Before my conversion to Roman Catholicism, I was a Sōtō Zen Buddhist for years, fueled by my heavy interest in Japanese culture, cuisine, literature and religion.
I don’t know the artists names, or years of production. I’m very happy that Catholicism is loose with iconography, and find it very wonderful that different cultures depict Jesus as one of them, most notably, Human, a child of God.
This area of the United States is amazing. I never knew it existed. Microwave ovens, internet connections, and cellular services are outlawed. This is mostly because of the US government’s scientific studies in the region. It’s also a place where people suffering from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity can live in peace. Side note: I’ve been a fan of Yes Theory for about 16 months, and I truly enjoy their content. Nothing like visiting different places on Earth, and seeing humanity from an engaging and compassionate lens.
I accidentally deleted my FB account in early August due to the disgust of the Paris Olympic opening ceremonies, and the upcoming US election. I viewed my extended “friend group” as unhinged and without moral compass. I really wanted to deactivate the account, but in late August, I became very ill with either covid or the flu, and in that state, I followed my intuition and trashed years of funny and sometimes insightful posts, not to mention a platform for my creative pursuits and celebratory interests. Like a dummy, I did not save any FB specific contacts, so I lost tons of connections on the periphery. This included various filmmakers and musicians, and other interesting characters. Yet the deafening noise of advertising and narcissistic platitudes really did it, as was the time I spent there, for I was becoming unhinged myself from all the dopamine and absolute emptiness.
Three months later, and better sleep, reading more, tons of silent introspection, improved background thoughts, and thinking in general. Way more relaxed and calm, and not so reactionary. It was a great time when it lasted, yet in its aftermath, a warm silence took over. Now I can work on other things.
As of yesterday, these allergies have come back to town with a vengeance.
“Google Gemini: Please generate images of: Allergies. As if being attacked by hammers and chains, via filmed as a 1980’s Kung-fu film.”
The first image really speaks to me.
On break by the river, and witnessed a Robin searching through mulch, either for food, and/or for nesting material. It looked at me, and I said, “Hello dear Robin, and please don’t worry. May the Lord bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The Robin stood still, nodded its head, and went on tossing up mulch and eating tiny insects. They eventually flew away with a beak-full of chopped up wood.
Yeah, St. Francis of Assisi shadows me, as I shadow him, daily.
Mass was quite elegant today, and during the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, I was invited back to editing music. It’s a long story, yet I was called by name.
Music production has been welling up inside me for sometime, and last night I became reacquainted with a project that started back in late 2022 to late 2023, and somewhat dreamed about it. Call it higher consciousness, precognitive phenomena, the Holy Spirit, or subtle intrinsic reprogramming, all I got to say is, this pressure inside of me needs release and my mind needs relaxation, for playing with different frequencies is akin to being reborn, over and over again.
The project name is “Sanctus”, see what I’m saying?!
Meeting with the Knights of Columbus was a little overwhelming and humbling at the same time. There were a bunch of dudes (21-80+ years old) eating pizza, drinking soda and beer. I ended up chatting with a studious fellow who runs the Cathedral’s evangelistic programs. We hit it off when I brought up the Franciscan Order, and how it brought me here.
After the formal speech and rundown, and questions were answered, I shook a few hands and took off. I was really tired and just wanted to relax and feed Ajari. So I got home and wrote a few emails in sincere gratitude. I’ll be going to the next meeting💥
The subtext of today’s Mass was rather profound and deeply esoteric. During the homily, our Priest asked us all to imitate Christ. I was thrown back to reading The Imitation of Christ (Thomas à Kempis) in my early twenties, during a time of high debauchery, frequent poverty and living with a Woman I thought soon to be my wife. Yet thirty years later, I’ve been wanting to revisit that book, and all the emotions surrounding it, because for some reason, it’s a bookmark in my development and will shed some light on my past by triggering said content.
Sacrificing pain and suffering to an all knowing and loving God as a sacrificial offering, still seems very foreign to me. Perhaps I was brought up in error for not shedding deadly feelings, but was taught to bury them deeply into my subconscious, only to inherit future minefields and misery.
I need to break free from these gelatinous weak chains.
It’s been awhile, and I finally went to Confession. I had to stand in line for almost an hour which in a weird way was psychologically pleasing. I was happy and a little freaked out to confess to Father Tim, who’s the same priest that baptized me. Fr. Tim made me laugh a few times, and offered very kind words of advice.
When walking home I had a strange feeling of buoyancy, and the birds were singing louder than usual.
Dubecian 