4/12/2009

@@ LOOK @@ At Who And What I Saw During Holy Week At Olde London Town. By Uncle Monty.

@@ LOOK @@ At Who And What I Saw
During Holy Week At Olde London Town.
Story By Uncle Monty.
Photos By Alex Albion.
^^^
Holy Week at Olde London Town isn't just for
those who see it as a Holy-Than-Thou Week
for devout Christians, who many believe Holy
Week and Eastertide are the most important
religious symbols of their traditional beliefs
that form an integral part of the whole
spectrum of today's Christendom.
^^^
Rather, nothing stops for Holy Week no matter
what. Indeed, I have recorded this English Holy
Week, 2oo9, with the human activities of people
and the striking places I encountered that bear,
for the most part, no mention or inkling
of such an important religious week. I have
put together here, if you will, only a glimpse
or two of how I myself witnessed Holy Week
through my camera lens that speaks of the
daily condition of many of my fellow human
beings at what is one of the world's most im-
portant cities that the more than 1,500 year-
old Olde London Town most certainly is.
^^^
There is no religious message intended here
in my photographic presentation, other than
what a religious person may deduce from
such based on his or her own personal pros-
pective and viewpoint and considered belief.
^^^
The Aldwych Beggar.
^^^
Spinster Kathy Holmes, 74, is one of my fellow
sheltered housing residents. I was surprised
when she willingly wanted me to photograph
her, even though she hasn't had a photograph
taken of herself for more than 25 years.
I was so gald to oblige, Kathy!
.
^^^
I first became aware of the Buddhist Peace Garden
(shown below) when I was housed as a homeless
street person at the nearby Mother Teresa
home for homeless men. This Holy Week I was
pleased to visit it again on my way to elsewhere.
Rev'd Mother Innocentia, who ran the home
when I was there, has now be translated to
Catholic Rome under special dispensation of
her diocesan bishop, I am told. She was as
tough as nails and no push over was the tiny
and Indian-born Rev'd Sister Innocentia. I
was sorry I got to missed her ... we often
exchanged strong religious views
between us, we did.
^^^
She as a Catholic nun and I as a lay Anglican
didn't hesitate to challenge each other on such
questions as univeral faith, rite, liturgy, and
conformity of our personal creed. The Rev'd
Mother paid scant respect to my deep Anglican
belief and I did equally the same to her whenever
she did. In the end, however, we stood respectfully
of each other despite the religious differences bet-
ween us and we became quite amiable friends.
^^^
At one point, she even declared that I knew more
about The Church and its role and history than did
most bishops, priests, noviciates, and seminarians
that she knew. Later on, she went even further by
asking me if I had once trained for the priesthood!
That was quite a compliment, I thought, coming
from such a devout Catholic nun like Sister
Innocentia, who had worked closely with the
great Mother Teresa at India's most dread-
fully poor of Calcutta in the 1980's.
^^^
At Where The Dalai Lama Himself Came.
^^^
I spent some time unobstrusively and respect-
fully photographing this local funeral has it
unfolded before the public eye at south
east London on Holy Monday.
.
^^^
On the No. 11 bus was I, on Maundy Thursday,
when I passed the strong demo of the Tamil Tigers
at Parliament Square protesting the Sri Lanka
government slaughter of the almost defeated
Tamils that seek their own homeland. As the bus
was moving non-stop, I had about 30 seconds to
get perhaps four or five rapid shots of the scene
from my dirty bus window. One of those
shots is shown here below.
^^^
Tamil Tigers Outside of the British Parliament.
^^^
I know nothing about the art of millinery
at the Stephen Jones Hat Shop, but this
lovely-shaped hat there, that I saw on Holy
Tuesday, would be nice for Eastertide or per-
haps even better for Royal Ascot in June.

^^^
Freemasonry doesn't tickle my fancy.

I think we need to be free of such a weird craft that freemasonry is.

By chance, I saw this shop window display of masonic

things for sale and then simply photographed such.

^^^
Counting his handouts at The Strand with
the images of the judge, author, lawyer and a lord,
cursiously "looking on" over the poor, old, devil with
his palm cross attached to his red wheelie bag ...

^^^
"Can we dance, together?," I almost asked
the German Fräuliens -that I saw dancing
for a German TV commercial that was being
filmed at the South Bank's Waterloo Bridge.
.

^^^
Me with my Cyprus buddy Masufa, who
works with Cafe Nero at Istanbul, Turkey.
When I was there myself at Istanbul, I could
not find Masafa despite my every effort to
locate him at the then-newly opened Cafe Nero
there. It was good, however, to once again see
him at this Holy Week at Olde London Town.

^^^
It's only a pure dream right now of my soon-to-be new
home that I first learned about only on Good Friday!!

If all goes as planned with the present private real
estate deal and offer, my hope to have a new home
(shown below) will then become an exciting reality
thanks entirely to the extraordinary generosity of
my dearest Contessa Maria. I pray all goes well ...

If for some reason or another it all falls thru, along
with my dream, I won't be troubled very long about it
even if I may be abit sad and abit peeved for awhile
over it ... I've gotten so use to NOT owning my own
home now after living on the streets and in sheltered
housing for almost the past 5 years after my house fire
that then made me homeless and a non-home owner due
to having no house insurance that was my own fault!!

It's now all in the hands of the Good Lord, I do believe.

^^^
And so, Holy Week presents the glorious horizon
and the blessed rise of Christ's Resurrection at the
first sunlight of this Easter Sunday or Easter Day.
^^^
Now @@ LOOK @@ again at who and what I
saw during Holy Week at Olde London Town.
What you see is life that lives not just by bread
alone, but by how we take a hold of it and make
it for good or bad or something in between. I
believe we are nothing without Christ Jesus.
We may have everything, yet have nothing
without Him!! Praise His Everlasting Name!!
^^^
:: HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYBODY ::
Joyously, Uncle Monty.
+Easter Sunday, 2oo9.
+

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