A warm xie xie goes out to the kind soul, JW, who plucked an item from my amazon wish list and sent me some Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong Tea.
I am sipping it with appreciation right now on this blustery autumn day.
Leaves swirl both in the wind and in my cup.
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A Daily Prayer for Priests
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on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “I kind of understand why our dear Fr. Z put in the last option to vote for: my church has…”
on Zoink!: “https://www.wga.hu/art/l/lotto/5/06annun1.jpg Lorenzo Lotto’s Annunciation, because….cat. Also, her face! Imagine what went through her mind as she knew what was asked…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: ““all statues and images that could be were covered or veiled.” Indeed. And some things were covered that I didn’t…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “lfandrew, veiling a couple of days early sounds entirely reasonable to me. — I visited a different parish this Sunday…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “Our pastor said that the veiling starts after the last Mass today.”
on MUST READ! Why do heretics remain in the Church instead of just being honest and getting out?: “You are correct, Sandy. Mrs. Steichen wrote Ungodly Rage.”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “redneckpride4ever, I’d say that seems to me an excellent example of prudence. I’m not ecstatic about some of the theological…”
on WDTPRS – 5th Sunday of Lent: Liturgical death throes: “I’ve always preferred, “Oh God, you are so big. Help us be big like you””
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “I have a dilemma in our church every year (I am the sacristan, so one of my duties is veiling…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “I attend the SSPX chapel in Linden, VA. All the statues were covered and we had catechism after Mass with…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “Thank you for explaining the “Jesus hid Himself” quote in relation to this custom! That is really cool! Sure enough,…” on Zoink!: “Is it me, or are the little human figures on the sides of the fireplace also the donors?”
on MUST READ! Why do heretics remain in the Church instead of just being honest and getting out?: “This is parallel to a story in “Ungodly Rage” by Steichen (I think I have that right, from memory). It’s…”
on POLL: Covering images for Passiontide, 5th Sunday of Lent – 2023: “I’d wager I’ll see everything veiled today. Its an SSPX chapel I attend after all. I’ll vote after Mass. On…”
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since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
“Leaves swirl both in the wind and in my cup.”
There’s a haiku in there somewhere.
Somehow, sitting for a moment with a good cup of tea usually produces a mini vacation of peace and tranquility.
Blustery autumn
Oolong tea soothes my body
Leaves swirl in wind, cup
Master. When must I lift the crucible with the inside of my arms?
Douglas Adams wasn’t writing for you then:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345
Father,
Are you the interior Ansel Adams?
If so, very nice.
Grasshopper: Master. When must I lift the crucible with the inside of my arms?
If you must ask, you are not ready.
Alas, while you all were waxing poetic, what involuntarily came into my head was Hogey Carmichael singing, So long OOlong, how long you gonna be gone.
I don’t know why this made me think of the phrase “Z Fu”
Which is kind of funny because it sounds like the word I hear in all the Kung Fu
flicks for “Master” (it’s something like “sifu” if I Romanized it).
(Sorry, I’ve been getting ready for the bishop to visit for Confirmations, so
I have been reading too many liturgical directives,so my brain is going all weird)
Father,
Good to know you enjoy a bit of a break. Beautiful photo. Try enjoying the tea very strong, in very small doses, like espresso. That’s the traditional Chinese way to enjoy this tea in southern China where it is produced. It is a potent tea but the sweetness after the bitterness is well worth the shock.
God bless.
The “Iron Goddess of Mercy” (I love the image!) is supposedly the Buddhist bodhisattva Guan Yin, who is a special protector of children and fertility. This past June I was in Macau for a day tour, and when we passed a statue of Guan Yin, the tour guide made special mention of the fact that the statue was deliberately made to resemble the Blessed Virgin Mary in order to express the “East meets West” flavor of Macanese culture.
Here’s a picture of the statue:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:KuanYimMacau.JPG
Peace of Christ to you all!
nursing some ??? myself at the moment, i lift this cup in solidarity!
brings to mind Lu Tong’s poem:
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oops, none of the chinese came out this time…strange. windows vista again…booooh!
‘The Seven Cups of Tea’ – Lu Tong (798-835)
The first cup refreshes your lips and throat,
The second elates you from your lonely mood,
The third searches in your arid intestines* and you realize that you have only 5,000 volumes of literature in your memory,
fourth makes you perspire lightly, and evaporate through your skin the pent-up grievances in your life,
The fifth causes you to feel your muscles are relaxing, and bones losing weight,
The sixth leads you to go on the path to meet fairies,
Oh! The seventh cup! Better not take it! If you had it, the only feeling is an air current passing under your armpits
* ’searches in your arid intestines’ equates to ‘makes you rack your brains’
A wonderfully literal translation, Fr. Z., in the spirit of Liturgiam Authenticam. Sounds like a good idea for a new blog: WDTCPRS? (What Does The Chinese Poem Really Say?)
I always loved this poem of Han Shan which captures the subtle joy of tea and contemplation. (had to create it as a graphic since Vista doesn’t want to play ball with me and my chinese input methods and WDTPRS comboxes this morning for some reason).
A real shame that tea wasn’t introduced to Europe earlier in history, that some of our great saints may have been raised on it!