Unprofitable Servant? Here I Am!

It's been a while since I've posted to my blog in a regular fashion. Why is that? Most likely because sitting at the computer hurts my back! I have hereditary low back trouble, and sitting at the computer utterly destroys me. However, I have acquired a new chair. I have recently turned 32, and through the generous donations of family birthday gifts I was able to go out and purchase a chair that is suitable for my old-man-condition (i.e. my back trouble). It isn't as perfect as the one in the store seemed, but it's a whole lot better than the others I've had (so far).

My other chairs have been two: a wooden kitchen chair that is wonderful for anything but computer work (apparently), and a light olive colored desk chair on wheels that I picked up for free at a garage sale in Malvern, IA. I expected to pay $0.50 for it, but the guy in the old-storefront-housing-cars-and-various-junk told me to take it for free. Free is free.

Anyway, I've felt as if I should be writing or doing something constructive, so I dug out an old laptop that gets way too hot and have been doing some writing on that. I managed to finish a paper for my parish priest after a number of months - which he is still reading - and I've been working on some lengthy blog stuff (which is still not ready).

In the meantime, so as not to remain an unprofitable servant, I include the following picture as documentation of my continued existence despite my chronometric advancement and senescence.



In other words, I'm still here.

Christos ist Auferstanden!

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Christ is risen!
Indeed He is risen!

Christos ist auferstanden!
Sicherlich ist auferstanden!

Harisutosu fukkatsu!
Jitsu-ni fukkatsu!

This last one is a version from Japanese, while the one previous is German, and I think we all recognize the English. I have some doubts about the common translation flying around for the Japanese, which is often rendered "Harisutosu," a rendering I cannot find in any Japanese dictionary. (It might be a way of transliterating "Christos" from some other language.) Rather, Christ is normally rendered as "Kirisuto" with "fukkatsu" referring to reviving or restoring.

I got our priest to give the Japanese a try as a Paschal greeting this year. He loved the idea. He also wanted to include the German. He said that about 1/4 Americans have some German ancestry. Also, it seems fitting given the number of formerly Lutheran families in the parish. This Saturday our parish received a family of four (now former) Lutherans by Chrismation. (I only learned that they were from a Lutheran background just the other day.)

We spent the entire week in Fort Wayne so we could attend the liturgical services of Holy Week. We purchased the Archdiocese's liturgical book for The Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha, edited and arranged by V. Rev. Fr. Joseph Rahal. It seems that much of the work for this book was done by Fr. Joseph when he was priest at our parish some years ago - or so I'm told.

Holy Week was wonderful and we didn't want it to come to an end.

One thing was striking last night, after coming back to Defiance tired and happy from such a wonderful week: When the day was drawing to a close I suddenly looked to my Holy Week liturgical book and felt a hollow feeling in my stomach. I had gotten quite used to being able to open that book and review what tomorrow had in store for me. Now the book has to be written as I go.

Christos Anesti!
Alithos Anesti!