OK, SO I RANTED A LITTLE BIT

An article that I read this morning sent me into a lather, which I'm reprinting below. I typed it onto a Catholic forum that I belong to where I encounter some of the most lukewarm Catholicism, yet also some of the most poignant. And that's ok. Nothing wrong with that at all. But recently I've hit my limit with the lukewarmfuzziness and relativism, and after spending a morning in prayer and then reading articles like the one I cited, I finally had enough. I'll likely turn someone off big time with this, but perhaps I'll also help "lift up" someone else.

*****

I realize that I don't post jokes, daily scriptures from the Protestant bible, or light-fluffy-tolerant-warm fuzzy type stuff, and I'm not going to today. Articles like this, coming at a time when politicians from both sides of the aisle are playing politics with life and death matters should be more than a wake up call to anyone among us who profess to be Catholics. Sure, it's probably a few nutjobs, but this has been escalating and tolerated more with each passing year. But how long will it be allowed to continue? How long will YOU allow it to continue?

"Don't allow that judge on the court...he's a devout Catholic and may be (horrors!) against abortion." "We don't allow litmus tests...wait...he's Catholic you say? Litmus test on abortion!!!" Frist wants stem cell research, pro-life Dems are meeting with Howard ("I have a scream") Dean to try to be accepted, and the "pro-life" Pubbies have done little but serve lip service and collect donations from pro-lifers aching to do something. Crimes against Muslims? "It's a hate crime!!" Crimes against Catholics? "Eh." (shrug of the shoulders while crickets chirp in the background)

As Philip Jenkins writes in the very first sentence of his book, The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice: Catholics and Catholicism are at the receiving end of a great deal of startling vituperation in contemporary America, although generally, those responsible never think of themselves as bigots.

(Great book by the way. And for the record, the author is an Episcipal, not a Catholic...but even he sees what many of us fail to see.)

Don't tell me it can't happen here; that this is America. It's happening already. The docile frog has been placed in the pan on the stove, and the heat is ever-so-slowly being turned up higher, bringing the water to an ultimate boil. My question to you is this: when are you going to realize this, and hop out of the pan? You'd better do so before it's too late. All of us had better do so.

To those of you who are devout in your prayers, God bless you! The praying that occurs here for individuals and their families and their intentions is impressive and heartwarming. That people come to this forum approaching you for prayer speaks volumes for the reputation you have built by following up in this. Keep it up. However, has anyone ever put in a prayer request for things other than personal? For our country? For the world? For a change in men's hearts? For an end to abortion? The death penalty? For grace? Or are you quietly dissenting and working against the Church, and weakening her by arguing for women's ordination, married priests, and gay marriage?

Did I alarm you by saying this? It's happening all around us. Perhaps we are doing it and not realizing it. Read St. John Vianney's sermon for today on detraction and calumny. Do we defend the teachings of the Church, even the hard ones or ones we may not fully accept? Or do we wink at them, go against them, and thereby demonstrate to our neighbors WHO DO WATCH WHAT WE DO that the Church really doesn't matter to us?

I remember seeing recently a prayer request for Niger. Great! Keep them coming! Pray without ceasing. You are the Church Militant. You are what stands between satan and humanity, and he HATES you for that. He "prowls about like a lion...looking to devour men's souls" if you recall.

The 20th century was the bloodiest in history. It also produced the most martyrs for Christ since the earliest centuries after Calvary. People do not stand up for their beliefs facing hardships or possible death unless their faith is very strong. Evidently the faith is still strong. And it had better be. For as awful as the 20th century was, signs point to even harder times ahead for the Church and its members. But if you're a Catholic who dissents and argues against Her teachings, why on earth would you be willing to face hardship on Her account? You probably wouldn't, and that only serves to embolden those who hate the Church even further. We don't like it when we are slandered. So why do we slander each other? And why do we slander Christ's Church? For slander Her is EXACTLY what we do when we do not defend Her.

So often our best intentions go awry, and before we get very old, the reality of our personal limitations becomes painfully clear. The Apostles in today's gospel knew their limits only too well, especially when they stood next to Jesus. Eventually, we all have to face challenges that seem utterly beyond us: salvaging a dead business, breathing life into a soured marriage, walking with a troubled teen who doesn't want anyone near them, standing helplessly at the side of a dying friend. And we feel like those Apostles, trying to feed thousands with five loaves. "It can't be done!" we say. And we're right, if we're trying to do it on our own. But we don't have to do it alone. That's the whole point of Jesus becoming one of us. He came not just to talk to us, but to walk with us, and to make the impossible possible for us. Remember what St. Paul says about this very thing: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."

We can do what's needed, even if the task seems utterly beyond us, if we put ourselves in the Lord's hands, just as the Apostles put that little basket of food in Jesus' hands. Flawed and weak as we are, the Lord can make us enough, just enough, for the work He's asked us to do.

So look hard at the work that God has given you at this time in your life. Don't run away from it. Name it, accept it, and then put your whole self in God's hands. You'll be amazed at what He can do with you, if He has full possession of your heart and your hands. The impossible will become possible!

Ah, well. Forgive me for jolting you out of your tolerant dreamworld this Sunday morning. I'm sure it'll be ignored and the latest comic strip cartoon posted in its place.

EASTER PEOPLE GONE WILD

I was going to comment on this, a virtual tour of the ugliest church I think I've seen to date post-renovation, but Jeff Miller at The Curt Jester beat me to it.

He didn't, however, mention these: the Stations of the Resurrection. It's like Jeff points out: these parishioners refer to themselves over and over as "Easter People", wanting to whitewash the whole suffering and drama of the crucifixion, passing Go to collect $200, and moving straight into the Resurrection.

His last comment on the final photo was the best of all of them.

REUTERS ATTEMPTS TO GET IT RIGHT

CAPTION CORRECTION FOR GAN01-07 THAT MOVED AT APPROXIMATELY 0100GMT JULY 26, 2005. THE ORIGINAL CAPTION DID NOT CLEARLY STATE THAT THE ORDINATION IS AN UNSANCTIONED CEREMONY. THE ORDINATIONS ARE NOT VALID WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. A CORRECTED VERSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS THIS ADVISORY. REUTERS SINGAPORE Roman Catholic Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg (front R) reacts during a ceremony on a boat in international waters on the St. Lawrence Seaway near Gananoque, Ontario July 25, 2005. Nine North American Catholic women, including Vandenberg, were unofficially ordained priests or deacons in an unsanctioned ceremony on Monday. The ordinations are not valid within the Catholic Church. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

ENTERING NARNIA

Speaking of books, while I'm still studying for my work-related exam tomorrow morning, I finally began, eagerly I might add, the Chronicles of Narnia [link to the set that I've purchased for my collection] last night, and made it a full quarter of the way through the first book. I've chosen to read them in chronological order instead of the published order, so The Magician's Nephew is first. Thus far I've found it thoroughly engaging and am giddy at the prospect of finally getting to read this celebrated series of books.

This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child.

Indeed...a story that I am enjoying already.

Whether you read these books chronologically (Narnian time):
The Magicians Nephew
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

or in the order they were published:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magicians Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)

is entirely up to you.

...BUT WE DENOUNCE THIS ONE

...which makes no sense. For a great analysis of the symbolism employed by J.R. Rowling in her Harry Potter series of books, take a look at what Dave Kopel wrote in National Review back in 2003. I wonder how many people have informed themselves of this before going off into hysterics.

Rowling has confessed herself to be a great fan of C. S. Lewis, her use of "J. R." for her byline evokes "J. R. R." Tolkien, and she is a member of the Church of Scotland (that's Presbyterian, for American readers).

The most useful parts of The Hidden Key are the author's extensive discussion of symbolism. Harry lives in Gryffindor House, founded by Godric Gryffindor. "D'or" being French for "of gold," we could translate the name as "golden griffin." The griffin has a lion's body and an eagle's wings; a hybrid of the animals that are master of the sky and of the earth, the griffin was traditionally a symbol of Jesus, master of the spiritual and temporal worlds.

The unicorn, too, is a traditional Jesus symbol; pure and powerful, it could only be tamed by a virgin, as Jesus could only be incarnated by a virgin. In Sorcerer's Stone, drinking its blood brings life, and its killing is an especially hideous crime.

The phoenix (which saves Harry's life in Chamber of Secrets) rises to life from its own ashes, and is described by T. H. White as the "resurrection bird." This explains the title of the almost-released book five, The Order of the Phoenix — that is, the alliance of people who band together to fight for resurrection values. "Order" also evokes the fighting Christian religious orders of the Middle Ages, such as the Order of the Knights of Malta.

Read all of it if you can. It's worth a look.

THIS TYPE OF AUTHOR IS CELEBRATED...

Authors for today's "sophisticated" teens.

The latest novel by Cecily von Ziegesar opens something like this:

Blair and Nate are naked in bed, smoking cigarettes and not caring that the open blinds in Nate's luxurious New York City town house expose them to neighborhood Peeping Toms. The doorbell rings. Nate's pothead friends have popped by, and soon the guys are doing bong hits on the roof.

Von Ziegesar's "Nobody Does It Better," the seventh installment in her best-selling "Gossip Girl" series, seems like it should share shelf space with Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel. But her books can be found in the young-adult section, aimed at tweens and teens who are scooping up the often-racy adventures of von Ziegesar's privileged, Prada-clad high schoolers.

[snip]

Yet the author, who is 35 and who has two small children of her own, says few mothers have complained about her books' naughtiness.

"They say, 'I'm just thrilled that my daughter is reading,' " she says. "I try not to think about my readers as 14-year-old girls. I don't want to write down to them. I just want them to have something fun to read."

Steamy stories about fabulously wealthy, designer-obsessed teens are a huge hit with adolescent readers. The "Gossip Girl" books have sold 2.2 million copies in the United States alone, and the last three editions debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times' children's best-seller list. Similar series about the young, rich and beautiful -- "The A-List," "The Clique," "The Au Pairs" -- have achieved blockbuster status too.

In many of today's teen novels, boys and girls are blase about sleeping together. Drugs are part of the social scene, and kids party all night and still get into Ivy League universities. And, of course, they're dressed in La Perla lingerie and Manolo Blahnik mules.

All the drinking, drugging and sex bother some critics, who say these books are too lurid, especially when readers can be as young as 9. In France, the "Gossip Girl" series is classified as adult fiction, because no children's publisher there would pick up the rights.

The authors of these books defend their work, saying that today's teens are too sophisticated to respond to a puritanical, preachy tone.

LOOKING AT VS. LOOKING ALONG

I love this meditation of C.S. Lewis. Anyone who has ever felt close to God, I mean in Total Communion with Him, has experienced just such a sensation as Lewis describes.

I was standing today in the dark toolshed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it.

Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes. Instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam. Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, ninety-odd million miles away, the sun. Looking along the beam, and looking at the beam are very different experiences.

But this is only a very simple example of the difference between looking at and looking along. A young man meets a girl. The whole world looks different when he sees her. Her voice reminds him of something he has been trying to remember all his life, and ten minutes' casual chat with her is more precious than all the favours that all other women in the world could grant. He is, as they say, 'in love'. Now comes a scientist and describes this young man's experience from the outside. For him it is all an affair of the young man's genes and a recognized biological stimulus. That is the difference between looking along the sexual impulse and looking at it.

C.S. Lewis, "Meditation in a Toolshed"
1st published in The Coventry Evening Telgraph (17 July 1945)

TRUE DEVOTIONS

Mark Mossa has an important post concerning devotions and our need for them here. I tend to agree with him, based upon my own experience, that the young among us are looking for truth, for piety, and for a sense of tradition...of mystery...of something bigger than us. Contemplation is a sorely needed art form that is lacking today, and not just in Christian circles...but even the atheists around us never take time out of their busy days to think. Perhaps if they did...there'd be fewer of them.

He publishes the following reflection quote by Chris Ruddy, 33 year old professor of theology at the University of Saint Thomas, which could have easily been written be me, and many others like me:

"I did not grow up with any devotion to the Sacred Heart, and it is only in the last few years, as I have struggled with vocation and the demands of family life, that the practice has spoken to my own heart: the fearful heart that paralyzes me when I think of the future, rendering me unable to open myself in trust to God; the cramped heart that refuses to admit my wife and infant son but clings to my own prerogatives, choosing to watch Peter out of the corner of my eye as I read the morning newspaper rather than get on the floor and play with him; the oblivious heart that holds forth at dinner on the recording history of the Beatles' Abbey Road but forgets to ask Deborah how her class went that afternoon. At times like these I wonder, Have I really let into my life those I love so much? Have I gone out to them? Are they part of my flesh or merely fellow travelers?

On a particularly difficult afternoon last summer, I took Peter for a walk. We wound up at a church in our neighborhood, and, almost unable to bear the despair and self-loathing that were consuming me, I went in to pray. I lit a candle before Mary for my wife and one for myself before Joseph. Almost accidentally, I stopped in fron of a woodcarving of the Sacred Heart. Caught somewhere between rage and tears, I looked up at the heart and, for the first time, saw beyond the barbed-wire crown of thorns encircling it, into its gentleness. A prayer rose up in me: Jesus, give me a bigger heart. I looked at Peter in shame and in hope, and I went out into the day.I remain irritable and irritating. I continue to struggle with a stoniness that shuts out so many. I know ever more clearly my deep sinfulness. But in continuing to pray to the Sacred Heart, I have also come to know God's still deeper mercy. I am strengthened by a heart pierced but unvanquished. I am welcomed by a heart that knows only tenderness and so makes me tender. I look on that pulsing, fleshy heart: courageous and vulnerable, compact and capacious, never one without the other."

SACRED ART IN THE COMPENDIUM

I am looking forward to the publishing of the new Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church later this year (I believe in October). I am also excited to learn of the sacred art and images that will be required to be published within the Compendium as documented on this Italian website, Chiesa. The loss of the sacred, especially in art, has been well documented by others, and I'm glad to see it making a comeback. Within my own parish, designed in the late 70s and built in 1980, we have just finished a renovation that attempted to bring back a sense of tradition and of the sacred.

Now if we can only do something about sacred music, too.

The use of these images in catechesis is very near to the heart of Joseph Ratzinger. In the introduction to the "Compendium," dated March 20, 2005, he wrote:

"Images are also a preaching of the Gospel. Artists in every age have offered the principal facts of the mystery of salvation to the contemplation and wonder of believers by presenting them in the splendour of colour and in the perfection of beauty. It is an indication of how today more than ever, in a culture of images, a sacred image can express much more than what can be said in words, and be an extremely effective and dynamic way of communicating the Gospel message."

The pope was just as explicit in this speech that he gave on June 28 during the ceremonial presentation of the new catechism:

"Image and word illuminate one another in turn. Art always 'speaks,' at least implicitly, of the divine, of the infinite beauty of God, which finds its reflection in the icon par excellence: Christ the Lord, the image of the invisible God. Sacred images, with their beauty, are also heralds of the Gospel and express the splendor of Catholic truth, showing the supreme harmony between the good and the beautiful, between the 'via veritatis [way of truth]’ and the 'via pulchritudinis [way of beauty].’ While they give witness to the age-old and prolific tradition of Christian art, they encourage all, both believers and nonbelievers, to discover and contemplate the inexhaustible wonder of the mystery of redemption, continually providing a new impulse for the lively process of its inculturation in time."

MY WISH

“My wish is to stare down a big league pitcher just as he is going into his windup, and give him a little wink, make him think you know something he doesn’t know. I wish for a chance to look at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes to look at it, to feel the tingle in your arms as you connect with the ball, to run the bases, to stretch a double into a triple, and to flop face first into third and wrap your arms around the bag. That’s my wish.” -- Archie "Moonlight" Graham, Field of Dreams

MASS EXODUS

Justin Frato wrote an article concerning Catholics and their dwindling attendance at weekly Mass. This is a subject I have seen debated on the internet and in committee meetings at our parish and in the diocese. Frato cites as a major reason for the deline in the lack of a relationship with Jesus, the center of our worship. He does not break a lot of new ground in his article but DOES provide an interesting allegorical way of looking at the issue:

Why is this happening? Many theories can be postulated. One of the CARA researchers involved with the report, Dr. Mark M. Gray, attributes the generational decrease to less of an emphasis on missing Sunday Mass being a mortal sin. Others speculate that the Mass simply does not engage the modern person. Some say that modern Americans are simply too busy to make time for Mass. While these theories certainly may contribute in part to the decrease, there is one overarching factor that may be forgotten. It is the same reason why so many young Catholic couples live together before marriage and so many young people in religious education are bored at class. Far too many Catholics simply do not have a relationship with the One who is the very center of Catholicism, Jesus Christ. Decreased Mass attendance is just one symptom of a greater problem.

Let’s look at this from another perspective. What if I told you that the only reason I married my wife was because I was afraid of how much she and her family would hate me if I didn’t do this and I then went on to tell you how boring my wedding day was. When you asked me how our relationship has been since our marriage, I mentioned that I am too busy to make my wife a priority and I don’t care to get to know her more anyway. You would probably think I was one of the most unromantic, dispassionate, self-centered people you ever met. What if I then went on to tell you that I come from a culture where there is a very strong tradition of young couples being betrothed to one another? You would probably be more sympathetic to me after hearing about the pressures that culture and tradition put upon my feelings toward my wife. Now let’s put this in the context on Catholics and their relationships with Christ.

Is it any wonder that there is little enthusiasm about going to Mass and learning more about the Catholic Faith when so many do not have a loving relationship with our divine bridegroom, Jesus? Just as a person who is forced into marriage is not passionately in love with his or her spouse, so people who are Catholic merely because it is part of their culture will struggle to be passionate about Jesus and the Church He has given us. In both cases the individual needs to fall in love with his spouse before he lives out all of the responsibilities and privileges of marriage.

BABIES GET RAILROADED IN COURT

Today's Lincoln paper brings news of another court-aided setback for children as we continue the march towards oblivion.

Union Pacific Railroad discriminated against women by not covering contraceptives in its health care plan, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp ruled in a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company discriminated by providing a range of preventive health benefits — including impotence drugs — but no contraceptive care."

Union Pacific's policy of excluding prescription contraceptives and related outpatient services from its plans" is discriminatory "because it treats medical care women need to prevent pregnancy less favorably than it treats medical care needed to prevent other medical conditions that are no greater threat to employees' health than is pregnancy," Smith-Camp wrote.

So basically, pregnancy is to be treated as just another "medical condition." Nothing more and nothing less. You know, I'm among the many who say that men long ago had abdicated their roles as providers and leaders in their families and communities through their throwing away of morals and discipline. Women are now doing the same sort of abdication when it comes to being blessed with the ability to bring life into our world. What greater gift outside of our lives have we received? What greater gift are we throwing away?

The vile and tiresome Chris Funk of PP was elated of course, wrapping herself in the "flag" of court-mandated directives.

"This is a tremendous victory for women all over the country," said Chris Funk, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Nebraska & Council Bluffs. "It is time that employers such as Union Pacific realize that contraception is essential health care and must be included in all worker health plans in order to support women's health."

Supporting women's health is allowing them to kill babies and not be responsible for their actions, eh?

No babies were available or alive to comment on efforts to support THEIR health.

THEY'RE NOT TAKING A CHANCE THIS TIME

Interesting how quickly Disney lined up for the rights to distribute Mel Gibson's new film, Apocalypto. Recall that the last movie he did was also filmed in a "dead" language or two, and they said it would never sell tickets. Of course, critics also said the same thing about Dances With Wolves since a lot of dialogue was in Lakota Sioux with subtitles. I don't recall the exact number, but I believe that movie went on to great acclaim and won somewhere between 7 and 10 Oscars. Mel's is in a dead language again...can't wait to hear them roll their eyes at this one. Considering he seems to be the only filmaker in Hollywood with an original idea (please see remakes of Dukes of Hazzard, Herbie, The Longest Yard, and soon The Poseiden Adventure), I say keep 'em coming Mel!

For the record, The Passion of the Christ made $611 million worldwide.

According to reports in America over the weekend, Mr Gibson has written the script, will direct and produce the movie, Apocalypto, through his Icon production company, but he will not act in the film. The film will be based on the Mayan civilisation of central America, of around 1000 BC. Shooting is due to begin in October with the release due next summer.

And the harping begins. Big surprise...bigger yawn. Guess they didn't learn a thing.

Empire magazine today sounded a note of scepticism about Mr Gibson's apparently opting to replicate the successful formula of Passion, however. "After all, the success of Passion lay largely on two elements: the support of the immense religious movement in the States, and the controversy that drew everyone else to go have a look out of curiosity's sake", the online edition of the magazine related.

"In the absence of those factors, you're going to be left with a struggle to persuade anyone but lecturers in Mezoamerican studies to attend... Frankly, we'd be surprised if an R-rated action film in Mayan breaks box office records".

JUST FOR FUN

Saw this on Fonticulus Fides, and added the book category:

What I was doing 10 years ago… I was wrapping up my final season as baseball coach of the two high school teams out in western Nebraska. We were getting ready to host the District Tournament, wrap the post-season up, and begin packing and planning our move back to Lincoln, Nebraska. My wife was five months pregnant with our first child.

Five years ago… I was into my second year of publishing a local paper and was serving as president of my local BNI chapter for business leaders. Nolan was four years old and already looking forward to Kindergarten. We were struggling financially to get out of a big hole we had dug financially, but were still happy about things. We were also heading into our second year as Godparents in the Godteen program with our sophomores.

One year ago… Hmmmm….Jonah was about to turn one year old, Nolan was going to be starting third grade soon, and I was nearing my one year anniversary at TAG. We were also celebrating our second summer in our new home purchased in May 2003, and I was celebrating the resurgent Red Sox as they went on a tear of a winning streak that would carry them all the way through to the World Series Championship.

Yesterday… Was a take-it-easy day at our home, due mostly to Nolan’s recovery from strep throat, as well as the stifling heat index outside. We attended the 10:30 mass, deciding to forego the 2pm Rededication Mass with the Bishop. Finalized shopping for school supplies for Nolan, I studied several chapters for my upcoming LOMA exam at work, and watched the Sox lose to the White Sox 6-4.

5 snacks I enjoy
(I rarely snack, but if I do…)
Pop Tarts
Ice cream
String Cheese
Popcorn
Doritos

5 songs I know all the words to:
(Just five?)
Hotel California - The Eagles
Dirty Laundry - Don Henley
Ducktales Theme Song - Disney
Arthur Theme Song - PBS
Every Nanci Griffith song through 1998 (I haven't purchased her latest CDs yet)

5 last books I've read or am currently reading:
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
Wise Blood by Flannery O'Conner
And God Said "Play Ball!" by Gary Graf
The Killing of Chief Crazy Horse: Three Eyewitness Views by Robert A. Clark

5 things I would do with a million dollars
Pay off the last of our debt
Set up educational funds for my kids
Donate to our parish school endowment fund, as well as our parish’s endowment
Establish a retirement fund for my wife and I
Establish a scholarship fund or two at our grade school, high school and alma mater.

5 locations I’d like to run away to:
Rome
South Dakota
Alaska
Czechoslovakia
Wales

5 bad habits I have
Procrastination
Impatience
Perfection (trying to be)
Talking too much
Staying Focused

5 things I like doing
Reading
Writing
Talking to people
Baseball
Researching via the internet

5 things I will never wear
(these were the five things listed by the woman I got this from, so I’ll just use hers)
Stiletto heels
Bikini
Spandex
Nose ring
Very long, shellacked fingernails

5 TV shows I like
Pardon the Interruption on ESPN
The Waltons (never said they had to be current shows)
Hogan’s Heroes
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Star Trek: The Original Series & The Next Generation

5 biggest joys of the moment
Being employed
My family
My Catholicity
The stack of books I’m getting set to read next to my bed
Our home and yard

5 favorite toys
Hmmm….my computer at home
My smoker (having discovered this summer the joys of meat, apricot wood chunks, coal, and seven hours of prime cooking time…mm mm mmm).
Our piano

Sheesh…this alone has revealed to me that I don’t play nearly enough anymore. I need to rectify this big time.

If you’re reading this and having answered, consider yourself tagged! (Use the comments box if you don’t have a blog of your own…)

LOOKIE WHAT I CAN DO!

I just now learned that I can add photos and graphics to my blog. My, but I'm too busy these days...hehehe. This is going to be fun!

TALKING 'BOUT LOVE

I have used Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen's Divine Intimacy (1963) as a daily devotional for prayer for almost two years. And recently I picked up Dom Gueranger's 15-volume set The Liturgical Year (1841-1879: it was completed 38 years after he began. He died before it was completed) as well. They are both INCREDIBLY rich texts with insights into the liturgy, readings, and the Catholic faith unlike any I've found as yet. My only complaint really is that they both are designed to follow the Scripture calendar of the Church pre-Vatican II. As I also read the Daily Missal for the readings, I was looking for something that coincided with the modern cycle, and think I've found it in the 7-volume set In Conversations With God (1993) by Francis Fernandez.

However, until that set arrives sometime next week, I was reading from Divine Intimacy tonight about Charity, the subject for the last week or so. The following paragraph from #256: The Life of Love really stood out and I found myself re-reading it several times tonight:

Therefore, even in the spiritual life, our first thought should be, not our own perfection, progress, and consolation, but always God's delight, good pleasure, and glory. It is thus that we will serve our own interests better, for he who gives himself to God, completely forgetting himself, draws down upon himself the fullness of divine love. What greater good could come to us than being loved by Infinite Love?

Indeed. And there's the rub. Seeking glory, but not for ourselves, but for God through ourselves. This paragraph spoke to me tonight because for the past several weeks as I've really begin to work on my writing, I've become more self-serving in its pursuit. What began as something I did for God and to bring people to Him, had instead become a way to puff myself up in the eyes of others...in my eyes as well. And not just in my writing but in other areas as well. I have taken my eyes off the "prize" that St. Paul speaks of in Scripture, and am becoming rather slow of foot as a result. Nice little wake up call tonight. Thanks God. The devotional closes with this prayer:

"O Lord, You teach me that without love even the most perfect gifts are as nothing, that charity is the most excellent way, for it leads directly to You. That is why I wish for no science but the science of love, and having given all the substance of my house for love, I count it as nothing. I understand so clearly that love alone can make me pleasing in Your sight, that my sole ambition is to acquire it.

"My occupation is to gather flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice and to offer them to You, my God, to give You pleasure. I wish to labor for Your love alone--with the sole aim of pleasing You, of consoling Your Sacred Heart, and of saving souls who will love You through eternity.

"O God, my love for You ought to be total, infinite in desire, because You will not give Yourself entirely to a soul unless it gives itself wholly to You. I must not cling to any attachment, nor admit even a single voluntary imperfection, nor refuse You anything. Grant that I may give myself to You in a continual, uninterrupted donation, moment by moment, seeking in all things Your greater glory, always trying to please You, always wanting Your will alone, doing each action with all my heart and with all my love."

Amen.

"BE OF CHEER, ME HEARTIES!"

I came across a blogger from my hometown today, Fonticulus Fides, and I'm PUMPED! Amazing how I can communicate with people around the world and it doesn't phase me anymore, but finding someone right here in Lincoln? How cool is that? Nevermind that I had to go around the world to end up back here.

Anyhow, she had a link to a funny satirical website which I took some time to look through, and found an "article" that absolutely made me laugh out loud. I remember when the morning DJs from Z-92 (rock and roll) out of Omaha used to speak "pirate." I was a senior in high school at Schuyler High then, and a bunch of us spent the rest of the day speaking like this, much to the consternation of poor Mrs. Mentzer in English Lit. One of those "you had to be there" stories.

This one's for my good friend-at-the-time Shannon....wherever she is today. Arrrrrrrgh!!!

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Sam Brobst took a "Learning Your Spiritual Gift" course at Full Life Center, a charismatic church, and felt the Lord leading him to prophesy during meetings. But when Brobst opened his mouth the first time, he and others were surprised by what came out: pirate speak.

"We were in the middle of worship, when this voice rings out, 'Yar! Hear the word of the Lord — the Lord of the mighty seas!'" says one witness. "It was straight out of a Disneyland ride."

Brobst says he can't help it: when the Spirit moves upon him, he clamps one eye shut and his voice becomes gravelly and menacing. On a recent Sunday, he prophesied, "Avast ye, mateys! Hear the word from our Cap'n: No fear have ye of storms and scallywags, says ye? Argh! But I be seein' your true hearts. For I see below quarterdecks, says I. Ye be tremblin' in the face of scurvy dogs. But pay them no heed. For I be preparin' to pour down plenty o' booty upon ye. So be of cheer, me hearties! Ye be loved of the Cap'n."

The people of the church by now are accustomed to it, though first-time visitors often giggle.

"It doesn't even sound like pirate to me anymore," says one regular attendee. "My mind translates it."

Others say it's preferable to past prophetic styles they have witnessed.

"One woman would wail her prophecies," says longtime member Darlene Bright. "Another man would thunder in a deep voice like he was trying to impress us. All in all, I prefer pirate."

DRAKUYLA

I first saw The Historian on a big Barnes & Noble display two days ago while picking up some Flannery O'Conner books, and then yesterday it was a featured selection in my Historical Book Club catalog. And now today, Beliefnet has an interview with the first time author Elizabeth Kostova on the subject of her book: Vlad the Impaler. You know him as Dracula.

It sounds like an interesting book, and one that I'd like to read if I had the time. But I am so far behind in the stack of books next to my bed and on my shelves that I promised myself O'Connor's books would be the last purchases I made....for awhile at least.

It would be easy to lump The Historian in with The DaVinci Code, and movies such as "National Treasure." But there's something in this particular book that is drawing me in. Sheesh...I am so week when it comes to good books. I hope I can at least maintain this promise to myself.

APOCALYPTO

Mel's new movie will be in production soon. I wonder if the 3,000 year old civilization are the Maccabbees? I recall his saying last year that one of the ideas he was seriously considering for his next movie would be about the Maccabbean revolts. Guess we'll have to wait and see. As for myself, I'm still in countdown mode to December 9th and Narnia.

NOVENA: DAY 2

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

A Daily Reading From The Bible: Day 2

Matthew 1: 18 - 23
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18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;
19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;
21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).

Holy Mother of God, hear the prayers of the Church for all mothers,especially those wearied by life and overcome by the suffering they bear for their children.

Hail Mary...

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, intercede for them from your place in heaven,that the mercy of your divine Son might lighten their burden and give them strength.

Hail Mary...

Glory to the Father....

Day 2
Pray for Mothers who will Give Birth Today

'At first I was scared,' Sarah told me. 'I was scared, excited and filled with the most incredible expectation. It was like those words we hear at Mass: we wait in joyful hope. I thought of all those women who feel the first kick, the stirrings of life deep within them. I prayed for them, that they would love their child, cherish their little baby and know that in being a mother they are involved in something so much bigger than themselves. They have been chosen by God to be custodians of the mystery of life. At first I was scared, and then I just cried ... with joy.'

WHEN CANADA BECOMES CHINA LITE

Bogus Gold and The Anchoress both led me to an article on Lifesite that has me stunned beyond belief. I'll defer to their commentary as I would only be echoing theirs. But Canada's national public radio CBC Radio has actually aired a commentary by a retired professor from the Royal Military College calling for state control over religion, specifically Catholicism. I first read George Orwell's 1984 in ummm...I believe it actually WAS 1984, as a sophomore in high school. I have watched this book creep closer and closer to reality with each passing year it seems. Michael O'Brien has been warning of this sort of possible future in Canada for years...and here it is...right in front of us. Staggering.

"Given the inertia of the Catholic Church, perhaps we could encourage reform by changing the environment in which all religions operate," Ferguson began his commentary in measured tones yesterday. "Couldn't we insist that human rights, employment and consumer legislation apply to them as it does other organizations? Then it would be illegal to require a particular marital status as a condition of employment or to exclude women from the priesthood."

Oh puh-leeze. Here in the first paragraph we see his agenda.

Ferguson continued, "Of course the Vatican wouldn't like the changes, but they would come to accept them in time as a fact of life in Canada. Indeed I suspect many clergy would welcome the external pressure."

The former professor pitched his idea as a boon to religious freedom. "We could also help the general cause of religious freedom by introducing a code of moral practice for religions," he said. "They will never achieve unity so why not try for compatibility? Can't religious leaders agree to adjust doctrine so all religions can operate within the code?"

Ferguson, would see religion regulated by provinces in the same way professions are regulated. "I am an engineer so the model I am thinking about is rather like the provincial acts regulating the practice of engineering," he said. "For example, engineers must have an engineering degree from a recognized university or pass qualification exams. They must have a number of years of practical experience and pass an ethics exam. The different branches: mechanical, electrical, civil and the like have a code of practice that applies to everyone. Why can't religious groups do the same?"

Continuing his comparison Ferguson stated, "I envisage a congress meeting to hammer out a code that would form the basis of legislation to regulate the practice of religion. Like the professional engineers' P.Eng designation, there would then be RRPs (or registered religious practitioners). To carry the analogy to its conclusion, no one could be a religious practitioner without this qualification."

Ferguson also suggests 'obvious' prohibitions on religion including preaching of 'hate'. "I won't try to propose what might be in the new code except for a few obvious things: A key item would have to be a ban on claims of exclusivity. It should be unethical for any RRP to claim that theirs was the one true religion and believers in anything else or nothing were doomed to fire and brimstone. One might also expect prohibition of ritual circumcisions, bans on preaching hate or violence, the regulation of faith healers, protocols for missionary work, etc.," says Ferguson.

Ah...here we go. 'Hate' preaching. No Leviticus for you! This stems I believe from the bishop who has been brought up on actual charges for this "crime" which I posted earlier.

The retired professor concluded his comments aired on CBC yesterday morning saying, "Now what is the point of proposing this? I do it because I am worried that the separation between church and state is under threat. Religion is important in our lives, but it can become a danger to society when people claim that the unalterable will of God is the basis for their opinions and actions. Yes religion can be a comfort and a guide, but we cannot take rules from our holy books and apply them to the modern world without democratic debate and due regard for the law."

Waitaminute! His solution for preserving the separation of church and state, is to CREATE a government code of religion? Hello? And why CAN'T we take rules from our holy books and apply them to the "modern" world? So in his world "Thou shalt not kill" was only valid until oh....well...when exactly? 200 BC? 173 AD? When?

There's even audio.

TIL DEATH DO US...OH...NEVERMIND

Oy....

''Til Death Do Us Part' Is Dying Out

In some weddings, "'til death do us part" is going the way of "to honor and obey" — that is, out the window.

Vows like "For as long as we continue to love each other," "For as long as our love shall last" and "Until our time together is over" are increasingly replacing the traditional to-the-grave vow — a switch that some call realistic and others call a recipe for failure.

"We're hearing that a lot — 'as long as our love shall last.' I personally think it's quite a statement on today's times — people know the odds of divorce," said New Jersey wedding expert Sharon Naylor, author of "Your Special Wedding Vows," who adds that the rephrasing is also part of a more general trend toward personalizing vows.

Naylor said killing the "death vow" doesn't mean that people don't take their marriage promises seriously. Quite the contrary.

"People understand that anything can happen in life, and you don't make a promise you can't keep. When people get divorced, they mourn the fact that they said ''til death do us part' — you didn't keep your word in church (if they had a church wedding). Some people are in therapy because they promised ‘til death do us part' — it is the sticking point in the healing of a broken marriage. The wording can give you a stigma of personal failure."

This is why Naylor prefers vows like, "For as long as our marriage shall serve the greatest good."

"You will promise to be loyal as long as love shall last — you don't want to promise 'when you treat me like crap.'"

Indeed, actor Brad Pitt caused a stir recently when he said he doesn't consider his marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston a "failure."

"I see mine as a total success ... that's five more [years] than I made it with anyone else," he told W magazine.

[snip] ...other couples are taking their wedding vows less seriously than ever. At one recent wedding, officiated by Reverend Run of Run-DMC fame, the marrying couple swapped "for richer or poorer" for "for richer or richer."

And when it came time to exchange rings, Reverend Run said, "where's the bling?"

NOVENA: DAY 1

God, come to my assistance.Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

A Daily Reading From The Bible: Day 1

Luke 7: 11 - 15
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11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Na'in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.
12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."
14 And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."
15 And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.

Holy Mother of God, hear the prayers of the Church for all mothers,
especially those wearied by life and overcome by the suffering they bear for their children.

Hail Mary...

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, intercede for them from your place in heaven,
that the mercy of your divine Son might lighten their burden and give them strength.

Hail Mary...

Glory to the Father....

"As we contemplate this Mother, whose heart a sword has pierced (cf. Luke 2:35), our thoughts go to all the suffering women in the world, suffering either physically or morally. In this suffering a woman's sensitivity plays a role, even though she often succeeds in resisting suffering better than a man. It is difficult to enumerate these sufferings; it is difficult to call them all by name. We may recall her maternal care for her children, especially when they fall sick or fall into bad ways; the death of those most dear to her; the loneliness of mothers forgotten by their grown-up children; the loneliness of widows; the sufferings of women who struggle alone to make a living; and women who have been wronged or exploited. Then there are the sufferings of consciences as a result of sin, which has wounded the woman's human or maternal dignity: the wounds of consciences which do not heal easily. With these sufferings too we must place ourselves at the foot of the Cross." -- Pope John Paul II (Mulieris Dignitatem, 21)

Day 1
Pray for the Suffering Women of the World
Labor day usually brings to mind images of factory workers, farmers or heavy equipment operators. Yet we also use labor to describe the first work which brought each one of us to birth: those first hours of maternal sacrifice which brought us into the world. It's too easy to forget that and all the other sacrifices which the vocation of motherhood entails. Pray for the mothers in labor today. Those who give birth. Those who work two jobs to support a child. Those who go without so their child's needs are met. Those whose patient endurance is a sign of God's love upon the cross.

SUFFERING

While looking for a novena to pray over the next nine days, I stumbled across the following article by Charles Moore on childrens suffering. This subject is near and dear to my heart, and often the source of much grief to me. At the recently held "Called & Gifted" seminar (put on by the Siena Institute) that I attended, I learned that mourning is a form of prayer as well. To truly have compassion so that your heart aches at the injustices and sufferings of others. I've always been this way. I thought it was part of being human. I still think it is.

Why do children suffer? The question has no answer, unless, as Dr. Fred Epstein reminds us in his book If I Get to Five, it is simply to break our hearts: “Once our hearts get broken, they never fully heal. They always ache. But perhaps a broken heart is a more loving instrument. Perhaps only after our hearts have cracked wide open, have finally and totally unclenched, can we truly know love without boundaries.” (emphasis mine)

When children suffer it is this boundless love they need most. Our knowledge doesn’t give them assurance, nor our medical help, but simply our loving presence and attention. [snip] Is a child in your life suffering silently? Are we listening? Do we take enough time?

Ultimately, I have settled on doing a Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows over the next nine days, and invite you to join in if you wish. For the suffering of the world's children, and also for their mothers and fathers. And for my sis-in-law.

THE ROAD AHEAD: UPDATE

Well, it turns out it is not MS. But now we have more questions than answers. Lisa had another MRI yesterday and had to "donate" eleven vials of blood, but hopefully today the lab results will tell us more about what is going on.

When Jonah, our 22-month-old son, was so sick with fever and seizures at the age of 7-12 days, the worst part about the experience was the unknown. After spinal taps and MRIs and blood tests and lab work and brain scans ad nauseum, they still could not figure out what was wrong with him...what was causing the seizures that was keeping us at his bedside, nudging him in his side every 10-15 minutes to get him to remember to breathe after he would stop. It's the proverbial roller coaster from hell that we humans put ourselves on because of our prideful notion of being "in control." If we just know what we're fighting, we can plan a defense, right? Right?

I remember being so (foolishly) angry that despite all of our modern scientific advances, we (they) still could not determine what was causing my little guy so much pain. Each test resulted in crossing off another round of possible maladies. This resulted in sighs of relief each time because it wasn't "that disease or this affliction" but as the list dwindled it also became frustrating because the longer we went without knowing what we were fighting, the more helpless to take action we were. Mistreatment without knowing what the cause was could have killed him. So we have to wait, submit to the fact that it really is out of our control, and pray and trust that God is looking out for our loved ones. Easier said than done to be sure.

IS THIS PERHAPS A TREND?

I hope so.

Fargo Diocese set to require pre-marriage course in natural family planning

THE ROAD AHEAD

It's been five days since my last post. Five busier than normal summer days. As I am studying for an exam for work, the next 10 days will be swamped as well, so my postings may ease off a bit. For not only is the exam foremost on my mind, but several things seem to be happening at once as well: the last week of baseball season for my son; helping close friends of ours move this weekend across town; and awaiting a call from my sister-in-law tonight to learn the results of the two MRIs she has undergone over the past 48 hours. She has been experiencing numbness at various parts of her body, and there is a real chance that she may have MS. I'll not go into detail here as things are still sketchy, but I see the strain in my wife's face grow stronger. She and Lisa were never very close until recently as both women went through miscarriages and pregnancies and childbirth together. They are closer than ever now. And the shock of this has still not completely registered.

One of my favorite authors is Peter Kreeft, a professor and Catholic scholar who has written more than a few books that I own. I discovered his website today in which some of his sketchings/writings are placed, and one entitled "Close Encounter With the Angel of Death" really hit home. Lisa, my sis-in-law, is an accountant who obsesses over facts and statistics as I do. Kreeft speaks to this a bit in this article that chronicles the diagnosis and treatment of his 5-year-old daughter's brain tumor.

Strange how the mind fixates on physical details in order to handle the unhandleable. When we can't handle truth we handle facts. We miniaturize; we find some small objective correlative to associate with the unhandleably enormous subjective feeling. In this case it is the chair I was sitting in when the doctor came out of the CAT-scan room with the results of the computerized head X rays, while my wife was still in the X-ray room with my daughter. I will always remember the exact spot each chair leg occupied in the room. I will also remember the look on the doctor's face—an embarrassed look, a look not at me but vaguely around me. as if looking for help. It was as if he, not I, were the sufferer, or as if he were responsible for the bad news, the "blame the messenger" syndrome. But I could not blame the messenger; he seemed no more comfortable delivering the message than I in receiving it.

Large brain tumor. What does that mean? Well, of course, this is not final or official; you will have to talk to Doctor so and so, I'm only a resident. Tell me everything you know; I have to know. It is cancerous? We can't be sure until we go in. Can it be removed? We don't know; even if it isn't malignant, it could be in the brain stem, inoperable. Facts, please, statistics. (When we can't take truth, we feed on facts.) Well, if it's inoperable, the life expectancy is from nine months to two to five years. And those years would be a gradual deterioration? Yes; but pain killers could make it painless . . . such a beautiful child-.., what a shame.

It's now 11:30am Central Time. Lisa had an appointment this morning at 10:30 to learn the results. This could be a long day, and the start of a journey that will lead us somewhere new...somewhere we do not wish to go. Somewhere that requires a strong hand to lead us through.

B16 & HP

Jimmy Akin does a nice job of sorting through the recent headlines screaming that Pope Benedict, while still a cardinal, condemned the Harry Potter books. This demonstrates once again the need to look beyond the headlines.

In any event, the Cardinal--still over two years away from when he would (to his consternation) be elected pope--most certainly did not intend his permission to mean "Should I ever be elected pope, I would be very pleased to have you use what I said in my thank you note to create an international media frenzy that causes many people to believe that the pope has officially condemned Harry Potter."

Yet that's exactly what LifeSite has done. Millions of people will see the headline "Pope Opposes Harry Potter" or "Pope Criticizes Harry Potter" or some variant and never read the story or they will read it but lack the skill at parsing such stories to see how misleadingly the matter is being framed. Millions of people scan the Drudge Report alone every day and read its headlines (like the one on this story) without ever clicking them. Their impression of many of its news stories is formed entirely by the headlines.

Some of the people seeing the LifeSite-inspired headlines on this subject will be non-Catholic fans of Harry Potter, and in their estimation the Catholic Church will have the Church's credibility lowered one more notch.

STEPHEN RAY'S BLOG

If you've enjoyed the books or videos by Steve Ray, the "Indiana Jones of Catholicism", you may also enjoy his blog. Worth a look.

INSTANT LIBRARY

Looking for a good book? How about a good book every week for the next twenty years? Consider buying the entire Penguin Classics library from Amazon.com. Amazon is offering all 1082 books in the collection for a mere $7989, a savings of $5325 from the list price. The books weigh 700 pounds, would tower 828 feet if you stacked them up (top of cover to bottom of cover), and include 500,000 pages. The Top 100 Selling Titles alone would be worth it, but the whole collection would be an amazing thing to behold. And what a GREAT gift to a school library as well. As one reviewer notes:

These books are going for about two years worth of gasoline. If you read a book a day this offer will keep you going for nearly three years. If it is a book a week, then we are looking at 20 years, not taking in account any re-reading. Many people spend this amount of money and time over and over again on their library. One would not think a second time about buying a subscription to a magazine to save on individual issues; these are just books instead of magazines.

THREE THINGS

I seem to notice nothing but the darkness and evil in our world lately, perhaps due to my own propensity to sin of late. But three things, three small things, have gently nudged me back towards the light a bit today.

I picked up the DVD of "Life Is Beautiful" at Gloria Deo today, along with "A Man For All Seasons" (recommended to me by a priest who is a close friend). I've always wanted to see Life Is Beautiful, but have never had the time it seemed. Reading reviews of it make me look forward to even more gentle nudgings, along the lines of another movie that does that quite often: "It's A Wonderful Life" (the second of the three things).

The third is Angel In The Waters, a book by Regina Doman that you can either order from the Sophia Institute Press, or read online. It is a sweet book and one that I heartily recommend. Sometimes it is the things most simple that have the biggest impact on us. This book impacted me today.

WHAT GOD WANTS - PART 2

I forgot to explain the title of my post concerning the Just War Theory. "What God Wants" was a single from the 1992 Roger Waters album entitled "Amused To Death". Having always been a fan of Roger and his mates from Pink Floyd, this solo disc of his has remained to this day a favorite of mine. And if you'd listen to it and know me, that may surprise you. This album is a commentary on the first Gulf War and how we as a nation and indeed a world have become info-entertainment junkies; desensitizing ourselves to the sanitary images we see from "far away" on the television. This is a concept album with stark haunting melodies and musicianship, and righteous anger in places. It is also hauntingly beautiful. Roger's father died while serving in WWII, and he has always written of the pain of growing up without his father, but here transfers that pain onto what he (and I agree) sees as our growing numb to world events through our obsession with the marketplace and in being entertained.

So as you see, I suppose it was inevitable that I would begin exploring the JWT. I just have to get there on my own terms. I am being nudged harder than I like to be, and so I naturally push back. But my shoving is getting softer.

From "The Bravery of Being Out of Range":

Hey bartender over here
Two more shots and two more beers
Sir, turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great for righting wrongs
You hit the target and win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range

And from "Amused To Death":

We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on earth
But then it was over
We ohhed and aahed
We drove our racing cars
We ate our last few jars of caviar
And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Grouped around the TV set
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then, the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry, no feelings left
This species has amused itself to death.

WHAT GOD WANTS

The "Just War" theory. What is it exactly? This is the question I finally asked myself yesterday and began to research the origins and nature of how this theory has evolved and what it actually says. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find information on said theory that is unclouded or untainted by the opinions of an author? To find it in it's true form and undistorted by the political leanings or motives by those on the left or the right side of the political spectrum who are twisting it to suit their agenda? Well it is possible, and by piecing together dozens of articles on the Just War Theory I have begun composing an outline.

My goal is to not debate the current state of affairs in Iraq or elsewhere, but to simply educate myself on what exactly this JWT really is. I've heard it used by both the left and the right, and as I admittedly lean to the right I am prone to not accepting any of the platitudes by those on the left when they praise JPII for his stance and cite the JWT as his reasoning, when these are the same people who condemned his as "out of touch", etc. for his teachings on abortion and the like pet causes of their immorality.

However, immorality knows no political borders. It is neither a liberal nor a conservative sibling. It does not discriminate but will use whatever veiled means necessary to divide and cause turmoil in the Body of Christ. Such is the nature of evil.

It has caused divisions most recently with myself and other Catholic brothers and sisters as we have been debating this subject back and forth on a Catholic forum. I have found myself taking the attacks on the president I voted for too personally and therefore shutting myself off from what is happening in Iraq that may not fit my views. After all, I voted for him, and if he's evil or stupid as they say (and boy, do they pile on in an almost un-Christian-like manner) what does that make me? Pride is an awful thing, but when you've heard how insignificant we are here in "Fly Over Country" one time too many by the elite snobs on the coasts, your blood begins to boil. I had previously begun to seriously reconsider my Republican leanings anyhow, and in fact am now Independent, but without a viable alternative political party presently I am struggling to discern a direction. I have, however, found myself saying more and more that I am a Catholic first, and an American second; sentiments that I may have flirted with in the past are now appearing with more and more clarity.

The last time I had such an unsettling paradigm shift in my thinking was over fourteen years ago when I was dating my future wife. She was Catholic and pro-life, I was "searching" and what you would consider an uninformed pro-choicer. Because of her patience, my attending Sunday Mass with her, and an increasing awareness of the horrors of abortion, I swallowed my pride and humbled myself to the fact that I had been complacent and promoting a lie of the worst kind. (This would make for an interesting post in an of itself as I was particularly callous and cold in one exchange with pro-lifers...but that's for another day.) So it is understandable that my knees grow a little weak while I look into something that may shake my foundation a bit. Patience and understanding will be appreciated. This is not going to be an easy road on my continuing sojourn...