Vatican forgives John Lennon

"We're more popular than Jesus now", Lennon.

Recently I dedicated the following words to my friend, big fan of The Beatles. I now may recall our confusion first time we discovered famous Lennon's statement of old, about The Beatles being more poular than Jesus Christ: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity... We're more popular than Jesus now."

He spoke the statement lightly at his 26 - not too old nor too young - and we, much younger at the time we read it, teenagers, already knew our rock'n'roll god were drunk of glory when he stated it. Besides, at the time the hippie culture flourished and many youngsters demystified their gods and myths, and promoted some new ideas. Everything was understandable, clear, forgivable about the situation, from our perspective, even at our teenage years. Interesting.

And Vatican figured it out barely nowadays! :)

Reuters: "The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll." (some "pious" Americans publicly burned The Beatles records as the product of a satanic band, whatever that means)

Furthermore: "The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians", Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said :)

Good morning, Vatican!

Should you stated such a thing 42 years ago, you could be a light of sanity in religious darkness, but considering time discrepancy you are nothing but a confused bunch recycling it's own repentances from year to year. But, as I may approve, you have an advantage over many others that consider themselves religious, because you worked on your historical council at the time of Lennon's juvenile statement, and you were busy in the process of change. So, you at last recognized young rock star's immatureness, compared to many "pious" and ignorant moralists today that still see rock'n'roll as satanism. It's all about understanding, love, knowledge, education...

Dear John, you just rest in peace and forgiveness. You've never been more popular than Jesus, but at least some time you've been working class hero. Time will come for those others to pull their heads out of their asses and open their eyes to see, and then full forgiveness for your youth will fall upon your soul as a blessing, for sure...

Postmodern Eurosong 2010

I have a questions for you, at the last portion of this post. But let us observe an illustration. If you are going to watch Eurovision 2010 contest this year (a.k.a. Eurosong), pay attention to the representative of Latvia, please (she should perform at May 25th as 6th song in the first half of semifinals). The arrangement itself is shallow, but nice for hearing. However, the lyrics are indicative. The theme outlines the way of thinking adequate to our age, from so called postmodern perspective.

Aisha - What For? (Only Mr. God Knows) Eurovision 2010 Latvia



The author of the song recites familiar critical questions from life experience and there are no answers, but author suggests that answers are hidden with  mysterious Mr. God. By itself, such an effort would be just a weak step-out from the age of religions to the age of postmodernism, only if there wouldn't be one statement in the middle of the song, coloured with resigned tone, "But his phone today is out of range". That verse itself do, actually, define confusion of a modern human. It nowhere answers why and to whom those questions are appointed, in the world!

The problem is that the main character of the song (you, me, she, he) may slip into one of the two extremes by erecting such a questions, in order to find security and comfort: 1) defined rituals, rules and dogmas of one of many religious institutions that claim they have "contract with God and all rights to do his business", 2) materialistic atheism expressed through worship of science as modern saviour.

My question is: may the main character of Aisha's song (you, me, she, he) find the answers to the questions not only denying the objective truth (God of institutions as well as suspicious scientific dogmas) but reaching personal spiritual contact, acquaintance with the Subject (not subject-object relation, but subject-subject relationship), an impersonated spirit, consciousness, responsible for our world and all of the natural mechanisms, whether spiritual or material? Be it a "Darwin's God" (reference to Ken R. Miller's book)?

I'm really interested in your opinion about the topic. I am also interested in your opinion about Aisha's verses "The sun in colour black is rising high, The time is turning back".


Aisha - What For? (Only Mr. God Knows) Eurovision 2010 Latvia

I’ve asked my angels why
But they don’t know
What for do mothers cry and rivers flow?
Why are the skies so blue, and mountains high?
What for is your love, always passing by?

I’ve asked my uncle Joe
But he can’t speak
Why does the wind still blow and blood still leaks?
So many questions now with no reply
What for do people live until they die?

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why
But his phone today is out of range

The sun in colour black is rising high
The time is turning back, I wonder why
So many questions now with no reply
What for do people live until they die?

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why

Trying to recover

"Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain..." said Carl Sagan doubting and hoping in the same time. I'm not the only one experiencing disappointment in human nature. I went through many bitter years misinterpreting attitudes of both religion and science. But thanks to noble humans among us determined not to give up I decided to recover. Most early texts I found nourishing my soul are those quoted below and more yet to come.

1)  "Who Speaks for Earth?" by Carl Sagan

"As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and sky. In our tenure of this planet, we have accumulated dangerous, evolutionary baggage -- propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders, all of which puts our survival in some doubt. We have also acquired compassion for others, love for our children, a desire to learn from history and experience, and a great, soaring passionate intelligence -- the clear tools for our continued survival and prosperity.

Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of the small planet earth. But, up and in the cosmos an inescapable perspective awaits. National boundaries are not evidenced when we view the earth from space. Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile, blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars."

2) H. G. Wells, 1902, "The Discovery of the Future", Nature, 65, pp326-331.

"We are in the beginning of the greatest change that humanity has ever undergone. There is no shock, no epoch-making incident but then there is no shock at a cloudy daybreak. At no point can we say,"Here it commences, now; last minute was night and this is morning." But insensibly we are in the day. If we care to look, we can foresee growing knowledge, growing order, and presently a deliberate improvement of the blood and character of the race. And what we can see and imagine gives us a measure and gives us faith for what surpasses the imagination.

It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all that the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening. We cannot see, there is no need for us to see, what this world will be like when the day has fully come. We are creatures of the twilight. But it is out of our race and lineage that minds will spring, that will reach back to us in our littleness to know us better than we know ourselves, and that will reach forward fearlessly to comprehend this future that defeats our eyes.

All this world is heavy with the promise of greater things, and a day will come, one day in the unending succession of days, when beings, beings who are now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall stand upon this earth as one stands upon a footstool, and shall laugh and reach out their hands amid the stars".

The world is changed

"I amar prestar aen."
- The world is changed.

"Han mathon ne nen."
- I feel it in the water.

"Han mathon ne chae."
- I feel it in the Earth.

"A han noston ne 'wilith."
- I smell it in the air.

Galadriel, spoken in elvish (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie opening)