A couple of days ago, there was the moment when Sometimes It Only Takes a Smile (Ithaka) and Maria, the Girl Who Smiles with Her Eyes, was watching while it happened but didn't say anything. She didn't need to comment since her eyes already said it all.
It's always my preference to check out of the store with Maria because the other checkout girls are nice but she smiles with her eyes and has a perennially pleasant disposition.
(Ed: you think she has a crush on you?)
I'll tell you what, Cabron, she's quite an attractive young lady and there is obvious love in her heart when her eyes smile like that but I did not see evidence of insanity of any kind. Mystery Lady smiles easily with her eyes as well and that does seem to come easily to those who are pure of heart. She was unfortunate enough to fall in love with me and my fervent wish is I had been better at it.
Not surprisingly, Maria is Hispanic and likely from Mexico which is almost universally Catholic but it's different from America where Catholicism is much like religious bowling for dollars since you don't know if you will get all ten pins with a Catholic who is generous, giving, and filled with a love of Christ or you will get a strike with a far right Catholic who wouldn't know Jesus if he came to them leading a marching band. The preference of the latter is for God and that's why they need to link him to the Jewish God because Jesus just wasn't violent enough.
(Ed: Jesus wasn't violent at all!)
Precisely.
The Protestant religions largely exist with passionate protestations of, well, at least we're not Catholic and they, too, are much like Bowling for Dollars insofar as you will find some filled with the love of Christ but then there's Oklahoma. Sometimes they refer to Jews as 'Christ killers' and it's true since they did. Nevertheless, Oklahomans will quote Leviticus faster than a kid will tell elephant jokes.
(Ed: from the Jewish Talmud?)
You guessed (larfs).
Note: some of this isn't far from the comedy of Lewis Black since he finds the matter hilarious. My writing here is not derivative of that since I've been studying such things since I was a young man.
(Ed: what about all that time with computers?)
Trivial. Let's ask the Girl Who Smiles with Her Eyes about computers, shall we?
Mexico is much more like Greece in the spiritual regard since the Greeks almost universally follow Greek Orthodox. In the case of Greece, I found more implicit faith in the people and less proselytizing than I had ever known in my life. Their faith in my experience was deep and sincere and you can find an example of that in A Tiny Church in Agios Andreas for Easter in Greece (Ithaka).
The church in Katakolo was much larger but it was spiritually the same since it was Greek Orthodox as well and there are no others nor were there in Pyrgos, a small city in the region which was about fifteen kilometers away. Whenever there was some type of religious situation, it was a community matter and it wasn't uncommon to see religious leaders in beautifully ornate regalia leading processions in the street, even if only for a funeral.
Note: for religious services of any kind I was reluctant to take photographs because I never wanted to look like "The Ugly American." (WIKI: The Ugly American)
Cadillac Man and I were talking of that recently and it's a parable of American self-entitlement but telling that parable is not my purpose although it may be of interest that it was a large part of eliciting the creation of the Peace Corps by Kennedy. Not surprisingly, you don't hear much of the Peace Corps in 'modern' times.
My experience with Mexico is only as a tourista in Mexico but some of my studies in Anthropology were to understand the 'leveling mechanisms' represented by Catholicism in Mexico, particularly in villages and the like where, like Greece, it was the only religion in town. A 'leveling mechanism' is traditional in Catholicism as the wealthy members of the area give what they believe is right and the poor take what they need from that. The mechanism adds stability to the community where they thrive together. (WIKI: Leveling mechanism)
The explanation in WIKI is uncharacteristically shallow and the interested student is invited to pursue it further since it's a deep and important aspect of cultural anthropology, particularly in that context. Die Kaninchen likely already see it's a form of benevolent Socialism but the effect is clear since the wealthy ones still stay wealthy but they will be shamed if they try to elevate themselves into a higher class than the others.
(Ed: that was another parable!)
Funny how that works, isn't it. When I see it gives us Maria, the Girl Who Smiles with Her Eyes, who am I to fault it.
It's always my preference to check out of the store with Maria because the other checkout girls are nice but she smiles with her eyes and has a perennially pleasant disposition.
(Ed: you think she has a crush on you?)
I'll tell you what, Cabron, she's quite an attractive young lady and there is obvious love in her heart when her eyes smile like that but I did not see evidence of insanity of any kind. Mystery Lady smiles easily with her eyes as well and that does seem to come easily to those who are pure of heart. She was unfortunate enough to fall in love with me and my fervent wish is I had been better at it.
Not surprisingly, Maria is Hispanic and likely from Mexico which is almost universally Catholic but it's different from America where Catholicism is much like religious bowling for dollars since you don't know if you will get all ten pins with a Catholic who is generous, giving, and filled with a love of Christ or you will get a strike with a far right Catholic who wouldn't know Jesus if he came to them leading a marching band. The preference of the latter is for God and that's why they need to link him to the Jewish God because Jesus just wasn't violent enough.
(Ed: Jesus wasn't violent at all!)
Precisely.
The Protestant religions largely exist with passionate protestations of, well, at least we're not Catholic and they, too, are much like Bowling for Dollars insofar as you will find some filled with the love of Christ but then there's Oklahoma. Sometimes they refer to Jews as 'Christ killers' and it's true since they did. Nevertheless, Oklahomans will quote Leviticus faster than a kid will tell elephant jokes.
(Ed: from the Jewish Talmud?)
You guessed (larfs).
Note: some of this isn't far from the comedy of Lewis Black since he finds the matter hilarious. My writing here is not derivative of that since I've been studying such things since I was a young man.
(Ed: what about all that time with computers?)
Trivial. Let's ask the Girl Who Smiles with Her Eyes about computers, shall we?
Mexico is much more like Greece in the spiritual regard since the Greeks almost universally follow Greek Orthodox. In the case of Greece, I found more implicit faith in the people and less proselytizing than I had ever known in my life. Their faith in my experience was deep and sincere and you can find an example of that in A Tiny Church in Agios Andreas for Easter in Greece (Ithaka).
The church in Katakolo was much larger but it was spiritually the same since it was Greek Orthodox as well and there are no others nor were there in Pyrgos, a small city in the region which was about fifteen kilometers away. Whenever there was some type of religious situation, it was a community matter and it wasn't uncommon to see religious leaders in beautifully ornate regalia leading processions in the street, even if only for a funeral.
Note: for religious services of any kind I was reluctant to take photographs because I never wanted to look like "The Ugly American." (WIKI: The Ugly American)
Cadillac Man and I were talking of that recently and it's a parable of American self-entitlement but telling that parable is not my purpose although it may be of interest that it was a large part of eliciting the creation of the Peace Corps by Kennedy. Not surprisingly, you don't hear much of the Peace Corps in 'modern' times.
My experience with Mexico is only as a tourista in Mexico but some of my studies in Anthropology were to understand the 'leveling mechanisms' represented by Catholicism in Mexico, particularly in villages and the like where, like Greece, it was the only religion in town. A 'leveling mechanism' is traditional in Catholicism as the wealthy members of the area give what they believe is right and the poor take what they need from that. The mechanism adds stability to the community where they thrive together. (WIKI: Leveling mechanism)
The explanation in WIKI is uncharacteristically shallow and the interested student is invited to pursue it further since it's a deep and important aspect of cultural anthropology, particularly in that context. Die Kaninchen likely already see it's a form of benevolent Socialism but the effect is clear since the wealthy ones still stay wealthy but they will be shamed if they try to elevate themselves into a higher class than the others.
(Ed: that was another parable!)
Funny how that works, isn't it. When I see it gives us Maria, the Girl Who Smiles with Her Eyes, who am I to fault it.
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