And, my director long ago identified me with that character, also...

Last year, at Christmas time, the Hallmark TV channel http://hallmarkchannel.com/ had several movies about life, family, love, and careers that were set during the holiday season.. They were schmaltzy but good. just the same.

I am sure that there are other Christmas classics out there.  Would you care to share your favorites with me?

I Really Like My Job

I was really looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday, which provided me with 4 days off from work.  I did not have extensive or extravagant plans, but did want to attend some Lady Raider basketball games, read, and listen to some old music...

So, Thursday and Friday, I slept in.  By Saturday, I was ready to get up early, as I would for work, and Sunday was the same.  That was okay.  It was  just good to have days in which I could relish the relaxing pace and calm, peaceful activities in which I engaged.   That was great.   I commented previously on the benefit of a vacation weekend I took, in "The Vacation Lingers."  Sometimes, the relaxed pace and pleasurable activities really help to make a long weekend a pleasant one.

So, Monday morning, it was time to return to work.  I really like my job:  I am payed reasonably well, I am well respected by my colleagues, and I am able to help the patients on my caseload.  This is a winning combination.

But, this morning, I would have appreciated more time off...I am really excited that I will have more time off at Christmas:  December 24, 2010 and return to work January 3, 2011

Redemption

First, let me start by saying that I love words. So, it is only fitting that this blog was conceived as a result of one of the many word games I play regularly, daily if not more often. The game this time is Rootonym, which I access at the AARP website (Games and Puzzles) This game provided the definition as a clue:

Deliverence from sin or atonement for guilt; rescue; act of buying or paying off.

And the answer, of course, was redemption.

What prompted this posting is what struck me about redemption. We frequently hear about religious redemption, deliverence from sin or atonement for guilt. At the Christmas time of the year, we hear about the coming of Christ who was sent to redeem us from our sins, and did so through the sacrifice of his own life. Is that the price he paid, or the price we paid?

As a Christian, I was taught the God sent his Son to "redeem the world." Did his Son want to come? Did his Son ask to come? Did his Son have any forshadowing of the physical pain and suffering to which he would be subjected? Did his Son have any idea the price he would pay would be torture and death? Did his Son know that that was the price of redemption?

If we are true believers of Christ, do we live our lives as if we have an appreciation for the sacrifice this one man made on our behalf. To we appreciate and express gratitude for the payment he made on our behalf...

I looked up the definition of Christ in Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, and in addtion to Messiah and Jesus, there was the definition:

"an ideal type of humanity."

The "deal" that the Son of God made for us was his physical life after being tortured in exchange for our living "an ideal type of humanity." How many of us keep up our end of the deal. (I started to use the word "bargain," but for Jesus the man, this was no bargain, as we typically use the word today. However, Merriam Webster Online would say it might be, by their definition:

"an agreement between parties settling what each gives or receives in a transaction between them or what course of action or policy each pursues in respect to the other.")

When Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ" came out, I heard my supervisor comment that she was not sure she wanted to see the movie, because it would make her feel guiltier than she already does. My supervisor is a deeply thoughtful (as in caring and kind as well as introspective) woman who lives her Christianity as well as anyone and better than many. Her comment made me think about so many of us so called Christians who do not repent and atone for our sins, or who do not grieve at having been the source of torture and death of Jesus, the man and the Son of God. Catholicism, at the very least, if not the other Christian religions, teaches us WE are responsible for that torture and death as if we were the Roman soldiers wielding the instrutments of pain. Cahtolicism is a guilt based religion, but the guilt should not be to be punished because we are bad, but to acknowledge our part in the pain and suffering of others and change our behavior to diminsh the pain and suffering.

So, the price we pay for redemption is to acknowledge the pain and suffering of Christ, accept our guilt, and live our lives with that ideal type of humanity to minimize the pain and suffering of others. But, do we pay this price?

It gets confusing: Catholicism allowed penitents to buy "indulgences" for our sins, sort of a predeath investment to help us atone for our sins when we die. Indulgences: back to Merriam Webster Online:

"remission of part or all of the temporal and especially purgatorial punishment that according to Roman Catholicism is due for sins whose eternal punishment has been remitted and whose guilt has been pardoned (as through the sacrament of reconciliation)."

People could actually buy "indulgences" with money, although I doubt that was the original intention for how indulgences were supposed to work: Redemption.

I know, this is confabulated. So we have an indulgent God, one who gives us free rein (free will?) or to treats with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration (again, Merriam Webster Online) but one who exacts the supreme sacrifice from his Son. Mmmmm. Not very indulgent, there, was He?

In my world, I do not hear the word "redemption" much unless it is in a religious context. Yet, when I think of redeeming something, Green Stamps come to mind. For the younger members of the audience, a rewards system involving stamps, not a credit account. You see, rewards with purchase is not a new concept. But, for many people, it felt like and still feels like "getting something for nothing" which is not true, because the rewards concepts are based on a promotional gimmick to get you to use one product in preference to another. Advertising. And, someone pays for the advertising, namely, ultimately, the consumer.

So, what does this have to do with Redemption. Well, I think it interesting that at this time of year, that word came up in a word game. Because this is one of the times of year that the Redemption of Sinners through the actions of Christ is greatly broadcast. "The Reason for the Season."

If you are paying attention, you know where I am going. Because a large part of the emphasis on this season is the commercialism of Christmas: the reports of how much consumers are spending, the advertising, the discounts, the shopping days, the extended shopping hours. I get caught up in it, as do most of us on some level.

So, we use Christmas as a time of Redemption (rewards with purchase, buying indulgences?): Maybe not for our souls but for ourselves. We give gifts as acts of love and kindness and thoughtfulness, but are we trying to redeem ourselves in God's eyes? Or in the eyes of the recipients for our shortcomings past and future? Do we truly give gifts as acts of caring and expressions of love? Do we give gifts because we should? Feel obligated to? Are we buying off relationships? Or truly expressing our feelings for others?

Honestly, I do some of both. Crass as I am, I do it.. It is part of the politics of being in a world with people and complying with certain expected social behaviors. I want to redeem myself with others as well as redeem my soul. I think this is not all bad: I know I am not perfect, and this gives me a "face saving" way to acknowledge that... And, complying with expected social behaviors helps to keep the world functioning smoothly. And heaven forbid, I upset the balance of the world anymore than I already do.

But, there is a great deal of public recognition for "The Reason for the Season" that comes out of this. So, maybe even the commercialism has some redemptive value.

So, Redemption in its many aspects is a key word at this time of year. Maybe we can practice at focussing on the more spritual aspects of redemption and less on the economic aspects. Because practice implies repetitive actions until we get it right. So, we have another year to practice..

Second, let me say this is why I do not blog. It takes me too long to say what I want to say.

Christmas is about spiritual redemption, not buying or paying off something or someone.