Easter Morning Lament

They say that you have risen,the Son on Easter morn.Some believe that it's a given.Some believe you were never born.

I cringe when I hear your name...A profound, yet predictable cry.Annoying others who take this stand...on rocky ground up high.Unsteady at best,balanced by a cross beam;No dignity to a trick turned real.What pitiful loser so easily dismissed, be won later by appeal? What kind of jew would dare admit,anyone speak for all?Judas betrays,Peter regrets when a cock crows thrice at dawn.

Yet the Son has risen on Easter morn,when life begins at dawn.Sinners are forgiven,to sinners who die to sin.Sons will die to mothers,wishing the world would end.

Holy Thursday

I will do the second reading tonight during the Holy Thursday Service at the church I attend. I know that it will be a short reading, yet I am still a little nervous.It has been said that it is good to be a bit nervous before doing any public speaking.Although my reading is not revealling of anything and I'm not speaking extemporaneously,I still am conscious of being "evaluated".Experiences like this are hard to get over,for better or worse.

The church I attend is a small close knit community and very loving as far as I can tell.It has been that way ever since I first attended Sunday services over twenty years ago. I even got to be president of the Men's club for a year.Their have been seven different priests who have been put in the position of pastor since I first began going there. I think that the rotation of pastorship is supposed to take place every four years, but this I am not certain.No one has be expelled or asked to leave as far as I know, and the current priest is a gentle compassionate religious man from Sri Lanka. He will be the celebrant at tonight's mass.

A New Look

I am exploring new, better or at least different looks in my creative expression these days. I am not even painting rocks today as I usually do. The painting you see below was done on a piece of flexible black shelf cover. I used flourescent paint, oil pastel and color pencils to create this piece. The black material has some "tooth" to it so that the colors adhere quite nicely to the surface. These mandalas have a Mexican feel to them. Perhaps they were influenced by the art and people who live close to me, here in Calistoga. I will probably go back to painting rocks tomorrow.My blog has a new color background too... just to mix it up a bit.