Stones that Shout

 The rock appeared drab and gray, indistinquisable from a thousand others. But then my teacher turned on an ultraviolet light. Immediately, that boring rock burst into vivid technicolor.Blues, greens yellows, and oranges shone forth. It contained a class of minerals that become luminous under UV lighting. Without the aid of those special rays however, you'd walk by this rock without a second thought. 

    This morning, the whole world gazes upon a gray chunk of rock. Under normal lighting, it's just a rough cavity in the ground--a sheer vacancy- -with a stone lid rolled to the side. There's not much to see, and UV rays won't help here. But some who ponder this rugged cavity leave fundamentally changed, as if this rocky tomb burned with the light of heaven.

     And indeed it does. Sometime. in the darkness of Easter night, Jesus Christ flipped the switch from death to life and changed this cavern of despair into the only source of real hope. John, seeing the scene lit by the vivid light of faith saw, and believed, and it was as if color shone forth in a gray world.

     Now, even when we disciples of Jesus falter in our proclamation of the Gospel God has enlisted the roughest matter to proclaim his glory. As Jesus propheseised, I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out ! ( Lk 19:40) On Easter morning, we hear that cry of joy.

Reflectionn base on Johnb 20:1-9 

Father Philip Nolan O.P.

Painting Rocks and Making sense of it all

    The immediate thought is that we find a rock and then we take it home and paint it, to make it look like art.This has been the intent from the beginning of my journey fifteen years ago.Discovering their supposed spiritual component is quite another matter. From the beginning,rocks have been an element or item that comes to mind when thinking about matter versus things that don't have matter. 

    Caring about things do matter, but only to the degree that we say they do. Betrand Russell made the claim that "No-thing is a thing". He was a mathematician, philosopher, politician and essayist. He was also an autobiographer, who wrote three volumes about himself.My guess is that he cared a lot about himself. Did he care about matter? Perhaps.

    I learned in high school from a favorite teacher that you can't love a car. It was argued by a fellow student that they did love their car, because some of them had a car by that age.I listened intently as it was explained that a car can't love you back, it can only react to the input that is delivered to it's components.Step on the gas pedal and it moves forward...You gotta love it.

 Our teacher also explained that a connection had to be made where your input would be equally understood and reciprocated...but wait, can't a computer already do that? Yes, but it's mostly "GIGO" (garbage in, garbage out). Like the main-frame computer which were the only computers around at that time.They were good at providing data that solved complex mathematical problems back then, but human problems,not as good.

    Today's computers can't always correctly interpret a human's silence or pauses any more than we can. Some may argue that they can espeically those so called. "Impregnated Silences" Presently, they can be programmed to finish sentences that may or may not produce an accurate result. However, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, the data can be startingly creative, concise and seemingly human in it's disclosure.Now,what can be done with that? Your guess is a good as mine.

    Now, back to caring and loving that which cannot love you back.I was just thinking about an add I saw awhile ago about a company that actually takes a person's remains after cremation and makes memorial rocks out of said remains. Will these items communicate something to those who remember the deceased? You bet they do, sensing the rock visually, silently and tactilely.

    It has been said that communication is the intentional re-creation of another's experience of ourselves. So, it seems that within the realm of our own experience,we are the only one's out there! 

    My belief and experience coincide when I can align inner dialog with what may be percieved as a higher power. That could be God, nature or even the void. Believing that there is a presence is not the issue, experience is. So, if I am in communication with a car, and the car reciprocates in a fashion that fills my spirit, so be it.The car has had something to communicate.

    I don't know about you, but I will talk to; and about things all the time. I am in communication with my computer as i write this blog. Imagining that someone is actually reading this, is actually fulfilling ...spiritually, for lack of a better word.

Below are some beauties from the past...

Carrying On

 Talking to a friend today, we discussed shaving our faces.He informed me that he was too lazy to shave and preferred a beard.Along those lines he mentioned that he doesn't want to go on hikes either, because he gets short of breath.The argument for rest and relaxation is important in our culture. Laziness is not.How does one balance these two components in our daily lives? Medical doctors recommend diet and exercise. Pretty broad categories, to be sure. Nowadays, specificity is the watch word.

What kind of diet? What specific exercise, etc.

    Too often the justification of our excessive behaviors require discipline.Training our children to follow our lead in adopting contructive behavior is a tricky.Yet learing something new is essential to personal growth.

    Like anything else, it is easy to reach a saturation point when trying to introduce new habits and behaviors.Balance continues to be the key here. "All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy" was what Jack Nicholson's character had repeatedly typed with this message in the movie "The Shining". Is this going to be our own truth as we enter the age of A.I. and social media? Geez, we need some breaks in the malstrom of monotony!

    Breaks not withstanding, the pursuit of higher learning and relevant activity begs to question our motives. Don't we all just want to be a wee bit more informed,or able to espouse facts like the guy at the next table? Perhaps not.

    It is now April 1st ( no fooling ) and I am going to finish publishing this particular blog because it's time.

This morning, our Monday morning painter's group now has their work showing at the Calistoga Roastery for the public to view.Strange things occur here on a fairly frequent basis. It seems that a great number of locals gather at this particular coffee shop to meet.The prices are reasonable, and the menu is vast.The strangeness is that it is difficult for anyone to remain anonymous in this town. Ackward silences makes the practice of congeniality with groups or particlular individuals, questionable. Acknowledging the presence of people whose personalities don't jive with our own is challenging to to say the least. 

Having no excuses except for the sporadic cloud bursts of rain,their is no reason not to go outside. After all, spring has officially sprung. Staying inside and painting a rock is only one of many things there are to do today.

Just ask Snowball...

Below is this week's 'Rock of the month"