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Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Becoming Metaphysical, Truthful, and why not, Absolute

TOP DEFINITION - Urban Dictionary


"This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill: the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill: you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." - Morpheus, The Matrix

'Red pill' has become a popular phrase among cyberculture and signifies a free-thinking attitude, and a waking up from a "normal" life of sloth and ignorance. Red pills prefer the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be.

"I took the red pill"

by ironuckles October 29, 2004
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Finally, this morning I decided to look up the definition of "red pill". While I have my doubts concerning the use which people make of the term, having consulted the "Urban Dictionary", I will probably use the expression and make it mine, hoping that others understand me.

Nonetheless, I see a problem in this usage, which reflects much of common parlance. What does Morpheus' "Wonderland" have in common with "ironuckles" truth? In other words, maybe I would be right to disdain the expression "red pill" and remain with my "Amish buggy" insistence on the existence of absolute truth, of right and wrong, and why not, of a judgment day and personal accountability for my life choices before God now and for all eternity?

Yesterday on Facebook, a back and forth commentary in German between people unknown to me, regarding some lovely pictures from the Deacon Ordination I celebrated in the Seminary in Wigratzbad, in Bavaria, profoundly annoyed me. Despite an honest effort on my part to comprehend what was at stake in their heated discussion, the red pill/blue pill dichotomy offered me no help for getting a handle on where these people might be coming from. I found their assertions to be gratuitous at best and bordering on the outrageous. One man's arbitrary aesthetic canons, which he held, it would seem at least, on the presumption of some sort of contemporary societal consensus (doubtful to my way of thinking), labelled my experience of "beauty and order" in what those pictures represented of that day as "verstörend", disturbing. He vented over the typical wrought iron cross in the seminary garden, over the lace trim on vestments and even the traditional Sunday best (Tracht or Lederhosen) worn by proud Bavarian family members in attendance.

My question, of course, is: Could we have done anything which would not have provoked these people? I would bet not. In German, the label applied would be "Störenfried", in Italian "guastafesta", which in English come out "spoil sport" or "party pooper".

In the end, I am suspicious that perhaps someone would deny us our right to celebrate the Vetus Ordo, based on some sort of "red pill" "...truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be." (Thanks to ironuckles!)

The profundity of the wish of Pope Benedict XVI to see two forms of one rite enrich each other never fails to encourage me. Just recently, the Vetus Ordo was gifted with access to the post-1962 saints and to some additional prefaces. As "mutual" in any dictionary is a two way street, I am looking forward to see some enrichment of the Novus Ordo inspired by the Mass of all ages!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

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