by Marty Coleman | Aug 12, 2010 | Carlton Pearson, Christianity - 2011-2013, Comtess Diane |
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Day #4 of Religion Week at The Napkin Dad Daily
I have always been very intrigued by the Christian martyrs of the ancient and medieval era. What they went through for their change of beliefs was horrific. Not just at the hands of the Romans, but at the hands of other Christians who happened to be in power.
A recent day example is the case of Carlton Pearson. He was a leader of a huge evangelical, pentecostal church here in Tulsa. He was the darling of that part of American Christianity with a high profile in the public eye, accolades, fame and attention.
But his religious journey led him to change his mind about something. Something fundamentally at odds with fundamentalism.
Whereas his branch of Christianity had always stated that only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, out loud and in their heads, are saved, he came to believe otherwise. He came to believe that everyone on planet earth, no matter what, was saved. Plenty of people argue about this and I am not here to do that. I am just saying Carlton Pearson had to be very religious to change his religion.
Within weeks of him publicly stating this he was anathema to those who formally embraced him. He eventually lost his congregation, his building, his friends, his money. He had a small remnant of people from his church who stayed with him, meeting at another church that lent them their activity hall and sanctuary on Sunday afternoons.
He eventually found a group of religious people in Tulsa who embraced him and his congregation. They said you can come here and worship. They said we have all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs and they are all loved and accepted. They said if you change your mind again, we will still accept you, still love you. They said if you cease to believe at all, we will still accept you, still love you.
That church is All Souls Unitarian Church and I am proud to be a member.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Marie-Josephine de Suin de Beausacq, 1829-1899, French aphorist. She wrote 2 books of aphorisms under the pseudonym Comtess Diane.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 10, 2010 | Anonymous, Christianity - 2011-2013 |
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Day #2 of ‘Religion Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
Well, there is Darwin Day, but besides that Atheism just can’t compete with other belief systems. Celebrating an idea without an event attached to it is not as easy as one might think. You can’t really put the Big Bang on a calendar so that one is a bit tricky to nail down.
One of the things I love best about religious holidays is that while there is usually a historical event being celebrated, there is also an idea that is being celebrated as well. You can celebrate both or one or the other.
My favorite holiday within my tradition is Christmas.
What is yours?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote origination is unknown.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 9, 2010 | Christianity - 2011-2013, G. K. Chesterton |
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Day #1 of Religion Week at The Napkin Dad Daily
When you get right down to it, it’s about security. A person or an institution, when they are secure and at peace about who they are, can be made fun of, and can make fun of themselves.
When one is insecure and feel that their beliefs aren’t ‘water proof’ then they tend to get defensive and very serious, without a lot of tolerance for even mild ribbing (or questioning).
When much is invested in a complex belief system, and the consequences of that system being weakened threaten you and your position in the world, it is hard to allow it to be made fun of.
What that tells me is that the belief system is more important to you than the actual belief. That is not a good religious faith if you ask me.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English writer
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 8, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour |
The Bomber Jacket
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| Skeets Coleman (2nd from right), 1942 – Goleta, Calif. |
When I was negative 13 years old (1942) my father became a US Marine. He was assigned to a fighter/bomber squadron training in Goleta, California. Later it would be the home of University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his bomber jacket at that time. Here is a photo of him in Goleta with his jacket on, and with some really tall guys. I found this online at his squadron’s website.
When I was growing up I would wear it for fun around the house. A guy’s version of playing ‘dress up’. I wore it quite a bit in high school and when I left for college I took it with me, with his blessing. In 1977, when I was a positive 22 years old, 35 years after his training at Goleta, I ended up in the same location with the same jacket. I was an art student at UC Santa Barbara. Here is a drawing I did of that same jacket in 1977, hanging outside my closet in my apartment.
I was drawing it because I had gotten it refurbished (if that is the right term for a jacket). I found a leather restorer (oh yea, that’s the term) and had him put in new lining to match the old, new elastic trim at the bottom, resew and restore the leather as best he could. I was very proud of it and thought looked great. I wore it for many, many years after that. Eventually I got too round and the jacket got too worn and I put it away.
After it was retired I bought and wore many bomber style leather jackets. It wasn’t the same but I always bought those because I liked the connection to the original.
I still have the jacket of course and to bring this sketchbook history tour full circle, I thought I would take a photo of myself in it. I am the same age now as he was when he gave it to me so many years ago.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 6, 2010 | Death - 2001-2011, Gerard Way |
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Day #5 of Death Week at The Napkin Dad Daily
I lived in San Jose, California for many years, 1981-1994. I remember somewhere in that time two ‘death’ events happening that made me stop and think about how it can come at any time, doing any thing. One just truly never knows.
The first event was a report in the local paper, The San Jose Mercury News. It told the story of an auto accident. The car, a convertible with the top down, was stopped in the outside lane of a two-lane wide left turn lane. The inside turn lane was a free and large vegetable truck carrying a load of tomatoes came up in that lane as the light turned green. It did not have to slow down for the red light. It was somewhat flimsy looking, with simple high walls of the truck made out of plywood. The truck was going too fast for the turn and as a result the tomatoes shifted in the back of the truck causing the entire truck to tip over and all the tomatoes to spill out. The tomatoes, plywood, crates and everything else made a direct hit on the convertible, killing the passenger. She was just going along with her life, driving who knows where and the next thing she knows she is suffocating under a load of tomatoes.
The second ‘death’ event I remember was the famous Air Florida flight 90 crash into the Potomac River in Washington, D. C. on January 13th, 1982. Reagan was President and he brought one of the heroes of the freezing river rescue to his State of the Union address that year. What hit me about the crash though was that the plane hit one of the bridges over the river, crushing numerous vehicles and killing four drivers and passengers in those cars. They weren’t speeding, they weren’t drunk, they weren’t taking the risk of flying. They were driving home from work. They look up and there is a gazillion ton airplane about to crush them.
It’s a horrible thing to think about. I hate the randomness of those stories. Luckily most of us actually do not die in that sort of freak accident. But all of us do die. And none of us know when we will die. All we can do in the light of that fact is live our life understanding it. That doesn’t mean you have to hug every person you know every day just in case it’s your, or their, last day. What it does mean is you will be happier with your life, long or short, if you live it with love and live it deliberately communicating that love, in word, image and deed. That is all there is to it.
Quote has been attributed to Gerard Way, 1977-not dead yet, American singer and comic book writer. Lead vocalist of the band ‘My Chemical Romance’. I was not able to verify he is the author.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 5, 2010 | Death - 2001-2011, Dr. Seuss, Jimmy Dean |
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Day #4 of Death Week at The Napkin Dad Daily. Don’t worry, today is a good death day.
Harry’s Bar – A Story of Life and Death
She was at the airport, about to board for her big adventure overseas. Going to Italy for a Vespa tour with her buddies from her NYC Vespa club. As she boarded her father, the famous man, called. He said in that funny, formal way of his; If you, or any of your party, enjoy liver and onions, you really have to go to Harry’s Bar in Venice. He had been there long ago he said and it was great. Not only that but the place was a landmark, was magical and was worth finding when she was there.
He had that great, unbridled enthusiasm for life he always had in his voice and she could hear the happiness he had in passing on this bit of information to his daughter, whom he loved. He wasn’t able to travel any more, having a bad back that prohibited it. She had even had to go on his behalf to various events honoring him, the famous man, because he couldn’t travel even within the states successfully. But nonetheless his joy was evident. He didn’t need to go, he just needed to talk to his daughter about the going. She knew that and smiled and laughed with him about his funny recommendation. She promised him she would try to find Harry’s Bar.
She knew they would not be in Venice for long but she asked the concierge at the hotel where Harry’s Bar was anyway. It turned out that it was not convenient to get to from where they were. They would have to take a water taxi the wrong way from their fancy restaurant destination. She decided she would find it later maybe. She didn’t really want to have liver and onions, after all. She would be disappointed if she didn’t see the place and she knew he would be too. But if it wasn’t to be, it wasn’t to be.
After the dinner at the fancy restaurant they decided to take a different water taxi back to the hotel. They strolled the streets after getting off, figuring they would find the hotel soon enough. Turning a certain corner she saw a little innocuous wood door and single window. but the big words on the glass in the door caught her eye. It simply said Harry.
She jumped at her friends and said ‘There it is, there it is, there’s Harry’s Bar, right there!’ She was surprised at her own enthusiasm but she went with it and bounded into the bar. Her father was right, what a magical little spot it was. She loved the old fashion feel to the place, the wood, the low lights, the crowd of drinkers. She could see what her dad was taking about and all of a sudden she was giddy with delight.
She decided she just had to call her dad. It was mid-afternoon back in the states and he answered while his wife was out doing errands. The daughter had to scream into the phone to overcome the noise of the bar crowd, but he could hear her easily. “Guess where I am, Dad? I am in Venice and I am in Harry’s Bar! You were right, it is a magical, beautiful place!” He asked her if they ate there and had the liver and onions. She told him she found it by accident after they dined elsewhere but that it didn’t matter. They were going to have a drink and enjoy the place for a while.
He was excited and happy, she could tell. His joy in hearing his daughter enjoying her life, especially a little part that he had a hand in so far away from home was a great joy. It was better than the awards he got for being a famous man. It was better than the publicity and the fame. it was better than the money. She knew he was loving hearing her voice having fun off in the wo
rld he helped give her. They hung up with each other happy to be joined in love.
Later the famous man’s wife came home. He proudly told her right away “Guess who called ME all the way from Venice!” He then told her about his daughter calling him from Harry’s Bar. He said “She sounded like she was floating on air.”
A few hours later they were settled in their easy chairs for the evening, watching the Golf Channel. He had his dinner and his martini. He was happy. His wife got up to go in the kitchen and then to the bathroom. When she returned the famous man was dead. He was gone and that was that. No hospital, no illness, no long, severe pain. One minute he was a happy, content father beaming at the happiness of his daughter, so much like him. The next minute he had moved on.
The daughter found out early the next morning. She was thousands of miles away, in a foreign country not knowing the language. She had to figure out how to get home. It took two trains to get to Pisa where she could take a direct flight back to America. The love and grace she was shown during that trip home and the kindness of her travel partners and complete strangers eased the grief. She came home and said her goodbyes. She didn’t say goodbye to a famous man, other people did that. She said goodbye to a good father. That is what he was to her, famous or not. That is what mattered to her.
She had no guilt, no remorse that she didn’t say goodbye to her father in the classic way. She had that moment. That moment that told him and told her that he lived on in her. She was taking one trip, he was taking another. He had passed on his humor, his joy, his attitude of fun, his willingness to take risks and try new things to her. Harry’s bar and their deep love and connection from thousands of miles apart had shown that. It was a sign and a story she could live with the rest of her life.
This story is dedicated to Jimmy Dean and his daughter, Connie.
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Drawing and story by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Dr. Seuss, 1904-1991, American author. Author of ‘Cat in the Hat’ and a gazillion other books.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 4, 2010 | Death - 2001-2011, Robert T. Morris |
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Day #3 of Death Week at The Napkin Dad Daily. Cheery topic, eh?
Will the cheerleader at your funeral be buoyant with joy over your death or over the life you lived? And if you now realize they are likely to be happy you are gone, what are you going to do to change that?
What will people say at your funeral?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Robert T. Morris, 1965-not dead yet, American academic, creator of the first computer ‘worm’ on the internet.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 3, 2010 | Death - 2001-2011, Susan Ertz |
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Day #2 of Death Week at The Napkin Dad Daily
If we are going to be in life eternal, there will be a LOT of time. What will we do and think with all that time?
Here are some traditional assumptions:
In that eternal time/non-time there will be no drama or trauma, no anger, no fear, no inadequacies, no danger, no boredom, no miscommunication.
No one will forget birthdays or anniversaries, say mean things to people even by accident or have bad thoughts.
These will not exist as well: jealousy, envy, gluttony, laziness, immoral thoughts, crass humor, sarcasm, perversions, disabilities, aches and pains, or bad memories.
There will be no worrying about how you look or what someone thinks of you. There will be no feeling superior to anyone, nor inferior to anyone. There will be no judgment based on race, creed, color, age, sex.
What do you think of these, are they true? If not, what will it be like if there is an afterlife? And if they are true, what will be be thinking about in the afterlife?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of the Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Susan Ertz, 1894-1985, British Writer
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 2, 2010 | Death - 2001-2011, Paul Tsongas |
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Guess what? I now have a slide show page.
Check out all of July’s napkins at one time.
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Day #1 of a week long series on death.
So, don’t spend so much time there.
I have had a number of discussions about death recently, thought I would go looking for ideas on the topic. My wife has a co-worker with terminal lung cancer, not an easy thing to deal with. She is trying hard to keep in communication with her, asking her how she is, if there is anything she can do, etc. But when it is terminal and soon, what can you do? We talked about how there aren’t any easy sentiments to say or send in a card in that situations. It’s just hard and that’s that.
Another friend had a close family member commit suicide. It wasn’t expected as far as I know and they were very close. All you can do is offer condolences and help, gently talking about things as they are able and willing to talk. It’s another hard situation.
What are your thoughts on death? Are you afraid of it? What do you think is on the other side, anything? Heaven, consciousness, hell, limbo, Rambo?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Sen. Paul Tsongas, 1941-1997, United States Senator
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 1, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour |
Sketchbook History Tour – 1976
Pete waking up Rusty after a Hard Night at the Roxy
In October, 1975 I was forced to leave Brandeis University. My family just couldn’t afford it anymore. Around the same time several of my best high school friends decided to take a year off from college and move to Hollywood. Pete and I drove his Thunderbird across the country and I started this sketchbook at the beginning of the trip. We hung out at my Uncle Steve’s house in Pacific Palisades for a couple weeks until Rusty and JJ joined us. We found an apartment just north of Hollywood and Vine.
Pete and Rusty got jobs at the Roxy on Sunset Strip as doormen. It was wild hours and wild times. I was drawing the living room with Pete just sitting there and Rusty crashed on a small mattress we had thrown down on the floor. For some reason Pete had to wake Rusty up and kept kicking him in the head to do it. I captured the moment.
I moved out eventually to a place that was a bit less crazy. I got residency in California and moved up the coast to finish college at UC Santa Barbara, which I did in 1978.
Drawing and story © 2016 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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