Blood!

Last updated on: November 19, 2011 at 3:46 pm by Marc

Blood! 2011-11-19T15:46:52-05:00 Marc

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Part of what’s great about being Catholic is that it makes things deeper. For instance, I was giving blood at my high-school the other day, and, happily watching it drip from my veins into a bag, I remembered that I had gone to mass that morning. Then that blew my mind, because I drank the blood of God at mass, which was assumedly running through the same veins that now had needles sticking out of them, giving blood. The sacrifice he made for me was, in a very real way, giving me the grace and charity to take part in that same sacrifice, to love others because I had been loved by that man on the cross. All charity and all sacrifice should imitate that of our savior’s; selfless and in love.

But what was funny was my Nietzschean, Nordic/satanic-metal loving friend, in his black jacket, getting hooked up to give blood. We’ve been having an ongoing discussion about morality – namely whether it exists – so I decided it would be great to ask him why he was practicing such a charitable act. Did his Dark Lord Thor command it? For surely Nietzsche would have something negative and German to say about the whole “helping the weak” business. I was fully prepared to snarkily reveal to him the error in any answers that sounded even remotely like “it’s the right thing to do.” But his answer was absolutely fantastic and fit perfectly with his previously expressed world view, for which I give him credit. He said, “because I like to look at my own blood.”

I was proud of him in that moment, simply because he wasn’t being lukewarm. Then I finished giving blood, stood up and fainted, then tried again, moving over to where my infernal friend was still being bled. He couldn’t move much, so I took the opportunity to share with him my thoughts on how Christ-like he was being, and how proud Our Lady was of him, and how great it was that he was imitating the sacrifice of Our Lord by giving his blood for humanity. He seemed at least mildly amused, indicating that he had not fully sold his soul to the powers of hell, telling he would kill me when he got unhooked.

An idle threat – apparently – because when he did get up he merely asked me, “Now what was that you were saying?” and I reminded him that all I had said was that “Thor loves you, and died for your sins” so we were O.K after that. But then he ruined the whole moment by becoming human. On leaving he turned around and muttered, somewhat confusedly beneath his mass of hair, “well, it’s a good cause, isn’t it?” I kindly reminded him that outside of a moral frame there are no good causes, to which he shrugged. Somehow, no matter how dark our world gets, we can’t escape being human. We can’t escape the desire to love, which for some irrational reason is so much more powerful, so much aggressive and so much more wild than the desire to hate. Even when we deny the existence of right and wrong, extol our race over others and conclude that life is pointless, we still give blood. Like most things, that is cause for hope.

Destupidification

Previous Post

January 25, 2011

If This Is How We Lose....

Next Post

January 27, 2011 As Promised...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Another Look Atheism Bad Catholics Beauty Communio Crookedhart Destupidification Exiting the Culture Wars Gender Theory That Doesn't Suck How To Language Liturgy! Love One Another Marriage Equality Modesty Music Objectification pop culture Poverty Sacraments Sex Technology The Best Religion in the World The Erotic Phenomenon Time Uncategorized Virtue Ethics That Don't Suck Winning the Culture Wars

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city is home to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Vatican City Paris London Jerusalem