The finest clothing made is a person’s skin, but, of course, society demands something more

than this.

—MARK TWAIN

This post has little to nothing to do with religion or theology but it is something I hope some of my readers, who might be going out into the working/professional world for the first time will find helpful.

I was watching this channel on youtube last night and I really like these guys. They’re gracious and they know a lot of things about etiquette and style (I have a side interest in textile and fashion history.) and if you listen to their videos, it’s clear that their interest in these things has also caused them to become better men, because it has led to a focus on developing better character. I think that’s pretty cool (though I don’t agree with their every sartorial choice!). Well, in one of their videos, there…

When I teach, I always try to bring in bits of material culture (buttons, medals, coins, glass, jewelry, seals, icons, ritual implements, cloth and so forth – the things we use every day in various ways), because it can tell us every bit as much about a people, place, or in my case since I teach theology, a religion as the written word. We tend to privilege the text in academia and in western culture in general, but I find that when my students handle oh, a 10^thcentury manuscript page, or a ritual drum, or a religious statue, when they see and get to *touch* some embroidery or a prayer shawl, or shaman’s coat, or liturgical vestment, some of which may be quite old, the subject I’m teaching comes alive for them. It’s the same when I immerse them in religious music of whatever tradition I happen to…

This is in response to Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #263 where the given word is VERNACULAR and the word count is 90.

§

Very few people will be able to define this word.

Everyone may think they know what it means but

Really, when it comes to the crunch, if asked to explain,

Nearly all will fail miserably. I really believe that is true.

Anyone who waffles as I am doing, stalling for time,

Clearly neither knows, nor, if truth be told,

Understands, that it can refer both to

Language and to architecture

And talks of language spoken by ordinary people and, when

Referring to architecture, is concerned with domestic and functional buildings.

Jerry Sams, Los Banos taken with a hidden camera

Oddly, people were allowed to volunteer for a transfer to Los Baños, which my parents did.  On April 7, 1944, our family was among 530 internees loaded into trucks for the trip South.  At first it was much better.  There was a kindly camp commandant, Lt. Col. Kimura, with one leg, who we kids called “Peg Leg”.  We got better food and he gave candy to the children.  And we could live together as a family. But unfortunately, that didn’t last long as the cruel, evil and sadistic Lieutenant Sadaaki Konishi was installed as the Camp Supply Officer. [source: “My Life as a Child Internee”, Robert A. Wheeler]

Strangely, the rescue of the 500 Santo Tomas internees on February 3rd would not be announced on the Voice of Freedom until the end of the month, leaving the Los Baños camp completely…

Thank you, once more, to Sammi Cox for publishing my poem on Whispers and Echoes and helping me find my missing toe. To find out more, follow the link below:

I woke up this morning, was missing a toe Limped all round the house, oh where did it go? When going to bed I know I had ten I got up, looked down, I counted, and then I enlisted the help of my wife and my lad To find the lost item I know I[…]

Missing! | Peter Matthews — Whispers and Echoes