Mr. Bitter's Year End Review
As another year comes to its arbitrary end, Mr. Bitter (that's me!) casts his mind back over the passing months - or whatever he can remember from the last few weeks - and take stock of where he was and where he is and, ultimatley, where he'll be watching soccer in the coming year.
- Missus Sour has done her best but I'm still coming to terms with the "vacuum".
- While wandering through Scarborough Town Center the other day - I was feeling nostalgic - fighting my way through the holidays crowds, watching old ladies spend 20 minutes returning EVERYTHING they bought the day before then re-buying it at a discount, and marveling at how much it ALL must cost, I turned to Missus Sour and said "Jesus died for this?"
"That's an odd thought for an atheist", Missus Sour replied.
She's got a point.
- Venturing to Sherway Gardens while waiting for a movie to start (more about that later) and again struggling for parking, I thought: "Why would Jesus want to come back to this?"
- Are you ready for some not so subtle Christian allegory!:Watching the Lion, the Witch and the you know what I mean movie the other day, after first being sent to the wrong theatre, then finding the right theatre, then finding said theatre full, then lining up for a refund, spending the next few hours FUMING! then going to Sherway Gardens for some reason (though the pants I bought look pretty cool - on the mannequin anyway) then going back to the theatre and realizing I had originally bought a ticket for the wrong day so I was secretly glad I hadn't screamed someone stupid after all ... Anyway. My point is that the film does not contain one ounce of blood in it. Not one. Passion of the Christ had a Chinese Blood Donor bank full of blood in it. The book had blood in it. The whole crucifixion with all it entails has lots of blood in it. This is the perfect Disney Christ: sanitized and anthropomorphic. If only C. S. Lewis had written a large mouse into the book ... Still it wasn't bad. The kids in the theatre loved it. Kind of like a not too boring Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings Lite.
-"Hey Mr. Bitter, what's with the Jesus thing anyway?" Glad you asked slim. Missus Sour is convinced I'm a closet believer. Do I believe that Jesus Christ existed? I can't say that he didn't. Do I believe there's an all-powerful, all knowing being above responsible for creating the earth and the stars and Shakespeare? No. Do I think Jesus Christ is the godly product of a virgin birth? No. It's a bit silly if you think about it. Science has explained away all the physical mysteries of the bible. We know the earth wasn't created in 6 days. We know that dinosaurs roomed the earth for millions of years long before our ancestors stepped out of the trees. Why didn't god mention this to any of the biblical writers? He must have known that, just like CSI, we'd eventually find the bodies and piece together the evidence on cool, light tables in glass walled, really cool looking labs while listening to hip tunes.
But what about the non-physical stuff. What about the meta-physical stuff? What about what Jesus actually had to say? Most of it is pretty laudable. Treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself is perhaps the simplest and most beautiful sentiment expressed by human kind. Unfortunately it comes wrapped in such baggage that it gets lost. Check out the latest Harpers magazine. (Got a subscription for Christmas) The article on the Gospel of Thomas is quite illuminating. Jesus without the miracles and the sin and promise of happiness only in death. Not that I'm handing in my atheist card just yet. Shakespeare's work is still my bible. It's all in there, people. And Hamlet, though not my favourite play, is perhaps the most complex character in literature since Jesus.
All in all it was good year. Long time situations ended but new beginnings abound. And through it all one constant - soccer! And Missus Sour, of course.
Next week: What's too come. Mr Bitter's amazing prediction for the coming year! I hope you all saved your Ghost Whisperer paraphenalia. It's going to be worth millions!
- Missus Sour has done her best but I'm still coming to terms with the "vacuum".
- While wandering through Scarborough Town Center the other day - I was feeling nostalgic - fighting my way through the holidays crowds, watching old ladies spend 20 minutes returning EVERYTHING they bought the day before then re-buying it at a discount, and marveling at how much it ALL must cost, I turned to Missus Sour and said "Jesus died for this?"
"That's an odd thought for an atheist", Missus Sour replied.
She's got a point.
- Venturing to Sherway Gardens while waiting for a movie to start (more about that later) and again struggling for parking, I thought: "Why would Jesus want to come back to this?"
- Are you ready for some not so subtle Christian allegory!:Watching the Lion, the Witch and the you know what I mean movie the other day, after first being sent to the wrong theatre, then finding the right theatre, then finding said theatre full, then lining up for a refund, spending the next few hours FUMING! then going to Sherway Gardens for some reason (though the pants I bought look pretty cool - on the mannequin anyway) then going back to the theatre and realizing I had originally bought a ticket for the wrong day so I was secretly glad I hadn't screamed someone stupid after all ... Anyway. My point is that the film does not contain one ounce of blood in it. Not one. Passion of the Christ had a Chinese Blood Donor bank full of blood in it. The book had blood in it. The whole crucifixion with all it entails has lots of blood in it. This is the perfect Disney Christ: sanitized and anthropomorphic. If only C. S. Lewis had written a large mouse into the book ... Still it wasn't bad. The kids in the theatre loved it. Kind of like a not too boring Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings Lite.
-"Hey Mr. Bitter, what's with the Jesus thing anyway?" Glad you asked slim. Missus Sour is convinced I'm a closet believer. Do I believe that Jesus Christ existed? I can't say that he didn't. Do I believe there's an all-powerful, all knowing being above responsible for creating the earth and the stars and Shakespeare? No. Do I think Jesus Christ is the godly product of a virgin birth? No. It's a bit silly if you think about it. Science has explained away all the physical mysteries of the bible. We know the earth wasn't created in 6 days. We know that dinosaurs roomed the earth for millions of years long before our ancestors stepped out of the trees. Why didn't god mention this to any of the biblical writers? He must have known that, just like CSI, we'd eventually find the bodies and piece together the evidence on cool, light tables in glass walled, really cool looking labs while listening to hip tunes.
But what about the non-physical stuff. What about the meta-physical stuff? What about what Jesus actually had to say? Most of it is pretty laudable. Treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself is perhaps the simplest and most beautiful sentiment expressed by human kind. Unfortunately it comes wrapped in such baggage that it gets lost. Check out the latest Harpers magazine. (Got a subscription for Christmas) The article on the Gospel of Thomas is quite illuminating. Jesus without the miracles and the sin and promise of happiness only in death. Not that I'm handing in my atheist card just yet. Shakespeare's work is still my bible. It's all in there, people. And Hamlet, though not my favourite play, is perhaps the most complex character in literature since Jesus.
All in all it was good year. Long time situations ended but new beginnings abound. And through it all one constant - soccer! And Missus Sour, of course.
Next week: What's too come. Mr Bitter's amazing prediction for the coming year! I hope you all saved your Ghost Whisperer paraphenalia. It's going to be worth millions!
posted by Soft Headed Liberal at 7:35 PM
2 Comments:
Good stuff. Good thoughts to take us into a new year!
when you write "Christ", do you mean "dorito"? Now it all makes sense, doesn't it?
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