Church, letters, Nope, etc.
I enjoy meditating, but sometimes I think I would enjoy the community of going to church. I was reading one of my mom’s old blog posts, about how she found her spiritual home in the United Church of Christ, which she described as Jesus-centered Unitarian Universalism.
Apparently, in her 20s, she tried going to the Episcopalian services she attended as a child, but found herself in too much theological disagreement with what was said. She called her mother to complain. Grandma asked Mom whether she actually had to listen so hard, which makes me laugh.
Perhaps, I could go to church and simply not listen so hard. In fact, there’s a UCC location near our house, which my wife has family ties to. That said, meditation probably fits better into our schedule now. I’d like to try it at some point, though. There’s also a Unitarian Universalist church in Hartford I want to investigate.
Moving on, my last letter didn’t do well. At least so far, I’ve only seen it pop up in one Colorado newspaper. I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up in another place or two in the coming weeks, but, still, not great! It reminds me that part of the reason I started protesting outside my congressman’s office was that my letters were getting published less frequently.
My next letter will probably begin with Future Meat Technologies growing the world’s first cultivated lamb, before transitioning into my usual spiel about the need for increased public funding for cellular-agriculture research. If you’re interested in sending out your own letters, check this out:
As always, let’s round things out with (Cell) Culture Talk, where I highlight some of the things I’ve been watching, reading and listening to lately.
Movie: Nope. In the same way hunting animals is central to Prey, handling animals is central to Nope. It’s unfortunate. But putting politics aside, I was a little disappointed by this film, having loved Jordan Peele’s first two outings as a director. The final third of the movie becomes more conventional and loses some of its mystery and suspense.
TV: Virgin River. My wife and I are catching up on the latest season of this series. In story and casting, it’s similar to Hart of Dixie, which we also watched. I think I prefer the Rachel Bilson show, because it’s funny. But this remains a pleasant escape.
Sports: RJ Barrett signs contract extension with Knicks. I’ve only been following the team since Frank Ntilikina’s rookie year, so I can’t really complain about the “Charlie Ward curse,” but I’ve enjoyed watching Barrett develop and would be sad to see him go. I’m a sucker for homegrown players. And, yes, I’m still torn up about Ntilikina going to Dallas, even if it probably made sense to let him walk.
Sports: Jazz trade Donovan Mitchell to Cavs. Mitchell was not only a trade target for the Knicks, it was assumed he would end up in New York. So this was little surprising. It wasn’t shocking for me, though, like when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were supposed to come and didn’t. I also wonder if Mitchell will try to force his way out of Cleveland in the next couple of years.
Music: Eknath Easwaran recording. I found this hour-long MP3 of my spiritual teacher singing his mantram: https://www.bmcm.org/learn/mantram/easwaran-sings-his-mantram/ It’s not the mantram I chose, so I’m not exactly sure how he intended such followers to use this. But I enjoy hearing his voice and find it soothing. Rest in peace to Christine Easwaran, his wife, who died August 28 at the age of 101.
Mediation passage: The Whole World Is Your Own by Sri Sarada Devi. I’ve been more judgmental of others, which inevitably leads to being more judgmental about myself. So this seemed like a good choice. The passage is short, which is an added bonus.
I’m terrible at memorization. Still, I think I’ve got about 20 minutes of material down, as I go through all of my passages about 1.5 times during a 30-minute meditation. I don’t know what happens when I fill up the whole session. Do I cut the old passages?