Thought for the day

Actually, it’s a quote from G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy:

“Every man has forgotten who he is. One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; but thou shalt no know thyself. We are all under the same mental calamity; we have forgotten our names. We have all forgotten what we really are. All that we call common sense and rationality and practicality and positivism only means that for certain dead levels of our life we forget that we have forgotten. All that we call spirit and art and ecstasy only means that for one awful instant we remember that we forget.”

I love this guy. Besides the fact that I often find myself reading with a British accent, I often find myself laughing quietly (more of a snicker, really) at the way he strings paradox and irony from daily life into a philosophical treatise on Christianity.

so, read that passage again. And then, go find a copy of this book to read. Accept that you may not understand every sentence as you read it, but keep reading. Chesterton’s an author you ingest as a whole instead of piece by piece. At least the first time you read it.

Ahh…family

Ring ring.  Ring ring.

Donna rolls over and stares at the phone. Maybe it’ll stop and she can go back to her nap.

Ring ring. Maybe not.

“Hello?” she answers.

“Yes.  Wah Mei Chi Pizza.  You order pizza.  We here.”

Donna wakes up quickly–Pizza?  I didn’t order pizza!  The oriental woman on the other end continues, “Total $5.93.  Have money ready.  We coming up.”

“Wait, I didn’t order pizza” Donna exclaims, but she’s quickly cut off.

“Room 503.  You order pizza.  Have money ready, we’re on our way. ” click.

Donna stares at the phone for a minute before calling the front desk, “Hello.  I just got a call that someone’s delivering pizza.  I didn’t order any pizza.”

“you can bring it down here” the desk attendents responded.  As Donna tried to explain that she didnt’ particularly care where she could take the unwanted pizza, a knock comes at the door.

“Pizza delivery,” says a familiar voice.

Donna places the phone on the table and opens the door to see her brother, Doug, and his mischevious wife standing at the door laughing.  Donna laughs at her brother’s prank, returns to the phone, “Never mind,” she tells the front desk workers.

Yes. That… is my family.   At least one side.  Poor Crystal.  She didn’t meet this side of the family before she decided to marry my brother.  She met the relatively normal, quiet, and well-behaved side.  But, what’s done is done.

I’m sure there will be more stories–like the time mom dipped a fork in her wine to “sanitize” it because she couldn’t figure out if it was hers or not.  Yes.  this is my family.

Besides remembering exactly how crazy we are, I spent some quality time with my new nephew Ethan.  He’s 2.  His brother was spending time with this grandpa.  that’s ok.  Ethan likes me better than Jaden anyway.  So I’m content carting the boy around on my hip.  As longas I can give him back.

rest…part 2

Sometimes, the most effective cure for stress, depression, or emotional fatigue is a moment of reflection before facing that which you most dread.  There’s nothing like getting it over with–it’s never as bad as you think.  Or at least it’s never as bad as I think (I tend to dramaticize things).  Oh, yeah, a little creative expression helps too.