If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible. ~Epictetus

Growing up Catholic and attending Catholic schools put me under the influence of the Sisters of St. Ursula, and later the Sisters of St. Joseph.  The Ursulines were my teachers in elementary school and high school.  Some of the older ladies of the cloth constantly reminded us to be "true to our school."  If we misbehaved in public, they would be sure to hear about it.  They taught me that it isn't what I do in front of them, or anyone else for that matter,  as much as how I act whenever I think no one would ever know.  Public sins are publicly repented, punished, and forgiven.  The secret sins are the malignacies that harm our well-being.  Such secrets create fear of being found out which leads to mistrust, paranoia, and often, even more bad behavior.

This is certainly evident in the current child abuse scandals rocking the Catholic Church on a daily basis.  It doesn't help that certain church leaders keep stirring the pot by blaming outside influences instead of taking responsibility.  The priesthood has long been one of the most honored professions in the world.  Now it is sadly one of the most despised.  Even within the American prison system, "snake eyes" as child molesters are called, are dealt with by the prisoner community.  Truly there is "honor among thieves," who may not respect themselves or others in general but respect the sancity of a child's innocence.

The first play Joseph Papp produced for a prison inmate playwright was "Snake Eyes" by Miguel Pinero.  The story centers around the treatment a convicted child molester is given when the other prisoners learn of his crime.  It is a tough show to watch, but the message is clear: children are off limits.  They deserve the opportunity to live and grow, to learn and to play, to make themselves legendary.  Regardless of the choices the people we send to prison make, they know this one truth and they honor it.  I was assigned this role once in an acting class, that of the child molester.  It was a very difficult role because there wasn't anything about him with which I could identify.  My only way into this character was to remember that this man was married, respected and well-liked by his community until his secret sin was discovered.  This wasn't a public sin that could bring easy absolution.  It was a sin that required punishment, degradation, and pain of the purpetrator, both outside of the prison as well as inside.  He may have thought no one was looking, but someone always sees.  God is always there.  The priests, bishops, and especially the Pope would do well to remember the lessons taught them by the nuns.  There are no secrets which cannot be discovered.  There are no secrets that can escape justice. 

When Pope John XXIII openned the Second Vatican Council in 1962, his theme was a command from Jesus: "Go, rebuild my Church, for it has nearly fallen down."  If Benedict is to walk in his predessor's footsteps, he had best adopt the motto of legendary the people he follows: "If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means."  The Church cannot hide behind itself and expect to survive.  It needs to stand for truth above all else.

Legendary Bliss

There was a book-signing last night.  Or was it a class reunion?  Several of my former co-workers from when I first came to New York were there.  It certainly felt like a class reunion! We had come together to honor one of our own, and of course, to buy his book.  Sure, it was an exciting event, especially since we knew the author!

The man of the hour is someone I have long admired.  Scott Sanders left a management position to come to New York to work as a sales associate while he went back to school so he could make a major career change.  He had reached a point where he was compelled to follow his bliss, and had the courage to follow through.  It has paid off for him, after all the book is not only a compilation of his interior design work, but a journal of his career, his inspiration and the people he has met along his way.

Scott speaks very eloquently of the influence of his family roots.  He is not abashed to admit his taste comes from his mom and grandmothers.  What makes this even more interesting, is that he expresses his "genetic taste" through very feminine colors (shades of blue), accentuated by the masculine (fire engine red, orange and yellow).  His childhood clip file of magazine photos along with his own drawings are the visible seeds of his passion.  Family means a lot to him and it shows in the homes he has created for his clients.

He could have stayed in retail management and had a lucrative career, I'm certain.  However, I think his free time, his dream time would have continued to be spent  drawing and sketching fantasy houses/ homes for a community of fantasy people.  How much better that he said yes to his creative impulses and turned his passion into his career!

In one of my earlier pieces, I wrote that however high you throw your heart, the rest of you will follow.  As all of the people who write motivational books tell us, if you are following your bliss, working with your passion, your work ceases to be a job.  We simply have to be willing to let go in order to hold on to something else.  Scott did this, and in my book it makes him legendary.

Oh, by the way, his book is entitled "Picture Perfect: Designing the New American Family Home," by Scott Sanders.  You can purchase it right here through my Amazon.com associates link on this page.



 

Isn't That The Way They Say It Goes?

"Operator, can you help me with this call?"  There's a phrase right out of a lexicon of the past!  Not only are there no operator assisted calls, but there aren't many operators.  Today communication is all a "twitter" with instant messaging, emails, texting.  The human voice is bound to become a victim of natural selection, the "use it or lose it" evolution. 

No longer will we be wooed by a sweet voice at our ear, but rather the rapid clicking of a keypad.  Humans will become creatures with extended thumbs and index fingers.  Actually, we've seen this before.  Oh, yes, the hands and feet of the great apes!  Are we then "devolving?" 

The apes seen on National Geographic verbalize with one another.  They observe one another so carefully that they pick nits, and smoothe the appearance of one another.  If humans were to do that, they would have to set down their iPhones, Blackberries, or cellphones.  Furthermore, the stars of National Geographic, are always on the lookout for a mate, tracking their children, searching for and sharing food, watching for danger. I recently learned that Oranutangs are models of sharing.  They give away half of anything they find to eat.   By comparison, humans have developed to the point that they can text while driving or walking down a sidewalk, somehow with the full understanding that it is everyone else's responsibility to clear their way.  When it comes to health care or food, well, "survival of the richest" overrides any natural instinct to preserve the species.

Technology offers instantaneous communication as abbreviations, a sort of techie shorthand, all on a hand sized, hand-held keypad.  Every advance we make, takes something away in the name of progress.  Soon we will be incredulous when the "old folk" talk about the days when a man appreciated a great pair of women's legs, or breasts.  Men were worshiped for their broad shoulders and chisled chests.  The youngsters will giggle and ask, "But how could they text with those?" Those extended thumbs will be the new "turn-ons." We are approaching the point where to remember what it was like to be human in the "old days" we will have to watch National Geographic.  By observing the behavior of the great apes, perhaps we will see what used to be so great about being human.

In the Beauty of the Lillies

When you're walking alone somewhere, especially on a darkened street, do you find yourself humming or even singing a song?  It isn't just any song, either.  It's a special one that comes to mind whenever we need a sense of security and comfort.  While this tune swirls in our heads, our feet keep moving until we reach our destination.  This works not only for individuals, but for groups as well, marching armies for instance.

In 1861, Julia Ward Howe wrote a poem which was to become the anthem for the Union Army of the American Civil War.  It came about as a result of a challenge made to her to write  new, uplifting lyrics to the popular song of the time, "John Brown's Body." It quickly gained popularity and its place in history.

My favorite verse, "In the beauty of the lillies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me.  As He died to make men holy, let us die to make them free.  His Truth is marching on," encapsulates qualities of being legendary.

Let's break it down.  Lillies are symbols of purity and truth.  The sea generally is used in literature to represent desire or freedom.  The bosom is the heart, and it's glory is love.  Love, or devotion if you will,  is the power that changes everything.  It is our call to action.  Is it any wonder this song carried an army to victory? 

When we discover something that we value enough to give our lives over to its pursuit, we find our passion.  The things we do as a result of that passion tell the story of who we are.  Hopefully, it will be said that we acted with an energy in our hearts that changed the world;  that we broke with old ways of thinking and doing, and raised up ourselves and the people around us to a higher consciousness and an exemplary way of life.