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Who Commanded What

Wednesday 10 August 2022

I really don't know why I do it. I follow some of these Catholic groups online for no good reason, I think. Am I there just to pick a fight? I guess.

Today, this one popped up as a joke.

Everyone was laughing about it, so I guess humor is the new way of dealing with the awful things God commands in Leviticus. Of course, I replied: "But both come from God. Both are commands from God. That's the problem."

A user named Joseph responded, "no there is no problem. None of the levitical laws are valid anymore. Thus any command from Chirst is superior."

People just don't get it, though. Jesus might have done away with these laws, but because of the trinity doctrine, it was Jesus who created the commands in the first place. I responded to Joseph:

But the fact that they were commanded in the first place -- that's the problem I'm referring to. That God commanded his people to stone to death incorrigible children, stone homosexuals, stone people for breaking the sabbath -- THAT is the problem. Whether or not he did away with those laws is not as troubling as the fact that he made them in the first place.

At this point, Jesse jumped in to help:

[I]f you listened to the first couple of episodes, Fr. Mike clarified it. Some laws were "allowed", just as what Jesus said about the law on divorce. Also that some must be understood that they were given to a savage, nomadic, tent-living, and with frequent streaks of going astray kind of people who lived thousands of years ago.

I've heard this so many times I'm sick of it. No one sees the problem that the same god who gave us the kinder, gentler Jesus also gave us these commands in Leviticus! In fact, because of the trinity, it's the same being! I tried to explain this:

No, that doesn't fly. God didn't allow those laws. He didn't see them stoning people and say, "Well, I'll let you do that for a while." It was God who COMMANDED the stoning. Why does no one get that distinction?

There were a few more responses -- I replied to them all. And then everyone just stopped responding to me. Questions are unwelcome, I guess, and even more so follow-up questions.

Anniversary of a Passing

Wednesday 10 August 2022

In some ways, Papa's passing was much more difficult for me than Nana's. When Nana died in 2019, I was more worried about Papa than I was myself. I was heartbroken, to be sure, but Papa was devastated. The love of his life, the woman who, in many ways, literally saved his life, was gone. His constant companion for decades was no longer by his side. How would he take it? Would the sorrow he was buried in bury him, too? So when Nana passed, I had a job to do, and a very important job: look after Papa, physically and emotionally (and, while he could still get out of the house, spiritually as we made sure he got to church for the services and community that did so much for him).

We played family games with him, sat and talked to him, watch movies with him, helped him with his exercise and, after his Parkinsons kicked in fully, his physical therapy. As Parkinsons took control, we took on even more responsibilities, more basic responsibilities, more primal responsibilities: feeding him, cleaning him, and all the complications a more bed-bound existence comprise.

Nana's death was also easier for me emotionally because I had all the support around me that Papa had around him. K and the kids gave me as much support, directly and indirectly, as we gave Papa.

ulica Floriańska Edits

Tuesday 09 August 2022

Teachers’ First Day 2022

Monday 08 August 2022

We had our first day back at school today -- teachers have a week of preparation before the kids come back. To be honest, a lot of it is less preparation and more endless meetings: three hours this morning; meetings in both the morning and afternoon tomorrow.

In the afternoon, returning home, I discovered that the Boy had painted the ramp into Papa's room (always it will be Papa's room) in the morning. After dinner, he applied a quick second coat and now we have a lovely, freshly-painted ramp.

Walk Downtown

Sunday 07 August 2022

Babcia Re-edits

Saturday 06 August 2022

I've been re-editing some pictures from Poland here and there, and I decided to throw together a little compositive of our favorite picture of Babcia, adding some falling leaves and sun rays.

And because Babcia always talks longingly of living 100-200 years ago instead of today with all these crazy computers, I decided to turn it into an old picture as well.

Krakow with Tom

Friday 05 August 2022

My friend Tom and I had to go to Krakow on the same day, both of us having ridiculously early appointments (before eight, I believe).

We did the obvious: took the same bus, took care of our business, then met back up at the rynek for coffee and conversation.

I finished a little earlier than Tom, so I took a few early-morning Krakow pictures. It was probably the only time I was in the Old Town that early. K, who studied in Krakow, insisted that there was no better time to photograph the city.

I got one picture that's especially significant now: the waiting room in the Krakow train station, which is no longer the waiting room for the train station as the whole station has moved. Not photographing the whole ticket area, waiting room, and platforms is one of several photographic regrets.

Most of the everyday places that made up my reality in Poland during my first stay (96-99) exist now only in memory. I have few photographs of the apartment I had -- in fact, only one that I know of. I have only a handful of images of the Nowy Targ bus station, where I spent countless hours waiting for hundreds of busses. The Krakow bus station is the same -- gone.

That's probably why I have so many pictures of our children that are seemingly everyday events -- nothing special. Because in a few years, they will be special: reminders of what a normal, say, Tuesday looked like in our family.