The American Catholic

Easter is probably my favorite holiday. Definately my favorite Catholic holiday. A season of sacrifice and hope, new beginnings, and forgiveness, I've always felt that if you understand Easter, you understand Catholicism.

Before anybody gets the wrong idea, no, I'm not an extremely religious person. I was raised in the Catholic church and I enjoy the history, mystery, and ritual of that institution. I am a person of faith - I believe in a genderless Creator, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and that reading the Bible can create as much confusion and conflict as it does comfort and enlightenment. I do not believe in Papal infallibility, that premarital or homosexual love is sinful, that the sole responsibility of a Catholic is to make more Catholics, or that traumatized women should be forced to carry unwanted children to term.

Despite these and other rather stunning philosophical disputes, I do consider myself a Catholic. I do pray the Hail Mary and believe in about 80% of the Nicene Creed. (I'm not really looking for the resurrection of the dead, for example. Zombies are more Westley's thing.) And the truth is, I know many more Catholics who openly embrace gay marraige, birth control, and the consumption of beef on Good Friday than those who oppose these practices.

All I can really say to explain this seeming paradox is that I am, and most of the other people (and therefore Catholics) that I know are, American. America is a pluralist society. For the most part, we believe in a prismatic nature of truth. Just as the angle of the light as it hits the prism will alter the shape and strength of the rainbow, so the experiences and influences of a person's life will effect the way each of us sees the world. This doesn't stop some of us from being obnoxiously stubborn, but it does protect our right to disagree with the status quo and think through to our own conclusions. In the end, it's really the Golden Rule that most of us try to follow - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Disagree with respect. Don't attempt to legislate morality. Recognize that faith is beautiful, but fanaticism is hideous. And so on...

In any case, I had a lovely Easter this year. Westley's family had us over for brunch and an egg hunt with the kids, then we joined my family for a delicious lamb roast and shared a film together. It was a busy, beautiful day, full of sunshine and love. And as I broke bread with not one but two diverse groups of Catholics, all of whom have shared intense disagreements and debates with one another over the years, I realized that this was a true Easter - a celebration of our miraculous, unconditional love for one another, and our resurrected faith in family.

Making, Reading, and Being Green

Made: Springtime Serving Platter



An update before I disappear for the weekend...

Making

Happy to announce that I have a MADE object to show off this week, though it isn't knitting and it only took a few hours, so it's not as impressive as I'd like. This Springtime Serving Platter came about as a result of being 'widowed' by the 3/6/2012 release of Mass Effect 3, which had Westley so excited that he was literally dreaming about it for at least a year in advance. I relented my favorite knitting chair (which also happens to be his favorite gaming chair) for the night and took myself out to a super-cool pottery painting studio called All Fired Up! (http://www.paintatallfiredup.com/) A week later, I stopped back in and picked up my beautifully fired platter. I love it. It's colorful and manages to go with the hodgepodge of kitchen stuff I've already got. And doesn't it just look like the perfect resting place for an Easter ham?

As far as knitting goes, I have five WIPs at the moment, but I'm hoping to be at least one down by the end of the weekend. I'm VERY close to finishing both my Hey, Teach sweater (pattern by Helene Rush, available at http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTheyteach.html; I am knitting in KnitPicks Shine Worsted Sky) and my Folded Tweed Bag (pattern by Kathy Merrick, available in Interweave Presents: Knitted Gifts; I am knitting in four shades of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Tweed). Hopefully, I will soon have progress pictures and updates up on my profile at http://www.ravelry.com/ - I'm DMluvsPrufrock there, as well. :)

Reading

I have a LOT of books and audiobooks going at the moment, but the one I plan to finish ASAP is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.

This is one of so many books that I have wanted to read for years, but could never 'find time' to do it. I remember the huge impact it had on its initial wave of readers, particularly within the Irish-American community. I think every woman in my family read this book back in 1996. (The men in my family, for some reason or another, didn't read much back then.) I also remember going to see the 1999 film when it was out in the theatres, though I can't for the life of me remember a single scene. I can't decide if this means I should watch it again or assume that it bore virtually no resemblance to the book and move on.

In any case, I am enjoying it so far, though I'm taken aback by the juxtaposition of hardship and a really queer sense of humor. Frankie is clearly a wit. My Kindle tells me I'm at 84%, so I'm looking forward to finishing this weekend in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Being Green

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'm going to say that this week's Being Green challenge is to learn a little bit about the dangers of our current state of agriculture and specifically about the fast-food-feuled propensity toward monoculture. Why? Because it killed around 1 million people in Ireland in the 1840s. It's true. There are five thousand varieties of potato, but only one variety was introduced to Ireland. When Phytophthora infestans infected the crop, therefore, everything died. We know this today as the Great Famine.

So learn, then go out and have some green beer or something!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!