August 07, 2004 - Seriousness, Buffett, and the strange bird I am

"Mother Mother Ocean,
I have heard you call.
Wanted to sail upon your waters
Since I was three feet tall.
You've seen it all,
You've seen it all"

A lot of people look at things I do, and they laugh. I have no issue with that, and, in fact, I encourage it.

It's when they think I'm not serious about my religion that I get a bit upset.

More than anyone else alive, Jimmy Buffett informs my Paganism. I'm not ashamed to say it, though it's been implied that I should be.

How is this? Why is this?

In a class on Jewish Mysticism I took at Ohio State, we talked about how Jews who had memorized the Talmud were able to draw on it at any time. It would help them solve problems, and it would help them build a bridge to God.

It was like this because they had the verses stored in their heads. It migrated, I like to think, from that place, locked away in their minds, and down into their heart, where they lived their religion.

Jimmy Buffett is my Talmud. It's strange to say, and probably stranger to hear, but I have memorized the lyrics so well that they help me solve problems. They shine like sunlight when I'm completely unable to find solutions. They give me a sort of a mythic history that I can connect to when I need answers.

I'm not saying that Buffett is some sort of God, or even that he's sacred. But I am saying that just because I find answers in his lyrics, that doesn't make me any less serious about my connection to the deities, or any less devoted to my religion.

The Buffett liturgy is not some strange attempt at humour. It is a real, concrete example of how I connect to deity through those songs.

Mother Mother Ocean, I have heard your call. Why can I not hear the call of Clergy?

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