(Wo)Man's Search for Meaning

Now playing: "Makeda", Les Nubians/ "Copacabana" Barry Manilow

[This is the height of randomnosity. You've been warned. *smile*] So, I haven't been to church in a month of Sundays and haven't felt a burning desire to go. Now, I'm not one of those "Is there really a God?" type of people. I know that there is God, that if there is nothing else that is real in this universe, there is God. But, sometimes I don't feel the need to get up early on Sunday, dress up, listen to a sermon just so I can say that I was doing my robot Christian duty. Take this past Sunday for instance. I woke up, but instead went back to bed and then later decided that it was appropriate to attend the Church of Good Shoes (Steve Madden). Snagged some snazzy bejeweled espadrilles. Then decided to make a Tower Records run...just for one teeny CD, I told myself. Anyone who knows me knows that this is like a crackhead saying he wants a smidgen of the stuff.... Ruben Studdard saying that he wants a spoonful of grits... Patti Labelle saying she's only gonna sing one note. Well, you get it.

I walked in, determined to find the greatest hits of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (For those of you who haven't heard "Mais Que Nada", it's lovely). I had to backorder it, and since I'm an impatient breed, had to get some others to feed the fix. Settled on the duo of the soulful, earnest India.Arie and a stretch for me, the greatest hits of Shaolin's own -- Wu Tang. Lol. I left, my car radio playing "Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin to F--- With", me half-giggling/ half-aghast (grown as I am, still haven't gotten used to hearing a rowdy bunch of brothas cuss up a storm...And yes, I looked for the edited version, but no haps. I guess there isn't a market for a family-friendly ODB). When the piano chords signaled that C.R.E.A.M. was about to start, I turned up the radio. Sure this wasn't proper Sunday sermonizing. There was no golden plate being passed around. But sometimes the cool of silence (or a RZA-induced bass) is the only thing you need for reflection. And so, it was that on the 7th day that there was Wu. Let the church of Mahogany say amen.