I will be in adoration ... yes again! lucky, lucky me! ... for an hour early Saturday morning. If anyone would like me to take a special intention to Jesus for them just send me an email (julie @ glyphnet . com) with "Adoration" in the subject line. I'll already have all those from my Prayer Journal and also those that I took with me for last week.... I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Yet it is not the same. Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books.This author understands me. And I understand why she wrote this unusual book which is a love letter for those who have read and reread Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and similar classics. It is a double tale wound around the story of a young woman, Margaret, who has been tapped to write the biography of Vida Winter, a very famous and reclusive writer who has never told anyone a single truth about her life story. As the author's tale unfolds, Margaret begins investigating the truth from her side. I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended even though I feel the author pulled an "Agatha Christie" toward the end when Vida Winter's true identity is finally revealed. But I love Agatha Christie books as well so it all works out. Not perfect but a thoroughly enjoyable read.
(i) Paul writes as a man who knows trouble to those who are in trouble. The word that he uses for afflictions is*Barclay is not a Catholic source. Read here for more info about him.In ordinary Greek this word always describes actual physical pressure on a man. R.C. Trench writes, "When, according to the ancient law of England, those who willfully refused to plead had heavy weights placed on their breasts and were so pressed and crushed to death, this was literally thlipsis." ...
(ii) The answer to this suffering lies in endurance. The Greek word for this endurance is hupomone. The keynote of hupomone is not grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but triumph. It describes the spirit which can not only accept suffering but triumph over it ...
(iii) But we are not left to face this trial and to provide this endurance alone. There comes to us the comfort of God. Between verses 3 and 7 the noun comfort or the verb to comfort occurs no fewer than nine times. Comfort in the New Testament always means far more than soothing sympathy. Always it is true to its root meaning, for its root is the Latin fortis and fortis means brave. Christian comfort is the comfort which brings courage and enables a man to cope with all that life can do to him ...The Letters to the Corinthians, Revised Edition by William Barclay*
She wants to let the baby live, but is under a lot of pressure to have an abortion and does not have a lot of resources on her own. She really needs help from someone or a group in her area (Toronto).If anyone wants to email me rather than answer in the comments box, my email is julie[at]glyphnet[dot]com. Thanks!
I've been searching online for the Toronto equivalent of the White Rose*, but haven't been able to find anything yet. I'm sure there is something like that. I was wondering if someone on here with better connections within Catholic Charities or the Toronto area might know of a good place I could refer her to.
The Christian life is certainly a paradox. The teaching of St. John of the Cross (which was for beginners, he said) is of the necessity for detachment from creatures; of the need of traveling light through the dark night.I like that point about God arranging for us what we need in our everyday life. We must be open to it so that we can take full advantage of what we are being offered though. Otherwise it is just inconvenience, pain, and suffering without any of the redemptive possibilities being used.
Most of us have not the courage to set out on this path wholeheartedly, so God arranges it for us...
We try to escape, of course, either habitually or occasionally. But we never can. The point I want to make is that a woman can achieve the highest spirituality and union with God through her house and children, through doing her work, which leaves her no time for thought of self, for consolation, for prayer, for reading, for what she might consider development. She is being led along the path of growth inevitably. But she needs to be told these things, instructed in these things, for her hope and endurance, so that she may use whatever prayer she can to cry out in the darkness of the night.
Here is her mortification of the senses:
Her eyes are affronted by disorders, confusion, the sight of human ailments and human functions. Her nose also; her ears tormented with discordant cries, her appetite failing often; her sense of touch in agony from fatigue and weakness.
Her interior senses are also mortified. She is also with her little ones, her interest adapted to theirs; she has not even the companionship of books. She has no longer the gay companions of her youth (their nerves can't stand it). So she has solitude, and a silence form the sounds she'd like to hear -- conversation, music, discussion.
Of course there are consolations and joys. Babies and small children are pure beauty, love, joy -- the truest in this world. But the thorns are there -- of night watches, of illnesses, of infant perversities and contrariness. There are glimpses of heaven and hell.On Pilgrimage by Dorothy Day
I know I have to be careful with the devil. I don't want to shunt off my personal failings onto him -- my evil is my own. Satan won't be around at the judgment to share the blame. But I don't want to discount his power and influence, either. To ignore him is to let him move unseen, which is exactly where he thrives. I don't want to be cocky with him. I sympathize with the old tradition of not saying his name, for fear of giving him an inroad. But neither do I want to cower before him. I believe I have power over him; the thing is not to suppose that the power is my own.Swimming with Scapulars by Matthew Lickona
Early Christianity grew up in a world which seems very much like our own. It boasted abundant material means but suffered from great spiritual poverty. The early Church had the necessary vigor to protect itself from paganizing influences. It was also vibrant enough to transform a worldly civilization from within. The world today seems no more difficult to evangelize. At first sight it may appear to be closed to Christ. Yet if we are firmly united to the Lord as the first Christians were, we can be sure that the transformation will take place once again. How well are we succeeding in our efforts to transform the people around us, the members of our family, our friends, our colleagues at work?
The world is in need of many things. But there is no doubt that it is in great need of apostles who are holy, cheerful, loyal to the Church and eager to make Christ known. The Lord is calling for us to work in his fields: Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Prayer is the most effective means of winning new apostles (Josemaria Escriva). Our apostolic zeal has to be manifested, first of all, in a continuous prayer of petition for new apostles. Prayer always comes first.
That cry of the Son of God, lamenting that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, is always relevant. How it tears at our heartstrings. That cry came from Christ's mouth for you to hear too. How have you responded to it up to now? Do you pray at least daily for that intention of his? (Josemaria Escriva).
Help me create a petition that will put the one in Ms. to shame. Email this post to every man and woman you know. Email your names and cities/states to me. I'll compile them and send a petition to Congress - a petition with the names of people who think women (and their unborn children) deserve better than an abortion.Please do go to her blog to read the entire post.. I will be emailing this to many of my friends and encourage y'all to do the same.
I want to get more than the 5,000 signatures Ms. is boasting it has...
... if you are a woman who considered having an abortion but chose not to, I'd like to hear from you and your story.
Marian Fisher, 13, is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to "shoot me first," in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.I read this in the morning paper and my eyes filled with tears. What more Christian love could we ever see than those young girls offering themselves in an attempt to save their classmates?
Rita Rhoads, a Mennonite midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News she learned of the girl's plea from her family. What's more, her younger sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to "shoot me second," Rhoads said.
He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."I paged through the rest of the newspaper.
I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus.I daresay that all Christians recognize the absolute truth in Muggeridge's words. The mystery is that just as they contain absolute truth, that truth is translated in different ways to different people ... God deals with each of our unique souls in the way that we understand best.Malcolm Muggeridge
"...Some of the old ones still refuse to see that my method is better than theirs. The only thing that will convince them is when I get three oranges to their one, and sell them for twice the price because they are full of juice. But we'll show them in the end."
"You puzzle me," said Meredith frankly.
"Why?"
"What have oranges got to do with the human soul?"
"Everything," said the bishop flatly. "You can't cut a man in two and polish up his soul while you throw his body in the trash heap. If the Almighty had designed him that way, he would have made him a biped who carried his soul in a bag round his neck. If reason and revelation mean anything they mean that a man works out his salvation in the body by the use of material things. A neglected tree, a second-rate fruit are defects in the divine scheme of things. Unnecessary misery is an even greater defect because it is an impediment to salvation. When you don't know where your next meal is coming from, how can you think or care about the state of your soul? Hunger has no morals, my friend."The Devil's Advocate by Morris L. West
Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic and some Anglican Churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful. When this exposure and adoration is constant (that is, twenty-four hours a day), it is called perpetual adoration. In a parish, this is usually done by volunteer parishioners; in a monastery or convent, it is done by the resident monks or nuns...This is all based around the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. So when you sit with the Eucharist, you are sitting with Jesus Himself. (Much more information can be found here.)
The host is displayed in a monstrance, typically placed on an altar. The Blessed Sacrament may not actually be exposed, but left in a ciborium, which is likewise placed on an altar. This exposition usually occurs in the context of a service of Benediction or similar service of devotions to the Blessed Sacrament. In services of perpetual adoration, parishioners volunteer to attend for a certain period of time, typically an hour, around the clock. Because of the difficulty of maintaining twenty-four hour attendance, many parishes no longer provide perpetual adoration. In many parishes, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in an enclosed tabernacle so that the faithful may pray in its presence without the need for volunteers to be in constant attendance (as must be the case when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed).
Could you explain all the initials some of the Catholic groups use. I know SJ is for Jesuits, and OSB is for the order of St Francis but what is OP and are there others??I, myself, have wondered that same thing from time to time. It is like a secret code.
... We can waste our time by doing whatever we want instead of what God wants. For example, we might spend time at our place of work when we are needed at home. Conversely, we might choose to read the newspaper when we should be working. The life of each man and woman exists in the present moment. these are the only moments which we can truly sanctify. The past and the future only exist in our imagination. The memory of our past can inspire us to acts of contrition or thanksgiving, yet even these prayers take place in the reality of the present.This was a big hurdle for me to overcome. I have a vivid imagination and could bring myself to tears quite easily by imaging a future where Tom and the girls were gone, etc. So silly of me but there you go. By keeping the above precepts in mind my life has been much simpler ... and it gets easier with time and practice, y'all.
We should not become overwrought by future events because they may not come to pass. In any event, we will have the grace of God when we need it. The secret to building the city of God within us is this: we have to build on a brick by brick basis in the reality of the present moment. (Ch. Lubich, Meditations) This is the only time which God gives us to sanctify. Hodie, nunc. We must live the present moment with love, with full concentration. What a wonderful offering this will be to the Lord! Let us not miss this opportunity.
A little something for everyone in that photo, eh? Also, Kate is supposed to be finally choosing between Jack and Sawyer. Word is that she chooses Sawyer since a mystery woman is going to take up all of Jack's time. Let me think, Jack or Sawyer? No contest, even if Sawyer is a frog squasher ... I'd take that bad boy any time over boring Jack.
It may be easier to see God's kingdom advancing in the world through Paul's suffering than through ours. Constantly making missionary journeys and enduring persecution, Paul labors and suffers in his apostolic efforts to bring the good news about Jesus to people. Very few of us have Paul's focused sense of Christian mission. Our hardships and pains tend to be more ordinary, less "apostolic" than Paul's. Rather than being arrested and beaten for preaching the gospel, we lose a job or a loved one, or suffer rejection by a spouse or child, or develop a debilitating disease. Can these sufferings be a sharing in Jesus' suffering? They can, because Jesus has united us with himself. Because we are united with him by faith and baptism, we are members of his body. Thus he shares the sufferings encounter, and our sufferings become ways of sharing in his sufferings -- and opportunities to experience his encouragement.
Often, when things go wrong, we do not feel close to the Lord. But notice that Paul does not say that in his recent troubles he felt a powerful sense of connection with Jesus. Actually, he says that he felt "utterly, unbearably crushed" (1:8). It does not sound as if he had a sense of close attachment to Jesus then -- or, if he did, it does not seem to have given him serenity. For Paul, as for us, suffering is suffering. Sometimes what is most painful for us is the apparent absence of the kind God who previously showered us with blessings. In some cases -- the sickness of infants, for example -- we may simply be incapable of imagining how God might ever use such suffering for good. But again, Paul does not suggest that we can always grasp how our sufferings are a sharing in Christ's or how they will serve the coming of his kingdom.
It may be worth reflecting that, if our union with Jesus' sufferings is unseen and deeply mysterious, that does not make it different in principle from every other aspect of our relationship with him. In the Christian life, we always proceed on the basis of faith...
I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect "history" to be anything but a long defeat -- though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.J.R.R. Tolkien
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness;Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;
He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;
it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise;
it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;
it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.Pope John Paul II
Devotion to the Guardian Angels goes back to the beginnings of Christianity. Pope Clement X proclaimed the feast a universal celebration in the seventeenth century. The Guardian Angels serve as the messengers of God. The Almighty has allocated a Guardian Angel to each one of us for our protection and for the good of our apostolate...As devoted as I am to the Archangels, I am especially fond of my Guardian Angel. He is always there when I need him and has a wicked sense of humor. Perhaps wicked is not the right word. He must, therefore, have an angelic sense of humor! This is one of my favorite feast days.
We have to deal with our Guardian Angels in a familiar way, while at the same time recognizing their superior nature and grace. Though less palpable in their presence than human friends are, their efficacy for our benefit is far greater. Their counsel and suggestions come from God, and penetrate more deeply than any human voice. To reiterate, their capacity for hearing and understanding us is much superior even to that of our most faithful human friend, since their attendance at our side is continuous; they can enter more deeply into our intentions, desires and petitions than can any human being, since angels can reach our imagination directly without recourse to the comprehension of words. They are able to incite images, provoke memories, and make impressions in order to give us direction.
Dorothy Day had an abortion earlier in her life and it was a great source of sorrow for the rest of her life, to the point where she could barely bring herself to refer to it. Surely that contributed all the more to her realization of the wonder and joy that her daughter brought ... and her link through creation to God Himself.If I had written the greatest book, composed the greatest symphony, painted the most beautiful painting or carved the most exquisite figure, I could not have felt more the exalted creator than I did when they placed my child in my arms. To think that this thing of beauty, sighing gently in my arms, reaching her little mouth for my breast, clutching at me with her tiny beautiful hands, had come from my flesh was my own child! Such a great feeling of happiness and joy filled me that I was hungry for Someone to thank, to love, even to worship, for so great a good that had been bestowed upon me. [Dorothy Day]Every child is a "sacrament" -- a living sign that the creator of the universe entered the world by way of a human mother, that he called us to be "born from above" in baptism and to enter his kingdom as his little children.Catholic Passion by David Scott
Peter is the only apostle who received his name directly from Jesus. In Scripture, when God changes a person's name -- as when he changed Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and Jacob to Israel -- he is revealing that person's pivotal place in his plan of salvation. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter (Petros in Greek, Cephas in the Aramaic dialect that Jesus spoke). The name means "rock." "You are Peter," Jesus said, "and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."I knew this. I did. But I forgot it. This reminder is a powerful one that Jesus' commission to Peter was serious and meant to last forever.Catholic Passion by David Scott
ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL
The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.I have a special fondness for angels and it is a sign of my Catholic geekiness, I suppose, that I got an excited "Christmas morning" sort of thrill when I realized today's feast.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.Some more on angels.
You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.Sadly, I don't have any angel food cake (it really is not that sad an occurrence as I abhor angel food cake), however I may stop by and pick up some heavenly, cloud-like meringues on the way home so we can celebrate properly!From a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great.
Russians call this sacrament [confession] "the kiss of Christ." The Russian-born writer Catherine de Hueck Doherty said that her mother taught her to talk to Jesus in confession as if she were talking to her own father:Beautiful, isn't it? Maybe that helps explain to others why so many of us see Confession as a beautiful sacrament.I would ... tell him how sorry I was for having done something he didn't like. In my imagination, Christ hugged me and said something like, "That's all right, little girl. I know it's not easy to always do the right thing." Then he would kiss me and bless me and say, "Now go and play."Catholic Passion by David Scott
You Can
You can tear it down, wall by wall
You can take my home from me
You can rip them away, one and all
You can take my family from me
You can make me face learn to glare
You can take my love from me
You can make me no longer care
You can take my hate from me
You can drag me through the driving rain
You can take my pride from me
You can taunt, jeer, laugh at my pain
You can take my joy from me
You can tell me it could be worse
You can take my pain from me
You can turn each day into a curse
You can take my hope from me
You can force me into iron chains
You can take my freedom from me
You can spill the blood in my veins
You can take my life from me
You can laugh at belief, tear downs my ideals
You can take my faith from me
But with me, you can make no deals
You can’t take my soul from me
... this remarkable five-part miniseries bears more resemblance to a legitimate documentary, in which four young men face the permanent and life-altering decision between celibacy in the Roman Catholic priesthood or a sexually active life of faith, marriage, and family. Although the veteran reality TV producers of this A&E series (which premiered amidst mild and short-lived controversy on Easter Sunday 2006) had originally intended a more populist MTV-like approach to their exploration of religious fervor, what they ultimately captured (largely due to the integrity of the participants) is a remarkably revealing and spiritually uplifting study of Catholic faith in modern America. While acknowledging the scandals that tarnished the Catholic Church in recent years, God or the Girl offers a refreshing and surprisingly balanced perspective on serious issues of faith rarely addressed in mainstream entertainment.My main struggle in watching has been to get the time. Unfortunately my receipt of it coincided with the beginning of the new television season so I've had to wait until Rose is out of taped options to slide one in.
An ancient characteristic of Catholic worship is the antiphon, a word that means "answering back." It is the pattern of liturgical call-and-response, as when the priest prays, "The Lord be with you," and the worshipers answer back, "And also with your spirit." This prayerful dialogue reflects a fundamental Catholic understanding of what it means to be human. We are "antiphonal" beings in conversation with our Creator -- listening for God's call and answering him with our lives.You know, that has never occurred to me in all the times I have joined in responsorial liturgy. How fascinating to consider that it is a reflection of that larger reality of our relationship with God.Catholic Passion by David Scott
| You Are an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie |
 On the surface, you're a little plain - but you have many subtle dimensions to your personality. Sometimes you're down to earth and crunchy. Other times, you're sweet and a little gooey. |
Nobody of any real culture ... ever talks nowadays about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old-fashioned. They belong to the time when Turner was the last note in art. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on. Yesterday evening Mrs. Arundel insisted on my going to the window, and looking at the glorious sky, as she called it. Of course I had to look at it ... And what was it? It was simply a very second-rate Turner, a Turner of a bad period, with all the painter's worst faults exaggerated and over-emphasized.Oh, Oscar Wilde ... how did you manage to be so very funny?Oscar Wilde, as quoted in The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney
In his tender affection for children Jesus stood in radical contradiction to the attitudes and practices of the empire of his day. The Romans and Greeks held that children were inferior beings, something less than fully human. Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers of the ancient world approved the killing of unwanted children through abortion and infanticide, and they saw nothing wrong with using children for sexual gratification.
Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be plunged into the depths of the sea than to suffer God's judgment for scandalizing one of his little ones. From the beginning, the church fiercely defended children, even the unborn. The Didache ("Teaching"), the oldest surviving manual of church life, written in the mid-first century, warns: "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish." The Christian philosopher Athenagoras, in a plea to Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 175, explained: "We regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being and therefore an object of God's care."Catholic Passion by David Scott
Ten minutes into his descent, Rankin should have been reaching the ground, but the enormous draughts of air that surged up the core of the cloud were retarding his fall. Soon the turbulence became much more severe. He had no visual point of reference in the gloomy depths but he sense that, rather than falling, he was being shot upwards with successive violent gusts of rising air -- blasts that were becoming increasingly violent. And then for the first time he felt the full force of the cloud.Pretor-Pinney certainly knows how to get my attention. Frankly, I am not that interested in the science of clouds which makes up about half of each chapter. Possibly anticipating this, he has been quite generous with attractive lures, such as the story of Lieutenant-Colonel William Rankin, a pilot in the US Air Force, who, in 1959, became the only man to fall through the heart of a cumulonimbus and live to tell the tale. Riveting stuff, y'all!
"It came with incredible suddenness -- and fury. It hit me like a tidal wave of air, a massive blast, fired at me with the savagery of a cannon ... I went soaring up and up and up as though there would be no end to its force." ...The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney
You all know the big table we have in the living room; that was the dining table in my grandfather's day. It came from his railroad days, as mentioned in the biography and he had it sent from (Cleveland?). People as famous as Carl Sand and Sinclair Lewis ate at it. I seem to remember fried chicken every Sunday, but I was only allowed boiled - how I craved that delicious fried, but it wasn't considered healthy for children. But what wonderful biscuits my grandmother made, and I scarfed them down loaded with her homemade srawberry jam. My grandfather would order a cup of maraschino cherries for me if we went to a restaurant ... my mother always thought they caused boils on my back. Oh well, what did they know.
There were double doors to the living room, and one year my Grandfather dressed up like Santa Claus and flung them open with drama. It was to be a great surprise, but I burst into tears, ran away, and hid. What a flop to a grand enterprise!
At the bottom of the hill was a true country store, selling cattle salt blocks, flour in print bags intended to be dresses, etc., and with gas pumps. I remember driving down there with my aunt; I thought she was the most wonderful person I had ever known. She SMOKED, she was very small, and she was so peppy and had a wonderful accent. Of course, she wasn't married and had no children so it was easy for her.
I actually remember hired hands squirting milk at cats during milking. Yes, trite as it sounds, they actually did that !
As I said before, hired help must have been really cheap. They mowed the grass, did laundry, but unfortunately never were hired to cook to help out my grandmother and mother. Charlie provided chickens, and Helen never had to do anything because she was an artist (my mother said). Don't know what the other two boys did ... one ran away from home and probably with good reason considering my grandfather's autocratic disposition. He was a wonderful grandfather, though.
There were screened porches around three sides of the house, and I seem to remember living out there most of the time. Since we usually visited only in the summer that would be natural. One morning I got up and found one of my shoes filled with cherry pits, apparently tucked in there by a mouse.
My aunt Helen raised Scotties, and Airdales. I loved the dogs, but was especially fascinated by seeing them eat rabbits, always head first. There was a fish pond in the middle of the front yard, and I remember one of the puppies drowning there; Beverly also fell in once but was quickly retrieved. The pond was surrounded by old fashioned petunias, and their fragrance always takes me back to those days and reminds me of my sweet grandmother who loved them.
OK, now you have the best of my very young childhood memories, for better or worse. You might want to compile some of yours for your own children. Old age comes quicker than you think! I have regretted many times not sitting down with my parents and talking with them about earlier years.
St. Augustine, the fifth-century African who was the church's seminal teacher, penned a striking phrase to describe the example of Jesus: Caro quasi vox ("Christ's flesh is like a voice"). What he meant is that at every state of Jesus' earthy life -- his life in the flesh -- he is calling to us, inviting us personally to live in the mystery of divine love that he reveals...Catholic Passion by David Scott
Nightmare
Faded picture in my mind
Of nightmares from the past
Of the present, I am blind
Twenty monsters of a kind
As my heart beats fast
Faded pictures in my mind
I open doors I cannot find
The traps have all been cast
Of the present, I am blind
The roads, the walls, the trees wind
I stumble off the path
Faded picture in my mind
My arms, my legs, my tongue, they bind
I fall, the abyss is vast
Of the present, I am blind
My face is now old and lined
Many years have past
Faded picture in my mind
Of the present, I am blind
Why can't Farmer Johnson solve his own problems? Every time he needs to know how many acres of soy beans, corn and wheat to plant with 80,000 dollars and 600 hours of labor to spare if the cost of seeds is $4 for soy and $6 for wheat or corn and labor is 6 hours per acre for soy, 2 for wheat, and 7 for corn, I have to calculate this bumpkin's assets and tell him how to run a farm.There's pretty much no denying that logic. Obviously the answer is that Farmer Johnson shouldn't have a farm ... or won't for much longer if he can't start figuring these things out for himself.
