Tithing for Nothing

Pay your proper tithe amount for years, even for decades, like my Mother did and what can you expect in return? Nothing.
I spent an incredibly frustrating 4 hours today trying to get hold of a priest to come and give my Mother the last rites. She is dying. Unfortunately, she forgot to schedule the event ahead of time with a priest of her choice so that she could have the supposed comfort of a member of the clergy there at her bedside, while she lay struggling for breath. We're talking a woman here who was a faithful member of the collection-envelope-filling congregation for decades, and yet today, when we tried to get a priest, we found out that she was simply shit out of luck, as far as three parishes in North York were concerned. She had been a member of Saint Paschal Baylon parish since its inception and only ceased her faithful attendance when she was moved to a nursing home. When I called there, all I got was a recording. I tried Saint Gabriel parish, on Sheppard Avenue East next. Although I got through to alive person there, the message was they would "try to reach Father Paul" and ask him to call me back. I made that request at 11:30 a.m. but never ever got a call back even though I called there twice more to ask if anyone had been able to reach the man. The last time I called I was told to try another parish. End of their concern, obviously, with a soul in need of clerical solace. Then I tried St. Wilfrid parish, on Finch Avenue West. All I got there was a recording giving the times and languages for masses to be said on New Year's Day.
Finally, in desperation, I called the Good Shepherd parish on Simonston Blvd, in Thornhill. I left an irate message there saying we had been trying by then for four hours to reach a priest for my Mother, who I said had been dutifully filling collection envelopes for decades. Within minutes I had a return call from Father Weber, and in no time at all, he was walking into my Mother's room. He, at least, has the correct idea of what duties a priest is supposed to be available to fulfill. He said to us that going to meet your God is the most important time in a christian's life, and that he was always glad to be able to help anyone at that time. He poured a little oil on the waters of my resentment for those other absent clerics, but not enough to make me forget that apparently their idea of helping at such a time means the parishioner must book a time ahead and then be bloody sure to knock off at precisely that time, or be ready to find themselves shit out of luck when they call for a priest.

Something Incorrect and Unacceptable

Homosexuality is big in today's news both north and south of the Canada-U.S. border.
South of the border, this is the day that President Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act into law. North of the border, it's the day the announcement was made that Alberta's Health Minister ordered the removal of homosexuality from the province's guide to mental health disorders. The guide helps the doctors of Alberta to decide what to bill when they've treated a patient. "I ordered the immediate removal of something I thought was incorrect, unacceptable, rather ancient in its thinking and otherwise demeaning," said Gene Zwozdesky, the health minister.
You know, those words would be exactly the right ones for Obama to use as well, if he were to want a summation of his signing the DA,DT repeal. Now if we could just get the rest of the population on board with this.

The Power of a Face

This news just in - psychologists at the University of Toronto and Tufts University have completed a study showing that a law firm's profit margin is higher when it's led by managing partners with powerful looking faces. Professor Nicholas Rule of psychology at U of T, lead author of the study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, says, “Appearance matters a great deal when it comes to judging people. This includes clothing, posture, and hairstyles, but the real window to judging people is the face." (emphasis my own)
I wonder how much that comes into play when people go to Kiva.org to make loans to help entrepreneurs in downtrodden circumstances, usually in developing countries. These people are seeking micro finance loans to start a business or grow one already up and running. You can see pictured here the latest recipient of one of my loans. I chose her because; first, she is a woman and I always lend to the oppressed of the oppressed, and second, because while I did pay attention to the bio and the assessed risk level for repayment, quite honestly, I liked her face.
Each person or group seeking a Kiva loan is pictured on the site beside a short bio and details of their business. While I was at the site today looking at the entrepreneurial individuals and groups seeking financial aid, I saw a picture of a man whose face was blocked out. I have to wonder how much such an action will impact his perceived desirability as a loan-seeker, especially when those with the money to lend will be lacking the usual visual clues as to whether or not he's someone with whom they can entrust their funds.
Various explanation are, of course, possible for his face being blocked out, but I think Professor Rule would be anything but approving of it.

Ring Those Bells, Sally Ann!

The Toronto Eaton Centre, and Fairview Mall, both huge monuments to consumerism and the money grabbing of retailers, have taken a step to silence the bells rung by an institutional monument to compassion. They have both told the Salvation Army volunteers that the ringing of their traditional bells is now verboten.
Brian O'Hoski, spokesperson for the Eaton Centre, says the volunteers asking mall-goers for donations to the Sally Ann have been asked to still those bell clappers because some merchants were complaining about the "noise" they had to listen to from them. Bah, humbug O'Hoski! Ever tried locating those donation seekers simply by the sound of their bells? In a mall where the noise pollution of Christmas Muzak pouring out of every store entrance is incessant, those canvassers are damn near impossible to locate by the sound of their bells alone. Most times, you have to be close enough to almost trip on the donation kettle's tripod before you hear the ringing sound that seems to be such anathema to O'Hoski and whoever made the grinchy decision at Fairview.
The Sally Ann may not have an entirely blemish free record to their philanthropy, but at least they keep working to help out those in need. How many times do the stores in those two malls subject their shoppers to endless replays of "Jingle Bells" sung by every artist selfishly looking to cash in on the Christmas spirit? How could it really be so objectionable to let the mall shoppers hear the sound of bells being rung in an unselfish attempt to share that same spirit?