New Jersey Update: Sunday

So this is my second update from the hallowed halls of the Gilligan residence in (roughly) Woodbridge, NJ.

We went to Mass this morning at around 10AM. It was very nice. The church was pretty enough, if slightly modern. I think that I enjoyed the music the most. It isn't that often that I get to hear organs played (and they rock pretty solidly when played well, as evidenced by the Mates of State) so it's generally a treat to hear some. They played some pretty decent hymns as well. The homily was entertaining (though right now my brain is too addled to remember what it was about). After Mass we met some of Claire's choir friends. Then Mark and I analyzed the architecture and statues in the church. We also found a wonderful painting of Palm Sunday and spent a good few minutes analyzing that. Then we met Claire's priest, who was fun to talk to for a few minutes (not that he became boring thereafter, but that we left after a few minutes).

Once we got back to the house, we went through the already established ritual of analyzing the comics page, which we had also done the previous day. It is a lot of fun because they have literally twice as many comics in New Jersey as we do in Michigan. It is fun to work one's way through the metaphors, social commentary, pacing and punchlines. And to point out which ones just stink. :)

The day was spent socializing/playing many games with Claire's extended family and friends who came over to her house for lunch. It was a lot of fun. I actually managed somehow to keep myself from going into "turtle mode" (mostly by not saying a word for the first half of the day), and Mark and I had quite a good time with a certain "Chris", with whom we could conduct ourselves sarcastically and speak about all sorts of philosophy and theology. I was not at all shocked later to find out that he enjoys a good cigar every now and again.

We had some pretty sweet pizza for dinner (my half was garlic: God's own seasoning!). After dinner, we watched "Garden State", which I had told them that they needed to see. It definitely got me in the same old mood it does every time I watch it, which is a good thing. And Mark said he liked it. So, hi-fives all around in that regard.

Day-summary ended, and now for the stream-of-consciousness, gosh-I-need-to-go-to-bed "thought of the day":
I was thinking a good deal when kneeling during Mass. This was due in part to the fact that I was kneeling on the stone floor (having gotten that part of the pew that is not kneelered). But I was thinking about our various body-postures during the course of the Mass. As human persons, we are both body and soul, and I believe that many truely "human acts" (so to speak) requires the use (or perhaps expression through) both. For the most part, this is simple to see in the Mass. When we sit, we are contemplating quietly or sitting attentively listening to God's word proclaimed. When we stand, we are in a position of praise and respect, also demonstrating our readiness to actively go and preach the good news. When I was kneeling, however, I had one of those fun moments where you suddenly see a certain action as if it were the first time, and I was struck by the nature of what we mean when we kneel. Kneeling in front of a man means one thing: making yourself less than him. Because we are both body and soul, we often express ourselves bodily to each other, even unconsciously. Kneeling means humbly making yourself less than someone simply by the fact that you have made yourself physically shorter, to symbolize the act of putting their will above your own simply by magnifying their height. I think that's why men kneel when the propose to a woman, or pledge allegiance to a king or ask forgiveness for a great offense. It is an extremely /human/ act, especially when done while "present to yourself", or "standing at your center", or "with lateral self-presence", or any of those other great Dr. Harold terms.

The thing is, as St. Anselm said, the closest that we can get to understanding the Incarnation and Passion of Christ is trying to imagine ourselves dying by crucifixion to save a rather small colony of ants. The only catch is: there is infinitely more innate distance between the nature of uncreated God and created Man than there is between created Man and created Ant. We are so very small in our nature, compared to his. If we truly see ourselves, then we are humbled in the presence of His magnitude. But still we perform this very human act of kneeling. We cannot, though the whole human race might pour its blood out as an offering, increase the stature of God one millimeter. But by making ourselves that much shorter in His presence, we magnify Him and His will to the best of our ability. In this very human act, we humble ourselves before our Creator, acknowledging Him as the supreme and uncreated Lord of our lives, and realize how very small we are in His presence: everything that we are, dust and ashes.