terrshee's Diaryland Diary

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Paper Pressure

I feel like I'm suffocating in piles of paper sometimes.

Last night I sorted through the charitable appeals I have received in the last few months, and ended up with a small garbage bag of shredded paper.

There are stacks of old algebra homework that I dare not throw away until the end of the semester.

There are the exercises my career counselor has given me which I have yet to complete.

There are random magazines which I rarely read.

My files are bulging with financial and legal papers that I doubt I will ever need again and yet I'm told would be a Bad Idea (TM) to get rid of.

My desk at work is piled with lists and documentation, some of which is useful, but most of which is utterly transitory.

Is there really any purpose in all this? It makes me feel choked and burdened. I'm looking forward to my ritual New Years paper purge.

I made a push last night and got another batch of books entered into LibraryThing. So far the chivalry, literature, history, China, Zuni culture, medieval religious (as in people), and medieval documents sections have made it into the catalog. Next comes art and costume, then zen, psychology and practical manuals. That leaves the paperbacks, children's books and assorted literature.

I love my books. They don't count as paper pressure.

An Addendum after I wrote the above. I just read in the Washington Post about the Roman Catholic Church effectively barring homosexuals from the priesthood.

All I can think of is my gay co-worker who died of AIDS a little over 5 years ago, and whose funeral was thoroughly Catholic, and the priest who more than likely was gay himself.

I can understand in an intellectual way wanting priests to renounce the flesh and live a celibate life.

What I cannot understand is why it matters what a priest's sexual orientation is?

Are the sins committed by a gay person worse than a heterosexual's? Apparently.

Why that church does not address the fundamental problems of sexual misconduct for all its priests is beyond me.

I would really like to respect this institution for its history and the many good works of its followers, but singling out any group for exclusion raises my hackles. If there is a god, and I think so, then I doubt he judges us on anything but our actions, which are the only thing over which we have any control.

6:41 a.m. - 2005-11-23
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