What's This?

If one hath a blog, what must one put in it? Should it have a single thesis? Be dedicated to one interest or location, directed to a specific person or audience? What, in fact, is a blog? It’s nature, my intention, the framework of the structure, the frontier of this artificially constructed cyber-reality? I know the hipsters-of-Academe are, even as we speak, theorizing “the Blog”… “Where is the Body in the Blog? How do we position the blog in the discursive community? Are there boundaries—are they permeable? Can we blog Beowulf??” For more of this please see the very smart Medievalists over at In the Middle. Much too smart for me, really. 

So…digression. The question for this post is: what is my blog ABOUT? What is it FOR? I am a baby medieval scholar, yes. But not of the scholarly or theoretical temperament, really, though I enjoy perusing my bit of Derrida and translating my bit of Beowulf (“Hwaet!”). I am not motivated enough, educated enough or disciplined enough to follow those over at ITM or the Babel Working Group. And I begin more and more to identify myself with the creation of/participation with art, specifically poetry—and with prayer, which all good work (and all good poetry) should be. “Ora et Labora”—work and pray, as St. Benedict said.

Can blog be prayer?? Hmm…

Which brings me back to my question again. I have many interests—things which I can (and will, with God’s grace) blog about. For instance, cooking/eating:

Food is a blessing from God. We are able to manipulate the “fruits of the field” with our human hands, to nourish ourselves and those we love. For someone who writes things that make

 no sense (frequently) and run in circles (always) and does stupid things like blog in her head, and talk to herself—for this person cooking is a blessedly tangible, physical, complete action. I MADE that meal. I get to eat it. YOU get to eat it. We get to keep being alive because we ate it. No one ever eats my poems (I don’t think) or stays alive because of my poems (“for poetry makes nothing happen” said W.H. Auden—which is a whole other topic for blog comment). Yes, food is good. Thus food will probably make an appearance in my blog.

Another thing I like is Names. Specifically proper names for Humans and Dogs. My imaginary Humans are named Hugo, Imogen, Conrad, Iris, Isidora and Jemima. My imaginary dogs are Maud, Gary, Mars, Muffin and Becky. I like to look at Baby Name Blogs which are frequented by very smart people who have very interesting thoughts. Here are my favorites: Appellation Mountain, Baby Names Wizard, You Can’t Call it It. One can build an entire blog on baby names alone, and the theory of naming, the sociology and psychology of naming…etc. I might blog about names at times: my mixed motives for my (slight) name obsession being 1.) Poets like words: why is that word attached to that thing? Is that thing different because it belongs to that word? And 2.) blossoming maternal instinct accompanied by ridiculously premature stroller envy (note: Bugaboo). 

Yes, I might blog about names from time to time. Names are dear to my heart because they are the most poignant and personal type of word and words really are my thing (sound of words, look of words, music of language…). We give names to things we love. The Brits name their houses. I used to name trees. We give our most beloved people extra names. My dog, for example, has a fancy name: Winter’s Duke of Marlborough. We call him Marley, and Marles, and Marbles, and Poopoo, and Marleyboo, and Presh-Presh, and Stinky, and Marshy, and Moo. And he has his own song that we sing to him: “Oh Marley is a Friend…a Frieeeeeend!” Yes, yes. Gag me, I know. It’s revolting. But I might as well add Marbles to the list of things to blog about. Here he is:

Back to words and names… We give those most dearly beloved many names—and these names indicate both our own devotion as well as some particular aspect of the beloved. Which brings me at last to the foundation and the real purpose of this blog—and of everything else in my life, I pray. This being: the Holy Trinity as we know Him/Them through the Holy Catholic Church, through the love of the Theotokos, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. 

This is the great mystery, the greatest source of passion, of interest and fascination in my life. Therefore, my Sentimentality Alarm begins to buzz even as I broach the subject. “woop woop! Jesus?? You attempt to describe religious passion without sounding trite…artificial…overdramatic? Careful!! He might start to look like this” How dare I put my grubby blog-paws on the Mystery? How dare I sully the glory of Divine Love? Well. This is a good question. One I will continually try to answer. Should I speak? Should I keep silent? I hope that I am not serving my God poorly by blogging here. I know I cannot adequately name his precious face.

Despite my anxiety and the awareness that religious language at it best often falls into sentimentality, and despite my awareness that even perfectly honest, intelligent and straightforward descriptions of religious passion and devotion fall like blobs of the worst sentimental goop on the ears of the non-religious—despite these things, I still endeavor to make the following statement:

I humbly dedicate this blog (along with my life) to the service of the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And because all poor souls attempt to name (and name again) those we love the most, I will end this shamefully lengthy post by including the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

 

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, united substantially with the word of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke Thee, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, saturated with revilings, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, crushed for our iniquities, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, made obedient unto death, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord,
Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart.
R. Make our hearts like unto Thine.

Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.