Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them – IF you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement … It’s poetry.
(J.D. Salinger – “The Catcher In The Rye“)
If you’ve ever read The Catcher in the Rye, you may be familiar with the quote above and the teacher who shows compassion to Holden without speaking to him like some holier-than-thou asswipe … the irony, however, is that the scene later turns deeply uncomfortable when Holden wakes to find the man touching his head. I guess the point I’m trying to make here — especially as many of us are looking forward to chocolate bunnies and ham tomorrow — is that although I do so love “humanity” and this EPIC life I’ve lived amongst it thus far, people are basically living bags of shit (some more so than others). That includes me, as well. The worst of us, however, are the ones who are both too blind and stupid to see their innate shittiness in a mirror or, worse yet, too selfish and lazy to even bother trying to learn from not just others’ mistakes, but their own — thus the aforementioned “beautifully reciprocal arrangement.”
What I love about this song by The Funeral Portrait is that, as a “recovering” Catholic, I’ve always had a twisted relationship with holy water. There was a time in my life when I was certain I’d literally sizzle like bacon if even a drop of it touched me, and I was absolutely terrified to go into a church. Guess what?
Those days are OVER!
I’ve made peace with and forgiven my inherent depravity — good, bad, AND “sizzly” — and I walk in the POWER of the GRACE I now wield for almost every other “human” being. Meanwhile, as an out-loud-and-proud “Jesus freak“, I’m thanking GOD that tomorrow isn’t just about chocolate bunnies and ham for me. It’s about my belief that “FUCK that holy-water biz,” ’cause I’m good now!
Bye, everyone, it’s me, CAT! Now, go on and wash your damn self, “sinner,” and also have a REALLY nice evening! Here’s hoping the Easter Bunny treats you well, no matter your race, creed, religion, or SINS! For the record, I cannot say enough how much I adore this fucking band — and what an epic decision it was for them to collaborate with one of my favorite sinners of all, Ivan FUCKING Moody!
