Painting Fool

That's what I was this afternoon; I finally had some time this week to work on the painting for St. Francis. Ah, the smell of paint in the afternoon!!! I'm happy about the way it's coming along and I'm really enjoying working on it. It's just hard to find time; I think each day that I'll have an hour or two to paint, but then the baby doesn't take a nap, or somebody calls me and I answer the phone, or work stuff comes up, etc., etc.. Life rarely pays heed to the schedules we create. Now I'm about to give the baby a bath and read her a story. I'm happily tired and feel like I accomplished a lot today, despite that I felt very overwhelmed this morning, for some reason. Every once in awhile the depression threatens to creep in; it's like a grey veil that starts to drift over my head, and I have to make like I'm on a sailboat and blow, blow the negativity away with the winds of positive energy. My creativity is about the only thing that's really just mine these days, and it's important to me. I was so into the painting that I didn't even mind when my husband came home. Usually other people being around distracts me. Today, not so much! ::::PS-this picture is not my painting-it's beautiful but I can't take credit for it!

And the Debate Roars On

So, everyone is raving about this book. I, myself have not yet read it; I just finished "Angels and Demons" and found it to be a lot of fun. All around town, people are buzzing. At church on Sunday the priest called it a "bunch of crap". Josh Bernstein did a television special delving into the possibility that Jesus had a daughter and discovered that no only was there no scientific evidence to prove this theory, but also that the famed Priory of Sion was an organization dreamed up by Pierre Plantard who, incidentally, was not a man known for his honesty and integrity. Dan Brown has written a marvelous story (as I said, I've only heard discussions about it, but "Angels and Demons" was action packed and very imaginative) that is based very loosely on fact but is very much mostly fiction. I think he's probably enjoying the notoriety his book has acheived, and it's been fun delving into the mystery of it all, but enough already! It's fiction, people. F-I-C-T-I-O-N.

A Matter of Heritage?

I was born Catholic; Irish Catholic, to be exact. Most of my family is Irish; in the final analysis I'm about 3/4 Irish and I identify very strongly with all things Celtic and Irish. My grandparents believed in the holiness of the Pope (as do I) and the issue of an Ireland free of British rule always loomed large in our home. I was raised believing that the IRA (Irish Republican Army) are soldiers in a war that has been going on for far, far too long. In my heart I hold very strong opinions about how the Irish were treated by the English and it is my sincere belief that the English will never be able to make up for the evils they have done to the country of my ancestry. All of this said, my father's side of the family is Jewish (although his mother was an Irish Catholic who converted when she married my Papa), so as kids my brothers and I weren't raised specifically with any religion. We got bits and peices from both sides and weren't expected to have any great committment to either (at least, from our parents). I've lived my whole life wondering what I believe, reading books on religion, calling my Higher Power by different names, even praying for some sign from God about what He/She wants me to call Him/Her. For a long time now I've held a Jewish stance on the issue because I felt like I related most to Jewish ideas. Lately, however, I've really been gravitating more toward my Irish heritage, and that's lead me along quite a different path. Even in practicing Judaism my prayers have taken a Celtic bent; I've always been drawn to Irish traditions, cooking and even the Catholic concept of honoring Mary. For some reason, I've always been drawn to Mary. Sometimes the only thing I know is that I am (besides being American, of course!) Irish, that the blood of my lineage runs strong through my veins and that it's important to me. Ireland calls to me like a lost lover. I once read that it's impossible to truly know ones self until one has traveled to the place from which our roots came. Maybe right now I'm just trying to make that journey with as true a heart as possible.

All You Need is Love, Love

I guess I'm harping a lot lately about the issue of love and tolerance, but I suppose that I've been thinking about it so much because I've seen such a lack of it in the world lately. My mind wraps around the voice of the President of Iran saying that he wants to wipe Israel off the face of the map. I have a friend who is Iranian. When I was pregnant with my daughter he gave me a St. Michael medallion, Michael being a guardian angel who fights evil. I wore it the whole time I was pregnant, believing in it's good energy and appreciating the kindness of the friend who gave it to me. Over dinner once he commented about how funny it was that an Iranian and a Jewish woman could have a peaceful dinner amongst friends at the same table, while across the ocean Iranians and Jews are fighting. It's very sad; we're all people at the end of the day, with families we love and who love us, with friends and dreams and the need to eat and sleep. Most of us aren't evil, although some people are. Right now I am doing a painting for St. Francis mission; it's a painting they asked me to do and it has a Christian theme. I am enjoying the creative process behind getting it done and using all my good energy to create a beautiful rendition of the cross the painting is based upon. I was born Catholic (Irish Catholic, to be exact) and so I do feel a tie to Catholism and love Catholic art. I can go to church with my husband and dig a lot of what is being said, even if my own beliefs run counter to some of it. Alternatively, my husband sometimes goes to synagogue with me and says the same thing; he doesn't feel threatened by people who follow a different faith from his own. Maybe growing up in the absence of any organized religion gave me a different perspective. My parents didn't raised us with a little of Christianity and Judaism because they didn't want to "pick a side" when it came to their families and most of what I learned about God I learned through my own endeavors. I grew up reading about Mary, watching the Pope on television, and also attending Seders and bar/bat mitzvahs as well as various holidays in the synagogue. I grew up with a sense of there being a loving God who different people called by different names. I look at my daughter and she is so innocent. She knows nothing of racial prejudice, anti-semitism, religious persecution, or war. I wish that none of had to know of these things. I suppose that the only good created by these things is that each of us has the opportunity to spread love through our refusal to honor them. The real gift is our ability to choose and to take right actions, and I think all of the world's major religions teach us that love should always be the side on which we err.