Bonfire of my vanity...

Of late, I have been a bit anti-social. I am sorry, just a bit internal for the moment. Have been mulling over the phrase from Romans.

This reading from Romans, is used at the Easter Vigil. For those that don't know, the Vigil is really the pinnacle of the liturgical year. It is the night that people come into the Catholic Church, that the word Alleluia is re-introduced to the liturgy after 40 days absence. It is the remembrance of the "night" in which Christ was resurrected. The service is a tenebrae service, that begins with a bonfire outside of the church from which the Paschal Candle is lit. There are many readings and psalms and the Exultet is chanted. Really, it is the most amazingly earthy, paganesque ritual of the year. Faure surely referenced this when he spoke of the Church's primal, human roots.

One of the readings is:

"Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Through baptism into His death we were buried with Him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. If we have been united with Him through likeness to His death, so shall we be through a like resurrection." —Romans 6:3-5

I know, a lot of God in this one,stay with me...

This year's Easter Vigil was special for me. To be honest, I generally do not like the service, it is long (more than 3 hours.) It is late (duh), and generally it is cheese-tastic. This year it was different. I walked away with that phrase "Are you not aware" ringing in my head and not for the reasons that you who know me might assume.

I keep coming back to the thought that in our everyday life this phrase could be said to anyone: Thus "are you not aware..." and that simple sentence could give us a real insight into each other.

Cue cheesy REM music:

all of us have something so profound that changes us so much that it continues to effect us on a daily basis. Sometimes in the smallest of ways, and with the smallest of thing we are left vulnerable, wanting to say "are you not aware..." to those around us, just so that they could understand some piece of who we are.

This of course can be good or bad, for instance:

Are you not aware that my family keeps me alive and is the best thing to ever happen to me?

or conversely,

Are you not aware that ___________, and it hurts me so bad that I want to fall down weeping at your feet?

The letter to the Romans is expressing the same thing, a revelation whose conclusion should change you (this is not a religious thing, I promise.)

I want to try to put this into play as I interact with other people, when angry or frustrated, hatred or the like, I want to think about that person's revelation, what that person probably wants to express but can't.