The Story of Rebirth

 "I'm going away... you will look for me.
Where I'm going you cannot come."
-Jesus

"you must approach the throne

With its back up against the wall"

-Father John Misty

One good story to tell is of rebirth. It's undeniable in its allure. Man dies. Man is reborn. It doesn't make sense of course but the sheep don't read non-fiction they read pulp romance. We know it's a good story because our comic book superheros keep coming back for more.  The ancient Greeks knew this, too, and killed-off all kinds of gods and demiurges only to cyclically resuscitate them into new symbolic glory, and because the Greeks knew it so well Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul) knew it too and boy did he run with it. And without much of a writer credit nor remuneration.  Did anyone else know that this was his contribution?  I suppose, probably. One never knows what others know.  Did you know that Bill Finger co-created Batman?

I didn't.  I guess only true devotees stay until the end of the credits. No one told me it was Paul's story, they just told me the story and I thought it was a good one.  One of the best. It's hard to replace a story like that. I won't try. Yet.

My Dad passed away this summer. My brother and I remain, a kind of rebirth, I suppose but much less gratifying a tale. We had a service in August and homilies about Heaven were given in earnest. In sad moments it sure makes you feel good, this story of life after life, and yet we must not forget that it's a symbol.  A covenant to us to continue to live in compassion and kindness and without fear or anger. That's a hard pact.  I can see why they masked it in up behind Christmas wrapping papers and Easter dinners instead.

This Halloween I'm dressing up as a man in mourning. No mask. Don't ask, or do, but you might not like to hear it.  Paul's story had 2000 years of revisions before it came to me. All I ask is you give me some time, I'll come up with something snappy.