Monday, May 16
Liturgical Nuttiness!
From the Nov. 1967 issue of "Liturgical Arts," dedicated to "A Chapel on the Moon."
Excepts from The Moon People's Liturgy
By which author Constance Parvey meant "the most banal aspects of contemporary socialist Sweden," or, "What happens if I suck all remnants of Christ and masculinity from religion."
There is an old saying on earth which goes, "He has no more need for religion than the man in the moon." Like many folk phrases, it embodies some prophecy and some truth. For here we are, one hundred years in the moon and it is certainly true that we have no need for religion. From what I hear about earth, your religion is still one of fear and holding back--afraid of men with other political points of view, afraid of people in other social groups, *afraid of your growing population*, and mos of all afraid of yourselves...
I live in Atreus, near the Lake of Imbrium. We live far below the moon's surface in a man-made cave...
We don't have "religion" in earth's sense. There are no religious schools, no membership roles, and not even many of what you call clergy...
We Chrisitans don't have a special group any more--but everyone meets together on Sundays for a common meal with a group of neighbors and friends... We call this meal a "meal of thanks." It is a time when we think about and sometimes say in public what we are thankful for. It is strange how we can almost read each others' minds on these occasions, because in the process of this meal somehow all the petty grievances, the hurts and injustices come out. Since we are not afraid of ourselves or each other anymore, it is quite easy for us to speak about what is truly on our minds and some how through this miracle of communication, the wounds are bound and we are wedded to a new level of neighborhood and of personal presence fo one another...
I am sure that you are wondering why I have not mentioned Christ in all this because I have heard that Christ is a very important symbol for you... Christ is so real to us that in the mention of any person's name, His name is mentioned. There is no recognition of another person without simultaneous recognition of that this 'other' is also Christ's. He is such a Real Presence that His name as such is rarely mentioned...
The word [liturgy] actually refers to something like "public works"... Our main liturgical actions togetherare to give thanks and to break the bread of life together. By the way, bread here is used in place of your word 'food.' We call everyhing that gives life 'bread.' We of course dance and sing, perhaps someone does a drama drawn from from the experience of the past week... We also spend a lot of time... sharing our inner-most thoughts through creative writing...
You must feel from all I've said that we are very self-satisfied. In a way we are, but in another way we are not. We would like the people on earth to be able to live the way we do... We could send missions... but we are afraid that these would turn into false ways which would not bring about deep internal changes. So, we have decided just to BE, and to be HERE...
From the Nov. 1967 issue of "Liturgical Arts," dedicated to "A Chapel on the Moon."
Excepts from The Moon People's Liturgy
By which author Constance Parvey meant "the most banal aspects of contemporary socialist Sweden," or, "What happens if I suck all remnants of Christ and masculinity from religion."
There is an old saying on earth which goes, "He has no more need for religion than the man in the moon." Like many folk phrases, it embodies some prophecy and some truth. For here we are, one hundred years in the moon and it is certainly true that we have no need for religion. From what I hear about earth, your religion is still one of fear and holding back--afraid of men with other political points of view, afraid of people in other social groups, *afraid of your growing population*, and mos of all afraid of yourselves...
I live in Atreus, near the Lake of Imbrium. We live far below the moon's surface in a man-made cave...
We don't have "religion" in earth's sense. There are no religious schools, no membership roles, and not even many of what you call clergy...
We Chrisitans don't have a special group any more--but everyone meets together on Sundays for a common meal with a group of neighbors and friends... We call this meal a "meal of thanks." It is a time when we think about and sometimes say in public what we are thankful for. It is strange how we can almost read each others' minds on these occasions, because in the process of this meal somehow all the petty grievances, the hurts and injustices come out. Since we are not afraid of ourselves or each other anymore, it is quite easy for us to speak about what is truly on our minds and some how through this miracle of communication, the wounds are bound and we are wedded to a new level of neighborhood and of personal presence fo one another...
I am sure that you are wondering why I have not mentioned Christ in all this because I have heard that Christ is a very important symbol for you... Christ is so real to us that in the mention of any person's name, His name is mentioned. There is no recognition of another person without simultaneous recognition of that this 'other' is also Christ's. He is such a Real Presence that His name as such is rarely mentioned...
The word [liturgy] actually refers to something like "public works"... Our main liturgical actions togetherare to give thanks and to break the bread of life together. By the way, bread here is used in place of your word 'food.' We call everyhing that gives life 'bread.' We of course dance and sing, perhaps someone does a drama drawn from from the experience of the past week... We also spend a lot of time... sharing our inner-most thoughts through creative writing...
You must feel from all I've said that we are very self-satisfied. In a way we are, but in another way we are not. We would like the people on earth to be able to live the way we do... We could send missions... but we are afraid that these would turn into false ways which would not bring about deep internal changes. So, we have decided just to BE, and to be HERE...
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
