Category: Religion

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Making Assumptions

The candidate casino. $100 in chips today. How’d you bet? $35 Warren. $15 Biden. $10 Harris. $5 Booker. $5 Buttigieg. $5 Woo-Woo Williamson. $25 Somebody Who Can Win.

Scaramouche has had a come-to-Jeezus epiphany about our Petulant Adolescent President. Why? He’s looking to make a buck by convincing Nikki Haley or Mark Sanford to make a primary run at Trump.

FedEx Cup. That end of season golf thing. After an even more convoluted fan-phobic structure this year. Who will win? Who cares?

Mary’s teleportation to Heaven from Earth. No surprise there. She was still a virgin when she gave birth.

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Quasi Inferno

Victor Hugo gasps as the flaming spire falls through the roof. Quasimodo emerges from the embers. He is stunned. Can it be true? The bell towers are intact. He climbs to ring a carillon call of relief.

Notre Dame. Our Lady of Paris survives. She lives to see her baby on the altar on Good Friday. Okay. He’s nailed to a cross. But. Hey. He’ll rise on Easter Sunday. As will The Cathedral. Yay.

 

  • Photo. Cathedral of St. John the Divine. NYC.
    Christmas Eve 2018. Ben Levine.
    Bizarre coincidence. St. John had a fire this week. On Palm Sunday.
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La Nuit Divine

O Night Divine. Gloriously sung in French by soprano Susanna Phillips at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Applause wafted up the aisle. Couldn’t help it. Capped off last night’s Christmas Eve service with choirs and horns and harps and a Paul Winter sax solo. And. The most haunting organ crescendo Harking the Herald of Angels. Transported. Second annual tradition with Ben.

Inclusive Episcopalian congregation. A little political. But. No kneeling!

Joyeux Noël 

 

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Trolling Truth

Pope Francis finally addressed the Catholic Church’s truth in a letter to his global flock. Admitting that there was institutional abandonment of its vulnerable children. Too little too late for decades of victims. But. A good start. Still. How many priests are in jail for committing obvious sexual predator crimes?

WSJ’s great sports columnist, Jason Gay poses a question. If you owned an NFL team today would you sell it or hold on to the investment? Given injuries, political controversies, player misconduct, lagging attendance, tv ratings. What would you do?

Melania Trump sporting a pussy bow as she headlines a cyber bullying conference. First First Lady Troller-in-Chief.

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Changing Traditions

Christmas Eve Lobster Palooza! No Newburg this year. Thanks to Alicat & Co.
Centerpiece by Joe  

 

Then. Midnight services. Glorious music. Gorgeous architecture. Lots of incense.
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

 

Buon Natale!

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Curb Your Traditions

Sinterklaas Eve. Dutch tradition. December 5th. Putting carrots out for Sint Niklaas so he will fill the wooden shoes with candy for the children. No chimneys involved. Nor toys. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could leave it at that? Done! Kids can get toys & games all year long now anyway. On Amazon. Not only is bricks & mortar retail on its last gasp. So soon is consumer Christmas! Back to families, carols & food. Yay.

Larry David & Lin Manuel Miranda’s Fatwa! the Musical. Please. Broadway!

btw Deutsche Bank isn’t Dutch.

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Terror Bro’s

Again. Brothers at the center of terrorist attack. This time Belgium. It started with the Tsarnaev sibs of the Boston Marathon massacre. The Chechen Brothers KaramazOff. Disaffected young men ostracized and marginalized in their adopted or native land. Attracted by a global gang of thugs to mount revenge in the name of religion but with no real devotion to it.

So. It we take Cruz and Trump to their logical conclusions. Arrest all swarthy young brothers. Just to be safe.

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Siempre Adelante!

Francisco is the coolest most authentic person. A joyful warrior for mercy. Siempre adelante! Kinda like Kasich. Evangelicals deride the Pope’s stands on climate change and income inequality. Their hate for Muslims and illegal immigrants Trumps their love for Jesus. Interesting times.

What happens when you fly West to escape oncoming Pope cluster in Manhattan? You run into Chinese President Xi at your Seattle hotel.

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Spring Board

King Abdullah of Jordan gives a controversially candid interview to Jeffrey Goldberg in April’s the Atlantic. As he trashes his neighbors’ response to the Arab Spring, Abdullah pines for his days at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. He has even built a school in Jordan modeled on his happy boarding phase.

Spring edition of MSKCC’s Bridges newsletter compares cancer survivors’ resiliency and the long journey of recovery to the plight of Sandy victims.

New York Magazine’s cover RetroWife captures the current phenomenon. Women choosing to be the modern version of a 50’s wife. I get it. They were brought up by absent moms, the feminists who tried to have it all. It’s a nostalgic nod to June Cleaver and Donna Reed. The ideal misses the reality of women who stay home all day. Mother’s “little helpers” are also back in vogue.

I’ll say it again. Richard Engel’s spellbinding account of his kidnapping in Syria is a must read. VanityFair, April 2013.

Il Papa Francesco will celebrate Holy Thursday at a juvenile prison in Rome. He may be the real deal. Zeffirelli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon comes to mind.

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Tango Papa che

Italiano-Argentino. Buena suerte, Francisco, che. Los desaparecidos notwithstanding. Gay marriage, birth control? More of the same? Sí and No. First Jesuit Pope. Traditional though. Worse than Benedetto? Espero que no. Taking the throne on Feast of St. Joe. May the blood of Malbec be with you.

Anderson Cooper found dos Argentinos guapos in the Vatican crowd. Chris Cuomo clueless. Shut up and let’s hear the bells, prayers, Latin. Por favor!