RomanticmasterDC

After an initial surge of interest, the number of emails sent to me here has begun to drop off a bit. I don't understand why, as I haven't changed much. Well, maybe that's it, I haven't changed anything?  I would love to know, but of course you cannot really ask those who aren't responding to your profile to explain why they aren't responding to your profile, can you?

So, I decided to post a few more photographs. I realize my face is still not really visible, but there's a reason for that, and it's not because I don't like the way I look. I'll be happy to explain....

"We in Japan are so grateful to Americans for extending their help and support to us when your search and rescue was one of the first to come to Japan....You are standing with us in really our time of need."

--Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan's Ambassador to the U.S. speaking on the PBS Newshour, March 22, 2011. 

As a Roman Catholic, the biggest challenge to my faith is squaring my belief in a loving and all-powerful God with the occurrence of natural disasters that kill thousands or millions of men, women, and especially children. (No, it is not RC teaching on sexuality, because that is easy to dismiss as the work of inexperienced amateurs.) It won't do to say this is an act of nature. God created the world that is such a dangerous place, and God can't wriggle out of it so easily. 

This will be at the top of my list of questions to ask God when I die. But in the meantime, what's happening in Japan may point a way forward.

Roman Catholic moral theology teaches us that the direct intentional targeting of innocent civilians during time of war is always an intrinsic moral evil. This is precisely what our government did when we attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons to hasten the end of World War II. Neither city was of any military significance. Hiroshima, by the way, is one of the few predominantly Christian cities of Japan, proof that our government is not guilty of bias toward Christians! Some may argue Japan 'had it coming' after Pearl Harbor, but that target was military, and conventional weapons were used that limited the effects on civilians. 

It is unbelievably moving to me, therefore, that now, in addition to all the other help we are offering to our former adversaries,  the US is helping the Japanese to deal with the radiation of their failed nuclear reactors, and that the Japanese are humble enough, and therefore strong enough, to accept this assistance. (This is a connection, of course, to what we profess to live out in our BDSM community.) We are the ones who caused thousands of Japanese to die horrible, lingering deaths due to radiation sickness. And now, they are accepting our help in dealing with the fallout of their failed nuclear reactors!

This is one answer to the theological problem of the natural disaster problem. We are 'shaming' God in a sense. We, both the Japanese and the Americans,  are proving ourselves to be more capable of forgiveness, of the largeness of heart necessary for healing, than the cruel false god who sends us these Tsunamis. We are using the opportunity presented by this horror to show God the way God ought to behave. And yet, it is God who has presented us with this opportunity.... Thanks be to God?

"God writes straight, but with a crooked hand." 

--Portuguese proverb

There are times when I feel like I would be happy simply to find someone with whom to go to the Kennedy Center....

When was the last time you knew you were doing precisely what you were supposed to be doing? I had this happen to me last night and again this morning; it made me think. 

I think the appeal of submission is the inner serenity that flows from this experience of having no doubt you are doing what you need to do. It is obvious to me we were put on the earth to serve. A good master should understand this, through his own submission, even if not to his slave. As long as you respect the boundaries, a master has no reason to hold back or feel guilty. You are giving a precious gift to your slave. 

What happened was I had some food that would go bad in another week. So I cooked it before that would happen and gave it to the hungry folks who need it. Cooking for homeless people on Sunday in my home - a new experience. It transformed my place and my time for a few moments. Then actually handing them out this morning. Very empowering - I had no doubt i was doing precisely what I needed to do.

I am doing this not, primarily, for them, but for myself;  to preserve my own humanity. 

Our wonderful new global economy is growing more and more efficient at producing unemployed "losers," failures, and troubled people who will never be able to support themselves. I can't think of a bigger moral challenge confronting us than how those of us who have jobs are to relate to these, our fellow human beings. Sometimes I worry that we have grown used to having millions of them all around us, without really connecting with them. Are they like a new 'untouchable' class?

Here in DC I live surrounded by this human devastation. I have found the only way to preserve my humanity is to try to enter into human relationships with a few of these people. I never give money. I buy a meal and share it with them. 

But my church does something better. We offer them food, clothing, and have a genuine discussion of the gospel reading for the week. No one lives by bread alone, not even hungry homeless people. They enjoy the discussion, it is after all a crucial part of being human that you are a thinking, feeling being and not just a bundle of unmet needs. It is fascinating to hear what they have to say. Especially with today's readings....I learn a lot. 

I have a great job. They pay me a lot for a little, it’s a cause I very much believe in, and although I don’t need the money, it is welcome. We were acquired by a huge multi- national not long ago. I thought the gig was up. Then a couple days ago my boss gave me a raise, a bonus, and a ‘job well done.’

Came home and had a cat party. This is a long-standing tradition in my household when there is good news to celebrate. It is a party to which only cats are invited, and ordinarily, cats are the only ones who show up. 

We listened to “The Bug,” by Dire Straits.  Everyone thought it very appropriate, given what happened to me at work, you know. And then, “Goin’ South,” the best rock song ever by, guess who? Mass for the End of Time also came up, along with B.B. King, Frank, and many others.

When it was all over, I still found myself saying to myself, “I do wish I knew what poetry looked like.” 

I've been flattered that a number of people keep coming back to look at my profile, so I feel like I ought to put something new there for to people to read. 

I'm new to this site, but it is a little addictive.  I wonder if there are a lot of people like me, who have had a desire for BDSM for years but haven't been able to express it. The Internet, and this site, makes it much easier to pursue BDSM safely. It's a little intoxicating. I think we may have something in common with gay people, coming out of our closets. Anyone agree?