Have You Texted God Yet Today?
There was a holiday lighting today on the Embarcadero. Multiculturalism rocked San Francisco. According to www.sf.funcheap.com, the traditional Christmas tree lighting was only one-third of the ceremony: Hannukkah and Kwanzaa customs were also involved.
It's only November 18, and suddenly the year is over.
I grew up in an interfaith household during an era when faith itself was sold on Cheerio's advertisements and Santa Claus Coca-Cola endorsements. I went to public school but Jesus was everywhere. I remember making crucifixes out of popsicle sticks in first grade, then coming home to ask my mom: "So who's this Geejus?" Other kids thought that being half-Jewish meant I got eight times the presents come December, but really it just meant that our family would host loud latke parties and I could play dreidel on the living room floor with my neighbors. At some point, my mom put up Tibetan prayer flags. Friends kept giving me little Buddha statues and scented spiritual candles as holiday gift compromises.
In college, my roommate Kelly and I started referring to the entire autumn/winter period as "Chranikwanzikan." Three years later, I can't help but wonder: Just how much of another tradition should we identify with before we incorporate it into our lives? Is just saying the words enough? Or sending cards? What moments are holier anyway?
As a kid, I always figured that divine inspiration was rather like adult development: as we grew, we would just know things. Or feel them. After I read Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, I used to try kneeling outside on the lawn to see if God would drop me a line, as if I could become some lightning-rod-answering-machine at will. It didn't surprise me when nothing happened.
Maybe God receives texts. But what number would you dial?
I've probably violated several religious codes just by writing this, which is rather like crossing invisible state lines, because the danger is relative. I wonder what kind of spectacle a Chranikwanzikan lighting/celebration would provide, and if the air was crackling with heightened spiritual electricity. What would God write?
"You forgot Thanksgiving."
{ Post a Comment }
{ Last Page } { Page 15 of 22 } { Next Page }
|
About Me
« March 2010 »
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | |
Links
Julia in the Raw (Creative Writing Samples)
Spanish Travelogue
College of Creative Studies
Post Secret
My Aunty
Categories
Recent Entries
Repaintings, of both personal and artistic natures
A Song for San Francisco
Write about small regrets.
Fiery Furnaces
On Saints
Friends
|
