May the month of birthdays, Mother’s day and May processions. I think I remember it more for celebrating Mom’s day and that school was coming to an end. Marge and I have birthdays. Bunny King is another celebrating the day she became herself. We’ve added two more, some friends here in St.Pete’s, so I guess we can call it a month of birthdays. However, with the number in our clan I suppose we could have a lot of months we could call such. I have often wondered what the expression “mayday” had to do with the month. It was an assumption I made from reading and hearing it that it had something to do with May.I found it otherwise. If you’re not familiar with the expression “mayday, mayday” it is an international radio distress signal used especially by ships and aircraft. It’s an oral SOS. I know now that it has nothing to do with the month but is derived simply from the French word, m’aides meaning “help me”. Now I know many of you reading this will be so grateful for having this bothersome expression explained, well, maybe not ‘many’ when I think about it.
The other “May Day” is related to the month. It is regarded in number of places as an international holiday to celebrate labor organizations. I recall it was a day of big parades in Communist Russia and I believe we used to counter it with a Law Day here in U.S. I read that even today there were parades and protest in Germany celebrating the labor organizations there. Having straighten out the difference between mayday and May Day let us move on so my Editor will be dealing with seemingly less boring material.
I read an essay in which the writer celebrates the indifference to religion as an achievement. There was the indifference in general, i.e. they believe in God but don’t much care about Him, and in the particular, in that they don’t mind what others think about God. The first was evident to him by a comparison of number of those who say they are believers and the record of church attendance. He equates ‘religion’ to church attendance only. The evidence of the not caring what other people think he bases on the fact that he is a “professed” atheist and friends whom he believes have a personal relationship with God, haven’t bother to attempt to proselytize him. His evidence in both cases is weak to say the least. Religion is not “church attendance” and people being indifferent to his professed atheism is based on true tolerance. It based on Love, not duty or law. He has made it clear by his public profession that he is not open to other’s viewpoints. All of this he classes as an “achievement”. He gives it a fancy intellectual name of “apatheism”. He brags about having achieved something. He defines it as a disinclination to care either about others beliefs or they to care about yours. In plain English he is applauding ‘indifference’ to the basic question of why we are here as an achievement. I disagree. Indifference is not to be applauded even when it comes to politics. We constantly lament the failure of the people to make use of the great gift of democracy. We don’t call this lapse an achievement. Politics is a long way from questions such as why are we here? They have been part of man’s thinking since he was able to communicate. In both cases these are lapses in our behavior and not something to celebrate. We could just as reasonably celebrate the thievery of the corporate big wigs. Why not be indifferent to their behavior? Mark Twain spoke of such merchants as “The dollar is their God, how to get it their religion.” (“Life on the Miss.” p.466) They are practicing the religion of materialism to its fullest and are equal to those fanatics who justify killing people in the name of their god. The writer shows a lack of knowledge of what “religion” really is all about. It is not church going alone, nor tolerance of others beliefs, but true religious feeling is based upon and built on love of our fellow man and the one who made him. It deplores the fanatic as much as any non-believer. Tolerance of others beliefs is based on love not indifference. It is like the tolerance we exercise for our children. We love them and when their behavior is leading to future pain and suffering we, out of that love, correct their beliefs. We no longer tolerate their behavior. There we have a duty to do so which is not true of our neighbor but we don’t love him any less because of his poor thinking.
The writer brags about his having quashed his “religious mindset” and mastered the “spiritual passion” which he acknowledges exist in all of us. The eminent Theologian and professor of Ecumenism, Han Kung wrote some words on this: “It makes no difference whether one considers the human race (diachronically) in its many thousand years of history or (synchronically) in its global extension: One will never find a tribe that lacked faith in some sort of transcendence. From a global perspective, atheism among the masses is typically a Western “achievement”(emphasis added), even though it has spread East. It is thus the affair of a cultural minority in this century.”(Is There One True Religion? P.231)
The whole article angered me. It angered me that he treated a very important subject in a flippant manner, which was supposed to be funny. It angered me that such tripe would grace the pages of a prominent literary magazine. It angered me so that I should have stopped reading but it did do one beneficial thing. It made me ask myself the question, do I care what my family and friends believe about these questions? I found I do. My finding was accentuated by the fact that a much-loved friend is now suffering from a terminal illness. The consolation in believing that there is more to life than just here makes accepting it a bit easier. I have no idea how one not believing in that fact, copes with such a problem. I wonder even more so when they themselves face that inevitable day of leaving off this ‘mortal coil’. Maybe that’s what gave rise to the saying, “There are no atheist in foxholes’.
I have a friend who is a pastor of a church across state in Deland, Florida. His name is Jim Brissey. I have tapes of his talks. He started one the other day with a story the latter part of which went like this. A woman went to see a Psychiatrist and explained to him that she constantly has dreams that one night she is teepee and the next night a wigwam. “What’s wrong with me Doc? ” You’re two tents!” he replied. You can moan if you like. He went on from there to talk about those two ‘-tents’. One is ‘con-tent’ and the other is ‘dis-content’. It is a good intro to an old American problem in which we easily get ‘need’ and ‘want’ so confused they become synonyms.
Jim and I met over a year and a half ago at a men’s via de Christo retreat in November ’01. I served as his assistant head server. He was the head server. The main job of both is not so much handling the distribution of the food as to entertain the team and participants before each meal. Whatever Jim’s past was prior to his ministry it certainly prepared him to entertain. He created one skit after another. He had costumes available. He had one skit that people who witnessed will as far as I participated never let it be forgotten. He was in a Spanish or Mexican costume. He had a sombrero three feet across, wild shorts, a Spanish looking blanket over his shoulders and outrages duck like shoes on his feet. He was “Juan-mo-time”. He went out of the dining room door and entertained them in slang Spanish dialect about his comings and goings. I remained inside dressed in a party dress, wig, and ugly boots. The girls in the Kitchen including June made up my face. Then came the announcement, “Here’s my girl friend, De-lor- ess!” I waddled out with eyes a flutter and whistles and huzzahs filled the air. It was great fun but even till today when I meet one of the participants or team members I’ll occasionally get a” How’s Deloress?”
Recently via the Internet a friend and a McSorley contacted me. He is Charlie McSorley formerly a Philadelphia police officer, or just a Philly Fuzz. I knew Charlie from his visit to our law office in the Land Title Building while my Dad was alive. He retired somewhere in there and began a organization to help other retired police officer but ran it politics and its deleterious effect on real good will. What I did learn by the renewal of acquaintanceship was how he had met my Dad. He told me the story and I may not have it all it proper detail if not excuse me Charlie. The basic story is something like Dad read of a “McSorley” family being burned out of their home. The head of that family was in the service or not available for some good reason. Dad proceeded to step in and help to relocate the family. Charlie never forgot that and made it a point to stop in when he could to say hello. I learned of one more good-works my Dad did. It is one of many I’ve learned of over the years.
Until I get another chance to chat with you, Pax Tecum!