The Crucifix

 

No iconic pendant for a necklace is as universal and popular as the crucifix, which symbol definitely transcends beyond religious beliefs or revered dogmas of wearers.  We know that because many non-Christians are seen to wear them on their necks or persons as well.

For devout Christians they know and swear to the crucifix as righteous symbol of their Master's supreme act of altruism, unjustly executed in the then prevalent punishment edict of crucifixion under the Roman Empire. A punishment reserved for the most vile of criminals though limited to males, who were brutally nailed to the cross to die a slow excruciating death.

We witness the ubiquitous presence  of the crucifix in most places and as worn in persons, from the most profoundly appropriate to the utterly sacrilegious ones.  From pious members of the clergy of most Christian denominations and their equally religious devotees, to the least holy like members of nefarious organizations, or those considered engaged in unethical activities like adult stars.  What about crooked politicians? Regardless, many display them with obvious pride and aplomb.

We could actually hazard the guess that a prevalent reason for the crucifix' s popularity stems from the cluelessness,  or ignorance, or even utter disregard on the part of the wearers in their understanding the symbolic significance of the crucifix.  Many wear them simply as accepted accessory, rather than for their mystical ramifications as religious symbol. 

Nowadays such  pious regard could be farthest from the consciousness of the wearer. Beyond the fact that it is usually made of precious metal, some embedded with precious stones.  In this rare instance, the extrinsic value is the metal it is made of, with the intrinsic value being its mystical representation, plus the inferred promise of personal salvation from a man hanging on a man-made cross.

History gives us a good peek at this atrocious but well applied savage practice for torts committed by men.  And one doubts that what delineates the civil torts from the criminal deeds during those times was quite cloudy as to assume the facility of classifying one from the other, as dictated by exigencies or expediencies of the times.  In other words, regardless what one's crime was or how one pleaded, the kind of punishment meted out depended largely on the magistrate imposing it.

We  learn that it was the glory-imbued Persians who first used crucifixion as punishment for criminals.  And 300 years later the Romans thought it proper to enshrine it  in their unholy empire as proper punishment for grave crimes, perfecting the process for maximum pain and duration.  To mark the trending ascent to the peak of inhumanity which over the ages man has shown to possess as one distinctive trait in his march to history.

The Romans did so much perfecting it, that modern medicine has detailed in writing  in scholarly but antiseptic fashion  all the racking effects of the process on the human body.  To include  those little tweaks the executioners applied for maximum duration of suffering.  Like when the crucified is about to expire due to suffocation, the guards would insert a small stool under the nailed feet so he could painfully raise his agonized body to allow for some breathing.

The medical prognosis go into painful details about which parts of the anatomy were affected by the process.  The joints on shoulders and elbows became disjointed or dislocated as the dead weight of the body mercilessly imposed.  Muscles were stretched but starved with oxygen  because of the ensuing difficulties in breathing from the lungs.  The ribcage did its best to maintain normal functions but was not able to.  The various chemical and fluid reactions as pain and suffering continued to harass the tiring body.  And many more.

The short medical prognosis of the process of crucifixion and the subsequent death on all the affected parts of the human body is so gross and abominable, it is difficult to read to the end of the short treatise.  More unconscionable is the highlighted part on pain and suffering inflicted on the human body as it struggles to stay alive.  So savage and brutal we are told that a learned sage from that era had written that at times the tongues of those fo crucified were cut so as to prevent them from making those weird and indescribable shouts produced almost unconsciously  Shouts that onlookers found so unbearable and objectionable.  His name is known to many, it is Cicero.

Ironic to note that the adjective,  excruciating, is derived from the otherworldly cries emanating from one in harrowing pain during crucifixion.

At the very least, crucifix wearers ought to be educated about this, if only to generate sorrow and remorse for what the world is leading humanity into. And more importantly, as resolve to right humanity's path away from its collective disregard for the rest.

BTW as disclaimer, as I kid I did have a small crucifix pendant with gold chain that our mother had us wear.  Over time, it started to be well-worn until finally the chain broke.  The pendant was kept somewhere and passed on to our kids  

Unlike these days when gold pieces are made in 14k, during that time most came in 18k, and thus may account for quicker wearing away of the softer metal.  Now, I wear a gold pendant with Chinese characters and has weathered through many years of usage.

Recalling the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

One earlier FB post looked into the typical reaction to receiving the gold medal.  The recipient immediately bites into it, ostensibly to seek affirmation that the medal is indeed made of the precious metal.

No such luck, and but we cannot say that it has been so  over all those years.  Though we can surmise that the medals are most probably made of the same stuff as they were years ago.  Just realized there may be written standards set even on the metal composition and weight of Olympic medals.

Anyway as it stands, this is what we can expect from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics medals that are being handed out to exultant winners. From some rough estimates made by me.

The three medals, gold, silver, and bronze weigh from 450grams to maybe 556grams, or about half a kilo on average, with gold weighing the most.  The gold medal is essentially made of silver with maybe 6 grams of gold, good enough to be used for plating.  The silver medal true to its name is made up of pure silver.  And bronze of brass and zinc, so not much intrinsic value.  Based on this and the prevailing prices of precious metals, a gold medal might command a price of about 800 dollars, selling the gold and silver content in it, and silver maybe about a little above 400 dollars.  Never mind the bronze medal.

Getting any idea where this is going?

The revered and time-seasoned Olympic Games idolized by the world have always been about excellence in sport and symbolism.  Rank the best performers with their shown performances in competition and give them medals for their accomplishments, the ranking and composition of the medals clearly symbolism for us to revere and behold.  Nothing denoting the awarding of financial awards to winners.

How things have changed though the Games have steadfastly remained the same.  Immediately upon winning financial windfalls are factored in like these too could compete in another contest, this time in value and size. Winning athletes are expected to start following the money trails, in hot pursuit of their "just rewards".  The world would appear disappointed if the winners lose out in this other contest.

And we fear that the world is more concerned and interested in this other contest.

Morning Musings

 Thoughts on Waking Up

The concept on the living of life has been revolutionized since the time of Christ.

Yet we humans still cling to our hedonistic and temporal pursuits in life. We pray for an easy and comfortable life. 

We continue to race after fleeting and illusory experiences that appeal mostly to our senses. 

We try to blind ourselves into thinking that what we aim is for the greater glory of God, yet we cater only to the pleasurable sensations connected with our experiences.

Christ had a simple and clear message. If you want to follow me, take up your cross.

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Never Let Up On Life

Most folks one meets along the way will keep saying to you to keep doing it because the more one does it, the easier it becomes.

For me nothing could be more false when it comes to physical exercises after a certain age. It does not get any easier.

Somehow this too holds true like life actually is. Life never gets easier, regardless how hard and successful we try at making something out of it.

Each day and time is a constant challenge to be hurdled and overcome.

It never gets easy until your last breath.

And thus like the way I live life, I continue to plod along with the physical exercises I am convinced I need to proceed with what remains of life or in pursuit of the continuing expectations I have of it.

About Depression and Gay Marriage

 Depression

In the last 2 months, many of us have read about the medical condition called depression, because at least two very noted personalities we read are said to be suffering from it.  One is a very young world-renowned lady athlete and the other a former president of the Philippines in his 60's.  The latter died a week or so ago.

Over the years we have heard so much about this condition which used to not get much attention.  But now we are told it is a very serious condition and must be given much importance.  It is not only a very real, consumptive, and debilitating ailment but could also be career-ending and even life-threatening.  And for many necessitating the engagement of professionals specialized in such conditions.

Growing up we typically and nonchalantly associated depression with loneliness, sadness, or even melancholy. So we did not really give it the gravity that medical professionals now have invested in the condition.  After all, most if not all of us went through such forlorn periods of feeling very low, to a point that at times we did not even want to get out of our beds to face the world.

I remember my own episodes when I was still single and unemployed.  But somehow we out-grew it. Not that the condition has deserted us for life, but somehow we have been able to lessen not only its gravity but its frequency.  And somehow also we learned to tackle with it, each in our own ways.  For many, maybe the resolution is when we turned to a higher power and lodged the providence of our health and safety in that kind of faith.

Still as mere mortals with very limited knowledge and understanding of such an insidious and almost invisible enemy, we have to surrender our ignorance and rely trust on others who are better equipped. 

 Still, we should resolve to continue our own searches for truths about it. And thus they ought not be stifled, neglected, or even dismissed by others.  We can only be better persons if we are curious about its ramifications.

Gay Marriage

This issue is so loaded with heavy paradoxes, one wonders how it continues to float.

Many supporters of the ruling are beaming with almost unexplained bliss and pride, like heaven has been opened to them. 

No problem there.  Man is known to welcome temporal bounty like there Is no tomorrow, or like it is the be-all and end-all of existence.

Yet the cause of happiness can be explained in such a manner as to show the resultant over-celebration as undeserved because the decision was far from convincing, though still historic.  Far from being unanimous, a 9-man court of the US all appointed for life by the US president, religiously divided into 6 Catholics and 3 Jews, voted 5-4 to grant equal status to gay marriages with traditional marriages the latter strongly espoused and supported by all religions, like Catholicism and Judaism.  And if I may add, equal only with regard to enjoyment of benefits dispensed by the Federal bureaucracy.  They could not have ruled about its cultural and religious ramifications, because after all that would be obviously beyond the purview of this court.

Anyway, the hairline decision came because 2 Catholic court members decided to break away from traditional teaching of their religion.  Kennedy many say was simply being true to form, taking sides away from traditional or classical truths espoused by the citizenry.  The other, Sotomayor, most likely because she is most liberal having been appointed by the current administration, to represent two minorities, women and Hispanic.

The more impactful thing here is that because of the role of the US in the world, this will open the floodgates for the rest of the world with regard to this issue.  A paradox indeed, germinated by an unconvincing decision riddled with dissension not only from the court’s own members, but also the citizenry.  Mind you, amid the recent trends as reflected by survey polls which show people favoring gay marriages in the majority, not only in the US but in the rest of the world.

As a species we continue to be an enigma.

Man As Demigod?

   Man As Demigod?

The now hazy days of forgotten youth intrude uninvited

as we grudgingly recall the many astounding mysteries

      implanted in malleable and innocent minds,

      by the close partnership of home and school.

Of the existence of one incomprehensible Supreme Being, 

adorned with tremendous powers and Lord of all creation.

      The self-same Being being also all-knowing,

      and is everywhere his domain extends.

Mystifying paradoxes that clearly and unduly supplant

the arguably limitless freedoms  humanity was born with

      or destined to, designed as likened image

      and equipped with incomparable free will.

As fate dictates, our maturity would soften such stance.

Promoting instead by labeling us instead as partakers.

      Of His powers we still not easily see,

      but have deigned to believe in faith.

But these days, as we recall the times past revisited

with clearer eyes what innocent lives were fed with,

     beliefs nurtured  by traditions.

      And the demands of society.

Advances in information and technology permeate  lives,

integrally enmeshed  to the  minutiae of our very living.

        Ubiquitous as to be unnoticed

        and acutely taken for granted.

Detaching  ourselves as estranged from that kind of living, 

we experience a discernment of these stupefying realities.

        If we are earnest enough

        and equally honest.

The knowledge that more than just images of the Being,

we too are invested with some of his awesome powers.

         That of omniscience, omnipotence,

          and even of omnipresence.

 

Credit dazzling advances in  Web/ Internet and technology

and the manifold manifestations of Artificial Intelligence  

To witness man's power and influence in the world.

      Not since witnessed nor imagined by him.

A host of our physical limitations greatly deconstructed. 

Expanding universe-like, though largely in virtual context. 

  Knowledge of things  exponentially stretched, 

   almost beyond temporal boundaries or limits.  

Powers to influence as active participants or as causes.

Readily available to an entire world of sentient beings.

         Limited only by the dreams 

         and aspirations of humanity.

Sitting in house, or any place one may opt to locate himself, 

one invested with capabilities far beyond puny understanding.

           Limited only by what one could think, 

            or dream in the wildest ways.

Parkour. MMA. VanLife. Boxing, Tennis, Politics.  Religion. 

Economics, Global Events. Ukraine.  Russia. Globalism.  Oil. 

Climate Change. Sports,Entertainment. Sciences.  Philosophy. 

 Astrophysics. Deep Fake.  Men of Science, Arts,  Entertainment.  Etc.

Truly then current man could be enshrined to the level of god, or at least, a demi-god.  Possessed of seeming mystical powers.