Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive
I have no beef – zero, nada – with religious traditions not my own. This Easter we experienced, as the boys in the old Monty Python comedy troupe used to say, “something completely different.”
Instead of the traditional Easter Mass, we attended a thing called “Cowboy Church.”
Never been to one. Did not know what to expect. Lemme tell you about it.
It was held behind a country western bar in Cave Creek, Arizona. It featured a lot of good music. About 450 people gathered under a covered patio and open-air courtyard normally reserved for beer-drinkin’ and boot-scootin’.
All manner of critters attended. Some folks dressed in full-on cowboy garb – boots, buckles and hats. Most people opted for comfort: T-shirts and shorts. Little kids scurried about doing what kids do – anything other than paying attention. A couple of dogs lay on the cool concrete floor next to their human companions.
An eclectic and casual bunch, to be sure.
The pastor wore a big black cowboy hat. He delivered a spirited, aw-shucks sermon. (A bit too long, but aren’t they all?) Then there was communion. People as they entered received a pre-packaged container something akin to those little creamer packages in the coffee section at a convenience store. The top half was filled with grape juice and the bottom contained a tiny cracker. At the appointed time, the people were told (without ceremony) that it was time to take communion. This was followed by the sound of hundreds of these little containers being pried open, a group slurp and a crunch.
Look, I have to tell you that this style of communion was something with which I was completely unfamiliar. No candles. No incense. No priestly gestures. Just the green light to drink-up!
It was a “completely different” – but also a completely fine – way for this liturgically centric boy to celebrate Easter 2023. Hope you had a good one, too.
STOP TALKING
“(Marin City) is not a community that is willing to accept being treated as a stepchild” – the Rev. Floyd Tompkins, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.
I take the good reverend at his word when he says Marin City residents do not accept being treated as step-children.
But it also must be said – whether folks accept it or not – Marin City has, in fact, been treated as an afterthought since the end of WWII to this very day. It is without doubt the most glaring example of new century segregation in California.
There’s been a lot of big talk and hand-wringing, but very little fixing – public safety and education come immediately to mind, not to mention the most startling statistic – if you live in Marin City you will die seven years before your counterpart in the rest of the county.
I’ll probably make some people uncomfortable by saying this out loud, but sometimes that’s what a newspaper needs to do.
So, here it goes: Marin County supervisors and Marin City community leaders: Stop talking … start fixing.
GO SAUSALITO!
Given the hysteria surrounding sea rise in California, I found welcome relief in this news item: Sausalito’s going to build a “climate-resilient” arts building in the Marinship. It is designed, they say, to survive sea rise.
Will it float? Well, sort of.
The bottom floor and walls will be water-sealed and have a 12-foot ceiling, so if and when the water creeps up 100 years from now they can raise the floor to make a usable 10-foot ceiling.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen of Marin, that’s the plan and it received the A-OK from the Sausalito Planning Commission and the Sea Level Task Force.
I say, “way to to go” to Sausalito’s moms and dads for finding a way to move forward in this nutty environment.
Whatever gets you through the approval process, do it.
CASHING OUT
The oldest living member of the U.S. Senate, Dianne Feinstein is cashing out, big time.
The longtime California senator, 89, has announced she won’t run again.
The Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle report that she sold her Colorado vacation home – Bear Paw Ranch – this month for $25.5 million. And in 2021 she sold her Tahoe spread for $36 million.
It is good, indeed, to be a U.S. senator.
ONE MORE THING
– Marin hiking tip: Trails often look flat on a map.
– A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and says: “Five beers, please.”
– I just flew back from a ravioli convention. Boyaredees arms tired.
Agree with me or not, thanks for reading. Until next week, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.
(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
The Denton County Cowboy Church in Ponder, Tex., has been around since 2006.