[Oe List ...] Fwd: Wednesday's Child

Mon Apr 2 22:41:28 EDT 2012

Too broke to travel on China's 3-day Qingming holiday, so we recall the Holy Week of our tradition.  Saipan Tribune has been kind to host our musings.  Here's Wednesdays.

j'aime la vie

-----Original Message-----
From: jrvergarajr2031 <jrvergarajr2031 at aol.com>
To: editor <editor at saipantribune.com>; Mark_Rabago <Mark_Rabago at saipantribune.com>; jayvee_vallejera <jayvee_vallejera at saipantribune.com>
Cc: NAFAUM <NAFAUM at Yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Apr 3, 2012 10:37 am
Subject: Wednesday's Child

Wednesday's Child

Monday's child is fair of face
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe ... 
so goes thefamiliar nursery rhyme on fortune telling.

Some Christiansshifted Wednesday's woe to Friday's because of Jesus' crucifixion, elevatedinto religious dramaturgy by the faithful and into the realm of theologicalspeculation in all its heavenly grandeur, especially when the discipline wasstill the queen of the sciences.

Wednesday'sChild programs in the United States are for children with special needs, thefocus on the "need", requiring emotive emphasis to get the requisiteattention for sympathetic support to fund research and cure, in-kind donationsof logistics, or just plain common sentiment.

April isNational Autism Awareness Month, observed by some in the US since 1970.  Eliciting at the start condemnation for the so-called"refrigerator Moms", the post-WWII working woman whose attention isoften broader than just raising a child, we now have Autism gaining globalconcern for its epidemic proportion, with some still treating the phenomenon asbefitting the hush-hush room at the back of the house, and others making it aboutique designers' mind-robe to drape the Dustin Hoffman "RainbowMan" category.  

The child"full of woe" designation is the "child of stars" inChinese nomenclature.  Their glitter istranscendent and mysterious; it is special by immediate acclamation, therecognition of being is made before demonstration of specialty.  The "child of stars" is neitherhidden nor shunned.  Special schools areemerging that recognizes the "differently-abled" quality of children,rather than their alleged disabilities!

The word isout.  Every child comes into the worldalready a "winner" in the sperm lottery of Dad, and the free decisivechoosing ovum of Mom, and together, in a journey of just nine months, collaborativelycrafted one of the most complicated and sophisticated organisms in theplanet.  Babes do not need to provethemselves; they do not need to pass tests to qualify as humans.  They just need to be reminded that they canlive the awesomeness of their existence in full celebration and delight.

"Out ofthe mouth of babes ...", we are oft to say when truth is reflexivelyblurted out from a child.  One of mygrandsons near Chicago was rushed to the ER showing symptoms associated withmeningitis, and after a battery of tests and a three-day confinement forobservations in the hospital, an identified infected lymph node got bombarded swiftlywith antibiotics.  A relieved Mamahacking her profession on her laptop at the hospital, bundled off the youngone, only to be asked by the nurse to have him say "Ah" one moretime.

My grandsonstood up, looked the nurse straight in the eye, and boldly asserted:"Enough!"  Smiling, he led Momout of the room!

Something ofthat decisiveness must have infected the confidence and conviction of thatcarpenter from Galilee who stood up under the shadows of Solomon's portico tosay simply: "It has been said of old, but I say unto you . . ."  It must have been words of arrogance at atime when the "experts" of the law were the recognized speakers withauthority and finality.

It is the ringof authenticity that delivers authority in our time, as I suspect was the samein Jesus' time.  Of course, we have madea mockery of the tradition from the Galilean hills' pedagogue by making an iconout of his image.  Like his disciples whowitnessed transfiguration on the mountaintop, suggested that they construct atabernacle rather than mingle once more with the world's hoi polloi, we are often stuck with the protection of thecathedrals rather than promote the functions they served.  Our heroes are idols of adulation rather thantrail blazing exemplars in forging the new!

The propheticand messianic voice of Galilee, nevertheless, resonates among many folks todaywho find timber in their voices to say, "Enough already!"  Ways of operating and visions of a previoustime are to be respected, but the paradigm shifting required is more than just"occupying space" to demonstrate dismay.  Sadly, paradigm shifters resign if they areMDs at CHC!

We requiretransformation on the way we operate and the way we create visions that guideour strategies, on our lifestyles as individuals, on the debilitating remainsof hierarchical structures that defines corporate organizations on a peckingorder, and the sorry state of our ecology as we continue to prefer industrial gainand easy profit to the health of the planet and its citizens.

The UnitedMethodist Church holds its quadrennial General Conference in Florida at the endof the month, a turning point as the denominations' finance is fueled by methane,the tally of its members lost if unable to count beyond fingers and toes, andits 'methodical' ways grossly stuck on 19th century evangelical movement of theAmerican Midwest, particularly its foreign mission arm.  

Remainingprogressive voices can articulate the authority of authenticity, and withconfidence and conviction similar to one who spoke in Jerusalem, declare therelevant struggles of our time, the responsible use of commons, the limits ofprivate ownership, the effective human roles to be replicated, and thetransforming story to be told appropriate for 2012.

What wouldJesus say (WWJS) is not the issue.  Whatdo we say, is.  

Jaime R Vergara

All of yesterday, thanks; all of tomorrow, yes; all of today, let it be!

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