84 Castlegar News February 9, 1991 _rerermccmeeeencen * 2 aN LOCAL NEWS PULPIT & PEW By Father HERMAN ENGBERINK St. Rita’s Parish This story started with the call of One person at the foot of Mount Sinai. He shouts: ‘‘Aaron, make us a god." Hearing these words, people became uneasy. At first they were only; a few who dared to say something. Then their number in- creased and soon one could hear their call everywhee: ‘‘Make us a god."” Has this man Moses given up his leadership? Who knows what hap- pened to him who led us out of Egyptian slavéry. Perhaps he is dead already. Aaron, hurry, make us a god. Sure, his appearance had been im- pressive, thunder and lightning, all these clouds and the sound of trum- pets. But what was the result? Very little and they were left with 10 dif- ficult verdicts about God and the world. You must not kill. That is clear. You must not steal. Of course not. You must honor your, father and mother. Sure! Observe the holy day. For whom did you say that? But then: ‘*You shall not have other, gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the: sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth."” What does. he mean by that? In- stead of explaining it, he goes away. 5:30 p.m Sunday Brunch 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m Reservations 825-4466 Or mail to: Instead of bringing some light in the darkness, he withdraws on the mountain with his God to talk to Him. Moses has gone, Aaron, you make us a.god. And there. he stands, Aaron, the priest, the shepherd, the spiritual leader of his people, and he makes a god for them. **How would you like him to be?"’ Aaron says. ‘‘At least, give me some suggestions."’ He must be strong and powerful. He must be able to rage and be un- predictable. He must crush our enemies, bless our canons, he must go in front of our army in our struggle for our people and our country. He must guarantee that everything will work out the way we want it. Good must remain good and evil must remain evil. He must create everything in right proportions and intervene at the right moment Aaron could have told them that God is a jealous God who loves his people and does not want any other god beside him. He coufd have told them all this, but he does not. He fashions a god for them out of their golden earrings. He asks the most precious things they have and they give it ~willingly because they need him, their god, adapted to their imagination, born out of their fear. They need him to survive in the desert at the foot of Mount Sinai. Aaron fashioned for them a bull, strong and powerful, raging and un- predictable, stamping and snorting, RENT THIS SPACE 365-5210 [ COUNT YOURSELFIN | Your Health Report Card should have arrived during the past week. Please complete the small card inside and drop it off at your local Health Unit. Central Kootenay Health Unit 503 Front Street, Nelson, B.C. 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If Aaron had told them how long it took him to solder the horns in place, how many staples he used to fix the tail, if he had told them how many sticks he had to put inside to prevent the animal from collapsing, perhaps they might “have seen the pitiable absurdity of their rickety idol. d But the people did not see all this and Aaron did not tell them, The makers of the image had become blind in their desire for the image. If someone would have taken it away, they would have fought about it, if someone had told them their god is dead, they would have become mad. Aaron built an altar for their image and they called the bull. They called their own work. They called themselves ‘‘liberator’’ and they of- fered sacrifices to the bull, to their own work, to themselves. Pious makers of images danced in ecstasy for the false image of them- selves, product of their fears, their wishes and their yearnings. “*You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth."” Is this the end of the story? This would have been the end if God had looked on passively when the people danced around the bull. It would have been the end if God had left the images to their makers. It would certainly have been the end if God had allowed the makers to perish with their images or if he had destroyed them there. But He did not want that. He is faithful to his word. He wanted them to understand the meaning. of the words, ‘*You shall, not carve idols for yourselves.”” And because Moses was away and Aaron did not tell them anything, God decided to erect his own’ image while the people were dancing, busy with their religious services and of- fering sacrifices. While they were trying to drive their fears away with pious activities, God erected his image in the wilderness. Not a bull, strong and powerful, raging and un- predictable, not an_ illusion originating in their fears, their wishes and yearnings. No, his image was different: a cross, and on it someone bleeding to death. That was God's image, made of himself for the makers of images and their. fears. He made an image that does not need other images. He became man. so that man does no longer need to be god. Flipping pancakes is a tradition on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Paricake Tuesday. However, nist John Charters says increased secularism and other social changes have eroded the impact of such celebrations on society. CosNews file photo Shrove Tuesday fades from significance “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.’’ — George Bernard Shaw: Man and Superman I was looking’ at a pictorial calendar a few minutes ago. In the foréground was a broad, endless, featureless plain. In the background, in dramatic contrast, was a rugged range of mountains, full of jagged peaks and deep valleys, highlighted by dark shadows and splashes of light. They looked as if they would stand, enduring forever, yet I knew that time and the destructive force of elements would reduce those mountains to,just another uninteresting, plain or perhaps a high plateau. In other words, a plain is a homogenized mountajn range. I then looked at the calendar itself and noted that Feb. 12, 1991, is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) or more commonly today, as Pancake Tuesday. It is one- of the number of sacred and secular holidays, movable and immovable feast days, which used to be sprinkled liberally through the calendar — Annunciation Day, Christ- mas Day, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, to name only a few — which marked out the course of the year. However, a profound increase in i and ilability of wealth, together with an equally profound weakening of the of the church, has eroded the impact of JOB OPENINGS Details of these and other job oppor tunities are available ot Troll wtobody by resume to Jay Chernoff 3516.10 Ave ., Castlegor. (409) nm is required to and Okanagan. Most be fully qualified. This is a fulltime manent position. The wage is $10 per Introducing NORM CLARK Realtor RES. 365-5153 or more on experience. Apply to Kevin af 364-1118. A plu entice is needed in Trail. This is @ full-time permanent job. Wage is $8 per hour. Should have some previous experience. To apply contact Mike Mauro at 368-8221 these celebrations on society. When the average citizen has more available consumer goods and more opportunities for recreation than the wealthy of a few years ago, these special events decline in significance. The great, the dramatic mountain peaks of special days on the calendar have been eroded into a homogenized plain of one more day in a colorless parade of days. Take Shrove Tuesday for example. It marked the eve of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the long fasting period of Lent, which culminated finally in the joyful celebration of the major feast of Easter. On this Tuesday morning the church bells (the **pancake bells’’) would ring at 11 o'clock summon- sing the people.to church and confession. After chur- ch, the now shriven (cleansed) parishioners returned home where thrifty and practical housewives would gather up