Sunday, July 29, 2007

A Guide to Recognizing Your Martyrs

I've been getting a lot of mileage out of the martyr question (don't worry, T Chu, your stoning is still the most outstanding) and a few days ago, I asked it to Mother, who preferred getting shot. It's a legit answer, but seemed quite modern, plain, and just a tad disappointing, so I told her about Nate, who wanted to jump off of a building...

Moi: ... but I told him that that wasn't really martyring.

Mother: Well, if he was in a cage and someone pushed him off of a building, that would be martyrdom.


***

Hesitating to cross the very broad street on Friday, with its many lanes and many cars, I took a moment to just let the heat beat down on me and stare with resignation and all the cars that were going places while I stood still. Then out of nowhere, a bike whizzed past me. "They can't run over all of us at once," he said, "come on!" And he led me through traffic, like a black knight in shining armour.

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