THE FLOWER OF IMMORTALITY

You never know when a thought is going to creep up on you. You also never are quite sure whether it is a "thought" or a "memory."  This morning while on the streets, driving my way from errand to errand, listening to KUSC, classical music 24 hours @ day, the announcer introduced a piece from the ballet, "La Peri."  It is by the French composer Paul Dukas and consists of one act.  It is about the search for the Flower of Immortality taken from Persian mythology.  This ballet dates from around 1912 or so.  The story however is as old as human beings...or nearly.  That's why I am familiar with it.  I too have been around...a time or two, in fact.  I have to confess that the first time I heard it was in a seminary classroom.  Then again in the Philippines, on one Good Friday when a lay person was giving a 10 minute meditation on one of the "Seven Last Words."  He did not date the story, and he did situate it in North America, as part of the traditional practices of a nameless Indian Tribe.  I was in my early 30's.  I am now in 2.5x my early 30's and I still remember the way I heard the story from the pulpit on that historic Good Friday afternoon.  I will try to be brief.  It won't be easy, but I'll try.
It seems that the oldest recorded similarity to this story comes from the Epic of Gilgamesh [Babylonian mythology] which dates back to about 3,000 years before Christ. Gilgamesh, who is 2/3 god and 1/3 mortal, is told that the flower which bestows immortality grows in the depths of the ocean.  He goes down, finds it, brings it back up, lays it aside for a moment while he recovers from his efforts.  He naps, and while he is unaware, a snake eats the plant and Gilgamesh is forever more a mortal being.  >aside< Catholic seminarians study the Epic of Gilgamesh in the courses that make up the Introduction to Sacred Scripture.  I heard it there.
"The Peri" is a story from Persia that is similar.  The Peri (a kind of half evil/half good being) is in search of the Flower of Immortality and in fact, finds it.  It is a lotus, as the story goes.  The Peri's companion sees it, steals it while the Peri sleeps.  The Peri awakens, sees what is happening, claims it back and in the strife between the two, the lotus wilts and neither one benefits because of the influence of the immorality of mortal beings.
The version that I heard in church was a part of the meditation on the "word" of Jesus, "Father, why have you forsaken me?"  The narrator unfolded the story this way:  An ancient Indian tribe had an annual search for the first flower of Spring.  It had to be indisputably the very first flower of Spring.  The person who found it and could pluck it would be granted immortality.
One Spring, after many successive years of fruitless search, a young boy found the flower growing from the side of a steep precipice.  He stood guard over the flower while the tribe leaders conducted a search to ascertain the primacy of the blossom.  As it became clearer and clearer that this was indeed the One, more and more people gathered around to be a part of the plucking ceremony.  They fashioned a strong rope, braided from the finest deer leather.  They summoned the three strongest braves of the tribe who would be entrusted with the lowering and hoisting of the boy over the edge of the precipice.  All the while the boy kept asking for his father.  The leaders of the tribe tried to assure the boy that strong men would be needed for the task at hand.  Now the rope was ready, the men were ready but the boy was adamantly insisting that his father be the one to hold the rope.  Finally, the Chief sternly asked the boy if he was ready for the ceremony.  The boy bravely responded: "Only if my father is the one holding the rope.  He is the ONE I trust."
I never forgot that story.  I knew the Gilgamesh version from my Bible studies many years ago.  I was reminded of it one Good Friday in the Philippines.  This morning I was reminded of it when I heard the announcement of the music that was being cued up.  
Will I hear another version of this story before I die?  I suppose that chances are rather good that I will.  It is, after all, a good story, no matter what the setting.  It is an attention getting myth that tries to explain why we humans are not immortal.  We bring it upon ourselves.  This is a truth that was accepted even before it found its way into the Christian Bible with the story of Adam and Eve. [About 1,000 years before Christ]  
I guess this is more than a simple thought, or even just a simple memory.  It is a whole library of thoughts around one simple lesson, human beings are created good, but they sure have a hard time staying that way 100% of the time.  We know who the "Flower of Immortality" is and the good part is we don't have to keep Him to ourselves.  Check it out.  It's in the Bible too.

BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL

I gotta break this habit

Who, me?  Yup.  I've been doing this a lot lately.  Not because I HAVE to get something done, but because I love the silence and the quiet.  Problem is that it has a tendency to make my day begin later and that is really not good.  Those of you who have the same tendency perhaps do the same thing I do.  I push myself past the two or three yawns that should be obeyed as invitations to bed.  Once I have stared them down, I'm good for the long haul.
Problem also is that I get so much done.  Like now, I'm preparing a presentation for the Secular Franciscans over at another parish.  I've had it in my head for some long days now.  Finally tonight I sat down and made it appear "on paper", so to speak.  So, that's done.
Problem also was that I had some serious thinking to do about a question that came up about marriage and what Jesus has to say about it.  A Catholic friend of mine who has been entertaining some Jehovah's Witnesses Missionaries for about 8 or 9 weeks let himself get snookered into a corner about the Jesus exception in favor of divorce.  *&%@#++!!  So I wrote him a "study" about it and you can read it, if you like, by clicking here. 
Then I had this other thing to do, get an itinerary done for a pilgrimage to Rome, LaSalette, Paray-le-Monial, Lourdes and Paris.  So I did that and wrote a little nasty introduction to the travel agent who was trying to send us in two directions at the same time.  Love the French!
So see, I get to do all this and still spend some emotional time watching the Egyptians celebrate in Cairo.  After 8,000 years of civilization, it takes all this?  After 8,000 years and we still have viciously oppressive theocracy in Iran?  The area of Babylon!  The inventor of the alphabet!  The inventor of the zero, you know, like in "0".  Think of it.  It's quite a concept.  My big thought is, "Don't human beings ever learn anything?"
Come to think of it, although that was not the thought that began this whole thing, I have just decided that it is time for beddy-bye because that last thought is just so neat!  I'm quitting while I'm ahead.  I'm throwing myself into the arms of Morpheus.

FOLLOWING JESUS' BEHAVIOR IS BIBLICAL TOO, YA KNOW!

I can't help it, when I get a thought that completes a thought that I have  had for years, religious or not, you're going to get it.  I had a comment from another blog come across my desk this morning that really got to me.  I have to confess that there are some things that do get my dander in a vortex.  Assertions that are thrown against the Catholic Church, really get my goat.

However, in the spirit of this blog, I am not going to go off the deep end.  No. I am instead going to calmly turn this into a lesson about my take on sacraments in general, instead of zeroing-in on the question of infant baptism.

In ParishWorld.net we had put up a question to the community about why it is imperative for parents to have their children baptized as infants.  ParishWorld.net  is where you can find the entire discussion.  Here is what got to me:

God does not have any grandchildren. We cannot get to heaven by what someone does for us. The Bible says that we need to repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone for remission of sins. Baptism is an outword expression of an inword commitment. Jesus said nothing about sacraments. That is Catholic doctrine, and is not Biblical. Babies and anyone under the age of accountability will be with a Loving Heavenly father . 2Timothy 3:15-17, says And that from childhood you known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 17. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The bold is the main part.  The light italics are the favorite quote that non-Catholics (Protestants) throw at Catholics, in season and out; in reason or out.  So I will ignore that part and present you with my opinion on Baptism in the Catholic Church.  I mention its relation to Circumcision which was to be administered eight days after the birth of the child.  I will also make the point that it is not just the words that are Biblical, but the behavior of Jesus that is Biblical as well.  If it is Biblical, then it must hold a lesson for us.

“God does not have any grandchildren.” Good one.

You say that we cannot get to heaven by what someone does for us. We Catholics believe that we get to heaven because of what Jesus Christ did and does for us. Isn’t He someone?

Sacraments are holy, sacred ritualistic acts that Jesus practiced before our very eyes and urged us to memorialize in our discipleship to Him. He thereby sacramentalized cleansing and belonging through Baptism, thereby spiritualizing Circumcision. He did the same for eating at the Last Supper and told us that Eucharist is the source of the spiritual strength that we need to gain eternal life. John’s chapter six is important reading in this matter. Jesus gave us the authority to forgive the sins of the contrite when we admit them publicly to the delegated authority of the Church (Confession). He sacramentalized the Healing of the sick and the infirm by showing us how to do it with mud from spittle and laying on of hands (Catholics use fragrant oil). All of these rituals, and more, are outward signs of internal commitment and a dispensation of Divine Grace. They are all elements of the New and Everlasting Covenant between Jesus and His people. Catholics believe this because all of these actions are open behaviors that Jesus Himself practiced for our edification and continued practice.  Sacraments are not Catholic Doctrine alone. Sacraments are sacred vestiges of the public life of Jesus as memorialized and practiced by His People. This Humanly Divine life that He lived and left us for our benefit is Biblical, and deserves to be understood and accepted as directive of our earthly behavior.
I pray that you will learn to unshackle yourself from the Bible verses (Out of context in the comment that you submitted.) and learn to read the inspired stories so that the Divine Teaching that they contain will come to mean something to you.

I hope tomorrow will be lighter and more humorous.