Godfather II
When I was young, I used to read a true classic of the British New Wave of Science Fiction. It was a tatty little periodical called 2001 A.D.. One of the linchpin characters in that periodical was a lawman (the word is used broadly here) named Judge Dredd. The learned (well, at least skilled with implements of violence) judge was famous for the saying, "There's no justice; there's just us."
Along the way, I learnt the subtleties of shifting the letters in a sentence just a little bit. It's called adjustment for a simple reason; what is just is exactly so ('just so') while what is unjust is not quite right. What is adjusted is made more correct; what is justified is made fully correct.
And so one day, when I came across the phrase 'in justice we trust', it was the work of moments to rearrange it to say, 'injustice, wet rust'. Years later, reading Tim Powers's Dinner at Deviant's Palace, I would come to appreciate this more. Then, I would have thought I had reached the limits of my appreciation.
In the last three years, 2005-07, I have come to understand that the ability to appreciate injustice, irony and idiocy all at once is something you shouldn't take for granted. Occasionally, that rare ability might yet be called upon to serve its time. Perhaps, "There's no service; there's 'serve us'." Or more amusingly, perhaps I have become happy just to watch the show as it goes on, all the while thinking of King Lear, Macbeth and Julius Caesar. All of these are about fatherhood, kingship, and the madness of crowds.
Which brings me to the fact that it's almost the end of the year. Not all the news is bad, silly or peculiar. Some of it is touching, perhaps a little sentimental, perhaps sharing a bit of romance. I remember feeling sad about my godson for a while and thinking of my role as a godfather. Well, I've made contact with him again. He and my god-daughter, lovely young people, are West Coast artistic types through and through, with a liberal and liberating intelligence that I'm happy to admire.
And so it goes; some triumphs, some disasters, and over it all, the sense that the overwatching Spirit does indeed make all things good in time. I look forward to the year ahead. I trust all will be well, and even if not, that it really is. To the young people of the First (you know who you are), and those of the Second who succeed them, I can only think of one wish: "May you have light upon your way sufficient unto the finding of your home."
God bless you all.
Along the way, I learnt the subtleties of shifting the letters in a sentence just a little bit. It's called adjustment for a simple reason; what is just is exactly so ('just so') while what is unjust is not quite right. What is adjusted is made more correct; what is justified is made fully correct.
And so one day, when I came across the phrase 'in justice we trust', it was the work of moments to rearrange it to say, 'injustice, wet rust'. Years later, reading Tim Powers's Dinner at Deviant's Palace, I would come to appreciate this more. Then, I would have thought I had reached the limits of my appreciation.
In the last three years, 2005-07, I have come to understand that the ability to appreciate injustice, irony and idiocy all at once is something you shouldn't take for granted. Occasionally, that rare ability might yet be called upon to serve its time. Perhaps, "There's no service; there's 'serve us'." Or more amusingly, perhaps I have become happy just to watch the show as it goes on, all the while thinking of King Lear, Macbeth and Julius Caesar. All of these are about fatherhood, kingship, and the madness of crowds.
Which brings me to the fact that it's almost the end of the year. Not all the news is bad, silly or peculiar. Some of it is touching, perhaps a little sentimental, perhaps sharing a bit of romance. I remember feeling sad about my godson for a while and thinking of my role as a godfather. Well, I've made contact with him again. He and my god-daughter, lovely young people, are West Coast artistic types through and through, with a liberal and liberating intelligence that I'm happy to admire.
And so it goes; some triumphs, some disasters, and over it all, the sense that the overwatching Spirit does indeed make all things good in time. I look forward to the year ahead. I trust all will be well, and even if not, that it really is. To the young people of the First (you know who you are), and those of the Second who succeed them, I can only think of one wish: "May you have light upon your way sufficient unto the finding of your home."
God bless you all.
Labels: God, Godfather, Justice, Reflection
etched with acid at 2:38:00 am
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