A Blessed Holy Week to All
In this time of uncertainty and fear, let us take refuge in openness to God, who is beyond what we can conceive of or imagine, which faith is recapitulated this week. May you all have a blessed Holy Week and Triduum, and a very Happy Easter.
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Someone just sent me the following: I can't resist posting it.
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Someone just sent me the following: I can't resist posting it.
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Articles of Faith
This mounted
event for rider and ass is held weekly and should be attended by all who wish
to be included among the Chosen. Any rider who fails to turn up will be
disqualified. The course for examining the Articles of Faith is modelled on
that of the showjumping arena.
The first
obstacle is a fence commonly referred to as Original Sin. Built as it is of
natural materials, it is perhaps surprising that all competitors save one female
have fallen at it. This is usually blamed on asses shying when they catch sight
of the snake woven into the wattle hurdle. N.B. Riders by the name of Balaam
are given a bye here..
Original Sin is
followed by the water jump, which poses no real difficulties as a wetting is
obligatory: extra points are given for total immersion.
Atonement, a
triple jump, is typical of the course in presenting three problems in one. Some
commentators with a C. of E. background like to call it At-one-ment, to the
confusion of French and German competitors, not to mention visiting Poles. The
parts, in ascending height and difficulty, are Moral Example, Substitution and
Ransom. Betting on the last two elements is widespread and indeed encouraged.
The Wall, also
known as the Creed, is solidly built to prevent dislodgment of individual
bricks, allowed at other venues with less stringent rules. A big jump, it must
be cleared the first time.
If these
obstacles are successfully negociated the competitor will probably get round
the rest of the course, though should he or she lose points, in grave cases risking
elimination, there is a tricky in-and-out known as Confession, where faults
incurred earlier can be wiped out by a course inspector, on condition of
proceeding on one’s knees, leading Br. Ass by the bridle.
This event
should be engaged in and ideally completed weekly to ensure that riders retain
their place among the Chosen. The water jump is missed out after the first
round.
Those
temperamentally unsuited to the event sometimes stumble onto a narrow
out-of-the-way track, where other dimensions are in play, the linear being
revealed as redundant. Here time is no more. Birth, death, and the four seasons
are co-existent. Logical process is by-passed. All is perceived in the round.
The only narrative is that of faith, which, lit by glory, is rendered
indefinable, past comprehending, true, and thus adorable.
Anyone who
claims to understand will end lying face-down in the dust; that much is sure.