A visit to Chimayo.

Today I decided that it was time to visit Chimayo, which is a small village north of Santa Fe. The main draw of the place is the Santuario, which among other things, is said to contain miraculous dirt in a hole in the ground in the back of the church. The sacristy is full of crutches of people who have been healed by the dirt. Also, there are major pilgrimages there during Holy Week. It's a really beautiful place. It was pretty quiet today, and it was really peaceful.

I took a bunch of pictures from the grounds, so here are some of them. Many people tie crosses to the fences, and they fascinated me, so that's mostly what I took pictures of.


On the road to Chimayo.

Fauxdobe rules.

I have been living in New Mexico for about four whole days now. It's been an interesting experience thus far. This place is a different world.

I thought that it might be nice to put up some pictures of the new living arrangements. Also, this weekend is the Santa Fe Fiesta (which is a very big deal here), so I plan to put up some pictures of that as well.

Ok, so here it goes:

This shows the entry way as well as my favorite part of the living room, the fireplace. I'm super excited about this.



Here is the rest of the living room. Still working on that whole "home decor" thingy.


I love the balcony. This is the view from it. As you can see, my apartment complex is completely fake adobe (that is, fauxdobe), as is pretty typical for buildings in the whole city. The landscaping here is unnaturally green because the management waters like mofos, but generally the landscape is various shades of brown.

Kitchen/dining. I've gotten a dishwasher! As well as a programmable coffeemaker, which appeals to my lazy side. Nothing like waking up and having the coffee already made.


View from the kitchen window, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. This window faces west, so there are some awesome views of the sunset. Also, the weather tends to blow in from the west, so some pretty spiffy cloud formations can be seen here as well.


Bathroom. Pretty standard.


And finally the bedroom. Haven't quite finished unpacking yet. But it's pretty nice.

So that's my place. I'm working on finding a job (had one interview this week and another next week). I joined a parish today. I'm trying to get used to the culture here. I need to brush up on my Spanish. Everyone here is bilingual, to the point where they switch languages every couple words. Makes for an interesting time. Getting used to the weather. It's quite predictable: 70's during the day, afternoon thunderstorms, 50's or so at night. Tonight it's been raining for a while, which is pretty weird.

This is turning out to be just the adventure I was looking for. So far, so good!

The Peasants are Revolting. And whatnot.

Ok, maybe not. But I have been pestered as of late to update this thing, so here I am.

I haven't had much to write about lately. Perhaps that's due to it being finals week, during which time my brain is on overload.

Anyway, here's a bit of amusement for everyone: So here is an article about religious groups trying to get a gay marriage ban passed in California. Which I think is pretty dumb, but that's beside the point. In fact, most of the article is beside the point. The real gem of this article is actually the picture. The picture shows a man holding a sign that reads: "Jesus Forgives Sin. He does not Except it!" If you are a grammar/spelling nazi as I am, you will have caught the reason why I was so amused by this. But if not, let's delve into it a bit:

Except: To leave out; exclude

vs.

Accept: To receive (something offered), especially with gladness or approval

Well, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that Jesus does except sin. But he probably doesn't accept it. I mean, I'm just saying. I have a hard time taking seriously the arguments of anyone who can't even make a proper protest sign. Seriously, get a brain, morans.

Zen and the Art of Catholicism

My new favorite thing to do is to sit outside on my porch and read books. It's a good, peaceful thing to do, especially when the weather is as lovely as it has been. Sometimes I bring some tea along. Among other things, I've discovered that my neighbors aren't all scary, obnoxious, and drunken college students. In fact, some of them seem quite nice.

Currently, I'm reading a book called Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Brach, 2003). I've gotten several reactions to my reading of this book, most of them along the lines of "You're the weirdest person I know" or "Where do you find these books???" I find it amusing how the concepts in this book (and other Buddhist-inspired writings) have so much in common with DBT. I found DBT to be alternately annoying and sacrosanct: it was the bane of my existence or my salvation. In any case, I am endlessly intrigued that the practices of DBT are quite Buddhist in origin. Things like mindfulness and indeed even radical acceptance itself are key DBT buzzwords as well as central Buddhist teachings.

The point of reading all these books is not only because they're interesting, but also so I can figure out a way to incorporate such Buddhist ideas and practices into my life. Of course they would be beneficial to my daily life in general, but if I could incorporate them into my prayer life, the results could be quite sublime. The teachings of Christ and Buddha overlap in numerous places. Buddha teaches that we must abandon the concept of "self", since we are all part of a single entity and are all interconnected. Jesus teaches that we must love our neighbor as ourselves. If our "selves" are more permeable than we envision, then it makes a great deal of sense to treat our neighbors with the same love and respect we should show ourselves. Perhaps saying that we all have a Buddha nature is the same concept as saying we are all children of God.

So I suppose I will continue to read weird books. Now if I'd only read my school books once in a while...

Popewatch

Status: Deceased

: (

Popewatch

Well, it appears that the Pope is in fact peacing out. Although for a while last night, it was hard to get a straight answer on his condition. First he was alive, then dead, then alive again. So confusing. Current status check: alive.

I'm a fan of this pope. First of all, nobody even thought he would be pope. But I think it was the influence of the Holy Spirit that allowed him to be voted in. Clearly, he had a major positive influence on the world during his reign. I mean, come on now: He helped bring about the fall of Communism. He laid the smackdown on President Bush over the Iraq war. And to the guy who shot him: Don't worry, man, it's cool. I ask you, my friends, who does that??? Not to mention the fact that the Pope visited just about every single place on Earth. Apologized to the Jews. Supported the cause of Palestinian statehood. Brought attention the poor and marginalized people of the world. Defended life (babies, criminals, and vegetables!).

I mean, sure, there are issues on which I disagreed with the Pope. However, I feel that overall he is a really good guy, and I wouldn't have minded at all if he hung around for a while longer. God knows who the next pope will be...

(Status Check: alive)

On being Catholic

Today being Good Friday, I thought it was a perfect time to reflect on how exactly I got to this point in my life. I mean, having been raised Jewish, I hardly expected myself to ever embrace the suffering of Jesus. I mean, Jesus was just some guy. And honestly, for most of my teenage years, I couldn't stand most of his followers (though I suppose that was, in part, because many of them weren't actually following his teachings...).

Most of my friends were Catholic when I was growing up, and while I accepted that they were always running off to CCD or Mass and whatnot, I honestly did not think much about what they were doing there or what they believed. I didn't know what was up the the pope. But then it was sophomore year of college. It was the first Sunday of the school year, I was at a new school, and I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. Out of nowhere, the idea dawns on me to go to Mass. And although I couldn't tell you what the content of that Mass was, I was so taken with it, that I decided to investigate further. Something had spoken to me that evening. Christianity suddenly wasn't some lofty, ridiculous story, but instead was based on events that had personal relevance to me. I was reconciled with God because suddenly I realized that He actually did care about me. God not only existed, but was personally involved in the goings-on of the world. Including someone as insignificant as me.


The more I learned about God, the more I was amazed. I came to accept and embrace the Eucharist. There was the body and blood of Christ, this person who had died for the sins of the world. My first Communion was one of the coolest moments of my life. I still love going to Mass and experiencing the awesome power of God. But I see God everywhere now, too. Even in the bad days, the hard times. He's there. And that's what is so amazing.