I forgot. Early spring isn’t really a very attractive time of year.
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I finished reading “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett, and I was really conflicted about whether to say anything about it or not. It’s a hot-selling fictional treatment of how a 12th century English cathedral might have been built. That could have been a great book … heck, judging by the sales, a lot of people thought it was a great book.

My problem is that it seemed like three books rolled into one — one of them was mechanical but fascinating, one of them was surprisingly inspirational for a non-Orthodox work … and the third one was so revolting to me that it may negate any good I’d derive from the other two. So what were those three books?
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My current workload allowed for a morning off, and so I’m whooping it up in my usual way — hanging out at the bookstore, perusing books I probably won’t buy. It’s not completely unfair to them, since I do occasionally pick one up. And besides, I’m thoughtful enough to patronize the cafe and always leave a little spending cash behind.

Today’s soy latte order, however, is interrupted by a strange remark from the barista.

“Uh oh, I better call security. Looks like we’ve got an escaped convict.”

I think my face registered total surprise for a couple seconds, until the light dawned and I looked down at the shirt I was wearing. I have on the touristy Alcatraz t-shirt I picked up on a recent trip to San Francisco. Funny how you do things like that and then totally forget what other people are seeing all day long.

“Yep, that’s me,” I reply. “Kind of silly for me not to have changed into another shirt, huh?” So we both have a grin, and I get my coffee.

Of course, it’s nothing like a prison uniform, and it is a strange choice to have picked up. On the aesthetic side, it sports some of the graphics that San Francisco’s park system have that I really liked and wish I could do — very clean and precise, but really eye-catching and evocative. (Samples, including the Golden Gate Parks ones, HERE. Click on any to upsize.) But I also didn’t mind the meta-message I was carrying away. It’s Lent, so maybe it’s okay to admit it: I am a prisoner. We all are.
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Ben Stein, who you may remember as the boring teacher in “Ferris Bueller” but who is really an all-around smart guy, gave a short interview to Money magazine (HERE) and expressed doubt that the economy is really in all that much trouble. But he did think there was a problem a lot worse out there, and I’m inclined to agree: the problem is my generation. We’re wankers.

Q. Are you totally sanguine about the outlook for the economy?

A. No. There’s a real economic crisis highballing down the track. And that’s the baby boom’s retirement. There are going to be 20 million or 30 million people coming up quite short of the money they’ll need to live on. I’m terribly worried about that.

Q. What’s the problem with boomers?

A. A shortage of intelligent behavior. We’re a lazy, undisciplined generation.

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Just got back from some time in Death Valley. My mom and I were hoping to catch some of the wildflowers. We missed the peak season but still saw many thousands of little purple and yellow blooms littered across the oceans of bubbling ochre sand. Here are some of the more choice images. I was thinking about adding description, but really, it seems like a place that everyone just has to go and see for themselves, and make up their own mind about what they’re there for.

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I almost forgot that I got a request for a blog post re-run the other night from Nicodemus. Since I don’t get many of those (or any, come to think of it), I’m happy to oblige. Especially since the information I’m passing along on there is one of my favorite observations about how the Orthodox view the passage of time.

So the link is HERE, and for those who like to cut to the chase, just read the third paragraph in the section called “The same but different.”

For those who want the bottom line even BEFORE they cut to the chase, the point is that no matter how much you think your life might be a kind of rat race, running round and round on the same track, you’re actually on more of a Slinky. Which is a good thing. Confused yet? Read on.

When I got a dog, I found out that some of my assumptions about dogs were wrong. I thought dogs bounded around all day long, since dog-people regularly remark on the lethargy of cats. Nope, I don’t know what breed of dog those people had, but our Clementine maps her day out in terms of room heaters, couches and cushy fabric.

I thought that dogs needed a daily walk (or two or three) because of all this boundless energy. Maybe that is true of some of those zippy little terriers and things, but since Clementine is a scent-hound, the only thing she wants out of a walk is to visit specific spots and catch up on the “news.” She wants to find out who else has been out (dog? cat? squirrel?) and what they had to say. It’s all very geeky, really.

Something like this:

1. Get to one of the hotspots — the telephone pole at the end of the street is a major one — and go online.
2. Read the e-mail.
3. Has anyone answered the message you left yesterday? If not, re-read it. If so, re-read it anyway.
4. Leave a new e-mail, in proper haiku:
   hi im clem n tine
   im okay and u r 2
   tell me who u r :-)

Clementine doesn’t add that all caps subject header, raking up divots with her back feet to punctuate her messages. I think that’s more of a boy thing.

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Throughout Lent, we change the hymns we sing after the Gospel reading in Orthros. At other times of the year, we ask for the prayers of the apostles and the Theotokos at that point, asking their help to reflect on the Gospel reading, asking for strength to continue to make our slow way to the Lord’s Table. During Lent, we don’t dare to ask without reminding ourselves of our fallenness, our great need.

Open to me the doors of repentance, O Life-giver; for my soul goeth early to the temple of thy holiness, coming in the temple of my body, wholly polluted. But because thou art compassionate, purify me by the compassion of thy mercies.

Here is a version from the album “Gates of Repentance” by Fr. Apostolos Hill, for those who haven’t had a chance to hear it:

There is so much longing in these hymns, so much of the true sense of what it is to be the prodigal son who has come to his senses. To me, this is a little of the voice of the Lenten wanderer.

These are hymns that would melt a heart of stone. The great difficulty for a convert coming from the traditions of Western music is in being able to sing them. Because there is a different relationship with time than we’re used to. These aren’t SONGS, they’re stories that don’t end.

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Well, here’s something you just don’t see every day: the “Soul Children of Chicago” singing “Lord, have mercy” 75 times in Ukrainian (or is it Slavonic? Reading the comments to this, people aren’t sure. We do this response at Vespers and Divine Liturgy, but I’m not sure which one it is either. And we pronounce it different, too. Oh well. It’s a small world, after all.)

And just like that, Lent starts again. We hear the cries of Adam in Orthros:

Woe is me; I cannot bear the disgrace, I who was formerly king over all earthly creatures. Behold, I am now captive because of a counsel aside from the law.

We hear Christ telling his disciples how to fast and how not to fast:

And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. (Matt. 6:15)

We exchange an embrace at Forgiveness Vespers, asking forgiveness and giving forgiveness to each other. And it’s time to set out.

For some reason, it’s on my mind to pass along a passage from St. Theophan the Recluse that made a profound impact on me when I first read it 15 years ago or so. It was some of the most important advice about Lent that I ever got, and I try every year to live it out a little more.
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