Au Lido
December 1, 2021
Deconstructing Prayer (Part 2)
November 30, 2021
So, what are the kinds of prayer that do “work” for us? This is what we came up with:
*Alignment prayers – This is when we sit in silence and “know” God’s presence; becoming in tune with the Divine to see what God is already doing in the world around us, and within our own life. Sounds like: “…..” [silence]
*Letting go – When our prayers revolve around surrendering our need to control, or coerce, or manipulate God, or reality, or anyone else. Sounds like: “Yes, God…” or “Your will be done.”
*Gratitude – When we simply stop and thank God for every simple blessing, small miracle and beautiful sunrise/sunset we experience each and every day. Sounds like: “Thank you God for…” [fill in the blank]
*Empathy – This is when we enter into the suffering and sorrow of another person simply because we realize that God’s heart also breaks for those who suffer and weep. Sounds like: [insert sounds of weeping here]
*Transformation – When our inner tuning fork resonates with the heart of God and we simply rest in the process of being transformed – slowly but surely – into the image of Christ. This could involve an agreement with the need for us to ask forgiveness, or to receive mercy, or to show mercy to others or extend forgiveness to those who have harmed us. Sounds like: [groanings that words cannot express]
Deconstructing Prayer
November 29, 2021
Well, based on a recent conversation I had with some of the beautiful people in our Square 1 community on this topic, here’s what we determined.
Kinds of prayer that don’t “work” for most of us:
*Begging prayers – Prayers that plead with God to care as if God doesn’t already care. Sounds like: “God heal my friend, please rescue my friends who are in trouble,…”, etc.
*Prayers that substitute for action – This is when we fire up a prayer asking God to do acts of kindness to others so we don’t have to stop and do anything compassionate ourselves. Sounds like: “God bless that beggar on the corner as I drive on by…”
*Prayers that substitute for action – This is when we fire up a prayer asking God to do acts of kindness to others so we don’t have to stop and do anything compassionate ourselves. Sounds like: “God bless that beggar on the corner as I drive on by…”
*Wish list prayers – When we just pray for God to give us things we want. Sounds like: “God give me a new job, a new car, a new blessing…”, etc.
*Identity-swap prayers – This is when our prayers assume that God only cares about the things that we also care about. Sounds like: “God please let my favorite team with the championship…”, etc.
Townscape. Women Soliciting Travellers
November 28, 2021
Virgin And Child: Cartoon
November 26, 2021
Buffalo Grain Elevators
November 25, 2021
The White Ballet
November 24, 2021
Right Where I Belong
November 24, 2021
Automaton
November 23, 2021
The Game
November 23, 2021
“If you critique me with anything other than the Bible, I’ll say it doesn’t matter; and if you critique me with the Bible, I’ll just say you’re misreading the Bible because you’re a liberal.”
— Scott Coley (@scott_m_coley) November 20, 2021
That’s their game, y’all.
Scott Coley
2021
29 Washington Square
November 22, 2021
Crossing To Jerusalem
November 20, 2021
This is our great migration
Our mountain and our stone
Turning ourselves inside-out
To find we're already home
This is our deal with the sinners and saints
The law and up above
We'll be crossing to Jerusalem
With nothing but our love
Our mountain and our stone
Turning ourselves inside-out
To find we're already home
This is our deal with the sinners and saints
The law and up above
We'll be crossing to Jerusalem
With nothing but our love
Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal
Performed by Rosanne Cash
From the album She Remembers Everything
From the album She Remembers Everything
2018
Love Is A Game
November 19, 2021
Lay It All On Me
November 18, 2021
Free As A Bird
November 17, 2021
0:07 - portraits of Beatles as children on mantle (from left to right, John, George, Paul. Ringo in front)
0:14 - more portraits (left to right, Paul, John, Ringo, George)
0:38 - Beatles walk through dock workers
0:48 - Cavern Club (club where Beatles played many shows before becoming famous)
0:52 - Beatles performing at Cavern Club
1:06 - Strawberry Field ("Strawberry Fields Forever") 1:18 - Eggman appears ("I Am the Walrus")
1:27 - Beatles begin to walk off curb behind eggman
1:33 - Pretty nurse selling poppies from tray ("Penny Lane")
1:42 - Barber shop, with pictures of every head he's had the pleasure to know, including the Fab Four ("Penny Lane")
1:47 - Sign on wall reads "Help" ("Help!")
1:49 - Boy holds up hand to whisper to girl ("Do You Want to Know a Secret?")
1:50 - Ringo jumps from doorway
1:54 - Beatles stand by car
1:56 - Window has Beatles montage. First third looks like Anthology 1 cover. Other panels may be covers of other two volumes. [They Are, ed.]
2:02 - Birthday cake ("Birthday")
2:02 - Cake has a 6 and a 4 on it ("When I'm Sixty-Four")
2:07 - George appears on street
2:13 - George walks into office (In reality, Apple headquarters) with sign that reads "Dr. Robert" ("Dr. Robert")
2:18 - Ringo runs by
2:22 - John in crowd scene at car wreck, craning neck while others turn away ("A Day in the Life")
2:26 - Car wreck ("A Day in the Life" definitely, "Don't Pass Me By" possibly)
2:27 - Fire engine ("Penny Lane")
2:29 - Policemen in a row ("I Am the Walrus")
2:32 - Fireman ("Penny Lane")
2:38 - Helter Skelter slide (It looks like a lighthouse, but you can see the slide circling the building. "Helter Skelter," of course.)
2:38 - Kite ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite")
2:42 - Children run by in pig masks ("Piggies")
2:43 - Someone enters house through window from ladder ("She Came in Through the Bathroom Window")
2:51 - Writer working at desk ("Paperback Writer")
2:54 - Beatles walk behind children in pig masks (It's small, but it's obvious it's them)
3:00 - Sir Walter Raleigh portrait ("I'm So Tired")
3:05 - Beatles on TV
3:06 - John sitting in chair
3:08 - Copy of Daily Mail on table ("Paperback Writer") which reads 'Ten Thousand Holes in Blackburn, Lancashire' ("A Day in the Life")
3:08 - Bowl of green apples (reference to Apple Corps, Ltd.)
3:08 - Box of Savoy Truffles sits on table (kind of hard to make out, but that's what it says: "Savoy Truffle")
3:10 - Picture of Chairman Mao in window ("Revolution")
3:13 - Workers repairing hole in roof ("Fixing a Hole")
3:13 - Blue Meanie pops his head through hole (the film "Yellow Submarine")
3:18 - Newspaper taxi appears ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds")
3:22 - Woman leaves home ("She's Leaving Home") 3:22 - Picture of Mao being carried across street ("Revolution" definitely, "Carry That Weight" possibly)
3:22 - John and Yoko waltz by (taken from film "Let It Be" and probably representing "The Ballad of John and Yoko.")
3:23 - Blue Meanie pops head up from out of sewer (the film "Yellow Submarine")
3:25 - Magical Mystery Tour bus passes in far background (Hard to see, but it's there)
3:31 - Big game hunter leads procession, including elderly lady and elephant, out of party ("The Continuing Adventures of Bungalow Bill," who always went hunting with his elephant and gun and always took his mum.)
3:33 - Ringo at table near door
3:45 - Brian Epstein begins to put on his scarf
3:47 - Head of Stu Sutcliffe on body of James Dean from "Sgt Pepper" cover
3:48 - Flowers, drum and tuba from "Sgt Pepper" cover
3:49 - H.G. Wells and Lawrence of Arabia from "Sgt Pepper" cover chat (I know other guests are supposed to be rest of people on the cover, but they aren't as clearly identifiable as these two)
3:58 - Eleanor Rigby headstone ("Eleanor Rigby")
4:00 - Priest walks from grave ("Eleanor Rigby")
4:01 - Sheepdog runs through cemetery ("Martha My Dear" definitely, "Hey Bulldog" possibly)
4:04 - Long and winding road in background ("The Long and Winding Road")
4:05 - Paul romps on hill ("The Fool on the Hill")
4:12 - Zebra-crossing from the cover of "Abbey Road"
4:14 - Meter maid with bag across her shoulder steps onto curb ("Lovely Rita." She's definitely wearing a uniform and carrying a little white book.)
4:30 - Beatles walk into theater (taken from "A Hard Days Night")
0:14 - more portraits (left to right, Paul, John, Ringo, George)
0:38 - Beatles walk through dock workers
0:48 - Cavern Club (club where Beatles played many shows before becoming famous)
0:52 - Beatles performing at Cavern Club
1:06 - Strawberry Field ("Strawberry Fields Forever") 1:18 - Eggman appears ("I Am the Walrus")
1:27 - Beatles begin to walk off curb behind eggman
1:33 - Pretty nurse selling poppies from tray ("Penny Lane")
1:42 - Barber shop, with pictures of every head he's had the pleasure to know, including the Fab Four ("Penny Lane")
1:47 - Sign on wall reads "Help" ("Help!")
1:49 - Boy holds up hand to whisper to girl ("Do You Want to Know a Secret?")
1:50 - Ringo jumps from doorway
1:54 - Beatles stand by car
1:56 - Window has Beatles montage. First third looks like Anthology 1 cover. Other panels may be covers of other two volumes. [They Are, ed.]
2:02 - Birthday cake ("Birthday")
2:02 - Cake has a 6 and a 4 on it ("When I'm Sixty-Four")
2:07 - George appears on street
2:13 - George walks into office (In reality, Apple headquarters) with sign that reads "Dr. Robert" ("Dr. Robert")
2:18 - Ringo runs by
2:22 - John in crowd scene at car wreck, craning neck while others turn away ("A Day in the Life")
2:26 - Car wreck ("A Day in the Life" definitely, "Don't Pass Me By" possibly)
2:27 - Fire engine ("Penny Lane")
2:29 - Policemen in a row ("I Am the Walrus")
2:32 - Fireman ("Penny Lane")
2:38 - Helter Skelter slide (It looks like a lighthouse, but you can see the slide circling the building. "Helter Skelter," of course.)
2:38 - Kite ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite")
2:42 - Children run by in pig masks ("Piggies")
2:43 - Someone enters house through window from ladder ("She Came in Through the Bathroom Window")
2:51 - Writer working at desk ("Paperback Writer")
2:54 - Beatles walk behind children in pig masks (It's small, but it's obvious it's them)
3:00 - Sir Walter Raleigh portrait ("I'm So Tired")
3:05 - Beatles on TV
3:06 - John sitting in chair
3:08 - Copy of Daily Mail on table ("Paperback Writer") which reads 'Ten Thousand Holes in Blackburn, Lancashire' ("A Day in the Life")
3:08 - Bowl of green apples (reference to Apple Corps, Ltd.)
3:08 - Box of Savoy Truffles sits on table (kind of hard to make out, but that's what it says: "Savoy Truffle")
3:10 - Picture of Chairman Mao in window ("Revolution")
3:13 - Workers repairing hole in roof ("Fixing a Hole")
3:13 - Blue Meanie pops his head through hole (the film "Yellow Submarine")
3:18 - Newspaper taxi appears ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds")
3:22 - Woman leaves home ("She's Leaving Home") 3:22 - Picture of Mao being carried across street ("Revolution" definitely, "Carry That Weight" possibly)
3:22 - John and Yoko waltz by (taken from film "Let It Be" and probably representing "The Ballad of John and Yoko.")
3:23 - Blue Meanie pops head up from out of sewer (the film "Yellow Submarine")
3:25 - Magical Mystery Tour bus passes in far background (Hard to see, but it's there)
3:31 - Big game hunter leads procession, including elderly lady and elephant, out of party ("The Continuing Adventures of Bungalow Bill," who always went hunting with his elephant and gun and always took his mum.)
3:33 - Ringo at table near door
3:45 - Brian Epstein begins to put on his scarf
3:47 - Head of Stu Sutcliffe on body of James Dean from "Sgt Pepper" cover
3:48 - Flowers, drum and tuba from "Sgt Pepper" cover
3:49 - H.G. Wells and Lawrence of Arabia from "Sgt Pepper" cover chat (I know other guests are supposed to be rest of people on the cover, but they aren't as clearly identifiable as these two)
3:58 - Eleanor Rigby headstone ("Eleanor Rigby")
4:00 - Priest walks from grave ("Eleanor Rigby")
4:01 - Sheepdog runs through cemetery ("Martha My Dear" definitely, "Hey Bulldog" possibly)
4:04 - Long and winding road in background ("The Long and Winding Road")
4:05 - Paul romps on hill ("The Fool on the Hill")
4:12 - Zebra-crossing from the cover of "Abbey Road"
4:14 - Meter maid with bag across her shoulder steps onto curb ("Lovely Rita." She's definitely wearing a uniform and carrying a little white book.)
4:30 - Beatles walk into theater (taken from "A Hard Days Night")
The Betrothed And Eiffel Tower
November 16, 2021
Gone For Christmas
November 15, 2021
Why Tokyo Works
November 14, 2021
While trains have long been part of Japanese daily life after most of Tokyo was leveled during World War II, Japan had to make a post-war decision to either adopt the American automobile-focused city or to rely on public transportation. Of course, they chose public transportation, likely because of Japan’s lack of natural resources like oil. Thus, small towns outside of Tokyo could connect with the denser downtown areas, turning these peripheral areas into liveable, well-connected hubs. This is why Tokyo today is so sprawling, yet so connected. The system was so effective that Tokyo currently has an incredibly low car-ownership rate — 0.54 cars per household — while San Francisco’s rate is 1.10 and London’s is 0.74.
“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation,” says Colombian politician Gustavo Petro. His quote rings especially true when considering Tokyo’s trains. Its rail system is an equalizer between rich and poor. It’s usually the fastest way to get from A to B within the city, it’s affordable and everyone uses it. There is no stigma attached to riding the train, it’s simply the standard.
Easy Times
November 13, 2021
Easy times come hard for me and oh, my darling
Time again to dream that you are coming home
Time again to dream that you are coming home
Faces #12
November 12, 2021
Photo by Emad Kolahi on Unsplash