By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
It’s hard to strike the right balance between respect and mirth in writing this story, but I will try. Faithful in West New York, New Jersey, have commenced pilgrimages to a tree at the intersection of 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue. The skinny tree stands in front of a music store. On it, they say, is a revelation showing an image of the Virgin Mary resembling the famous sighting at Guadalupe.
Candles, flowers, cards, and towns folk have gathered around the opening in the bark where the purported miracle is said to be. Catholic diocesan spokesman and aptly named, James Goodness, is not convinced of divine intervention saying the image is likely “just some discoloration” that resembles St. Mary. However, the churchman is not one to disabuse the faithful of their faith. “But if it helps people to be stronger in their faith, then it is a good thing,” Goodness said.
Or is it?
Source: NJ.com
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
How could they? She was Swedish. And they were?
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A dozen things Sweden has given the world:
—Nobel Prizes (and dynamite)
—Greta Garbo
—the monkey wrench
—Ingrid Bergman
—ombudsman concept
—a social birth to grave system=never alone
—empty churchs
—midnight sin in the sunshine
—the pacemaker
—the first neural signal compounds
—ABBA and Mamma Mia
—hell(o) from me
A great movie clip Mespo! It takes me back to my youth! I don’t remember my nuns looking like Ingrid Bergman though!
One of my son’s asked me about the title I chose (“Boughs of St. Mary”) for the piece, so I thought I’d let you all in on the reference. It’s from the movie “Bell’s of St. Mary’s” with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman:
I was at the beach on all four legs and some of the tourists said that my rear end looked like the Virgin Mary. Well with that I cut a big fart and low and behold the ocean parted. I was at the beach in New York so the fart only made the part go to New Jersey. But the flock was impressed and when I go to the beach they cut a wide swatch.
Malisha,
Yes, Mary did have other children by Joseph. And she and hís brothers came to take him home when he was preaching nearby. They explained that they thought him to be crazy. And he replied to his followers that the followers were his family, not Mary and his brothers.
How odd that she reappears at the crucifiction, and becomes a saint. Does the Bible record a change before by Mary and his brothers. Or did they just come to enjoy his “crowning” in Jerusalem, and there a chance to share the spotlight and gage?
Rational thoughts are disturbing to beliefs when applied to the irrationality of religion.
PS Thanks to the T. Jefferson quoter.
Michael Marsalek:
“I am at a loss to understand the harm done by the faithful seeing that image in the tree as a religious symbol and paying homage publicly to the Virgin Mary who the image reminds them of. ”
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While Jefferson said, “… it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg,” he didn’t add that we couldn’t smile about it.
The Virgin Mary was artificially inseminated with the seed (jis) of some schmuck named Jesus (Heyzeuz) who was a Mexican guy who was jerkin off out by a tree and some artful dodger named Episodius grabbed a small bit and shoved it where the sun dont shine. Mary is knocked up thinking she got struck by lightning and when the baby is born Jesus owns up to it and they name it after him. The kid was known as Hand Job or son of Job thereafter until Biblical times when humans started the reading and writing technology on stones. This was long after the Eighth Day when the Lard (none dare call him Crisco) created Dog to come to Earth to take care of humans. The relationship between Dog and Pal (none dare call a human Pal and owner) has existed ever since. Now this is millions of years ago not ten thousand years like the guys who write the Sears Roebuck Bilbe say in their so called Good Book. Somewhere along the line Christians started praying to trees and that is what is behind the recent miracle on 23rd street which is the focus of the photo on this article above. Four legs good, two legs baaaaad. All from here, BarkinDog after consulting the dogpack. Although TalkinDog dissents and says that the bark got knawed off by a goat.
Of course it is a vagina, or more properly the vulva and the labia majora. And what would be more appropriate enshrining enclosure to show to an illiterate group of believers than the symbol of the virgin birth through the birth canal so familiar to them? Jesus was born of Mary in carnate form, a baby.
He was not delivered by a host bearing him in their arms, his birth unites him with us physically in the flesh. Although we now in our inhibitions disrespect the flesh, as we often show, it was not so then in his time.
And besides, Mary was NOT a virgin. That is an incorrect translation to Greek from the original new testaments. There she was recorded as being a young maiden, not a virgin. Difference, I believe.
In keeping with the beliefs of the time (up until the 1700s), it was the man whose seed contained the whole of the becoming child. The woman was only the field where the seed was planted and at most influenced the seeds growth, not its character.
Thus God inseminated Mary (or Holy Spirit), and she was but a bearer in their eyes then, not a mother genetically as we think of women (at least I hope some do).
The bible is divided in the importance of heritage, giving Jesus lineage báck through both Mary and through Joseph. It could be ignored, for it was the Holy Spirit which was the active gestalt, not they who were chosen (by those who told the tale) to represent the common people, and thus Christs linkage to the common people who were to be duped, by this invention.
The lineage was of course necessary in Jewish custom to prove Jesus to be the Messiah predicted by earlier prophets.
All above roughly so from a few diverse readings.
Convincing kings was easy (Constantine), but the people had other gods and intercessors for their well-being. Making inroads there was the problem.
But that is another story. Let us say that the jews of that time were not very faithful, nor easily united behind any faith. Several biblical and modern studies prove this. Remember Moses on the mountain and the people.
End of lecture. Any questions?
Julesagray, she DID use it for its god given purpose — she gave birth to Jesus through it! She did NOT use it for its manpleasing purpose — until AFTER Jesus was born, that is. She had other kids by Joseph, remember?
Ok, ok, I’ll play Capt Obvious here but does anyone else see this as a vagina? No? Oh and I find it ironic that a bunch of us here see it as a vital birthing body part when the Virgin Mary allegedly never used her vaaah-geeen for it’s god given purpose.
I am at a loss to understand the harm done by the faithful seeing that image in the tree as a religious symbol and paying homage publicly to the Virgin Mary who the image reminds them of. Anyone critical of or offended by the sight of the faithful paying respect to the Mother of their God is in need of help and I pity the fools.
OK….. And what ever happened to that Jesus potato chip……. Or the grilled cheese…….
Fact: The tree is trying to cover the area where, because of the damage inflicted, fungi and other agents can later damage the tree. Such an entry point can lead to rot which will kill the whole tree.
Fiction?? Peoples with traditional wanderings in the birch forests of northern Europe would “blaze” trails.
Then the process above would occur. On repeated passings of the trail, year to year, who knows what god or goddes image was found from their religion in the “medallions” created?
Were thy comforted by this idea?
Do we see what we seek?
Malisha,
You are worshiping or celebrating perhaps. The questions for you are WHAT and WHY?
No answer required. Smile.
TMI z-man TMI
Virgin Mary? The mind sees what it wants to see. Dunno what that says in my case, ’cause the picture mostly reminds me of…a lady part.
I had that picture as the wallpaper on my computer for weeks!
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….really?????
My own personal, favorite appearance, of the ‘Virgin’ Mary….. was a few years ago when she appeared on the Anus of a Dog! I had that picture as the wallpaper on my computer for weeks! The Supposed Virgin sure picks weird places to show up, doesn’t she? Come on Folks…. there never was a virgin Mary, this is merely a repitition of a myth perpetrated for thousands of years in many previous iterations for numerous previous false Ghods, before Jesus, that have since passed into history, mostly forgotten in modern times……. We can hardly wait till jesus himself also passes into history as a long forgotten false ghod….. like all the other man-made ghods…….
I dont no nuthin bout human religion but what is the significance of a Virgin Mary? Around this marina, in the bar, they all order Bloody Marys and then when some guy orders a Virgin Mary the others scoff at him. From my vantage down here on the floor both drinks look the same.
I see a tree in need of labiaplasty — must be the Tree of Life