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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Thanks, Jaime.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>John<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Jaime R Vergara<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, February 12, 2013 3:21
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> oe@lists.wedgeblade.net<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Oe List ...] Ash
Wednesday</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>The following is in today's ST opinion
page. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-weight:
bold'>Ash Wednesday</span></font></b><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Many of our
friends and colleagues among the faithful in Christendom today shall be
sporting a symbol of the cross on their foreheads made with ashes. The
Torah line was an objective statement to <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Remember
that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return </span></i>in the
familiar King James rendition. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Christian</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Churches</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> then added the
admonition to <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Turn away from sin and be
faithful to the Gospel.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>It is Ash
Wednesday in the Christian liturgy, forty-six days before Easter, starting a
forty-day fast culminating on Palm Sunday morning that remembers the
triumphal entry into <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:place></st1:City>
during Holy Week. The palm fronds to welcome the donkey-riding messiah
are kept and burnt into ashes to be used for the next Ash Wednesday to mark the
crosses on the faithful’s foreheads, they who understand the life journey from
baptism, confirmation, covenant, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.</span></font><font
size=5 color=black><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Fast, to
the unfamiliar, is a period of reflection, meditation, contemplation,
(prayer in Christian liturgy) understood by my secular friends as moments of
profound silence, of detachment and distancing from the immediate, an
assumption of the cloak of transcendence in perspective, and intense quiet
engagement of full consciousness, the <i><span style='font-style:italic'>elan </span></i>of
the immanent human spirit that clears the cobwebs of the soul!</span></font><font
size=5 color=black><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>We may want
to skip the poetry, but <st1:place w:st="on">Saipan</st1:place> is abuzz with
the House’s impeachment proceedings. We are reminded of T. S. Elliot’s
much-quoted <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Hollow Men </span></i>that
begins:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>We are the hollow men</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>We are the stuffed men</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Leaning together</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Devoid of
moralism, we are in accord with the acts of the Legislature. The mandate
of voters in the last election was instructive, and Uncle Ben did look like
a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>stuffed man </span></i>(my
judgment) but there is a feel of shallowness about his indictment from men and
women of a sector that has shown itself through the years to be too self-serving to
merit serious consideration.</span></font><font size=5 color=black><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'> </span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>The Senate
hearing might just end with our paraphrased T.S. Elliott:</span></font><font
size=5 color=black><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'> </span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>This is the way the proceedings end</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Not with a bang but a whimper.</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'> </span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>We tend to be
sympathetic to Benigno Aquino, not only for his critical place in the
Chamoru/Carolinian divide, but also personally for his cervical stenosis since
we also suffer from cervical spondylosis! Not to forget the wisdom
of marrying Pinay Josie! We are, however, on record of being on the other
end of thepolitical spectrum. T.S. Elliot, after he joined the
Anglican Church, penned his <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Ash
Wednesday </span></i>poemending:</span></font><font size=5 color=black><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Because I know that time is always time</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>And place is always and only place</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>And what is actual is actual only for one time</span></font></i><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>And only for one place</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>I rejoice that things are as they are and</span></font></i><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>I renounce the blessed face</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>And renounce the voice</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Because I cannot hope to turn again</span></font></i><font size=4
color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something</span></font></i><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-style:
italic'>Upon which to rejoice.</span></font></i><font size=4 color=black><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>It is,
perhaps, appropriate that this hiatus from productive legislation is happening
in the season of Lent. The Legislature and the CNMI are busy constructing
something upon which to rejoice!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Rejoice is a
Shrove/Fat Tuesday state of being, the day before Ash Wednesday to be picked up
again on Palm Sunday. The Mardigras in <st1:City w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:City>
and the Carnival in <st1:place w:st="on">Rio</st1:place> are bangs before the
whimper! Our rejoicing this week came from the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Pope Benedict
XVI had not been one of our favorite Pontiffs. Erstwhile Cardinal Joseph
Aloisius Ratzinger, longtime Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the
Doctrine of Faith (1981-2005) before his election to the papacy, in our
Methodist and reformation view, had been a reactionary cleric who negated
Vatican II advances. But he redeems himself in our eyes in acknowledging
his inability to function to meet the demands of his office by virtue of health
and age, and decided to do something about it. He resigned effective the
end of the month. We rejoice.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>No longer a
practicing communicant even in universal Christendom, with a foot long ago in
the scientific, urban, and secular world of eco-democracy, I have no claim on
relevance nor integrity to speak for or even within the Christian communion,
though we were once ordained in its priesthood. However, the universality
of its gospel, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>neither Jew nor gentile,</span></i> allows
us in freedom and responsibility to engage in the continuing conversation over
the efficacy of its powerful symbols like Ash Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>From dust we
came and to dust we shall return, indeed! S/he who is without sin cast
the first stone.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on"><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Mt.</span></font></st1:PlaceType><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Carmel</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">High School</st1:PlaceType></span></font></st1:place><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>’s distinguished
alumnus and alleged Catholic faithful Ben Fitial might consider the discourse
in this season of Lent, might heed the season’s dramaturgical pronouncement,
and act accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>j'aime la vie <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy;background:white;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today,
participate. In all, Celebrate!</span></font></i></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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