"Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto"

After a very chill week here Καθολικός διάκονος, I am putting forth Styx's Mr. Roboto as our Friday traditio; an unapologetic blast from the past. I had forgotten what a great song this was until I heard it while working out last week. I love that this is a live version of the song performed at a relatively small venue.

Styx's album Cornerstone remains one of my favorite rock albums ever. Mr. Roboto, however, is off their album Kilroy Was Here. Somewhat like the Who's Tommy, Kilroy is something of a rock opera set in a dystopian future in which rock music is against the law in a facsist state governed by "MMM (i.e., "the Majority for Musical Morality- can anyone say [as Allan Bloom did], Plato's republic?). Kilroy, the main character, was formerly a rock star, but is now imprisoned by MMM leader Dr. Righteous. Mr. Roboto is the part of the story where Kilroy escapes, disguised as Mr. Roboto, after finding out that another musician, Jonathan Chance, is making efforts to restore rock music.

Or, as Geddy Lee sang: "All this machinery making modern music/Can still be open hearted."

"The problem's plain to see/Too much technology/Machines to save our lives/Machines de-humanize...Now everyone can see (Secret secret, I've got a secret)/My true identity.../I'm Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy..."

"Cast in this unlikely role, ill-equipped to act..."

Since this is the 1,900th post here on Καθολικός διάκονος and it is Friday, I have been racking my brain all week for something appropriately wonderful. I gave up on that because it is really kind of a silly criterion. When all else fails, go with what you know. So, here's Rush singing a great song, Limelight, one that flies in the face of carte blanche denunciations of rock music. For me to forsake or betray rock would be to deny an important and actual part of my experience, that is, myself, one of those factors that contribute to who I am.

This is our traditio for today. I appreciate the diligence of both of my readers. For the past year or so, believe it or not, my blog is a day-to-day proposition, which I hope enables me to convey a kind urgency, which must be distinguished from both desperation and panic, let alone paranoia, or negativity.

Last night reading in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes I came across these verses, which surprised me despite having read this book many times: "I have considered the task which God has appointed for men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God. I recognized that there is nothing better than to be glad and to do well during life. For every man, moreover, to eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of all his labor is a gift of God. I recognized that whatever God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it, or taking from it. Thus has God done that he may be revered" (verses 10-14).

The word "the timeless" in this passage is variously translated as "eternity," "the world," or sometimes even "darkness." As near as I can tell, the most literal translation is something like "the obscurity."

"But Gabriel don't you blow your trumpet 'til you hear it from me"

Last month NPR's All Things Considered did a very nice story on the song Ain't No Grave, written by Pentecostal preacher, Brother Claude Ely. I encourage you to listen to the story (it's about 13 minutes long).

His song is a classic because it is a heartfelt statement of faith in the resurrection. St. Paul wrote the church in Corinth that "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Cor. 15:17-19- ESV).

Our traditio for this penitential day is Brother Tom Jones singing Brother Claude's classic:

This song was one of the last things recorded by the late, great Johnny Cash.

"And the tears and the sweat only mocked my desperation"

This song says Memorial Day to me, especially in these times when have so many who have served so faithfully and honorably coming back bearing so much. Let's help them.

"A lot of people died over there and a lot of people got real screwed up." Love ya brothers. Hang tough and stick together, like you learned to do under adverse conditions. Above all, thanks.

To everyone else, please take a minute to bow your heads a give thanks for those who have given so much. Behind all the cheerleading, there is a heavy human cost. Happy Memorial Day!

Times change, even if just second-to-second

Mr. Zimmerman (a.k.a. Bob Dylan) turns 70 today. Happy birthday Bob. You're a rare man of integrity, as well as great song-and-dance man. So, at the recommendation of my dear friend Kim, who more than shares my enthusiasm for the music of Dylan, and in a mid-week traditio in honor of this auspicious (suspicious?) occasion, an eternal truth, a song that certainly exhibits an eschatological dimension:

"'Cause the man from Mars won't eat up bars when the TV's on"

Since, according to Harold Camping, tomorrow is the Rapture, I thought a nice traditio would be Blondie's classic- Rapture. I am certainly no pre-millennial dispensationalist, but even should Rapture occur tomorrow, I am quite certain I will still be here for the seven years of tribulation, etc.

Bach: Goldberg Variations, part 1

Glenn Gould plays Bach. There's really not much more I need to write, except that this is the first of what is going to be a number of very different Friday posts. Enjoy.

"No we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it"

Mr. Billy Joel has this week's Friday traditio. So, I'll start roughly where I entered the picture, on the cutting edge of Gen. X:

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock

Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

In words of Journey:Oh, the movie never ends/
It goes on and on and on and on! So, don't stop believin'!

Christos Anesti

"Don't discard me...Just because you think I mean you harm"

Just as we sometimes feel oppressed because people expect too much of us, we often expect more of others than they are capable of giving, more than is fair to expect. This inability, which is the result of our human limitations, does not eradicate the need we have, which is why, especially on Fridays, I pray, Jesus, I trust in you!

"But these cuts I have/They need love to help them heal."

Meum cum sim pulvis et cinis

"It's fun to lose and to pretend"

Kurt, we still miss you. 17 years gone, but not forgotten.

Smells Like Something Weird, raw, the way it was meant to be played. If you don't play it raw, then at least have the decency to play it as part of a Vegas lounge act with Paul Anka.

I'm worst at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed... Kurt Cobain

For when I am weak, then I am strong... Paul of Tarsus

Hence, it's a matter of where, or to whom, you look.

When he was a young man, Cobain lived with the family of one of his friends, Jesse Reed. The Reeds are Christians. When he lived with them he became a Christian and was even baptized. By all accounts, at least for a time, he was devout. It would be less than fair not to point out that Kurt later renounced Christianity. The Nirvana song Lithium is about his Christian experience. Nonetheless, like a lot of artists, Cobain used Christian imagery in his music right up to the end. The lyrics to Lithium make me believe that Cobain was yet another victim of Christianity reduced to moralism, even to Pelagianism, which holds that you save yourself, perfect yourself, by your good works. If, like Ronnie James Dio, this is true, he was right to reject it.

Meum cum sim pulvis et cinis

"Some seed fell by the wayside, some of it fell among thorns..."

In light of the Jesus People landslide this week, our traditio for this Third Friday of Lent is Sower by All Saved Freak Band

Hurry, take what you've got, do with it what you can.
Because the Reaper in heaven needs a sower in the land.
Hurry!

Meum cum sim pulvis et cinis

"I guess this is our last goodbye"

This old Police song, off their early album Regatta de Blanc, is certainly about adolescent angst over losing a love, or a supposed love. Nonetheless, it says something really striking about our mindset at times, our self-absorption. If being an adolescent is about anything, it is about being completely absorbed by yourself, seeing yourself as alone, unloved, unworthy, yet with a heart, that is, a desire bigger than the world.

When we become completely turned-in and obsessive about this, it can be tragic and lead to people injuring themselves, starving themselves, or even worse.

These words are particularly striking:

And you don't care so I won't cry
But you'll be sorry when I'm dead
And all this guilt will be on your head
I guess you'd call it suicide
But I'm too full to swallow my pride

My life has been touched several times by suicide. By order of magnitude, from my extended family, to friends, to people who have sought my pastoral guidance, as well as dealing with people in the aftermath of a suicide.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ, shows us that we are always accompanied on our way. He shows us that love is stronger than even death. Further, He is the fulfillment of our desire, as the title of the hymn, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, indicates.

Meum cum sim pulvis et cinis

"Once upon a time ... You threw bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?"

Today's traditio features a video that is a pleasant throw back, as is the song. So, Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone goes out those who, in these difficult times, when the gap between the rich and the poor are greater than ever and growing, seek to deny the right of laborers to collectively bargain. What I find even sadder is powerful interests are succeeding in dividing people against each other and that many have been conned into working towards political goals that are contrary not only to their own interests, but those of the common good. The economy exists for people, not people for the economy. In short, people do not exist to serve powerful and anonymous interests, but the true and living God.

In his encyclical on labor, promulgated on the 90th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, Laborem exercens, Bl. JPII asserted "a principle that has always been taught by the Church: the principle of the priority of labour over capital" (par. 12). Nonetheless, JPII continues, what tends to happen is that capital is often deployed against labor. Hence, "There is a need for ever new movements of solidarity of the workers and with the workers…The Church is firmly committed to this cause, for it considers it to be its mission, its service, a proof of its fidelity to Christ…"

As Fr. Joe Scott wrote over on Busted Halo: "Today there are great changes taking place in our national economic structures, as the development of a world economy changes the way companies and factories do business. Labor unions have declined in strength and the most difficult and physically demanding forms of work are once again performed by recent immigrants to our shores. Many of us have forgotten the better working conditions won for our grandparents through the efforts of organized labor. It’s important for us to remember the tradition of our Church in supporting workers in their efforts to achieve a better life."

"If there's Lord above... give me something in to believe in"

It is funny how much blogging becomes part of my life. Not having posted for two days seems like a long time. I think the Friday traditio is a good way to get back in the saddle. Today I do so with Poison's Give Me Something To Believe In. The heavy metal/glam/hair bands of the '80s were nothing if not melodramatic, but many times they struck heart chords. For my money the best songwriter in the group is Brett Michaels.

So-called existential angst is part and parcel of the human condition. As Christians, we attribute this to our fallenness, which is the result of original sin. I recapitulate the original sin each and every time I sin; those times I usurp God and seek to be self-determining, deciding for myself what is right and what is wrong with no reference to God or other people. This usually takes the form of me putting myself first, looking out for number one, as it were. Nothing could be more antithetical to following Christ, who calls me to self-emptying service of others, the most important feature of the diakonia to which I am all called first through baptism and then by ordination.

Writing about Israel to the church in Rome, St. Paul said- "As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all" (verses 28-32 underlining emphasis mine).

God's mercy is Jesus Christ. Hence, I don't need something to believe in, but Someone and not just any old body, but someone who believes in me, not just enough to die for me, but to rise from the dead for me and to remain with me by the power of His Spirit! As Pope Benedict declared at the end of his first Easter Urbi et Orbi message back in 2006: "Christus resurrexit, quia Deus caritas est!", or "Christ is resurrected because God is love." The Gospel isn't free, but it doesn't cost money, it costs me everything, but what I receive is infinitely greater that what, even at my best, I am capable of giving.

Let's not forget the veterans of today's conflicts, especially those traumatized and shaken, wounded physically, mentally, and spiritually, by asking that they come to see and leverage God's love and mercy for them, just as we pray for ourselves. As Brett's heartfelt lyrics remind us, especially when he remembers his friend, experience always trumps ideology.

"I wanna tell you, oh, how much I love you"

I thought that Led Zepplin lead singer Robert Plant's cover of Phil Phillips' Sea of Love, which he did with his short-lived post-Zepplin group The Honey Drippers (that also featured his Zepplin bandmate Jimmy Page along with Jeff Beck), would work for this particular day. I chose this song largely due to the fact that, in addition to being the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, today is my lovely wife's birthday. So, hearkening back to an earlier era, I dedicate this to her.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us
St. Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us

"there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead"

In my estimation Neil Young is right up there with Bob Dylan as a man, a songwriter, a musician, whose integrity remains completely intact. Many of Young's songs, like Rockin' in the Free World (This Note's For You also comes to mind in this vein- to complete the irony YouTube has an advert up-front), which is our Friday traditio, cut through the B.S., the propaganda, the ideology. Way more often than not, he succeeds in telling the truth. As one prominent rocker said of Neil Young, "His lyrics never suck."

Got a man of the people,
says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
got roads to drive.

Remember, you're only tragically unhip if you think not being hip is a tragedy.

"Nothin's gonna help you more than rock n' roll"

I heard this song on Monday morning and, well, it just hit me in the heart with a much needed ray of light. So, Boston's Feelin' Satisfied is this Friday's traditio:

"You gotta have a little rock 'n' roll music
To get you through the stormy weather
And do whatever you feel"

"Just a little deuce coupe with a flat head mill"

On Monday, after learning of my Dad's death, I was driving North on I-15 to my parents' house. It was a cold, gray day. As I neared the exit near their house, the sun suddenly came out and the Beach Boys' song Good Vibrations came on. It was unusual, though not unheard of, for the station I was listening to- 103.5 The Arrow- to play the Beach Boys. My Dad loved their music, but Good Vibrations was far from his favorite song, but as The Stones observed- "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find you get what you need. Needless to say, it was very much a sign for me.

Today is my Dad's funeral. So, his favorite Beach Boys song, Little Deuce Coup, is our Friday traditio. I am very appreciative of all the thoughts, prayers and expressed condolences throughout these difficult days.

Under normal circumstances I would have posted something on the passing of Sargent Shriver, but I'll turn this one over to Bono, who writes about Shriver in the New York Times. Given the theme of Monday's post, here's the bit from Bono I'll leave as a take away: "He and his beautiful bride, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, would go to Mass every day — as much an act of rebellion against brutal modernity as it was an act of worship. Love, yes, but love as a brave act, a bold act, requiring toughness and sacrifice." Amen brother Hewson!

A deep diaconal bow to Webster Bull for bringing Bono's piece and the relevant quote from it to my attention.

"What's your price for flight?"

Members of Night Ranger, in a VH-1 Behind the Music episode in which they were featured, said that the term "Motoring" used in the song's lyrics- "You're motoring. What's your price for flight? In finding Mr. Right?"- refers both to driving around in a car (as in "Cruising the 'vard" where I come from) and to picking someone up for casual sex. The song was written by the band's drummer, Kelly Keagy, who had heard that his younger sister had done the latter. Indeed, what's the price for flight? I think Sister Christian is the perfect traditio given the subject of my posting this week and looking forward to one I have on tap for the beginning of next week.

Indeed, "There's so much in life Don't you give it up
Before your time is due."

Veni adoramus

"I didn't know what my heart would do"

Corinne Bailey Rae sings like an angel, like Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, except she sounds a bit more innocent, though with the very sudden and unexpected death of her husband, Jazz musician Jason Rae, that resulted from a lethal combo of alcohol and drugs in 2008, she certainly knows pain and heartache. She is a lovely chanteuse and The Blackest Lily is our Friday traditio.

"You laid a trail that led straight to your door, oh/
And I could resist but it was hard to ignore, oh"