Sunday, September 27, 2009

Dad/Zebras/Swaney/Edelen/Health Care




(P1) Poetical

John J. Coletti (August 31, 1914 -
September 9, 2009)

link to obituary



So Many Poems
(for John J. Coletti)


My father lies dying
(so many poems)
His chest rises and doesn’t
(so many poems)
then rises again
(This is our moment)
My beacon now phoenix
(so many poems)
I draw him,
soothe him
(so many poems)
I sponge his lips with cranberry
He sucks on it
(honey bee)
So many poems
he’ll never read —
has never read —
so many.


(ed coletti - sept. '09) Please see full 7-Poem Suite For Dad at No Money in Poetry site

Comment or Read Comments Here on any of the above or below. Log in under "Name" or "Anonymous," but please be sure to sign some facsimile of your name. Actual name is best, but use what you like. Or email me at edcoletti@sbcglobal.net, and I can post it.

(photo by Katherine Hastings in Kenya 1989)














(poster by Ray Swaney)

(P2) Philosophical

VIRUSES OF THE MIND

by William Edelen
April 26, 2009

A child comes into the world, born an atheist as all babies are, and then is quickly indoctrinated with the religious virus of his or her parents and culture. A child through enculturation absorbs the culture of his, or her people. Enculturation is the process by which an individual learns the patterns of the family;

Children, through innocence, believe everything the parents tell them. They believe in the "tooth fairy"..."Santa Claus"..."The Easter bunny"..."witches changing princes into frogs"..."a man being born of a virgin"..."a man who could rise up from the dead"..."walk on water" and so forth. Children, being gullible, are easy prey for mental infections. It is easy for a child's consciousness to be exploited by a mind virus that is identical in nature to a computer virus or a biological virus.

The helpless young are easy victims of an insidious propaganda regardless of how ignorant or bigoted.

RELIGION IS A CULTURAL ACCIDENT. Children believe what their parents tell them and so follow the religious belief of their parents, or culture. The diety of ones worship is a product of ones culture. Catholic nuns do not have visions of the Buddha...nor do Buddhist nuns have visions of Christ.

Religions come with built in guilt mechanisms if the host starts to question. It is like a computer's warning statements if you try to delete a file needed for its operating system. Fear will usually remain even if guilt is overcome. A woman in my Congregational church in Tacoma, WA had grown up as a Roman Catholic and left to become a Congregationalist. She told me that she often awakened in the night in a cold sweat afraid she was going to be punished for that after death.

In my university class I would tell the students that the only reason they are Christian is due to the fact they were born in the United States to Christian parents. Had they been born in Israel they would be a Jew...in Japan a Buddhist...in India, Hindu...and so forth going through the various religious traditions. I told them they were not Christian because they had studied all the other religions of the world and then chose Christianity. And the only reason they were a Methodist, say, is because they were born into a Methodist home in the United States..They were not Methodist because they had studied all the other Protestant traditions and then chose to be Methodist. . In other words, quite simply and factually, they were only an enculturated Methodist Christian.

Link to Complete Essay


Comment or Read Comments Here on any of the above or below. Log in under "Name" or "Anonymous," but please be sure to sign some facsimile of your name. Actual name is best, but use what you like. Or email me at edcoletti@sbcglobal.net, and I can post it.

(P3) Political

10 comments:

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Ed, you are in my thoughts, friend, thanks particularly for sharing this poem ...

Your father is the poem ...

Don

Lynne Knight said...

Dear Ed,

My deepest sympathies. What a wonderful, vibrant man! His life seemed rich indeed, and I hope your memories of his love for life and generous spirit will carry you through this time of mourning.

I'm glad you had time to prepare for his death, to be with him, to let him show you more of the way.

Love,

Lynne

Gerald Nicosia said...

Sorry, Ed. Light a candle for him, and pray for his soul. My dad died in 1972, when I was a young man. I feel he speaks to me almost every day now. Keep your ears open.

Love, prayers—

Gerry Nicosia

Judy Carlin said...

Ed,

The resemblance between you and your Father is very strong--and you were a mighty cute baby!

Loved the poems--each and every one of them.

How's the knee?

Judy

gbrisbin@sbcglobal.net said...

Ed, those last days with your dad seem very rich. I am very glad you had this time.
I would say this to mister Edelin.If you were to ever explore the life and teachings of Christ you would not find a religion. Instead of telling people what to do or believe, he invited them to see things differently.He tried to convey God's absolute love for every human being and let it penetrate one's very marrow and experience the total and profound gratitude of God's grace. Either there was something mad about this man or,as HG Wells said, our hearts are still too small for his message. Only your dad really knows.

Yuki said...

Hi Ed,

I love the poem to your Dad. I will always remember his love for life... and his cooking!

BJ Favaro said...

Ed, I enjoyed learning about your dad in his obituary, and through your poem. Soldier on with your life now and always keep the memories...

BJ

Anonymous said...

Hi Ed!

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I like the poem.

Best Regards,

Paul

Toni Partington said...

Dear Ed:

First, thoughts of you on the passing of your Dad -- one can't know the right words or the feelings in your heart, yet the sense of someone missing - that spot of void is understandable. I've wondered if it is the hole that floats grief.

I read the poems on your blog and felt grateful to you for writing and posting. I am thankful for poetry in my life - especially at times when it becomes the way to express what I can't speak.

I wish you well.

gently,
toni

Toni Partington
ideas to results: life & career coaching, grant writing, editing services
(360) 909-1670
tpartington@earthlink.net
www.poettone.blogspot.com

Columnist for Sage Cohen's Writing the Life Poetic - E-ZINE
http://writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com

----- Original Message -----

Noel Lytle said...

noel lytle wrote:

dear ed: it took me a couple of weeks[we went to my 50th hs reunion] so i discovered it today. very powerful. i appreciate the vulnerability you show in your work, particularly this time. noel