Friday, April 11, 2014

Mitzvah Mobiles



Yesterday, I sat at this stoplight on Wilshire Blvd and La Brea waiting for a convoy of recreational vehicles to pass, a so-called Mitzvah Tank Parade. The orthodox Jewish people inside the eleven vehicles happily waved at all of us.  I supposed their intentions were good -- spreading their message of  Passover to the people of Los Angeles. Ah, religion. Someone recently told me that I was doing God's work with this medical marijuana activism. An old friend whom I haven't spoken with nor seen in more than a decade sent me a religious book, a lovely memoir with admonitions to get closer to God. I haven't spoken to another relative in years because of her entreaty to me to lighten up and get closer to Jesus. A long time ago I went to a stadium filled with tens of thousands of evangelicals, their arms raised, palms open, receiving the light of Christ who apparently was channeled through a slick-haired slender man, a tiny dot on the stage below us. The woman who had brought me there took Sophie down and waited in a long line of thousands snaking toward this man who might perform a miracle. I waited in my seat, Henry a baby strapped to my chest. I had never felt so alone in that moment, surrounded by believers. I don't feel angry when I see the tanks of the Lord cross in front of me nor do I when I open packages whose contents are like confetti after the celebration. I won't push away admonition, will only watch it turn its back. I'll go down into the grass and lie on my back under the sun, close my eyes, wait for a sorcerer to lift my dress, brush flowers over my body, feel the dirt beneath me, know what it is to be alive.

9 comments:

  1. Yes. Beautiful. I'd rather be alive in the grass than alone in a stadium of believers any day.

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  2. For me (and many people, I believe), it is that lying down in the grass and feeling the sunshine that IS "God." I say, however you find your peace, your center, your communion with yourself and the connectedness of us all, that is the gift. All the better if you can find it when you're alone and quiet instead of seeking it outwardly. Although, I do love the pageantry and ritual and often crazy spectacle of some religions - the idea of a Mitzvah convoy is pretty cool - wish I'd been there to see it!

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  3. Ugh. It pleases me so much that Passover occurs not only on a full moon this year but on a BLOOD RED ECLIPSE MOON. The eclipse begins at 11 PM Pacific Standard Time. I'll keep an eye on it.

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  4. The grass, the earth, has properties that bring you closer to the mysteries of the universe that all the pagentry of all the religions in the world. I think so much would be healed if we lay with our cheek to the earth more often.

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  5. Your versions sounds like a religious experience to me.

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  6. Well you know exactly how I feel.
    If I MUST go to a church, it's going to strangely resemble a blues bar and they'll be serving beer and bourbon. Oh wait. It WILL be a blues bar.

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  7. The flowers and dirt and sun sound divine. I've never understood the stadium events except maybe for lonely people who want to feel less lonely with each other. The too smooth demigod, the demagoguery and, as my Gigi said, "all that hootin' and hollering" strikes me as about the last thing God would enjoy. But it isn't meant for him, is it?

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