Floods and Revisited Ideologies

Yes, it flooded in Seattle. For those of you Napa readers, you have to understand that this doesn't often happen up here. They said it's been years since the last flood, so it's not like Napa where they just expect it and trudge along cleaning up after it. Not only that, but the roads and topography here don't do so well with floods, so cars were falling into sinkholes (when they weren't driving straight into floodwaters--brilliant) and houses were having their foundations washed out from under them. I believe only two people died (which makes me feel really gross just saying that; I realize it's not ONLY two, I do). Ben and I were fine, though Ben says things at KOMO were somewhat frantic because the camera operators didn't seem to realize that allowing the cameras and microphones to become waterlogged would be a problem. One of them brought him a mic that wasn't working, so Ben picked it up and shook it. "Slosh, slosh."
"Did this mic get wet?"
Shrug. "Maybe. Yeah, I guess."
Ben shook the mic, hard, upside down, and water came spewing out of it. Lovely. One down, twenty to go.

And that's all about the flood. If you want more info, follow the KOMO link above.





The World's Religions by Huston Smith is my current great love. I read this book last year around this same time, and I broke it out again because I'm reading at the speed of light, which, like knitting quickly, is really hard on the budget, not to mention the bookshelves. I wandered out to the bookcases at midnight the other night while walking Olivia (if you've ever tried to put a baby to sleep, you'll know what I mean, and if you haven't, never mind; your time will come) and, perusing my Religions shelf, saw my beloved book. Having recently reread The Prophet and finding my jones for philosophical meanderings hardly quenched, I returned to The World's Religions.

Read it. Really. I understand that it's one of the main go-to texts for comparative religions courses, but don't let that discourage you. It is hardly dull, and certainly doesn't read like your average textbook. For me, the magic of this particular book is that Smith manages to present each faith in its most glorious light. As I read each section, I became slightly in love with the faith it discussed. "Why, he's right, Hinduism is FANTASTIC!" "Wow, I never thought of Mahayana Buddhism like that!" "Okay, maybe I do want to be Christian. What have I been thinking?" If that sounds like too much of an emotional roller coaster for you, at least read it because it will stretch your mind in about ten different places. Moreover, in a country where Christianity is the norm and other religions usually seem a little strange and foreign, the opportunity to slip into another person's skin for a moment and really see things from their perspective is invaluable. Also, Smith is careful to present each faith in its correct cultural setting, which may seem simple until we realize that half of the Bible is misunderstood today because a cultural understanding of "our own" Scriptures has been sadly underemphasized.

A perfect example:
[Referring to Jesus and those who heard him speak]

"They were astonished, and with reason. If we are not it is because we have heard Jesus' teachings so often that their edges have been worn smooth, dulling their subversiveness. If we could recover their original impact, we too would be startled. Their beauty would not cover the fact that they are 'hard sayings' for presenting a scheme of values so counter to the usual as to rock us like an earthquake."

And as I read the evidence he presented in support of this claim, I had to seriously consider rereading the first three gospels as if I had never read them before. Having grown up reading the Bible every single day for at least fifteen years, I truly believe that I am numb to most of it. However, a friend of mine, Brian LePort, who has been studying the Bible in its historical context for years, has stressed that it is foolish to discount any portion of the Bible without fully understanding it. Admittedly I have neither the energy nor the motivation to return to school to study the Bible, there are specific questions I've always had that might finally be answered if I would get off the dime and do some scholarly digging. What to do, what to do...


I trust this explains why I've made only minimal progress on the sweater. That says it all right there; this book is so exciting that it has pulled me away from knitting!! If that didn't provoke a collective gasp, then I'm damned if I know what will.