So...
Jack Bauer and the 24 CTU'rs can hold their breath and not be affected by the nerve gas. Why didn't they just run for the exits then? It seems like Lynn could've quit that errant computer program and then bolted for the door rather than going back to the room and breathing the befouled air.
March 13, 2006
Short Attention Span to Blame?
I was listening to a University of Tennessee professor talk about World War I and how it and the Second World War are so intertwined that many historians consider it one thirty years' war. He predicted that in the future, when we're more removed from the present, this view will predominate.
And I thought how funny it is that so few seem to see that the Iraq War as a continuation of the Gulf War, though politics is surely partly to blame. The Iraq and Gulf War are much closer both in time and cause (i.e. Hussein) than WWI & WWII, but I suppose our historical amnesia and shrinking attention span means that even a period of time as short as a decade has lengthened to thrice its size in our collective memory.
I was listening to a University of Tennessee professor talk about World War I and how it and the Second World War are so intertwined that many historians consider it one thirty years' war. He predicted that in the future, when we're more removed from the present, this view will predominate.
And I thought how funny it is that so few seem to see that the Iraq War as a continuation of the Gulf War, though politics is surely partly to blame. The Iraq and Gulf War are much closer both in time and cause (i.e. Hussein) than WWI & WWII, but I suppose our historical amnesia and shrinking attention span means that even a period of time as short as a decade has lengthened to thrice its size in our collective memory.
Various
Hollywood Job Openings:
Personal Aroma Therapist
Agile Backward Walker
Towel Hand-er to Mariah Carey
Personal Umbrella Holder
Servants with Keen Peripheral Vision
East River Swimmer & Cigarette Retriever
Who knew Hollywood produced so many esoteric jobs? Jonah Goldberg explains to the extent an explanation is possible.
~
The New Birchers - that's who leftists have ironically become. Heard a caller on a local Christian radio show explain how President Bush will be remembered in fifty years the way Hitler is today. He also said Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened. Finally I've figured out who these folks remind me of - during the '50s, paranoid members of the John Birch Society claimed that Eisenhower was a Communist agent and that the Hungarian revolt in '56 staged by the Communists to find out who the real anti-Communists were. Unfortunately there seems to be a much greater number of New Birchers than old ones.
~
Saw an interview with ex-CIA'r Gary Bernsten, who was pulled out, abruptly, by his superiors from Afghanistan in 2000, shocking the allies he'd made who were relying on his continued presence. It seems, sadly, one of the defining characteristics of America is she doesn't honor her commitments. I used to attribute this to the switch of Administrations, where something Ronald Reagan might've committed to might not be honored subsequently by George Bush or Bill Clinton. But I'm beginning to think it's much more basic than that. It's simply a representation of who we are, the lack of follow-through and commitment not suprising in a society that adores keeping its options open and finds commitment distasteful, shown in part by high divorce rates.
~
Joseph Bottum considers the recent proclamation by Catholic Congressional Democrats:
Hollywood Job Openings:
Who knew Hollywood produced so many esoteric jobs? Jonah Goldberg explains to the extent an explanation is possible.
~
The New Birchers - that's who leftists have ironically become. Heard a caller on a local Christian radio show explain how President Bush will be remembered in fifty years the way Hitler is today. He also said Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened. Finally I've figured out who these folks remind me of - during the '50s, paranoid members of the John Birch Society claimed that Eisenhower was a Communist agent and that the Hungarian revolt in '56 staged by the Communists to find out who the real anti-Communists were. Unfortunately there seems to be a much greater number of New Birchers than old ones.
~
Saw an interview with ex-CIA'r Gary Bernsten, who was pulled out, abruptly, by his superiors from Afghanistan in 2000, shocking the allies he'd made who were relying on his continued presence. It seems, sadly, one of the defining characteristics of America is she doesn't honor her commitments. I used to attribute this to the switch of Administrations, where something Ronald Reagan might've committed to might not be honored subsequently by George Bush or Bill Clinton. But I'm beginning to think it's much more basic than that. It's simply a representation of who we are, the lack of follow-through and commitment not suprising in a society that adores keeping its options open and finds commitment distasteful, shown in part by high divorce rates.
~
Joseph Bottum considers the recent proclamation by Catholic Congressional Democrats:
What’s the political gain of claiming Catholicism at a time when the American Church is still reeling from the scandals that broke in 2002?
A general rule is that you should trust people to know their own best interests—or, at least, trust professionals to understand their own professions better than outsiders do. No one gets elected to Congress by being a complete idiot–about politics, at least. There is, I think, a glamour that attaches to Catholicism right now. A lot of mud, too, of course. But the intellectual force of Catholic analysis and vocabulary seems to have touched an awful lot of America’s contemporary political debate, and the 55 signers of the “Statement of Principles” want in on it all.
In one sense, this is just another entry in the Democrats’ general attempt to reclaim religion. But in its peculiar Catholic iteration, the problem of abortion wrecks the logic of the statement from its very first moment. Until the Democrats find a genuine way to be pro-life, they will not be able to deploy Catholic intellectual resources—or claim the prestige of doing so.
Shermaneutics
The most tantalizingly close and yet distant thing about Christianity is the simplest - that we must rely on Christ. Period. For everything. For our salvation. For our life. Knowing that he crowns our merits. Knowing that when we go to Mass we are offering Jesus, the Spotless One, as our sacrifice. Knowing that he even inspires our willingness to be good. Sometimes I lose sight of this and it’s difficult to get it back, though that's relying on my effort. A catch-22. It’s always hard to think our efforts aren’t getting things done and carrying the day. That mindset is so completely ingrained in day-to-day living in which my actions produce results. In the end, it’s not about me. It’s about Jesus. The most elusive thing is not giving into the temptation of putting "God on the dock" as C.S. Lewis wrote.
"Discouragement is not from God," said the great St. Ignatius, even though the little voices whisper, like the sad tragedy of Thomas Sherman, son of William “Cump” Sherman, who gave up all for the priesthood and eventually also gave up his mind. Maybe the phrase about losing your life to gain it includes losing your mind? The irony is that Gen’l Sherman was always accused of madness. His son heroically took a stand for the faith against the wishes of his famous, non-believing father.
Thomas Sherman’s life seems tragic and yet we know that it isn't in the grand scheme of things. The key is His will is not our will. Where was I when He created the world? There is no way I’m going to understand God’s ways completely, which is as it should since that lack of knowledge provokes the very thing God asks of me - trust.
The most tantalizingly close and yet distant thing about Christianity is the simplest - that we must rely on Christ. Period. For everything. For our salvation. For our life. Knowing that he crowns our merits. Knowing that when we go to Mass we are offering Jesus, the Spotless One, as our sacrifice. Knowing that he even inspires our willingness to be good. Sometimes I lose sight of this and it’s difficult to get it back, though that's relying on my effort. A catch-22. It’s always hard to think our efforts aren’t getting things done and carrying the day. That mindset is so completely ingrained in day-to-day living in which my actions produce results. In the end, it’s not about me. It’s about Jesus. The most elusive thing is not giving into the temptation of putting "God on the dock" as C.S. Lewis wrote.
"Discouragement is not from God," said the great St. Ignatius, even though the little voices whisper, like the sad tragedy of Thomas Sherman, son of William “Cump” Sherman, who gave up all for the priesthood and eventually also gave up his mind. Maybe the phrase about losing your life to gain it includes losing your mind? The irony is that Gen’l Sherman was always accused of madness. His son heroically took a stand for the faith against the wishes of his famous, non-believing father.
Thomas Sherman’s life seems tragic and yet we know that it isn't in the grand scheme of things. The key is His will is not our will. Where was I when He created the world? There is no way I’m going to understand God’s ways completely, which is as it should since that lack of knowledge provokes the very thing God asks of me - trust.
March 10, 2006
National Review published...
...a graph showing GDP per capita and happiness along with an article that says:
From NR:
...a graph showing GDP per capita and happiness along with an article that says:
"And the unusually happy places? They tend to be countries with a high degree of religiosity. The five countries with the most suprising happiness given their income are predominantly Catholic."
From NR:
"Dutch sociologist Ruut Veenhoven has made a career out of happiness. His official job title is “professor of social conditions for human happiness,” and he directs the World Database of Happiness, an exhaustive compilation of over 1,500 high-quality surveys about self-reported happiness around the world. Using sophisticated statistical techniques, Veenhoven has converted the results of the various surveys into a standard measure — how much people enjoy their life as a whole, on a scale from 0 to 10 — and reported the average happiness in 90 countries from 1995 to 2005."
Something You Won't Learn in State Schools
Fascinating article by Allan Carlson in Touchstone:
Fascinating article by Allan Carlson in Touchstone:
In other words, far from being a danger to the planet, human fertility preserves the future. (And this is not its only benefit.) What caused this radical shift? There actually appear to be two distinct fertility transitions. The first one accounts for a shift from a “natural” level of fertility, seven to nine children born per couple, down to the replacement level of two.
The best explanation for the first transition, I believe, comes from the Australian demographic historian, John Caldwell, in his book Theory of Fertility Decline. Looking at the Western world, Caldwell attributes part of the decline to a “spectacular growth in capitalist” production and gadgets that overwhelmed residual home production, and part to Europe’s egalitarian streak, a legacy of the French Revolution. Yet the real spoiler, he insists, was mass state education, which indoctrinated new generations against the old family morality rooted in Christian faith.
The new government schools, introduced in the nineteenth century, did not only reduce the potential for child labor around the house and raise the cost of items such as children’s clothing, making children less useful and more expensive. They also became, for the children involved, the new focus of loyalty and advocate for the future, displacing the family. As Caldwell shows, the schools “made citizens of those whose horizons had been largely confined to the family, and taught the immorality of putting family first.” State schools so “destroy[ed] the corporate identity of the family,” attacking parental authority in particular, that fertility tumbled.
What was true for Europe and America soon became true for the whole world. As Caldwell concludes: “It seems improbable—and has yet to be demonstrated—that any society can sustain stable high fertility beyond two generations of mass schooling.”
Testing this theory in the United States, researchers found the spread of state schooling to be closely related to fertility decline in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Indeed, even in rural school districts, each additional month of a public school year resulted in an average fertility decline of .23 children: The state schools consumed children.
....
America’s resilience can also be seen in that most unexpected, but successful, American folk movement of the last thirty years: homeschooling. Probably numbering fewer than 20,000 children in 1975, there are about two million home-educated children in America today: a hundred-fold increase. The last fifteen years have witnessed a surge in the number of Catholic families so engaged. And fertility is affected as well. As John Caldwell argued, state-run mass schooling drives fertility down. As would be predicted, homeschooling families drive it up.
Word Among Us...
Meditation for today:
Meditation for today:
We may... [complain] when Jesus tells us that anger makes us liable to judgment, not just going so far as murder. Instead of making things easier for us, He sets the standard even higher. What are we supposed to do? Doesn’t Jesus know how hard things are already?
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our human ideas of justice and equity that we can’t see the logic of divine mercy. We grit our teeth and try to be good, and then we are tempted to complain when those we don’t judge to be good enter God’s kingdom. We complain when it seems we just can’t reach the standard of perfection that Jesus expects. But this attitude blocks our view of a fundamental truth: Each person—including you and me—needs God’s mercy to reach heaven.
Thank God that He isn’t fair!...It’s not about rules; it’s about love! When Jesus seems to raise the standard on holiness, it’s not because he wants us to roll up our sleeves and try harder. It’s because he wants us to rely on him even more! He’s not counting how many rules we can uphold. He is looking to see how much we have surrendered to him. Why? Because he knows that the closer we are to him, the less we will want to sin.
March 09, 2006
Randomized Thoughts
An email suggested I might have misled in my post regarding Dana Reeve - her vow-breaking was not to be taken literally. The strict language of the vow, "I promise to love, honor and cherished until death do us part" was actually exceeded. She loved, honored and cherished AFTER he died, thus going above and beyond.
~
Our Columbus diocese recently installed a new bishop and until now I hadn't noticed any change from the status quo. But now there is one, albeit in a very small way. Our previous bishop always allowed a dispensation to eat meat when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Lenten Friday. Not true this year. (Those weenies down south in Cincinnati got one.) As Rev. Ryan Lewis says here, "the Church asks precious little of us" and this isn't much of a trial. Of course, for me corned beef is a penance so...
~
It's been on my heart - that's what our Protestant brothers and sisters say and it seems appropriately descriptive - that I should plug one of Requiem Press's fine books. I loved John Meehan's "Two Towers – the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal" and highly recommend it. The book has resonated long after the initial read.
~
Kind of interesting that Commonweal jumped on the blog bandwagon, apparently attributable to the fact that Amy Welborn got tapped by the New York Times when the Grey Lady wanted a piece about the Vatican Instruction on gay seminarians. The Times piped a tune and Commonweal didst dance. But Commonweal's late entry to blogging somehow suggests their heart isn't in it, like if my father suddenly began listening to hip hop music out of a desire for popularity.
~
Lent, like March, began with a lion – the Old Testament words of Jeff Culbreath who posted letters from pontiffs who took seriously their responsibility to their flock. The words singed with alacrity, a rousing from the tyranny of inertia and “the way things are” and too easeful moving between the sacred and the secular. But Lent need not be negative: Drink from Pslams, or from the rich font of past papal encyclicals, and of wise saints and the Church Fathers. See Psalm 71 with its baptismal reverberations:
~
Amy Welborn's excellent adventure to Rome brought back pleasant memories, now already five years past.
~
Basia me indeed. Came across a newsletter from Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church and was surprised to see an advertisement for a site called "Kiss a Leb" which I'd momentarily mistook for "kiss a les" (lez?). The site is legit - www.kissaleb.com. (You can see the quality of the new "Random Thoughts" feature deteriorating before your very eyes, can't you?)
An email suggested I might have misled in my post regarding Dana Reeve - her vow-breaking was not to be taken literally. The strict language of the vow, "I promise to love, honor and cherished until death do us part" was actually exceeded. She loved, honored and cherished AFTER he died, thus going above and beyond.
~
Our Columbus diocese recently installed a new bishop and until now I hadn't noticed any change from the status quo. But now there is one, albeit in a very small way. Our previous bishop always allowed a dispensation to eat meat when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Lenten Friday. Not true this year. (Those weenies down south in Cincinnati got one.) As Rev. Ryan Lewis says here, "the Church asks precious little of us" and this isn't much of a trial. Of course, for me corned beef is a penance so...
~
It's been on my heart - that's what our Protestant brothers and sisters say and it seems appropriately descriptive - that I should plug one of Requiem Press's fine books. I loved John Meehan's "Two Towers – the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal" and highly recommend it. The book has resonated long after the initial read.
~
Kind of interesting that Commonweal jumped on the blog bandwagon, apparently attributable to the fact that Amy Welborn got tapped by the New York Times when the Grey Lady wanted a piece about the Vatican Instruction on gay seminarians. The Times piped a tune and Commonweal didst dance. But Commonweal's late entry to blogging somehow suggests their heart isn't in it, like if my father suddenly began listening to hip hop music out of a desire for popularity.
~
Lent, like March, began with a lion – the Old Testament words of Jeff Culbreath who posted letters from pontiffs who took seriously their responsibility to their flock. The words singed with alacrity, a rousing from the tyranny of inertia and “the way things are” and too easeful moving between the sacred and the secular. But Lent need not be negative: Drink from Pslams, or from the rich font of past papal encyclicals, and of wise saints and the Church Fathers. See Psalm 71 with its baptismal reverberations:
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;And speaking of the Pslams, I saw a St. Joseph Catholic Edition of the NIV version. Strange bedfellows? The publishers comment within that the Psalms are so rich there can never be too many translations (echoing Blessed Mother Therese's 'there can never be too many children'). I've noticed different translations of the Psalms open them up in completely new ways. I tend to alternate between the Revised Standard & the New Jerusalem versions.
it was you who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.
~
Amy Welborn's excellent adventure to Rome brought back pleasant memories, now already five years past.
~
Basia me indeed. Came across a newsletter from Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church and was surprised to see an advertisement for a site called "Kiss a Leb" which I'd momentarily mistook for "kiss a les" (lez?). The site is legit - www.kissaleb.com. (You can see the quality of the new "Random Thoughts" feature deteriorating before your very eyes, can't you?)
How Dana Reeve Broke Her Vows & Other Random Thoughts
Dana Reeve, the anti-Michael Schiavo, was an impressive person. Yesterday I heard an excerpt from a talk she gave in which she admitted she was faithful to her wedding vow to love him in sickness and in health. But she said she wasn't faithful with respect to another vow: to "love, honor and cherish him till death do us part". She said she still loves, honors and cherishes him after his death. One hopes they are together now.
~
A new game show - 'Name That Blogger':
~
Everyday I check to see if Bill Luse came out of his bloghole and saw his shadow. Nope, no posts today, which means six more weeks of Lent.
~
Small town newspapers are the best. The police blotter blots quirky items, such as the poor soul who got arrested last week for DUI. He had stopped to ask a police officer for directions. Not only does he face the pain of a court case, but the ignomy of the rest of us fellow y-chromozone types wondering why a fellow male would actually stop and ask for directions. He must've been drunk.
~
Newspaper headline in today's Dispatch: "Book Portrays Bonds As Steroid User". Tomorrow's headline "Book Portrays Pope As Catholic".
~
Saw the Crunchy Con maestro Rod Dreher on "Fox and Friends" and there was something about him....his word inflection, his jaw, the talking out of the side of his mouth and tilt of the head. Who did he remind me of? I replayed it with the sound off. Then one last time with the sound back on... Yes! E.J. Dionne, the liberal Catholic writer/pundit. Same soft voice and measured tones too. And speaking of Democrat-leaning Catholics, ol' Rod surprised me with the news from the Crunchy blog today that he, according to Jonah Goldberg, "supported a pro-choice liberal Democrat against a pro-life Republican incumbent in his local congressional race. Why? Because Joe Barton doesn't care enough about air pollution." Interesting. And here I thought the right to life was foundational, unlike the right to clean air. Rod we hardly knew ye.
~
Down in the weightroom (sing to tune "Down in the Valley") they posted a study done of drinkers of diet sodas. It claims you're more likely to get fat from drinking diet drinks than from drinking caloric drinks like regular Coke. Of course I have my doubts about the study, wondering if this is a case where those prone to obesity are more likely to have to worry about weight and thus more likely to be drinking diet sodas, but what was funny was how they suggested the reason is the sweet taste of diet drinks makes your body think it will get the calories and when it doesn't you seek them all the more from your other foods. In other words drink your malts and shakes and calorie-rich drinks so your body won't seek calories elsewhere...
Dana Reeve, the anti-Michael Schiavo, was an impressive person. Yesterday I heard an excerpt from a talk she gave in which she admitted she was faithful to her wedding vow to love him in sickness and in health. But she said she wasn't faithful with respect to another vow: to "love, honor and cherish him till death do us part". She said she still loves, honors and cherishes him after his death. One hopes they are together now.
~
A new game show - 'Name That Blogger':
Let's admit it: what Orwell would call "doublethink" is impossible to divorce from Christianity. The Founder of Christianity is fully divine and fully human. He was born of a virgin. He said that those who seek to save their lives will lose them, but that those who lose their lives for His sake will find them--among other paradoxical statements. From the beginning, Christians have known this wedding together of contradictions; and we have run with it ever since. From the unity of Heaven and earth at every Mass, through the fusing of the annual and the eternal in the liturgical year, to the inclusion of both kings and medicants--among endless unlikely pairs--in the Communion of Saints . . . we can't seem to help it.From the same post:
Christianity, especially Catholic Christianity, is an historical faith. We base everything on the fact that a certain person existed in time and that He really, truly rose from the dead as He said He would...This is why the Faith and the Church are so open to attacks of the conspiracy theory variety...As a consequence, about 80% of apologetics involves the citing of historical records. Everything from Scripture and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, to the accounts of "secular" historians is admissible as evidence. Just as the trial is proceeding nicely, however, the prosecution hysterically accuses Catholics of altering all the records--or at least preserving the positive ones while suppressing the negative ones. Therefore, we cannot use any of them to make our case. What a Catch-22!Answer: Enbrethiliel. Hopefully I've whetted your appetite sufficently to read the whole thing.
~
Everyday I check to see if Bill Luse came out of his bloghole and saw his shadow. Nope, no posts today, which means six more weeks of Lent.
~
Small town newspapers are the best. The police blotter blots quirky items, such as the poor soul who got arrested last week for DUI. He had stopped to ask a police officer for directions. Not only does he face the pain of a court case, but the ignomy of the rest of us fellow y-chromozone types wondering why a fellow male would actually stop and ask for directions. He must've been drunk.
~
Newspaper headline in today's Dispatch: "Book Portrays Bonds As Steroid User". Tomorrow's headline "Book Portrays Pope As Catholic".
~
Saw the Crunchy Con maestro Rod Dreher on "Fox and Friends" and there was something about him....his word inflection, his jaw, the talking out of the side of his mouth and tilt of the head. Who did he remind me of? I replayed it with the sound off. Then one last time with the sound back on... Yes! E.J. Dionne, the liberal Catholic writer/pundit. Same soft voice and measured tones too. And speaking of Democrat-leaning Catholics, ol' Rod surprised me with the news from the Crunchy blog today that he, according to Jonah Goldberg, "supported a pro-choice liberal Democrat against a pro-life Republican incumbent in his local congressional race. Why? Because Joe Barton doesn't care enough about air pollution." Interesting. And here I thought the right to life was foundational, unlike the right to clean air. Rod we hardly knew ye.
~
Down in the weightroom (sing to tune "Down in the Valley") they posted a study done of drinkers of diet sodas. It claims you're more likely to get fat from drinking diet drinks than from drinking caloric drinks like regular Coke. Of course I have my doubts about the study, wondering if this is a case where those prone to obesity are more likely to have to worry about weight and thus more likely to be drinking diet sodas, but what was funny was how they suggested the reason is the sweet taste of diet drinks makes your body think it will get the calories and when it doesn't you seek them all the more from your other foods. In other words drink your malts and shakes and calorie-rich drinks so your body won't seek calories elsewhere...
March 08, 2006
The New Monks and Other Random Thoughts
I'd like to blog more in line with Nancy Nall's stated aim - i.e. like talking with a friend over a hot cup of coffee. Which means more "random thought" posts I guess. So what's the Blog-In news today? Well, nothing gets my attention more than someone who eschews attention. Now there's a man bites dog story, or as they say in the computer biz, man bytes dog. Steven Riddle has axed his comment boxes for Lent. I realize he wasn't doing it for attention though here I am giving him some. But I'd like to have a dime for everyone who, like me, clicked on the still visible comment link only to find it opened to nothing.
~
I think people who annoy me have something to offer me besides their annoyment. They offer a glimpse into my own weaknesses and must be loved since, after all, even pagans love the lovable. So yesterday one of the more annoying commenters on Tom of Disputations' blog (not Rob) irritated me, for reasons disproportionate. The commenter seems perenially tone deaf to his sanctimoniousness but that isn't the worst sin in the world. Beats murder. Perhaps I am too fond of labels, as if Tom as a Third Order Dominican preacher shouldn't be preached to by the labelless. That is, of course, a faulty notion, since God uses even obnoxious commenters to further His plan. Still, we're all more receptive to the holy. Certainly one of the good things about my not really knowing my priest's (or Pope's) sins is that their behavior doesn't get in the way of their preaching.
~
Julie of Happy Catholic sent an email wondering why the picture of the gal at left. She also said that at least one person thought it was of me. Don't be fooled. Only the action (i.e. drinking beer) is similar. Hence my new disclaimer below it. As I've written before: "The pious answer is that it's a metaphor for how I like to drink liberally of the blogs listed just below it. Alternatively, it could be just that I like to drink beer in large glassware and appreciate that being depicted. I report, you decide." I'd put my picture on the blog except I'd rather look at her picture (as well as St. Pio, upper right, and St. Therese, upper left).
~
I recall reading James Fixx's "The Complete Book of Running" years ago. And the author talked about how he needed more and more daily miles to accomplish the peace of mind he says running provided in the beginning. Eventually it took up to twelve miles a day to fill up his tank and he said, "where it'll end I don't know". It almost seems like we (read: I) need increasing levels of prayer and penance just to "stay even". I become numb and complacent rather easily.
~
James Pinkerton writes about the town of Ave Maria, and how the Anti-Christian Liberties Union (ACLU) isn't enthused. He also says that those with big families are the new monastics. Interesting.
I'd like to blog more in line with Nancy Nall's stated aim - i.e. like talking with a friend over a hot cup of coffee. Which means more "random thought" posts I guess. So what's the Blog-In news today? Well, nothing gets my attention more than someone who eschews attention. Now there's a man bites dog story, or as they say in the computer biz, man bytes dog. Steven Riddle has axed his comment boxes for Lent. I realize he wasn't doing it for attention though here I am giving him some. But I'd like to have a dime for everyone who, like me, clicked on the still visible comment link only to find it opened to nothing.
~
I think people who annoy me have something to offer me besides their annoyment. They offer a glimpse into my own weaknesses and must be loved since, after all, even pagans love the lovable. So yesterday one of the more annoying commenters on Tom of Disputations' blog (not Rob) irritated me, for reasons disproportionate. The commenter seems perenially tone deaf to his sanctimoniousness but that isn't the worst sin in the world. Beats murder. Perhaps I am too fond of labels, as if Tom as a Third Order Dominican preacher shouldn't be preached to by the labelless. That is, of course, a faulty notion, since God uses even obnoxious commenters to further His plan. Still, we're all more receptive to the holy. Certainly one of the good things about my not really knowing my priest's (or Pope's) sins is that their behavior doesn't get in the way of their preaching.
~
Julie of Happy Catholic sent an email wondering why the picture of the gal at left. She also said that at least one person thought it was of me. Don't be fooled. Only the action (i.e. drinking beer) is similar. Hence my new disclaimer below it. As I've written before: "The pious answer is that it's a metaphor for how I like to drink liberally of the blogs listed just below it. Alternatively, it could be just that I like to drink beer in large glassware and appreciate that being depicted. I report, you decide." I'd put my picture on the blog except I'd rather look at her picture (as well as St. Pio, upper right, and St. Therese, upper left).
~
I recall reading James Fixx's "The Complete Book of Running" years ago. And the author talked about how he needed more and more daily miles to accomplish the peace of mind he says running provided in the beginning. Eventually it took up to twelve miles a day to fill up his tank and he said, "where it'll end I don't know". It almost seems like we (read: I) need increasing levels of prayer and penance just to "stay even". I become numb and complacent rather easily.
~
James Pinkerton writes about the town of Ave Maria, and how the Anti-Christian Liberties Union (ACLU) isn't enthused. He also says that those with big families are the new monastics. Interesting.
God Gives New Meaning to Phrase 'Television Evangelist'
Duluth, MN--Dubbing him "the Apostle to the Couch Potatoes" God chose Carl Heissen today to "pray, watch television, check out the sports page and in general stay in touch with popular culture."
Carl is satisfied with his calling.
"I've been called to pray and watch TV. To be honest, I was expecting something a bit more challenging, a bit more painful," he said, "but God never gives us more than we can handle and I guess he's telling me I can't handle much!" Carl quickly added, "but if I have to watch American Idol that will certainly be a pain. Especially the audition episodes."
Mentioning St. Therese of Lisieux, Carl says that if she called herself a "little flower" he might not even qualify for dandelion status but that "it's enough that I'm fulfilling my calling".
March 07, 2006
Why the Orthodox Stand After Receiving Communion
Our Byzantine Catholic pastor explained that the reason why in the Eastern Rite you stand after receiving Communion. Holding a chalice aloft, he said we would be offended if he put the chalice, while filled with the Precious Blood, on the floor: "And you are holier than a cup." Similarly we stand to receive and stand afterwards because of the dignity conferred by Whom is within.
Our Byzantine Catholic pastor explained that the reason why in the Eastern Rite you stand after receiving Communion. Holding a chalice aloft, he said we would be offended if he put the chalice, while filled with the Precious Blood, on the floor: "And you are holier than a cup." Similarly we stand to receive and stand afterwards because of the dignity conferred by Whom is within.
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