My Virtual Reading Room

A biblical- and ancient-Near-Eastern-studies–themed parody of "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" from The Pirates of Penzance. Lyrics, musical arrangement, and vocals by Joshua Tyra, ⓒ 2011. Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, original lyrics by William S. Gilbert.

[From my archives, originally posted Feb.10, 2010]
~~~~

We can never know.
He answered me like the stillness of a star
That silences us asking.
No, Sarah, no:
We are and that is all our answer.
We are and what we can is suffer.
But...
         what suffers loves.
                                         And love
Will live its suffering again,
Risk its own defeat again,
Endure the loss of everything again
And yet again and yet again
In doubt, in dread, in ignorance, unanswered,
Over and over, with the dark before,
The dark behind it...and still live....still love.

(From Archibald MacLeish's J.B.)

The Pilgrim's Way


I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way,
Or male and female devilkins to lead my feet astray.
If these are added, I rejoice---if not, I shall not mind,
So long as I have leave and choice to meet my fellow-kind.
For as we come and as we go (and deadly-soon go we!)
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Thus I will honour pious men whose virtue shines so bright
(Though none are more amazed than I when I by chance do right),
And I will pity foolish men for woe their sins have bred
(Though ninety-nine per cent. of mine I brought on my own head).
And, Amorite or Eremite, or General Averagee,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they bore me overmuch, I will not shake mine ears,
Recalling many thousand such whom I have bored to tears.
And when they labour to impress, I will not doubt nor scoff;
Since I myself have done no less and---sometimes pulled it off.
Yea, as we are and we are not, and we pretend to be,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they work me random wrong, as oftentimes hath been,
I will not cherish hate too long (my hands are none too clean).
And when they do me random good I will not feign surprise.
No more than those whom I have cheered with wayside charities.
But, as we give and as we take---whate'er our takings be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

But when I meet with frantic folk who sinfully declare
There is no pardon for their sin, the same I will not spare
Till I have proved that Heaven and Hell which in our hearts we have
Show nothing irredeemable on either side of the grave.
For as we live and as we die---if utter Death there be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Deliver me from every pride---the Middle, High, and Low---
That bars me from a brother's side, whatever pride he show.
And purge me from all heresies of thought and speech and pen
That bid me judge him otherwise than I am judged. Amen!
That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company,
That I may labour in my day, vocation and degree,
To prove the same in deed and name, and hold unshakenly
(Where'er I go, whate'er I know, whoe'er my neighbor be)
This single faith in Life and Death and to Eternity:
``The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!''

(Rudyard Kipling)

(via debriswoman --many thanks :))

Just in case you were short of reading material this Sunday ;))
~~~

Religious commentary:

Children of Nachson, from My Jewish Learning, about the meaning of faith ("Leap, and the net will appear")


The Jewish spriritual path to character development, also from My Jewish Learning

(“If not for the yetzer hara,” teaches one Midrash , “no one would build a house, take a spouse, or beget children.” )

["yetzer hara" is "the evil inclination", i.e., the non-spiritual side of human nature]


Flowers and art:

Mimosa flower is a symbol for International Women's Day, from The Exotic Flowers blog

17 Flowers that look like something else

An extensive online collection of libraries and museums' coloring books

What happens if you accidentally knock over a Ming vase in a museum? from "Today I found out"


Language, literature, and general:


Iza Duffus Hardy, a forgotten author who mixed with the pre-Raphaelites, from Art UK

Do kids really learn languages faster than adults? from "Today I found out"

I ain't 'woke'. I am human, from J.V. Manning

Why is wine almost always drunk in wine glasses instead of regular glasses, from "Today I found out"

("For a lot of people, a nice glass of wine is used to enhance enjoyment of things like the four F’s that make life worth living- friends, family, food, and… one other thing…")...I would think there are a few more things that ought to be on that list...and as to the role of the "one more thing"...it often results in non-enjoyable consequences...:P


Math, science, and medicine


Mathematicians solve a long standing "42" problem using a planetary supercomputer, from Science Alert. ("The answer to life, universe, and everything" :P)

GERD: What's Not Helpful and Other Practice Pearls, from Medscape

("Watto: For those keeping score at home, you can continue to drink coffee and eat tomatoes, pizza, chocolate, and spicy foods—all the things that people like.

Brigham: Wasn't there something about smoking and alcohol too?

Williams: Right. Please go ahead and continue to smoke and drink." :P)

Giant bacteria-infecting viruses have features previously only seen in living cells, from Science Alert



(Many thanks to sallymn, minoanmiss, and lindahoyland for some of the links in this list)

У нас большой дефицит теплых семейных праздников, поводов собраться вместе, когда мы не нагружены и не перегружены ничем лишним. И Новый год — один из таких дней... это просто условная дата, позволяющая собраться вместе, улыбнуться друг другу, подарить подарки, тихо отпраздновать календарную смену.
Желать в Новый год что-либо — очень трудно. Желать надо того, чего нет. Так что я желаю каждому человеку определить свои пустоты. Нет ли у кого терпения, сильной веры, денег, жены или мужа, у живущего в браке — детей — пусть человек даст себе ответ на вопрос: «Чего у меня нет? Чего я хочу?»
Я желаю вам того, чего у вас нет, и чего вы очень хотите. С единственным условием: чтобы вам это пошло на пользу. Ибо есть две беды — неисполнение желаний и исполнение желаний, и может случиться так, что желание ваше исполнится, но вы будете самым несчастным человеком.
Пусть пустота ваша, если это действительно пустота, нуждающаяся в наполнении, наполнится подарками от Бога.

"You don't need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfection."

...it's mentioned in one of my longtime favorite books, "Colas Breugnon" by Romain Rolland
~~


The St. Martin's festival is celebrated on 11 November, or sometimes the night before, in some regions of the Netherlands, Flanders, northern France, some German-speaking areas, Portugal, Hungary and on the island of Sint Maarten.

The children walk past the doors, sing songs and get something tasty.

(from the Vintage Postcards FB page)

Classic Peanuts: "She must be kidding"

Prickly City: "Everything will be all right"

Mark Trail: interesting info about the black garden snake

"Rose of Jericho" by Cindy Veach

I'm not sure about this gift. This tangle
of dried roots curled into a fist. This gnarl

I've let sit for weeks beside the toaster
and cookbooks on a bed of speckled granite.

What am I waiting for? Online I find
Rose of Jericho prayers and rituals for safe birth,

well-being, warding off the evil eye.
At first I thought I'd buy some white stones,

a porcelain bowl. But I didn't and I didn't.
I don't believe in omens. This still fist

of possibility all wrapped up in itself.

( There it sat through the holidays, into the New Year. / Through all the days I've been gone. Dormant. )

(reposted with thanks from browngirl)

Benedicam Domino

Thank God for life: life is not sweet always.
Hands may be heavy-laden, hearts care full,
Unwelcome nights follow unwelcome days,
And dreams divine end in awakenings dull.
Still it is life, and life is cause for praise.
This ache, this restlessness, this quickening sting,
Prove me no torpid and inanimate thing,
Prove me of Him who is of life the Spring.
I am alive!--and that is beautiful.

Thank God for Love: though Love may hurt and wound,
Though set with sharpest thorns its rose may be,
Roses are not of winter, all attuned
Must be the earth, full of soft stir, and free
And warm ere dawns the rose upon its tree.
Fresh currents through my frozen pulses run;
My heart has tasted summer, tasted sun,
And I can thank Thee, Lord, although not one
Of all the many roses blooms for me.

(Susan Coolidge)

(Edward Shillito)

"Remember: an eye for an eye just makes the international eyepatch industry wealthy."

Source

There Is No God, The Wicked Sayeth

"There is no God," the wicked saith,
"And truly it's a blessing,
For what He might have done with us
It's better only guessing."

"There is no God," a youngster thinks,
"or really, if there may be,
He surely did not mean a man
Always to be a baby."

"There is no God, or if there is,"
The tradesman thinks, "'twere funny
If He should take it ill in me
To make a little money."

"Whether there be," the rich man says,
"It matters very little,
For I and mine, thank somebody,
Are not in want of victual."

Some others, also, to themselves,
Who scarce so much as doubt it,
Think there is none, when they are well,
And do not think about it.

But country folks who live beneath
The shadow of the steeple;
The parson and the parson's wife,
And mostly married people;

Youths green and happy in first love,
So thankful for illusion;
And men caught out in what the world
Calls guilt, in first confusion;

And almost everyone when age,
Disease, or sorrows strike him,
Inclines to think there is a God,
Or something very like Him.

Arthur Hugh Clough