He who does not meditate acts as one who never looks into the mirror and so does not bother to put himself in order, since he can be dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his thoughts to God who is the mirror of the soul, seeks to know his defects and tries to correct them, moderates himself in his impulses and puts his conscience in order.
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
A wonderful girl -woman actually; mother of two and wife of my best friend in the world Charlie Olson - goes to Mumbai often as a dialysis engineer for Baxter. Thankfully, Kate was not in Mumbai this Thanksgiving during the most cold-blooded and horrific exercise of Terrorism that took the lives of nearly two hundred souls.
I talked to Charlie this weekend and, as we 'limited gender' souls do, talked around the subject. We are fragile.
All we have is limited field of vision and are so vulnerable to shifts in events and circumstances that all we can do is keep our heads on a swivel.
The victims of the monsters saw few signs of warning prior to the attacks in the carefully selected hotels, restaurants, Temples, and thoroughfares. The ten or so monsters looked like college kids with their backpacks containing automatic rifles, ammunition and grenades. They are monsters.
Monster can be traced back to various etymological roots. The Latin 'monstrum' means 'that which teaches', and there is also another connection to 'monstrare', to show. Demonstrandum from Quod Erat Demonstrandum - 'That which was to be demontrated' from 'demonstratum' as a past participle of 'demonstrare.'
Middle aged couples enjoying a trip to the exotic city in India, witnessed only a demonstration of the exercise of Will that is so much the heart of contemporary spirituality. Kids, the ages of their grandchildren no doubt, methodically opened fire and re-loaded magazines and murdered Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindu Mumbaikars, and Asian and Western tourists indiscriminately.
There are devotees of WILL here in the United States ready to parse and dissemble the root cause of the Monsters with backpacks loaded with weapons in Mumbai. Ramsey Clark is no doubt ready to board a plane and take up the cause of the Monsters* ( one of the miserable bastards survived and whined to security forces 'put me on saline'); Noam Chomsky and Billy Ayers have no doubt penned a clever contrarian essay on the massacre and its radical implications for Identity politics here in America.
The balance of us must be watchful. Advent calls to mind the Promise of Arrival. At Sacred Heart Mission on 116th & Church Street here on the south side of Chicago, Father Gallagher, a retired but active priest, explained the Gospel today. Words and thoughts that would be lost on a smug dissembler like Ramsey Clark, or a Noam Chomsky, or a Billy Ayers. We, the rest of us, must humble ourselves in order to be vigilant enough for the Coming of Christ and all the other expectations that living demands of us. Tough call.
We do not want someone telling us what to watch out for . . .especially during the Holidays. Modern thought depends upon the clever parser's rule to nuance -'Who's to say?' Jesus, I hate that expression of nuanced smugness. With those words the Nuanced act to 'Isolate' people and then they can collect them all into their Will! The Disciples of WILL appreciate the slaughter of the innocents in Mumbai as it 'Reifies' Will!
Folks, We must put Will on the back burner. It starts with yours truly, here. I take a back seat to no one where stubborn Pride is concerned.
I get a lesson in the majesty of Humility as I witness the simple, devout, uncomplex, generous and tough people at Sacred Heart: housewives, mothers teachers, cops, firemen, City of Chicago workers, ComEd workers and students. I have a lot of work to do living up to them. Living up to the good people slaughtered by the Monsters.
Look for Christ. Be Watchful.
Mark 13: 33 - 37
Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Watch therefore -- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning --
lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.
Monsters are with us. Christ is also with us and keeps returning to us. If we do not watch we will miss Him. He was gunned down in Mumbai by Monsters. We must watch for His return. Be thankful, as I am that Baxter did not send Kate McKenna Olson to Mumbai.
However, with Monsters, everywhere is Mumbai
*
Mercifully, the group, armed with plastic explosives, underestimated the strength of the
105-year-old building’s solid foundations.
As it is, their deadly attacks have left close to 200 confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise to nearly 300 once the hotel has been fully searched by security forces.
Yesterday, Kasab chillingly went through details of Wednesday night’s killing spree across the city, which ended when he was cornered by police.
He pretended to be dead, which probably saved his life. It was only when he was being transferred to hospital by ambulance that his accompanying officer noticed he was still breathing.
