ADVENT

Happy New Year.  At least for the church, this is the beginning of a new church year which begins with the season of Advent.  The season of Advent is now here and for organists, choir directors and pastors in liturgical churches, there will be one common complaint: "Why can't we sing Christmas Carols?"

For many Christians unfamiliar with the liturgical year, there are several misunderstandings about the meaning of the Advent season.  Some people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is actually incorrect.

During this season of preparation, the original intention was that Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for the coming of Christ.  But the “coming” that the 6th century Roman Christians tied to Advent and had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world as told in the book of Apocalypse or Revelation.  Originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas. 

In those days before electricity, the communal purpose for this season of fasting was to ensure that the winter storage of food would last the rest of the winter so, this forty day period of fasting would help stretch out what was stored in root cellars and pantries.  That is also the origins of the famed fruitcake.  All the food which began to show signs of early spoiling would be baked into a cake helping to preserve it a little longer.  Fat Tuesday right before the season of Lent, BTW, originated from the problem of food spoiling because of the spring thaw so, communities held a feast to dispense with all the food that was beginning to thaw and go bad. 

By the 6th century, Roman Christians tied Advent to the coming of Christ and it was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was erroneously linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.

Likewise, the Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, as told in the song, "12 Days of Christmas."  This is distressing to people in liturgical churches around the world where they don't sing Christmas Carols until Xmas Eve (the "X" is Greek for "Chi" or Christ) because the carols are already playing on the radio and in the malls.  The first day of Christmas is actually December 25th.  The Christmas season and the 12 Days song, ends on January 6 which is the date (approximately two years later) that the three astrologers (Wisemen or Kings) were sent out by King Herod whose only intention for sending out the "Three Kings" was to find and kill Jesus.  That is why two of the "gifts" they brought were frankincense and myrrh.  Those spices were used for death rituals and embalming which was also intended to help mask the stench of Jesus' decomposition during the long journey back to Herod.

When Herod heard that the three astrologers had failed him in killing Jesus, Herod then ordered the death of all two year old boys in an attempt to kill Jesus in a mass purge.  The church remembers their "sacrifice" and calls it the "Feast of the Holy Innocents."  It is written that 14,000 or 144,000 boys were murdered.  In reality, the town of Bethlehem was quite small (as noted in the Carol) and some experts agree that only 14 boys were murdered while Jesus and his family secretly escaped.

Somehow this rich history of struggle, survival, longing, hope, preparation, deceit and metanoia, has been usurped by the saccharine, warm, fuzzy holiday and season we celebrate today.   What happened?  Oh, $$$$$$.  Some people will be upset with this blog posting because they have emotionally and poignantly tied this season to their own feelings, family traditions and memories.  That is not the original intention of the season but salvation is.

The church originally believed that Christ was coming but not to be born, but to judge you and the truth in your heart.  Are you ready?  I am, I got him a toaster.

The Steaming Plotterkill Preserve November 24

Marijuana; Pros and Cons

Wow, a step in the right direction.  Voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. approved marijuana legalization.  Let's see where it goes from there.

First of all, all our laws against the smoking of pot are a waste of taxpayer resources because the law focuses on a drug that, at worst, only hurts its user.  It is a waste of resources to take people with this one habit, remove them from support systems, their family, and the possibility of rehab, and send them to jail or prison (aka, criminal conditioning and crime school).  By making this drug illegal makes society less safe as it drives the inevitable market underground outside of regulation where dealing it becomes dangerous and promotes criminal enterprises such as gangs, terrorism and people who will stop at nothing to protect their crop.

I support the legalization of marijuana because I know several responsible professionals who secretly smoke recreationally just fine. There are countless professionals and politicians who use it but stay in the closet due to the irrational stigma, and thus the stigma persists as it is associated only with criminals and people with severe and debilitating addiction issues not at all related to marijuana. 

Marijuana should absolutely be made available to people with medical conditions.  I know someone who is severely disabled with a back injury and all his doctor can do is prescribe copious amounts of addictive pain killers with horrible side effects for him.  Many, such as morphine, make him ill and knock him out for hours.  Marijuana, however, allows him to get up, walk around while functioning almost pain free for a couple of hours at a time.  Should he be arrested?

My sister, who died of brain cancer, she refused morphine during her final few months and instead opted for the illegal and criminal use of marijuana for both pain management and to facilitate healthy eating.  Although she never partook in drugs ever before in her life prior to developing cancer, she said "So what if I become addicted to it.  So what if it will give me cancer.  So what if it kills my brain cells.  So what if it decreases my sex drive.  So what if it makes me a sex offender.  At least I can fully and actively spend my last few months on this earth with my family and not vegetated in a morphine induced coma."

Marijuana was first made illegal in the thirties when a man named Harry Anslinger was put in charge of alcohol prohibition.  When the government realized that they were loosing millions in tax revenue and prohibition only created crime (like the marijuana laws do today), they repealed the prohibition.  What they didn't realize is that poor people who couldn't afford the illegal alcohol turned to marijuana as a substitute and discovered that not only was it inexpensive and they could grow their own, but it promoted appetite for the sick, worked much better than prescription drugs for pain relief, and it was a cure for addiction to prescription drugs and was a cure for alcohol addiction.  Not only that but when a person with alcoholism tendencies came home and partook in smoking weed instead of the bottle, he didn't beat his wife and kids, he didn't blow his paycheck, he didn't crash his car, he didn't throw up all over the place, and he didn't get a hang over the next day.  Marijuana was a God-send to those suffering from alcoholism. 

Anslinger teamed up with the generou$ Hearst Corporation, who owned hundreds of newspapers, which were printed on paper made from trees, whose pulp  suppliers were farming marijuana instead of lumber; and he teamed up with the pharmaceutical companies who were seeing a decrease in prescription sales, and the breweries who were seeing a decrease in alcohol sales.  Something had to be done.  So they made marijuana illegal.

Harry Anslinger made up so many lies and exaggerated so many stories about the herb that every time he retold his stories, they became more phantasmagorical.  Anywhere he could connect marijuana to a crime, he would cherry pick the data with rabid and foaming at the mouth discourse and exaggeration.

Since racism was rampant and acceptable back then, he would often use race as a scare tactic.  Harry once wrote:  "Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers. Their satanic music is driven by marijuana, and marijuana smoking by white women makes them want to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others. It is a drug that causes insanity, criminality, and death — the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."  "Marijuana and sex, result: Syphilis and pregnancy."

If there was a crime and the smoking of marijuana could somehow be connected to that person in any capacity, he would blame the crime on the marijuana.  Even though music greats such as Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker both died after years of heroin and alcohol abuse, Anslinger blamed their deaths on marijuana.

This mentality still exists today.  In 1986 Reagan Drug Czar Carlton Turner ridiculously claimed that Marijuana leads to homosexuality and ultimately to AIDS.  Given his logic then, so does alcohol.  Why isn't that illegal?  Answer:  $$$$$$ on both fronts.

LaGuardia commissioned a report, called "The LaGuardia Report" which debunked most of the myths about marijuana but the government refused and still refuses to listen to facts.  Alcohol kills tens of thousands every year in car accidents and hundreds of thousands more due to other health complications related to alcoholism.  The Center for Disease Control doesn't even have a category for marijuana because, well, no one ever died from it. 

So, my predominate disgruntlement about this herb being illegal is because we were sold a bill of lies and deceit by the government which in turn destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives, many more collateral lives and cost us billions.  If alcohol was illegal and marijuana was legal, this country would be in a much better estate.

Now, for my cons.  I am a church organist and I know a lot of people who recreationally smoke pot, and that includes a smattering of Roman Catholic priests.  People who smoke pot are quick to say that it augments  and amplifies an experience.  I'm not a smoker so I can't confirm this.  However, I can talk about my experience with other smokers.

I once went on a hike with a few people who took a few hits while out on the trail.  As we walked down a path, one of them commented on the beautiful and glistening foliage on the trees.  It was winter and I told them that there were no leaves on the trees.  She said that the way the sunlight was glistening on the branches, it was as if there were leaves on the trees. 

Further down the trail we walked past a lake and I noticed my companions were "focused" on the trail straight ahead.  When I pointed out the lake to their left, they were amazed that it was there and commented how gorgeous it was and waxed exuberantly about the way the sun glistened off the water and how gorgeous it was.   On our return trip, I told them that we were going to pass by the beach on the lake and one of them asked "What beach?"  It was the one we walked across to get to the trail.  Somehow, their senses were so augmented and amplified, they missed was was in front of them.

My point is, maybe marijuana does augment and amplify the experience but, only in the users' head.  Not in reality.  Likewise, food apparently tastes better while high.  In reality, the flavor of the food doesn't change, only the the smoker's perception of it.  Are the senses heightened?  I don't know.

Here is a link to a Family Guy Episode from season four called "Deep Throats."  In this episode, Lois and Peter resurrect their hippie days as folk singers and they enter a talent contest because, well, they are really good.  Watch the end to see how good they really are. 

The Choices of Brittany

I was so happy to read that Brittany Maynard has chosen to live a little longer.  Brittany has terminal brain cancer and decided to engage in either physician assisted suicide or some other right to die method of her choosing.  She has recently chosen to put off her scheduled departure. 

She is an inspiration to both those who wish to have the right to die on their own terms and also to those such as my mother and sister who fought against death to the very last breath.

My mother fought a very long battle with COPD and was not afraid to die.  At the very end, she fought very hard to stay alive.  Her last three weeks of life were spent in a morphine induced coma and I slept on the floor beside her bed every night and taking care of her every day.  As painful as the whole experience was, I would do it all over again.  The whole experience was a blessing that only those of us who have given our lives to a loved one could understand.

My sister died from brain cancer which had originally metastasized from breast cancer.  She too wasn't afraid of death but fought to the very end to live.  She decided not to take morphine for her pain management and opted for other herbal methods (we need to vote in politicians who understand this).  Despite being bed ridden, my sister insisted upon going on a camping trip and the family carried her and her bed out to a campsite near a lake and a few days later, that is where she died, peacefully watching a sunrise. 

Both experiences have taught me two lessons which can be summed up in these two quotes by Henri Nouwen:

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.”

"Blessed are those who suffer.  Not because suffering is good but, because they shall be comforted."

Regardless of the path Brittany chooses, she is an inspiration for both those who wish to have the right to leave this world on their own terms and for those who fight to stay as long as possible. 

If Brittany decides to fight the battle to the bitter end, she won't be a burden to anyone, but a blessing and they wouldn't have it any other way.