back to the main eLog page

eLog20 | (all) | eLog22

epistle log 20enty 1ne

humility

remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return

today i fast.  for all the post-vatican II lite catholics out there, it comes down to an equation.  another symptom of the problem that plagues organized religion: the mechanical nature of such actions, simplified to avoid pin-head quarreling, allows the masses to do without thinking, assured they're doing what they're supposed to.  but they have no idea why.

"remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."  this is what this day is about.  we may be human, we may be american, we may be catholic, but the illusory superiority that those words hold crumbles before this mantra: "remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

(i will show you fear in a hand full of dust)

we are nothing more than a loose collection of particles, a web in which soul is briefly entangled.  we are temporary.  insignificant.

this day is not to belittle people by the institution that psychologically demeans them.  it is rather a way to focus upon what is important, central, true in life and existence. strip away the excesses, strip away the delusions, and discover the essential.  find yourself by rejecting all that we've been told distinguishes us.  it is a day to remember what is true in life, amid the facades of living.

today i eat little, because i need little.  today i do little, because i need to think more.  today i try to avoid the excessive in search of the essential.

today, i am humbly mortal.

02|17|99