Sick of Zombies

Josh loves AMC's The Walking Dead and Fear of the Walking Dead, and while I'm sure they are entertaining, and totally worthy of being watched, I'm just over this whole zombie thing that's been so dominant the last few years. One of my favorite professors in my undergrad was a monster-fanatic and expert. He taught me (and others) that literary monsters are not just created to be scary, but also are used to represent things and are tool for social critique,

The first film that our type of zombies, living (not reanimated) corpses, appear in, Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968, and has been over-analyzed to death. There are those that swear that movie is about the Cold War, other's call it a comment on KKK, and many note that the only African-American character, the protagonist and hero, is the only one who does not survive the zombies (which was traditional of American movies at the time). 1978's Dawn of the Dead carried America further into their zombie fandom, putting a zombie attack in a mall, and making the social criticism staggeringly obvious. Whatever you'd like to think, zombies are intended as symbols, not just as villains. Mindless, following the herd, feeding on whatever, doing whatever. they are commentary on a mindless society. A thoughtless society. A selfish society.

With Lent here in two days, I want to encourage you to be mindful of what you day in and day out, and ask what you do mindlessly. Do you follow religious traditions, such as receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday because "that's what you do" or do you do it because of what you believe? Do you tithe each week, giving however much because we are "supposed to" tithe, or because you want to donate to and support God's Church? Are you a Pharisee, harping on the rules of the Church instead of participating in full faith?

He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me; In do they worship me, teach as doctrines human precepts' You disregard God's commandments but cling to human tradition...You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed down.

                                                                                                                                  Mark 7:6-13

Ash Wednesday is one of the most-attended celebrations for the Catholic Church, and it isn't even a Holy Day of Obligation (although you should still go). So go with intent; Lent is built on prayer, fasting, and alms giving, but if all of this is done because we are supposed to, it means nothing, Choose your faith rather than simply going through the motions of it. 

Tota Tua,

LeAnn