The way of imagination

Politiquement correct?   Les Canadiens ont une réputation comme étant les gens qui s’excusent souvent… « Je m’excuse », « Je suis désolé », « Pardonnes-moi », «  ‘Cuse-moi  » …   Aussi, nous sommes connus pour être des gens qui cherchent à être politiquement correct .   On ne veut pas offusquer qui que ce soit.   On cherche ardemment à faire preuve de tolérance, d’ouverture d’esprit, d’être conciliant.   C’est bien, jusqu’à un certain point .   Donc, ce matin, j’aimerais vous demander pardon.   Je m’excuse!   Mais il reste que l’évangile d’aujourd’hui n’est vraiment pas politiquement correct .   (En fait, il faudra fouiller longtemps dans la Bible avant de trouver un texte qui sera considéré « politiquement correct »).   Encore là, cela ne devra pas nous surprendre.   Qu’est-ce qu’on nous a invité de faire suite à la lecture de l’évangile?   … «  Acclamons la ...

This time, things will be different.   I have a good friend who purchases lottery tickets in a quasi- religious manner.   For years now, this person has not gone a single week without buying a ticket in the hope of hitting the jackpot.   It is said that Albert Einstein defined insanity as follows: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.   Of course, every now and then, someone does purchase a winning ticket.   Watching the media coverage of the presentation of the larger-than-life check to the lucky winner is torture for my friend.   As Gore Vidal said, “Whenever a friend of mine succeeds, a little something in me dies” .   It’s extremely frustrating to see someone else walk away with the prize that you have been hoping to win for so long.   Then again, long-ingrained habits are hard to break… ( by the way, today’s LottoMAX jackpot is 55 million $).   So, once again , it’s Lent.   Will t...

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YEP, I JUST LAUNCHED ANOTHER BLOG!  HAPPY READING! BIEN OUI, JE VIENS TOUT JUSTE DE LANCER UN AUTRE BLOGUE!  BONNE VISITE! Raw Materials: THE LATE SHIFT (a poem)

Explaining the unexpected.   How do you explain something totally unprecedented and counter-intuitive to someone who “knows” precisely what to expect?   How do you explain to someone watching the sun “come up” one morning that it is actually the Earth that is moving, and not the Sun ?   This was the dilemma of the astronomer Galileo, who claimed that his observations of celestial bodies suggested that the Sun, and not the Earth, was the centre of the solar system, and that the Earth orbited the Sun , and not vice-versa.   When Galileo went public with his theory, 17 th -century Europe was completely unprepared for the news.   Jesus also faced a dilemma during his first-century ministry; his fellow countrymen “knew” what to expect when it came to the Messiah, the Son of God.   Whoever the Messiah would turn out to be, he (it would be a “he”) would destroy the enemies of God’s people and establish the kingdom of Yahweh and rule over Israel and the...

Jewish jurisprudence.   Who doesn’t enjoy a good legal drama ?  Think of movies such as A Few Good Men or A Man for All Seasons or To Kill a Mockingbird , to name just a few.  Prosecutors and defense attorneys give impassioned speeches in an effort to sway the jurors towards their interpretation of events.  Today’s Gospel provides us with a scene akin to that of the climax of the greatest cinematic court battles.  Throughout his ministry, Jesus is engaged in legal debates with “the scribes and the Pharisees” – the theologians and canon lawyers of his day.  While it is sometimes tempting to think of Jesus as simply being a “hippie” – a kind of “holy anarchist” – who enjoyed challenging the religious establishment, or perhaps someone who promoted a “religion of the heart” as opposed to a “religion of law”, a closer look at what is going on in the Gospels provides us with a more complex picture .  To be sure, first-century Judaism was very mu...

« On va vous libérer ».   Voilà la rhétorique de l’empire romain à l’époque de Jésus.  « On va vous affranchir de votre ignorance, de votre barbarisme, de votre manque de sophistication.  On va établir un véritable système de justice au sein de votre société; avec notre technologie , on va construire un système d’infrastructure efficace qui va augmenter votre qualité de vie.  Rendez-vous à nous, payez vos taxes, et vous aurez la paix  ».  Les choses n’ont pas vraiment changées depuis – l’empire mondial actuel se sert d’une propagande semblable.  « Mettez-en place des dirigeants qui vont faire affaires avec nous.  Permettez à ce que nos entreprises construisent des sièges dans votre pays.  On va créer des emplois pour vos citoyens.  On va vous prêter des milliards de dollars (à des taux d’intérêts exorbitants).  Ce sera formidable – vous pourrez magasiner à Walmart et manger à McDonalds .  Comme ça,...