Yessiree Bob, as the saying goes...I actually learned a new word and way of doing things over the weekend. Yesterday was The Cook's Momma's 86th Birthday so five Grey Haveners journeyed westward, but not across the Sea, just across the Susquehanna River, in order to visit, go to church with her, play some railroad canasta, laugh, and eat...not essentially in that order. Well, in church, we got to take communion "by intinction." For us high-church-challenged types, that means you dip the tasteless beige wafer (one change from the tasteless white wafer we used to get when I was Lutheran-raised) that I suppose is high in fiber or something in the wine and partake of it as you walk on by in a procession back to your pew.
Well, for some reason I thought of tincture of iodine when I saw the phrase in the bulletin (16 pages long it was!) and spiritualized the whole deal into thinking that we were getting antiseptic for our wounds in a Balm of Gilead sort of Tao. (Oh, yeah, my Chinese daughter pointed out to me that Tao means "way" in Mandarin.) Wikipedia just explained it to me thusly: "In Taoism, the basic, eternal principle of the universe that transcends reality and is the source of being, non-being, and change." So, when Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life in John 14:6, I guess He's claiming to be "the basic, eternal principle of the universe that transcends reality and is the source of being, non-being, and change." Sounds like a fair translation to me, but, hey, that's why I'm kept in the basement and not let loose in classrooms!
Right now I'm actually listening to a cd entitled "Feng Shui" that Cook and I found in a Hallmark card store while birthday card shopping Saturday. Well, my Chinese granddaughter doubts the authenticity of the whole deal, based on the fact that there are cello, piano, keyboard, viola, and percussion instruments used to supplement the more traditional yang chin, guzheng, shakuhachi, and erhu. (foreign zither, ancient zither, recorder, and 2-string fiddle respectively, according to Wiki.) I believe the description of the music was "what they play in Chinese restaurants" ...seemingly to fool us Caucasus-Mountain-region-genealogical Barbarians while chowing down on pseudo-Szechuan stuff and handing over coin of the realm! I can say that it's most definitely a mellowing influence. We all know that "you are what you eat." I think "you are what you listen to" might be a good second rule, and right now I'm as "balanced and calm" (to quote the label) as can be next to being in a coma!
Well, there still aint nothin' that compares to "the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, [which] shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" that Paul talks about in Philippians 4:7. I really like being able to see the True Tao in various other world life views from a Post-Reformation, Van Tillian, Zen Buddhist sort of way and pointing out a few things to the two of you reading this!! ;)
Got buzz words you can use?
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