Jackie Unplugged

One more week until Ash Wednesday. One more week until Lent begins.

I have decided to do something brash this year. I am going to really, actually, whole-heartedly give something up for Lent. In years past, I have half-heartedly given something up for Lent, in full awareness that I probably wouldn't make it for the entire 40 days. And when I gave in, I didn't feel in the least guilty. (I have not yet decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing.) But this time, I am so excited about what I am giving up for Lent that I am starting today -- a week early.

I am giving up television.

Not films, mind you -- a good film during the weekend is one of my favorite unwinding activities. But I'm giving up TV. No more eating dinner while watching Dharma and Greg, no more late-night TV after one of my evening meetings comes to a close. I'm simply not going to turn that machine on. (This morning I unplugged it, removed it from its shelf, shoved it in a corner, and covered it with a pretty piece of fabric. Maybe I'll buy it a plant so it won't get lonely.)

I am doing this not because I believe that television is evil. My intention is not to cause the rest of you TV-watchers to feel guilty about your practice of TV-watching; nor is my intention to give my TV away for good. Rather, I am doing this for a limited time in order to consciously change my life rhythms. Television is a diversion, a form of entertainment, a way to relax. Watching television is fun, but I do not believe that it improves my quality of life. Whether or not watching television detracts from my quality of life is a question to which I do not yet have an answer ... but maybe I will by Easter.

P.S. Oh yeah -- I'm back! It's been a while! Sorry for the six weeks of silence.

2004

I said to the [woman] who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light that I might go safely out into the darkness."
And [she] replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be more to you than a light,
and safer than a known way."

--M.L. Haskins

No Room

Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected by power, because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world.

--Thomas Merton

Blessed Are The Poor

No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God--for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.

--Oscar Romero

My Relationship with Tubas

Today I mentioned to a colleage that I play in an orchestra.

He asked, "What instrument do you play?"

I answered, "Clarinet."

He said, "Oh. You know, I picture you more as a tuba kind of person."

I was not offended by this statement, in spite of my clarinet loyalties. Instead, I thought of my brilliant and crazy tuba-playing orange-VW-beetle-driving medical-doctor cousin Katrina, and smiled.

But why the tuba, I now wonder? I am intrigued. If you all have any feedback about this, please feel free to utilize the comments section. I really want to know -- what personality quirks and quibbles does the image of tuba provoke in YOUR mind?

If you want to find out more fun facts regarding clarinet aficianados and tuba enthusiasts, click here ...

and here.